It's Been How Long?

After far too busy a year I have finally made time to post a quick update, hopefully more to come soon.

In July the family and I planned a trip to Port Douglas in Queensland for my brother-in-law's wedding. Since we were flying almost right past we decided that I would stop by Adelaide to visit my Mum's family with the four children and DH would join us a few days later. Mum was also going to go with the children and I for a quick catch up. All seemed to go to plan until we got on the plane. Did I mention that I hadn't flown for 19 years, I get very travel sick and have constant vertigo? Well, all that combined with an hour on the tarmac due to a fuel discrepency added up to a very sick me. We took so long to get off the plane at Adelaide and down to collect our luggage that the carousel had stopped going round and our bags were the last on there looking very lonely. So the long and the short of it is that I ended up staying in Adelaide with my youngest son while my DH took the other three children up to the wedding without me. A friend recommended a fabulous herbal remedy which helped me make it home and I decided never to travel by plane again. We did have a lovely time while we were in Adelaide though. Below are some photos taken at the Adelaide Zoo, current home for two wonderful Pandas, Funi and WangWang.

Of course the zoo has other animals, like this majestic giraffe ... 

... and who can resist the cute Meerkats.

This Sealion was so funny. It wasn't until we looked closer that we noticed she was sleeping with her tongue hanging out! What was in that fish?

After the older children had left, Noah and I had a great time with my Auntie, Uncle and Mum. More photos at a later date.

Have a great long weekend if you live in West Oz.

Kylie

Are you a Winner?

Well, it is over for another year. I don't know about all of you but I certainly didn't get to go through the whole list. Those I did see though were so varied. Some were not me at all but others I will visit again often and that is what it was all about wasn't it - finding like minded bloggers and exploring the blogging world.

I appreciate all the wonderful comments that were left - I have read each and every one. I wish I could send you all something, even just an email, but I just don't have that kind of time. I do hope you will come back for a visit soon though.

Now, down to business!

Because there were so many comments (over 400!) I have decided to add another item to the giveaway. I haven't decided what it is yet so it will be a suprise on your doorstep or in your letterbox.

The winners are

Saskia from Belgium

Dottie from Pennellville in the US

Christina from Texas (I think) US

Laurie from Colorado US

Congrats to you all!  I have sent you an email so if you don't get it please contact me on the email in the sidebar. If you can email me before Sunday I will be able to send your prizes off on Monday. If I don't hear from you before then I will choose a new recipient on Tuesday.

Have a great night (or day!),
Ky

Hebrews 11:1

OWOH - The Prizes

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

Winners will be posted and emailed tommorrow.

Well, this crept up on me that is for sure. I had to quickly scramble to find a couple of suitable prizes. Thankfully I had a few completed projects to choose from.

I am really looking forward to this years event, I think it will definitely live up to the theme of a Magic Carpet Ride. So when you have finished here take a look at Lisa's blog for a full list of those involved (including Lisa herself). I know it will be worth the trip.

There are three prizes to go to three different people, it doesn't matter where in the world you are all you have to do is leave a message on this post (and only this one) and you will be in the draw on the 15th of February 2010 to win one. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you so leave an email addy if needed. I will be using my magic Genie lamp (aka - my four children) to help me with choosing the winners and I will let you know if you are a winner by personal email and on a post here.

Prize One - Collaged glass tile pendant with ball chain necklace. The prize won't be the same as this as this is a one off for a Christmas gift but it will be just as nice.

Prize Two - A choice of one of the following sets of earrings. The pearls are freshwater and the crystals are from a repurposed chandelier.

Prize Three - Inspiration Notebook. This tiny little notebook has 25 blank white pages for a quick sketch on the run. Just the right size to slip into you handbag or craft tote.

(approx 10cm x 8cm)

So, TIA for all the lovely things you are going to say (teehee!) and please leave a link to your blog if you have joined in the One World One Heart event as well.

To all the Aussies out there have a great Australia Day tomorrow,

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!!!

Ky

Romans 12:1 KJV

Project Finished

I seem to be doing well with the goal I set yesterday to not leave my blog so lonely don't I? Two in as many days, gotta be a record for me! After the dog's breakfast I made of that last post I think I owe it anyway. Sorry about that, I just couldn't get the photos and text to do what I wanted. Maybe I should add learning 'Blogger' to my list of things to accomplish?!

Well, as the title to this post suggests I finished a project just a few minutes ago and before it leaves my hands tonight I wanted to take some photos and show it off. I was given a couple of kits from Twiddleybitz for my design Team challenge from the girls at Scrap It Flaunt It. After some inspiration searching I decided to go with this ...

Ok, don't worry I am not going all scrapbooky on you, I just thought it might look better with a photo in the back, better than leaving it plain. Here are a few detail shots. First the obligatory bird in the tree.

I knew those little flowers from all that Cuttlebugging would come in handy one day! Made a botch of the front of the house. I was going for a fine crackle and ended up with huge cracks instead. There is no way I could recreate the effect as it was one patch job after another before I considered it even close to acceptable. Even as it is now I am not that happy but that is probably because I still have the effect I want to achieve in my mind.

The verse reads, 'A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul' by Phillip Moffitt, no idea who he is but I really liked the verse.

Alrighty, we will see how this post looks and then we are off to afternoon tea with some new friends.

Have a great weekend,

Ky

Ephesians 4:32 KJV

One World One Heart 2010

I can't believe it has been a whole year since this event was held, where did the time go? It was great to be involved last time so I am putting my hand up again. I have no idea what I am going to choose as a prize or prizes but I will have something organised by the start date of January 25th. It will be running till February 15th so plenty of time to check out all the blogs that are sure to involved. I have no doubt that Lisa will get well over 1000 participants this time round. There were 911 last year.

Just click on the OWOH logo on the right to take you to Lisa Swifkas' website so you can check out all the details for yourself. I encourage everyone to get involved. It is great to be part of something that gives just a little bit back to not only the art community but the blogging world as well. It is also nice to get such lovely comments to read.

So the deal is once the event starts leave a comment on my blog on the post for the start of the event (Jan 25th) if you would like to be in the runnung for the prize/s. It is an international event so anyone is welcome to leave (nice!) comments. You will need to make sure that I can contact you so I am guessing that anonymous comments won't cut. If you are involved with OWOH as well please feel welcome to leave your link in the comment too.


Now for some pix. Today is my babys' 15th birthday, well one of my babies anyway, the oldest one. I know that 13 or 16 is usually considered more momentous but for some reason 15 freaks me out! She really isn't my little girl anymore (I know she has known this for a while but I am bit slower to catch on). You wouldn't know it from the photos though. Taken by a friend at Champion Lakes, a local swimming hole which doubles as a world class rowing venue. Far too hot a day for me to be venturing out but I am glad Chris (DH) took the 4 kids down to get thoroughly soaked.

I would put up some photos of Jess as a baby but I am afraid that was
pre-digital and I don't use that scanner often enough that I understand
the darn thing without Chris' instructions. Jess looks (and acts which is the scary thing) more like me everyday, in fact we were in our local Woolworths the other day and the lady behind the deli counter
asked if anyone had ever commented on how much alike we
looked. I had to answer that she wasn't actually my birth child that we had her cloned!

I am determined to be a bit more blog active this year. No more neglecting my poor blog for 6 months at a time. As a result of having to post more often I am hoping I will be more productive on the art side of things too. Noah is starting full time Pre-Primary this year so I will have more time without the little voice in my head. I have already re-signed to the Scrap It Flaunt It Design Team (just about finished the first part of the project) and have been asked to do a class in mid February. I have another couple of projects in the offing but they haven't been finalised yet, I am really looking forward to them though and am itching to get started. I also want to make better use of the time I have. More 'from scratch' cooking, keeping the house more organised, clean and tidy, getting rid of the junk we have, taking the dogs for a walk more often and not wasting so much time on the puter doing nothing. Getting my Senior First Aid Certificate is also a must do for this year. We are still looking for a house and I know God will provide one just right for us in His own time but in the mean time I am going to LIVE my life instead of just living.

So, starting as I mean to go on, Jess has requested home made fried rice for her birthday dinner. I haven't made this dish for a few years and never with much success but if that is what my girl wants ... I remember when I was a teenager and still living at home that my Mum made the best spring rolls so I am going to have a go at them too. Just in case it is all a flop there is always the local Chinese restaurant as backup!



Ok, so I didn't intend for this to be such a long post but it is at an end. I will leave you with this Bible verse which means alot to me. Our Pastor was preaching on this verse the day I got Saved 3 years ago.



Matthew 7:21 KJV



Hugs and kisses,
Ky