peas and beans, peas and beans!!

Tonight I picked fresh peas and broad beans from the garden for tea! Delicious! There's only one problem when I pick peas, I eat most of them before they get to the pot!

Hope you are all well!
Carole ;)

SWAP UPDATE!

Hi my lovely creative swappers!

Today I mailed out to the following swappers:

Rayna
Cath
Pamela
Leanne
Deb

Keep your eyes on your letterboxes!

Carole ;)

Yesterday I actually had fun on the computer

I have decided to have some gift cards printed using some of my photographic images. I have a gazillion of them just stored on my computer. The process of visiting various printers, looking at samples of card, getting quotes, seems to have taken for ages. Tomorrow is D day when the images have to be at the printers. What will they look like when they're printed? Will anyone want to purchase them? Time will tell, I reckon worse case scenario is that I will have lots of lovely cards to send to my family and friends for quite some time to come! LOL!

The above photo is one I was playing with, it has ended up looking kind of 3d. As if you could touch it and feel the texture of the hills in the background or the waves in the foreground..... fun! Not sure I could use this on a card tho? What do you think?

Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend,
Carole

Read on......what more can I say?

46mm of rain has fallen over the last 3 days

we now have several of these swimming pools for ducks

and lots of these little pesky slugs.

So the best thing to do today was to work on this quilt and try and get it finished. This is the quilt the coffee morning ladies were making for a charity. Made almost entirely from scraps. However it quite quickly got left to two of us to finish. I have done all the quilting, and now I am working on the binding, which will be finished tonight. Yay! This quilt has been sitting around here at home, and it has been like a barrier to doing anything else. And because it isn't for me, I have been a little less enthused about working on it. BUT now it will be finished and I can move onto do some more work on my McKenna Ryan quilt.
I hope someone, somewhere out there is having a sunny weekend!!!

;D Carole

Oh and ...... from one scorpio to another, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNI! (one of our lovely swap ladies!) Hope you had a fantastic day today!

a little bit of this and that

Well yesterday was my birthday, and in keeping with the madness and mess tradition it started at 4.30 in the morning. I left the window open last night and of course the cats, who normally spend the night outside, had free run of the house. Wednesday will jump onto the bed curl up somewhere and spend a few comfortable hours sleeping. Buddy on the other hand thinks bed is a fun place to jump, dig, ANNOY! So at 4.30 am I decided he was going out! I turned on the light in the living room to find the floor covered! There were pieces of paper, old biscuit wrappers covered in dirt, an old tissue, and a large pile of sticks and leaves!! TOO MUCH! If I didn't know any different I would think Wednesday was trying to build a nest! LOL! It was a very funny sight!
I drove to Wellington for a work related workshop, met up with Traci for lunch and then drove back to work.
I had a lovely day.

Some of my strawberry plants have been looking really nice. Most of the plants now have flowers, which means strawberries. I planted many of the excess plants into black planter bags. I bundled them into this red container and took them to work and sold them all! I was really excited, so hopefully I can eventually sell the rest.
I received this lovely postcard from Debbi in Australia recently. We held a swap, Debbi set the topic for this one, recycling. It was real interesting to see how different our cards were. This is Debbi's. She has used recycled tyvek envelope, chiffon and satin and lots of sequins. (I love the colours)
My card was made of recycled newspaper, magazine, lolly wrapers, plant labels, bar codes and a stamp, all collaged together. The binding was done in Mintee wrapers. Actually when I look at it, it could easily be a collection the cats dragged in! LOL! (Thanks Debbi for sending me a pic of my card, I had a wee moment and forgot to take a pic!) Lots of fun!
Well it is a long weekend here in NZ. And yep, you probably guessed it, more rain predicted, 2 days of it. I plan to spend 2 days in my sewing room.

I hope you are all well, and you all have a fantastic weekend!
Carole ;D

A evening at the ballet!

Just a few images, beautiful eh?

Carole

Phew! It's been a busy few days.

Last week I had to work some very long days, and the weekend I spent catching up! BUT - at least we had a lovely sunny weekend. I even managed to tempt my pins into a pair of shorts! (had to wear sunglasses at the time - the glare was quite strong!).
We have lots of blossom on our cherry trees at the moment, they are just stunning. We are in for 2 days of wind and rain, I hope we don't loose the lot!
I think the highlight of the weekend was a night out on Saturday to watch the Russian Imperial Ballet and their performance of The Nutcracker. The music, props, costumes and dancers combined to make a very memorable show.

Thanks Debbi for the advice on the doily. Mmmmm might try that. Would I use starch at the same time do you think?

Back soon,
Carole

A small purchase and a rare find at the library!

Did I mention I found this book at the library last visit? What a find!! It's like discovering treasure! I don't ever want to take it back!
I bought this doily from www.trademe.co.nz. It is just lovely. It has tiny little daffodils all around the outside, I think it will be just perfect to use when I have my next vase of daffodils from the garden! The little flowers have been slightly squashed, so may have to starch it to make it keep it's shape. Any suggestions you may have about helping to keep the flowers in shape - please let me know!
Hope you've all had a great weekend! We've had 2 days of sunny weather, I even put my shorts on!
Carole ;D

Another swap update!

MAIL OUTS HAVE STARTED!

Tomorrow morning I will be posting to these people:

Kate in England

Jenni in Australia

Susan in USA

stay tuned for further updates!

swap update!

Hi my lovely swappers!
Ok one small hick-up,
one piece of art work got lost in transition
- but another is being made as we speak!
I will try and get them all organized for posting over the weekend.
Something exciting will be coming your way soon!

carole ;D

Some photos from the weekend.....

Yesterday we attended the wedding of my friends Machiko and Paddy. They were married in the beautiful little church in Camp. He is a soldier and she left her life in Japan to live in New Zealand with Paddy. They made a lovely picture and are a lovely couple.

Below are a pair of shoes. Not just any old shoes you understand! These are my very first pointed shoes! I love them and the detail in them. They have a tiny heel and I took them for their first outing to the wedding. When I tried them on in the shop, looking down from above they looked a little odd, not for me I thought. But then I walked over to the mirror and looked at them from someone elses point of view, and they looked really nice! SOLD!


Well, now, here's a story! (one of utter madness I must admit!)
Last night on dusk, Shelby (our dog) ran to the end of the deck, staring out across the paddock, hmmmmm, what was she staring at? She wandered back to her sleeping spot, then several minutes later she rushed back to the end of the deck, and this time I had to take a look myself - I mean I'll admit, I'm nosey!
Well, there goes Wednesday, our little black cat, striding off down the cattle race into the darkness. Off wandering. I don't mind her wandering off that way, it's well away from the road and the traffic.
After approx 10 minutes Shelby rushes back to the end of the deck again, so I know Wednesday must be coming back. Yep there is this little black figure trotting back up the cattle race. She walks to a certain gap in the fence and then along the drain, under another fence, and if I strain hard enough I can see she has something in her mouth! By this time I am standing outside waiting for her arrival. She gets to the cars and drops her little gift. I am expecting a dead rat, however once this was on the ground and free it was off! There followed a mad dash and recapture by Wednesday, Shelby joined in although couldn't get thru the fence. Wednesday, once she had re-caught her wee gift put it down again and once again it was off. I decided at this point I needed to get my gumboots on mighty fast and intervene. This is what Wednesday had bought us.
She had carried it ever so carefully, like she would carry a kitten. Now what could I do???? I removed it from her, I know, I know, I'm a spoilsport! But I'm also a softy at heart. So we decided to traipse across the paddocks and head back down the cattle race and let the little thing go. This was more difficult to do than to talk about! Traci, who was visiting, and who the gift was for, carried the bunny, I carried the flash light (it's now dark except for moonlight). The paddock was full of holes due to the cows treading all over it, and it's real muddy. We also had to not dwell on whether the little bunny would fine his mother or if he would be lost forever from his family! And I had to try and not think that he may come back when he is a little bigger and celebrate rabbit fest in my vege garden!!
However, we let him go and he hopped away seemingly very happy. And that's where the nice bit ends. In crossing the neighbours paddocks, I was trying to negotiate my way under an electric fence which ran along side a drain and my gumboot got stuck and I fell in slow motion backwards! Covered in mud! While I might add, Traci stood and roared with laughter! Oh well, that's life!

This is the farmers paddock in daylight - looks harmless enough don't you think? I'm sure it turned into a jungle at night!

Moving right along here.... Today we had a beautiful day of sunshine!!! Although the ground is still waterlogged, my raised vege gardens are thriving. Something to be thankful for!

Here are my broad beans and spuds....
and strawberries.
Here's a pic of Dennis taking advantage of the fine day doing some serious weed eating. In between him and the cows is the race which Wednesday trotted down.
Well I must leave you, I hope you have all had a great weekend!
I spent some time today taking some photos of the swap items so I can post their photos here after they have all been mailed out.

Carole ;D

TAGGED! Things you don't know about me and things that will not enrich your life! LOL

I have been tagged! Thank you very much Leanne! LOL
Now I am required to list 7 random facts about myself, and pass on the tagging, (which I'm not too good at) so if you are reading this and you have enjoyed this post consider yourself tagged!

1..... I like "random", my daughter says I am "random" all the time, I haven't worked out if this is a compliment or a criticism yet!

2.....I like to eat veges raw straight from the garden, while I'm actually gardening! One of the reasons I don't like to use sprays etc...

3.....It's my birthday on the 23rd, woohoo! An excuse to make more lamingtons!!! (and with cream this time!)

4.....My eldest stepdaughter is the same age as my boss!

5.....I've just done 150 posts!

6.....I love seafood! (everything except kina or sea eggs as they are commonly called)

7.....I have 26 different paint brushes in a jar on my desk! (how's that for a random piece of life enriching info!)


There you go, if you think you can out-do my randomness, go to it, but leave a comment so I can visit your blog and have a giggle!!

Carole ;D

NONA GOES GLOBAL!!!

My blogging buddy Nona who lives in Wellington has taken that large leap and is making and selling her own "funky body decor". This is one of her bracelets (taken from her web site) and isn't it one of the coolest original bracelets you've ever seen!? She will even make one to order, just email her with your request!
This is one talented lady! Check out her new web site!

Carole

A bit of random 'ness' for Margaret - oh and a couple of bears...

Well, Guess what Margaret? Those little ceramic pieces you have on your blog, well I have some too! I also love them, they are sitting on my bookcase at the moment and each time I am browsing it for something I like to pick one of these up and hold it. (madness kicking in!) I have either bought a piece here and there when I've been away on holiday, or have been given them.
These two are favorites too, just a little bigger, the bag has pieces of paua shell stuck to it!

Margaret here are the Opals embossing enamels. I see on the back they are made in Australia. They come in various colours, or clear (white in large container). Let me know if you can't find any and I'll see what I can come up with! They have Pipe Dream Ink on them, and the colour name of the clear one is Franklin. Hope this helps?
Oh, now for the rest of you, while I was visiting my book case I decided to take a pic of these two cute little bears. I made both of them some time ago now. I haven't name either of the them, so if you think of a suitable name, let me know!
The wee lady below has a very cute face, with long eye lashes, red lipstick and her feather boa, (she still has the odd patch tho).
This wee guy is not enjoying the Winter, with his scarf to help him keep warm, and his handkerchief.
WOO HOO! Saturday tomorrow! We have a wedding to go to and then Traci is coming to stay the night. Hope the weather is nice.
Enjoy your weekend folks!

Carole

PS I have to just tell you all that when I view the cryptic message from a couple of posts back, it reads as plain as this, so couldn't understand what everyone was on about, however, when I viewed it from someone elses computer, and not logged on, I saw how exciting and mystical the message really was! LOL . Well, Julie and Carol, I wondered what you guys were talking about, I guess the feed back lets me know someone is reading the blog!! It's all fun! ;D

Hahahaha Hope you all understood that last post!

Just testing! (cracking up with laughter and embarassment at the same time!)

To the swappers, I have received 3 more packages, so only 1 more to come!

Perhaps I should only post on my blog during daylight hours?
LOL Carole

SWAP NEWS! SWAP NEWS!

Good evening to my lovely creative, finger tapping, patient swappers!

GREAT NEWS!

3 packages arrived today! Only 1 more to come!

Watch this space.........

Carole

Will I complain again? YEP! PROBABLY!

I think you will be able to read this, I spotted it on the wall at the Department of Conservation down at Haast in the South Island when I was the not long ago. Man! Look at those rainfall totals! And I'm totally depressed because we've had 400mm!
;D Carole

swap update!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Just to let all my very talented swappers know
that I am waiting for the last 4 articles to arrive.
They are all in transit!
Not long now....

Carole

Aha! Caught!!

Well! This is Wednesday caught in the middle of having a wee chew on the cotton reel on my sewing machine!! Does anyone else have a feline friend who gets up to mischief?
Here are a couple of examples of my playing with the Opals embossing enamels. The stamp pieces are really effective, but not sure I would use them to do a solder on the glass slide, as if you don't like it you can easily pull the opals solder off and re-melt it. With the puzzle pieces I stamped the puzzle piece, the sprinkled over the opals, melted them with the heat gun, dipped the puzzle piece in opals again to repeat the process until I thought the opals were thick enough the rested a rubber stamp on top to get the writing effect.
Hope you are all enjoying your week!
Carole

An arch arrives in the mail and a glacier looks impressive!

I have been joining in some swaps on a textiles challenge yahoo group, 1 arch per month. This is the arch I received from Anni for Sept. Just love the flowers! Thanks Anni! The theme I stipulated was garden, but other than that anything goes. Isn't this a neat garden scene? I now have 7 garden arches, and think perhaps I should make a cover and make them into a book?

Had these two pics on the computer to show you. This is Fox Glacier on the West Coast of the South Island. It is awesome! Really! While I stood there the clouds parted and I got to see the tops of the peaks.
This is the face of the glacier. It's amazing to see just how far this glacier has receded up the valley. I wonder if my grand kids or great grand kids will ever get to see this? If you look carefully at the bottom left of the photo you will see a man standing. Just to give you some idea of size.
Well not much happening today, it's a wet day and we've had 38mm of rain during the night and today so far. I zoomed into the supermarket at lunchtime and there was surface flooding everywhere, and the streams and rivers were swollen. We have also had 2 power cuts today.

To: Leanne, Margaret, Fannie and Sherry, thank you ladies for your lovely positive comments about my charms. I don't think jewellery making is really my "cup of tea" but they were fun to make, and as embellishments they would be very useful!
Margaret, I used Opals Embossing crystals, clear, which I melted and reapplied several times. I have actually got a bottle of Diamond Glaze, which I intend to use at some stage for charms or embellishments of some description!

Well hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
Carole ;D

What on earth got into me?????

Well, pure madness, I know, but, you know how it is, I couldn't say no it sounded way too exciting!
Pamela (I'm not sure if she has a blog) wanted to join in the swap I'm running, and she told me about a swap she is hosting, now that in itself is fine, but it is a charm swap. So of course I had to say yes please to this one! Now of course I have never made a charm before, but hey! I'll give anything a try!
I bought some little tags, they are 1 1/2" long, the exact size. Some jump rings, shell beads, little green plastic tiki's and away I went!


I covered the tags, both sides in alcohol inks, and stamped with Stazon on one side.
Then I used some clear Opals and melted them with the heat gun, adding a couple of layers until it looked like the surface had been enameled. This also sealed the stamp.

Then I added the little shell bead and the tiki. I am now seriously hoping that they are ok!!! I am thinking that 10 of them will go overseas, so they will be a little bit of NZ. What do you think? Would you wear one of these little charms on a bracelet?
WOW! it's Friday! Have a great weekend everyone!
(Oh, and thanks for the comments everyone! I love you for it!)

Carole