The Grape Menace

I just have to warn you ... it's GRAPE SEASON here in Australia! You know what that means. Delicious, sweet grapes to snack on while you watch all the Pixar movies in order of release (it's a nice thing to do on a hot day). Well, yes, it does mean that, but it also means the start of the DANGERS of GRAPE SEASON!

I found this glossy and expensively printed card at a local supermarket. And I just had to warn you.

So, please, secure your grape bag, folks. Prevent those loose grapes from falling out. And if you do happen to catch a glimpse of any such loose grapes, please do alert the G.R.A.P.E* Squad, who are standing by at all times.

* That's "Get Rid of All Perilous Edibles".

A big bike ride

The Ride for Home was today - that's a charity bike event, where the Eastlink tollway is closed to all traffic, all morning. Jeff and I both went in it, and it was fabulous!

We were worried about terrible weather - the forecast was heavy rain. And just for laughs, the Department of Primary Industries warned us about a plague of locusts that may descend.

And it turned out ... the rain held off all day, and conditions were near-perfect (no wind, not too sunny or hot, just smooth pedalling all the way.

We rode 35km (that's the shorter ride), and the grand finale was a screaming zoom through two tunnels! Turns out a 1 in 20 grade means you career down at great speed, but it's a tad of work getting back up. No problem for a

many-geared bike though, so I'm not complaining.

Check it out, I got to stand at the Smarties!

My day, completely made!

Well, I confess, much as I love buying and using weird stuff, some of it does end up on eBay. Handy pocket money it is too.

So it makes my day when a buyer contacts me after a successful sale ... check this out!

Bella has planted herbs in three Twinings tea tins I sourced for her.





That makes me so happy I just have to ... put coloured pencils into a sugar bowl I bought that doesn't have a lid!

The coloured pencils were a find, too. Sigh!

A morning collage!

It's nice to do an arty/crafty thing first thing in the day. And nicer still if it's a day off!

Today was Melbourne Cup day, so no work for me. I got out the Ephemera Pack I got from Michelle at stamp club the other day, and pulled out all the little bitties. I took a small blank canvas off the pile (gotta keep them in the house at all times, they are a staple).

Here's the pack I started with (shown with Michelle's example collage).

Then I got busy with paint, glue, scissors and an iPad (I watched an episode of The West Wing while I worked) and made this.

It's kind of my usual style, but with materials I might have overlooked. Made me look differently at materials. That's good, eh? Loving using map scraps!

There was a scrap of white fabric in the bag. What is that for? It's not transparent enough to use as a layer. Hmm. But Michelle must have put it in for a reason (she's an engineer in real life). So I tinkered a bit, and discovered this is the fabric that MELTS just a little bit - you can make snazzy little flowers, as long as you are careful not to let the heat get out of hand. Then I painted it (I was on a roll with the paints...). I did add a button that was not in the pack.

And guess what? There's still enough goodies for another morning's entertainment. When it comes to crafting stuff, it's important to measure it by the hours of fun you get out of it. One small envelope -> several hours = a good rate!

You can get on of Michelle's Ephemera packs from Etsy here. Well, I think that's enough shameless plugs for one night.

Oh, and we went to the Melbourne Museum for Cup Day. We paid our respects to Phar Lap, and watched the race. The horse I have in the work sweep came first!