As many of you would know, the Australian government gave the go-ahead back in March to allow Qantas to be sold off to overseas investors. Thankfully, the whole thing fell through, but you can be certain that given the opportunity down the track, it will be sold. Since DH Russ is an aircraft engineer for a subsidiary of Qantas, the sale was the last thing we wanted to happen, because, let's face it, most of the maintenance would definitely go offshore (more than likely to Asia), and once again, more Australians would be out of work. DH Russ & I have already been through one debacle with Ansett's demise back in 2001, and really don't relish the thought of him losing his job yet again.
Anyway, a friend of mine sent this video over to me today, and I loved it. If you're in Australia and you watch "The Chaser's War on Everything", you may have already seen this. I must have missed this particular episode, because I haven't seen it before. I hope you find it as amusing as I did. By the way, I plan on having a new set of beads ready to go up on eBay on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Oh, and just to be fair.. I have to say I've always loved this song - the original version that is, not the joke version! When I was living overseas, and although I'm not particularly overly patriotic, whenever I heard this song, I admit, I shed a tear or two. So.. here's the 1997 version of Qantas' song.. as much as I despise Qantas, this advertisement still moves me to tears. Enjoy!
Friday, 29 June 2007
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Bell(AHHHH)gio
If you haven't seen Dale Chihuly's glass work, you're missing out BIG time. He's an incredible glass artist, and this particular piece (or pieces) of his work would probably be his most wonderful of all. I remember standing in awe in the lobby of the Bellagio in Las Vegas when I first saw this. If you're ever in Las Vegas, make sure you drop by the Bellagio to catch a glimpse of this.
Monday, 25 June 2007
Open for Business . . .
Well, my Etsy store is now officially open for business! At the moment, there are two encased florals for sale and the "Oasis" set of beads that were up on eBay. As time goes by, I will be adding more items to my store, including some jewellery made with my beads, so make sure to bookmark my store and check back frequently.
Catch you again next time!
Catch you again next time!
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Changes . . .
I've heard lots of good things about Etsy from other lampworkers. In case you have no idea what Etsy is, it's an online store dedicated to showcasing handmade goods. As I've mentioned before, I've been thinking about moving away from FeeBay for a while now, but living in Australia doesn't really leave a lot of options. I'm never going to be the type of beadmaker that enjoys stockpiling 92,526 items to sell at the occasional bead show and/or heading out to local markets to sell my items, so, Etsy seems like a viable alternative.
The good things about Etsy are that unlike eBay - which is now inundated with mass produced crap - is that selling your items is much cheaper. It's also much easier to shop on Etsy over my website - you just add the items you want to your cart and pay immediately - so there's none of that mucking around when I put website specials up. Once the item has sold, it's sold - so there's no disappointment from the buyer's perspective in having to wait for an email from me to find out whether or not the item you're interested in has sold.
So, if you want to check out my store on Etsy, feel free to do so. There's nothing for sale at the moment, but over the coming weeks, I hope to add some items as time permits. I made a few encased florals today which I hope to add to my store in the next few days.
Okey dokey, that's it outta me for the day. Thanks for dropping by!
The good things about Etsy are that unlike eBay - which is now inundated with mass produced crap - is that selling your items is much cheaper. It's also much easier to shop on Etsy over my website - you just add the items you want to your cart and pay immediately - so there's none of that mucking around when I put website specials up. Once the item has sold, it's sold - so there's no disappointment from the buyer's perspective in having to wait for an email from me to find out whether or not the item you're interested in has sold.
So, if you want to check out my store on Etsy, feel free to do so. There's nothing for sale at the moment, but over the coming weeks, I hope to add some items as time permits. I made a few encased florals today which I hope to add to my store in the next few days.
Okey dokey, that's it outta me for the day. Thanks for dropping by!
Lovie the aggressor . . .
So I've been busy on flickr lately, and some of the photos are unbelievable. I just *love* this one .. anyone who has two or more cats knows this scenario very well... I just love the look on the face of the black cat... it's almost like it's saying "So.. you wanna piece of me"? LOL
Friday, 22 June 2007
TGIF. . .
I'll be working on a custom order tomorrow, but I do hope to have some spare time to put together a new set of beads for eBay, so stay tuned.
Last week's getaway made me realise I'm desperately in need of a long vacation. DH Russ & I have been talking about that the last week (well.. that, and purchasing a spa) and we're really hoping to head over to North America within the next 12 - 18 months. The plan, at this very early stage, is that since I have a cousin in Portland OR, we might visit again with her, her husband and their three children for a few days, maybe pay a side visit to the Bullseye glass factory in Portland, then leisurely take our time driving up through WA and up to Canada. (Oh, and speaking of my cousin, who is Australian but has been living in the US for about 16 years .. her husband, Mike Kane, is a doctor, an anaestheologist, to be exact. Although that's now his speciality, he studied to be an orthopaedic surgeon, so I'm hoping to get a little bit of free medical advice about the arthritis in my neck - LOL.. It's always good to have a doctor in the family!).
Although I've been to the USA at least half a dozen times, I've never been to Canada, and it's one of those places that's always been on my "must visit before I die" list.
Luckily, I have a few beadmaking buddies around WA and Canada.. Lynn of Silver Moon Lampwork and Tonia of Whistler Lampwork. Although I haven't had the pleasure of meeting either of these ladies in "real life" as yet, I consider them both wonderful friends, and I'm very excited at the prospect of the three of us hooking up for some seriously fun times. I may even spend a few days staying with Tonia in Vancouver.. I'm sure the two of us will get into some serious trouble! And on a side note, if you buy lampwork, you really must check their beads out (if you haven't already) .. they are both brilliant lampwork artists who deserve far more recognition than they currently receive. Original, artistic, well made lampwork beads are something that seem far and few between these days.
And on that note, I'm off to grab some dinner before DH Russ & I head over to our friends' house for a few glasses of bubbly later this evening. Have a great weekend, and thanks for checking in.
Last week's getaway made me realise I'm desperately in need of a long vacation. DH Russ & I have been talking about that the last week (well.. that, and purchasing a spa) and we're really hoping to head over to North America within the next 12 - 18 months. The plan, at this very early stage, is that since I have a cousin in Portland OR, we might visit again with her, her husband and their three children for a few days, maybe pay a side visit to the Bullseye glass factory in Portland, then leisurely take our time driving up through WA and up to Canada. (Oh, and speaking of my cousin, who is Australian but has been living in the US for about 16 years .. her husband, Mike Kane, is a doctor, an anaestheologist, to be exact. Although that's now his speciality, he studied to be an orthopaedic surgeon, so I'm hoping to get a little bit of free medical advice about the arthritis in my neck - LOL.. It's always good to have a doctor in the family!).
Although I've been to the USA at least half a dozen times, I've never been to Canada, and it's one of those places that's always been on my "must visit before I die" list.
Luckily, I have a few beadmaking buddies around WA and Canada.. Lynn of Silver Moon Lampwork and Tonia of Whistler Lampwork. Although I haven't had the pleasure of meeting either of these ladies in "real life" as yet, I consider them both wonderful friends, and I'm very excited at the prospect of the three of us hooking up for some seriously fun times. I may even spend a few days staying with Tonia in Vancouver.. I'm sure the two of us will get into some serious trouble! And on a side note, if you buy lampwork, you really must check their beads out (if you haven't already) .. they are both brilliant lampwork artists who deserve far more recognition than they currently receive. Original, artistic, well made lampwork beads are something that seem far and few between these days.
And on that note, I'm off to grab some dinner before DH Russ & I head over to our friends' house for a few glasses of bubbly later this evening. Have a great weekend, and thanks for checking in.
Monday, 18 June 2007
Oasis . . .
As promised, here's my new set of beads, up on eBay right now. I really like these, and I hope you do too! Okay, I've gotta run.. I'm running way late for work thanks to problems with my ISP this morning. Have a great day!
Sunday, 17 June 2007
New Beads . . .
... well, new beads tomorrow, that is. Another large set (around 30 or 31 beads) in colours inspired by my recent mini "vacation" ... lovely rainforest greens and ambers, with a hint of silver. There'll be 11 squeezed beads and about 20 rounds. I do have a few beads ready to go, but the rest are in the kiln doing their thing ... I was going to take a "sneak peek" photo, but I'm too darn lazy this afternoon to grab my camera, and besides, the weather is so grey and nasty, I doubt I'd get a decent shot.
Anyhoo, come back tomorrow if you'd like to check them out. They should be up on eBay mid morning (Melbourne, Australia time). See you then!
Anyhoo, come back tomorrow if you'd like to check them out. They should be up on eBay mid morning (Melbourne, Australia time). See you then!
Friday, 15 June 2007
Back to Reality . . .
Well, we got back from our "mini" vacation about 3 hours ago, and I am most definitely still in holiday mode. I'm pleased to report we had a fabulous time, although as is always the case when you go away for only a few days, we were only just starting to really relax when it was time to come home.
But, that being said, I'm so pleased that Russ organised this little getaway. We left around 10.30 am on Wednesday, and although the weather was miserable, we had a few hours until we checked into our cottage, and so we stopped off at Healesville Sanctuary to take a look around. Healesville is dedicated to Australian wildlife, and so we got to see dingos, kangaroos, possums, emus, birds of prey, etc. I have to admit, it was so cold that I really didn't want to spend a lot of time wandering around, and for the last half hour of our time there, all it did was rain, but.. I did manage to capture a few photos:
Flying Foxes (basically an Aussie version of bats) hanging from their enclosure
An emu (which decided to move just as I snapped the photo)
After an hour and a half wandering around at Healesville, we headed off to Warburton to check into our accommodation. We timed it just about perfectly, as check-in was 3.00 pm and we arrived at 2.45 pm. Rather than wait around in the car park, we headed up the road a bit and sat around enjoying the scenery:
We checked into our cottage and were blown away with not only the scenery, but the cottage itself, which literally felt like a home away from home. The wood fire was burning in the cottage when we arrived, so it was lovely and toasty, the lighting was soft and romantic, and the bed was ever so comfortable. And a few photos of our cottage and surrounds (excuse our 'junk' hanging around, I actually took these photos on our 2nd day):
A view of the Dandenong Ranges from our balcony
Some of the gorgeous scenery just outside our cottage
A quiet spot to relax, just outside the front door
Our private hot tub (I forgot to take the cover off for the photo, but you get the idea), complete with fernery, rock wall and waterfall
The open fire
Kitchen
Our bed
DH Russ cooking on the BBQ on our last night
The first night we decided to head into town for a meal. Warburton is a lovely town, but very very small, and although there wasn't much choice in places to eat, we managed to find a nice little restaurant which we had all to ourselves. I ended up choosing half a dozen oysters for an appetizer and a delicious main course of fish with citrus aioli, and DH Russ settled on lamb shanks, and we shared a bottle of Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc.
Feeling comfortably full after dinner, we headed back to our cottage. Russ poured a glass bubbly for each of us and we decided to try out our private hot tub. Now, I have to admit, I've never really understood the concept of leaving a perfectly warm and comfortable room to head into sub-zero temperatures, only to strip down to a swimsuit and freeze my butt off before jumping into a hot tub. But.. Russ finally convinced me it would be fun, and I'm very glad I listened! As a matter of fact, after half an hour in the hot tub, I was so warm, I had to sit on the edge to cool down!
The temperature difference between Warburton and home was very noticeable. It was easily close to zero at night and early morning, and being an ex-Sydney girl, its taken me many years of living in Victoria to acclimatise. However, now that I'm used to the concept of being in a hot tub on cold winter nights, I'm already trying to talk DH Russ into purchasing one for home!!
On Thursday, we had planned on taking a wine tour, however, it was off season, so instead we decided to just spend the day driving around checking out the local scenery. On Thursday night, DH Russ cooked our dinner on the BBQ on our balcony, I made a salad, and we enjoyed a few glasses of white wine. After dinner, we spent another hour or so in the hot tub, then came back into our lovely warm cottage and watched "Chicago" on DVD (actually, I should say that DH Russ watched it, I managed to hold out for about 20 minutes before falling asleep on the lounge with him and didn't wake up until almost midnight, just before the movie finished LOL). This morning we cooked our breakfast in the cottage, checked out at 11.00 am and took a leisurely 2 hours or so to get back home.
So, that's how we spent our 7th wedding anniversary - I couldn't imagine having a nicer or more relaxing time. The only way we could possibly have improved on it was by having a few extra days away. Something to work towards next year I suppose!
Anyway, back to reality now! I'll be spending some time in the studio over the next few days, and hopefully there'll be some new beads to offer you in the next few days. I hope you enjoyed the "virtual reality" getaway, and I'll catch you again soon!
But, that being said, I'm so pleased that Russ organised this little getaway. We left around 10.30 am on Wednesday, and although the weather was miserable, we had a few hours until we checked into our cottage, and so we stopped off at Healesville Sanctuary to take a look around. Healesville is dedicated to Australian wildlife, and so we got to see dingos, kangaroos, possums, emus, birds of prey, etc. I have to admit, it was so cold that I really didn't want to spend a lot of time wandering around, and for the last half hour of our time there, all it did was rain, but.. I did manage to capture a few photos:
Flying Foxes (basically an Aussie version of bats) hanging from their enclosure
After an hour and a half wandering around at Healesville, we headed off to Warburton to check into our accommodation. We timed it just about perfectly, as check-in was 3.00 pm and we arrived at 2.45 pm. Rather than wait around in the car park, we headed up the road a bit and sat around enjoying the scenery:
We checked into our cottage and were blown away with not only the scenery, but the cottage itself, which literally felt like a home away from home. The wood fire was burning in the cottage when we arrived, so it was lovely and toasty, the lighting was soft and romantic, and the bed was ever so comfortable. And a few photos of our cottage and surrounds (excuse our 'junk' hanging around, I actually took these photos on our 2nd day):
A view of the Dandenong Ranges from our balcony
Some of the gorgeous scenery just outside our cottage
A quiet spot to relax, just outside the front door
Our private hot tub (I forgot to take the cover off for the photo, but you get the idea), complete with fernery, rock wall and waterfall
The open fire
Kitchen
Our bed
DH Russ cooking on the BBQ on our last night
The first night we decided to head into town for a meal. Warburton is a lovely town, but very very small, and although there wasn't much choice in places to eat, we managed to find a nice little restaurant which we had all to ourselves. I ended up choosing half a dozen oysters for an appetizer and a delicious main course of fish with citrus aioli, and DH Russ settled on lamb shanks, and we shared a bottle of Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc.
Feeling comfortably full after dinner, we headed back to our cottage. Russ poured a glass bubbly for each of us and we decided to try out our private hot tub. Now, I have to admit, I've never really understood the concept of leaving a perfectly warm and comfortable room to head into sub-zero temperatures, only to strip down to a swimsuit and freeze my butt off before jumping into a hot tub. But.. Russ finally convinced me it would be fun, and I'm very glad I listened! As a matter of fact, after half an hour in the hot tub, I was so warm, I had to sit on the edge to cool down!
The temperature difference between Warburton and home was very noticeable. It was easily close to zero at night and early morning, and being an ex-Sydney girl, its taken me many years of living in Victoria to acclimatise. However, now that I'm used to the concept of being in a hot tub on cold winter nights, I'm already trying to talk DH Russ into purchasing one for home!!
On Thursday, we had planned on taking a wine tour, however, it was off season, so instead we decided to just spend the day driving around checking out the local scenery. On Thursday night, DH Russ cooked our dinner on the BBQ on our balcony, I made a salad, and we enjoyed a few glasses of white wine. After dinner, we spent another hour or so in the hot tub, then came back into our lovely warm cottage and watched "Chicago" on DVD (actually, I should say that DH Russ watched it, I managed to hold out for about 20 minutes before falling asleep on the lounge with him and didn't wake up until almost midnight, just before the movie finished LOL). This morning we cooked our breakfast in the cottage, checked out at 11.00 am and took a leisurely 2 hours or so to get back home.
So, that's how we spent our 7th wedding anniversary - I couldn't imagine having a nicer or more relaxing time. The only way we could possibly have improved on it was by having a few extra days away. Something to work towards next year I suppose!
Anyway, back to reality now! I'll be spending some time in the studio over the next few days, and hopefully there'll be some new beads to offer you in the next few days. I hope you enjoyed the "virtual reality" getaway, and I'll catch you again soon!
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Ciao for Now . . .
Our bags are packed, the camera batteries are fully charged, and the car's stocked with CDs, and in about 14 hours' time we'll be on way to Warburton for our two-night getaway at the Forget-Me-Not Cottages to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. I'm already winding down and can hardly wait to slip into the spa and do nothing for 3 days but RELAX. After almost 6 years of one drama on top of another, and 7 years without a break, I can barely remember what it feels like to simply relax, let go, and enjoy myself.
So, this will be my last update before we leave. We'll be back sometime on Friday.. back to reality, hopefully fully refreshed. Until then, don't work too hard.. I can guarantee you I won't be!
See you again on my return. Ciao!
So, this will be my last update before we leave. We'll be back sometime on Friday.. back to reality, hopefully fully refreshed. Until then, don't work too hard.. I can guarantee you I won't be!
See you again on my return. Ciao!
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Bead News . . .
I'm working on a few custom orders over the next few days, so that means my current auction up on eBay will probably be the last one you'll see from me until at least the week beginning Monday 18 June. DH Russ & I will be going away on Wednesday for our 2 night stay at Warburton to celebrate our wedding anniversary, but I'll be back some time next Friday and will be working on a set for eBay over the weekend.
Nothing much else to chat about. If you're in Australia, have a nice long weekend. As per usual, because I'm self-employed, Monday isn't a holiday for me, and I'll be plugging away in my medical transcription job, but for those of you who do have the Monday off, have fun!
See you again soon.
Nothing much else to chat about. If you're in Australia, have a nice long weekend. As per usual, because I'm self-employed, Monday isn't a holiday for me, and I'll be plugging away in my medical transcription job, but for those of you who do have the Monday off, have fun!
See you again soon.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
Anniversary Celebrations . . .
Well, here it is.. our 7th wedding anniversary. Since DH Russ has gone by the time I get up in the mornings, we didn't even exchange cards until this evening. It was actually quite amusing this year - DH Russ bought me this lovely card, which on the front says "To My Wife", and inside the card there's a whole lot of lovely words about how much I mean to him, how he probably doesn't show his feelings all that often but I mean everything to him, and the usual sentimental stuff. What's so funny about that, you may ask? Well.. it's not until you get to the last line of the card where it says "Happy Mother's Day" that the humour becomes apparent. He swears the card was in with the anniversary ones when he was searching. To give him credit, he actually printed out a sticker that says "Happy Anniversary" and covered the "Happy Mother's Day" with it.. oh well, we both got a laugh out of it!
He did buy me another card (an anniversary one this time!) and also two lovely bunches of red and pink gerberas (my favourite flowers) to make up for it. And tonight, we're going out for dinner with my Mum and our best friends, Farid & Yvonne, to celebrate. Farid & Yvonne actually telephoned us *last* night and sang their own version of Happy Anniversary to us... only a day early.. but.. it's the thought that counts! LOL.
Well.. I have to keep this brief as we're just about to head out the door. I'll catch you again next time.
He did buy me another card (an anniversary one this time!) and also two lovely bunches of red and pink gerberas (my favourite flowers) to make up for it. And tonight, we're going out for dinner with my Mum and our best friends, Farid & Yvonne, to celebrate. Farid & Yvonne actually telephoned us *last* night and sang their own version of Happy Anniversary to us... only a day early.. but.. it's the thought that counts! LOL.
Well.. I have to keep this brief as we're just about to head out the door. I'll catch you again next time.
Sunday, 3 June 2007
A Sneak Peek . . .
. . . at my newest set of beads. These will be up on eBay tomorrow morning. This is going to be a huge set of beads for me - something like 30 beads all up. There's a combination of squeezed beads and about 20 matching rounds, so if you like the sneak peek, you might want to remember to pop back tomorrow to catch the auction. Okey dokey.. that's about all out of me for one day. Catch you tomorrow!
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