Happy New Year

Well it's the last day of the year 2008. Can you believe we've spun completely around 366 times, and travelled all the way around the sun since this time last year? Sounds extraordinary when you say it like that, doesn't it? We're all a year older, we've all gotten through at least one rough time, and we've still managed to survive, if only barely.

So here's to a better and hopefully longer 2009! Happy New Year Everyone!

madeit

If you're an Aussie and love all things handmade, but hate the cost of international postage, then I've found (via badskirt) the perfect site for you! The great thing is, you don't have to be Australian to buy these beautiful hand made items.

Have fun shopping!

Finally!

So... Christmas. It's finally over. Did you realize that? Think about it for a moment. It's OVER! Do I hear a sigh of relief or of disappointment? A mixture of both I think...
We all love the "Season to be Jolly" but it's a real relief for those who have had to organize it all when it's finally finished! Mums especially. So well done to all of the Mums out there for making the Christmas at your house pass by without too much trouble!

Here is my stash that magically appeared from under the tree, including Leila, who quite comfortably made herself a part of them and continued to play with bits of ribbon and wrapping paper. I swear she knew to go and sit in that one particular pile of presents!I also received 2 jewelery boxes, one in the shape of a lizard for a particular necklace, and one in the shape of an owl for a particular ring. A tin of choc chip cookies (I really only wanted the tin) with a beautiful picture of a kitten on its lid, a scrap-booking tote bag, a makeup case, another tote with matching pencil case, some brads, some pens, some chocolates, some nougat and a beautiful genuine leather wallet which I've been wanting for ages! So all in all a pretty good haul this year. Oh and in the plastic bag are Leilas adoption certificates. Must not forget them!

What was your favourite gift this Christmas?

Happy Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a fantastic holiday filled with family, friends and fun! And I hope you get/got exactly what you wanted under the tree. I know I did! She's in the picture below!
Leila, my newly adopted kitty, the one I didn't tell you that I was fostering because I was petrified that someone would adopt her. Well my parents adopted her (all in secret) and gave the certificates to me for Christmas. She's mine now, so all her antics and fabulousness will be recorded for your enjoyment.
I hope the New Year comes in with a BANG (but a good one!) and the rest of the time spent with your loved ones is time to remember. xox

My Little Bearded Santa Claws

Ohh this is just so cute! I made a little Santa hat for a pencil topper, and realized it was the exact right size for Jasper! So I tied it to his head using some red thread and voila! I now have a little bearded Santa! Maybe I should create a little white beard for him too, and even a little jacket with a belt and some black boots. Ooooh the possibilities! (I made the little Christmas tree in the background too.)
Oh wait, before I post this I'll grab out the other two and snap pictures of them wearing it too. Brb!
Ok, I'm back! Buffy was easy to do but Spike put up a real fight! Must remember to wash these scratches...

A Toy Society Christmas Drop

I finally made my Toy Society Christmas drop! My second, but definitely not the last toy drop was of Quartapus, whom you can see in a previous post as well as here -I created him ages ago and he was simply hanging with all my other toys when they learnt I was going to make a new toy for the Xmas drop. But knowing that I was going to be extremely busy leading up to the holidays, Quartapus volunteered for the job. After saying goodbye to all of his friends, he was bundled up in a bag, a special tag was made to match his colours, and some pink glitter Xmas trees were thrown in for fun. His Christmas wish is for a nice family to come along who really need him, find him, take him home, and always love him. After a sad goodbye I left him hanging on a bench outside the library where he wouldn't get wet if it rains.
The last I saw of him, he still held that bemused smile on his face. Good Luck little buddy!

So Hot...

The temperatures around here have been getting higher and higher, and I'm really hoping it's not an indicator of what the rest of summer will be like, especially Christmas! To escape the humidity today, I travelled the 40kms to the beach with my beautiful and wonderfully fun Mother. We love shells, and the central QLD coast has some of the most well-stocked beaches in Australia. I got a little sun burnt, but other than that we had a great and beautiful day. We also went there last Friday afternoon, for business, and stayed to watch the sunset. The pictures I took then and again today are just fantastic, so here they are to give all you Northern Hemisphere people a little taste of an Aussie Xmas!

First today:

and last Friday evening: Yes, it was a full moon, how awesome is that?!

White Bat Flower

As I was handing out the packets of cookies yesterday after the church service, one of my older -than I am- friends gave me the main flower from the arrangement on the stage (we have a bunch of flowers up there each week). It is just the most beautiful and strange looking flower I've ever seen!

Everyone else then started asking her what it was and if they could have a plant of their own (not just a flower mind, but a PLANT) and one person in particular took the flower from me and started passing it around. By the time I got it back (and after several photos were taken) it was damaged and wilting. But I'm a nice and non-agressive person, so I stayed quiet and didn't say a word, even though I wanted to.

When I got home I put it into water and waited for it to perk up, but it never fully recovered. I managed to take some photos of my own before it closed up on itself. I'll be keeping it though, because according to my friend, the seeds come once the flower dies.

Here it is, the white bat flower, front and back:

Look it up in google images and you'll find a whole lot of better photos, and some black bat flowers too!

Christmas Cookies II

So in my post yesterday, I told about giving out cookies instead of cards. I stayed up all night frosting and packaging them. Only 3 hours sleep and I was up again to wrap some presents for a select few, then shower and change for church. Here are the photos I took of my efforts.

Stars: Bells:Christmas trees: 1st layer of wrapping, zip lock bags: Finished packaging: They're the first ever cookies I've frosted, so I'm pretty happy, and they went down a treat! Each pack had a little bell ornament tied to the front with Xmas string. If you'd like the recipe for the cookies and the frosting, let me know and I'll post it for you.

Cookie Christmas I

I decided this year that instead of giving my friends at church cards, I'd bake a batch of Christmas cookies, package them up and distribute them. In my search for inspiration, I came across these darlings, and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to share them with you. I don't have any of the links, but if someone knows them, please share.

Smile!

A little smile can chase away the blues, so here's some pictures to warm the heart. Enjoy!

A little baby rat and his canary friend.

Baby snow leopard - very rare

Little deer that was born pre-mature after his mother was hit by a car.

Baby tiger.

Shark! Tortoise with a fin on his back.

White lion cub - also rare.

Remember, keep smiling - people wonder what you're up to!

Best Jam Drop Recipe

These make fantastic Chrismas presents when bundled all together and tied with ribbon, or placed in a decorated jar with a handmade Christmas tag.

Makes 30

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour
Plain flour, to dust
115g (1/3 cup) strawberry or raspberry jam

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Sift flour over the butter mixture and stir until combined.
Use lightly floured hands to roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place on the prepared trays, about 5cm apart. Use a lightly floured finger to make an indentation in the centre of each ball. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jam into the centre of each biscuit.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway through cooking, or until the biscuits are cooked through and light golden. Remove biscuits from the oven. Set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool completely.

Notes & tips
Store these biscuits, in single layers between sheets of non-stick baking paper, in an airtight container out of direct sunlight for up to 2 days.
prep: 20 mins (+30 mins cooling time)

Scrum-diddle-icious

Don't these just look scrummy!? I could eat a whole blizzard of them!
Link: http://flickr.com/photos/7518775@N04/1864312633/

Pets in Costume

I know it's way past halloween, and I don't celebrate it anyway, but these were just too cute not to share...

A "wolf " in sheeps clothing:A kitty suicide bomber (not racist, just cute!):And last but not least a little bearded pumpkin:

Quartapus

I was looking at my photos a few moments ago and noticed that there is something I have been meaning to show but just keep forgetting. This is my 'Quartapus' for

blogged about at http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/.

The butterflies are not included, that's just my bedspread...

My Animals

We're in December already! That was quicker than expected. I said to myself at the start of the year (I can still remember!) that the previous year (2007) had gone so fast and that this year was sure to be the same, and now here we are, almost finished.

So I helped my mum write a letter to her sister (my aunt) today, and she wrote mostly about all of our animals. I thought it was perhaps time that I did the same here. So here we go...

First are our dogs -
Jake is a male border collie, who in his great intelligence realizes that he doesn't actually have to obey us if he doesn't want to. He knows we won't hurt him, so if there is no threat of a muzzle or a giant inflatable hammer chasing after him, he continues to bark at everything and anyone. We call it "selective deafness." Mum and I realize that Jake must inherit this trait from Dad...

Sasha is a female doberman X German Shepard. She's big, a little clumsy, extremely loving and a bit of a wimp, but only when it comes to family. If anyone else steps foot on the premises or comes near me when I'm out walking them, she'll reveal her darker side. She also dislikes children. When she was little, kids used to tease and throw stones at her, but she'd never attack a child or anyone else unless provoked.
Second are our cats -
K.C (Kitty Cat) is a male Maine Coon cat, who is very fluffy, very big, and very knotted. He won't let a brush near him, and scratches and bites when clippers are involved, so we tend to just leave the knots alone (until we can't bare them anymore, then they get cut off and he walks around looking like he had an argument with the lawn mower). He's a beautiful cat really, and loves to be with you. He has lowered himself to "beg" and "say please" when it comes to food, and enjoys just being with you. Occasionally he'll (to Mum, he'll never do it with me) sit beside you and talk to you and knead you and lick you and let you pet him.
Celeste is a female Russian Blue. She was actually my first foster cat (I'll explain soon) and when she came back to us after a failed adoption, we just knew we couldn't let her go again. She's a real "licker" as Russian Blues are, and spends most of her time outside sleeping. We don't know her background, but whatever her story, we love her so very very much (just like all our animals) and the antics she gets up to.
About 2 years ago Dad brought home from a church meeting 2 little black kittens that had been abandoned on the grounds. We did our best but they'd been without water and food for too long and after a few days, their kidneys failed and they passed away. I was just devastated! I cried for days! Mum came home from grocery shopping a few weeks later and gave me a flyer she'd gotten from a charity stall.

"Capricorn Animal Aid" is a charity for abandoned, unwanted and abused animals. Foster carers take animals into their homes and care for, desex, fix any health problems they may have and love them until a wonderful person from the community adopts them. It's a completely volunteer run project, with foster carers providing the food for their fostered animals. We hold raffles, cent sales, market stalls, money trees, sausage sizzles, just about everything we can to get the money to pay the vet and food bills for these animals. We also have a desexing subsidy available. For further info go to http://www.capricornanimalaid.org.au/.

I signed up straight away and have so far adopted out 5 beautiful cats and kittens, including our beautiful Celeste. We currently have 3 foster cats. Looey, Coconut and.... I'm not telling about the 3rd. I want her all to myself. You better not adopt her!! To see pictures visit the website above.

Then there are my reptiles -
Buffy is my beautiful female blue tongue skink . You wouldn't think so (or even imagine until you meet her) that a lizard could have so much personality, but I promise you she does! Buffy loves shopping! Her favourite shop is target. I take her out everywhere I go, and she sticks her head out of the bag and watches. She loves jewelry. And ice cream. My favourite drive through is McDonald's, and she knows what the building looks like. She'll get this "look" in her eye and if you don't buy an ice cream for her (which is most of the time) she'll give you the most disgruntled look and then the cold shoulder for half an hour. Sometimes, depending on how tired she is, I'll let her sleep under my pillow, and she loves that! She "talks" by huffing, or snorting, and you can tell by this if she's happy, annoyed, angry, ashamed, tired, cold or hot. She really is the most amazing thing!

Jasper is my Central Bearded Dragon (not yet sexed). He loves his crickets and thistles. He was so tiny when I brought him home I was terrified to pick him up in case I hurt him! (calling him a him until she lays eggs). He is now large enough (at 2 years) to go out with us, and he just loves sitting on your shoulder watching people. He also changes colour (light and dark) depending on his moods and surrounds. He's a really beautiful beardie, with the most amazing symmetrical pattern, which is different because most central dragons lose their patterns once they reach his age.
Spike is my male Eastern Water Dragon. Water dragons are known for their shy and elusive behaviour, and Spike is no different. He tries to avoid being caught, and once captured is extremely feisty. He hates me holding him, and in his first few months tried at any cost to bite me, often succeeding. I have scars to prove it! I've somewhat tamed him, but he still retains his water dragon ways...
We also have 2 chooks we use as egg layers and a goldfish called happy, but they don't have personalities. Oh the chooks are tame and follow you around and Happy does flips in his tank when he knows food is coming, but that's about it.

Hope this didn't bore you all too much!!