A collection is born

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.?

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

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.

Vintage Ephemera heart swap

Thankyou to my swap partner Carrie of sweetlife creations blog

I just loved her heart full of special treats
hearts and tags and more hearts A tiny party basket all my oen
with a tiny heart tin full of pink and red buttons.A Victorian cat card and bookmark.
And treat of treats Martha Stewart glitter got moi the glitter queen.Thankyou so much Carrie what an Angel.

My vintage Heart swap

Wow is all i Can say of my clever clever partner Viv of Vivs whimsy fame
check out her blog here http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/
I got her in Dolly of my cherry Heart-Valentine swap
What a true sweetheart she was to make me all these teeny tiny felted friends.
I love love spell that ADORE my tiny bluebird and heart,And ladybugs have a special fondness to me and she made me one with beaded love bug and one with little hanging legs.


There were hearts there was Hersheys and all done up like candy which indeed it was.
Total eye candy thanks Vivian you are the best !
Oh Oh i almost forgot the sweetest sweetest little swag of bead hearts as well and a tin gorgeous one.

The Tears of a nation

This week our nation as a whole is mourning the lives lost and the lives changed from the Victorian bushfire disaster.Its hard to comprehend just the size of this disaster.The toll rises and every time i hear it climbs ever higher its around 200 now.We as a nation are used to bushfire's they are part and parcel of living in this great country.But this year with temperatures as high as 118 degrees for not one day but days on end the summer has turned red with the blood of our people.We have had some of our states sweltering in the heat and people dying from heat stress,while others like Victoria and parts of NSW fighting fires fanned by hot winds,Then we have Queensland devastated by floods.Is it global warming if so i fear the future,

Its all made worse by the drought that has ravaged the countryside.To think that some of these fires were deliberately lit is beyond me.To think what man can do to man has always scared me.They should be charged with mass murder.Whole towns have been lost, people fleeing in their cars full of children have crashed and been burnt in the blink of an eye.That firemen stand to face walls of fire to me is beyond bravery.Stories of people who have lost all yet not stopping to feel sorry but running to try and save their neighbours houses,these are stories of great courage as is the fireman and emergency crews who have had no sleep in days.What man can do to help man has always amazed me !

Together we pray and together we cry and hopefully together we shall rally to ease the pain of thoe who survived with nothing but memories .To those who have lost loved ones and homes and pets and to the wildlife gone and homeless my heart expands and cannot hold my feelings.I pray as i cry for a healing of my land and its people that the bushfire moon will cease to be seen and in its place a soothing light will shine like hope upon those who need to see it most.

Miracles and Memories

Sometimes the things i think of as miracles are not so big.I mean i think some people just expect miracles to be ENORMOUS like the loaves and fishes and Jonah.But thats where they are missing out.A great week with Alex thats a miracle to me.An antique found at the op shop now there to me is a true miracle as it survived not only 100 years probably in a house with CHILDREN but even SIBLINGS,and then it went through the donation bit at the op shop all thrown in with other odds and ends.Now there my friends is a MIRACLE and that i can buy it because i recognize the gem beneath the grime another miracle.Here is one of my favourite small miracles,These ferns were found growing under our house ,not unusual thjavascript:void(0)e mountains is covered in them,WE transplanted them around the side and they grew to cover an ugly kitchen window view of the neighbors carport .Now for free it is my favourite window view.

The memory part is my leadlight hearts made by my father and also some by my sister,Were not they both so clever.Now my dad is gone but each day i see the hearts hanging in my window catching the dappled light i am reminded that he loved me so much.Now there my friends is a Miracle.

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Heat waves and missing a Month

In Australia while half the country is literally dying of the heat the other half are drowning in floods.The worst thing is we are so drought stricken it would be nice to scoop all them floods up and dump it where its needed.There are a reported 30 people in one state and 40 in another who died in the continued heat.
This kind of heat is making the rail networks a mess with tracks buckling in the heat.Electricity demands cannot be met leaving many without power for days .Animals of all kinds are also coming closer to people looking for water.
MOther nature likes to show who is boss and it certainly isnt US !
Its gotta make the non believers think that there just may be something in this Global Warming thing.Anyway its an Aussie summer and school has just gone back and i just wanna ask one thing
WHERE THE HECK DID JANUARY GO ?
And just so as you know,
Its only 11 months till Christmas.

Great Blog Giveaway

The Fabulous Linda and Laura at Lilly Cottage (a wondrous gift shop that often has wildlife pop in with hilarious results)are having a fantabulous giveaway for Valentines day so if you want to go click HERE and pop on over.

It came it went and left exhaustion in its wake

As Christmas is want to do !
So my fellow bloggers a belated happy New Year !


Already the year has begun and i find myself as always in the throws of
re organizing my home and getting rid of some furniture and replacing it
with new (well new to me but not new lol)Plus my Aunt and cousin are moving house and they are throwing stuff out and i have been arms open catching stuff.Well you all know how much i need more stuff (do i hear choking in the stalls)
As well i have launched headlong into several swaps of the valentine kind and no doubt to be followed by those of the Eastery kind :)
Well what can one do when one has the swapping addiction but give in and enjoy it !
I have also just finished my first Itty bitty book swap on flickr a heart shaped page one here are my 30 pages,I think i may have been a bit too keen as each page involve several steps that's after the initial making of the collage and die cutting each page.Then kindy glitzing the edge roses and german glass glittering over a feather for the wings,making and glitzing each tiny envelope adding a heart pearl and the the dangle and then the back information.Sounds okay yes for one but then you do 30.Still i had fun i must say.



Also the atc cards are my first for this year for Swapbot and are miniature noticeboards.Click on them to see the detail !It was my dear mithers borthday on the 6th and i made her a card like these so i liked it so much i made some atc cards.

The Trinket Tree

Neil calls this my Trinket Tree he bought if for me a few Christmases ago (well i saw it and made him lol)Isn't this photo he took of it amazing !

My Fav Decoration spots

Her name is Mary

So proclaimed her gorgeous tag,this mannequin was a present from my dear friend Linda.
I just adore her work she also made me a wand that says Wish upon a star" Like all good wands it is smothered in glass glitter.
The Stocking you can see Hanging behind her was one of my gifts from artist Shannon over at PaintminePink website and Blog.
Thankyou girls i love you both,ick im sounding like sugar syrup these days and really im not as sweet as i sound lol

More Christmas

Isnt this cradle the best i got it from Sue at Junk it Junction and i adore it,Of course it turned my house upside down to fit it in my bedroom that was already crowded but i NEEDED it badly.See i knew you would all understand how one can need a vintage cradle even though one doesnt have nor want another baby unless the word grand comes in front of it.


Well my home is finally Company ready.Oh how i wish it was as tidy as you all seem to think it is.Alas i am a girl with a creative mind and always i make mess.I create i assemble i pull apart and rearrange and this is NOT a tidy process.I am my own worst enemy as i like to have order and tidiness and can be manic about a clean house.But i collect stuff i arrange stuff i create stuff and my home is full of STUFF and worst thing of all i LOVE my stuff.So you see the problem here dont you IT'S ME !!!
Anyway it is tidy so here is the rest of the xmas pics The bedroom only has a few decs my swap partner and friend Petah did the stocking and my friend Cherrie did the cute hanger that is embroidered "Brambly Cottage" which is the name of my house.
Shannon did the Angel and i have a little tree with pink ornaments.The rest is just to show you its tidy lol.

The spirit of Christmas

Gotta love Matchboxes
How sweet are these the small one i made myself and the larger one was made by the very sweet Lisa of Lisa Laughs blog.Thankyou Lisa its so sweet and filled with soooo much stuff.You would never believe these are Just matchboxes.


I have felt like an elf in my workshop lately,look at some of my organized disorder.

Here is a table decoration i made my old schoolfriend Debbie,she wanted it for th xmas table and reminiscent of childhood.It has two sides and has a box beyween them to fill with lollies Christmas Day !

Here are two of the MANY bears given to me by my Aunt who is moving just after Christmas.Dont they already look at home.

Quote of the season

My Favourite things

How sweet is that view,funny when you look at your house through someone Else's eyes,usually all i see is the pile of stuff that shouldn't be there in the corner.The cushions that aren't in place etc but when i saw this pic i loved it.






see what effect blogging has on me i saw someones glassed in noticeboard i wanted one,i bought one off sue from junk it junction (who is to blame for a few things round here lol) There is is just as i pictured although next year i will do a plain backing as the toile is too busy.I love to scatter bells around at Xmas.

The joy circles are from me friend linda of Raspberry Roses blog.Linda and i have similar tastes and i always adore what she makes me.

And then theres more folks -Memories that is !

With me there is always more
Here is my mantle with a little village ,itts only tiny as my mantle is so narrow
that village appears different places different years.
sometimes its on the china cabinet another time on the treadle sewing machine.I have many pieces but i dont use all of them every year,The huge santa head is mache i love it my Aunt bought it for me last christmas !

The little gingerbread man tree sits on the litchen butchers block,Daisy my friend from england sent the ginger gar;and a year ago and the twig basket is filled with xmas scented pot pourri courtesy of Linda my school friend.




I love this tree its filled with my oldest most treasured ornaments teh close up shows a real birds nest and egg (abandoned ) it goes well with teh blue glass birds swent by my friend Laurie in Alaska,The little pocket watch on the tree ontains my dads pic and i hang it with the gift tag i made and never got to use the year he dies.Its a memory tree.My friend Desley whom i lost to cancer used to get me decorations every year and now i think of her too as i put them out.

Episode 500 in which she goes crazy

Christmas crazy that is !And to think i have toned it down this year.Here is the country part of Brambly cottage.The front is my posh part and then the kitchen famiily room us my country,primitive part.i love them both.


I realised years ago the folly of putting the billion santas away each year only to
have some break etc as some are very old.So now I close the santa cupboard doors during the year and fling them open wide for xmas wala instant display.

I said to my husband the glitter hater this pictuure makes the family room look cluttered,he just gave me the look/You know the look,the one that says it aint the pic love.Ugh why do i have to be me.I love to be neat but i just love my stuff.