Illuminate

Let's Try That Again

2011-02-11T19:04:00.013+08:00

I just had to share this with you all.

Tonight's sunset taken from the front of the house. Beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, how about this little fellow? He lives in our garage and, if I am not paying attention, gives me one heck of a fright! He is about 5 inches long, much bigger than any other Gecko I have seen before. I Googled Geckos and found out he is a Barking Gecko.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have moved house, again! For the last time before the kids leave home I hope. I don't think we have lived in a house longer than 4 years since we got married. These aren't the best photos ever but it gives you an idea. I really love living in Byford and it helps that were are at the end of a cul-de-sac too, makes it more peaceful. We live almost at the top of the Darling Scarp which is a range running along the coast past Perth.

View from the front looking towards the coast.

From the top of the driveway looking down at the back of the house.

Some of our neighbours!!!

The front door (to the left of the photo).

From the driveway looking at the front of the house.

Once again, not the best photo, one of my favorite rooms though - the library - sounds pretty highbrow for the Mells huh?! Originally it was a formal lounge but with 4 kids who uses a formal lounge? So the library it became. Mainly because I have always wanted one, something a little grander than this, more like the old restored building at the WA Museum, now that would be a library and a half! If you have never been there it is 3 stories high (I think) with shelves from floor to ceiling all the way round which can be seen from the bottom floor as it is all open up to the third floor roof. There are spiral staircases in the corners and sliding ladders attached the shelves. I think I could even fill the shelves if I gave it a try!

The shelves we have, though not so grand, I love. They are deep and they all match! Yay! No more mismatched white melamine, no more saggy shelves. We were able to buy them all at the same time from the same supplier, thanks to our insurer who paid us out on a claim we made on our previous house when we have a huge downpouring of rain about a year ago which flooded our back room.

Oops, where did this image come from! Oh well, I can't be bothered moving it so I shall just have to tell you about it. It is a little post it note holder I put together for a friend as part of a gift box I gave her for her birthday. Isn't it funny how things work. I have had this on my desk for about two weeks and didn't seem to be getting any closer to finishing it, it just wasn't working. I needed something pink to compliment the rest of the gifts and thought I would include this. So I sat down while DH was checking his email to quickly finish it. I was furiously pulling things out, inking, glueing and viola! I was happy. It didn't look a thing like how it had started out. I even managed to include some new lace that I had found just that day.

Change of scene once again, literally. A few years ago we decided that the week before Christmas we would take a family holiday to have some peace before the busyness of the season and close off the school year. It had been 4 years since we had been down to Albany and I really wanted to go again. I was fortunate enough to get into a house that I had wanted to stay in 4 years previous. It is called Park Farm Retreat. Here we are the first day giving Enoch, the resident Emu, some oats. They really are quite large, solid birds and I had to laugh when Mum went for her morning walk and was followed by Enoch, she walked (ok, ran!) just a bit faster that was normal for her, sorry Mum but it was just so funny! My Mum has been away with us a couple of times and I think we all enjoyed being together.

He can be so cute sometimes, my boy can. There was a little wooden bridge on the property which you had to cross to go into the paddock. No trolls under there but since Noah had been doing the Three Billies Goat Gruff at school, just the week before, we did have to make sure.

After a morning out in town we came home to a relaxing afternoon playing in the paddock. It was lovely to see the boys playing and happy with each other.

Even Jess got in on the act with some kite flying.

Enoch, looking very majestic.

One of our neighbours in the field, handsome fellow isn't he?

Park Farm Retreat. A gorgeous old farm house, wrap around veranday, polished wooden floors, tin roof, just lovely.

More neighbours. I expected them to be quite noisey but we hardly ever heard them.

More kite flying. A few weeks before we went away I took the kids, my Mum and my niece to the Fremantle Kite Festival at South Beach. Josh begged and begged to get one but I was a bit put off by the price - $25. I know what he is like with delicate things so I feared it wouldn't last long. I am glad now that I did get one as we had so much fun getting it to fly.

The view from my Mum's room.

The room Mum stayed in, very elegant and glamorous.

I this has to have been one of the longest posts I have ever done. Time to get the boys ready for bed. The girls are off with their Dad at our church's youth night. I have been very slack today while I have been putting this together. The boys are both watching tv. Still, it is a Friday and we can all sleep in tomorrow.

Have a great weekend and I hope I get to posting again soon.

Take care,

Kylie

Where to start?

2011-02-11T18:45:00.000+08:00

Do you ever feel like so much has happened but when you look back you wonder what?

It has been 5 months since my last venture into the blogging world and I am sure I must have done something over those months but just what is hard to put my finger on. The kids finished another year at school and stated a new one, we went on holiday to Albany (in Western Australian's Great Southern region), we have had birthdays and anniversaries, Christmas and New Years, settled into a new house and weathered all sorts of personal and outside dramas but when I look back on those months it seems I could have done a whole lot more. I definitely feel that life has taken hold and is running away. My oldest child is in year 11 (my baby!!!) and youngest in year 1 (my baby!!!), my oldest also has her learners permit - eek! Thank goodness she has a Dad that can handle teaching her to drive, he taught me and since Jess is my clone he should be ok. I say should be, the first lesson she almost took out someone's letter box!

10 year old Josh decided he wanted to see how long his hair would grow over the Summer holidays (6 weeks). "As long as it is cut before we go back to school ." I said. Here are the before and after shots. He has hair like his Dad's in that it grows staright out. It is lovely and soft though not wire like his Dad has. I think I could charge for people to run their hands over his hair once it is freshly cut, it is so soft and has a lovely texture, very theraputic.

Noah on his first day in Year 1

Hmmm, seem to be having some problems uploading some more photos so I will end this post and start a new one.

See ya in a mo!

Kylie

It's Been How Long?

2010-09-24T22:27:00.000+08:00

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?

2010-02-17T21:18:00.000+08:00

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

2010-01-25T16:20:00.007+08:00

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!!!

Romans 12:1 KJV

Project Finished

2010-01-08T14:33:00.004+08:00

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,

Ephesians 4:32 KJV

One World One Heart 2010

2010-01-07T12:56:00.011+08:00

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

About time!

2009-12-15T16:00:00.006+08:00

Well, where have the months gone? Once again life has gotten in the way of art. It has been such a busy 6 months but I don't feel I have an awful lot to show for it. The kids have all settled into school, my DH now has a job and my health has stayed good so I guess there really is something to show for that time though maybe not as tangible as I might have wanted.

Thanks to everyone who emailed or spoke to me about my MS. It has certainly been a year of reassessment of my life and priorities. I had my last doctors appointment a couple of weeks ago and my MRI scan was clear of any new lessions and the existing ones were a little reduced so I am presuming that is good news. The MRI was a bit daunting this time, I was expected to be in there for an hour and a half - eek! I never thought I was claustraphobic before I had an MRI but having gone through the first one (and subsequent ones) I was not looking forward to this one. It took less than an hour for which I was very thankful.

Noah and I went to the zoo as our last outing for the year. Next year he will be in full time Preprimary. I will miss him heaps and even though he talks non-stop when he is at home I get cuddles, kisses and zurples whenever I want. He really wanted to see the snakes, the penguins and the elephants. I wanted to see the otters (could have stayed watching them for hours). I wanted to get more photos but we had so much to see in a short space of time that I kept forgetting to get the camera out. I couldn't resist the Meerkats though. This fellow below is the lookout.

How cute are these guys! It was a bit hard at first to work out what was in the hole and even to see them all there in the shade vut they were right up next to the barrier so I could get a good shot

Can you guess what this is? Aussies will probably be able to pick out that it is a Tasmanian Devil asleep on its' back. It took a while to spot it and figure out how it was lying. It is one of the hardest things about going to the zoo in Summer, all the animals are either asleep or hiding to escape the hot sun.

No, it is not a real lizard (Perentie) but Noah was still quite apprehensive about climbing up for a pic.

The week before the combined Kindy/Preprimary classes went to the childrens' playground at Kings' Park. I hadn't been there in a number of years so it was great to go there again. One of the teachers brought some little bottles of bubbles which were a great hit with kids and Mums alike. Noah still doesn't quite have the knack but he tries!

How is this, can you tell what it is? A face made from plastic railway tracks. Made by Noah. and all by himself, no help from his sisters or brother. Budding Picasso huh?

And lastly some art by me. The arty_oz Yahoo group is holding a 1-4-1 Christmas swap. This is for my partner. I hope she likes it.

This was for a combined church ladies dinner that I attended. We were all asked to bring a $5 gift to swap. The blanket cost me $5 but it was a little boring. I cut out and needle felted on some oak leaves then hand stitched the veins of the leaves. I was quite pleased with the result and the lady who picked it was very happy too.

We are in holiday time now - yay! - 8 weeks of sleep-ins. Maybe I will even get time to get back into creating. I haven't got a whole lot planned for the time, maybe a trip to Aqua (which I will always think of as Underwater World) and to the Dinosaur exhibit at the museum, mostly just bumming around and being happy I don't have to drive up the hill twice a day to get the kids to and from school.

I hope everyone stays safe over the holidays.

Been a while

2009-07-25T18:16:00.006+08:00

and it feels like I have been to there and back (you know where!) Where I am now is sooooo much better though. It is really good to have my art mojo back as well as my health. The kids have also started 'real' school at a local Christian school (Armadale Christian College) they are loving it and so am I. It is nice to be just a Mum again instead of a teacher as well. It was alot of work and although it was worth it I am glad that they are in a good school at last.

One benefit of the kids going to school is that I have volunteered myself in the art class one day a week. I am cleaning up/out the store room at the moment (which is right up my alley) and helping the kids where I can. I am doing and extra half day this term as the teacher wants some extra help with a year 10 project. I am also doing a day a fortnight in the canteen. the first day was an experience let me tell you. I don't think my feet have been that sore in ages and I was absolutely stuffed at 2pm! It was a great day non the less and I am looking forward to this term too.

Noah started Kindy last term too. here is a pic of him in his way to big uniform. It is a size 4 but still has quite a bit of room for growing.

We had to give greyhound fostering a rest for a while too as I couldn't drive but we are up and running again. So far we have had Tiger,

Sophie

and Destiny.

Someone said to me the other day that greyhound fostering is the recession busters answer to pet owning. It doesn't cost anything to foster a greyhound, GAP provides everything, food, muzzle, lead collar, bed, the lot. All you need is love and a couch - for the greyhound!

I have managed a few art projects over the last few months. bellow is the page I am doing for this years Collaborative book for the arty_oz yahoo group. Yeah, I know - pink, so not my usual colour.

The next is a page for Ness Henry for her House Book themed 'Fabric'. Quite a challenge for me as fabric gives me nightmares. I decided to get my needle felting tool out and try out a pattern from Betz White's wonderful 'Warm Fuzzies' book. I had a hard time sending it off actually as I was so pleased with the result.

The next pic is of a 12' x 12' canvas project that I did with a class in mind for Scrap It Flaunt It. It had a Vintage Valentine theme.

This is a 6' x 6' canvas project for SIFI though this time from their Design Team pack. I used the techniques I learnt from Audrey Underwood's She Canvas Class for inspiration.

This last one is also a canvas but 8' x 8' this time. The first piece of art I have done for my self in ages, too long in fact. I did it over the July school holidays. It was very satisfying and therapeutic. I find myself coming back to Asian themes when I get time to play.

It really is good to be able to create again. For a while I didn't have full function of my left hand and even now have slow days. This is a result of Multiple Sclerosis which I was diagnosed with in March this year. It took a quick trip to hospital for that to happen as I am told the specialists usually wait until your second episode before they make it official which can be years for some people. For me it happened within 4 months of my first episode. Thankfully I am almost back to 100% again. As I said I sometimes have trouble co-ordinating my left side and I don't know if that will get any better. I am on a treatment that means injections every two days which was quite daunting to think about at the beginning but you soon get used to it and it is very easy with the injection device, stings like the dickens though! Strange as it may sound, I feel very blessed to have gone through what I have so far. I can see God protecting my family and me all the way through and I know He has a reason why my life has taken this path. The timing of everything has been incredible. My DH lost his job the week before I went into hospital and was off work all the time I was recovering. He has had some off shore work along the way which has payed the bills but otherwise he has been home to look after the kids and me. Global recession? Maybe not!

I think I am caught up. Memory loss, especially the last few months worth, is a problem for me too, so it could be that I have forgotten something that I really should have mentioned but that is at least something to save for another post.

Take and keep creating,

And The Winners Are ...

2009-02-13T14:48:00.007+09:00

... ?

There are about 910 other blogs with the same (or very similar) titles today. Yes, it is time to draw the winners of the the One World One Heart blog giveaway. Are you excited? I am! I went and visited all 910 other blogs and they were all so different. Some I left comments on, some I didn't, some had content that interested me, some didn't, some I am going to visit regularly, some I will check once in a while, but all were wonderful just because they got involved with Lisa's great idea of making the blogging world a little closer.

Ok, enough of what I think, to the winners! Not alot of science was applied here. I printed out the pages (all 39 of them - thanks!), randomly picked a page, closed my eyes and took a stab. These are the 5 winners names.

Bec

Stacey

Melanie

AlwaysInspired

Congrats everyone!!! I will be contacting you very soon.

Thanks to all 240 of you that left some really lovely comments. I would loved to have sent you all something special. I can't wait for next years event now. Can we hit 1000 participants - I would love to think so.

Take care,
Kylie

One World One Heart

2009-01-25T17:01:00.007+09:00

This wonderful event is on again. The idea of Lisa Swifka from A Whimsical Bohemian is now more than 500 strong. I have visited each and every blog to date and have seen some really great talent, I even put my name down for a few of the prizes. Not many Aussies in the bunch so to bolster our numbers I have decided to jump in too. Here is what Lisa has to say about her idea ...

"The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way."

It is easy to enter, just add your comment to the end of this post (and ONLY this post). Easy huh? You don't need a blog, you don't need to be part of the giveaway and anyone, ANYWHERE can enter. You need to leave your comments by midnight, February 12 to be in the running. Please include some way for me to contact you if you are the winner. I have 5 prizes to giveaway for 5 winners.

1. 50+ handmade ATC sized backgrounds.

2. One handmade button bracelet. This is not the actual one but the only one I could lay my hands on for a pic!

3. A selection of 100 pages of text including dictionaries, music sheets, ready reckonners and foreign language. The pic below is not a true reflection of the variety or quantity.

4. 3 canvases - 10 x 10cm, 10 x 15cm & 4 x 6cm.

5. 50 x 1m lengths of assorted fibres. No pic and I probably won't get around to one before the cut off date but it is pretty self explainatory don't you think?!

Ok then, off you go and leave a comment! And don't forget to have a look at all the other wonderful blogs in the Gypsy Caravan all listed on the main site.

Thanks,

Kylie

COMMENTS NOW CLOSED, THANKS!

Last Post For 2008

2008-12-30T21:31:00.005+09:00

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

2008-12-16T12:13:00.008+09:00

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,

Pat A Greyhound Day

2008-12-03T17:11:00.005+09:00

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,

4 x 4 Canvas

2008-11-26T18:46:00.004+09:00

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,

What I got up to last night

2008-11-17T13:55:00.006+09:00

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

2008-11-14T17:59:00.005+09:00

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

2008-10-21T16:19:00.005+08:00

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

2008-10-14T14:58:00.006+08:00

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

Free Handbag Competition

2008-10-10T08:50:00.002+08:00

And they are very cool handbags at that! I have chosen mine so go have a look and enter but please don't choose the same one! Here is the link

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Have fun deciding. I changed my mind at least 5 times before I chose 'the one'.

BFN from sunny Perth,
Kylie

Art To Share

2008-09-02T12:07:00.003+08:00

September already?! Where has the year gone? It is certainly true that as you get older the years go faster which is not always a good thing as there is just so much to do. Soccer season is almost at an end for this year - hooray! It is great for the kids to get out there and enjoy themselves but how I loathe 6:30am starts on a Saturday morning!

On a brighter note I have been plowing through the projects I have on the go at the moment. I am almost finished a collaborative book page for a swap on arty_oz. I just have to find a printer that will do vellum. Below is a page from the Board Book swap. The theme is Angels.

I was in a beading shop a couple of months ago and saw these great book marks and had to give them a go. Yeah, I know they have been around for ages but I am only getting to them now. I made quite a few for friends and family. I especially like the little cages that you can add sead beads to.

Next is the only decent photo I have taken of the samples from the technique classes I am doing at Scrap It Flaunt It in Armadale. I really need to find the right spot to take photos. This one was for the Beeswax class held in July. The wax was straight from the honey producer and made the whole room smell sweet, almost overpoweringly so.

The Pandora's Box swap is almost to an end. This is for Ann G. I am into the house shape at the moment, even running a house book swap and doing a house book for a 1 on 1 swap. The swirl stamp is one of my favorites, I use it on everything.

Front cover

First pageSecond page
Third page

Fourth page

Last pic for today is of Nova and Woosha sunbathing. I noticed them taking in the rays when I was sitting in my craft room. What a life. I think the grass needs a mow! Nova has been with us about 3 weeks now and is such a lovely dog. She has had a few arguements with Woosh but on the whole they seem to get on quite well. We have been taking her to agility training when we go with Woosh not that she does any of the work, we go for a walk around the oval while Jess and Woosha train. They are both doing quite well now with Woosha going off-lead and really listening to Jess. He still gets a bit disturbed by the other dogs but he is slowing realising that they are not a threat.

I am working on a couple of felt projects too so hopefully they will be finished soon and I can post pix of them, I will see how they turn out!

Stay arty!

Sunshine, Tadpoles & Nova

2008-08-14T17:22:00.006+08:00

Hasn't the sunshine been lovely? All those who live in Perth (Western Australia) will know just what I mean. Yes, Winter is meant to be rainy but how we relish the sun when it comes out. The washing can dry on the line, the kids can play outside and I can get into the garden.

Chris went offshore again today so we took a quick trip up to Toodyay to visit his Mum before he left. More wonderful sunshine, a yummy roast lunch (how come the MIL's roast is so much better than mine?) and tadpoles! Mum has a small dam at the bottom of her block and with all the rain we have had recently it was full which meant plenty of tadpoles. A couple of months ago the kids wanted to make a frog pond so we found a corner in the garden and set one up. A neighbour who had heaps of frogs gave us some but they all ran (or hopped!) away. We now have about 20 tadpoles so I hope a few will stay. Of course having two boys one of them was bound to fall in, fortunately Mum (me) thought ahead and brought extra clothes! It was so lovely to be outside after having a horrible 3 weeks of various illnesses starting with Jess having tonsilitis, Amy developing it two weeks later, Chris and I both having tummy wogs and Josh getting an earache. Considering he is the littlest Noah has come through it all healthy as a horse.

It has been a long time coming but we are finally involved with the Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) program. We got our first lovely girl today. Her name is Nova and she is just beautiful. Here she is making herself totally at home after a very good start to her stay with us. Woosha just loves having another woman to dominate him and welcomed her straight away. It's hard work being so beautiful!

I am not sure how long we will have her as we are the foster family not her 'forever family' (that is so cute isn't it?) but I know we are going to fall in love with her and it will be hard to say goodbye. If you are interested in the fostering program or owning a greyhound let me know and I can pass you onto the very capable girls at GAP.

Well, the kids are being very patient with me and not pestering for dinner so I think I should get onto it before they do start. Tacos - Yum!

I promise some art in the next post, I just took some really terrible photos so I need to redo them before I post again.

Have a great week(end),

Lots of Art to Share

2008-07-10T16:23:00.007+08:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks with an unexpected holiday and the start of the school holidays.

This months Mystery Muse on the INKRT Yahoo group matched me with my good friend Julie in Albany. Talk about pressure! I love the work Julie does and I wanted to make something extra special for her. I decided to use my newest favorite toy, my Clover Needle Felting tool. I found a lovely soft knitted hat at Coles (of all places) and got to work with some wool roving. Below is the result.

I couldn't stop at one gift though and decided to send this journal as well. It is the first thing I have made with the scrap aluminium I salvaged from my MIL's place that I mentioned in a previous post. It was a pain to cut but once I had the section ready I attacked it with some Alcohol inks and it was done. I even got to use my Bind It All for the first time. I also sent a bracelet but I didn't take a very good photo.

The canvas below is for Scrap It Flaunt It as part of the Design Team pack for this month. I got some lovely vintage papers, ribbons and embellishments. Once again I was inspired by the canvas I did in a class with Audrey Underwood. I really love this technique. I am working on two other projects but they still need some more work.

I had a lot of fun making this from PJ's Pandora's Box swap tin. It is an Eclispe mint tin rescued from my DH's desk drawer. I made it into a necklace with some ball chain.

Front

Back

Side

Top

Inside Lid

Last of the pictures of the projects I have done lately is a spread from the Tag Board Book round robin on Arty Oz. The theme was Vintage Children.

Now to the unexpected holiday. My DH can still suprise me even after being married almost 15 years. Without any help from me he totally organised a trip to Beedelup in the south west of Western Australia. Just Chris and I. The last time we took a holiday without the kids I was pregnant with Josh and that was 8 years ago. We were to stay in some gorgeous cottages all themed around fairy tale characters. There is Hansel and Gretel, Robin Hood and Maid Marion and Romeo and Juliette. We stayed in Romeo. So cosy, with a HUGE spa and an open fire. How very romantic. We read, ate, slept, ate, watched DVDs and ate some more. I think we must have put on 10 kgs between us. We did actually leave the cottage and had a look at the wonderful Karri forest in the area. One of the places we stopped is called Big Brook Dam. As we approached the water we could see a rainbow through the trees. As we got closer we could see that it actually started in the water not far from where we were. Chris didn't think it would photograph very well but I was so pleased that it did. It was a lovely suprise holiday and I hope it won't take us another 8 years before we get to do it again.

Off to Mandurah to see Chris' Grandma tomorrow so I think I will settle in with my book (a Kathy Reichs novel) and get cosy in bed.

Have a safe and warm weekend,

Ky

Treasures

2008-06-20T15:14:00.003+08:00

Earlier this month we here in WA had a public holiday long weekend. On the Monday we made the trip from Armadale to Toodyay (about and hour and a half) to see the MIL and her husband. She lives just out of the town on 5 lovely acres. They have recently done some renovations and that is where the treasure comes in. In the bathroom there was quite a bit of pressed aluminium which looked a bit much in such a small room so they removed it. It wasn't till I saw it in the rubbish heap that I found this out of course. Next to all this wonderful metal was the metal strapping from some wood which had rusted wonderfully and a lovely piece of verdigrised copper pipe that I know just what I am going to use it for. I am sure Ed (MILs' husband) thinks I am a complete lune hunting through his junk heap! What is worse is that now when we go my 7 year old son goes looking for treasure not only for me but for him too! DH just sighs, the girls can't wait to find out what I am going to do with what we find and the MIL is envious because I get to take it home and she isn't allowed to keep it! I have bought myself a pair of cheap tin snips and have alraedy set to cutting up the metal into pieces for later altering. I gave one piece a go with Alcohol Inks and it does look nice. I attached it to a piece of thick card board for what I hope will be a journal cover. I will post a pic when it is finished.

The next treasure is Harmony, the dog we are looking after for 5 weeks. She is just lovely. So affectionate and gentle, great with all the kids (13 -3) and likes nothing better than a snuggle in front of the fire. She gets on great with our boofy boy Woosha too which is great for both of them as they are usually 'only dogs'. Here is a pic.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Canvas Niche Swap & Dog Sitting

2008-06-13T13:23:00.003+08:00

I finally finished the canvas I was doing for Nikki B, it is already two weeks overdue but she was running late too so that worked for me! The swap was run on Inkredibly RT (which is open for new members BTW! International as well as Australian - great place to do swaps and get inspiration). Here are some pix. It was hard going but I am happy with the end result. I decorated the front and back of the canvas.

I just found these buttons at an opp shop a few days ago and they seem perfect for the canvas.

When WA Salvage was closing down they had some Rub'n'Buff that was going cheap and this is one of the colours - Sapphire - it is done over good old texture paste and has some silver wax rub-on over the top.

At the beginning of the project I ran some silver shim through the Cuttlebug and rubbed the same colour paint as the canvas over the top. It looked quite nice and I really wanted to use it in the piece. It wasn't until the very end though that I found the right way to use it. This is the inside edge of the frame which was looking a little daggy compared to the rest of the canvas.
Just the right place for the remains of the shim. It also appears behind the silver buttons.

As usual with a piece of artwork that is a one off and I have put alot of effort into I will be sad to see it go. The consolation being that I know it is going to a loving and appreciative home.

If you live in the Armadale/Kelmscott area in Perth you will probably know of Cotton Wool, the local craft shop. I had opportunity to go in and have a good look around a couple of weeks ago and unintentionally overheard the owners talking to another customer about the Greyhound As Pets (GAP) program. As we are a dog loving family the conversation peaked my interest. The lady was talking about the fact that there are 20,000 greyhounds a year in Australia, put down because they are no longer race material. What a sad statistic. As we were going to look after a friends greyhound for 5 weeks I was also interested to hear what she said about their nature. They call them the ultimate coach potato. I had always had the impression that they were energetic dogs because they race but that couldn't have been further from the truth. I will post some photos as soon as I have some good ones.

Off to Agility training with Woosha and Jess now.

Have great weekend,

Technique Class

2008-06-03T18:32:00.003+08:00

My first technique class at Scrap It Faunt It in Armadale went really well. The class was on Alcohol Inks and we made three ATCs to start our Technique Books. The girls all did a really good job. Below is the class set up before the ladies arrived and the next is with the tables occupied. Heaps of space to work and room to move.

The first two ATCs were what the ladies made in the class and the third was one that I had done as a sample.

Next month we have Distress Inks and coming up are classes on Beeswax, Melt Pot (UTEE) and Texture Paste.

Well, have a great week and I will hopefully post an update again soon.

Mystery Muse & Suze

2008-05-28T18:12:00.005+08:00

The last week has flown by with so much happening. Friday was by far the busiest with a trip into Perth to the craft show and a trade night at Stamp It. Since I was going to be out for quite a bit of the day I decided to leave a bit later. 1pm saw me walk through the doors. A quick recon up and down the isles and I was set to find the bargains. Well, I didn't find much. It was the first time I had been to the fair since it moved from the Burswood venue to the Convention centre. I don't think I will be bothering again. Apart from the parking or lack there of, I really didn't find that much that interested me. I spent most of my time keeping Joyce company at the Paper Forest stand. It was fun though! While I was there I managed to meet Dawn (and her Mum) and pass on Dawn's Mystery Muse for this month. I was inspired by the canvas class I did with Audrey at Scraptivate to do a smaller version.

The evening found me at Stamp It in Vic Park filling in for one of the ladies from Scrap It Flaunt It who couldn't make it. As I am on the Design Team and teach a few classes they thought I might get the most out of the evening. We were there for a make and take with Suze of Schmooze With Suze fame. What a lovely lady! We learnt all about Melt Pots, UTEE and To Dye For. Below is a photo of the SIFI crew who went. L - R Amy, Bianca, Maureen, me, Jodie and Suze. It was a great night. I learnt heaps (including the fact that I now NEED to get a melt pot!), was taught by a wonderful teacher and has some yummy pizza to top it all off.

Thursday sees me doing the first in a series of technique classes at the shop. We are starting with a folder to keep samples in and Alcohol Inks. I will post the samples after the class has run.

Have a great week,

Kylie

The Funny Things Pets Do

2008-05-19T08:26:00.003+08:00

Wow, two posts in as many days, must be a record. I was prompted to do this post after I read Julie H's most recent post. In it she says that Harvey was found in the bottom of her wardrobe, a place he considered safe from her little overnight visitor.

We have had a similar experience this last week with the MIL's dog, Jessamy. Mum had asked us to look after her for two weeks as she was going to Queensland to visit BIL Matt and his girlfriend Sarah and with her DH away there was no one else to look after the dog. Of course (being the suckers we are) we said 'No problem.' Last time we do that! She is a Shitzu cross, a little white fluffy thing. Our own dog is quite a bit bigger and is an outside dog, Jess is an inside dog, whole different kettle of fish! Always underfoot, whines when you shut her in for the night, jumps up on your leg when you are preparing dinner, not the big independant dog we are used to, not mention that Noah chased her round the house for most of the day which she wasn't impressed with.

On the day Mum is coming to pick her up we notice that she is very skittish, yelping (like a stuck pig!) everytime anyone goes within a foot of her. When we picked her up she screams like we are trying to murder her, something is definetly wrong. Off to the vet we go. $85 later, she has a slipped disk in the lower part of her spine, has had a cortisone injection and a course of tablets, 'If things don't improve within 24 hours take her for an xray.' I am happy to say that we haven't heard anything from Mum so she must be fine.

Now as to finding pets in strange places. DH went out for the morning so I used his office to give the poor girl some peace and quiet and to keep her confimed. Chris opens the door when he comes home and can't find her, I had warned him she was in there. We searched high and low, in every room, under couches, under beds, everywhere, we thought. The pix below are where we found her.

What a pityful sight! And how uncomfortable too! We took pity and left her there till Mum came. She was overjoyed to see Mum when they arrived to pick her up. poor girl, it must have been very stressful for her to go from a quiet house where you are the centre of attention to our noisey house where you are one of eight and last on the food chain. I wonder how she will react to us the next time we see her?

Have a great week everyone,

Where has the time gone?

2008-05-17T15:47:00.003+08:00

It has been weeks since I last updated the blog but I don't seem to have much to show for it. School holidays came and went, DH had his second round of shoulder surgery in there somewhere and I started teaching a few clasess at the local scrap shop (yeah, I know scrapping, but I am trying to convince them that not ALL work you do has to have a purpose or have photos of your family in it). So far I have done a star book class, next up is a technique class where we are going to make a book to keep our work in. The first technique is Alcohol Inks so I had to have a quick refresher myself as it has been awhile since I used them. BTW, the shop is called Scrap It, Flaunt It, it is in Armadale (WA) on William St (same as Centrelink) so go long and have a look round. If there is a particular product or class you want to do just ask and I am sure they will be able to organise something. Along with that there have been swaps and more swaps. These first photos are of the Tag Board Book swap on arty_oz. The first theme is Women.

I searched some of the quote sites for a quote that said just what I wanted and this is what I came up with, I rather like it. ' A beautiful woman delights the eye, a wise woman, the understanding, a pure, the soul' Minna Antrim.

This theme is Birds of a Feather.

Soccer season is back so lots of cold early mornings to look forward to. This morning was no exception except that I had something more than soccer to look forward to. Several months ago Audrey from Scraptivate displayed a canvas in the shop which I just loved. I asked nicely, bugged her, pestered her and finally she put some dates up for the class. The first one was today and I, for one, had a ball. I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing but DH was in the car park with a car load of bored kids so had to leave before I was completely done. I just love it though. Thanks Audrey, it was a great class.

Jess is starting Agility training with Woosha so expect some action photos in posts to come. I think they will both have a great time. Now that Woosha has finished Obedience training with Gina he is 'in the zone' and ready to go to the next level. He had a great time at a recent doggy boot camp that Gina and her daughter Sarah had for him. He had decided that he was alpha dog and Jess' Knight Protector and became very hard to control around other dogs. Now he is much more relaxed and willing to listen to Jess.

Both girls did a beading class up at the Pioneer Village craft shop which I think they will keep up which is very good 'cause there are a couple of pieces on display that I really like, though I may just go do a few classes myself! Josh is going next week to start drawing classes which I hope he will enjoy as he is hard to find non-sport activities for. We just have to find a piano teacher that is willing to come to our house to teach the kids and we will be set.

Well, I have a lasagne to make for dinner tonight so I had better get to it.

Keep warm and dry this week,
Ky

Poppets & Swaps

2008-03-05T18:08:00.006+09:00

Hi Everyone,

It has been a mad few weeks back at school and still another 5 (I think) to go. I have started a couple of new swaps in the past in those weeks and below is what I have done so far for them. The first one is with the arty_oz yahoo group of which I have played in lots of great swaps. This is a tag board book swap. The first book I received had the theme of Wings. The page with swirl was done with texture paste and then foiled. I filled in any gaps with a Krylon Gold Leafing Pen, gives it a really nice motled effect I thought. The background was done by glueing on some old music paper, then adding some gauze over the top and lastly a wash of off white paint and some gold rub-ons.

The next theme was Colouful, bit of a challenge for me! I had recently done a class at Scraptivate with Mel on Poppets (ala Claudine Helmuth). The class was great fun so I decided to give it a go on a smaller canvas. Noah thought he would help too and grabbed my Sharpie and did some squiggles. I managed to cover one but the other was too hard to hide. It was also great fun, I think this is my new fave technique!

These two are ATCs done for Sharon Allen's Pandora's Box tin. I am the last to do something for this so was a bit limited in what I had to work with, a few scraps of paper, some brads and threads was about all. What better technique to use up the paper. Again I had heaps of fun with these two and they came together really quickly.

These last pix are of an Asain themed star book I did for my Mystery Muse this month (or should I say last!) These mini star books are alot of fun to make once you have worked out the size you want it and I loved using my asain stamps again, they are an old favorite.

That's all from me for the time being.

Have a great rest of your week.

ATC Techniques Book

2008-02-20T14:06:00.013+09:00

Several months ago I had a 'brilliant' idea for an ATC book swap - techniques. The whole book would be filled with techniques to use on ATCs. Backgrounds, transfers, paint effects, anything, as long as it could be used on an ATC sized canvas. 27 people signed on with some really great technique ideas. Well, finally, here is the end result. As is usual with these sorts of things and with such a large number, a few fell by the wayside and we ended up with 23 gorgeous ATCs. There were a few hiccups along the way too, such as printing out the instructions before the books were bound and the ATCs went in and we won't mention the coils will we?! Still, I have had some very positive comments so far and hope everyone is pleased with the final product.
So here are the ATCs in the order they appear in the book - all 23!

Enjoy!
Kylie

Wendy Cooper - Fabric/Stitching

Lorri Lennox - Soot Stamping

Jennifer Jones - Dyed Paper Towels

Marie Doody - Masking Tape

Evelyn Watt - Fabric Paper

Jackie Hodgson - Emboss Resist

Lorraine McNeil - Peeled Paint

Michelle Smith - Foil Tape

Peta Lockhart - Credit Card

Ruth Spitzer - Texture Paste

Liz Aitken - Beeswax

Gail Pennycuick - Luna Lights

Meredith Lane - Alcohol Inks

Genevieve Payne - Dress Pattern

Lee-Anne Devlin - Bleached Out Images

Charmaine Black - Watercolour

Alicia Gibbs - Papercasting

Kelsey O'Mullane - Transparency Transfer With Gel Medium

Kylie Mell - Doodling

Felicity Smith - Felting

Nikki Blowers - Textured Alcohol Inks

Dawn Thomas - Potato Chip Patina

Debra James - Glitz Spritz & Adirondack Reinkers

Sniffle, sniff, sniff

2008-01-30T21:26:00.000+09:00

January is a month of birthdays in our family. First is our eldest child, Jess, who turned 13, yep, officially a teenager! She got her ears pierced (her idea) and can't wait to try on all of my earrings! Next is my Mum. We had a lovely BBQ birthday dinner as it is her favorite. Next is Josh our eldest son who turned 7 and lost his two front teeth all in one week! Actually Mum's and Josh's are two days apart and when I was in labour we thought they might even share it but he had other ideas. Below is the card I made for Mum. I had attended a Cuttlebug demo night at Scraptivate the night before so was all enthused to make something with it. Mum really liked it (as she does everything I make her - 'cause she loves me!) which was what I was aiming for. One year I didn't make Mum a hand made card but found her a really nice one from a shop. I thought she might like that better than what I could make . Well! she tore pieces off me for NOT making her a card, so every year I try to do something different and just for her.

Speaking of Mums, we went to visit my MIL in Toodyay (NE of Perth) for a couple of days and she admired the bracelet that Jess was doing (her first commission!) so we sat down to make one for her. It ended up being me who made it as Mum was sure she couldn't do it (I know you can Mum!) and this is the result. Thanks for the props, doesn't it look good against the black?

Jess and Amy signed up to do a couple of kids classes at Scraptivate this holidays which they enjoyed immensely. The two canvases below are from a class they did with Mel today. Don't they look great. I signed up to do the adult version later in February as I really like these Poppet people.

Jess

Amy

Well, I am off to bed. I have been struggling with a runny nose and headache for most of the day (thanks Jess!) and I can hear my bed calling, plus I have a book I want to finish!

Take care,

RAKs, MMs & a Calendar

2008-01-16T18:10:00.000+09:00

Let's start with the calendar. When Dad died my mother's sister came over from Adelaide to help Mum. In conversations we had during her time here I deduced that she would like me to make her a calendar for 2008 like I had for 2007. Now not having had any previous intention to do so I hurried out to the local scrapping store to see what they had in the way of premade calendar bases. (I would have made one up myself with my new Bind-It-All but at that time I wasn't allowed to have it as it was before Christmas and the machine was my pressie - what a mean DH!) Anyway, after finding this chipboard one and several papers I thought she might like I set to work with the goal to get it to her before New Year. Well, it is sitting on my kitchen bench as I type all packaged up ready to go and only a couple of weeks late! I lost my inspiration there for a while but with some help from the ladies at stamp club on Friday I managed to finish it.

I forgot these first few from the previous post so thought that while the kids were happy for a moment that I would get them up.

These first two ATCs are from Julie H. The photos just don't do them justice, all that rust and layers! Love it!

This book is my Mystery Muse gift from a couple of months ago that I still haven't acknowledged (doing right after this!). It is from Dawn the Prawn. So much to look at. All those tags. Another DTP original to treasure!

I received my January Mystery Muse on Friday but I haven't taken a pic yet so keep an eye out in a future post.

Take care till next time,

Kylie

This is going to be a long one I fear!

2008-01-10T16:25:00.000+09:00

After two months of not blogging what do you expect?!

Well, November turned out to be hectic, even though I hoped it wouldn't, after the couple of months preceeding it, I should have known better! The whole of last year was just a blur and I am not (thankfully!) the only one who feels that way. Needless to say everyone who has the same opinion of last year as I do is determined to relax the pace a bit more this year. For me I hope it means more blogging, more art, more family time and more time for God.

We ended the year with what is becoming a traditional week-before-Christmas holiday. This time for the first time we took my Mum with us. I think we figured out that it was her first real holiday since I was a child. Following from previous years we decided to stay in Albany (about 4 hours south of Perth). We stayed in caravan parks the last couple of times so I decided it was time to stay a bit more up market. Silly me forgot to take a pic of the actual place we stayed but it was gorgeous. Rammed eather walls, feature stonework, slate floors and extensive use of wood. There was a huge bath and a double sided slow combustion stove (we actually got to use it too as the temps we very low - in the middle of Summer!)

My children will agree that although the location was great (5 acres and rural blocks all around), the peace and quite refreshing and the shopping and site-seeing fun, what beat all of this hands down were our 'neigh'bours. The girls discovered very early on that there was a miniature horse next door and in the paddock behind us 4 gorgeous horses who soon came to expect a morning pat each day. Unfortunately their feet were in a shocking state and I had to cantact the RSPCA to check them out but they were lovely animals none the less.

Of course we caught up with Julie H whilst we were there and got to meet Archer for the first time which, for Noah, rivalled the horses as the two of them are just the right size for each other. They both came over for dinner in the week and Archer was thoughly spoilt. I hope he has been a good boy for you since then Julie, what with Dawn treating him like a prince that week too?

The property had two magnificent trees which I braved the drizzle to take pix of. The bark on this first one is just amazing. I don't think I have ever seen such amazing colour before.

The second tree was Jess's dream come true! The best climbing tree ever! Just look at those branches!

I did get some time to create though most of it was for others. This first one is a canvas for Helen Franklin as part of a 1-4-1 Christmas swap on arty_oz. I liked it so much that I considered keeping it.

An ATC from my play night with Julie and Dawn (how lucky am I!).

This next pic is of some inchies that were part of a swap on Calling All Stampers. My theme was texture. My inchie is bottom left corner.

This is an ATC for another arty_oz swap. We had to use the Basic Grey Peripheries range of papers. I found it very interesting to note that of the 9 I got back at least half had used the same paper I had chosen.

Yet another ATC for yet another arty_oz swap (they do have some really good themes!) This one is for a texture paste swap. I love this stuff almost as much as beeswax. In fact I am doing another of Kelsey's classes on texture paste next month.

Lastly, a bracelet done for my Mystery Muse for December which she will be receiving on Friday at SAJ's. I had seen the idea on someone's web site and thought to have a go at sometime. Jess got all enthused about beading and I suggested she have a go at something like this. The one she made looked great so I decided to have a go myself. My Mum had a look today and has put her order in for one too! As well as a request that I make a pink one for my Auntie. Just as well they are super quick to make!

Well, I hope you survived that epic! I really need to get to my blog more often but with 5 people fighting for my attention (sometimes all at once) it does become a challenge!

If you are going to SAJ's tomorrow night see you there!

Till next time,

A Month of Upheaval

2007-11-12T15:50:00.000+09:00

Definitely an inside, in front of the aircon type day today. The temp is currently at 38.6 for Perth which means it is about 40 in Armadale. So I guess there isn't any excuse for updating the blog. I have been feeling a bit blog weary the last month, hence the lack of posts! but a quick update is in order I think.

The last two months have seen so much stress and upheaval in my family. First was Dads' heart attacks and death, then my brothers' wedding and lastly my Mums' move. Don't 'they' say that those are the three most stressful events in a persons' life, I guess the one other would be a pregnancy and birth but that ain't gonna happen anytime, soon or otherwise! 4 is enough for me!

Still, the Lord is in control and I can do all things through Him (my mantra!).

I managed to get ahead in an ATC round robin with just two people to go. Here is the second to last.

And the third to last.

This is a canvas for the Pandora's' Box swap. The photocopied image came up heaps lighter than I expected but I was happy with the overall product.

And here is the happy couple. My SIL looked just gorgeous as all brides do. My bro scrubbed up pretty good too I thought!

DD1 has decided that she would like to make Salmon Patties for tea and who am I to refuse a dinner made for me? Off to check the state of the kitchen.

Till next time,

You Asked For It!

2007-10-03T12:18:00.000+08:00

So here he is!

This is how we usually see him, in his office hunched over the laptop.

And this is the front view! Perhaps I should have waited till he had a haircut. My DH's favorite shirts are flannel or as we call them lumberjack shirts. They are the bane of my existance as he wears them almost everywhere. Alright so not work or church but anywhere else. Ok, Dawnie, I saw your dare and raise you one of your own!

Now for something alot prettier than those last two pix! My Aunt is very sick with cancer and I wanted to make her something to brighten her day. I do have an ulterior motive. The last card I sent her was my version of one I saw on a gallery somewhere and she went on about how wonderful it was and how clever I was with placement and such. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a copy so now she will have a 100% original. It is ATC sized.

This round of the Pandora's Box swap has me struggling. Apart from the fact that, since we are at the tail end of the swap, the contents of the box which we all have to work with is getting slim I just don't seem to be able to find the right thing to do. This is the first thing I did but since it is tiny I wanted to do something else too. I am working on a wax collage canvas and we will see how it turns out. Sorry about the shocking photobut I can't be bothered to take another! Got to get upo and organise lunch for us all in a mo so want to get this finished before I do.

DH is away for 5 days starting tomorrow so I am looking forward to some serious art time in the evenings over the weekend. I am hoping to finish my inchies and the wax collage canvas and maybe my Technique book ATCs too.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Art & Other Stuff

2007-10-02T14:12:00.000+08:00

Let's start with the 'other stuff'.

These first few pix were taken by my 12 and 11 year old daughters. They had a good model don't you think, very co-operative! You can see quite clearly how well Noah's nose has healed from when he split it open a few months ago.

I love pansies and these colours are just gorgeous.

Now to introduce a new member of our family - Woosha. We inherited him from my BIL when he went to live in QLD. We were only meant to keep him till the RSPCA had room for him but he has wormed his way into our hearts and lives and we have decided to keep him. If the BIL ever wants him back I think he will have a fight on his hands! (consider yourself warned Matt!) He is getting a bit fat as I think the kids keep slipping him treats. He looks very noble in this pic don't you think? We really couldn't have a better dog. He is very obedient and great with the kids, even Noah who, at 2, thinks playing with a dog means chasing him round the garden. Bit unfortunate in a Dockers household to have an ex-Eagles named dog but he is a bit old to change it.

And now for my close up!

Ok, to the art part!

This ATC was supposed to be for a swap but I loved it so much that I kept it! Always a pitfall when creating art for others.

This one did make it into the swap. The idea was to make a couple of ATCs for someone who was needing a pick-me-up. It is all going into a decorated tin and being called a tin of wishes. Just a lovely idea.

I feel so bad. This is another one that didn't make it. I was just messing around cause I was feeling uninspired so began with a couple of SU background stamps in two different TH ink colours. That looked boring so I decided to really mix it up and added the red splotches by dabbing on some Poinsettia Red Gold from the Star Burst Stains range - got to get me some more of those! Went hunting for a pic to match, some appropriate wording, bit of black around the edges and shazam! it is done.

Another ATC for SGATC round robin. This one is for Genevieve Payne who's theme is Mythical Creatures. This is as close as I could get.

Lastly a Mystery Muse gift. I picked up a collage book at Spotlight last week and saw a simliar project and wanted to do it straight away and, since I was needing to do something for my MM match, what better project. I am sending it off tomorrow. I used some more of the shellac that Dad gave me. Stinky but cool stuff. I have had it for a while and just never got round to using it. The day Dad went into hospital I used it for the first time but things were so rushed and hectic that day and the next that I didn't get to tell him that I had finally used it.

I am working on some inchies for yet another swap (glutton or what!) but am not getting too far. I thought, as they were so small, that I would knock them over quickly. They have turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected. Also getting some progress on ATCs for the Technique book I am hosting. Lots of repetition now and then I should be finished - whew!

Have a great week everyone,

In Loving Memory

2007-09-20T09:18:00.000+08:00

29th August 1946 - 19th September 2007

Taking a minute to add some art.

2007-09-07T08:48:00.000+08:00

I've had an eventful past few weeks, which is why I haven't done a thing with the blog for a while. You may remember I told you all about my youngest and his unscheduled trip to the local ER to take care of his 'bump' on the nose. Well, the same night my dad had a heart attack. Since then I have had my hands full helping mum with what ever needed doing, not very condusive to creating art.

My brother has also brought forward his wedding date so who was asked to do 100 invites in two weeks? You guessed it - me! Thanks goodness my future SIL is easy to please!

Once again I was inspired by Julie H's blog and a gorgeous necklace she made with the pendant being the handle part of a spoon. For some time I have had a project in the works for the kids and I to try. It will be a wind chime once all the parts are assembled but at the moment it is just a jumble of knives, forks and spoons. The pic below is a close up of some of the handles, I love the scrolly ones. Still have to find a few more but I think I am going to have to go further afield as the opp shops local to me obviously know how much I want them because they charge like a wounded bull!

It was my birthday last month and for it I received a handmade bookmark from my eldest daughter. Do you think she has caught on that I like rusty things?! She is the first one to jump out in a carpark and start searching for rusty bottle caps or nails closely followed by two of her other siblings I might add! Got them well trained haven't I!

These next photos are just to add more eye candy to the post. I did this work at least a year ago. The first is a page from a calendar swap for Calling All Stampers, a WA based stamping yahoo group, some great talent from all over the world in this group as was evident by the pages in the calendar. The crown is actually a pink foam die cut from KMart that I painted with rust medium, looks a heap better don't you think?!

This box was done for a swap that didn't go ahead on the INKredibly RT yahoo group. Another lot of very talented ladies on this group too. I am glad in a way because I was very happy with how it turned out so now I get to keep it!

Box with out the lid on.

A page from an Asian deco swap also on INKRT. I really enjoy this theme in my art and was very happy with the book that finally came back, it was one of those swaps that took ages to finish.

This is the first altered board book that I did. Vintage themed obviously and so much fun to do. I went a bit wild with the sanding on the lady image on the front cover, I sanded off one of her eyes!

I am hoping to make it to tonights' SAJ's as I have missed the last few with DH being away. I am hanging out to catch up with everyone, seems like an age since I have.

Have a safe and creative weekend everyone,

Not much happening ...

2007-08-20T14:37:00.000+08:00

Another school week begins but that is about it today, boring huh? Well to brighten up things a little how about some pix from last weeks' arty efforts and the mail. I received quite a few goodies.

Starting with what I got done, though this wasn't done last week, I only got it photographed last week, it was at it's other owners' house! This hanging was a joint effort between my good friend Charmaine and I for a shop which has recently closed. We had so much fun the evening that we played with the Collections little houses that we decided to make them into a little village.

I made this box to house a Mystery Muse pressie for my partner for July (or was it August?). It is on it's way to her right now, I hope she likes it, I know her taste is a little different to mine. The pic below this one is what is in the box. I dug out a plain papier mache box to send it in but couldn't just leave it at that, I had to decorate it.

This project was inspired by the Captured Fairies that Lisa Volrath makes which are just gorgeous. I would love to do one of her kits but they go so fast on her Etsy site and I don't think she sends to Australia anymore, too many mail issues, which I can understand, had my fair share too!
This is my first ATC from the SGATC round robin, the theme was working on canvas. I love using canvas myself but am always on the lookout for new ways to use it. This is from the Paper Pixie, Nikki Blowers.

This next is from my Mystery Muse. A little spiral bound altered note book, just love it.

The second of the cxanvas ATCs for the round robin. This one from Gen Payne. Love it, love it, love it! I have that Cuttlebug die so I can add yet another thing to do with it. Well, when I get to use it anyway! It is sitting in it's box until Saturday when my DH will let me open it. It is my birthday present and even though it has been in my house for some weeks I am not allowed to open and use them till Saturday, he is cruel isn't he! (Loves ya hon!)

This from the Calling All Stampers, Winner Takes All comp. Each month someone is chose as the lucky winner and the rest of the group send her an ATC. This is all the way from Texas by Kim Mckinney. The pic is a bit washed out which is a pity because that background is just yummy. Darker and shimmery. Definetly have to ask how it was done.

Well, that is it for another day. Soccer practice tonight and maybe some time in the 'craft room' since DH is away. Unbeliveably I have only one project to work on so I may even get time for a play, though the last time I said that I ended up in Armadale ER with Noah! He was jumping into a pile of clothes that were sitting in front of an old TV and, you guessed it, he had a bit too much bounce and went straight into the TV. Split his nose right down the middle, blood everywhere. It looks great now but a week and a half ago he had black bruises and a puffy nose, He wouldn't stand still long enough for a photo but I think he will have a scar for a while to remind us.

Take care everyone,

More Art Photos

2007-08-07T15:29:00.000+08:00

What a glorious weekend we had in Perth! After a week (maybe more!) of rain and over cast days the sun came out.

Saturday was spent being a lazy lizard soaking up the sun and defrosting my bones, watching the kids play outside. Sunday, after church, we spent planting all the seedlings and plants we bought the day before. DH was away on a fishing weekend with his brothers and dad so we decided to add to our animal family as well by getting some aquatic snails to keep our goldfish company and looking at all the wonderful fish and birds at a local pet store.

I also spent some time looking through my photos and finding some art ones that I hadn't posted.

The first 3 are of a dimensional frame I decorated for a good friend. Heehee, I just noticed that you can see the camera in the first shot. Can you tell I like rusty things?

These were done as part of the Pandora's Box swap I am doing.

These two pages were for an altered board book swap.

This was a Mystery Muse gift for someone at a stamp camp in Busselton I went to recently. I hadn't quite finished it when camp started, it needed that one thing more, so I decided to wait to see what turned up. Well, the bottle is filled with Geograph Bay sand and the wire wrapped around the bottle was picked up in the carpark in front of the salvage yard that we raided. The funny thing was that the person who it was for was with me when I picked it up.

These next 4 ATCs were made at a scrap night I went to (I was desperate for some 'me' time, what can I say!)

This one was a RAK.

Another 2 sets of pages from the Altered Board Book Swap.

I hope you enjoyed all that art, I think it will be the last for a while, I need to make more before I can post more!

Keep dry,
Ky

Has it really been two weeks?!

2007-08-02T14:39:00.000+08:00

I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy two weeks ago and am still recovering which is why it has been pretty quite here of late. I hope everyone else is managing to avoid it. I haven't had three days in bed since this time last year when I had pnuemonia, I am glad it wasn't that bad this time round.

Being unwell must have a good effect on me (or else it is all the recovery time!) I have managed to finish a couple of swaps and even have a play.

Here is something that is going into the post next week as part of a Diva pressie. It is a blatant rip off of a project I saw on the Hero Arts site but I really liked it and wanted to do something similar before using my own ideas.

This is one of the swaps I have finished, an all wax piece that I am rather pleased with. Kelsey, you really got me hooked on this wax stuff! I am using it all the time, in fact I have to stop myself from using it in all the projects I have going! In the pages that are going to the swap the lace and the buttons are changed around which looks heaps better.

This photo is so bad but I am too lazy to get up and take another one. It means opening the envelope again too so that is enough justification for me! This is the finished product for the rusted metal tape ATCs I posted earlier. I didn't want to hide the gorgeous background so decided to just add as little as possible.

This is another ATC for a swap.

Until recently I was a member of a design team for a local shop (it is now closing down). Here are a few ATCs I made for them.

I heard a rumour that someone may be opening a shop in Armadale. I hope it is more than that as the nearest place with anything at all useful is 20 minutes away. Tell a lie, we have a good art shop just up the road from me but she has very limited stock for a paper artist more painting related stock. It would be great to have a paper shop closer, then again it might be dangerous for the bank account!

DH is away at the moment so that means an evening of art for me (nothing on TV!). I am doing a fat book right now and am in the planning stages. I wanted to get my other projects out of the way so I can make a real mess and not have to clear it up. I mentioned to DH the other day after I had finished clearing up how tidy everything was and I was finding it hard to get any creativity flowing. I guess I need a mess to be arty!

Have a great Thursday everyone,

Inspired to share.

2007-07-16T20:40:00.000+08:00

Whilst catching up on some friends blogs I was inspired to share with you some of my fave pix from the last few months. I went through the photos we have taken today so that I can take them to be printed out, something I do every few months for our family as some don't have computers so we can't share our pix that way. It is a nice thing to do actually because it is like re-living the moment. I love my digital camera, I can take as many photos as I like and not have to worry about processing but also not have to worry about sharing the film with what hubby wants to take. This first lot were taken the same day as the shot behind my header (the sunset). That was a really great day. We joined some friends for an evening at the beach and were blessed with an awesome sunset, a wedding, seagulls, pelicans, and best of all, happy kids. This chap was just begging to have his photo taken.

These two came soaring in so close I thought they were going to crash! The lights were on a jetty where there were several people fishing so I expect they came in hope of a free feed! I don't think I have ever been as close to one before.

I managed to get right under the light pole before this one flew away.

The afore-mentioned awesome sunset. I think I should have loaded it bigger.

Stay tuned for more pix, I might even squeeze in some arty ones too.

Rust, RAKs & Swaps

2007-07-06T14:34:00.000+08:00

Let's start with RAKs. This arrived in my post box last week from the lovely Julie H in Albany. There is so much to look at in such a small space (it is an ATC - Artist Trading Card for the uninitiated). Thanks Julie for sending it to me, you know I love your work (and you!) so anything that arrives from you is a treasure and will be treated as such.

Something that will appeal to Julie as well as several other people I can think of!, is this next pic. I am in a metal ATC swap so decided I would send in something rusty. I used the Chatsworth Rusting Mediums. It is a bit hard to see from the size of the pic but the first ATC has the most fantastic 'rusty' shades. It seems a shame to use it. It reminds me of some pressed tin sheets that I have seen in the salvage yard (must get back there one of these days but I always seem to not only spend too much money but get very dusty and dirty too!).

The canvas below is the first step in a 1 on 1 swap I am doing with a friend. I missed out on doing a canvas round robin earlier in the year because we were moving house. I was very impressed with the results I saw so was disappointed again not to have been sharing the fun, hence the 1 on 1. What do you think of the colour? It is a light teal green kind of colour. I found it years ago in craft shop bargain bin, it is called Patio Paint I think. At the time I just bought it cause it was cheap and the colour was ok, now I wish I had looked for more 'cause I am using it all up!

More on swaps. This is the final result of the mini canvases I posted earlier. I decided to connect them all together instead of making them a wall hanging as I had previously thought.

And last of all the letter 'G' for yet another swap, this one an Alphabet Book. It is due at the end of the month but we have had several months to work on them. I thought it about time I finished them and sent them in. I really want to get things in early the rest of the year. It is never my intention to be just on time or even late but inspiration escapes me until a week before then it is panic stations to get the project finished. Not anymore! I am going to chase inspiartion down and make it share!

My DH is at home this time so I am going to SAJ's tonight - yay! Lots of art, chat and drooling! (over the art!) Can't wait!

See you there,

I don't do cute but ...

2007-07-06T14:23:00.000+08:00

How cute are these two! My sons Joshua - 6.5 (on right) and Noah 2, in their Sunday best. As soon as I saw the little knitted vest and skivvy set I just had to get them for my littlest man. I knew he would look gorgeous.

While I am still on the subject, I made this card and tag set for a neighbour who has just had a little boy. I knew there was a reason I don't do cute, it was so hard! I love it, don't get me wrong, I can ooh and ahh over a cute card as well as anyone but to actually DO one is like pulling teeth for me. Just as well I don't have too many friends who are pregnant!

I have some more uploading of pix to do today while Noah is asleep so I hope he has a nice long one. Stay tuned.

Wax on, Wax off!

2007-06-30T19:22:00.000+08:00

How was your Saturday? Mine started with helping to get the kids ready for an 8:30am soccer game! Thankfully it wasn't as cold this morning as previous Saturdays have been AND it wasn't raining, last week we all got soaked. Both teams got absolutely thrashed but they had fun anyway.

While DH was out with the soccer pros I was at home with DD2 and DS2 doing the whirlwind cleanup thing. Happens every couple of months at our house and usually occurs when mum is sick of all the junk around the place! After much sweeping, furniture moving, book rearranging and general clearing up and out, we have a much tidier house, wonder how long that will last for?!

As mentioned last night I got down and dirty with some bees wax today. Fun! My newset favorite! I did a class a couple of weeks ago with Kelsey at Scraptivate in Perth (WA) and fell in love. I found out that Lincraft had the Clover mini quilting irons, which we had used in the class, on super special so off to Carousel I raced the next day to get one. It is so easy to use and I have only burnt myself once (that wax gets hot you know!) Here are some pix of what I did.

These were done for a swap I am in called Pandora's Box. The idea is we each make up a tin of bits and pieces, they get sent round to all the players in a round robin style and we make whatever we like with the contents, only adding a minimum from our own stashes. I have one more in the theme but haven't loaded the pic to the puter yet. This is such a fun swap. i thought it would be a bit too much of a challenge but it is very freeing, being able to do what you like with a minimum of boundaries. I can use any technique I like as long as I take from the contents of the tin (great idea Nikki!)

Thanks, Dawn, for my very first comment and such a nice one too! See you next week I hope!

G'night everyone,

2007-06-29T20:44:00.001+08:00

Ok, so I had a couple of hours, while the kids were watching a movie, to have a play with the basic look of the page, what do you think? Tina, Rob, do you remember this photo? (yes, I took it!) This was another beautiful Western Australian Summer sunset. Taken at Woodman Point south of Fremantle, after a great afternoon with friends. Now what else can I do here. Gotta find myself a tutorial or better yet a Dummies Guide! I think I will leave that for another day though. Time to get waxing! (the arty ones amongst you, I hope, will know what that means - show you the results tomorrow!)

Have a good night everyone,
Ky

This Whole Blog Thing!

2007-06-29T18:48:00.000+08:00

My first post, how scary!

What to say? Should it be insightful? Friendly? Exciting? Will my spelling be up to scratch? Not to mention my grammar (these things matter to a Mum homeschooling 3 of her 4 children!)

I guess the best thing to say is WELCOME!

The scariest thing about this whole blog thing for me is sharing my life, my faith and my work with anyone who wants to look. But that is why I decided to take the plunge and follow so many of those who I admire, to let you all know what I am upto, what I have learned.

So buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Kylie