Whimsical Notions

HELP ME !!! I am a crafter

2012-02-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

Love my memory pinboard if its on there I LOVE IT

Ugh Blame the blokes who built the Internet in their cute little old garage ,Yes blame them for I am a crafter a little crazy a tad obsessive and a mite out of craft control. Yes i blame those men for leading me astray (and god alone knows how easily and happily led i am)they led me to EBay and etsy and made it and a zillion craft sites and craft groups ( enablers,addicts all ) who then linked me to other websites and daily craft deals and facebook groups tell me where does it end ,Can one ever have too much stash,too many supplies that you just know one day you will need,Then theres the stuff thats just too good,too sweet too special to use.You know the stuff I'm talking about,that vintage french seam binding in just the most darling shade of duck egg blue, I mean it looks lovely on a card but then someone else would have it and you couldn't look at it and love it as i do. So you know i use one of my other pieces of ribbon of which i have a drawer and a jar and a box hehe.Its all organized oh my goodness yes ! You see i am not just addicted to buying supplies and making things ands swaps,i am addicted to sorting my stash and organizing every little bit,I used to have a whole craft room(sigh oh how i miss it) now i have the space between my bed and my windows a chair and a half wide,
I have found ways to fit things in small spaces,The overload is in 3 Rubbermaid's under the bed,
Okay okay i confess maybe it isn't the fault of those clever men in their blokey shed maybe it was there all along and like most addictions it grew, There were signs when i was small always making puppets out of egg cartons and doll houses out of boxes,But imagine folks what would happen if a drug addict could just pop on line and search thousands of sites for that perfect drug deal.See its not my fault you see My name is Jullie and i am a craft addict. !! Help me before its too late and i am found dead under an avalanche of supplies,Remember she who dies with the biggest stash wins.

Inspiration tag minus a frozen charlotte and a tiny encased chair (now in my printers tray) by far my favoutite inspiration tag recieved cant bear to pull more off it (from cheryl Jones)
The hanging heart pocket and a delightful fill of trims and treasures rec from Helen Bonnor)

Se who wouldnt love arranging and rearranging my potions of german glass glitter and mica flakes etc
I get the bottles at the local thrift when i see them,the little wallet i keep my address labels and stamps,seals etc in is just a fav of mine (made by christine ) The little watch case was altered by My Alex when we moved here ti cheer me up )

Altered mcroscope slide mailer

Inside the slide mailer (believe in your heart something wonderful is about to happen )

Card from my cousin (yes i know how rude but i like it hehe) also gorgeous altered cigar Box from chrsitopherpines on swapbot filled with treasure loooove it) Vintage cloak room tickets gotta love em (from my darling sister jen)
and lastly a photo sent in a swap ages ago, I just love it,

Vintage Valentines and not a man in sight

2012-02-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

I love the tassel trim i received in another swap from Helen,The pink background was die cut from a paint chip card,

OK its that time of year again. You know when love is in the air. Yeah right Usually its the time that the men forget it or say its too commercial and their girlfriends and wives spend the day seething. Aah girls they are only men you would think they would work out that a box of chocolates and a kiss and a mushy card would reap them rewards aplenty.My valentines are the gorgeous heart swaps i will soon show you from my two partners in craft crime Helen and Cheryl. I can show you the two i made them and filled with treats,, I also joined a swap for two vintage Valentine ATC cards on swap bot, And a vintage Valentine diorama, Ooh sounds like i have been busy.What can i say it keeps me off the streets.

Used a vintage marcasite heart on this one.The love letter is only half stuck down
i crinkled it to make it look well treasured.

These hanging heart pockets are so easy and fun to make out of one sheet of scrapbook paper.

Other than a Mother in a nest full of empty.

2012-02-09T07:21:00.001-08:00

What happens tell me when you turn fifty and you're are no longer any mans wife, when the four little boys who have been your life are all grown up.When there is no longer anyone to yell at in the mornings to brush their teeth and find their shoes,No one to kiss goodbye. When indeed there is no pressing reason to get up at all.What happens when you have been wife and mummy since you were eighteen years old ,all your adult life . In my case i have been so sad i couldn't bear it,so lost it makes me ill. I still have Alex who needs me but he is no longer a child.Time now for me everyone says and what a weird and lonely thing that seems to be,I have to move on i know that !( i think perhaps i just need a bulldozer to help me along. hmm better make it one of those huge mining ones i never did like change ) Ahh its hard to be something other than a mother when that's the word that defined you and kept you safe and warm. I used to have a lovely nest but now its full of empty.

Kittens too grow up in a blink

2012-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

Is it really only a year since i introduced you to my secret apartment cat poppy
(she is the cat you have when you are not allowed on the lease to have a cat )
Unfortunately she doesn't get the secret part and climbs on the windowsills and sometimes
bursts onto the balconies in search of adventure.The tree just off my bedroom balcony hosts birds who tease my little Poppy unmercifully and her tail goes like a boat motor and threatens to make her take off,one morning i awoke to her knocking the sliding screen door off its track and she was free (for all of two minutes till i managed to grab her). Thankfully she spends most of her time asleep in varying poses of upside down planking.If she isn't resting then she is stalking Alex or hopping into my craft bin to be covered in glitter.She has a hobby too -that's eating.Its never too early or too late as far as Poppy is concerned for food.She is an emotional eater (tell me about it ) if she spies me getting my necklaces or jewellery on etc and knows I'm going out its off to the plate to get a nibble. She hasn't been accidentally locked in the refrigerator for months which although good makes me sad my Poppy is growing up !

I miss Eskimo Kisses

2012-02-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

Found this poem i wrote when my son Tim was a teenager, sheesh rough times but now he is a father himself and i bet he already loves little Sophia as much as i love them both.The other day he was giving her kisses all over and it reminded me of the days of eskimo kisses that i used to give all my little ones.

TIM

I miss
eskimo kisses
and rubbing noses
Small chubby feet
with teeny
tiny toeses !
Your smile
when the fairies
did magical things,
When all along
it was me
who had wings !
I miss
your belief in me
to make
everything right,
Your feet in
the hallway
your voice in
the night !
When imagination
reigned
before truth,
Before fighting
and hurt
before youth !
I miss being
mummy
that much is true,
Mostly the thing
that i miss Tim
is you !
Jullie 2000

After four sons a grandaughter is born and the angels sang.

2012-01-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

Capturing a Fairy Ballerina isnt easy

2011-12-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Well not on film anyway. Of course lured by a lolly or a hug she can usually be held still for a minute at least. but get the camera out and you are left with the corner of a tutu or an empty space where she was flitting about a moment ago. My god daughter needed ballerina shoes and a new tutu as she had been quick to tell me (she and i share a bond about such things) She has started ballet classes and she loves them,So anyway as i am under her spell i did as ordered .here is the moments i did manage to capture of my little fairy ballerina in her new tutu and shoes.The shoes as i explained to her were made specially by the fairies and left in my fairy teapot for her.The tutu was from far away across the seas (china).
The result was a ballerina with a diva attitude.

See is it just me or is she adorable.

Christmas decorating small space big ideas ...

2011-12-04T01:09:00.000-08:00

This small tree in a vintage hatbox is the perfect apartment tree it sits atop the TV unit amidst a sprinkling of bells.

I made the little Christmas door after being inspired by similar ones on a blog/
Love using these display cupboard doors like mini Xmas windows,

Of course small trees are apt to appear everywhere here at Christmas even cups sprout some tiny trees.

I never put lights in normal places these ones just wanted to be in a drawer that is opened a crack
so the magic comes peeking out.I looks much more magical than the pics came out.

Ahh my Christmas forest is back ,This year it grew in the alcove on the buffet and hutch,
poppy of course is totally spinning out with all this decorating but she has some bells and plastic ornies all her own.

i love the moon that is battery operated behind the forest.

vintage apothecary jars hold many many vintage glass baubles and the feather tree has garlands of mercury glass.

This tiny cloche and stand house a changing scene and mica flake snow,

Cant believe how much i love my bedroom decorating
vintage vintage vintage
My 100 plus year old bed looks fab with vintage Dec's.

Here are many vintage Santa's and angels on a tree that is sprouting from a top hat.

don't you love this pic.

I made this swag years ago it has my boys names on the stars

Childhood Places-Magical Spaces Come fly away !!

2011-11-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

When i was young (and yes even now) i would see tree houses and sigh, A tree house is a childhood place
but it takes a grown up child to imagine and create those magical spaces.Its not just tree houses oh no its forests and pathways where you just know that a dream has come to life and you are glad in your heart you got a peek.
I have created my own dreams at times inside the places i have made my homes.The pictures below tugged at my heart ,they snagged at my spirit and they took me away on wild little flights of fancy.
I have saved these on my computer at different times so i cannot credit those who are responsible for such beauty (except to say to you all that whatever souls are made of yours and mine are the same !)

Just follow me along the path-

You have to love a castle and a tree house combined.

Watch your step and bring a wrap it can get chilly out !

Pygmies did someone say pygmies !!

I do believe Fairies reside here !

Getting tired lets stop for tea !
{photo from Style Me Pretty, by Gia Canali}

A good story lives forever

2011-11-11T00:58:00.000-08:00

It makes you laugh it makes you cry,It takes you away so you may fly.
So was the series that was Harry Potter,The children of Harry Potter grew up with my son Alex and he and i shared their adventures avidly.It was magic on a grand scale and it was all there for the taking,From Harrys room beneath the stairs to hanging candles in the great hall at Hogwartz we shall never forget it.
Now my son has the DVDs and if he wants to watch the very first he says to me" no mum you will only cry." And i do because just like my little boys they have all grown up in the blink of an eye,
The Harry potter books gave a whole generation of children a thirst for reading and thats the most magical thing of all.I watched this video below and yes i cried alot.Get your tissues.

Its beginnning to look a lot like christmas

2011-11-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Aah so crafting Christmas has begun and its spreading its mess and glitter all over my apartment.
i have only a little space in this place to craft and I'm afraid the overflow knock on effect is vast hehe,
Here are a few things i have recently made and more to come have made the most darling Christmas doors inspired by some i have seen on my blog travels.For now i have done up a few plain hatboxes this year for special friends and here is the first already in Queensland with Cheryl who took it home when she was down to await opening on Christmas morning.

Here it is dressed in its bow !

love my cuttlebug sowflakes with bling in the centres
add heartwarming vintage stickers and graphic 45 christmas past papers and im happy.

OMG however did you sneak in my little Poppy
Asleep on her bunny in her wagon with my cupboard behind that says Dream...
Just too adorable not to share !.

Its little Witching hour

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Its the witching hour (the one for itsy bitsy teen weeny god daughter type witches) Which is a lot earlier than the later witching hour hehe

Its also the time for older type skeleton brothers,Aren't Caleb and my Maddison too sweet,Seems like only last year my little Maddie was just a tiny pumpkin and

now here she is sweet as pie This is her third Halloween and she loves to dress up.

Happy Halloween to all of you !

Face of an unborn Angel

2011-10-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

Yes isn't technology a wonderful thing when i can look upon the face of my first Grandchild. Already knowing she is a grand daughter and little Sophia Rose is due to be born around January 20th.
My son sent this on his mobile phone and i cried when i realised it was Sophia.This is a scan of her little face and chubby cheeks.I love her already and she isn't even finished yet,

2011-10-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."Steve Jobs (as stolen from nic Beltanes Facebook status)

The Reader

2011-10-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

My son Joel has always been a reader as is my eldest son Matthew,They definitely inherited that from me as their father would never read a book for fun ever,Like me they were readers from a young age and escaped into a world where for the price of a book you can travel anywhere you like without leaving your own little room.Matthew commissioned a caricature of his brother Joel who with his widows peak hair and dark good looks would be a fabulous book character,I think it really suits him ! The artist is Mike Perry from No Dice Comic he does commissions for only $10 and i think they would be great as presents.

Side Bar love

2011-09-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

.
Don't you love your sidebar thingies widgets links pics and what have yous. I know i do i only have ones that mean something to me and that i love.Be it Tinkerbell dancing around and around or a bottle full of wishes . A year ago i got several years of my blog printed into a book to keep by blog-2-print.I was very happy with it and its a keepsake full of memories and like a diary with photographs documenting some things i would have forgotten and others that i treasure,The only disappointing thing is that the backgrounds and headers and sidebar stuff that make our blogs so US is not printed,I suppose it would be a lot of ink and i understand but it was a shame.Anyway i had put a post the last thing before it was printed of all my favourite homemade blog banners and they are in my book so i have them,So this time i am doing this post on all my favourite side bar things to record them for the next blog book i have printed,so here they are my favourites,

and here are a few of my favourite backgrounds

Even Fairies Have bad days !

2011-09-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

Its all in the face and i know that face hehe

and sometimes its all in the arms !

But even mad fairies are awfully cute don't you think ?

I have to say in the fairy's defence (my 3 yr old beloved god daughter) that she had reason.
my poor fairy's mother had been ill for a few weeks and in hospital for over one,And even though her father
was doing his fairy best she just missed her fairy mother (who returned home this very day).
And for a very first this fairy didn't love her godmother for a whole four minutes,You see we have a few disagreements on fairy apparel and such (this was approximately the 800th outfit i think !) I have been ordered for one to rectify her shoe situation "me need pretty shoes ,you buy me some auntie Jullie '( and i have Tinkerbell ones no less), After four sons that's an order that's a pleasure to fill.

Thinking of my Dad on the first day of spring

2011-08-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

The coming of Spring is bittersweet for me,Dad passed away you see on the first day of Spring,Just like spring comes as a relief after a hard hard winter so Dads passing came after a hard hard battle.He was tired and he was ready to go ! So many things remind me of you dad,Words that bring me to tears songs you used to sing that come from my lips when im not even thinking of you,Strong you were and stubborn as a mule.The inventor the fixer of almost anything the ultimate handyman and my dad who called me love and told me to wear sensible lace up shoes and loved any new Frock.Who talked like a country bloke and worked in a laboratory doing difficult chemistry,A good bloke in any language.

My Dad was smart enough not to even want a marker when he left this earth you see he knew that we may go there and weep on days like this and that as he said he wouldnt be there.It bothered me a lot until i realized where he was ,he was where he shall always be beating inside my heart,singing in my head and in every fibre of my stubborn little self.Inside all of us who loved him and now thats enough for me !

Love you Dad now and ever.xxx

My son the Cook and Magician

2011-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have two sons that like to cook Matthew the eldest loves to make difficult things and even made the masterchef V8 cake once.He sent me a pic of this the other day and said mum what do you think

To be honest I thought the burger a little messy but it looked yummy

I actually thought he made the masterchef hamburger and chips,being a crafter i was very impressed with the chip cone ,Then he surprised me by saying on skype where we were typing each other
one word CUPCAKES i thought whats he talking about ! Then he said mum they are cupcakes
he made a tray of each for a birthday at work. See he is a magician not a cook.
i like to think the creativity came from me hehe. Ingenius dont you think.

How clever these are puff pastry with icing sugar in newspaper cones

These are vanilla cupcakes with chocolate cake meat and shredded coconut lettuce

Just a kitten and a balloon

2011-07-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here is our naughty Poppy who when i left my sons 18th birthday bag of presents overnight on the table (with his balloon weighted inside and the string touching the ceiling and i thought it Poppy proof)
hopped up on the table and inside the bag and wound the ballon down till she could put a claw in it.
Alex decided the day after his birthday after poppy adoring the ballon to gift her with it.

hmm its very high up there.....

Lucky i can climb well !

Is it there ,is it still there ? Am i dreaming ahhhh balloon !!

Well it was worth the balloon price for the laughter she gave us watching the love of a kitty for her balloon.She would jump up and grab the string and lay looking up at her prize then totter off across the room with it.In the end tired ney exhausted she put it up on her fav lounge and went fast asleep.Every now and then she would drag herself awake and check her ballon was still where she left it.

Oh this ballooning is simply exhausting !!

Heart of my heart-blood of my blood

2011-07-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

Heart of my heart
yesterday when you were small
leaving hand prints on the wall,
Bringing drama to my life
always into lots of strife,
Showing all your dimpled charm
any trouble to disarm.
Now a baby yours to come
this time i am not the mum',
A nan or gran this time to be,
No one is happier than me !
I loved you all before we met
before the first nappy wet.
I knew then as now forever more
more than life i loved you four.
Already i feel the clenching start
of tiny hands upon my heart.

congratulations to my son Timothy and his wife Megan who is due in January 2012
7th generation Australian-with Maltese and Dutch blood mixed to perfection.

Sometimes words make me cry ! ( even Winnie the Pooh !)

2011-07-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well yes i know what you are thinking everything makes me cry.I cant stand to hear that song you are my sunshine my only sunshine cause when it gets to please don't take my sunshine away that's it I'm gone.I used to love that song " I wish everyday could be the first day of spring" and then my father went and died on the first day of spring so if i start singing that one i end up in tears. Bette Midlers from a distance and the allelujah song ( oh god i love that song).Yup i guess I'm just a sap.Words have always meant a lot to me, Some people call me the Wordsmith i don't mind i like that title.I am a writer and a reader i was born that way.I can be reduced to tears reading a book or i can end up laughing aloud like a loony.Reading is the cheapest holiday you will ever take.
It will however take you far away to another time and and another place.
As a young girl i once wrote a poem that ended
"For i am a writer of fairy tales
                and once upon a time all alone in a tower
                                                      a princess was waiting ,
                                                                                 and waiting...
                                                                                          and waiting...."
Little did i know then just how long some princesses have to wait
and sometimes a knight doesn't show up at all and she must rescue herself.
And i really do pity the fat ugly princesses of this world cause its bad enough when you are a commoner
and you dare to be born plain.Anyway i do so love quotes and words.I have passed this trait on to my sons all four love quotes and a few of them keep journals and are themselves wonderful writers.
Ah we may lack many things in our family but imagination we have in bucket loads. I want to know since when did Winnie the Pooh get so wise and deep .That Pooh he is a real thinker ,i think should we meet i would like him an awful lot. Id probably love Eeyore too and i bet my bottom dollar that Rainy days and Mondays always get him down.

Empty Boxes make my heart beat faster

2011-05-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

Is it just me ?

tell me it isnt just me (well it isnt cause i have an Aunt who also loves boxes)

Like a three year old I often love the boxes better than the presents,
I cant seem to help myself i store them under my bed and in my closet.

Clear ones really excite me ! I know i know im a cheap date. Maybe its all that unexplored potential.I love to package things and i have sometimes

made or bought things just to fit a certain box,Clear boxes are great for pretty presents
filled with a gift surrounded by shredded tissue , rose petals,pot pourri or confetti they look
good enough to eat.
a simple paper tussie mussie (paper cone) that has been carefully placed in a clear box looks so sweet when filled with tiny treats.
Is that why i love that song little boxes on the hillside little boxes made of ticky tacky.unlike the song but my boxes never ever look the same.No i wasn't joking about the faster heart rate like a Good bargain at the op shop my heart will respond to a great empty box.So come on confess do you have a hidden stash of empty boxes

Above and below prime example a fabric hatbox purchased at the op shop for $2

My New Crafting Altered Art blog

2011-05-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

Pop over and check out my new Altered Arty type blog
Its called The midnight Craft Fairy for the simple reason that
i have always been a midnight crafter,When my four sons were small it was the only
me time i had, Now after recent turmoil in my life i find it hard to sleep at night
so again i have become the midnight crafter at my little oak secretaire,It makes me happy it keeps me

relatively sane,On this blog i will post my forays into the altered art world and swaps i have sent and received,Take a peek let me know what you think.

If motherhood was easy Men could do it !

2011-05-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

ME,my mum,my mums mum and my mums mums mum.

Some they say are hugging mothers and some are scolding mothers.Some read stories and bake cookies and some go to soccer and some don't. I guess i am more a hugging mother also a sooky mother and yes i have been a yelling screaming shrew at times mostly id say warranted.I'm definitely a nagging mother,I'm a bribing kind of mother and a silly kind of mother.i have used fairies against my children yes i admit that-the fairies would watch son number two on the school bus and tell me how he behaved, If he came in asking what did the fairies say biting his nails and looking worried well the fairies had told me he mucked up on the bus.If he came in smiling and proud of course the fairies had told how proud they were he was so good.The same dobbing fairies though also left tiny fairy gifts and fairy letters.Santa's beard would get caught in our fireplace screen and once a letter even sailed down the chimney in full view of Alex.The bunny and the tooth fairy always came to our house.But however hard i would try i was not an organized mummy not with four sons and a husband never home , I have two sons with aspergers and one with adhd and one whose IQ was in the genius level.Oh yeah and the one with adhd was epileptic.they were always getting stitches and lumps and bumps and bruises well mainly Timothy was but the others had a share,So come to think of it maybe i had a reason for being disorganized;I was always wrapping presents Xmas eve and racing around cleaning the house before visitors and ending up in tears in my exhaustion at trying to be perfect. ( i have a feeling it was right about then i was that yelling shrewing mother) I didn't always get them to brush there teeth and sometimes they didn't even get their pyjamas on it was just a miracle to read them a story and get them all asleep at once. But i loved them dearly and with all my heart.So if you could say nothing else i kept them all alive albeit slightly damaged and i was a loving mother.I had a loving mother myself who was apt to be always a bit weird a little different but always loving. Although she did bang a mean hairbrush on the fridge when she got angry. She was a dobber on us to my dad,Sometimes she would say she was going to tell dad and make us sweat all afternoon and then gave us a reprieve.An if it came to a smack from dad it was she who would sneak in with a chocolate after.

3 of my 4 sons Joel ,Matthew and Timothy (and thats Trouble with a capital T)

And although she sometimes made us eat disgusting stuff like the occasional brussel sprout or worse steak and kidney stew she did make a yummy apple pie and custard, We also had fairies in our garden and sometimes in our house.What i think i am saying is that motherhood is not easy its not meant to be after all if it was then men could do it hehe .And raising my four boys was soooo NOT easy. But would i swap them -NO never not even for the daughter i wished upon many a star for while pregnant.Would i change them well only a tad you see Im proud of all of them. Maybe id make them remember to ring me more often,to judge me less and love me more.to sometimes remember the fairies and the laughter and all the stories ever after.For my mum who this year for the first mothers day since i was born i will not see . Just remember you are loved and when you think that all you did is forgotten know this that i shall forever remember the times both good and bad happy and sad,that you my mum were there . you have often dragged me from the depths ,of my washing when the kids were small and depression when i thought i had lost it all. I Love you to the moon and back.Happy Mothers day to mothers everywhere but especially to my mum..(caterpillar on a leaf mum)

I miss you Easter Bunny !

2011-04-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Oh it used to be so very sweet

the bunny tracks along the floor

up the wall and out the door,

The excitement of the bunny hunt

out in the garden and up the tree

Easter eggs for lunch and tea !

The early morning wake up call,

the pounding feet along the hall.

The fights about who found what

and look how many eggs he got !

The ones that melted in the heat

or those squashed by errant feet.

The easter hat parades you won

made by me those hats were fun.

Now my Easters pass so quietly

No bunny comes to visit me,

My babes are all grown to men

But oh boys i remember when

Somebunny loves you forget it never

at Christmas,at Easter, always ,ever !

Jullie Dodds 2011

Hippity Hoppity Easters on its way !

2011-04-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

STAND UP EASTER CARD vintage inspired 3d cut and mica flakes.

Been crafting up a small storm at my small craft desk in my small craft corner of my small bedroom.

Running theme here, Actually I'm very happy as i sit at my oak secretaire and create,I used to have a whole craft room which it hurt to leave.But i have what i need here and i am happy.Everything is at arms reach and my clip it up saves the day so i am lucky.i HAVE EVEN managed to fit my small noticeboard with craft on it as well as a little chest if drawers which i use for fav craft items swaps and supplies.

Bought this template online you print cut and embellish

Ahh will the real Poppy please stand up\And not on my lounge !
don't be fooled by the Innocent who me expression.
she is a nutter a real nutter and sweet as a poppy/

here is a card i made inspired by a vintage Easter card \it is embellished by stickles and mica flakes.

Atop this slimboy sits whatever treasures make me happy,
A mannequin whose tag proclaims
Her name is Mary has been a fav of mine.A smaller mannequin
whose letters proclaim endures,
To remind me that i have endured.
$2 store tin boxes overflowing with french seam binding
cause that makes me happy and fav swaps.
This little space helps me create and makes me smile,

here is a small noticeboard for fav atc swaps etc
i think i am a master of small spaces

My clip it up is hiding in the corner and atop m,y step ladder
no space wasted here folks.

This vintage oak secretaire is my craft corner
it has many hidey holes and they are used to capacity
all at arms length i love it
when i am finished it closes up and is a neat little secretaire.
just awaiting my next project.

gotta love seam binding vintage and french,The tiny hatbox proclaims blingage on its lid
stick on diamante and pearls lie within.

Easter Decorations -Bunnies are breeding on top of my dining room slimboy.

the small sitting bunny was made by an english friend met online (thanks Daisy)

vi ntage style feather Easter tree with German decorations/

i collect tiny tin candy container eggs this year i found some vintage style new ones arent they sweet.

I have made a few Easter baskets and some vintage inspired cards,I decorated my vintage style feather tree with tiny German ornaments and vintage Easter picks

Maddie turns 3 and Dora was there !

2011-04-10T01:54:00.000-07:00

and there and there and well you get the idea Dora the intrepid explorer was everywhere ! On balloons on the cake in the fiesta type atmosphere and in every gift Maddie received and was thrilled with almost,She had a Dora cake and i made the cake bunting my first and so cute,her mum made the cake and it was delicious so said the children as the path was eaten and the grass was licked off fingers.There was fairy bread fit for a princess and pass the parcel .Maddie was happy if a little over awed as one should be on ones third birthday.Ooh and don't tell anyone but there is a boyfriend involved so sweet,There was also pin the mask on dora and balloon lanterns all around.

Cake Bunting-gotta love it

Not every day a god daughter turns 3 if only her gram my friend Desley could have been with us to share it,I'm sure she was looking down smiling as our little girl turned magically from two to three,

OOh the boyfriend !..

I shall grow old but i shall never grow up !

2011-04-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

I cant part with my vintage toys and books and spinning top and dice collections.They make me happy just to look at them.Like old friends as i suppose they are . What children played with these,now grown old these toys hold the memory of their childhood's in the teeth marks in the baby toys and the dog eared pages of a favourite book.Books that were main present at Xmas and treasure long after puzzle pages done and all the pictures neatly coloured in, Annuals of all kinds "The bairns Budget" Chickadees album. school days annual.The book for boys ,The book for girls.Rupert bear annuals and Mickey Mouse Annuals.Then there is miniature books and card games.Recitation books for lively evenings.There is a jar of jacks or knuckle bones including my own plastic ones (oh how i loved to play jacks) then there are lead jacks and proper bone jacksAnd dont ever forget my huge jar of dice as you can never have too many they are like cats and tassels you cant stop at one..Talking of cats a certain tiny kitten can already climb up these drawers and loves the spinning tops ( I see major trouble ahead !)Then there is a jar of vintage party tin whistles and candle holders etc noise makers and clickers that make you hanker for the simple parties of old with fairy bread and home made cake and pin the tail on the donkey.There's a mache doll given to me by an old friend and spinning tops of all kinds.There is a jar of treasures with vintage flowers etc and buttons by the scoop I love my new buffet and hutch filled with old friends enjoy your visit back to childhood ..

Trip to China

2011-04-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Well my China that is in my China display cupboard this one has Imagine on its drawer and sits next to my Kitchen.

First floor Royal Albert Moonlight roses-
Second floor yet more Moonlight Roses plus
A nao girl with bluebird a gift from my son number two Tim.As well as two bluebird shakers and a vintage cup proclaiming love the giver (and i do thanks Linda)
Third Floor Vintage glassware including Pink depression glass and'
my favourite pink glass compote stand,Open salts and vintage glass Jelly molds. Royal Albert teapot which
every Christmas sprouts its very own tree.Brambly hedge miniature cups.

Finally down in the basement we have a set of vintage Maling lustreware sundae cups given to me by a friend.Tiny hummel Angel i found at the op shop and a Winnie the Pooh schilling tea set i just had to have once for no known reason.Also an assortment of memories and odds and ends
That concludes our trip to china. Next stop vintage toys.

old books old friends

2011-03-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

Full of memories this bookcase

full of old friends that i and others have read

full of odds and ends found and given.

An antique pair of baby shoes, a Fairy catching kit (Professor Dalrymples no less)

some little saying boards from an antique railway carriage.

One proclaims "All the world is Queer,save thee and me and even thee is a little Queer"

From a time when queer didn't mean gay and gay meant happy. Where there were endearing little tomes such as "Those two and the queer folk" a children's tale.

The William Shakespeare travel set of books from 1867 handy it says to take on your travels.

The enquire within about everything book.Very handy wiill see you from birth to burying, Then theres a girls story with the swastika emblazoned on the side from a time before Hitler when it was just a symbol of good luck and not fear.
When noddy and big ears weren't accused of anything except friendship and golliwogs were funny little toys and not politically incorrect,Theres a gorgeous butterfly scrap sticker i framed because i couldn't bear to use it,there are so many magazines my other house was in.See memories and they are all good and all there behind the glass of the display cabinet marked believe (and i do).So here is tour number two the bookcase,

Dear Little baby shoes over 100 years old Mystery ball game with numbered balls and bat
and dont you love the embossed spines of these old books.

Catch a fairy NO problem !

goodness how did Poppy get in

on her antique footstool (she has discerning taste and eats off a slightly chipped chintz plate)

Cupboard love or shelf dreams

2011-03-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

okay okay we established that even in a small apartment (unit ,flat) that i am no minimalist.Even i know however in order to have my things and decorate and still maintain some feeling of space i have to be organized and tidy.I love nothing better than decorating arranging rearranging etc and now that all my furniture is in it has been a joy to me.First thing i did was get some wall words you know like big letraset stickers peel and stick .I however am renting so i put these on the drawers below my three display cupboards.The words on each drawer say dream .believe and imagine.I bought these cupboards because they are so versatile wherever i move in the future they can become a china cabinet -a linen press-a bookcase which they are now,They could easily become a wardrobe a pantry a craft cupboard.So o think i did the right thing.There is no linen cupboard here so i have the linen in my wardrobe this display cupboard means the quilts and white linen and lace and small decorative items can be stored here while looking beautiful.I have put lace along the shelves in the linen one and sweet smelling sachets.i love its its peaceful and calming.

.love the miracle bottle $2 whole dollars.I have some small vintage baby items in here as well.

you have to love vintage lace all crisp and white.The love tin houses sewing things,

Dream wall word

Box of candles bought on sale cant bear to use

A baby romper sits with spare bedcushions/

Spare Quilts and yes a spare kitty who loved the open door she usually just looks in.

.That concludes the linen cupboard tour next up is the bookcase.

Before and after (or how a maximist girl is filling her minimalist space)

2011-03-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

.
OK I'm really doing it here and blogging away so don't faint at another post so soon.
I really really love before and after shots so here are a few from my apartment.
Take note that when i moved here it was so bland and the previous tenant had a balcony

setting for her dining room and i thought omg this place is sooo tiny now even i am amazed how much i have fit in.

the kitchen was a blank canvas thank god after some of the sights i saw when i was looking for a rental a blank canvas was heaven. However optimistic one may be a purple wall above orange cabinets is never going to be a dream kitchen.Where the previous tenant had an ugly BBQ stored in front of a non opening part of the sliding doors i now have a display cabinet for my royal albert and special china that would not fit in my compact kitchen.I also managed to sneak in a slimboy chest of drawers just outside the kitchen on a small wall.It houses my tea towels and my place mats napkins etc The little wooden chest of drawers my son and his partner bought me used to house jewellery on my dressing table it now houses medication and cake supplies such as patty pans etc on the kitchen bench below a french notice board.I love multi functional things like that i have ordered two more display cabinet's as bookcases for my lounge room.I feel wherever i move in future these may be used for housing linen kitchenware's books and so on.

before an unloved alcove that i think must have housed a linen press (which means i don't have one)

now looks like it was made for my new buffet and hutch. I filled this with vintage children's books and annuals and toys from a simpler time where pick up sticks was entertainment.I guess my friends are right no matter how much i got rid of a minimalist i shall never be.

oh where did this come from (any chance to see my boys) what a difference 10 years makes here's before and here's after.Boys to men in a the blink of a mothers eye.

New Apartment new style

2011-03-05T05:31:00.000-08:00

Okay so i have moved and i got rid of soooo much stuff,I gave away heaps i sold some stuff i threw away stuff and i kept far too much stuff.I am trying for a simpler style although minimalism will never be me no matter how much i try.I am just a gal who loves stuff. There are some things such as my dice collection and vintage xmas decorations i could never part with.This time most of my furniture is brand new an unheard of word in my world.Its all white and very french provincial.Living in a small space the whote makes it lighter and i feel calmer just looking at it. am not allowed to hang curtains believe it or not, It has vertical drapes ugh i hate them.I bought a lovely french screen to combat the problem and i am so happy with it.

I love nothing better than turning a negative into a positive and tahts what i did with my lounge room

it had an awkward alcove in it where a double linen press at some stage had been removed,I saw its potential and now it houses a buffet and hutch for my craft supplies and to display vintage childrens books and toys.All those important things like my jars of dice and my vintage party toys and candle holders.Then there the knucklebone or jacks collection.The spinning top collection.Well you know all the usual or should i say my usual.

Its not Home without a cat !

2011-03-05T04:50:00.000-08:00

I know i know i havent posted in an age ,too much has happened i didnt know where to start.
I have moved am now single again and living with my son in an apartment (or a unit or a flat)
depending on how posh i am feeling at any given moment.Have never lived in an apartment before
i dont mind it im still getting used to it (they are renovating apartments above ,next to and across from us and the noise ugh) and its been horrendously hot, But i have been missing my cats that had to stay behind with my ex because they are outside type cats and it would be cruel to keep them inside,
Its not who they are,So i have shed many tears at leaving them behind.Anyway the other day i accidently went out and got a kitten.i mean i have been thinking about it as i just dont feel like a home is a home without a cat,Alex and i just didnt feel like a real family anymore and well now we have POPPY and we do,
Look at that little face when we saw her we fell in love.I say her but the truth is the vet cant be quite sure as she is so small.The ex thinks she is a he,In any case we dont care we love poppy very much already.She makes us laugh her legs and neck are so long for such a teeny cat that she looks like a wobbly baby giraffe cavorting around the place.She already has run of the place and our hearts.No accidents at all she straight off used the tray we were so proud..She is asleep in her basket wth her teddy and finally this place is HOME !

My Blog Banners - trip down memory lane

2010-11-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

A Maximist in a minimalist space

2010-11-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

Can you believe i have decluttered

all this AND MORE

Well folks its official Brambly Cottage is losing its soul (me) and I am moving to a rented apartment in Penrith at the foot of my beloved Blue Mountains.I just keep thinking me with all my stuff living in a two bedroom apartment yikes.Alex will have a bedroom as will i meaning my craft room will now become a craft cupboard.I have sold so much stuff ( my friend sue has for me at any rate she has been a true Angel check out the sale she had for me on her blog Junkit Junction )given away even more thrown away quite a bit and donated more than i care to admit.But wait theres still more folks too much more and before the move is over there shall be more unclinging of me from my stuff.I am going for a lighter decorating style no more dark colours and dark furniture.This Space has to be light and airy and lift my spirits.So far i have at the apartment a large bookcase that even has a ladder.My first purchase as a single person again.I am mixing my old things with new white furniture going for a paris apartment feel..As such next year along with this blog i will be starting a new blog of my apartment adventures in decorating and storing heaps in a small space.Sale pics courtesy of Sue -Junkit Junction blog.I'll move soon so watch this space!

Yesterday he was only 4 now he is a husband !

2010-09-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations are in order ,I am a mother-in-law why do they call it that awful name,
Seems to me after witnessing the Marriage of my son Tim to his beautiful bride Megan it should be mother-in-love
As they are -so in love i mean just as it should be.The day at Mt Tomah botanical gardens was just too perfect.
Well actually it was just perfect enough.The groom was handsome the bride looked like a princess and the wedding party looked like a film set against the background of our beautiful Blue Mountains.

The mothers cried and when they played Guy Sebastions" Angels brought me here ",one mother really cracked (hmm it could have been me) .You see yesterday he was only four ,so full of life and trouble and hugs.Now he is a man ( and he is her problem now hehe) I guess i did my job really and what a job that was. I cant believe the happiness a mother holds when her children find THE ONE and you know at last they are truly happy.He did
he found the one and what a lovely one she is , I am a lucky mother-in law I finally have a daughter (in-law, in-love) after four sons she was a long time coming.
PLEASE CLICK any PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT !

see In the blink of an eye it happened ( I guess 10 years will do that to sons! )

Thinking of you

2010-08-31T06:02:00.000-07:00

Five years since you said my name and yet i love you just the same.
Sometimes suddenly i sing one of your songs and i know you are somehow here.
I still think of you every time i see an ambulance and everytime someone says cancer.
Everytime i look at the jewellery you made me and everytime one of my boys is almost as stubborn as you (or i dad as you passed it on) and dear God i wish you were here sometimes
to fix stuff like you always did,I miss your glue and your capable hands.And on the first day of spring when you went away thats when i think of you most when the snowdrops and forget me nots are in bloom.Forever you are in in my heart but you already know that,
your loving Daughter
Jullie

Lovely News

2010-08-31T05:52:00.000-07:00

My second eldest son Timothy and his beautiful bride to be Megan got engaged a few months ago and the wedding is in two weeks.Its my first time being mother of the groom.I am very lucky the two partners two of my sons have are just the most wonderful girls (women) Suzie and Megan I am blessed and i mean that to have you both in my life.The pic above i did for them and they had it on their engagement invitations its the two of them around age 3 i merged the pics together and they just loved it.I wish them all the best and it suddenly hit me Im going to be a mother in law yikes.Im determined to be the sweet kind not the evil meddling kind.

Hi Honey Im home

2010-08-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Well i think its been long enough. I have had my wallow i have shed my tears ( although im sure there shall be plenty more) Misery is so exhausting and just sooo uncreative .So i am going to try looking ahead with a smile. It hasnt been all bad when im miserable besides eating (chocolate gives such solace) i have spent too much money on crafting supplies.Thinking of the budget times ahead when i leave here has had me stocking up my stash so i am ready for the great depression of 2011.I have the paper and i intend to use it.Graphic 45 have some wonderful new papers out and believe me i should know i have em. Lets just say if there was a world wide glitter shortage i could probably still last a decade maybe more.A friend told me of the Book depository in the UK too (thanks Jennie you evil person) They ship books anywhere in the world free can you believe that at great prices too.So there you go i have escaped into a few books lately too just finished ROOM a great read,also reading The Book Thief which i cant put down.Next on the list is the memory keepers daughter.Have also done a few swaps will post some pics next time. Thanks for all your kind words during my pity party .Maybe i should have invited you all i could have made the cutest party favors you know tiny bottles of tears and comfort chocolates in paper cones.
I do so love to decorate.

Teacup Tuesday a few favourites

2010-04-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

I just love teacups and i have many
Tea tastes better from a nice teacup and looking at them makes me feel better,
I love this violet teacup as i am partial to violets. I have a few of these Brambly hedge miniature teacups and when i move i wont give them up as they are like old friends.I love the world of brambly hedge and the pictures of their little houses chock a block full of all sorts of stuff remind me of home (my home) .Thats one reason i called this house Brambly Cottage.

2010-04-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

When life gives you a hundred reasons
to break down and cry,
show life that you have a million
reasons to smile and laugh!
(found on facebook)

Sadness and change

2010-04-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have been very sick the past few weeks and during this time my husband has asked for a divorce.This has left me heartbroken but i know that hearts mend i have been down this road before and hoped never to travel it again.That's why i haven't posted i will gradually get myself together and my son Alex and I will start again.Not in this house i have made my home.I will need to get rid of a lot of my stuff but we all know in the end stuff is just stuff.Its the not having someone to share things with i will miss ,i thought we would grow old together.There is no hate between us ,sometimes too much happens to people and i think thats what happened to us,We have been through a lot.Im trying to pull my socks up and get on with life,this post is proof of that.
Anyway im on the mend at least physically and i lost 6 kilos due to not being able to eat i was so upset. So there a bonus.I just wanted you to know why i havent been on or visiting blogs as i love to do.

Blogland

2010-03-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when my day is dreary,
I'm feeling down and kind of teary.
In the quiet of my beloved house
I hold my friend ,my little mouse.
I just click his back and off i fly
till i see all Blogland whizzing by !
Across the world and back again,
I see the seasons wax and wane.
I visit friends I have never met,
Sharing tears and joy upon the net.
They teach-I learn, they have-I yearn
They show and tell -I do as well,
So soon my coffee has gone cold
the day i see is getting old !
The blogs I've been to in my head
going round are the things I've read.
The ideas i simply must now try
so many things,I smile,I sigh !
To me the magic of it never ends,
my host of crafty Blogland friends .
And all because someone dreamed
impossible although it seemed !
Forever am i in their debt
for catching me within their net.

by Jullie Dodds 2010

A is for Alex and Aspergers and Amazing

2010-03-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

My Alexander is oft times amazing.He has Aspergers and although he wouldn't have a clue when April is he loves words as much as i do and writes down sayings that touch his soul.
I love the ones he picks so much starting today i am going to post his favorites a few times a week.
Most Aspies have a passion an area or two on which they obsess and become expert, Alex's is words and History.When he was younger it was Ants before it became history.He has however always been a writer and writes lists and lists and lists of words in notebooks and papers all over his room.This always fascinates me .He also writes stories and poems like an angel (he spells however like the devil-really he spells phonetically like we should!)

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass,

It's about dancing in the rain."

Teacup Tuesday

2010-03-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

Terri from Artful Afirmations and her friend Martha from Martha's Favorites, have started a weekly event called Tea Cup Tuesday. I know most of us love teacups and tea parties etc.
We are all just little girls at heart playing with our tea sets .So grab a cup of tea and pay a few visits.
On their blogs you will find links to other teacup tuesdayers (hmm is that a word ?)
To start today i have a little panorama of my Plate pantry a sneak preview so to speak.
I love my green teacups they are by Woods England and i have 15 cups and saucers they were froom the op shop years ago for $5 the lot.And no they never fall.Its the visual merchandiser in me that made me stack them like so.

Studio peeks I spy white for wednesday !

2010-03-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

This week i thought it would be fun to find white things in my little studio.
I love white its freshness picks a room up.Here is my sweet little white heart cupboard that holds many of my ribbon spools.Got it once at the op shop for $5 and added the wallie rose, Can you also spy the miniature luggage pieces on top.Including a tiny white suitcase.

Do you spy the white laces on their cards these are gorgeous and were a gift from my Friend Joan who like my Aunt shares her stash with me often.No you cannot have her she is MY friend.( i knew you were going to ask dont deny it)
Lastly here is a tin bin i also found at the op shop and jazzed it up with some rub on scrapbooking words.I love how it turned out,Do you like the spoon pincushion i made it myself
when i was going through my spoon bending phase (which was quite a few phases ago hehe)

OOh lastly is that a rabbit flying by .This is a secret project im working on for Easter.
Don't ask me why but my Easter decorations sometimes end up on sticks.He makes it into I spy cause he is of course white and German glass glittered white at that,

I love Miniature luggage

2010-03-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well you know me i love miniature anything but i really adore miniature luggage.
The other day i got a swapbot swap personally delivered as my partner lives in Springwood too .
Jennie gave me the most darling pansy case like a miniature of the ballet bags we had as children.
I adore it and inside were the sweetest things,I am just a child at heart and surprises delight me. Its the lucky dip factor and Forest Gump was right Life is like a box of chocolates you never do know which one your gonna get!

Anticipation the story of a swap/

2010-03-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

Long ago (like late last year) I won keke in a swap.Well i got her as a partner but i soon realised i had won as she is lovely.The annual flickr vintage ephemera Home for the holidays swap.,
Excitedly we exchanged addresses and we also chose to name our swaps to each other.
For mine i chose Believe and almost everything on her swap had the word believe on it or a tag attatched to it. Keke named hers Anticipation ahh and i feel therein lay the problem.Keke worked hard on it sent it off in a flurry and a hurry and i waited and waited and anticipated and........ alas it never came.Its caught up in the christmas mail i said and so we waited and waited and anticipated.Finally in mid january even i in my infinite capacity for positive thinking had to say its not coming.So someone out in postland has a lovely swap .Keke had wanted to resend sooner and as soon as i conceded defeat she started to make another swap by this time she added a valentine swap as she felt bad it was late. So anyway where was i ,oh yes anticipating,well finally just after Valentines day it arrived and it was BETTER than i anticipated,I love love love everything especially the christmas shadow box and the valentine apron.Thankyou thankyou thankyou.
You may visit Keke at Cherry Kingdom.

Big Marthas Favorite thankyou

2010-03-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is so late but thankyou thankyou thankyou to Martha of Marthas favorite blog fame
I won a giveaway on her blog for Rachel Ashwells Gift of giving and it arrived wrapped in a sumptuous mauve satin bow and clipped with a vintage pin.All of which tells me she has read the book which is very good by the way.Martha also emailed me and asked about Aspergers and wanted to pray for Alex so she asked me what specifically to pray for,my immediate answer was a friend.Aspergers is so socially isolating and more than anything i wanted a friend for Alex to share things with. Believe what you will my friends but two weeks later Alex has a friend.Another boy from his town from his school and also with aspergers.I think Harry and Alex will be friends for a long long time. To walk through this world without a friend is a lonely lonely walk !

Breathing is optional but kinda nice !

2010-03-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry long time no post,Have been on the dreaded asthma wagon, The kind where breathing is optional but kinda nice.It just makes things hard when you dont you know-I mean if you dont long enough you are dead so Alex tells me ! Ahh so anyway been on the cough cough nebulize etc and then after a week of that not helping it was the dreaded Steroids and a real bad case of the roid rage.WE are talking impatient bad tempered off my face roid rage.Alls i can say is how do people who are shitheads do it.Its exhausting to be angry and upset all your life.Im glad im back to me.Im pretty patient as a rule.Living with a son with Aspergers after bringing up 3 other sons you need to be patient. (hmm is that patience or Apathy) Anyway im back thank goodness and im even breathing which is kinda nice....
PS see this grumpy fellow well that face was me last week !

White wednesday- Dresses sewn with dreams

2010-02-08T02:08:00.000-08:00

Ahh there is something so lovely about vintage wedding dresses,I guess its all the dreams

that were sewn into them and the hopes caught up in the tiny buttons and the lace edging.

Perhaps its the fairytale effect and the wondering weather the wearer got her happy ending.

Did the prince turn into a frog or did they live happily ever after,

You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore....but let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
- Kahlil Gibran\

Grace and remembrance be to you both.
- William Shakespeare

Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
- Emily Bronte

When you meet someone who can cook and do housework--don't hesitate a minute--marry him.
- Unknown

Believe in yourself

2010-01-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

♥

Believe

in yourself,

in love,

in trust,

in magic,

in angels,

in happy endings,

in god,

in promises,

in miracles,

in people,

in fairy tales,

in following your heart,

in peace,

in true happiness,

in never growing up,

in following your passions,

in making your dreams come true,

in helping people,

in making the world a better place,

in changing for the better

♥
(found on facebook)

White wednesday- Fragments from the past

2010-01-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

There's just something about black and white or sepia that modern colour cannot even come close to. It captures the moment and creates its own mood.I have a lot of my modern photos converted to black and white.Here are some fragments of time captured on film and wearing white !
(Baby ballerina is modern day from google images)

2010-01-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Okay i confess i break things.You know why i break things (just ask my husband) cause i am a fiddler and a creator and i have too much imagination. Yep i am never happy cause i finish a project and there is that one little bit that is not quite perfect and so i fiddle fiddle until the little imperfection is now a huge one and so then i have to find the right something to stick over the mess and then no i don't like that.So the whole thing goes in the bin and i have to start over.Know what i mean ?
Or i get an idea that if only i can put this (whatever) on another (whatever) it doesn't belong to then i can make something great.Its not meant to go there says hubby,it isnt meant for that,its the wrong size you will break it if you force it.
Well sometimes he is wrong you know and i manage the impossible and i am happy.Mostly i end up breaking the whatevers and or maiming myself. Then he is happy cause he right.So why do i do it ,why cant i leave things alone.But if i left them alone i wouldn't end up with some of the good things i have made.Ahh its a conundrum alright.Life must be so easy for the uncreative surely!

Its not real -so why am I crying !

2010-01-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

I am,Have you ever watched UP.I love Disney Pixar I mean they make magical movies that actually mean something, My sons loved them and now Alex and I watch them.All summer long i have been watching guy movies or in the case of a lot of the action shoot em ups that they have been watching i kinda just melt away and hide in here blog hopping.Today it was my movie choice and since it had to appeal to Alex i chose UP.OMG i cried Alex cried .Who knew watching all those cute trailers about a grumpy old man and a floating house that it would be so darn sad.It was happy too and funny but the story line was just sooo sad and i couldnt believe just how sad and touching in a film aimed at little kids.So by all means watch it but grab the tissues and wheres the chocolate i think i need chocolate.

White wednesday- A few Favourites

2010-01-19T03:17:00.001-08:00

These are a few of my favourite things
The chair and Amoire were off ebay as was the enamel hanger,The dress is just a picture i love of a flower girls dress it has a pocket that you slip the petals into You change the colour of the petals to suit the wedding.What a lovely little dress fit for a princess.There is something soothing and delicious about vintage white all chippy and still it retains an elegance of times past and dreams of old.

My First White Wednesday

2010-01-06T02:17:00.000-08:00

I love white and have decided to do white wednesdays.
With my four sons when they were growing up white was a dream but not a practical colour of choice.Now all but one have flown away and taken their big handprints with them its slowly creeping in and i am glad.So here are three of my forst white wednesday pics all from around my home.

Happy New Year-Welcome 2010

2009-12-30T22:35:00.000-08:00

Farewell 2009 No you werent all bad there were flashes of real happiness ,
My mother was diagnosed and went through treatment for breast cancer.My Aspergers son made it through year 10 which i would not have thought possible a few years ago,Two of my sons moved to Canberra and my eldest and his wonderful partner bought their first home.One son got a promotion and we all made it through.The end of a decade is a funny kind of thing,makes you realize what happens in 10 short years,We have lost two fathers which changes you,been to hell and back on the aspergers rollercoaster,
I lost a good friend to cancer,Battled with my own demons of weight and worry and crafted my little heart out.I found the internet and blogging and swapbot all of which changed my life completely and at times saved it too.Ten years one decade is all it took for three of my babies to turn into men and fly away.Ten years is all it took to take my husband from a bachelor to a father and a husband and to family life somewhat resembling malcolm in the middle(but much much better decorated and i am far sweeter than her).Ten years and now they too are gone.What do the next ten hold-a good thing we do not know i think.We step forward into 2010 nay we dance through its doorway and await the wonder.

Radio Flyer wagon ride

2009-12-27T03:49:00.000-08:00

When my God daughter and her brother made their Christmas visit it was time to drag out my Red Radio Flyer wagon (a Christmas gift from hubby last year) I had seen an old Christmas movie that involved a Radio flyer wagon and wanted one ever since,So all year long it houses the toys i have for visitors children to play with and at xmas it becomes the bearer of the presents.They had fun being pulled around the yard by Neil and they looked adorable.Ahh childhoods days are short but oh the memories of them are long.I hope this is a good one for them.By the way do you think Maddison liked her dolly stroller.

Crafting at the cottage

2009-12-16T04:49:00.000-08:00

Well its been busy here crafting at the cottage and wrapping and fighting the sticky tape and losing the scissors and my patience.I love to sit at my desk and make little Christmas extras.I am working on the Christmas day table favors.This year i am using little back boxes with giant silver snowflakes on them and chocolates inside.
I have also been making a few Cup of tree presents i place tiny trees inside odd sweet teacups and decorate to my friends taste.So sweet also made this tiny tablescape isn't it the sweetest the silver glass glittered word is memories.My photography is not doing anything justice.The little Christmas door i saw in a craft magazine and knew i had to make.

Now surprises is a christmas swap from my partner nic who lives in a barn in western Australia.Thanks for all my treasures nic and the super gorgeous trims and Nicoles daughter Angel made me a darling paper lantern ahh a crafting blogger of the future !

Also a gorgeous pink and white swap with a vintage girly feel is my present from Lisa Hessabi (Lisa Laughs blog)my friend from California.All vintage trims and velvet yoyos and a mini shadowbox no wonder i love Lisa.

Yes Virginia i do believe !

2009-12-02T12:22:00.001-08:00

I wanted to make my boys a special Christmas card this year. So i took a vintage photograph of three little boys and cloned another then added my boys heads and Santa hats- I'm liking it. Guess i miss those yearly Santa pics.I always miss them
now that they are mostly grown and have their own lives (and motor bike for one ugh don't get me started and God please protect him !)At Christmas though i miss them most.
I know i know its the way of things and as it should be but try telling that to my mother heart.Christmas morning SHOULD start at 5am and should contain noise and mess and yes even a little disappointment amidst the cavalcade and cacophony.These days however there is only Neil and i and Alex who at 16 does not think its cool to LIKE anything.Thank goodness for my sisters boys whom i love dearly and my little god daughter and her brother.Because you know what, YES VIRGINIA i do believe !

Its a Brambly Cottage Christmas

2009-11-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

"Picnik Show"

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Tinsel, Tantrums and a Tall Tree Trauma

2009-11-27T06:20:00.000-08:00

Yes dear reader look at that heading and only the end of November.
The horror my friends of the annual Christmas decorating.The mess that i once again liken to Christmas spew.The boxes the bags the tinsel EVERYWHERE.I so love Christmas and i love to make the house look magic BUT....
I am sometimes wont to complain oh why cant i be normal.You know a normal person with one tree in the corner and cards on the blinds,happy to buy my Christmas cards in the bargain shop and not make them all.My craft room looks like Christmas central ( well it is in this house.) But did i have to pick the hottest days in 30 years to do all this ! Ahh tis true i am my own worst enemy.The tree oh the tree that's where the tantrums and the terrible bit comes in.I bought a tree off ebay factory direct in February (which of course one does) when i couldn't sleep as i had such terrible asthma.Bargain $19 7 feet tall.Its huge its bulky it takes up heaps of space and i have always wanted a huge tree. So why do i hate it,why do i know after Xmas it shall be going to my dear sisters house.I shall stick with my tall thin tree next year,By the time i got it up i had yelled and snapped at everyone including the cats.Still its all done and not even December.Now i can enjoy Christmas UNTIL i have to take it all down !
Every year i put little santa hats on my vintage tin pram full of Kewpies.Im sure its the highlight of a boring year for them ! I adore cupies Kewpies however you spell it i do !

Late Spring Garden

2009-11-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

Its been hot but you know what My garden is looking almost decent,
Hubby and i are not gardeners,I dream of a cottage garden with foxgloves and lupins
grannys bonnets and forget me nots,You see i know a lot about flowers but thats because im a dreamer and a writer not because i garden.Still my lavenders are spectacular and i have daisies everywhere and roses too so really i could be happy with them and the hydrangeas around the back.

Collapsa Cats

2009-11-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

No one knows how to relax like a cat.Its been extremely hot lately and so we have collapsa cats every where.
I think Avalon was saying does my bum look big in this (garden) umm no Avi but your gut is looking pretty big hehe Emmilou is getting older now she has a tent on my computer desk and that where she hides when the sun is high.

First ever Halloween party !

2009-11-01T02:47:00.000-08:00

Well at my age there aren't that many firsts (i mean maybe if i were to take up bungy jumping or whitewater rafting but folks that aint likley to happen anytime soon ,i dont like my bits and bobs flapping in the breeze lol)
So it was lovely to go to our family's first ever Halloween party at the home of my friend Cecily and Lee parents to our god daughter the light of my life.The highlight of the night was certainly the appearance of said God daughter Maddison dressed as the cutest pumpkin ever.Forgive her if she looks a little disconcerted to wake up to family and friends not looking as they usually do.My witch nose was definitely upsetting as was Captain flylow (my husband and her god father)whose sunglasses and hat perturbed her.
Captain FlyLow who is a Pilot for Wanker Airlines was definitely a hit .The women were all witches as the men testified was really quite normal.Dracula barbecued and little ghouls jumped on the trampoline after downing finger cakes and eyeballs.Talking of eyeballs there were a number of them in the blood punch.
Maddisons brother Caleb assured us he wouldnt throw up after eating then bouncing but can you really trust a ghoul.Alex who was a zombie (isnt every teenage boy) bashed the witches head off in the pinata game.
I loved her pumpkin lanterns that she got for the bargain price of $9 at aldis.
A very Bootiful Halloween all in all.

We are what we believe we are -CS Lewis

2009-10-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

I won her in a Party Hat swap

2009-10-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Thats my friend Lisa I won her once in a vintage party Hat swap.
Then i found out she was pretty darn wonderful so i thought i would keep her.
for maybe forever!Heres the Hat i made her that started it all off

and then well we just kept going,quite a few matchbox swaps and xmas swaps an inchie swap and soon a Christmas Tussie swap.She is the best most sweetest swapper ever and always goes that extra mile to surprise me no matter how many swaps we do.
In our inchie swap she presented them in a bound envelope style book with what looked like a hundred coloured ribbons hanging off the binding.Its everything about her that makes me smile and it always is wrapped or packaged so sweetly that your heart skips a beat.

Lisa lives in America her blog is Lisa Laughs
anyway see what the internet does to you .If i had never signed up for the vintage party hat swap on Flickr vintage ephemera group i would never have got Lisa and my world would have missed a lot of whimsicality and that ,that just doesn't bear thinking about.This world needs more of the whimsical ,Im doing my part are you doing yours !

Friends are gifts you give yourself

2009-10-14T14:39:00.001-07:00

I believe that saying.I value my friends and i try not to ever take them for granted.
I think i have the loveliest friends in the world and i have kept most of them a long long time.I am reminded of this very much lately.I have been going through a rough time not rough as in feel sorry for me everybody but rough as in personally hard.
Anyway things are looking up or perhaps its me looking up and what has helped me are my friends.Some friends are online and although i have never met them they keep me company and make me cry and laugh.They live all over the world and have expanded my knowledge a whole lot.Others are friends i have had for a while like my dear friend Chris who was my first married next door neighbour when i was 18 and newly married.Boy have we been through things that would make your hair curl (is that why mine is sooo curly)The other day i had lunch with her and she gave me such a gorgeous book called hope and told me it was ok if i wanted to cut it up,I said never ! (never lasted 4 weeks).She also sent me a book i'm reading called the five languages of love it tells how we all show love differently,some of us (me) are present givers and love sayers,Some (him) are service givers and NOT love sayers.
Anyway what a gem is Chris.Then there are what i call surprise friends,friends that you never expected and the next thing you know there they are in you heart! Jo Chris's mum is one of these.I never expected to feel as i do with Jo she just sorta grew in my heart till hey there she was,Jo calls a spade a spade (i can be like that myself) she is more my mothers age which i have come to know means nothing.Friends come in all ages and sizes and sometimes they are not even people but cats and dogs.
Anyway theres Jo a surprise friend and yesterday i opened an unexpected parcel,and aren't they always the best kind.She had heard i was going through a rough time and sent me the sweetest note saying the gift was from her heart and more true the bottom of her sewing box, Buttons galore teeny tiny buttons and picture buttons,ribbons, shapes, a teeny mouse (my favourite thing of all!)So thankyou Jo you made my week.So anyway after this epic post if you are still here listening to me ramble,here's to friends so lift your cup (tea or coke it matters not)
To my friends-the most precious thing I've got!

Ever the dreamer

2009-10-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little low today and made this
wanted another two lines but got stuck
was going to add on the end
"like why the moon
is sometimes sad"
but then couldnt get the next two right perhaps another day....

My BOOtiful mantle

2009-10-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

By the way my cats hate hate hate the Halloween cat (maybe its just me but i find him sweet) maybe its the arched back.Perhaps its his sharp sharp fangs but they definitely do not like the mantle visitor and keep swiping him off there hehe !

Feline-Fairy Encounter

2009-09-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

This is the sweetest pic of an encounter between a feline (one Emmilou) and a Fairy,well actually a fairy Godchild (mine).The fairy being my god daughter Princess Maddison .How sweet is she hunkered down for a chat with a cat with just one thing on her mind (that door and escape!)Please click on the pic to see it better.

Halloween Shadowbox

2009-09-22T02:55:00.000-07:00

I was in Vivs Whimsy shadowbox swap for Halloween and i had to make a shadowbox for my American partner Hope.This is my shadowbox complete with a light that i am so proud of.The little pumpkin on top with the face turns the light behind the moon on and off.Move him and the light goes on place him back it goes off, The little hard plastic pumpkins i carved the faces on myself breaking several craft knives in the process.I had this vision of sweet trick or treaters with a sinister backdrop.It was hard to send off but Halloween is Hopes favourite holiday so it goes to a good home.

In Memory of my Dad-a very good man

2009-08-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

"And on the first day of spring
Love made him wings
and he flew away"
Four years since you said "Hello love"
Four years since i kissed your cheek and and answered hello Dad.
Four years and so many hours of missing you !
The tears are less but i think i shall miss you till im old and grey.
The songs you used to sing sometimes come into my head and out of my mouth.
Sometimes they make me laugh ,sometimes they make me cry.
I wouldnt have traded you for any other father on the planet.
No you were not perfect but you were perfect for me!
Welcome Spring and memories of you !

Slippers for a Rose Faerie

2009-08-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

These little slippers are for a Rose faerie (Miss Emily-Rose to be exact)
The have Rose petal cuffs and crystal tips.Tassels on the back and teeny pearls
on the side.They have a wisp of green leaves trailing to each pointy little toe.
i think they are sweet,My sewing of course is imperfectly perfect for Faerie shoes

Life is a great bundle of Little Things

2009-08-12T05:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I did a bedroom revamp,i was given the quilt by an aunt,i wanted the bedroom less fussy so i chose neutral uncluttered curtains,i have kept the colour scheme muted,palest pinks and cream and white against the whispy green walls.
i am pleased with the dreamlike atmosphere i created! mY love of words is evident everywhere with To sleep perchance to dream on the wall above the curtains,To the plaques that have meaningful quotations on them.

Cynthia my mannequin (who is quite a hussy but that's altogether another tale !)
holds my collection of vintage brooches and imitation pearls with grace.
She wears two old hats one of which i adorned with every flower i had hanging about.

I love these little bears (they have such a quiet dignified air) atop my dresser which is full of vintage finds collected over the years.

This plaque says "Life is a great bundle of little things"

This hanger is full of little things i love One of my sons christening petticoat,
an old paper collar and some vintage baby hangers ,Tags from Linda a good friend of mine who also supplied the two sweetest bluebirds in my craft room in the previous post.

Dont you love my quiet corner with its shabby cream framed faerie picture,the hanger that the vintage clothing is on was a vinnies towel rack.

Where I create

2009-08-12T04:33:00.001-07:00

It took me four sons growing up before i finally got my own craft room
and what you wont see here is my husbands wall of the room.Sigh yes i share it with him.I thought it was fair that i got 3 walls and he got one,after all he has a blokey double garage all to himself !
Above is my favoutite part of my craft studio which is my bluebird shelf.
Its part of an old dresser i bought for $15 off ebay .My sister and i madly decoupaged it one night so we could hang it up and i love it.

My sister made me the banner which says imagine and the noteboard has letters and craft from friends i have met on teh net all over the world.

This dear little hoop pine cupboard is really a tv unit bought off ebay for $50 it
hides a multitude of craft buys from those who may frown.

Another favourite atop the craft cupbopard sits my bits jar a huge i think punchbowl bought for $5 from vinnies and filled with bits and bobs and treasures untold.

This is a dresser that holds many treats,specially my collection of vintage bottles filled with German glass glitter, (i am a glitter snob and you cannot go past German glass glitter !)It also houses gifts from blogger and swapbot friends and my yahoo group.

Ok here is the nerve center or craft central
I was going to wait till my desk was tidy but we may all grow old and die hehe
Actually i am a pretty organized crafter i like to know where everything is and after each project i do tidy my desk, I love this desk given to me by an old friend
its a roll top with many hidey holes it is much loved.
The shelves above the desk are built into the wall where an old window used to be before we extended the house.My son takes great delight in taking the S from the wall so it says Crap hehe Thats a magnetic spice rack you can see with its round containers with see thru lids.So handy for odds and ends within reach.
Dont you love my library index drawers found on ebay for a song they house all my papercraft and scrapping needs,They are all labelled and i can find everything so easily.

Fire-wishes and reasons why !

2009-08-01T01:33:00.001-07:00

I had to make an atc with the theme fire interpreted anyway i wanted for swapbot.
Somehow as always kids crept in and it became wish fire,For me the lighting of the candles and the making of the wish were always the sweetest memories .The thing i love about creating is it then had me looking up the origin of the birthday candle which was very interesting and very ancient in its origins.It is said that the custom of placing candles on a birthday cake was started by early Greeks who used to place candles on the cake that they offered to Artemis - the Goddess of Moon. Lit candles made their round shape cake glow like the moon.How romantic mind you i am sure some of my cakes would have scared the goddess (they sure scared me !)

Happy 4th of July to my American blog friends

2009-07-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Which is not to say i don't wish everyone a happy 4th of July
but here in Australia it doesn't mean much more than the day after the 3rd of July.
Like most kids i used to envy the Americans it seemed to me they had it all.All the things
in those comic ads that we could never have like sea monkeys (which i finally got much to my disappointment at 43,they were not the performing aquatic monkeys of my childhood dreams) along with xray glasses and moon walking shoes ,they were all the stuff of dreams.More than that those American kids had the 4th of July and Halloween.Now anything where you get to eat and see fireworks or dress up and collect huge amounts of candy, well you can't blame us poor Aussie kids for a hint of the green eyed monster.Hell we all wanted to be in the cleaver family with the beaver.
So now im all grown up (well out anyhow i never did grow up that much !) its time to forgive, well now that we are starting to have Halloween too and i found out i wasn't missing too much with the sea monkeys hehe
So Happy 4th of July !

Fairy troubles

2009-06-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

These are my latest atc cards for a fairy mishap swap im about to run on
swapbot.I have been running a series of fairy atc swaps starting with Fairy attire then Fairy transport and the next is Fairy trouble.I was thinking there are so many things a fairy could get into trouble with,From being stuck in a spider web to falling in someones milkshake.It was only when i went to do mine that i discovered my poor fairies were in major trouble after being caught by the acme fairy catcher and exterminator.I just loved this little guy who i altered off a vintage valentine card,He looks like such a dandy.Then i had to find the right cage and then put my altered fairies inside it.Not easy as I am creative but often mechanically challenged,i have trouble working out which way to place things so they print on opposite sides etc and with this cage it was very hard to place my poor fairies behind some bars and in front of others to create the inside effect.I am pleased how they turned out.The cage but ended up so small on the atc you couldnt even see all my fairy work inside so i will be doing a fold out atc so that they can see whats inside the cage too.By the way its okay when these fairies have had a rest im sure they will just pop out between those bars and fly off.

Latest creations

2009-06-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

All of course much nicer in real life these are the flat images after i have finished the digital part.After that i POP things a little with diamond glaze for eyes and of course the glitter.Then i also cut wings ets to stand out from the cards.The button one is an ATC card The fairy transport is for a series of fairy Atc swaps i am hosting on swapbot.The Butterfly wing skinny (a skinny is similar to an atc but bigger being 3 inch by 5 inch i like the scope)is much nicer as i did the wings so they were cut all round and stick out from the card.The Fairy in a nest is for a swap also a skinny i was happy with this one and the wings on this will pop also and have glitter.All in all im happy with where i am in my creative journey,i always love to learn new techniques then mix them with the old .At the moment its the stand out wings before it was the pop up atc cards below which i invented myself.There is always so much to learn that you never get bored.

Happy Birthday Bluebird

2009-06-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

My sister's Birthday is today she is Bluebird on swap bot cause like me she
loves Bluebirds. Its also my wedding Anniversary our ninth (He forgot) less said about that one the better and depend on it he shall suffer. So Happy Birthday Jennifer.
My sister and I never fight we love lots of the same things and we are different in lots of ways too.I often am grateful that i have a sister to share life with but perhaps thats cause I got a good one hehe.I remember more about her childhood than she does being 5 years older.I used to make her stuff and buy her stuff and read her stories and also make up stories for her.She always was gonna run away to a shack in the hills and she did albeit a lovely shack circa 1920 and a huge hill called Katoomba.
I dont think the husband and three sons were in that pic she had but hey tell me about it.The layout is one I did of her ages ago.

My favourite saying- Click to enlarge

2009-05-27T16:58:00.001-07:00

Radiotherapy and shakespeare

2009-05-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

That's my mum, (the poppet on the left looking at the world through fierce sad eyes ,her childhood was harsh and left her with a determination to survive)This week she starts her radiotherapy, and i am glad she has that determination.she has had to endure a lot in her life and this is merely the latest challenge.She is like a little fighting hen
(my brother calls her chooky).Cancer for anyone i think is a lonesome road to travel but now that my Dad is gone its even lonelier for her.I feel for her but all i can do is what i have always done and that's be her daughter.She used to make us laugh as kids we would come home and call out her name and she was nowhere.We knew of course she was somewhere and so the hide and seek would begin until i would open my wardrobe and there was my mother waiting for the door to open so she could start quoting Shakespeare.She dusted the house to the sounds of Strauss.She did and does have long long dark hair that reached her bottom.Hence the reason when i had my sons she became their nanny longhair.Still a nut she would attend their birthday parties dressed as a giant Bee or some other wacky character.

Sometimes as kids we would be annoyed and say "Why cant we have a normal mother !" Years later i would hear my sons say the same about me as i did something goofy.The other week waiting to see a Dr regarding his aspergers and anxiety Alex was worried and grumpy so in the waiting room i tried to cheer him up.I said Alex i think its happening ,i think i can teleport like the guy in heros and i started to look weird.Now the waiting room was empty but alex was hissing at me stop being stupid mum.When we were in the Dr's he said to him what i had done and he said and i am the one seeing the psychiatrist .The Dr looked at me and i said yep i did do that i was trying to Cheer him up.The Dr said if you didn't like it Alex perhaps you should just ask politely for her to stop.I did says Alex she wouldn't.The Dr turned to me,ummm yes he did and no i wouldn't stop,I answer.The Dr made a hmmm noise and changed the subject.
Guess i am more like my mother than i realised.And no my children never had a normal mother just as i myself did not and of that i am most grateful/I myself feel Normal
is highly over rated and very boring.Something my mother NEVER was and still isn't.
Happy mothers day Mum and i know there are many many more abnormal ones to come !

Motherhood is fraught

2009-05-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

Yes it is ! its fraught,
With what i hear you say and i would have to reply with everything.
Its fraught with guilt, Is the baby warm enough is he getting enough milk,should i let him cross the road , is 16 too young to go to the party.Did i do enough trying to stop him smoking.See guilt and then before you have finished with them they are off and out in the real world and they think they don't need you cause they are all grown up.They will never know that in your heart they are still that two year old who loved you to the moon and back...
Its fraught with laughter
when you want so much to be angry but you are looking
at that two year old who unravelled all that toilet paper and is wearing your lipstick all over his face.
When your four year old is outside talking to god and you think oh how sweet till you hear him threatening him (i remember saying hmmm not a good idea threatening god you know thunder ,lightning)
When the boys laugh at your attempt at bread making and you are so peeved until you see them hitting it with a hammer and saying proudly mum the military could use this.
Is fraught with magic
when you see the faces of your sons when Santa's beard has been caught in the firescreen and some is left behind.
when the tiniest fairy letter arrives in the post or a Santa letter appears to float down the chimney.
When the fairies leave presents in the fairy teapot in the kitchen.
Yes oh i miss the magic although my god daughter and her brother are on the receiving end now lol
Is fraught with Amazement
That two little boys can dig a 4 feet deep trench in land that is 99 percent mountain rock
That a child can survive being catapulted over a fence and having an epileptic seizure and laugh about it one day.
That the same child can be squashed beneath a full trailer loaded with wood and that his mother can pull it off him and find him bruised but unharmed.
That a four year olds leg can be twisted and squashed beneath a bike wheel and its fork and the bike must be dismantled and he is bruised but unharmed.(same boy)
That a car can run over a 5 year olds leg wreck his school shoe make the driver throw up all day and you guessed it come out bruised but otherwise unharmed.(yes the same child)
That you can be given four sons all ADD one ADHD (yes that's the boy) who also happened to
be epileptic as a small child always having seizures sometimes requiring mouth to mouth to get him breathing again ,And the last one Aspergers.AND the amazing thing is you ALL survived.
That you can take boys to the doctor to be xrayed,patched,stitched etc so often they offer to keep you a seat.
and mostly Amazed at your own capacity to do all this and yet love those boys soo much that it hurt and that you would most definitely kill or die for them cause after all you love them to the moon and back.
Fraught with sadness
That their childhoods may have run you ragged
driven you crazy
made you feel inept cause the house was never perfect and they didnt always brush their teeth
but proud that in all this you never ever missed a birthday or a chance to create some magic
no matter how dark a time it may have been.That you read story after story till you knew the words and they had their favourites.That in the darkest time when you got divorced and ended up alone and renting with a cat a dog a budgie and four sons you bought them all a season ticket to wonderland so that something good would come out of the bad times.
So motherhood is really fraught,
i have said before and i will say it again its the hardest,happiest ,saddest thing i have ever ever done.It has dragged me up and dumped me down its been the most awful and most glorious of rides and although nothing turned out how i planned i am still awfully glad that i went for the ride.
(Just remind me that when they forget to ring wont you !)

Fairy Shoes for Juniper

2009-05-06T04:36:00.000-07:00

Well they may not be perfect (in fact they are not even close) but i made them myself
and im so proud of them.Yes i sewed then with my own pin pricked hands and it took me
two nights one night per teeny tiny shoe.My sister and I have a standing joke about Juniper berry red.So i made these for the Juniper fairy.They had to have tiny bells on the ends and they had to have tiny fairy sized keys for any fairy doors that may need opening.
I first saw some of these on a blog then i went to other blogs and the name Annette Emms kept coming up. The pattern for these was my very first etsy purchase .Annette is amazing you will find her blog here
I am sure these are the first of many fairy shoes.Thankyou Annette.

Becoming the dreamer

2009-04-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

I was always a dreamer,always a crafter.always a poet.The poems often came to me as songs or in dreams and remembering them i would scribble them down after i awoke. There is a saying

"The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears"

Its very true and life cannot be good or bad but must be both.

I also read that 10 per cent of what happens to us we have no control over but the other 90 per cent is our reaction to that.Its probably true as how many times do we react badly to something and our day turns to hell. I was almost 7 and dreamed for several years of being Margot fonteyn as i did my saturday ballet classes.I lived breathed and ate ballet.Then just before my very first concert i was diagnosed with Leg calve Perthes disease of my right hip and my ballet dream was over.I spent my 7th birthday in hospital and i spent a few months in hospital; later on.The hip joint just disintergrates and they dont know why.So i was in traction and then i was on crutches and wore callipers.I hated the boots i had to wear and longed for pretty shoes,I went to Nepean crippled childrens school ,(thats right it was called a crippled childrens school and no one complained no one was insulted or thought it politically incorrect .we knew we were crippled)Several children died during my few years there including Dino my first boyfriend.Even then i knew i would get better but they had their afflictions for life !My time there was mainly a happy one,we were treated with love and care.

My parents love of me was never in doubt and whats better my siblings were often jealous cause i was Special lol.My whole point but is that i wonder who i would have become without those days.I used to look longingly at all the other children in our street playing British Bulldog and hop skip and jump,statues and please mR crocodile can i cross your golden river.So instead i had my imagination where i made up my poems or made dollhouses out of cardboard boxes and puppets out of egg cartons. It gave me a playworld and it gave me a creative spirit.Thats why i think that sometimes we forget the good that comes out of the bad we go through.You see for the most part those days were happy filled with doing and making and planning about doing and making.Yes craft has seen me through some tough times.then and now and i am forever grateful. Had i been a child today and had that same experience mayhap id be a computer whizz instead of a mad and whimsical crafter.Who knows ...What i am saying is that each of us is a product of all that has been and all that we dream to be.Me i am a fat middle aged lady with a quick wit a quicker smile and at heart i am a faerie who dares to dream all that never was...Who my friends are you ?

Do we have a ghost cat in Brambly Cottage ?

2009-04-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

We have often said yes we do.We have two cats of our own and yet there have been times where we felt a cat jump upon our bed yet no cat was there!We have seen a cat jump on the windowsill yet n0 cat was there!I have felt a cat purring and yet no cat was there!The no cat by the way is a black cat.We do not have a black cat although throughout my childhood the much loved family cat was black( Sambo) and neil also had a cat as an adult named Black cat (very imaginative in his family!)
Anyway we have often joked about it but sometimes its an unsettling thought.
Well last night in our office Neil was mucking about taking pics of nothing a few he took were from inside our office into the dark loungeroom hall.Now the first has a large orb close to the ground (perhaps cat height) and the next a few seconds later is empty.This is not dust its not reflection.IS IT OUR GHOST CAT ? What do you think ?

2009-04-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

2009-04-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

A Bliss full of Bunnies !

2009-04-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought id share the fact that easter is creeping into our home.I dont go big at easter just a touch here and there and i do have a tiny feather tree that i decorate for the table ,will show you that later in the week! The Odd picture out is the little display i havent had done long of small dress forms.Dont know why i just love them and on the wall next to them thats vintage powder compacts. The two little wooden bunnys are from England and germany both from people i have fond memories of.Have felt a little down this week but you cant be anything but cheered by my mantle of bunnies. A whole bliss full of bunnies i'd say !

For my mother!~Who also never stops at all !~

2009-03-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

Something beginning with B

2009-03-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

I spy my little eye,Is it my imagination or has my world been filled with B's lately,and i dont mean bees as in those lovely honey making spring thinking kinda Bs ,it may well be springs arrival for a lot of you bloggers but for us poor Aussies here Autumn is telling us that winter is around the bend.No the b's im referring to are Breasts and bangs and bargains and birdies.
First the Breasts cause they are the worst ,my poor mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer she is having an operation on the 8th and then radiotherapy.It was caught very early so i have no doubt that she will be just fine.My mum is one of the strongest little people i know she may be tiny but she is feisty.Its just horrible she must go through this at all after losing my dad to cancer a few years ago.
The other B was MY boobs which i had squished the other day at the mammogram place.Not fun noo specially when they are the size of mine lol but you have to do what you have to do and its because of the mammogram that my mum was caught early. Soo better sore than sorry so come on all you girls out their and get squished,make a day of it like mum and i did and go shopping.
Which brings me to another B bargains ,i have had my share lately will take some pics and show and tell soon.
Bangs-hmm who was the lady driver who dropped her son off early for an excursion last week and managed to hit a driveway iron pole that she swears wasnt there on her way in.
Hmm the whole door and the side mirror have to be replaced and in front of the year 10s waiting for the excursion- yikes.
The birdies are my favourite images and i have been making things for the vintage ephemera swap on flckr
This one has my fav saying on it (well this weeks favourite)

2009-03-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.
~ Charles M. Schulz

IM A FAIRY GODMOTHER

2009-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

I am I am ,at last i have a daughter ,well a God daughter.
After four sons i am a fairy godmother and Neil is the Godfather to the sweetest baby on earth
and im sure i am not prejudiced,She belongs to my dear friend cecily and her grandmother who passed away two years ago Desley was a long time friend of mine.
I wish that she could have known her grand daughter but i will make sure her grand daughter knows about her gram.She was so good at her Baptism and so was Caleb her brother arent they the sweetest pair!

I am blessed to be a godmother to this Angel.Desley would have been besotted by her.
Maddison Margaret Elizabeth Ellston may God Bless you and your Brother always.
Of course you all know the saying every good girl deserves Cake and Maddy was very good and so she got her cake and my goodness she ate it too.

A collection is born

2009-03-02T02:27:00.000-08:00

Who knew i was collecting miniature luggage,i never did,then this little suitcase arrived in a swap.Suddenly that miniature briefcase and the tiny hatbox i have had for years gravitated themselves to it and wahla a collection was born.
And heaven knows i needed another collection (i really did.)

Do fairies ride on blue tongues.?

2009-03-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

Do Fairies ride on Blue tongue Lizards
I really really think they do ,look at this baby blue tongue,isnt he just begging for a fairy halter to become a fairy steed.Like a tiny regal dragon and look at the length of that tail.It must have been three of his body lengths,I often talk to my blue tongues and this one who is still a baby was shading himself under the car as i pegged out the washing.
Worried about him having a fight with my cats i made sure they were well away.Emmy has learnt her lesson after a argument she lost once with a big old fellow.And Avalon is such a scaredy cat she was well away.

PWGL Little token of Love swap

2009-03-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

Thankyou Becky of
A clever clever gal with the midas touch.Thankyou for my little guy whom i will treasure/Cant believe Becky makes these all herself they just come to life look at those eyes.

Mine to her took an age and then after i sent her a replacement it turned up,dont know where these parcels get too but at least she got it i made her a darling little wreath and inside the box i put the meaning of each flower and wrote her a note on petals.Im so glad it finally arrived.