Last Post For 2008

I have seen this list on a couple of blogs now and think it is quite a cute idea. Here is my take.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day


33 out of 100, not too bad. There are some in there that I never want to do - Killed and prepared an animal for eating (as my 12 year old daughter would say eeeeuuuuuwwwww!), Gone sky diving (hot air ballooning? - yeah - sky diving - no way!), Bungee jumped (nuh ah), Been on a cruise (would throw up the whole way), Gone deep sea fishing (ditto). There are lots that I would love to do though especially the ones that involve overseas travel.


DH was called away this afternoon to go fix something at a gas plant up North. He called me when he got there asking me to pray for him as he travels down to the plant as there was a storm front heading in, well I went and had a look at the local satelite weather report and WOW, I have never seen so much rain! The whole screen was filled with colour. The heaviest falls go from red to black and there was lots of red. It was from a tropical cyclone that is still hanging around. If you get the opportunity go have a look at one from a satelite/rain perspective, stunning and awesome.


I am much better after my recent wisdom teeth surgery, still not at steak eating level but at least I can have chewable food now. There isn't a whole lot out there in the world of food that isn't chewable and isn't jelly, custard or icecream. Christmas lunch was a bit hard but I am looking forward to the BBQ we will be going to tomorrow night.


That's it for me tonight. Have a wonderful 2009!


Kylie

House Book Swap & Colleen

I thought it was about time that I loaded the pix from the House Book swap I am hosting. I have been busy with this and that, waiting for photos to come in and life in general but I am having some down time at the moment as I had three wisdom teeth out yesterday. Good excuse to update the blog I thought. The whole experience isn't anywhere near as dreadful as I anticipated. I had heard stories from both ends of the spectrum so was hoping for something in the middle. God was looking after me though as I think I am at the positive end. I have had no nausea from the anesthetic and very little pain or swelling, half of my tongue is numb and I am struggling to think up different food to eat but I can deal with that. The drugs help of course.

So onto the swap. There are about 14 of us in the swap and each month two names are drawn and we all have to make a page and send it to the person whose theme it is. The first two names to be drawn were Nikki Blowers and Gail Smith. Nikki's theme was The Glass House and GGail'swas the Vintage Men House. Below are the pages for Gail's house. I will load Nikki's pages later today or tomorrow.

Vanessa Henry

Sarah Faucett

Rhonda Clayton

Philippa Barr

LucyLeatham Front

Lucy Leatham Back

Lucy Leatham Front

Lucy Leatham Back

Kylie Mell

Kaeren Sutherland

Joanne Hughes

Greta Young

Glenda Laing

Glenda Laing Back

Evelyn Watt

The piccy below is of a GAP dog Colleen. We looked after her for a week before her new owner took her home. Better than staying at the kennels I thought. That turned out to be not such a good idea as Woosha and Colleen had an altercation which left Woosha with a torn ear and several puncture wounds to his neck. I wonder what he said to her. We have been very fortunate so far to have had no trouble with any of the previous dogs but there is always a first time. I don't blame Colleen at all. With dogs it is all about hierarchy, who's top dog. And I guess that was well and truly sorted! She was a lovely (if energetic) dog with us humans and was very affectionate too. I am sure her new owner will just love her.

Still on Greyhounds, I went to the Pat A Greyhound Day at Cottonwool Creations in Kelmscott on Saturday and although it was a warm one it was great to see everybody patting the dogs and especially to see a couple of our past fosters.

That's me done for the moment, off to have sleep, those drugs are still messing with my system.

Have a creative day,

Ky

Pat A Greyhound Day

Been a bit snuffly these last few days but managing to get some work (house and otherwise!) done.

We picked up the lovely Rosie last week and have been told that she is ready to be moved on to another foster home so here are a few pix before she goes.

Still on the subject of Greyhounds, the lady who started me off with these gorgeous dogs is having a 'Pat A Greyhound Day' at her business in Kelmscott. There will be a sausage sizzle and santa is visiting and giving out free lollies to all the kids. All profits from the sausage sizzle will go to GAP. There will be a kids activity at the back of the store and they will also be handing out stickers to anyone who pats a greyhound customers will then be able to get a 15% discount on anything in the store. Lions club will be selling their Christmas cakes and Greyhounds WA will be donating Puppy Packs. It will be held on Saturday 13 December from 9am to 5pm. The shop address is Shop 3/211 Railway Ave, Kelmscott. The best part, apart from patting a Greyhound, is that the shop is a craft shop! Yay! I am hoping to make it over in the morning with our newest girl.

I have put my name down for a few of the swaps going on the All Things Tim Yahoo group. This ATC was for the Tim Holtz swap.

This tag was the last one I created for the Grungeboard Tag Swap.

That's it for me today,

Have a great evening,

Ky

4 x 4 Canvas

I am involved with an international Yahoo group called INKredibly RT and each month we have a 1-4-1 swap called Mystery Muse. The idea is that each month you will receive a gorgeous creation from your mystery partner. This is what I have done for mine. I am in the process of doing another one for me as I liked the way it turned out so much.

I love adding these little upholstery tacks to hold the picture hooks. I think I found them at the hardware shop (Bunnings most likely) and thought they would come in handy for something.

My DH is home again tomorrow after another week off-shore, YAY!!! It has been a hard week let me tell you! Makes me wonder why we decided four children was they way to go and why homeschooling is so important. Not really but there are flashes. The bonus of him being away is that I get to stay up late and spend all that time in my craft room.

Keep creative and BFN,

Ky

What I got up to last night

I still had some of my latest design team pack left so I decided to get something else done last night. The inside paper is from 7 Gypsies and is called Family Report. When I first looked at it I was stumped as to what to do with it. I did like the graph paper look though. The cover paper is from Fancy Pants and is called Truthful. It is green with blue spots on the back. I have used Tim Holtz Ditress Inks in Scattered Straw and Tea Dye to stamp the images, age the edges and colour the chipboard letters. I also used Scattered Straw over the actual paper to tie the colours together a little better.

Cover

First & Second Pages

Third & Fourth Pages

I have some German scrap, more of the two papers used in the project and some more Collections chipboard to use but I am going to work on the last of my tags for the Grungeboard swap on the All Things Tim Yahoo group tonight so I can post them off on Wednesday.

Happy creating,

Kylie

Lots of Pix, Lots of Topix

Our latest foster is a Annabelle. She is quite shaggy for a greyhound which you expect to be smooth and sleek. This is called a kennel coat I am told. She looks just like a teddy bear as she is brown and black though when she looses the longer hair she will be all black. She is quite timid but once her trust is gained she is such a soppy girl.

I had the chance to go for another beading session at The BeadHive in Jandakot on Wednesday (my 'me' time before DH went off shore for a week). I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do but I was armed with a heap of books from the library. This is the final result. I haven''t worked with tiger tail in ages so it was a good refresher.

I joined a new Yahoo group called All Things Tim, a US based group, a few weeks ago. It was metioned on Tim Holtz's blog (where I first saw it) and the group was inundated with membership requests. I think they went from under 100 to almost 900 in just two weeks. The volume of email in my inbox was scary, up to 200 in one day. Although I love Tim Holtz products I don't use them an awful lot so thought this was the group for me. There are a few swaps going at the moment and the two tags below are my contribution to the Grungeboard Tag swap. This is the first time I have really used Grungeboard but I am really happy with how the tags turned out.

Nikki B held a 1-4-1 Bird swap on Stamp Gropers recently and I was finally able to pass mine over to Kerry S at the last SAJ's. The frosted perspex was a huge mistake that turned out not to be so bad. I had a few spot of glue on the front and used a goo remover to get it off. Silly me forgot that it frosts the perspex so I had to do all of the front and back. It didn't turn out too bad though did it?Kerry was happy with so that was what really counted. I got the box from my Auntie so I have no idea where it originally came from.

Ok, are you sitting down? I did some scrapping, really! I got the Collections clipboard pack in my design team pack and decided the largest one would love just perfect with my boy all over it. It is up in the shop (Scrap It Faunt It - Armadale) if you want a close up look.

I also have some exciting news. Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft is going to publish a Kaiser tag book that I did in the December edition of the mag. It has been a few years since I have had anything published so I am very excited. They also took a couple of ATCs which will be in the ATC Gallery, one this year and one next.

I hope you all have a great weekend, I am off to the local Highland Gathering with the kids and my Mum, sounds like it is going to be fun.

Kylie

Wire Work and Beading

Mondays are my 'day off' though it usually consists of the weekly shopping, Drs visits, dentist appointments and hairdresser appointments. Sometimes though, I can fit in a beading lesson. I am slowly getting better and more adept at wire work and beading. I had a lovely few hours at The Beadhive in Jandakot yesterday and managed to get a pair of earrings and a pendant finished. I also bought beads, findings and wire for a bracelet which I admired in the store. There are some lovely samples here and there around the shop and quite a few are for sale. Below are the earrings. I saw the project in a book called 'Making Designer Bead and Wire Jewelry' by Tammy Powley, that I found in the local library, and wanted to give it a go. And a warning and apology for the photos, I must be having the shakes today.

Next I was shown how to wire wrap a large bead and when I got home I made some earrings to match. It was so much fun and so quick I decided to do a purple one too. This time with a few kinks in the wire.

As I was getting all my gear together to head home from the shop I saw another project that I wanted to try. This one looked far too complicated for me but I was assured that once I was off and going it would all sort of happen by itself. That couldn't have been more true. I stumbled for the first 10 minutes or so deciding how many strands to use (more is most definetly better here) and then I was off and threading. My daughter (who loves her Mum very much) said this morning that she couldn't believe I had done it in one night, it looked very professional AND would I show her how to do one? It is about an inch (2.5cm) wide and fits nicely around my wrist. It consists of 6 strands or wire and I don't know how many beads.

Detail of a section of the bracelet.

While my Auntie was here recently my Mum and I took her up to our local beading shop in Armadale, in the Pioneer Village, for a lesson. Mum and I had picked out this bracelet to do on a previous visit. The purple one was made in the shop and the red one at home later that day.

Detail of the 'snail' bracelet as we call them.

While I was in the mood for wire and beads today I found another project I wanted to try. This time from a book called 'Tips and Shortcuts for Jewellery Making' by Stephen O'Keeffe. This is a very in-depth book and for the metal worker rather than the wire/bead worker. It still has some really lovely designs though. My swirls need some work so I will be off to the shop as soon as another day is free but I didn't think it came out too badly. I am also in 'need' of a few more beads.

Hope you are all having a great week,

Kylie

Janey

I have often read on other blogs that coming up with something to put for a title is harder than coming up with things to blog about. I decided to stick with one word today as my title could have run to pages. It has been a while and lots has been happening. Does life ever stop or slow down?

We have another new member of our doggy household - Janey. She is an absolute sweety. She is 3 years old and is very loving. She is so funny to watch when she does bog laps around the backyard, she comes tearing round the corner and almost loses her back legs because she is going so fast. I took some photos of her sunbathing this afternoon. We are going to really miss her when she has found her forever family. All of us are enjoying having her. She is very different from Nova, our first foster. Nova wasn't very interested in Noah, too little, but Janey doesn't mind him at all. Noah will come up to her and go nose to nose, they are about the same height, she doesn't quite know what she is meant to do so just waits there until he moves off. When we went on holiday recently we had to give Nova back so that we could go. I hear she is still up for adoption so if you are interested in a great dog for older kids she is the one for you.

Since I was taking doggy pictures I thought I would take some more of our handsome boy Woosha. So nice of him to pose for me.

I finally finished 2 of the 3 names tags I was asked to do for the girls at Scrap It Flaunt In in Armadale (WA). This first one is for Tina using the Collections Ozzie Owl kit. I think he turned out quite nicely and Tina has called to let me know she likes him too.

Lysandra gave me a scrap of paper at a recent scrap night and said ' Make my name tag with this.' 'Ok' I said wondering what I was going to do with a pink and green scrap of paper. This is what I came up with. She hasn't seen it yet so I hope she likes it, I do. Now I just have to think of something for Maureen and then I might even redo my own now that the rest of the girls have such nice new ones.

Speaking of the shop here is a teaser for an upcoming calendar class I am doing. I was given a Collections calendar blank kit in my most recent DT pack and was asked to possibly make it a class too. It was alot of fun. I kept to three colours, cream, white and black. If you are interested in taking the class give the girls a call and book yourself in. The phone number is 9498 0097.

I am also starting Saturday afternoon Technique classes. The first one is this coming Saturday starting out with the book and Alcohol Inks. We will be starting from the beginning and continuing on in the same order as the classes that have already been so if you missed out or just want a refresher sign up now. They will be every second Saturday at 2pm.

Now, I hope you are sitting down - I have been doing some sewing! I came across a cute book at the library called Pretty Little Pincushions and had to give this one a go. It was educational as well as fun. I won't make the same mistakes in the next one I do, now which one to choose.

In the post today I got a most anticipated Collaborative book which 31 of us from the arty_oz yahoo group particiapted in. This is the page I contributed. The theme was Women.

Ok, enough arty stuff for now. Earlier in the year I took some photos of Amy playing soccer. She had quite a day that day. We arrived early for another of the childrens games and she was roped into being goalie for the other Armadale under 14s team as they were a few players down. Staright after that game was her own, so for two hours she was goalie non stop.

I couldn't resist this shot of Noah with a hotdog all of his own. The sausage had been just a little too much to get his mouth around so that got eaten first. The bun was still quite a mouthful though.

Another picture of Noah. I have noticed that I take more of him than any other member of our family. I think this is not only cause he is cute but maybe because he stays still the longest! Here he is playing in the sand at Peppermint Grove Beach, half way between Bunbury and Busselton in the South West of Western Australia. We we for a weeks holiday midway through September so mark the first anniversary of my Dad's death. Mum and my Auntie came with us so it was a full house indeed, just as well we had a big one. The location was fantastic apart from the incessant wind. Across the road from a dog beach and the house owners allowed dogs so Woosha came with us. We had not taken him away with us or to the beach before so it was all new for us. He had a ball though, literally, you through, he chases. He didn't stop for an hour even though his sides were heaving.

The next two shots are taken at what I think is one of my favorite places in the South West. We go there everytime we go South and I can never resist taking a photo.

It has been such a gloriously sunny day today, I think I am going to go outside and appreciate the last of it, I might even water the plants.

Kylie