Prehistoric cuteness

I'm trying my hand at squishy dinosaurs. Don't know if there'd be a market for them, just thought I'd try them out for fun - I know, got to get a life! What do you think? They're about as far from my wirewrapped pendants as you can get!

Vietnam - We made it back alive!

Well, we've been back from our holiday in Viet Nam for a couple of weeks now, but I've only just now had enough time to go back and look at the photos and share them with my blog.

What I want to tell the world is 'GO NOW'. Viet Nam is still charming, with friendly people and just enough Westerner comforts to make it comfortable, but not fake. But there are some massive developments in progress, especially in Nha Trang (a seaside resort), and I was very sad to see it happening.

It's hard to take a photo that doesn't tell a story in Viet Nam. It is a photographer's dream. However, these photos are my family, and not so much the place. But we went together, Mum and Dad, me and Brett, and that in itself was pretty amazing.

Three goofies - Mum, me and Brett (yes, he's the one with the big-arse camera that just says 'I'm a tourist, steal me!'. That was when the pickpocketers weren't targetting the man carrying a lonely planet guide around in his hand. Yes, that was my father. Hmm, spot the tourists.

This is how life looks when you're on a train for 14 hours and the beer runs out. However, as the beer costs less than $1, and the beer cart finally came back down our end of the train, that frown quickly turned upside down.

We ate a lot of icecream. And it was so pretty! And cheap! And mum and dad behaved themselves when they were full of creamy goodness, so bring it on!

I, on the other hand, quite enjoyed the fact that pina colada's were about the equivalent of $3, AND the coconut milk was fresh and creamy and delicious....! Mmmmmm, I like da pina colada.......

You'd think from looking at this that all we did was eat! Well, actually, that's probably true! Well, we did a bit of sight-seeing to. But the food was amazing! Didn't try the dog though. Next time.

Synergy

Well, that wild chick firechicktick sent me some of her gorgeous fused glass cabs to wrap, and I wrapped and I wrapped until my little fingers were all bleeding and numb! That's dedication, that is! (or stupidity, you decide!)

But I've FINALLY got them done! Keep your eyes peeled on her website and mine to see how our collaboration turned out. More coming soon.....

http://www.firechicktick.etsy.com/

http://www.rocknwrap.etsy.com/

Here's a sampler:

Trying an Aussie site

Well, I've finally managed to upload two pendants on Madeit

It was a damned sight more difficult than Etsy, and I wish my sales would take off there, but I'm looking into other avenues closer to home (madeit.com.au is an Aussie site). But the sheer painfulness of putting items up on madeit will keep me faithful to my first love Etsy! Plus I lost $3 listing fee because I put in $446 instead of $46 as the sale price, and the site DOESN'T LET YOU EDIT IT! That's right, and you can't edit your categories either. Hmmm.

I love you Etsy! Now make me rich, damn you!

Here are the two pendants that I put up on madeit.com.au

DAY OF THE BIRDS

We have bird feeder out on the deck and we put seed out for the native birds. But this weekend............dah, dah daaaaaaaah.......... it was a little TOO exciting!

First one sulphur-crested cockatoo came and squawked a little, so we put some seed out.

Then another came...........

And another (this cheeky beggar appeared upside-down from the roof!)........not that we couldn't hear him coming - clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk - not the daintiest of birds. No, we don't have to be dainty, we've got beaks that'll take your finger off. Just try us! Go on, wave your finger at us and say 'Pretty Polly'!
We're wishing that we'd reinforced the chains that hold the birdfeeder to the deck.

*SWINGING BACK AND FORTH*

But this is not the end of it......oh no! Now the whole flock arrives! Quick, put out some more seed before they eat the deck (or the camera-wielder)! Cockatoos are reknowned for stripping wood in no time flat!

Even the cats didn't stick around after the first two arrived. Ran away to hide under the bed. And you said they don't have any brains, Mum! HAH!

At one point, there were 12 cockatoos fighting for seed on the deck. I must say that I prefer to see them ONE AT A TIME. From behind a screen door. Or from under the bed with the cats.

Spotlight on SHINE!

Featuring another stone that I got dad to buy for me on Ebay. Once again, I had to very firmly inform him that it was NOT disappearing into his collection box.

Isn't this just the coolest stone ever!? It's called Pulsite, and is a combo of lots of different metals - silver, copper, iron, magnesium, nickel and zinc.

I can never get over how very very amazing nature can be.

I've wirewrapped the pendant in sterling silver to match the silver sheen on the top of the cabochon.

OMG there's a durian in the house!

For my beautiful husband's birthday, my folks gave him a day at a Vietnamese cooking school. Last night, he decided to show off his prowess for our guests. And it was absolutely delicious!

However, when one of our guests decided she was going to venture into the kitchen to have a go, look at what happened! See how much attention our guest pays to his threatening manner! Ooh, such a dufus!

He also brought home a durian from the shops. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Why did you buy that?

Him: Because it was there.

Me: What are you going to do with it?

Him: I dunno, make icecream or something.

Me: You remember when we went to Singapore, durians were banned in the hotels?

Him: Yes.

Me: When is bin night?

Him: *no response*

Me: I'm going to stay with my parents until bin night.

The durian is still sitting ominously downstairs in its plastic bag.
It can't be as bad as all that! Can it?

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

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.