Rose Stamping

This stamp set is so pretty - sigh! It's "A Rose is a Rose" from Stampin Up.

That's all, I just enjoy looking at it...

What I did when I was on hold to Optus

I had a go at calling Optus today - they provide our internet (so that makes them pretty good friends). Spent a bit too long on hold though...
















While I was on hold, I :

baked a loaf of bread...
















gathered up all the old business envelopes in the house and trimmed them up to make an art journal with recycled pages...













and I guess I got a bit bored too...



But the end result was, I finally got onto a guy who was professional and helpful, and we now have MORE internet goodness each month, and its a bit CHEAPER.

What goes on when we're not home...

It's my day off today, so I get to spy on the daytime operations of the house.

Mr Burns is keeping eye on Sam, the neighbour cat, who is sitting cheekily close to our back door. Good to know the Cat Army are standing by!

I successfully lobby the Prime Minister

I sent a tweet this morning (second time only using Twitter - the first time was a test message). I sent a heart-felt message to the PM, asking her to please NOT schedule the election on Stamp Club day. It's a busy day, you see, and some of my stamping ladies might get rather tired. Plus, I rather like working at the polling booth, or maybe selling cakes at a cake stall. Getting involved, you know.

So I asked the PM to please consider the timing. The Twitter results speak for themselves...

Thanks, Jules!

Finally painted my iPad cover

Well, it seems I have a cheer squad - people have been asking me when I was going to paint that iPad cover. Here it is, unpainted:









And here it is now - painted in full, glorious colours, with Golden paints (they are lovely for this application).















And here, as a treat, is a closeup. See how the brushstrokes and missed bits add ... character? Hmm, perhaps we ought to enjoy the whole thing a bit more.

Anyway, I am confident that I have the best iPad cover in this part of the South Eastern suburbs. I'm willing to paint more if anyone asks - my rates are very reasonable!

Those things I've been recommending...

Lately I've recommended a bunch of things to a bunch of people. Here's the appropriate follow up:

The great bread book is by Jim Lahey. Here's a link for buying it locally.

The great cake book is by Shirley O Corriher. Here's a link to that one.

The awesome cookbook shop near work is Books for Cooks.

Cheap gadgets, including iPod and iPad covers, come from Deal Extreme. My bike computer that didn't work came from there, but so did my smart and excellent iPad cover. Both v. cheap.

The fantastic author you will enjoy is Connie Willis.

And I'm pretty sure there was one more, but I can't remember right now. Illustration: The cow candle now.

Our new service

A lot of people enjoy buying decorative candles, but feel bad about burning them. My family is offering you a special service. We will take your candles off you, and burn them without fear or favour. It's a good deal.





Here is the decoration from yesterday's dinner table - a cow and a lighthouse.

Tea and Stamping

Tea and stamping ... it's a nice Saturday afternoon activity. But my friend Gail combined them brilliantly with this (you'll have to go and look at the link). It's a coffee mug with a very smart design; and she lifted the design, and recreated it in the card. We all thought it was fabulous!

So I had a look at my china ... surely I can play that game too.




Here's an effort. I haven't put the plate away yet, because I'm not there yet. But I had to post this, because Lizzie described a project she was going to have a go at, and it sounds dangerously similar (so I thought I'd get in first).

Pretty China Elephant

Oh boy, my regular shipment of junk arrived!

Another trash and treasure sale - this time a china elephant came home. I thought it was pretty "retro kitsch". That's cuteness and nostalgia rolled into one!

Grown Up Holiday Craft

Well, not to be outdone by my annoyingly clever daughter, I've done some holiday craft too. This pencil case used to be black and white. A lick of paint, and there you go. I was using Golden paints (Golden the brand, that is) and they were lovely - a bit transparent, so whenever I went over the black, it disappeared and looked like I was doing a nice job.






Here it is close up, so you can admire the, ahem, brushstrokes.

We use this pencil case to store our 3D glasses between movies. Yes! A new thing that needs a Cosy! Crafty people be pleased!








This all leads up to today's project (if I get around to it)... the iPad cover! It's striking black and white (neoprene, not fabric, but I think it will be similar to paint). Looks nice now, but ... I just have to colour it in!

Holiday Craft

It's school holiday time again, and Catriona is up to her old tricks. Since she was old enough to hold a pair of scissors, she's done craft projects in the holidays. But I never have any luck in getting her to do what I think she should do - she definitely drives it all.

This time she picked a project from a crafty library book, and we had a shopping trip to buy small amounts of fleece fabric, and a zip. After five solid hours, here's Pursival! It was her first zip too...