Dreaming of Everpretty

A sewing adventure...

2012-01-11T00:43:00.002-05:00

The other morning while my busy bee Mr.M was getting ready for work, he had to come in the room to wake me, (yep, I get to sleep in) to give me the phone because my mum back home in Australia was on the other end. After having a nice chat with her about the possibilities of moving back home to Australia soon, among other things, she headed to bed, and I got up from mine. With a few hours extra, (due to waking sooner) I got the cray idea to pull out the sewing machine... It's a crazy idea because I don't have the best machine, it is small and is quite a pain to work with most times and likes to eat fabric, it also has a problem with the bobbin thread area, grr. Well, I got up from bed, and because I have taken down all my Christmas Land decorations, the living room is looking a little bare and I was feeling down about that. I always hate taking down the tree, the room always feels less homey when I do. So with the usual decor out again, I just felt kind of blah looking at it. I was sick of the green and taupe coloured throw cushions, since having pretty colours from the tree and other decorations, I wanted more colour in my everyday life. So, taking a cue from my latest crochet blanket, I decided to add more colour... in the form of throw cushions. I wanted to use fabric that had been left-overs, just incase I wasn't too pleased about the results, (as I had not sewn covers before). Well, I am happy to say, despite the complications with the angry hungry sewing machine, I managed to sew up pretty new pillow cases with zippers... I did seven in total. Not all of them have zippers, the blue velour ones and the patchwork one are pillows, and not pillow cases. I enjoyed sewing the patchwork one, and will likely make more of them, it has a soft fuzzy pink back on it, and I like snuggling it at night time while watching TV on the couch (or while my Mr.M is hunting dragons in Skyrim).

It seems my darling little bun bun Penny approves the new pillows!

An adorkable Christmas...

2012-01-09T22:57:00.002-05:00

I admit it, I am a dork, a nerd, whatever you wish to call it... I am that. I am crazy for all things LOTR, I cried (from love and excitement) when I saw the new trailer for The Hobbit, I will be going into countdown mode for that! I will probably be blogging about that at some point! Even more than LOTR though, I am IN LOVE with Doctor Who. I have always been a Whovian, I watched them all when I was little, I am so in love with Doctor Who that we have every single episode (right from the *very* beginning of the series, all except some episodes from the 60's that are missing). I got around to telling my darling Mr.M last year about something that I did when I was younger, it took me so long to tell him because it's a little embarrassing, but he finds it adorable, and I guess I will share it with you.

In grade 3 or 4, I can't remember exactly, I lived in a small country town and we ended up getting a new girl in our class. Her name was Nikki and she came from England... the thing is, her last name was Baker and her dad's name was Colin... NOW!... for those Whovians out there, you could imagine little me, a little girl obsessed with Doctor Who, getting so excited because here I am thinking, that one of the Doctor's has moved to my little town and his daughter is in my class. I made friends with her realy quickly and we ended up planning a play date where I went over to her house. I can't tell you how excited I was, I say hello to Nikki, I meet her mum, and then I meet her dad... Now here's the embarrassing bit... I saw him and cried! Now, I didn't just cried, I bawled my eyes out from having all my hopes and dreams smashed and my heart broken... here's little me expecting to meet The Doctor, only to have some other man ruin it and not be him. I was so devastated that I had to be taken back home where I cried in my room for hours. LOL. Obviously looking back I know how silly it was, but back there, I was not exactly aware of how many Colin Bakers from England there was, so how was I to know?! Nikki and I ended up being good friends until we moved away to the Gold Coast when I was in grade 6.

So, here are a couple of my favourite presents from Christmas. I am looking forward to watching LOTR on Blu-ray, I am going to love seeing the details even more. I think I know those films inside and out, and maybe even word by word. I am loving my new leather satchel, I have been wanting one for a while now. I love Lolita Lempicka perfume, it is to die for and maybe my favourite scent for about 6 years now... that and Wish and Angel. I love tote bags, and the Van Gogh with the TARDIS in the sky image is perfect for this Whovian. My little TARDIS pen came late, it came yesterday infact, so that was a lovely surprise! Doctor Who on Blu-Ray is AWESOME! I think I have watched all these episodes about 5 times each at least! I was upset when David Tennant left, I couldn't see another man fill his place, but Matt Smith has exceeded my expectations, so much so, that I am pretty sure I love him more than David Tennant, which makes me feel a little guilty to be honest, but I just can't help it. I love how Matt Smith is able to depict the fun goofiness of the Doctor, the seriousness, the whimsy and intelligence as well, but he is also able to be dark, dangerous and fearful. He is strong in the role, but also has the vulnerability and loneliness that completely breaks my heart... *Brilliant* I definitely think that I am in love with him! LOL. ...Anyway back to pressies......My favourite Christmas gift this year is my blue leather TARDIS journal, just like River Song's... I can't tell you enough just how beautiful it is, and how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

What was your favourite gift?

A blossom Bunny...

2012-01-05T13:21:00.006-05:00

My darling Mr.M asked me ever so sweetly if I would mind making a gift for a co-worker of his that was leaving on maternity leave, and possibly never coming back to work there. As much as I did not want to, because being an infertile who just wants to be pregnant, the last thing I want to do is think about someone else's pregnancy. I might sound silly, but I at least know I am not the *only* one who thinks/feels that way, (thankfully I read other blogs and I know I am not alone in this journey). My husband doesn't understand it, he says he does, but I know he doesn't, otherwise he would not tell me about how he touched her belly and it is weird, because he has never known anyone pregnant before... That hurt, because if I could get pregnant, he'd know... but oh well, he's sweet and just doesn't get it, so I can't blame him or get upset with him about it.

So back to the gift for the pregnant lady who is not me... I scoured online for something simple and practical in a sense. I came across Red Felt Flower's Blossom Bunny, and decided it would make for a great baby's rattle. I chose some fabrics from my stash and went about my business making it. My sewing machine and I had a few arguments, it ate some of the bunny's head at one point and I had to use the quick-un-pick and re-start that area, but in the end it worked out well. I had to go to Walmart and buy a rattle to cannibalise so my Blossom Bunny would jingle jangle and now it does! YAY! I am very impressed with the ease and simplicity of this project, it turned out lovely and lots more could be made!

My first completed project of 2012

Goodbye 2011...

2011-12-31T22:22:00.006-05:00

As I look back on this past year I am thankful for many things, I have made some new lovely friends via blogging, I am thankful for my wonderful family, (although they are back home in Australia), I am thankful that unlike in 2010, we did not lose anyone. I am thankful that my Aunty Tuppy is still strong enough to fight her battle with cancer and that cancer has not taken her from us. I am thankful for my darling husband who is my best friend in all of this World. I am thankful for my little bunny Penny, who keeps me company during the days when my husband is at work. I am thankful for being able to create pretty things... One thing I am not thankful for is my defectiveness in becoming pregnant. I am not thankful for the heartache it has caused and although I am saddened by this past year's failures, I am optimistic for 2012...

So here is something that I mentioned I am thankful for... I am thankful to have such a strong and secure love with my best friend, my husband Mark.

Have a safe and happy New Years, and may all your hopes and dreams become a reality!

Smitten with...

2011-12-31T02:10:00.002-05:00

I am totally smitten with this blanket. I finally finished it the morning of Christmas Eve, and although I had hoped it would be finished sooner, it just didn't happen, but I no longer mind. This was the blanket I was starting a few months ago, using *only* scrap/left-over yarn. I did not sit there with the yarns colour co-ordinating, I just used them randomly and hoped for the best. I wanted it to take on a more spontaneous explosion of colour, and if I had of planned it out, I *know* I would have ended up only using my favourite colours and leaving out others altogether. There are combinations I never would have used or dreamt of, and I am loving the end result! I love it so much I am already planning another one... maybe bigger? I don't know... I just want more! I think the next one will have a white background, I love white, and although I will need to buy a lot of yarn, and although it will take up a lot of time, I don't mind, this lovely blanket's end result has driven my mind crazy, full of ideas and colours... Oh, how I love colour and yarn and crochet!

I really am so glad that I asked my grandma to teach me how to crochet a few years back. It only mainly started out because I had a fairly severe case of OCD (among other things), that I would strip the skin from under my nails so badly that they would either be left bare or have calluses, I wouldn't even notice I was doing it. In order to keep my hands busy, I thought about learning to crochet, and it really helped out, especially in times when I am feeling extremely anxious about something. Now granted there are times when one can't crochet, and I am still trying very hard to be aware of what I am doing, however I still have one problem of using my thumb nail on my left hand to dig into and pick the skin on my left hand's index finger, this finger tip is usually always has a small callus on it, because I even do it in my sleep. My darling Mr. M always takes and holds my hand when he notices me doing it, so that is also helpful. I have to say though, at least it is only the one finger tip, instead of all of them, so I have come a fair way. *smiles*

Back to the blanket... I am super duper pleased and in love with it. If you told me a few years ago that I would be able to take a ball of stringy yarn and turn it into something so very pretty, I would have laughed and said, "I don't think so..." Well, here I am pleased as punch... I guess I know what I will be doing this Winter, (seeing as though I will be pretty much house-bound as I don't like to go out on adventures in the snow, I am paranoid that way)... This Winter I will be crocheting another pretty blanket... this one white with explosions of colourful patterns! YAY! If you have left over yarns and no longer want them and wish to donate them to my Winter project... I will totally accept them. *smiles*

*love*

'Twas the night before Christmas...

2011-12-24T17:22:00.001-05:00

Wishing everyone a *VERY* Merry Christmas. I hope your day is filled with love, joy, family, friends, laughter and fond memories. If you are travelling, arrive at your destination safely, and if you are staying in, like my husband and I, I hope the weather is exactly as you hope it to be. May everyone be blessed with a Joyful Christmas... and hopefully Santa has come to you all!

Our Living Room this Christmas Season.

Presents...

2011-12-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love presents? Not me that's for sure! I *love* presents! Although I wrap all the presents, (even my own) I don't see what they are. I always get my darling Mr. M to wrap them in tissue paper first before I do the final wrapping to make them pretty and lovely. Eeep, I love presents! Some I know, most I don't, and the only reason I know what some are is because I chose a couple of things that I really *really* wanted, and he said he would get them for me! Now, although I know what some are, I have not seen them in person, so it does not take *any* of the excitement away from me on Christmas morning, because I can't wait to touch and inspect them and get all up in their faces! *smiles* I am very exciteable when it comes to gifts, I love giving them and wrapping them, it's got to be one of my very favourite things to do!

My tree has been up since early November, but that's okay, because it is pretty and it makes me happy when I look at it.

Christmas Favourites

2011-12-12T17:28:00.000-05:00

Everyone has a favourite (or two) Christmas decoration. For me, I love Vintage Glass Baubles, and here are just a couple of the two dozen I have on my tree this year.

This is also another one of my favourites, a vintage carousel ornament.

My darling husband's favourite decoration is this one, he and his sister have loved (and watch) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer every year since they were small children, so he has a fondness for all things Rudolph.

My mother in-law passed away a few years ago in 2007 from MS, and we have this ornament on the tree in honour of her memory.

Do you have a favourite Christmas decoration? I think I have quite a few, and I suspect that over the years, I will continue to collect beautiful and special ornaments... I love this time of year, although at times, I feel sad from missing my family back home in Australia. Here's hoping that your Christmas Season is filled with joy and love to you all.

Wonderful Surprises!

2011-12-06T19:02:00.005-05:00

After taking a break away with my hubby, I am back. While I was away I got a wonderful surprise in the mail. At first my husband wasn't going to hand it over to me, because he was expecting some post to arrive for my Christmas presents, but as I was also expecting some mail from my grandma and also for his Christmas presents, I made him hand it over so I could have a look at the sender's name. I was so surprised and stunned when I saw the name of my fellow blogger, Kristin. I love her blog and her art, her words and photos are also so very lovely, her blog and family are so inspirational to me. If you have not already visited her blog, please do so, it's beautiful, just like she is.

Firstly, I MUST mention the most darling thing about the gift. Kristin's daughter Kendra wrote me a note saying thank you for the doll I had made her and her little drawings were amazing! I love it. There's absolutely nothing better than a child's art, and little notes from them are even more perfect. I have got a collection of them that my little brother and sister made for me in the past and it's the surest way to melt my heart and bring a smile to my face. *love*

Aren't Kendra's dinosaurs just wonderful? I love this little note!!!

I was so excited to open the parcel, I am sure that I am not alone in loving parcels and presents. *smiles* What I opened was a gorgeously wrapped gift, I have to say it is quite frankly the prettiest and sweetest tissue paper I have ever seen, and I will be keeping an eye out for it when out and about for sure. The perfectly tied satiny blue ribbon into a sweet little bow just completed the look, I love the blue against that wrapping paper, just so darling. It was almost too pretty to open, but I opened it ever so carefully and I have managed to keep the paper and bow intact, (probably due to my stealthy ninja talents of un-wrapping and re-wrapping presents from under the tree when I was younger).

Prettiest tissue paper ever, and I am keeping the bow on my Moleskine full time.

Inside was an Artist's dream, a divine Moleskin art book, and not one of the tiny landscape ones that I have purchased before only to be disappointed by their awkward sizing, but a LARGE and amazing size that will be beyond perfect to work in.

Thank you again to both Kristin and Kendra for your exceptionally generous and lovely gift, I treasure it ever so much, just as I do your friendship.

Let them eat cake...

2011-11-06T23:42:00.004-05:00

What's better than the sweet and earthly aroma of carrot and walnut cake baking in the oven? For me the other day, there was nothing more satisfying than a slice of warm homemade cake. I indulged in a freshly brewed cup of Early Grey tea (since TTC, I have basically stopped all caffeine intake, and I miss my tea) and a slice of cake. Baking is one of my other passions, I love to cook, I would love a huge country kitchen, preferably in a lovely country farmhouse, surrounded by beautiful countryside. That's my dream.

I am off to have my cake and eat it too... *smiles*

I love Colour

2011-10-25T19:44:00.003-04:00

One thing about Autumn that I absolutely adore is that I can wear knee high socks and Mary Janes... I own quite a collection of Mary Janes and I am always on the lookout for some pretty new ones. I love yellow and purple together, the combination makes my heart sing.

The sun's rays were golden, the grass cool and littered with fallen leaves of a sunset hue. We spread the blanket down on the ground and sat with our quiet delights. Mark with his books, me with my camera and crochet. Our visitors were birds and squirrels alike, and as per usual, I had my bucket of peanuts for my little lovelies... I never visit the park without it.

Sew Pretty....

2011-09-26T18:49:00.003-04:00

Another dolly, handmade and sewn with love. The yellow fabric for her legs is left overs from another quick project that I will get around to posting. I fell in love with the fabric at the store and my hubby just looks at me kinda confused as to why I like it. He didn't think it was "me" apparently, however I am head over heels for it. I love the colour, I love the floral print and I love that it is very similar to a green and white print I have very little left of... a vintage floral from my grandma's stash. I adore how brilliantly the dress fabric works with the yellow floral, and used cream eyelet ruffles and pretty cream lace to give her a pretty little outfit. I have quite a few of those "gems" on her collar area and I liked how it seemed to complete her dress, so no button this time around. The dress fabric is actually drapery fabric that I saw and fell in love with quite a few months back, and have not really got a plan for it as such, but every now and again I cut some off of it... luckily I bought a few metres of it. *smiles* I went back to felt for her hair, because I was not going to go about pulling out the "fiddly fur" from the bobbin area of the sewing machine again. I wanted to have little braids though, so I used Lion Brand Organic Cotton in the Almond and White colours... which went quite nicely with the felt thankfully. So here she is, little Clara Rose-

Now just to work out what to do with her...

Dino Love

2011-09-25T17:02:00.004-04:00

The other week when I ventured into the depths of Fabric Land, I discovered some sweet little dinosaur buttons... I ventured further, hunting and digging until I stumbled upon dinosaur fabric. For the life of me I could not find any in cotton, I found it in fleece, I found it in felt, I found it in a strange stretchy fabric, I even found it in oil cloth, so I ended up going home with flannel. I was inspired by a certain little girl of a fellow blogger, a future Paleontologist. I stepped out of my comfort zone of girly pinks and flowery prints, and chose dinos... there's always a first for everything I believe, and I am so happy with how she turned out. For the first time ever I used "fun fur" for her hair, and although she looks super cute, I would just like to say that they should re-name that fabric to "fiddly fur," I grouched at it a few times when it got caught in the sewing machine. I only have a small sewing machine at the moment and it struggles with quite a few tasks, but I continue to sew... Right now, it's all I have from going batty.

So here is my newest little doll, a Future Paleontologist in the making, (she has not yet got a name)....

Oh Summer...

2011-09-15T01:00:00.002-04:00

How I'll miss you...

The weather is cooling, so much so infact that this evening when we had to go to the store, I wore ear muffs... yeppers, I was cold. *sad*

Hello Autumn.

Colour my World with Yarn.

2011-09-05T18:12:00.003-04:00

Working on a "left-overs" granny square blanket is my current "therapy" at the moment, although I am not always in the mood to crochet of late. I have been using all the little bits of yarn that has been left over from previous projects. I am not carefully choosing colours like I would usually do, and I am trying to put colours that I wouldn't usually put together, together. I would usually do all the squares and wait until they are all finished before attaching them to one another, however as I finish one, I stitch it together. I want a random mix of colour, a blend that that just occurs organically, I want to see how it ends up when I don't plan things out. So far, I am pleasantly surprised. One thing I have noticed is, that despite my love of green, I don't have as much left-overs in that hue, it seems that I usually use them all up. *smiles* I have plenty of rose pink though, and can't forget that GIANT ball of cream yarn that I got for Christmas of 2009. I don't think I will be using much of that cream yarn though, which means I have an enormous amount left of it. I wonder if I will ever finish that ball?

What's your latest/current project?

Dear Poppy John,

2011-08-16T11:12:00.005-04:00

I thought of you with love today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, with which I'll never part. I have you in my heart. Even though a year has passed, it still feels like yesterday. Rest in Peace Poppy John, I love you.

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since my Poppy John passed, but then again, it's still hard to believe he's gone. I have not been back home to Australia, and I know when I do and he is not there, it will hit me quite hard, it will feel very real and very fresh and I am not looking forward to that. I can't imagine how my nanna Gill feels every day, a part of her heart must feel empty and ache for him, she must miss him so much it hurts. Poppy John was the greatest man and I am so blessed to have had him in my life. I can still hear his voice in my head, hear him call me "lovey" and it brings tears to my eyes... I love and miss you Poppy John.

A little ray of Sunshine

2011-08-10T19:44:00.002-04:00

Was my inspiration for this little blanket. I am loving Summer and I wanted to do a yellow and white blanket to cheer me up when the skies are no longer blue. I love crochet, everyday I am so thankful that my wonderful grandma took the time to teach me. I am creating a stash of pretty little blankets, just in case... I guess it's kind of my way of keeping positive and optimistic when trying to conceive, (it also keeps my hands and mind busy, so as to not be stressed out).

If you are like me, you have yarn coming out of your ears. Be it from left over projects or just because you saw it in a shop and had to have it, yet have not made anything with it yet. I have a bunch of left over yarns that have been collecting time, so I have decided to make a lovely multi-coloured granny squares blanket. I am not sure how big it will be, I will be using *only* left overs, and a huge ball of yarn I got for Christmas 2 years ago that has just been sitting on a shelf. It's one of those 1kg balls of yarn, I just have not gotten around to using it. I doubt I will end up using the whole thing on this blanket, it would be too much of the one colour I think, but it might be nice for the trim... I have not yet made up my mind yet though... that's the great thing about this blanket, it has no plan.

Pretty in Pink... (continued)....

2011-08-07T15:18:00.003-04:00

Here is the whole gift set I made for my little niece Talia Marie. A darling little doll, pretty hat and clip on brooch, a handmade card and a little removable sew on "T" patch/button for whatever they choose to use it for. I really hope Kayla (my cousin) likes it all, I am fairly confident that Talia will like them, from what I can tell, she loves pink, and that's why I went for the pink overhaul, usually, I would use more colours, I am a sucker for green, but in the photos of my niece Talia, I see she wears A LOT of pink. hehehe.

The card has a removable heart shaped "T" patch/button that can be sewn or attached to something, be it clothes or a bag or whatever... anything would work really.

So, the question now remains... What to sew next? Time to go and look at my fabric stash and brainstorm some ideas, go through patterns and visit websites to get inspired... The clouds cover me like a thick dark grey down comforter, the air is electrified, hot chocolate calls my name and my hands long to sew...

Little hat for a little head

2011-08-06T16:06:00.003-04:00

I made this sweet little hat for my little niece Talia Marie. This is the hat that I ordered the specialty yarn for but never received, so had to make it out of just plain baby pink acrylic yarn unfortunately. As I was a little disappointed in the final product (didn't shimmer like I wanted it to, yarn had no shimmer in it), I decided to add some girly touches to it by making a little clip on brooch. I went to the cheapy store and bought a hair clip to rip apart so I could have the actual clippy thing (I swore I had some in a box, but could not find them). I used the same eyelet lace that I used for the sweet dolly's dress/skirt, some pretty pink trim, a pearly bead and crocheted a flower out of some embroidery thread. I have to say, I do not enjoy crocheting with embroidery thread, it's so darn fiddly and I had to go back and re-work a couple of stitches when a piece of the thread didn't get pulled through, or something else that made it look less than perfect. There were a few "grr arrgh" moments, coupled with some frowning at my hook and thread. Despite not enjoying the actual crochet with the embroidery thread, I love how it turned out, very pretty. The shimmer in the thread is how I wanted the actual hat yarn to shimmer, but oh well, it turned out quite nicely in the end. Here's hoping the parcel arrives before it's too hot to wear the hat. Atleast the flower brooch/clip is removable and can be worn on whatever or wherever, she can't out-grow that.

Time for me to go and check on my cupcakes. I am baking fresh blueberry and vanilla cupcakes, filled with freshly whipped cream and topped with vanilla blueberry cream cheese frosting... yum!

Pretty in Pink

2011-08-05T18:56:00.002-04:00

I mentioned the other day how I had sewn a new doll for my little niece Talia Marie and how I think she is my prettiest one yet, (not to mention fiddliest), well here she is. I embroidered her eyes and mouth and painted on her cheeks. She has a felt and fabric (same fabric used to make her legs) Peter Pan collar and pretty little button which was sewn on to the max, there is no movement there on that button whatsoever. I couldn't tell you what my favourite part of her is, from her sweet face to her pretty fabrics, or her darling little white eyelet lace ruffle skirt... I simply can't decide which part of her I love most. I will be posting a full bodied photo of her in the next few days, so you will see something else that she has, luckily they were super quick and easy to sew. I love this doll so much that I kind of wanted to keep her for myself, but luckily,I can always easily sew some more dolls, and I know she is going to a good home that will love her immensely. I also wanted to name her, but I suppose maybe I ought to leave that to her new family. *smiles*

Tomorrow there will be more photos from my handmade gifts to my beautiful little niece Talia. Untl then, I hope everyone is having a lovely day.

Sew long it seams...

2011-08-04T11:23:00.006-04:00

Hehehe, sewing puns, *sorry* It's been a while since I have gotten out the sewing machine, I tend to hand sew the majority of what I create, but it was late, and I was tired. I hand sewed a few parts of my project, but got out the sewing machine for the rest of it. What am I making? A doll for my cousin's little girl Talia Marie... I am not sure what that makes me to her, but I am just gonna go ahead and call her my niece. *smiles* I also had been crocheting a little hat for her, I had ordered some specialty yarn from Etsy for the hat, but I guess it got lost in the mail. I ordered and paid for it back in May and have not received it, which is unfortunate because I really wanted to crochet her hat out of something a little more special than just regular acrylic yarn, but oh well... Canada Post just had to go on strike and lose my mail in the process, didn't they? After making her hat and feeling like it was less than wonderful (due to lack luster yarn) I decided upon making a pretty little clip that could be worn on the hat or wherever they might like to add some pretty girly-ness. After hand sewing this, I then got the itch to sew more... soo, I decided to make a doll. I have not made a doll in a while, it's been well over 6 months I would think, so it was really nice to get back into that and didn't take me very long at all. I got back into the swing of things there. I have not gotten the chance of taking her photo yet, due to the weather and horrible lighting, and just plain sleepy-ness on my part... but I must say, she is one of my prettiest yet and I am sure that Talia Marie is going to love her.

Do you see my little Paddington Bear? I adore him so much! I saw him at the Antique store downtown and just had to have him. He now lives on my desk and keeps me company along with my little deer.

Thank you for stopping by, I enjoyed having you here and I hope to see you again soon.
Enjoy your day!

Stunning Giveaway!

2011-08-03T20:09:00.004-04:00

I have been following Heart Handmade UK for a while now and there is always something absolutely beautiful there and today I would like to share an amazing giveaway opportunity with you all. Who loves crochet? Who loves rainbows? Who loves handmade? Who loves afgans? If you love any of these things... you have to visit Heart Handmade UK right now... trust me, you won't regret it!

Photo via Heart Handmade UK

ps. Don't you just love this room? I love the wall colour!

Summer Carnival

2011-08-03T13:07:00.004-04:00

Last weekend was the Summer Carnival, they hold it every year down at our favourite local park/lake, Couchiching Park. The first time I ever went to the Summer festival was in 2007 on my second visit to Canada, and it was on the day that I was actually leaving to go back home to Australia. We went on a horrible spinning ride which made us ill, so it was not the best of things to go on when you have a 25 hour flight coming up that evening. Despite the ride sickness it made us feel good to go out and do something instead of staying in and dwelling on the fact that we would not see each other for some time.

I have never really been one for rides, they terrify me, not to mention that I get horrible motion sickness, so I tend not to go near them. I did however work up the courage for the Ferris Wheel, yeah, you're probably thinking, "The Ferris Wheel is not scary, it just goes around, doesn't do loopty loops or anything..." but yeah, I am also scared of heights... So it was a huge step for me. lol. Once on the Ferris Wheel, as it goes up, I have a mini freak out... unfortunately, my dear and darling hubby has filmed the whole thing and at some point he asks me to take the camera so I can film behind me or take some photos or whatnot, but I (in a panicked voice) say, "no, no, no, no... I can't take my hands off the metal things, I need to hold on..." This too is unfortunately filmed, and he gets home and watches it with giggles and laughter... yes, my fear is funny. *smiles*

And.... my favourite part of any carnival/fair/festival? Fairy Floss! aka, Cotton Candy! *yum*

I was going to be taking some photos of the little blanket I made, however it is raining and the light is horrendous, sooo..... I might sew. *smiles* Wherever you are in the World today, I hope your day is awesome!

Serenity at Sunset

2011-08-03T01:14:00.002-04:00

Here are some photos of our favourite place at Sunset... It really is beautiful out there, and I hope we are going back there this weekend, I could do with a swim.

I finished up a sweet little crocheted blanket this past evening, and tomorrow when the light is better, I will take a photo. For now, I am off to watch "Breaking Bad," I am pretty addicted to that show.

A new favourite place

2011-07-23T18:28:00.005-04:00

On the weekends, Mark and I have a go to place where we love to go and just hang out together. We swim, go on walks, read, paint, draw, take photos or I crochet. It's such a peaceful and relaxing spot that we spend hours there and before we know it, it's dark out and time to go home.

Do you have a favourite place where all your worries slip away?

Just Peachy

2011-07-14T01:17:00.005-04:00

I bought these earrings a little over a month ago now and I wanted to make sure they held up well before posting about them. I have VERY sensitive ears and can usually only wear gold or silver jewellery without getting an infection, (even then they are a little itchy to begin with), but these have been lovely. I bought them on Etsy from Luxe Adornments, and they have been my favourite earrings to wear since buying them. They are so sweet and what girl doesn't love flowers? I love pretty, delicate and girly things, and if they have a vintage feel to them, I love them even more. I love the colour, in the photo they appear much more muted in tone, but that was deliberate. The next photo is by the store where I bought them from. The only issue I had with them was when I woke up one morning and noticed one of the flowers had come off its post, so I just super-glued it back on. A couple days later the other one fell off while I was removing a jumper (sweater) and I just super-glued that one back on also... not a problem since. I am also loving a few other earrings she has in store, especially the little birds!

Really beautiful earrings for only $14... not bad huh?

A little down...

2011-06-29T02:58:00.003-04:00

Trying to conceive is without a doubt painful and heartbreaking. I have no friends or family that understand how I feel about it, but then again, how could they? They have not experienced what I have, and a large part of me resents that about them. A large part of me resents how easy it was for them, of course I am jealous, of course I am a tad bitter. Yeah sure, I am happy for them, but mostly, my heart is broken, try smiling when you hear another announcement, "oh we are expecting... blah blah blah" when you have 60-70 day annovulatory cycles, taking those temps EVERY morning, trying SO hard, depriving yourself of tea and sugars and taking supplements left right and centre, hoping and praying for an elevated temp... oh gosh, I can't tell you how high my hopes get when I see two temperatures in a row above my coverline, and then the next morning it drops down so low again... I sat outside on the patio in my rocking chair the other week crying for probably 3 hours... only to come inside and cry for another 4.

I finally got in to see the doctor a few weeks ago, only to be told he doesn't believe in the Fertility Awareness Method of taking temps and tried to tell me I am not annovulatory because annovulatory cycles are always short in length... yeah, didn't help any, didn't have any suggestions... I told him I know I am not ovulating, but yeah... he knows my body better, despite only seeing me a total of about 4 times over 2 years! Pft! I asked for a referral to a fertility specialist, but he tells me that he will wait to refer me until my hubby gets his stuff checked out, which you know, will take forever to book an appointment... argh! So hubby has his appointment in mid next month... so yeah, not willing to give me referral until Mark has seen someone! HELLO?! Doctor?! My cycles are 60-70 days long?! That ain't normal! Surely he could give me the darn referral just for that alone? But nup! So yeah, have to wait until Mark has his appointment, and then I will have to book an appointment to see him again after that, and then likely have to wait months on end until I get to see someone who might know what they are talking about! One can hope! How is that people who don't deserve children have them so easily, yet those who want to be nothing but the best of parents have so much trouble? Why is it that the women who have the most love and yearning to be mothers have so much trouble? Oh it's killing me!

It's all I want... seriously, I don't want money or anything fancy, I just want to be a mum... I feel that pain every morning when I wake, even my dreams are filled with longing... I signed up on an adoption site, when should I start considering this? How would I even go about it? It's so much money, but, *sigh* I want a baby.

Boy oh Boy...

2011-06-28T19:47:00.003-04:00

I have not been here for quite some time! I have been busy out and about with my camera with the hubby or been crocheting like crazy! Most weekends have been decent, not overly warm, but there has been 2 I think that were hot. One thing that seems to be happening a lot at the moment is rain! Oh my, the rain can be so bothersome because the temperatures drop and the dark skies darken the mood. We have also been playing a LOT of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I never once thought I would be a gamer, infact I usually get quite bored with them, BUT I LOVE EZIO! Last Summer I also got into Red Dead Redemption, I wasn't interested in that either until I saw the horses, hehe, I actually completed the game whereas the hubby has only gotten half through it. When he got the Assassin's Creed 2 I got addicted to that and we got the platinum trophy for the game, so that was good. Yeppers, I am sounding like a nerd now. *smiles* I am not like this for other games, I just like Assassin's Creed pretty much, I love all the details in the game and the underlying tones and puzzles. I find it really interesting how they incorporate historical events and people into the game as well.

So, here is some photos of one of Mark and my weekends out and about, actually, it was our first outing on the first day of good weather. He likes to make secret plans for us on his days off, he never tells me where we are going until we are there pretty much. He is such a sweetheart!

We went on a lake-side hike and we spotted this little fella! He was my first ever Beaver sighting and actually let us get quite close to him!

This scarlet beauty hung around us all day! He was so vain and kept staring at himself in the mirrors and windows. At one point he got caught in the car after flying through an open window that I had to catch him and let him go again. At that point I just opened all the windows and doors so he would have no problem.

Here he goes again....

I will try and remember to post more... I promise!
I hope everyone is enjoying their Summers, and if you are like my family and friends back home and in your Winter... I hope you are all keeping warm!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2011-06-16T22:14:00.003-04:00

Wishing my perfectly wonderful Hubby a perfectly wonderful Happy Birthday! I love you Mark and I hope that you had a lovely day with me today! *hugs and kisses* Every day that I spend with you, is a day that has been filled with joy and love! You are my best friend and I am so lucky to have you in my life.

xoxoxox

Beautiful Branches

2011-05-14T18:48:00.002-04:00

The other week during a storm one of our Pussy Willow Trees were damaged and a large branch needed to be removed after it had snapped half way through. We left it in the backyard because the plan was to let it dry out and use it for our little firepit when the weather gets warmer. I was outside the other morning feeding Charlie and Tinker (another chipmunk) when I noticed all these darling little buds and I decided that I wanted to put a whole bunch into a vase or two. I love how soft and fluffy they are and I am hoping that they do not continue to "bloom" as I would love them to stay as they are. If you know or have any experience with this please let me know as I have not had any before inside. They don't seem to be changing and I don't have them in water, so here is hoping they dry this way. Flowers are beautiful and who doesn't love them, but sometimes it's nice to have something a little different.

A Familiar Feeling

2011-05-13T19:05:00.004-04:00

Firstly I just want to mention that the weather today makes me feel a little down. Not because I want to go out and about, but because it feels like home. It feels like a Townsville Winter's day at 25 degrees celcius, humid and overcast. The air even smells/feels familiar and it makes me miss my family. I like to listen to the radio station 4TO which I would listen to everyday back home in Townsville, it's the station that my mum, aunt and grandma all listen to as well, so even though it's evening for me, it's morning for them and right now as I listen I know that's what they are listening to at the same time, so it's a little piece of home that the Internet enables me to have. When you put the feeling of today's weather, with listening to the radio, it almost makes me feel at home, I can almost trick my brain when I close my eyes.

I was going to post photos of Charlie yesterday, however Blogger was down and wasn't letting me log in, so I shall do them now. There's a few, but they're cute!

Charlie and I wish you a wonderful Friday!

Pretty Picture Heavy

2011-05-10T23:31:00.004-04:00

So you know when you take a bunch of photos and then go into Photoshop to have a play? Well I did that while listening to music one morning, the album "Funeral" by Arcade Fire and with each different song came a different perspective of each photograph. Isn't it funny when that happens and how music can affect your moods and creativity? Mark prefers the darker ones with the blue/black tones, I like them all equally, but what one is my favourite really depends on my mood. I couldn't decide which ones to share, so I thought I would post them all. So here are the results of my walk by the lake and my Arcade Fire Adobe Photoshop CS5 Post Processing session.

Mark's two favourites.

So, there you have it, and tomorrow there shall be new photos of my little Charlie the Chipmunk!!! Yay!

I chose...

2011-05-05T15:04:00.002-04:00

The white Sony Vaio. This was just one of my birthday pressies from my lovely hubby and I have to say he spoiled me quite a lot. I was going to get the purple one, however in person it was much darker, too black for my liking. When I saw the pretty white one, I had to have it. I love white, it's so clean and crisp and it matches my decor. *smiles* I bought the laptop skin from HERE. It's what I am going to be using until I get the one I have had my eye on for a while now. I want one that I can switch whenever I feel like changing things up and unfortunately the one I have now isn't re-usable.

Oh, Boy!

2011-04-28T16:52:00.002-04:00

Carpet is gross... more to the point, 30 year old carpet is gross! The stuff under it, the padding, that's gross. It's icky when it has turned to black dust that flies around everywhere and despite wearing two pairs of socks, it still gets in between your toes. *cringes* I hate that feeling.

With the bedroom completed yesterday/last night, we are currently ripping up the old carpet and installing our new floors. I am just taking a little break to eat some Weetbix before I am ill.

When I get working, it gets finished within the day. I don't go into anything half-ways, I am very determined, the hubby sometimes wishes I was more laid back, but I don't want to live in a reno room, I start, I finish. And let me say, the bedroom looks GREAT! One we get the floors done, we will chill for a bit and enjoy my birthday tomorrow. For my birthday I am hoping for a Home Depot gift card, I want to get baseboards. Last week, I painted the walls, this week we are installing floors... maybe next week we will have a break, but soon... baseboards! Woohoo!

In other news, I have had a large spike in my temps the past two days. I am so looking forward to going to bed tonight, waking up and seeing my temperature rise more so, or just stay as is... *please don't drop.* Yeppers, I continue to hope.

I should probably try and take it easy just in case. I HOPE so!!!

Sensing a theme?

2011-04-25T19:09:00.004-04:00

I am *so* in love with this colour right now. I want a paint sprayer thingy so I can go and buy some turquoise paint and go crazy! It would be nice to be able to just buy all these things instead though. *smiles* All this beautiful furniture is available from Urban Outfitters. *swoon.*

4 days until my birthday!

Keep on Rising!

2011-04-21T13:00:00.004-04:00

Got a temp rise this morning... Not sure if it's due to a slightly sore throat or not, but it's over my pink coverline... Anxious and hopeful for continuous high temps despite my chart saying "not fertile." As far as I am concerned, if I have not ovulated yet and we are BD, there's a chance.

I can't wait until my birthday, Mark took the day off, which means I get to hang out with him extra. We are going to go bowling! I think my sister in-law is coming to visit also which will be nice. Plus, I love cake, and I love presents. LOL. Who doesn't?!

Critters make me smile.

2011-04-19T23:24:00.002-04:00

They really really do! Mark and I took a break from all the drama the other day and went down to the park. We bought fish and chips, took the camera and went for a little "picnic" down by the melting (but still majorly frozen) lake. I took my bucket of peanuts (as usual) to feed my little furry friends and to capture some sweet moments. This one is one of my favourites from the outing. Isn't he sweet? His tail reminds me of those toy trolls that we used to have when kids.

I would also like to take this moment to thank both Alveen and Kristin for your sweet comments on my last post. Things are somewhat calming down, however things are still quite fragile and it's not nice constantly having to walk on eggshells. I am still TTC, it's cycle day 51, tomorrow, in less than half an hour it will be cycle day 52... No signs of ovulation yet and I am getting further down, but trying to be positive.

Reason for my absence.

2011-04-13T15:26:00.004-04:00

I am sorry for not blogging lately. I really would love to, but for me when I start typing I become extremely ventful. I have tried numerous times to blog, but I have always deleted the post because of how down it is. There are two things bothering me. I am trying hard not to let them bother me, but I can feel my stomach churning with nerves and worry. Firstly, the one that breaks my heart is that I am TTC and I am having so much trouble with it. I am trying to remain positive but today is my cycleday 45 and still no ovulation. I keep telling myself it's just around the corner, and every morning when I reach for that thermometer I hope for a rise in temperature... I just need three consecutive temperatures above my coverline (the pink line on the chart), if I get them, I'll know I can ovulate. The longer my cycle goes for without ovulation, the sadder I become. It's just not fair.

The second thing is something I can't talk about in Blogland unfortunately, but it is something that just keeps happening. It involves my father in-law therefore I can't go into detail, but let me just say that it really sucks having an alcoholic who can't/won't change or stop drinking in your life. It throws everyone's life into chaos and I won't be putting up with this, when it is possible, Mark and I are leaving for Australia.

Generous Giveaways

2011-04-08T14:50:00.003-04:00

Fancy something sweet that doesn't go straight to the hips? Well pop on over to Bower Bird's blog and enter her beautiful giveaway. There are no hoops to jump through, there is no requirement to blog about her giveaway, but I wanted to share the opportunity to win with my readers also. Such a lovely prize by a talented lady!

Goodluck! I know I have my fingers crossed.

Sweet Stitches

2011-04-07T02:08:00.003-04:00

A little bit back I shared a sneaky peak photo of a gift I was making for my friend Mariann who is expecting a little baby girl in the next few weeks. Now that I have been able to give it to her, I can share a photo of what I made. It's a sweet little pod and matching hat! So cute! I wanted to share it sooner, but as I had not seen Mariann, I could not risk her seeing it before I got to give it to her. Isn't it just so sweet for a darling little girl?

As for me, I am still TTC.

My gorgeous little Nephew

2011-04-01T16:15:00.002-04:00

He is getting so big now! Like my brother, he is going to be quite tall I think. I can't wait to meet him, he looks and sounds like a little charmer indeed. He looks a lot like his daddy in the top photo, I think Jhye is so friggen cute! I use the photos they upload on Facebook and use Photoshop to give them more "style." LOL.

Looks like such a cheeky monkey and would totally have me wrapped around his little finger, I am a sucker for cheeky kids!

Oh please, oh please, oh please...

2011-04-01T00:15:00.007-04:00

Can I have one of these? I so badly want/need a headboard, however I don't want to just buy a heardboard/bed until I find the one I really want, I see it as a waste of money. I don't like the look of wooden beds, they are not my style, I would paint it white unless it was an antique and had some wonderful character to it. I don't want an upholstered headboard, although I did consider it and was wanting to make my own, and if I can't find my heart's desire, I will have to do so. What I really, really want is an iron bed like in the two photos below. I found something very similar at the Antiques Barn last Autumn however it was for a single bed and I need atleast a double as we have a queensize. I was very sad that I couldn't find a way to make it work, and I am determined to find one, I think they are so very sweet. Back home in Australia I have a 4 post bed, cast iron and I LOVED it, but too big and heavy to bring with me to Canada unfortunately, so I want a new, well old one. *smiles* I am not needing or wanting a poster bed this time, just a plain and simple one like the ones below, just elegantly simple, understated yet beautiful. I keep on looking, I scan Kijiji and Craigslist etc, but in the meantime, my small collection of European pillows will do as my headboard.

Both photos from Country Living.com

Feel Inspired

2011-03-26T14:36:00.006-04:00

For some reason I have held onto this, kept it close to me like a secret that's so shiny and beautiful that I didn't want to share right away, but on the other hand I wanted to share ever so greatly. I don't know what I have been waiting for? Maybe I have been waiting for a time when I feel uninspired or weary with how things are, I really don't know, but today is the day I write about her. If you are unaware of Vivian Maier, today is your lucky day. I have known about her for months now and like everyone else who becomes aware of her, the second I did I was in complete awe. I am in LOVE with her work, even though she herself was somewhat recluse you can feel a relationship, a connection between her and her unknown subjects. Her work is very emotive, you see and feel the character of both subject and photographer in every photograph. If you love photography, history, art or beauty, and are unaware of Vivian Maier, or perhaps you want a reminder of her work, please click on my links and videos below. There is also a blog that I follow with her work, it's breathtaking.

If you are interested...

2011-03-25T14:57:00.004-04:00

In knowing more about your fertility and what goes on in your body, maybe check out "Taking Charge of Your Fertility." I have the book and I joined the website and during the week I have been listening online to Fertility Seminars, and one of today's speakers is Toni Weschler, the author of "Taking Control of Your Fertility." I have been looking forward to hers the most, but I have learnt a bunch from the other speakers as well.

If you are interested in listening to Toni speak, it is a live link, so click on HERE to listen in, it starts in 3 hours. I am not sure if you will have to sign up, it's free and then you will learn about the next speakers also.

Decisions, Decisions...

2011-03-24T14:46:00.003-04:00

The Hubby has decided I need a new laptop, this one has done me well and has been wonderful with a few exceptions here and there... and I think those problems had to do with the technician who worked on it, not doing it properly. Mark works at Sony and he insists the the Vaio is a dream and suggested I get one of those. We were looking at Macs, however upon inspection of the specs they really aren't up to par considering their price, so a Vaio it shall be. My latpop now is an HP and like I said, it's been beautiful, it still works regardless of it's 4 year old life, (it's still shiny, perfect, no scratches or dust) but just slower, it takes longet to load at startup and it only has 1 gb ram, so it's time to upgrade. A part of me feels like I am betraying it, as though I am cheating on it somehow, lol silly I know, but I grow attached to things. So here are the choices I have narrowed it down to, I am having trouble choosing one...

Hrmmm.... Purple Passion or Coconut White?

Bits of this and that.

2011-03-24T01:15:00.006-04:00

Firstly, let me say that my Penny is doing well. Her surgery went well and the Vet says she is one of the most well cared for and healthiest rabbits she has ever seen brought in! YAY! She looked so sad when I picked her up, all sore and groggy. When she got home, I just let her stay in her cage for a bit, I didn't want her all hoppy and jumpy, I thought it best to let her be in her own quiet space. She wasn't interested in food, she usually eats all day long here and there, so I just encouraged her to eat and drink as much as I could without bugging her. I bought her fresh parsely, mint and basil. She also had her timothy hay and carrots but wasn't interested in them either, not was she interested in any of her treats, which is crazy for her. Yesterday was the first day that she started to eat more, and today she is eating a lot, back to normal. She is even being naughty again, getting up to mischief and flicking her ears in laughter at me telling her no. It makes me smile, I love her so so much and I am so relieved that she is all spayed and healthy.

I really miss blogging, infact I would blog more often except that the weather has been horrendous, so cold and bleak that it makes me all "blah," and when one feels such a way, why blog about it and make others feel blah also?

My father in law tells me it's Spring, however the weather outside is not showing it that's for sure, it's still so cold, and even my Canadian Hubby thinks it's horrid, so it must be. lol. I am happy that the sun is shining for longer, I would just like to feel the warmth of it also. I saw a Robin the other day, two infact, they flew infront of the car when we were in line at the Tim Horton's, I am wanting to win a car with the Roll up the Rim, lol, hasn't happened yet!

I can't wait for the weather to be shiny and bright, lovely and warm. I want to get out and about with my camera and go nuts with the photo taking. We got the new zoom lens and I want to use it in such a crazy bad way! Oh speaking of new things! Mark finally let me go to the Home Depot to buy new floors for our TV room and our bedroom. YAY! The not so yay? They were special order and I have to wait until about the 13th April before they come in! SO LONG! The floors we have in there now is a mixture of horribleness. In the bedroom we have a feral orange coloured carpet from the 70's, and the TV room has a concrete floor (the paint peels off on my bare feet) and the shag rug is a grubby horrid thing from the 70's also, I think it was initially white! LOL. So you can imagine my excitement and relief now that I have the floors ordered ($750 later) and there is no way he can put it off now! Woohoo! Here is a photo off the floors we ordered, the photo was taken from the Home Depot site-

They are those tongue in groove click clack thingys and I read reviews that they were easy to install, so here's hoping they are. We also bought some new paint, we only just painted last year, but I am already sick of the green, due to reasons I won't go into. I have now chosen a lovely shade of blue from Benjamin Moore to go with my Benjamin Moore white walls. I want to paint now, however Mark says he is not taking down the TV and stuff twice within a month, he said I have to wait until we do the floors so he is only taking down and wiring everything together again once. Little does he know however that when it warms up outside, I am taking it all down again, because the brown wood of the entertainment unit isn't doing it for me, so I will be painting it white, muhahahaha *evil laugh.*

Do you ever have moments when inspiration strikes and you feel the nagging desire to create something, although you have NO IDEA how to go about it?! I do, I have them all the time and they are endlessly naggy! Here's what's been bugging me- I want to BUILD:
1. An upholstered headboard
2. A coffee table
3. A dining room table
4. A desk for Mark's computer area, I hate his black and tan desk.
5. Something to hide our bar fride away in, I am sick of it just sitting out in plain view.
6. An antique ladder book shelf, or something similar.

That's just the stuff I want to build, I also want to make-

1. Fitted slip covers for my 2 wing chairs. (No idea how to do this)!
2. Pillow cases of different sizes for couches and said wing chairs.
3. A quilt to fit our bed.
4. Footstools, not sure which type as of yet though.

I have a very busy mind, I can't shut it down and I want to be able to do exactly what's in my mind. I believe I can, I just need some help to get started, Mark thinks I am crazy, my father in law thinks I am nuts too probably. When an idea gets in my mind, it's like a weed that just takes over and there's no taming it, the best you can do is nurture it and let it grow some pretty flowers, because good things come from my crazy ideas! *smiles*

Well that's all for now, I have rambled for long enough on enough tangents. Time to get ready for bed, I have a 7:00am alarm for my temp check.

A Sneak Peak

2011-03-18T11:15:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post before I go and get my little Penny from the Vets. As I mentioned in the previous post, I had been crocheting another gift for my dear friend Mariann who is expecting her second baby girl any time now. I can't show the whole thing, just a little, because I have not had the oppotunity to give it to her as of yet.

Here is a sneaky peak-

Off to get my baby Penny! YAY! I missed her so much!

A cosy and a love...

2011-03-17T17:57:00.006-04:00

Seriously, these things are super duper fun to whip up. When my sister in-law Tammy came to visit, she mentioned how everyone at her work says that they are going to steal her apple cosy, and she has to tell them that it was made just for her so they had better not. She told me that her little six year old reading buddy also really loves her apple cosy and she feels a little guilty for not giving it to her, lol. So when she was here, I decided to whip one up for the little girl who wanted one of her very own. Tammy chose the colour and I dug through my beads and found this sweet little green flower that looked ever so pretty for a little girl. As, I myself am very girly, I decided that ribbons and bows are a must for presentation, so here is the latest apple cosy-

I have finished up another crochet project that I was working on for my friend Mariann who is expecting her baby girl ever so soon. I will show a sneak peak of that tomorrow if I get time, my little bunny might need some extra love and care tomorrow as we took her to the Vet today to get spayed. We took her to an animal hospital in the next town/city over (3o minutes away give or take) because the Vet is a breeder of bunnies herself, she personally has 40. I wanted to go to a Vet who knew rabbits because when researching on the net, I read that they are more complicated to de-sex than cats or dogs and I wanted the best I could find for my lovely little girl. I have to say, I am so missing her right now and I have been paranoid that I would not see her again. I had a bad experience with a Vet with one of my male cats and ever since then I don't have the largest faith in Animal Hospitals unfortunately. We had to take her there early this morning, and she has been there all day and has to spend the night. I took along her red blankey and some other things for her, but oh my gosh, I miss her and I think she misses me. lol. We have never been apart for longer than a few hours at a time, so it's a little stressful for me. Some might think it strange of me, but oh well, I am very attached to my little bun.

I can't wait to have her home!

YAY for prizes!

2011-03-05T17:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I woke to find a parcel waiting for me at the computer, I was so super excited because I never get mail. I was even more excited when I opened it and saw that it was my OWOH prize from Jennifer! It was so sweetly wrapped, I love that blue ribbon and little owl sticker. The bracelets that Jennifer made are extremely beautiful, they shimmer and shine and I found myself just looking at all the pretty little sparkles they made. They are very well made and are gorgeous, I love them. I am going to keep them together with the purple ribbon, because frankly, I love ribbons and bows. *smiles*

Jennifer has an Etsy store and makes lovely jewellery. If you fancy a new bracelet, necklace or possibly some new pretty earrings, maybe you might like to pop on over to Jennifer's Etsy Store and have a look around.

Babies...

2011-03-02T02:50:00.004-05:00

I want one, I want one ever so badly that I often find myself quite depressed that I am having so much trouble getting pregnant. I know I am going to be an awesome mum, it's hard to explain, but I feel as though I am already a mother, I just don't have my own baby as of yet. I have worked in childcare, as a nanny, a babysitter,and not to mention half raising my little brother and sister since they were born. For years now, I have been wanting a baby, I have the names chosen, I know exactly in my mind how the nursery will go, how I'll dress them, how I'll raise them, I day dream about it all the time, quite frankly, there isn't an hour that I don't think about it. I have so many mixed feelings, I can't go too far into it, because it might bother some people who I know read my blog, but along with the sadness, the hope and the longing, there is also anger and resentment. I try not to have those feelings, but some days are worse than others. I am working on it. *smiles*

I got a new book that I heard about, "Taking Control of Your Fertility," and I am post-it"ing" many pages, high-lighting and reading it like crazy. I find it a little daunting to be honest, we (the hubby and I) will begin charting this week, taking my temperatures and all that jazz. My cycles are so way off normal, never the same, so you can imagine how much of a problem it can be. I use the Ipod App, "iPeriod" also to input all my data, have been for a couple of years now, and according to that, within that time frame, my longest cycle to date was 93 days. It has come down since then, according to iPeriod my average cycle is 50 days. It is a handy app, and I quite recommend it for recording such things, because otherwise, I would not have a clue.

I have some people telling me, "If you don't think about it or stress about it, you'll get pregnant... blah blah blah." The thing is though, I have tried that, didn't help, plus I need to think about it because I have to try and time it right, but still, no luck. I am going to follow the steps and advice in this book, I am hopeful, for the most part I am ever the optimist, but there are times when my heart is breaking so much, I don't think I can bear it.

I thought I would also share some photos of my cousin's little girl Talia. The photos on the left are the originals that she had posted on Facebook that I just saved to my computer. I then used my fancy photoshop to make them lovely, two different looks for both photographs. I then gave it a "digital scrapbook" look. She really ought to learn how to make photos more pretty, they paid so much to have her photos taken at Christmas, and I have to say, I would never pay hundreds of dollars like that. I am quite capable of doing it myself.

Wish me luck, because I am so going to need it.

Glitches can be a real... (rhymes with Glitch).

2011-02-19T16:49:00.003-05:00

So, as previously mentioned in my OWOH winner's post, I did not hear back from my initial winner, but it turns out, she never got my comment letting her know that she had won. I am not sure what happened, I don't know the exact reason for it, but I guess glitches do happen, I have had a few in the past, but never with Blogger, mainly other websites. Since finding out that Michaele missed out due to a glitch, I thought it best to offer her another prize. I am going to crochet up another apply cosy to gift her, she can choose the colours.

So Michaele, if you would like an apply cosy to be made up for you, just let me know which colourway you would like and which button and I will get working on it for you.

Here are the colours-

And the winner is...

2011-02-17T14:53:00.008-05:00

Cameron from Paint Myself Pretty! Congratualtions and thank you so much for dropping by my blog and entering. I would love to thank everyone who visited my blog and entered, all 337 of you infact! I can't even begin to say how exciting it all was getting so many sweet comments, and then getting additional followers to my blog via this OWOH flight. I am so happy to be able to meet new and wonderful people from all over the world, to visit their blogs and make new friends. I would also like to thank my hubby right now, for counting each comment for me (I lose my place easily) to get to the comment that Random.Org selected as the winner.

I have had so much fun visiting so many new and wonderful blogs from all over this wonderful world of ours, and although it got a little exhausting, it was so worth being able to see all the amazing people out there in Blog Land. OWOH has been an amazing journey and I would love to thank Lisa from A Whimsical Bohemian for putting it all together again. I would also like to thank Kristin from Twinkle Twinkle for letting me know about OWOH.

So, Cameron, incase you have forgotten what you have won, here it is:

Please contact me via email to leave me your address so I can send you your prizes. My email is-
serenite_50@hotmail.com

Congratualtions to all the winners in OWOH! I would also like to add that because OWOH has given me the opportunity to find new friends, I will soon be hosting another giveaway to thank my followers.

I heart my Hubby...

2011-02-15T23:55:00.002-05:00

I am so deeply in love with my husband. This year on the 9th June, we will have been married for 4 years, and I have to say that everyday is still so exciting and lovely with him. I am never tired of him, nor do I feel sad when I am with him. I miss him when he leaves the room, lol. When he goes to work, I can't wait until his lunch break when he calls me and I can't wait until he comes home at night. He is my best friend, we share many laughs every day, we are nerdy and dorky with each other and he makes my heart so happy. Everynight when it's time for bed, it might seem sappy, but we go to sleep holding each other's hands... Thank you Yahoo! chat messenger, you helped me find my Soulmate back in November of 2004.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, he pretended to have to go to work, but then was a sneaky hubby and came home while I was cleaning (I didn't hear him come in), he left a giant helium love monkey balloon in the doorway, which frightened me when I walked out of the room to where he was waiting with a bouquet of orchids, a card and Lindt Chocolates. He is quite the romantic I have to say. I love him so dearly. We later went to the park, where he surpised me with a lovely little bracelet.

I made him a special lunch and dinner and for dessert I made him a heart shaped devil's food cake, the bottom layer spread with a homemade strawberry sauce, sliced fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream filling. He loved it. I also baked him strawberry jam drops with heart shaped jam centres, gave him a card and candy. Later that night, we played Rockband 3 on PS3, he did guitar and I sang... it was a lovely day with my Hunney. *smiles*

The Most Awesome Cow Ever

2011-02-08T22:24:00.002-05:00

If you look on her rear, you will see Australia, Tassie included! If you have trouble seeing this, click the photo for a larger version. This is a photo I took one weekend in Autumn when out and about on a photography excursion with my husband.

This young lady cow, used to live in a quite country town, not too far from Bunderberg. This town was called Monto. Here in Monto she lived with her mother, 2 brothers and sister. She was a part of a large family, and could always be found just hanging out with them in the pastures or by the dam. One day, due to drought, her and her family had to move to another farm after being purchased at a cattle sale. While at the cattle sale, she met a lovely young bull who talked awfully funny. His moos sounded likes mous's and he was a little stranger than the rest, more shy. Mildred thought to herself that this was such a lovely young bull and she wanted to get to know him better. After she and her family moved, she found out that her Bill the Bull had moved back to Canada where he was from. Milly and Billy kept in contact by e-moo-ling each other. The distance started to become too much to bear and although she would miss her family dearly, she decided it was time to moove to Canada. Upon mooving to Canada, Mildred made the decision to get a tattoo of her home country so everyone would know where she came from. Mildred is an extremely patriotic young lady cow and is very proud of her Aussie roots.

I think Mildred is inspiration for me to get a tattoo of Australia myself.

I see "moo."

Yasi Aftermath and Fundraising for little People

2011-02-07T20:57:00.010-05:00

Update: As of last night, (16th Feb) a lovely lady, Jules has upped the bid to $100. Thank you Jules. The Auction is almost closed. Heath and Zaneikah are going to be so happy with your generosity.

Update: Winning Bid to Jules for $100. Thank you so much Jules!

These photos were taken by my cousin and my Aunt. My mum, little brother Heath and little sister Zaneikah are staying with my Aunt at the moment until they can back back on their feet. Here are some of the guys trying to tarp the roof after Tropical Cyclone Yasi ripped it off.

More damage around the place.

After some feedback from my last post, I have gone through my things looking for something I could offer up for an Auction/bid to raise money to help my family out. I don't have the largest stash because I have only been living in Canada for less than 2 years and the things I make, I giveaway. *smiles* Gifting people is one of my favourite things to do, so I rarely hold onto the crafts I make. So after having a good look, I found a 12 by 9 inch mixed media artwork I made a couple of months back but haven't found a place to put it. An apple cosy, because I like to keep my hands busy and this little project is perfect for when the hubby plays his Need For Speed PS3 games.

I'm not exactly sure how to go about it, I have never held an Auction before, I have never needed to, but this is to go towards what my little brother and sister lost and to try and cheer them up some. In response to AZviaTx I hope the mail is running again, I am fairly sure of it, I have not heard any news that it isn't. My mum won't be getting mail at her place, she will be having it re-directed to my Aunt's. I had to think about the mail issue the other day as I have bought some new bed linens online and I have had them sent to my Aunt's.

So, here is what I have got up for grabs- (and please remember the money goes to two children).

12 by 9 inches

I added the word "Imagine" because it is my all time favourite word, and in times of sadness, my imagination is what has always pulled me through. It is an imperative tool for the Soul.

Please spread the word. Starting bid at $30US.

Thank you so much, I can't express well enough just how much this means to me.

Let me know what you think?

2011-02-05T23:25:00.006-05:00

Remember this from a few posts back? The sneaky peak into a gift I handmade for a dear friend of mine who is expecting a baby girl in a few months? Well....

It's a mobile!!!

So, it was really fun to make, a labour of love although a little difficult here and there as I had no idea how to go about it. I was most definitely out of my comfort zone, but I am very happy I got the idea in my mind, because I am so very pleased with how it turned out and Mariann loves it!

Now, to my idea. I don't have a job which means I am at a loss as to how to help my family back home in Australia after Tropical Cyclone Yasi. I am thinking of holding an Auction to raise some money to send back home to my family. It's for a good cause and it's the only thing I can think of to help out, I make things, it's what I do, so I would love to be able to use this to help my family.

If I were to make another mobile and maybe recover another notebook (in the same fabric as the notebook in my OWOH post) and an apple cosy in a lovely green/white colour combination with a wooden button, would there be any interest? Now please remember it is for a good cause and the money would go directly to my family back home after the devastion of Cyclone Yasi.

Please leave a comment here to let me know of any interest. Thank you all so much, your money will go towards these two amazing children... my little sister Zaneikah and my little brother Heath.

Yasi Aftermath

2011-02-03T14:54:00.006-05:00

The last few days have been quite nerve-wracking for me. My nails are all chewn down and I look like a zombie girl from lack of sleep. Cyclone Yasi kept many on their toes and has affected such a large area, but thankfully, no lives have been lost, none that is known of right now anyway.

A comparison between Cyclone Yasi and Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans. Katrina was larger in km/miles however the wind and everything else for Yasi was more damaging. It's unfortunate that so many lives were lost in Katrina, it could have been prevented. North Queensland and Australia are very good at preparation. We have very high building standards and work together, I am very proud to be an Aussie. We really shine in these heartbreaking moments, our humour and sense of community is a very important part of being Australian. We are an amazing and resilient people who come together, buckle down and work hard. We care for one another. I love being an Aussie!!!

Thankfully my family in Townsville was spared the eye of the monster storm, but because of the sheer extensive size of the storm, they still got destructive winds, rain, flooding, power loss and quite a lot of damage. My mother, little brother and sister had to evacuate to my Aunt's house before the storm hit as did my grandma. Luckily my Aunt's house held up really well although she has lost a few trees, one of them a really large tree. They are still without power and water. My aunt has got a generator, and other gas supplies, such as a gas fridge and stove, so that's good. They were prepared really well, as was most of North Queensland which makes me so proud of my country and my home state.

The large tree at my Aunt's, taken with her phone. No photos of my mum's house yet because there is no power and no way of uploading the photos.

I stayed up for 2 days straight, tracking the map and path of the cyclone and watching it carefully. While my family was bunkered down, I sat and watched while they waited it out, hoping for the best. I listened to the local radio station 4TO FM which during the night lost it's FM signal and had to be broadcast through AM frequency and from the living room of the DJ's as the radio station was evacuated. Those guys did an awesome job of keeping people calm and company through the storm, really tops effort! I also watched ABC24 Australia which was 24 hour news on Tropical Cyclone Yasi, thankfully they had their geoblock lifted so I could watch it from here in Canada. My family lost power in the evening before the storm hit, the winds taking down the power lines, they then lost the radio, so I found it imperative that I stay up, and listen to the news, should they need to be updated of anything. I could not be there in person for my family, but I am glad they knew I was there to keep them informed and I was going to be there the whole night for them.

The next morning they had to wait before they could survey the damage, as there were storm surges and flooding, not to mention the wind that was still quite damaging. It's always a danger to go out after a storm, think power lines hidden under debris, think flying sheet metal and other dangerous projectiles. It's best to stay indoors, follow emergency service's advice and to not go out and get yourself into any trouble where you might require being rescued.

After getting the go ahead to check on the damage, my family went to check out my mum's place. The roof had come off and there is severe damage to everything. Their belongings are soaked through, muddy and ruined. The worst part is, my mother is a single mother, with no help from the kid's father at all unfortunately and had *just* moved into the house and the Insurance company would not approve her being insured while there was still looming threats, these threats were the QLD flooding and also Cyclone Anthony. My little brother Heath's room copped it the worst, he has NOTHING left at all, apparently he was sitting on his bedroom floor in puddles of water, no roof above his head with all his things around him ruined, crying and trying to dry his leggo with wet clothes.

To adults, we know the most important thing is that we're safe and that stuff is just that, it's stuff, but it still hurts when you lose everything. To children, this stuff, their stuff is their world. Their rooms, their toys, books and belongings are their world. It's what they know, and then when something comes along and destroys that, takes that away, it's traumatising.

There is still no power or water. They have no clothes and no shops are open to buy anything.
There's nothing I can do, I am all the way on the other side of the world and all I want to do is comfort my family and look after them. I want to hug my little brother and sister and make them smile. We sent some money, my mum is really going to need it, it's all I have, I wish I had more, I wish there was some help I could get to her, to Heathy and Neiky, but I am at a loss.

One World One Heart!

2011-01-31T03:00:00.004-05:00

Update: Now Closed, thank you to all who entered, it was such an amazing pleasure having you all here! The winner will be notified via their blog also. *smiles*

2011 One World One Heart

"OWOHm" I ever thrilled to be joining OWOH! My fingers are stumbling over themselves with stirring stimulation! I welcome the opportunity of meeting like-minded bloggers who enjoy sharing their lives on this giant digital plain of discovery. YAY!

I got thinking about what to offer and if you are like me by any chance, you like A LOT of things and have many interests. My main art is photography and crochet (as taught to me by my grandmother a few years ago now), but I also love drawing/painting. I love baking/cooking, writing and journalling. Things that shimmer and shine, are also a firm favourite. Not to mention my bunny, I am pretty crazy about my bunny! (oh and my lovely husband).

Win these OWOH delights!

Included in my little bundle is a lovely little notebook that I recovered with some delicious fabric from my fabric stash and a matching handmade bookmark. The pages are blank and waiting to be filled with all of your favourite things. On the inner front and back cover there are pages from an old quote book and even a bookplate for the first page.

There are 6 darling little bottles of shimmery glitter and 6 little bottles of delicate beads. Also included is a "crystal" backed stamp, lovely glass beads and a satin tie bag to keep treasures in.

To keep your apple clean and bruise free, I am including a handmade apple cosy that I crocheted with Bernat cotton. The leaf is made from Lionbrand Organic Cotton Yarn and the button is from my very treasured button collection. (Apple not included).

Thank you ever so kindly for stopping by. For your chance to win all you need to do is leave a comment and a way for me to get back to you should you win. In turn I look forward to visiting you on your blogs also! *smiles* The winner will be drawn by random and announced on FEB 17th.

If you want to participate in OWOH, please go to: http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/2010/12/annoucning-the-fifth-and-final-one-world-one-heart-event-.html

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun!

A Time...

2011-01-31T01:09:00.006-05:00

When you really miss your family. I am so worried about my family right now. The first Tropical Cyclone Anthony went by with no worries, but this TC Yasi is a different story, this is going to be one very significant event, a tremendous and very scary storm. With the QLD floods so recently, my poor home state of QLD has been through the ringer, and things are not over and done with yet, it's just the beginning of the Wet Season back home.

My hometown of Townsville, where all my family (except my brother Kristofor) lives is preparing for a extremely serious threat. I can't stress enough just how worried I am about my family, I am literally feeling ill to my stomach. I wish there was something I can do, although I would be so scared if I were there, there would be some comfort knowing I was with my family. Townsville has been declared a disaster region, if this thing hits, the impact will be HUGE. I hope the TC Yasi turns around, that she doesn't make landfall, but the BOM Australia says that it is unlikely, and that this cyclone is very much likely to be the worst cyclone to ever hit Queensland, and it's path is heading right towards my beloved family. I am going to be glued to my laptop, constantly refreshing websites to track the path of the Cyclone over the next couple of days.

It's times like these that I really feel the distance and isolation from my family. Although cyclones can be unpredictable and turn off course, the current tracking of this cyclone seems pretty straight forward, but time will tell. As much as I don't want it to hit anywhere, I would rather it hit elsewhere away from my loved ones, so they will be safe. My family is preparing for the oncoming Tropical Cyclone Yasi, I have spoken to my mum, my little brother and sister and they are making plans, but oh my gosh, I am so scared and worried for them all. I don't know how I would cope if anything happened to anyone in my family, let alone my little brother and sister, those children are the world to me in so many ways and mean more to me than anyone could know.

An informative Video from the Queensland Police Website regarding TC Yasi.

So to my little sister Zaneikah, little brother Heath, Mum, Grandma, Aunty Torhild, Uncle Peter, cousin Stephy, cousin Kayla, Steven, Talia, Nanna, Aunty Tuppy, Toni, my Felix and Morgan (pets) and everyone else back home in Townsville... stay safe and I love and miss you all so very much. xoxoxox

A Sneak Peak

2011-01-30T13:52:00.003-05:00

My dear friend Mariann is pregnant with her second baby girl and is due in a mere matter of 3 months give or take. I have been crocheting something for her, but I wanted to also step out of my comfort zone and make her something special for her baby girl's room. I am not a pro sewer, infact I do so much better by hand than I do by machine. Sure it takes much longer to do things by hand, but it's just how I roll. *smiles* I took to the needle and thread and I have to say that I am very pleased with the final result.

Here is the sneaky peak:

I will share more photos and let everyone know what it is after I have gifted this to Mariann... I don't want her knowing what it is before hand. *smiles*

Adventures (or lack thereof)

2011-01-29T17:10:00.003-05:00

I have been somewhat slack of late when it comes to blogging and there is no real reason for it. I have the time, however I have not had the motivation. It could very well be attributed to the fact that I am *so over* Winter and the snow. The weather we have been having somewhat keeps us trapped inside and there's not really anything overly exciting going on either. It's almost as though life has been put on hold until warmer weather, lol. I am still suffering through my cough, and I finally got around to the chest X-ray so I should be getting those results soon. Having a cough for 3 months is definitely a pain and a major inconvenience.

I long for the Spring and even more so than that, the Summer. Back home in Australia, we had two seasons, Wet and Dry. I never thought I would be saying this, but I am so missing that scorching, burning, high humidity and very sun burnt weather of Townsville. Sure you'd be sweaty even as soon as you step out of the shower, but you could go out... here it's such a hassle with the boots and the giant puffy coats which makes moving very difficult. lol.

I have been going through all our photos from the Summer/Autumn and daydreaming about being outside, being able to wear Maryjanes shoes and going for long drives and photo adventures. I am on a countdown to fairer weather and with that, I will leave you with two more photos of the Antiques Barn that I could spend thousands upon thousands of dollars in:

Wishing you warmth and fair weather.

I can't wait to go back!

2011-01-17T01:34:00.003-05:00

Going through my photos, I came across this one that I had completely forgotten about. It was when Mark and I went to an Antiques Barn that used to be in his father's family long ago, but not anymore. I wish it still was, it's beautiful out there. When it was in their family it was a dairy farm, now the barn has been turned into an antiques store filled with such amazing treasures and there is also a tonne of pigeons, it's kinda crazy and perhaps they may be a tad wacky because there is A LOT of pigeons, this is just ONE of the "houses" they live in.

I am really looking forward to Spring, because I miss going on our weekend drives to new places.

On a Foggy Eve

2011-01-16T04:02:00.004-05:00

Back!

2011-01-10T21:53:00.004-05:00

After taking a 2 week break from Blog Land, I am now back and ready to start blogging again. I hope that everyone had a magickal Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. Here are some of the gifts I received for Christmas.

A lovely tea set from my Father In-law.

My darling Husband noticed me trying to decide what tea I would like the most one time at the grocery store, me not being able to decide just walked away and didn't get any. He ended up getting me one of each for one of my presents. *smiles*

Something I have been lusting over for a while now, a zoom lens, thanks to my darling husband yet again! Extra brownie points on this one!

YELLOW MaryJanes! Thanks again to my lovely hubby! Now I have to wait for Spring.

My brother Kristofor also gifted me some money, which will go towards a much needed Elliptical machine. I can't tell you just how much weight I have gained since moving to Canada, but let me just say that none of my Australian clothes fit me much at all. *sad* But this year, thanks to one of my little brothers, is going to be a much better year, although it is going to be a very very busy year as well.

I must say, that I am very lucky and fortunate to have what I have. I may not have a lot and there is so much more that I want and even need, however I am blessed to have what I have. I have a wonderful husband, food and a home. Back home in Australia there is so much devastation happening, and my heart goes out to everyone who has lost everything. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed, businesses are going under and the waters keep on rising.

If you can help, please Donate here.

Merry Christmas Blog Land!

2010-12-25T04:09:00.000-05:00

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-22T16:42:00.002-05:00

I really shouldn't be online, I should be crocheting, but here I am procrastinating. *sigh* So in between my last post and this one, I found a vintage pinecone wreath that someone made, (I don't know when) in the laundry room hidden beneath a bunch of my father in-law's stuff. It was falling apart here and there, but something about it made me love it. I gave it a gentle dusting, added some green glass baubles and ribbons. Now I love it even more! It now hangs on my beloved yellow door (some think it's too yellow) that cheers me up in the Winter months when there is no colour outside.

Okay, now I am really off to do some crochet... one last project to finish! argh!

Generous Giveaways

2010-12-22T13:49:00.003-05:00

Here is another blogger that is having an incredibly generous giveaway.The fabrics are simply stunning and ever so beautiful! I hope I win!!!

Two full sets of 20 fat quarters are up for grabs - make sure you pop on over to Retro Mummy's blog and enter!

3 days until Christmas... and I am still crocheting! argh!

Christmas Crochet Countdown

2010-12-16T04:27:00.002-05:00

This is another gift I made for my sister in-law Tammy. She has mentioned how she likes to take apples to University with her for a quick snack when she doesn't have time to eat, so I thought she might appreciate having a protective cosy around her apple so it doesn't bruise in her bag.

I used a light green merino wool for the main colour and a darker green colour for the leaf in merino wool. Both wools were purchased from the same lady while I was out and about on a crafty adventure earlier in the year. I have been waiting and wanting to use them but never found the right project for them and this seemed perfect... luckily I have enough left to make myself one. The wool was quite a pleasure to work with and I love how the woman I bought it from has her own sheep where she gets her wool from, she dyes it herself and spins it also, so it is very local in every sense of the word. I know Tammy will like that as much as I do.

The button is from a stash of buttons I got from my grandma's collection before I left Australia. Oh my, how I love buttons so! There are quite a few patterns around like this, but I found it a pain to follow because I just don't like patterns for the most part, so I improvised.

I am still having to finish another gift, but I have ran out of that yarn and I am needing to get to the store in order to buy some more and finish it off.

Bread

2010-12-15T11:00:00.004-05:00

A few days ago I mentioned how I was having some trouble making the dough for my bread rise because of how cold it was, well here is a photo of one of my loaves. I ended up baking a large round pizza bread, smaller pizza rolls, a cheesey-mite scroll and a braided bread loaf. The bread turned out really tasty, and I loved eating the braided loaf with a chicken casserole I made.

I will state now however, that I shall not be baking anymore bread until the warmer months, not unless I have a bread maker.

Generous Giveaways

2010-12-13T14:32:00.002-05:00

It's now time to post about another great gieaway I have come across in Blog Land! YAY! This one is a doozy at that! It's fabulous and I have my fingers crossed for this one too! I have been wanting a quilt so badly, but I don't know how to go about making one, so winning this would be fantastic! Head on over to Pigtales and Quilts to enter!

If you enter via my blog, could you please leave in your comment that you found her site/giveaway through me. Thanks!!!

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-10T21:14:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post with some of my Christmas photos.

I am loving my Lindt Advent Calendar!

My cheeky bunny loves to pull down the "gold stringy bits" and make a pile of gold behind the Christmas tree where I can't get to it very easily.

I love the traditional colours of Christmas... Green is always my favourite colour, as it white and I love how red looks with them.

What's under your tree?

Generous Giveaways

2010-12-10T15:42:00.006-05:00

Janet of Quilting with Janet has a wonderful Christmas Blog Giveaway which will run until midnight of Christmas Eve. There is quite an extensive range of beautiful prizes to choose from if you are the lucky winner. I know I have my fingers crossed!

For all the details click HERE

What I am doing...

2010-12-08T15:24:00.002-05:00

One of the Christmas gifts I have been working on. I have finished crocheting this now, all that's left on this is for me to weave in all the ends. Now to work on and finish the other projects I am working on.

With Christmas almost upon us, are you ready? I am feeling the pinch, one thing about me is that I really leave things too late. I love crocheting so much, but it takes it tolls on my knuckles unfortunately, otherwise I would likely be done, but because it makes my hands crampy it takes me a while longer to finish a project. I have to say though, it doesn't make me love crochet any less, it rather makes me more appreciative of the end result to know I have made it.

17 sleeps until Christmas.

Snowy Squirrels

2010-12-07T13:15:00.004-05:00

I don't really recall what time our squirrels went into hiding for Winter last year, but I don't remember them rummaging through the snow that's for sure. I looked out our mud room window about an hour ago to see my little fellas scurrying around, so I thought I would take out the camera and some extra peanuts for them... afterall, they always need them. *smiles*

I love how sweet he looks covered in snow!

Meet Cyril! He is our only grey squirrel, all the others are black. Cyril the Squirrel is the shyest and it's quite difficult to take his photo because the other squirrels chase him away. Although Fang is a firm favourite among our tree residents, I have to say that Cyril is the most beautiful. He has such a definite gorgeousness to him and I want to cuddle him so very much!

Awwww..... Cyril.....

I mean.... Just look AT THAT TAIL!!!! It's so fluffy and he looks like he would give lovely snuggles!

*Oh, a side note, I have been attempting to make my own bread today. I have not ever had a problem with it before back home in Australia, but now? Well maybe (even with the heating) it is too cold for the dough to rise properly. After an hour and a half of nothing happening basically, I decided to turn the oven on for a bit, then turn it off, then stick in the bowl with the dough... Repeat process... After an hour of doing this, it has risen to almost double it's size. I am now just waiting for the kitchen to be clear of people so I can work in the next bit of flour and continue on to the 2nd rising... ahh such a process....

The Purple Sock

2010-12-06T14:48:00.008-05:00

A week or so ago, my husband and I went for a lovely drive to Coldwater Ontario so I could pick out some lovely gifts for my sister in-law. There are so many pretty things in this store, I could spend a fortune if I had it, lol. From fabulous yarns to delicious teas and everything in between, Lynn has an amazing assortment. If you are ever in the area be sure to check it out, because The Purple Sock has a treasure (or more) for everyone.

*So* many things I would *love* to take home with me.

These little teapots are crazy cute! I think my favourite is the Elephant on the far left.

This is just a quick look at some of her teas in the store, there is another lot on some shelves to the left. My favourite tea, which is so very yummy is the Cream of Earl Grey... deliciously fragrant.

On another note, last night we had another snowfall, so today I awoke to a beautiful Winter Wonderland... although, it is cold. *smiles*

A Snowy Evening

2010-12-06T00:41:00.004-05:00

Between 2 crochet projects, painting/drawing, photo editing, and my usual day to day stuff, I have not been able to blog on a semi daily basis, like I had been trying to... However, I would love to share with you some photographs I took one evening when we got our first real snow fall (although all the snow is gone now).

Our Front yard, this one is my favourite. I love the overall composition and light, it reflects the night I took the photo perfectly.

I am a sucker for light in my photos, my husband tends to prefer "darker" photographs, but I love, love, love light. This second photo was also taken in our front yard, however it was facing across the street towards the street lamps.

And a self portrait in my snow jacket. It is filled with down feathers and I probably should not be wearing it already before the "actual cold weather" sets in, but I was cold, and it's ever so warm and toasty. I also love ear muffs! I love wearing them, they are so soft and warm and feel so comfy on my ears... I think they're my favourite winter accessory... plus, they're GREEN! yay!

19 sleeps until Christmas...

Lovely Giveaways

2010-12-02T14:09:00.003-05:00

Just a quick thought from my rambling mind- The word "giveaway" reminds me of "Nimeway" (however it is spelled) the name of Merlin's wife from the movie Merlin with Sam Neill. LOL......Anyhoo....

Congratulations to Lavender Dreams who won the great Giveaway over at Funkybabymine! I am sure you are going to love anything from Janet's wonderful collection of Vintage Treasures.

A huge thank you to Janet for giving us the chance to enter, and also for the great consolation prize she is giving away to myself and another blogger. Janet is kindly sending each of us one of her fragrant lavender filled handstitched sachets as a little Christmas gift! I know exactly where mine will be treasured! I am going to keep mine with my favourite wools/yarns so that they smell divine. I love lavender, I tried my hand at growing some, but it died, maybe I bought the wrong sort? I don't know, all I know is that it was much easier to grow in Australia. lol.

Janet will be having another giveaway soon over at Quilting with Janet. Pop on over to say hi and enter! She will be announcing that one before the end of the week and it will be drawn on Christmas Eve!

Too Early?

2010-11-26T02:41:00.012-05:00

Nah..... Tonight we put up our Christmas tree, I couldn't have waited any longer, plus it isn't too early, it's only a few more days until December. *smiles* Last year we were blessed with a Christmas Album to call our own and no longer had to just listen to all the sugary versions out there. Firstly we were thrown for a loop and couldn't believe what we were seeing or hearing, but thankfully, as usual Bob Dylan delivered and his Christmas album "Christmas In The Heart" was beyond perfect for my husband and I. I do however have my all time favourite Christmas song that always pulls at my heart strings and nothing could ever replace that, but being a fan of Bob Dylan, it is just *so nice* to chill out to some Bobby D Christmas tunes! They are very calming. His take on the classics are so gritty and as per usual, mumbly, but I love it so! I always giggle when listening to "Must be Santa" it's so wacky and gets me tapping away, what you gotta love about Bobby D is that he is just does what he does and doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks. So many people will give him flack for going all "cheesy and commercial" or whatever, but he did this for Charity for one, and it's different and wacky, and seriously, it's Bob Dylan! He is a genius and you gotta give him his props and respect the man. Mark and I got to see him perform live a couple of years back and it was INCREDIBLE, not just the fact that we were actually in the same room as Bob Dylan, someone who was the voice of a generation, but for so many reasons. I was electrified, it was pure music, a jam session almost, it was awesome! Nothing, not ever is gonna top that concert, my husband and I both looked at each other and said, "seriously, what band could we see that could top Bobby D? There's no way we're topping that."

Now back to my tree... My husband took this photo of our Christmas Tree through the crystal of one of our wall sconces. I really love the look this gave so this is my first official Christmas Tree photo post of the Season.

So what's my number one favourite Christmas song of all time? I am happy to say that it is another voice of a generation, John Lennon's Happy Christmas, War is Over. It brings tears to my eyes almost every time and my whole body feels overwhelming emotion. No song will ever replace this one, it has my heart forever. It breaks my heart when I think of how much more John Lennon could have achieved if he had not of been murdered. Such an amazing soul.

What's your favourite Christmas song?

Photos from a Fall Adventure

2010-11-23T00:21:00.003-05:00

I have to say right off the bat, that T-strap Maryjanes are not the ideal shoes for hiking in the woods. I did have a wonderfully perfect pair of dark brown leather cowgirl boots that were ideal for such adventures, however after years of constant wearing, they have seen better days, and I am going to try and repair them, but I sincerely doubt that it's going to make a difference. Ahh, they were so comfy and warm and *so* easy to slip on and went with everything, from long white dresses to jeans and a jumper. How I miss them so!

These photos were taken when Mark and I went on a photo adventure to the small "woods" just outside of town. The weather was nice and the sun was shining high. I took along my peanut stash just in case of critters, but we did not find any. What I did find however was a funny tree that was stripped bare, even the branches were gone and there were holes all over it. I had not ever seen such a thing, so I took photos and I assume it is from Woodpeckers looking for some tasty grublets. Me being me, I put peanuts in all the holes for whatever critters would come along at a later time.

I think moss is very pretty. I love the vibrant green against the Autumnal foliage.

For the next photo I decided to lay down upon the crackling fallen leaves and look up through my camera lense at the golden leaves. I love how shiny the sun makes them, the shining gold against the dark tree trunks and branches are stunning and the blue sky really offsets the colour of the leaves. I love it.

I found one of the leaves in the next photo to be really pretty. I like how the leaf is yellow on one half and an orangey-red on the other half. I called it duel citizenship, partly because I am a dork, and partly because it's what came to mind as I am going to be becoming a duel citizen of Australia and Canada.

36 sleeps until Christmas... are you getting ready for it? What are you planning for your holidays?

Penny's House

2010-11-19T04:10:00.003-05:00

I am in love with the house across the road, it's so pretty with it's light blue colour, white trimmings and red door... I love it and I want to make my house just like it, but better. LOL. Seeing as though I am not yet in the position to have what I desire, I thought about making my little bunny a house to hide and play in. With help from Cathy, I made Penny's little house into quite a darling little dwelling for the binky bunny.

Penny's house has a window and a lift up roof on one side and it is tiled on the inside should there be any need to clean up any mess. At the time that she was discovering her house, her red blanket was in the wash so I had to place another blanket in there for the time being. Her red blanket is the "red door" look of the above house. *smiles* Penny LOVES her house. She loves to jump in and out of her window, she keeps her favourite red blanket in there for snuggle sleepy time and makes a little bed. She loves to play with her toys in there and likes to hide in it also. If you are not me, don't touch her house, my hands are the only hands permitted inside her little house, otherwise she will grunt and be grumpy.

Really... she is not spoilt, she is loved.

le sigh

2010-11-18T15:35:00.004-05:00

I really really really *really* want this...

source

But alas, it's far too costly for our budget to fit it in right now. I am so very addicted to pretty things! *smiles*

Oh my... the Internet can prove such a distraction from those things you really must be doing. With Christmas just around the corner, I have such a huge list of things I must complete in order to be ready for the Season, however I am so far behind and what am I doing? Blogging, for the second time today! I have scarves to finish, a shruggie that has barely been started, some painting and drawing for my Christmas gift tags/cards and the list goes on... This is why I am taking a small break from the Heart of Art course, I have so many other things that need to be done... Ahh procrastination, how to avoid you?

Critter Crazy

2010-11-18T14:05:00.002-05:00

I don't know if you can see, but if you look closely on the above photo you can see that her little paws are covered in mud. The ground was damp this day and she was taking her prized peanuts and burying them all over. I lost count of how many I gave her, I get so caught up in my love for the little ones, that I could spend all day doing this and be completely content... the hubby however, was trying to hurry me up... *smiles*

I simply adore when they put their little paws on my fingers, they feel so tiny and ever so sweet!

Not every squirrel will let me do this, but I have gotten quite a few now that will let me after they spend some time around me. I am very small and slow in my movements and I am extra kind to them, (and yes, I talk to them too and make little noises that makes the hubby laugh) so I think I earn their trust well, which makes my day! I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to pat them on their little heads and between their ears... they're just like my Penny and love it!

Some might observe me in the park, the backyard or wherever else I happen to see a critter and think I am crazy as I don't hesitate to try and befriend them... I also like to carry peanuts in my coat pockets and my handbags, just in case... LOL. They're just so cute and sweet, I can't help myself, I love them all!

Countdown to Christmas

2010-11-10T14:49:00.006-05:00

Okay, I know, another Blog post already with more Christmas stuff? Well, this is it for today because I am going to go and watch this week's videos for the Heart of Art course. I just had to share these because frankly, they are the scariest/creepiest Santas I have ever seen!

via heartfeltgiver

via saltsmansoap

via autena

via Shefindsthings

Okay... now onto my art!

Countdown to Christmas

2010-11-10T13:22:00.004-05:00

I find myself browsing the Internet for hours at a time, looking for gift ideas for people and also looking at all the beautiful Christmas Ornaments. Last year was my first Christmas here in Canada and I wanted our own tree downstairs in our little apartment rather than just having a shared one upstairs. I don't know how much we spent on all our ornaments and lights, but Mark has estimated it at quite a few hundred. We had nothing to start with so we were starting from scratch. I am very pleased with our tree last year, I think my favourites were the lights that were made from crystal, they sparkled tremendously. Those lights were extra costly however and we only bought 1 set of clear and 1 set of the red, green and yellow combination set... but... after Christmas they went down to half price and I bought more of them... not to mention a bunch of other things at a seriously reduced price! Just recently I bought 3 new decorations that I really wanted to have on my tree last year but they sold out really fast so this year I bought them ASAP... yay!

I was really looking forward to having my little brother and sister here this year, (they were meant to be here last year but my mother chose to do something else) however, yet again due to my mother's choices, I will be without my beloved little brother and sister yet again. Yes, I am very bitter about this and it partly ruins a lot of my Christmas spirit, and no... I can't forgive her choices, I don't know if I ever will to be honest.

Soooo.... to attempt a Christmas-y spirit, I delve into Etsy-

via Agnieszka

via aniandrose

via Blyssium

via Vintagies

via delc

44 days until Christmas.

The Heart of Art

2010-11-09T16:13:00.003-05:00

Week 2 Assignment- Part 1-

My last assignment for the Heart of Art was the second part of week 2 that I completed before part 1 as I did not have all the materials I needed in order to do this assignment. I had not used transfers before, so I was a little nervous and my first attempt didn't work out too well at all. The method I used was the paper transfer method as I couldn't find any acetate sheets at a reasonable price and I didn't want to buy a box full because I don't know if I will end up using them rest of them. My first attempt with the paper didn't work to what I had hoped, perhaps I was being too much of a perfectionist, but it just wasn't colourful enough and the "blacks" were dull, I didn't like it at all. So I got out the gesso and started from scratch. The second time around, I used photoshop to darken and clarify my photo a little more and mirror imaged it so it would turn out the way I liked. I LOVE the way my second one turned out... I think it's super sweet and it's one of my very favourite photos from when I was a baby... I want a baby that looks just like me... lol. The other photo, the smaller one on the right hand page was at my aunt's wedding and it just fills me with happiness as I love my family dearly.

If you still have not joined, pop on over, it's not only free but it's so much fun and you can learn things along the way and meet some new friends.

Happy Reading...

2010-11-06T03:57:00.005-04:00

(Images via Funkybabymine)

If you are like me and are interested in vintage and antique treasures, pop on over to this little Blog. I have been browsing some interesting blogs of late and I am thinking I am going to feature some on my own blog every now and again to expand my Blogging family.

Funkybabymine has a giveaway on at the moment, so pop on over and say hello!

I'm nut in love...

2010-11-04T17:15:00.003-04:00

Ahhh, who am I kidding?! I'm so totally and utterly in love with my little Charlie the Chipmunk! I was in the backyard on the patio area throwing peanuts and cracking walnuts for all my little critter friends, (although Charlie was the only one brave enough to come in super close) and when I cracked opened this walnut there was a loveheart... awwww.

Charlie seems to have been hurt recently on his nose, I am just happy he managed to escape further harm. Cathy thinks he may have be a different chipmunk, (Cathy calls him Tinker) but after going through all my photos of all our chipmunks at full resolution, I can tell it is Charlie. *smiles* I so love my little chippy! I am getting him all plump and ready for Winter! Speaking of plump, I am going to try and get a photo of Fang (our squirrel with the bad tooth problem), LOL... OMG, he is HUGE! His little arms are so fat and round, I think I even saw a double chin on him this afternoon! He almost looks like a little black bear, he is super fat and fluffy compared to all our other squirrels. We tend to feed and favour him the most because of his poor little tooth that grows up on the outside of his mouth and goes up to his eye. If it weren't for us, I think he would have perished very early on in his life, but we keep him stocked up on peanuts, seeds, fruits and even a water bowl is kept out for all our little friends.

Ahhh, I LOVE all my little guys!

Sweets for my Sweety

2010-11-04T00:47:00.003-04:00

I would have loved to of have some cherries also, but I couldn't find any at the store unfortunately. Un-surprisingly my darling husband liked the marshmallows the most and I loved the strawberries the most. His tastes and preferences in desserts tend to be more chocolate and caramels and sweets like those, mine lean more toward the fruits... He'll prefer chocolate cake above any other, whereas myself, I prefer a classic fluffy sponge cake with freshly whipped cream and strawberries, or perhaps a lemon curd filling... I don't like frosting, he does... The only "frostings" I like are homemade lemon curd (or passionfruit or orange), homemade freshly whipped cream or a homemade cream cheese frosting. I am not really a fan of any sort of frosting. I find them too sweet and they make me cringe and eventually end up feeling ill from them. Shop bought are the worst, always so icky.

Have some fun in the kitchen today!

What I have been working on

2010-11-02T21:21:00.002-04:00

I have slowly been working on this blanket for a little while now and it is coming along quite nicely. I am using 2 balls at once while I crochet so I can get double the thickness. I love the firm, sturdy yet still soft texture this creates. I want it to last quite a long long time. I am not following any patterns, as I always seem to mess them up, so I am just creating it as I go along. I am LOVING the raised borders, they look so cool and the colours cheer me up. I started this blanket in the hopes of soon becoming pregnant, but that was a while ago now and I am still having no luck... so much so that Mark and I have talked about adoption, but the more I looked into it the more it scared me and to be honest, somewhat depressed me because it's so costly and we simply don't have that kind of money. I am trying to keep my chin up, but there's plenty of moments in each day that a tear or two rolls down my cheek and my throat gets choked up.

That's why I chose these colours, to remind me to be optimistic... or atleast try to be.

Happy Haunting...

2010-10-31T15:08:00.002-04:00

...or Happy Hunting as Little Red prefers it...

Who's scared of the Big Bad Wolf?! Definitely not this little lady! That wolf certainly got a surprise when he tried to trick this little girl. He may have had the big teeth better for eating her up, but she had the big big knife hidden behind her back... there is more than sweetness hidden behind that smile!

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Heart of Art

2010-10-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

Week 2- Part 2.

As I have not yet managed to gather all the materials needed for week 2 part 2 of the course, I went straight into the 2nd part of week 2 so I would not be behind and so I could have some more fun over at Willowing.

She's a little girl born from memories old,
Where daydream desires shield secrets untold.
Her red Mary-Janes and darling stripey socks
Complement the lavishness of her long, dark locks.
Wildflower petals line her bedroom's window pane,
As the sun's heavenly reign begins its evening wane.

xxx

These Colours...

2010-10-28T23:09:00.003-04:00

Are the colours I am using for a labour of love of mine. I have been working on it here and there for a while now, not wanting to overwork it or become frustrated with it for not being finished. I get bored with projects if I don't go from one to another, just non-stop working on one alone will drive me batty.

I love how bright and cheerful they are.

Homemade is always better

2010-10-27T15:44:00.003-04:00

Well, to be honest I did not actually make the yoghurt. My favourite yoghurt here in Canada is Yoptimal, but I have not found a frozen yoghurt that I love as of yet. This afternoon I found myself craving frozen yoghurt so... I pulled out the blender, my vanilla Yoptimal, frozen mango and strawberries. I blended together, although there were some moments of angry machine, making noise but not blending because it was so thick. At these points I just turned it off and used a spoon to "mush" it all around and then re-started the process. I poured the globby mixture into a container and froze it for a while. Thankfully it didn't need too much time in the freezer and I got to eat it all up... Yum!

I have to say now however, that I am feeling very cold. It is quite the windy day and the gusts of wind chill me to my core... but it was delicious.

Daydreamer...

2010-10-27T01:48:00.003-04:00

Okay, I officially admit that I torture myself. I look at pretty houses and daydream and wish I could have one, I wish we could afford one, but I doubt it will happen. We were meant to be taking over the house we are in now, Mark's family home, however things are panning out a little differently than I was told before I moved here. I don't love when things change from their original plan, I really don't. But if it is possible for us to sell this house sometime in the future (even though I love the convenience of the elementary/primary school right across the road) I would hope I could live in the Country. I don't need a huge house, I would even love a little 3 bedroom cottage, but I do want to be in the country. I also like the idea of being a little further away from neighbours, I am finding myself less patient with noisy people, yeppers, I am getting old. *smiles* I just want to have a family home, a place to settle into and hopefully start a family.

I have a serious love affair with yellow houses with white trim, and blue houses with white trim. I stare at the blue house across the road because it's so very pretty, in every possible light and weather. The house across the road from us is why I painted Penny's house blue and white.

(All photos via Google Images)

Sometimes it really sucks to be so domesticated. I have always had crazy nesting insticts, and they are only getting stronger as I get older. It's quite a pain to be honest.

(Click the link for a laugh).

The Heart of Art

2010-10-26T17:44:00.004-04:00

Week 1 Assignment-

I have not drawn for years, out of fear that I am no longer capable of doing so. I would tell myself, "Who are you kidding? You've lost all of whatever talent you used to have, you are no longer the girl who could paint and draw." So I gave away all my supplies because looking at them was painful. This week I bought some cheap watercolour pencils, they were not that great frankly and it shows, but what else shows is that, I can still whip something together. And that girl I used to be?... Well, she's still here and she is wanting to stay.

The course is really fun and best of all, it's free, so pop on over and join up. You will have a blast and your inner Artist will thank you for it.

OOOOOO......

2010-10-26T04:36:00.001-04:00

Saw this on Craiglist just now! I want it!

That's as big as it gets! Oh my, a miniature horse would be fantastic! Also, I would like a regular one I can ride too!

sigh

2010-10-26T04:29:00.002-04:00

I am so sad that I missed out on these on eBay. I would have really loved them. Mark says that he doesn't understand why I need them just yet, but when you have been wanting something for so long and it keeps being taken from you, daydreaming, hoping, collecting and preparing gives me some sense of "working towards it." I don't know how else to explain it, but atleast when I am gathering things together, I feel closer to my heart's desire.

If anyone sees something like these... please think of me. They are sterling silver vintage/antique bib clips.
Thank you.

Anyone got a small fortune to spare?

2010-10-20T10:22:00.001-04:00

It's such a pain not having thousands of dollars to spare. There is a store in Toronto, a couple actually that I would kill to buy a bunch of stuff from. Don't ask me how I would get it home... I have no idea.

This last one is not from the store in Toronto, I actually forget where it is from, but I want it... strike that, I NEED it.

Can you tell I have a thing for white furniture?

Autumn

2010-10-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

Usually I quite like Autumn (or Fall as it is better known here in Canada), however the days have been so rainy, it has proven difficult to go out and enjoy the beautiful colours that come with Autumn. Instead it's cold, rainy and the wind is stripping the trees bare super fast and frankly, I am quite peeved about that. I was really looking forward to some really nice photos with my DSLR, but so far, I am guessing not. Grr.

The leaves piling up at our patio stairs... The trees are almost naked.

My Little Charlie

2010-10-13T15:48:00.003-04:00

Oh my, how I love my Charlie the Chipmunk! He loves when we bring out peanuts and sunflower seeds for him. I also give him blueberries, grapes and other fruits... Oh and this Summer I had planted a strawberry plants, well it has gone and grown really well, the only thing is, I have not had the opportunity to have one, my little critters all get there before I can!

It's so hilarious watching his little facial expressions! He is such a charming little fella, such character!