Thursday, August 30, 2007

Hey I've been featured! And customs took my soap :(

Thursday, August 30, 2007
It's always exciting when someone else decides to promote your work! Killer krafts is featuring my multi-coloured jade bracelet on her blog! Check it out! http://killerkrafts.blogspot.com/2007/08/jade.html

Now onto customs. I know they protect our borders and everything but I'm very cross because they decided that they wanted my beautiful soap that I had ordered from soap. I only got 4 of my 7 soaps that I had bought, so the transaction has ended up not as good value, but of course that's not soap's fault! Mind you, if I'm willing to wait 60 days and fork out $43.50, I can have my taken soaps back. I'm sure it doesn't cost that much to nuke a soap! Extortionist bastards!

Oh well, at least my 'stroke me' bar of soap, which is my absolute-would-pay-the-extortionist-quarantine-fee-to-get-it-back-favourite! Small mercies, right? *sniff*

I want my soap. I feel unclean without it.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Muppet down under

Sunday, August 26, 2007
My muppet from Tel Aviv has arrived and on our first day of sunshine after a week of long-awaited rain, I toddled outside into the garden to find him enjoying the beautiful wattle flowers that are in bloom (a little presumptuous they are too - it's not even spring yet!).

Because I will be confining him to the inside by his mobile attachment, I allowed him this one merry jaunt outside. But don't fret, he'll love it inside! I'll put him near the window so that he can look out and everything!

If you'd like your own mischevious muppet to grace your home, raisinlike at Etsy will be sure to help you out! Be careful though - I think that they're addictive. Like sock animals.


Etsy is providing me with a great deal of fun and empty pockets! If you haven't heard about this great site, pop over and take a look! You will be glad you did!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Wrenched from his warm hands!

Saturday, August 25, 2007



Well, it's been a little while since I made anything as life has been fairly hectic. I went down to Sydney on the weekend for a voice competition, and life hasn't slowed since then.

The good news is is that mum and dad came to visit, and dad brought me more stones! I get him to do most of my Ebay bidding, as he's retired and appears to be permanently attached to the computer. So I use this to my advantage! It does mean that I have to wait until they do the big trek down to us to get the majority of my cabochons though. And dad starts to get a bit handsy about the cabs that he's supposed to have bought for me! They often disappear into his own collection.

However, this one I wrenched kicking and screaming from his warm hands! And I knew it would be an absolute stunner.

Presenting: The prettiest piece of pink lepidolite that you ever did see, hand-wrapped in sterling silver wire. It's long and slender, and so so so elegant.

Hmm, I wonder what else he's 'put away'?

Monday, August 13, 2007

One more step towards certifiable Crazy Cat Ladyhood!

Monday, August 13, 2007


Well, Reggie the sock cat arrived today and after an initial period of disorientation, he seems to be fitting in quite nicely! He appears to be very friendly, and Tinker the ditsy Devon has decided that he'll do fine! The other cat, Simba, on the other hand, is not quite so sure. In fact, she's conspicuously absent. But don't worry, friends, she'll come around.




If you'd like a 'Reggie' of your very own, I'm sure that uppitywomandesigns would be more than happy to provide you with your own bundle of joy! For those amongst us who aren't crazy cat ladies, she even has sock dogs and bunnies!

Go on, you know you want to!

'A house without a sock animal is a sad house indeed' - from one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Crikey, she's a beauty!

Thursday, August 9, 2007
This is a beautiful and unusual piece of Australiana: a piece of Yowah nut opal.

Yowah nut opal comes from one place - Yowah in outback australia, and is actually a hollow ironstone boulder with an opal matrix.

The opal can be mixed in with black or red ironstone, vitrified clay or silicated sandstone to form the most beautiful patterns and pictures. There are some truly beautiful picture stones that have the look of aboriginal paintings The reaction of most people when seeing these stones is, I didn't know opal could be like this, its beautiful!

So now you know! I loved this stone so much that I attempted my first combo wrap - both sterling silver and gold-filled wire. I think that it was very, very, very, very good choice! So happy with this piece!

Click on the picture if you are interested in seeing the absolutely fantastically detailed 'picture' on the stone up close and personal.

I decided to suspend the stone through a hole that had been drilled from left to right (intended for a thong or chain). This means that the stone swings free at the bottom, and I just love that!

Bunch of lunatics for hire



Well, we've just come back from the Gold Coast Eisteddfod, and the choir didn't get anything this year! I'm severely annoyed because they sang VERY WELL, even to my never-quite-satisfied ears, and though that should be reward in itself, it is always galling to come home without a trophy, especially as we have won (sometimes deservedly, sometimes not) in the past.

And it's not as though they didn't deserve to get a place! The adjudicator gave the place trophies to choirs who pushed their voices, shouted, or just simply sang out of tune! Now to endorse this sort of singing is just asking for vocal problems (probably nodules), and to advocate a 'white noise' type of sound (clear straight tone) over a full, rich sound is just plain wrong to my ears. But.........every adjudicator has different criteria. Some like to see movement, even at the expense of the singing. Others will sacrifice tone for the sake of word enunciation. This one wanted light and shade of sound, even at the expense of vocal quality and tonality. Me, you start by singing the right notes, and then build the rest on from there. No wonder there are so many burnt-out singers out there if this is what the 'Australian Choral Sound' is!

Oh well, eisteddfods are the opinions are one person. Not much you can do about that. The kids felt very good about themselves after they sang, and that's what counts! And they had a number of people (even conductors of other choirs) go out of their way to tell us that we were 'robbed'. So there!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Peachy-orangy lace

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

My latest pendant is made of Java Lace Agate from Queensland, Australia and is wrapped is sterling silver. This cab is a lovely, lovely colour, unlike any that I've seen from Indonesia, and the sealed pocket of quartz crystals just makes it that bit more special.

I find this design so much more difficult to balance up around the stone than I do the cage technique. I tend to waste A LOT of silver each time I try this design because when it doesn't work, I snip it off and start afresh and the old wire goes in the bin (oh that hurts to say - all that precious metal down the drain). But it was worth it, I think!

Sunday, August 5, 2007

You're not getting it!

Sunday, August 5, 2007


I made this last week, got all ready to list it on Etsy tonight, but I just can't bear to part with it! I had a great deal of disappointment today when I lost everything I bid for on Ebay, so I deserve something nice!

I went to the Ipswich rock and gem show yesterday, and left with one cabochon. ONE! There just doesn't seem to be many people out there in Australia who cut cabs. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'd love to find someone to source stones from locally! I hate having to deal with Ebay, but it's the only place to get stones of any diversity!

Ok, rant over.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Poke-a-belly!

Saturday, August 4, 2007



Meet Tinker, the stupidest but most adorable Devon Rex in the world. She will happily lie on you upside down, belly exposed, for hours! She cracks me up when she not seriously p***ing me off!

What does this button do.......oh!!!


Well, I've got a blog, and now I have to learn how to use it!

I really want to keep a record of my pendant-making, so let's see if I can figure out how to put a picture on.......

Hooray!

This is my latest pendant, made from a ceramic tile I bought on Etsy from ArtfulMosaicsByDana. I'm so pleased with him, he's unlike what I normally do. He's got lots of interest too, but no-one wants to give him a home yet. I admit, I'll be sorry when I have to send him away!

Well, I think this will do for a start, see you soon! Over and out.
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