The Crafty Librarian

101 Things in 1001 Days update

2011-11-10T11:59:00.003+11:00

I just updated my list having crossed off a few more things that I have done.

20. Start an investment portfolio.
28. Do Pilates (I signed up to an 8-week course and am loving it!)
70. Fix my iTunes library (once I figured out how to show exact duplicates, I was well sorted).

It's kinda scary how fast time is getting away from me. I'm already halfway through the time from when I started this challenge of 101 Things in 1001 (963) Days... now there's only 471 days left to do MANY things.

I always knew that I wouldn't get all of the things crossed off, but I hope that the important ones work themselves out!

Playing with the new Blogger

2011-09-01T11:17:00.002+10:00

Don't mind me, I'm just having a play with the updated Blogger. Amazingly, it's acting like what I would expect from a Google product instead of the rubbish I've been experiencing for the past few months!

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 11: "Things I Will Miss About Summer".

2011-08-16T07:03:00.001+10:00

Well, I have been fairly absent from my blog in the last month, and so haven't completed all of my lists for the 52 Lists, 52 Weeks meme.

I liked this week's theme though..."Things I Will Miss About Summer". Except, I live in the Southern Hemisphere, so currently it is Winter so I am swapping it about a bit and changing it to "Things I Will Miss About Winter".

There's not much I will miss about Winter. I don't like Winter as a rule, but I have got a few things that I look forward to once the cold weather starts each year:

- Cute tights

- Cute coats
- Being able to sleep comfortably at night time and getting nice and warm
- Stew and other yummy winter foods
- Winter soccer season.

But oh, how I love Summer! So here's a list of things that I look forward to for Summer:

- It not being dark when I leave home. Or get home for that matter.
- The beach
- Watermelon
- Camping
- Holidays
- Warmth and sunshine

I guess I'm looking forward to Summer so much as I'm planning two little holidays for December and January and the dreariness of Winter has been depressing me this month.

Image from here.

Make sure to visit Kellie's blog and see who else is playing along with the 52 Lists meme. Hopefully they're better than me and haven't missed 4 out of the 11 lists!

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 7: "Things To Do On A Rainy Day".

2011-07-19T13:41:00.000+10:00

Oops, I think I missed last week's list!

My list of things to do on a rainy day are pretty simple:

- Stay inside.
- Snuggle under doona on the couch and watch multiple episodes of TV on DVD... OR
- Snuggle under doona on the couch and read books... OR
- Snuggle under doona on the couch and play with iPad.
- All while drinking copious amounts of tea.

Fun! I actually love rainy days, as long as I don't have to go outside!

Tonight

2011-07-08T10:27:00.001+10:00

I'm going to see these lovely ladies with a friend.

Can't wait!

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 5: "A Waiting List of Books".

2011-07-05T10:29:00.002+10:00

This week's challenge for 52 Lists, 52 Weeks is "A Waiting List of Books". Now for those of you that have read this blog at all over time, you will know that I am a voracious reader of books, and that I have a large collection. So as you can imagine, any waiting list of books that I have is going to be pretty damn big.

In no particular order:

- A Song of Ice and Fire series (halfway through the first book of the series)

- Norwegian Wood (I won this book from the Sydney Film Festival)

- Island Beneath the Sea

- The Help (I wanted to see the film, but thought I'd read the book first)

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 4: "My Wish List".

2011-06-28T10:05:00.000+10:00

A quick and easy post! My wish list is pretty simple: travel, a pretty book and better organisation. Achievable for sure!

Go check out Kellie's blog for more players.

Library books

2011-06-27T17:30:00.001+10:00

A nice trip to the library today on my first day of school holidays.

Born To Knit

2011-06-23T10:51:00.002+10:00

Save The Children have a new campaign sponsored by Patons called "Born To Knit". They're attempting to knit 15,000 blankets for children in need across Cambodia, India and Laos.

You can purchase a Born to Knit Kit online or from Spotlight or Lincraft. If you already have your own wool and needles and just need some tips check out their knitting instructions. They also have a blog for people to follow the progress of the campaign, ask questions and join in with the knitters.

There are a few guidelines for making the blankets:

Use 4mm needles
Use 8ply 100% pure wool
A perfect-sized blanket is made up of 16 knitted squares
Each square should be about 20cms x 20cms (44 stitches wide, 88 rows high)
The final blanket size should be around 80cms x 80cms

All completed blankets can be sent to:

Save the Children
42 Dight Street
Collingwood, Victoria, 3066

Knitting for a good cause!

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 3: "Things I've Learned From My Dad".

2011-06-21T09:19:00.003+10:00

Kellie's list this week is in honour of Father's Day. Which we don't celebrate until September here in Australia, so I was a wee bit confused. Does anyone know why Father's Day is at different times in different countries? Silly!

And the list this week is "Things I've Learned From My Dad":

- Anything with Clint Eastwood in it is going to be a pretty good film.

- Yelling at sports umpires on TV does not necessarily affect the outcome of the game in your favour.

- It is possible for someone to have a Facebook account and be completely oblivious to the fact.

I'm sure there is a lot more subtle things that he has taught me over the last 28 years, but hey, I was going for the giggle (^_^)

Be sure to head over and see who is playing along this week.

Monday Morning Music

2011-06-20T07:34:00.003+10:00

A nice start to any day.

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 2: "What I've Learned From A Place I've Visited".

2011-06-14T10:12:00.001+10:00

I've done a bit of travel in my time, but I'm always open to more. I actually have a trip plan in the works, but it is a long time away... about 18 months. Forward planning, what can I say?

This week's list for 52 Lists, 52 Weeks is "What I've Learned From A Place I've Visited" and is brought to us by Brittni from With Love From Michigan.

Now Brittni had a list of 10 things that she'd learnt about the UK but I guess with all the places I've been to, I would say I've learnt one major thing: be open to anything. Without that mind set, you miss out on so many opportunities to do amazing things.

I really like this quote by Mark Twain:

I got that quote from this website...which also has more interesting travel quotes. I have had some amazing experiences in my life, because I took that attitude with me wherever I went.

Make sure you go visit Kellie to see who else is playing along with her 52 Lists project!

Brown Owls Sydney Facebook Page

2011-06-10T21:46:00.003+10:00

So I created a group page for Brown Owls Sydney, but I was starting to think that maybe a fan page would be better in terms of management.

The main reason being that I would not have to accept people as members and they could just like the page instead.

If you would like to "like" the page, and get updated on Brown Owls Sydney events and shenanigans, go here.

52 Lists, 52 Weeks - Week 1: "Today I will...".

2011-06-07T12:16:00.001+10:00

Kellie has started up a new weekly meme titled "52 Lists, 52 Weeks" that I thought I would join in with. This week's theme is "Today I will..."

Already, I'm cheating as mine is more of a weekly list! She also has a Flickr group where you can post a picture of your list.

My list:

Go check out other players on Kellie's blog!

Friday Freebie: A Thank You

2011-06-04T08:56:00.003+10:00

You know how much I love sending snail mail, and sending thank you cards. Well the very nice Kellie over at 74 Lime Lane has a friday freebie: a thank you.

You can download the card over at her blog, if you just follow the link! Friday freebies (posted on a Saturday!)

Want to chat?

2011-06-04T08:00:00.003+10:00

I was reading Pip's blog the other day and saw her post titled "Connect 6". She asked the question, maybe you want to get chatty? Well, do you, punk? I'm a massive social networking geek, who is across many different platforms. I didn't want to title my post with a specific number as I don't actually know how many different things I chat across!

Image from here.

So here you go. The evidence of what a social networking hussy I am: Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Instagram, Issuu, Library Thing, Pinterest, Twitter and I'm sure there's a couple more!

I blame the vast majority of this on the advent of mobile technology... but if you want to chat, you know where to find me!

Cushion Swap

2011-05-30T18:09:00.005+10:00

I've been meaning to write up about the Cushion Swap 2011 hosted by Vic over at Punky & Me and keep forgetting.

I got my cushion cover on Wednesday, and I love it! It's actually supporting my back as I write this post (^_^) I'm using Catherine's own picture, because I have been too lazy to take a picture of it myself!

Image from here.

Stupidly, I forgot to take a picture of mine... but it was based on Ana Marie Horner's Scrappy Nap Cushion pattern from Handmade Beginnings. I hope my partner liked it!

A big thank you has to go to Vic for organising this whole swap, I can only imagine how much work it entailed!

**Edit 2/6/11 I saw that my partner received her cushion and was nice enough to blog about it. I have borrowed her picture, as I forgot to take one of my own!

The Weekend

2011-05-30T11:45:00.003+10:00

This list idea came to me from Pepper's blog, who found it on Sophie's blog:

Reading: Her Fearful Symmetry, One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing and Modern Vintage Style.
Writing: Reports. Boring!
Drinking: Wine (^_^) And many cups of tea.
Listening: To my iPod. Nearly 8,000 songs of mixed genres!
Buying: Martha Stewart Cocktails App.
Enjoying: Being able to have a bit of a sleep-in.
Loving: Parks & Recreation clips on YouTube.

I think I speak for all Sydneysiders, when I say, I'm ready for this rubbish weather to end! But it is perfect for reading, baking and stitching, so I shouldn't complain too much.

Grrrr...

2011-05-25T17:09:00.001+10:00

So my last post has taken ALL DAY to put up and now it is in weird font and I can't fix it. I've already tweeted today that Blogger hates me, and this just proves it! Blogger fail!

May stitchalong

2011-05-25T14:46:00.007+10:00

Over at Feeling Stitchy they're having a stitchalong for the month of May using a very cute illustration by Cate A nevski.

Image from here.

Although the stitchalong is up to Week 2, so far I have only printed out the pattern and traced it onto a piece of fabric. However, this yucky Sydney weather is perfect for stitchy goodness!

If you would like to join in with the stitchalong, make sure to pop over to Feeling Stitchy. They have a competition running, with entries to be submitted to their Flickr pool by June 7. It's a nice prize for those that love embroidery!

My Winter saviour

2011-05-11T11:25:00.002+10:00

I love this stuff...

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone and Snapbucket for the photo!

101 things in 1001 days... UPDATE

2011-05-01T16:58:00.000+10:00

So an update on my 101 things in 1001 days... I have been doing pretty well I think. I am slowly realising that I may not accomplish some of the things on my list, but I'm giving it a red hot go!

So in an update, I have crossed six more things off my list:

4. Get from couch to 5km

This coming Sunday, I will be participating in my first race. I am running the 8km Mother's Day Classic in Melbourne. If you would like to sponsor me you can go here. All the money goes to breast cancer research, which I'm sure we can all agree is a very good cause!

I recently completed an 8-week course called "Get Up and Running" which really helped me with my running technique. I have now become a member of Northside Running Group and go running with them most Thursday nights and some Tuesday nights. I am well and truly past being able to run 5km, so I am very proud of myself! My longest run so far has been 9.6km (I did nearly die when I ran that though!)

11. Meet new friends in Sydney.

This has been an ongoing thing since I moved here in 2008. I am a bit of a "joiner", but have found that that has been a great way to meet people. So I have joined a women's football team, Brown Owls and now a running group. At all of these places, I've met some really nice people and made friends.

33. Donate blood more often.

I clocked up my 25th donation a couple of months ago. I'm back into donating every 3 months and find that it is much easier if I book my next appointment on the day, so that it is in my calendar and I can organise around it.

38. Get my Masters Degree.

Tick! I did a bit of a writeup about my graduation ceremony the other week, but thankfully my university course is now over. I am taking a break from formal studies for a little bit, but I'm sure I'll go back to do something else... maybe about eLearning or technology in education.

43. Keep my Library Thing up to date.

This is something that I'm really proud of. In my recent holidays I sat down for one whole day and went through my bookshelves crosschecking my collection and putting any books not in my catalogue, online. I've done about 98% of my books, there are just a few travel guides and phrasebooks that haven't been loaded on yet. I'm thinking of putting a widget on my blog, so that you can see a random selection from my library. You can go check out my catalogue, here.

86. Post on my blog more.

I've been much better about this. It may only be a couple of posts a week, but I'm writing them! Now to just keep my Google Reader under control and participate more on the blogs that I love to read. I think that is one of the problems with blogs, lurkers! I'm guilty of lurking and I really should put myself out there more.

There always seems to be some sort of meme going on in May, I guess because it rhymes so nicely with 'day', but I will just be plodding along trying to get through the month and be organised! I have a lot due with work, and other commitments, so have to put my head down and get going.

How exciting!

2011-04-28T17:57:00.000+10:00

It was an absolutely horrid day today in Sydney. Rain, rain, and a bit more rain. And it was my first day back at work after the holidays. I wore my fuchsia tights in an attempt to brighten the day up somewhat, but that didn't really work...

So you can imagine how excited I was to see an email arrive in my inbox to let me know I was one of the winners of Frankie's "Whatever Heather" give-away.

Image from here.

I won one of these necklaces. How pretty! My day had to improve from then (^_^)

My name is Jessica...and I'm an addict

2011-04-26T08:53:00.008+10:00

It started off innocently enough... I was reading a friend's blog and read about the idea of 'Pin It Forward'.

Image from here.

It seems that a lot of the blogs I've been reading lately have been getting into Pinterest, and finding a lot of visual inspiration. I think Vic from sfgirlbay said it best:

"pinterest is also social. just like twitter, you can ‘follow’ people whose taste you admire, and you can ‘repin’ anything you see. you’ll automatically credit both both the original source of the image, and the person who first pinned it. lots of creative people and bloggers use pinterest to not only save images, but to get inspired by the amazing things pinned by people they admire."

The social aspect is what I like about it, and also being able to peek into what the truly creative are looking at! My favourite pins are those of living spaces, where I can but dream of having somewhere so beautiful to live!

After the Easter long weekend I have a full blown addiction. The weather has been perfect (rainy, cloudy, blech) to sit on the couch and look at everyone's pins. I love how you can navigate from what someone has pinned to the original source, and to find more pins from that blog or web site. Let's just say it equates to hours of looking at pretty things if that is what you're into (^_^)

A screen capture of some of my boards.

I've popped a side button onto my blog, so that you can follow my pins if you so desire.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:59:00.003+10:00

Image from here.

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you are having a safe and relaxing Easter break and chocolate is the main food group for you all!

Brown Owls Sydney meeting

2011-04-21T08:38:00.005+10:00

Last night was our first Sydney Brown Owls for a while. We met up at the lovely Berkelouw Wine Bar and had a great time eating, crafting and catching up.

The food was really yummy with a range of pizzas, bruschetta, tapas and desserts...we also had a few cheeky glasses of wine (^_^)

Corey was lace knitting a beautiful pair of socks.

Jenny was diligently working on a baby blanket.

Ditty and Ginevra yarning away.

A bit of a friendly dahlia crocheting competition between Amy and Bec.

Amy was very pleased with her finished dahlia.

We had a great time and look forward to seeing everyone next month! We will be having a meeting on the 20th of each month. Next month's meeting details will be posted here, as well as on the Brown Owls Sydney Facebook page and through The Brown Owls Twitter.

I need this. I do.

2011-04-19T09:39:00.001+10:00

Image from here.

kikki.K has a debut collection of leather work bags coming out soon. So pretty!

Cushion swap

2011-04-18T14:04:00.002+10:00

I do love a good swap. I am a member over at Swap-bot, but after seeing Jess' blog this morning I decided to join in on Vic's Cushion Swap 2011!

Hopefully I can make a cushion cover that someone will like! I'll keep you updated!

This week...

2011-04-11T16:15:00.002+10:00

I like to play along with memes... when I remember that is! So I'm playing along with Vic's 'This Week' meme. Make sure to go visit her to see who else is playing.

This week... I am on holidays! Yay! So I don't have any big plans for the holidays... I'll be watching some DVDs and Spring [Autumn] Cleaning, probably at the same time! Naturally, I'll be referring to my bible:

My sis, Jemma blogged about her love of Martha the other day... and I have to say I love Martha too!

I'm also going to the Easter Show on Thursday as well, which I'm a bit excited about (^_^) I plan to take photos, so I'll post about the Show later this week!

A lovely way to spend a... Saturday

2011-04-10T07:24:00.009+10:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Sydney. Blue skies and about 25 degrees. We decided to go on an excursion day around the city and had an amazing time.

After a quick coffee at our local espresso place, our first stop was Sweets Workshop in Summer Hill. I found out about this shop from Dawn Tan's blog Handmade Love as they stock the lovely things that she creates. We were lucky enough to catch Emma Simmons' exhibit titled 'The Sun Sets in the West' which is a collection of her landscapes showing her life in the inner West of Sydney.

Image from here.

Michael and my favourite picture was the one above of Petersham's Magestic Rollerrink. The whole shop was lovely and had a great collection of artwork, zines and handmade objects. I nabbed a copy of Bespoke zine.

We then made our way to Surry Hills for the Surry Hills Festival. Michael's love of Astro Boy and street art was realised on Devonshire Street.

We sat in the sun and listened to some live music and ate yummy foods, like my rocket and prosciutto pizza.

There were gorgeous dogs everywhere at the Festival. We saw a couple of pugs, a pair of malamute puppies and a massive chau chau. All of the dogs were happy to be patted and have their photos taken and make friends with the other dogs.

We stopped for a sneaky wheat beer on the roof of The Local Taphouse on Flinders Street in Darlinghurst.

We walked into the city and along the way saw some really cute street artwork in the CBD. You can't see it, but the red writing says "Babushka. Babushka. Babushka. Ya ya." After a quick Google search I've found that the artwork is Babushka Dolls by Kat Smoleynec, and was part of a street art project in 2010.

It reminded me of Melbourne, where you come across art in strange places. We just happened to be walking past Dungate Street, and saw it.

We went for a visit to Kinokuniya where I pored through the English and Japanese craft books for a pleasant half hour while Michael bought Banksy's book 'Wall and Piece'. We finished off our day of excursion by going to see the film Suckerpunch in Newtown. It was a very visual film, I quite liked it!

It was a gorgeous day, and we had a really great time exploring the city. Today is a return to reality with all the neglected housework to do!

Brown Owls Sydney

2011-04-06T23:12:00.003+10:00

This is a wee crosspost from the Brown Owls Members blog... but Bec and I are hoping to have a get together of our crafty friends in Sydney so I'm spreading the news. Here. Here. Oh, and here.

Brown Owls Sydney has a get together coming up... It is a super casual meet up where you can bring any craft that you are currently working on and come and chat and be crafty with a bunch of like-minded peeps!

Where: Berkelouw Books, Leichhardt (upstairs)

When: Wednesday, April 20 at 6:30PM - 9:30PM (approx)

RSVP: How does April 17 sound? You can do it here, here or here! We're multimodal!

We're really looking forward to seeing you there!

Note: If you'd like to be added to the Brown Owls Sydney mailing list please send an email to brownowlssydney@gmail.com and we will add you!

P.S. Don't you love the owly badges? They're actually from 2009 and the HTML can be found here (a bit cheeky, it's just from this blog's archives). The lovely Angela from Three Buttons created them, she's very clever!

Hope to see you on the 20th!

Shoesday

2011-04-05T21:37:00.001+10:00

I am an avid reader of Veronica Darling's cute blog. Actually, I just have a bit of a crush on Veronica herself. She always has cute outfits on, most of which she makes herself! Jealous! The dress she made here for example, I am in love with.

Anyway, enough gushing. Lately, we have been getting pictures of Veronica's shoes on 'Shoesday'. I wanted to post my Shoesday this week, because my shoes are pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

Sparkly! With a bow! A lot of my shoes have bows, but these are an especial favourite. And they cost me *ahem* four dollars.

I took the picture with Instagram, which is a free photo taking iPhone app. It makes your pictures look interesting, with a variety of filters. You can follow my pictures if you already have Instagram, my username is jkjorna. Nice!

Last, but not least, look out for my post soon about my updated '100 Things'. Excitement!

This week...

2011-04-01T16:35:00.004+11:00

So I'm joining in with Vic's meme again this week...I'm a wee bit behind but it'll have to do!

So this week, I'm celebrating my graduation. After a long drive to Wagga Wagga (I studied via distance) I made it to my graduation where I was awarded the Masters of Education (Teacher Librarianship). Go me!

I came back to work today, to find that my lovely workmates had organised a morning tea to celebrate, complete with lemon curd cheesecake AND macarons from Zumbos in Balmain. I felt pretty special!

So it's been a pretty busy week. Go here to see who else is playing along and what they're doing this week!

I ♥ Zines

2011-03-28T22:41:00.005+11:00

As the title states, I ♥ Zines. My favourite zines are the crafty and cute ones. I have every single issue of Mixtape and Croq and I love Spoonful! Their tagline ' A Happiness Companion' makes my day.

Image from here.

The Zine Fair held at the MCA in Sydney every year is an amazing place to find some really cool stuff as well! And Bird in the Hand Zine Shop is a lovely online shop to get all your goodies.

I just recently bought Hello Sandwich's Gift Wrapping Zine... if you follow the link, you can buy it too. Not only is it ADORABLE you will support Red Cross Japan and their earthquake effort, so please help out.

I can't wait to use Angela's 'Little Tokyo Shops zine and He llo Sandwich's Tokyo Guide when I FINALLY get to go back to Japan. Amazing!

I also got this super cute zine from Dawn Tan from Handmade Love. I love it! (I bought it last year though, I think it may be sold out! Sorry...)

Image from here.

What are your favourite zines? Can you recommend any to me? As a librarian, I'm thinking of creative ways to display my collection, as they almost always have gorgeous covers.

This week...

2011-03-21T10:27:00.004+11:00

I'm joining in with Vic's meme today about "what I want to do this week, or will do, or something I want to think more deliberately about".

I have so many things that I'm thinking more deliberately about, the thing that I want to do this week is to NOT think so much. I feel like my mind is always racing!

However, as that's not going to happen, what I would like to do (and probably WILL do) is go running on both Tuesday and Thursday this week.

So wish me luck.

Now go visit Vic and see who else is playing along with her!

Puppy Love

2011-03-21T06:07:00.000+11:00

I spent over an hour looking at dachshunds on Google Images last night... and then today, the peeps over at Frankie have some super cute pictures from the Hipster Puppies Tumblr. Love.

My favourite pic I found last night was this one:

Image from here.

Crochet AND a dachshund?! Bliss!

#87 Refashion my blog

2011-03-10T12:41:00.003+11:00

I have refashioned my blog, to something a lot simpler. I was very much over my old header and wanted to move away from the colour scheme, etc.

I'm a bit sad to say that I forgot to take a screenshot of what my blog USED to look like, I'll have to check in my files that I don't have one.

However, I do have a copy of the old header in my Flickr account. I've also been updating my other blog and will be updating its content also. You'll notice that they are both the same, I like that idea of uniformity and branding that makes it obvious they're both mine even though that one is more professional and this one is essentially me waffling!

I have 2 weeks off next month and intend to do a lot of cleaning, purging, and checking things off my 101 things list, so make sure to keep checking back!

I have linked back to my original post in the sidebar for the moment to check on the updated list, because I'm yet to figure out an aesthetically pleasing way of striking through the list there.

The wonders of technology

2011-02-10T16:13:00.002+11:00

Yes, it's true, I'm a massive tech geek. Right at this moment, I am blogging from my iPad. I shelled out the $3.99 for the app Blog Press.

This is really just a test run to see how I go in terms of iPad blogging, as if it is as good an app as is claimed, I will use it to liveblog work conferences etc.

Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Brown Owls

2011-02-03T12:07:00.003+11:00

So I've been a member of Brown Owls for coming up on four years now. I was just reading a post over at Pip's blog called "Want To Start A Brown Owls Group?" and I thought I'd put my two bobs worth in.

Brown Owls is fun! I'm a member of two groups: Sutherland and St George Brown Owls and Sydney Brown Owls.

The Sutherland group is my local, and I love to catch up on a Sunday arvo at a cafe (or the pub) around the corner and do craft!

These four pics show me working on my neverending paper piecing quilt! All these pictures are via the members blog and taken by Thouraya, our lovely organiser. Last weekend, I was actually doing some embroidery... changing it up a little!

The Sydney group is the original group I joined when I first moved to Sydney, and while I am often quite busy, I try to get to as many meetings as I can during the year. I'm hoping to get to next week's meeting as I'd love to make an amigurumi heart.

If you want to become a Brown Owl, just go to the members blog and find a meeting that is near you. They are happy for anyone to show up and join in, and speaking from experience, it's a great way to make new (crafty) friends.

Update - 2011 so far...

2011-01-30T11:54:00.007+11:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am a mediocre blogger... at best!

2011 promises to be a hectic year. I woke up this morning in disbelief that it was already January 30.

So what have I been up to in the last couple of months? Well. Where to begin. I have been fulfilling some of my 101 Things in 1001 Days, which has been great.

Some that I've knocked off the list include:

#14 Cull some of my book collection - I had time off from the beginning of December, so used that time to cull some of my book collection and reorganise my shelves (again). Books just appear in my house, so no matter how much I cull, more just seem to appear!

#35 Send more snail mail

#95 Write more thank you notes (easy to do with these lovely cards!)

I love sending people snail mail, because it seems to make them genuinely happy. I bought these gorgeous cards from one of my favourite stores Kikki K and they have been going out to people as well!

Image from here.

#37 Use said iPhone to organise my life! Using my iPhone to organise my life has been amazing. You may not know this, but I am a massive MacGeek, and so have been syncing everything together and finding myself much more organised, which is helping with my finances and paying off my debts.

#30 Eat more veggies

#51 Drink more water

As a teacher, I am very lucky to get a long break over the Summer. November and December were crazy with end of year parties and celebrations where there was very little exercise and a lot of eating and drinking. Funnily enough, I felt absolutely rubbish by the time 2011 came around.

I decided to get my health back on track with a health(ier) eating plan and exercise. A) To feel better and B) I'm a bridesmaid in October and need to look fabulous! I feel like I've been doing pretty well, with the occasional lapse. However, I am still working on some things off my list:

#4 Get from Couch to 5km

#58 Do the Sydney to Surf

Finally some news in regard to numbers 79 and 88...

#79 Make progress in my job - Although I only started at a new school 12 months ago, an opportunity came up late last year for me to make progress in my career, and move more towards an area where I am really interested. My new role allows me to use and discover new digital technologies and help teachers integrate them into their teaching practice. It is a brand new role and promises to be incredibly challenging, but also very rewarding.

#88 Have my own business cards

I got these babies over at Vista Print. That place is amazing and so cheap!

#91 Go camping over Summer for a couple of weeks (photos coming soon...)

I also managed to fit in just over a week of camping in the holidays with my lovely boyfriend. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, our trip was cut short, but we plan to do some more camping throughout the year to "get away from it all" for some weekends. We had an amazing time, and as I've mentioned, I will put some photos up soon!

Phew! So as you can see I've been pretty busy... I started in my new role last week and my head is hurting from information overload!

Ultimately, I'm trying to figure out my work/life balance and keep everything going all at once! The 101 things in 1001 days is a lovely thing to do... with 755 days until I turn 30 I am trying to do a lot of them, but at the same time I recognise that some will just remain that... a lovely thing to do (that I haven't done yet!)

20 Questions

2010-11-16T10:06:00.004+11:00

I'm playing along with Pip's 20 Questions today. One blog post a week should do it!

1. Sweet or Savoury? I love food.
2. Dresses or Jeans? Dresses. But jeans have their place!
3. House or Apartment? Apartment.
4. Shop Online or Offline? Both. I buy a lot of books/crafty stuff online, and clothes offline.
5. DVDs or Downloads? Downloads lately. My DVD collection was getting too big.
6. Cocktails or Juice? It depends on the occasion!
7. Chocolate or Strawberry? Chocolate!
8. Laptop or PC? Laptop. I couldn't live without it.
9. Magazines or Newspapers? Magazines, because they're prettier.
10. Facebook or Twitter? I love social networking in general.
11. CDs or MP3s? MP3s.
12. Kids or Pets? Pets.
13. Macaron or Cupcakes? Cupcakes. Nom nom!
14. Walk or Run? Wun?
15. Breakfast in Bed or Breakfast Out? Out. Newspapers, coffee, sunshine = perfection.
16. Market or Supermarket? Markets.
17. Sourdough or Grainy? Grainy.
18. Heels or Flats? Flats, although I really need heels.
19. Late nights or Not? Again, depends on the occasion.
20. Coffee or Tea? Both.

Delightful design books

2010-11-10T21:44:00.006+11:00

So, I live in an apartment. I love living in an apartment, as the space is enough for me and the significant other. It was quite funny the other night, when I was out for dinner and I said "I'm being a bit controversial here, but I don't want a big house, I'm happy with my small space".

One of my favourite web sites Apartment Therapy sometimes releases books, and naturally I need this one. I'm mad for pictures of how people store their books, and this book looks like it has some interesting design ideas.

Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Places

Oh, and Frankie has a new book coming out called Spaces. I think I need that one too!

Spaces

By the way, this totally fits in with my #62 Decorate my apartment beautifully!

Blogtoberfest Day 31: Giveaway Winner!!!

2010-10-31T20:51:00.003+11:00

Without further ado, the winner of my Blogtoberfest giveaway is...

You may not be able to see, but the winner is #36: Rachelle! I'll be in contact to organise your postage details (^_^) Congratulations!

Punctuation Changes Everything

2010-10-30T22:10:00.001+11:00

This website gives me a good giggle whenever I read it. I also love a good grammar joke!

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Blogtoberfest Day 30: Epic Fail

2010-10-30T08:00:00.002+11:00

Hehe. So I did very badly at Blogtoberfest this year... although, I did post more than I have been doing recently so it wasn't too bad!

October has been a busy month, so I guess that didn't help. You'll all be pleased to hear that my skirt is coming along, I will post pictures next week when I've had a bit more progress, as it is just some cut out shapes at the moment!

Come back tomorrow when I choose the winner of my giveaway. Exciting!

Blogtoberfest Day 22: #5 Learn to sew clothes

2010-10-22T10:00:00.005+11:00

Last night was the first week of my sewing class at the Community College with Miss Jessica.

Image from here.

I was surprised at how much I learned in the first lesson. I had flashbacks to high school Textiles classes, where I'm sure I learned about things such as the grain line, but it all made sense! Week 1 was all about pattern cutting and fabric cutting.

Image from here.

This is the skirt that I'm starting with in class, the one to the left with pockets. I will show you updates as I go, OK? Wish me luck!

Blogtoberfest Day 20: iPod shuffle

2010-10-20T11:06:00.004+11:00

Let's just pass over the fact that I haven't posted for four days. Yes, Blogtoberfest = Epic fail.

I'm borrowing Vic from Punky and Me's post idea for today which she originally borrowed from Margaret at Konstant Kaos...

What would be the first song to appear in iTunes if you pressed shuffle?

I'd have to say anything from Florence and the Machine's album 'Lungs' might pop up. Or the Glee soundtrack *ahem* My iPod is a bit random in its shuffle, though, and not in a good way. I think it is becoming a sentient creature, and decides that it would like to hear 6 Rolling Stones tracks back-to-back. As you do.

Blogtoberfest Day 16: Flight of the Conchords

2010-10-16T13:12:00.005+11:00

I was lazing about at home last night and was lucky enough to get double 'The Simpsons' AND double 'Glee'.

The Simpsons, was as always, very enjoyable. This was my favourite part of the entire episode. It's the best if you're into Flight of the Conchords. Stephen Hawking cameo!

Enjoy!
Go visit Cathy over at Tinniegirl for more Blogtoberfesters!

Blogtoberfest: Day 15 -Tagxedo

2010-10-15T13:58:00.002+11:00

Tagxedo is an awesome app, which has made my blog into a word cloud. It brings up the words most used on my blog after I put my blog address into their little engine. Fun!

I've been at a Teacher Librarian training day today, where I learn about all these cool things!

Blogtoberfest Day 14

2010-10-14T18:25:00.002+11:00

It will be mine... oh yes... it will be mine.

Jemma is posting confessions today AND has an awesome giveaway going on.

My confession: I'm a huge nerd. Is it a confession if everyone knew already?

Blogtoberfest - Day 13: The Self Portrait

2010-10-13T09:29:00.004+11:00

Today is Self Portrait Day for Blogtoberfest...

I'm home sick from work today, so the hair is creative... to say the least... I was watching ABC News 24 when I took this earlier on, now I'm listening to the Glee soundtrack before I go to the doctor.

Go see who else is playing along with Self Portrait Day... hopefully people look less peaky and unkempt!

Blogtoberfest Day 12

2010-10-12T11:05:00.003+11:00

Oops, well I'm failing at Blogtoberfest this year... missing 4 days to go to Melbourne. And now I'm sick.

Just an update on giveaway details:

It finishes 31st October at midnight... so you still have a bit of time to enter! Good luck!

Blogtoberfest Day 8

2010-10-08T07:30:00.004+11:00

So I'm off to Melbourne this weekend to hang out with my Mum and see the new nephew. I will attempt to keep up with Blogtoberfest, but we shall see. There is always a lot of shopping, sushi eating, and coffee and wine drinking going on, you see!

Image from here.

I will be back on Monday, which is also the last day of my school holidays before I go back to work *sigh*. Why do holidays always go so quickly? I think there is a tear in the time space continuum!

Go see other Blogtoberfest peeps over at Cathy's place, and don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Blogtoberfest Day 7: Giveaway time!

2010-10-07T20:15:00.003+11:00

Ahem, today is my 200th + 1 post. I have also successfully blogged seven days in a row. So you know what that means?! Giveaway time!

This incredible cuteness is from Fruity Cuties.

Now, I have no idea what the giveaway is going to entail, so let's call it a "SURPRISE" giveaway. It will be nice things, of that you can be sure.

You know the drill:

1. Write something in the comments (I don't require anything specific, I always stress when someone asks for that in giveaways... unless you wish to recommend a book for me to read, which would be friendly!)

2. Extra entry if you link back to my giveaway blog post.

Lots of luck kiddliwinks!

Blogtoberfest - Day 6

2010-10-06T08:10:00.002+11:00

I will be here today:

For those of you who don't recognise it (because you may not be from Sydney!) it is the library in Surry Hills. As part of my Masters degree I have to do a bunch of study visits to different libraries around Sydney. I'm also going into the ABC Sound and Reference Library today as well!

Now, I've just realised that today is my 200th post! So check back later today for giveaway details (^_^) I have to go now, as I'm very much late to catch a train!

Blogtoberfest Day 5: Nigella Measuring Cups

2010-10-05T09:03:00.000+11:00

I want these Nigella measuring cups - they're so lovely looking and I think I would do my very best baking with them. Sigh. I love pretty things, so!

Blogtoberfest - Day 4: Detox

2010-10-04T10:26:00.002+11:00

Image from here.

I feel as though I have been on about a month long binge. It's more like two weeks...but still, feeling distinctly blech! What with football parties, conferences, life I have not been as healthy as I could be.

I feel like I need to start today (hangover and all) by eating fresh fruit and vegies and drinking loads of water and maybe I will stop feeling quite so gross!

Pop over to Cathy's and check out who else is Blogtoberfest-ing!

Blogtoberfest - Day 3: Oktoberfest and Grand Final Day Part 3

2010-10-03T12:23:00.003+11:00

Image from here.

Very busy weekend for football and merriment. Today I'm off to Oktoberfest at Sydney's German club and then to the pub to yell at the tv some more. I have to say, there is nowhere near the amount emotionally invested in today's game as yesterday's!

Happy Oktoberfest!

Blogtoberfest - Day 2: Grand Final Day

2010-10-02T20:34:00.001+10:00

So... it is 8:34PM on AFL Grand Final Day. Needless to say, I am devastated! We never looked like winning today and if I was a good sport, I would say well done Collingwood. However, I just can't stand to see them win! (As cannot most of Melbourne...)

Anyway, it is a great weekend for sport... so hopefully St George Dragons prevail tomorrow so I can get SOME joy from the weekend.

And thanks to all my commenters on my first Blogtober post... yes, meeting John Marsden WAS delightful!!!

Hope the weekend treats you well!

Blogtoberfest - Day 1

2010-10-01T10:43:00.004+10:00

Once again, Cathy is hosting Blogtoberfest. I participated for the full 31 days last year and was very pleased with myself. And I'm going to give it a go this year as well, but I've got to say... I don't know if I'll make it!

I've just been in the "sunny" city of Brisbane for the last week at a Teacher Librarian conference. If you want to see all my thrilling (well, they are for me!) tweets on digital literacy and information processes and library design then by all means, follow me on Twitter. I don't always talk TL stuff, but also talk a lot of rubbish. Good times!

So I don't really have much to report today, as I am absolutely knocked out by this week! I did see John Marsden speak today, and he was excellent. Really, really good.

I will leave you with a picture to put a smile on your face, for this weekend:

Image from here (go there, so funny!)

Now I may see you tomorrow...but I'm not promising anything! It is the (second) AFL Grand Final after all! Go the Saints!

Letters

2010-09-21T17:14:00.002+10:00

Well today I've read cover to cover in the time it took me to ride the train home and sit on the couch for a spell one of my favourite books The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Gosh, I love that book.

I love it because Part 1 of it is written in letters, and I love nothing more than reading letters. And sending them. So I was very excited today to come home where there were three things waiting for me in the post.

Jemma had sent me a present! Of very cute fabric... matroyshka and owls. Two of my favourites, and totally unexpected. Thanks Jem!

And a purchase arrived from florspacehome's shop on Etsy, which will allow me to make my own envelopes as well as being very pretty. I first read about this via The Long Thread's tweets who linked to Parasol's Printed Envelope Project and had to have one!

I also received a sports band for my iPhone, so it was all happening today! Fun times!

A lovely way to spend a... weekend

2010-09-13T08:54:00.007+10:00

Well the weather was gorgeous this weekend. We took the opportunity to enjoy the weather and go have lunch (which turned into dinner and drinks and football watching) at Bondi.

I was super impressed with myself on Saturday morning when I got up early and completed Week 1 Day 3 of my Couch to 5K program... now I just have to complete the other 8 weeks of the program, which is easier said than done! I went for Week 2 Day 1 before work this morning and even that added 30 seconds of running time is really hard!

Sunday was a lovely relaxing day. We slept in and just muddled around the house for a few hours and then went and had a very nice morning tea in the sun with Jess and her gorgeous puppies.

The man and I have become addicted to the game Rummikub, and so went to the shops and bought ourselves our very own version for the house. Suffice to say, not much else got accomplished on Sunday after our return from the shops except a Rummikub marathon.

We did however make sushi using this gadget that we got as a housewarming present nearly 3 years ago. And ahem... just got out of the box yesterday. It's called Sushezi, and let's just say, it may have changed our life. We will definitely be eating a lot more sushi now that we know how easy it is!

The weekend finished with lying on the couch watching some Modern Family, Junior Masterchef and Offspring. Those children intimidate me a little, I have to say! It put our sushi to shame!

#45 Buy a Mimco bag (and some Zumbo)

2010-09-10T09:44:00.009+10:00

I know that this doesn't really go well with my "#1 Being financially savvy" and "#27 Getting rid of my debts" goals, but there was a SALE!

Yesterday, I bought myself a Mimco bag. It is a very, very nice bag. I used to buy handbags all the time, but the last 12 months I have bought one nice black one. And now I have a nice brown one. So I'm done!

Image from here.

Soft, Italian leather *sigh* Ok, back to being fiscally responsible now!

Also, I saw Adriano Zumbo at Midcity Centre yesterday doing a demonstration. There was free Zumbo sweet treats, champagne and gift bags, it was lovely! I got perfume samples, socks, a beach ball, it was all rather random but in a lovely way. It was all part of Vogue's Fashion Night Out.

The man at work.

I didn't feel like a sweet treat at the time, but managed to bring home two (one for me, and one for the man) in a Decor container I had in my work bag. We enjoyed them sitting on the couch watching tele last night. Very nice!

#4 Get from couch to 5km

2010-09-09T07:53:00.005+10:00

Wow. I've actually started on this! I guess it's because the weather has stopped sucking so much. Yay for Spring! So basically, C25K is a running program that works over 9 weeks and gets you to do interval training until you can run 5k without stopping.

I listen to some really cute podcasts made by Carli at Running into Shape that she made herself and it's really fun music to run to.

If you follow me on Twitter, you will see that I'm up to Week 1 Day 2 with my next run on Friday September 10. At the moment I'm doing 60 seconds of running, and 90 seconds of recovery for 8 sets, but next week it moves up to 90 seconds of running, which is actually quite a workout!

I'll keep y'all updated on how I'm going so hopefully by November 12 I will have completed the program. There is a small trip to Brisbane in that time, and the likelihood of packing my runners is... small... but I'll see how I go!

Busy, busy, busy

2010-09-01T12:38:00.008+10:00

I have been a busy bee lately, working very hard to finish off my final assignment for my university degree (ever!) as well as my usual employment and my '101 things' list.

#48 Read all of my Agatha Christie novels has been coming along nicely, I have just started reading The Secret of Chimneys after reading The Mysterious Affair At Styles, The Secret Adversary and Murder on the Links.

Image from here.

There has been a *small* change to #48 though, as I am no longer reading "my" Agatha Christie novels, but instead reading them from various libraries. This is because I am attempting to work on #14 Cull some of my book collection, #27 Pay off my debts! and #55 Organise my house beautifully.

I have actually sold my Agatha Christie collection of books to a second hand dealer, as they were a very nice collection. They did take up a lot of room on the shelves and so I have not only decluttered a little, but made a nice little amount of cash.

I was also very excited the other day when I called my "friends" at the ATO, and they told me that my HECS (student loans for you non-Aussies) was actually nearly $4,000 less than I thought. It turns out the balance that I received at the end of the financial year did not include the monies that I had paid off in the 2008/09 financial year.

I'm thinking that if I keep going in this fashion, I will be debt free by mid next year! This is very exciting news for me, so wish me luck!

#49 - Read all of the Tomorrow, When The War Began books

2010-08-12T09:06:00.006+10:00

Inspired by the film premiere, I started on #49 of my '101 Things' list this week. I have been powering through the 'Tomorrow series' books reading 'Tomorrow, When The War Began' on Tuesday, 'The Dead of the Night' on Wednesday and I'm halfway through 'The Third Day, The Frost' today.

*Sorry about the picture quality, I attempted to find covers the same as my originals!

I first read these books when they came out about 15 years ago, and the copies that I'm reading now are my original copies from my high school years. I've been finding it interesting to see my reaction to the books this time around. Firstly, they're incredibly violent! And secondly, I've found myself to be very rapt up in the storyline this time. I know how these books end, yet I have been getting worked up and involved in the storyline much more than I remember being previously. I was on the train this morning reading a particularly nail-biting part, and felt very tense!

You'll know when I cross #49 off my list that I have read all seven books of the series. Then and only then, will I be going to see the film.

*Edit 23/8/2010: I completed this challenge on Friday night. Yay!*

Happy 101

2010-08-05T11:01:00.006+10:00

I just found rummey bears via Jess' blog and was immediately charmed by the sweetness of it all. I was particularly inspired by Anna's picture of all her orange books. Methinks I will let go of my anal sorting by author alphabetic order and cluster colours together instead.

I have taken it upon myself to join in with a meme that Anna is participating in called 'Happy 101', where you list ten things that you like (mine are in no particular order). You can join in with me if you want to?

These Michael Sowa prints over at All Posters. They were discovered via Design Sponge's "Living In...Amelie" post, and feature in the below (Japanese) movie poster for Amelie.

Image from here.

Strawberries.

Football. My team is in the semi finals this Sunday!

Nesting. I love nothing better than pottering around with a cup of tea at home.

Playing with my iPhone. Words with Friends, anyone?

Fuzzy socks.

The Bird and the Bee's Hall and Oates tribute album.

The fact that I'm going to see Florence and the Machine this Sunday!

Crossing things off my "101 things in 1001 days" list.

My boyfriend. He's nice (^_^)

Craftiness abounds...

2010-07-29T14:39:00.007+10:00

Today's the (sydney) magazine was the Home + Design issue. It was really nice... I was happy to see some friends (bloggy and otherwise) featured! The article 'I made it myself' was really nice, with the focus on Sydney women who are into handmade things.

I also really liked the article '50 bright ideas' which had a variety of homewares for your home (including Aunty Cookie's Ampersand cushion). So lovely! Quite a lot of it was out of my price range, but a girl can dream!

You may have noticed that two of my '101 things' have been crossed off already... Firstly, I am now the proud owner of an iPhone! (Thanks, Jem!) It restarts itself occasionally, but still does everything that I need. I have been enjoying playing with the calendar and apps that will organise my life. Favourites so far are Evernote and Egretlist for notes and to-do lists.

Secondly, I spent my one free day of school holidays sitting on the couch clipping recipes and organising them into my recipe folder. This was all done while watching a film double of The Princess Bride and Willow. I like to cram as much relaxation in as possible!

So as you can see... two down, 99 to go! Some of them *ahem, #96* may be a wee bit more difficult to accomplish but I'm going to give it a red hot go!

101 things in 1001 (963) days...

2010-07-05T22:19:00.012+10:00

I have a sister, and I think she's pretty cool... she does a lot of cool stuff and I love ringing her or talking to her on the Internet about what she's been up to and sharing what I've been up to. Anyway, reading her blog today... I saw her latest post titled "101 things in 1001 days".

Now my post is titled the same, but you may notice that in brackets next to 1001, I have the number 963. I'm 30 in 963 days. Gulp. So maybe I want to get some shit done before then... and intend to! Even so, I'm probably going to look back on this post in 964 days and have a giggle and tick off about 20% of those things. Anyway... here I go regardless... and yes, I'm totally stealing some from Jemma! Also, these are in no particular order.

Become financially savvy.
Buy an apartment.
Learn to drive a manual car.
~~Get from couch to 5km!~~
Learn to sew clothes.
Spend at least one month in South America.
Learn to cook a delicious roast dinner.
Find out more about my family history (I've started this already, it's fascinating!)
Ride my bike.
Learn Spanish.
~~Meet new friends in Sydney.~~
Visit Perth.
Read all of my books.
~~Cull some of my book collection.~~
Use more of my fabric stash!
Take a cooking class.
Use my Wii Fit more.
Make my African scrapbook.
Write my full African trip diary.
~~Start an investment portfolio (via Dancing Brave).~~
Get better at football.
Drink less caffeine.
Lose 5 kgs.
~~Grow my hair long (again).~~
Go to Vietnam.
Go to Paris.
Pay off my debts!
~~Do Pilates.~~
Throw more things out.
~~Eat more veggies.~~
~~Put money into my savings account every pay day.~~
Cook 20 new recipes (I thought 100 was a bit ambitious!)
~~Donate blood more often.~~
Discover more in my local area.
~~Send more snail mail.~~
~~Get an iPhone.~~
~~Use said iPhone to organise my life!~~
~~Get my Masters Degree (6 months to go!)~~
Get better at crochet.
Get better at embroidery.
Learn to knit!
Learn to decorate cupcakes.
~~Keep my Library Thing up to date.~~
Get back in contact with friends overseas.
~~Buy a Mimco bag.~~
Watch all of the Studio Ghibli movies.
Go to Studio Ghibli in Tokyo.
Read all of my Agatha Christie novels.
~~And all of the Tomorrow When The War Began novels.~~
Read more books from the 1001 list!
~~Drink more water.~~
Go to China.
Get all of my photo negatives onto disk.
And then start organising my photos.
Organise my house beautifully!
Learn to do amigurumi properly.
Flip pancakes.
Do the Sydney to Surf.
Streamline my life.
~~Organise my recipe folder properly.~~
Get all my various artworks, prints and photos framed.
Decorate my house beautifully!
Learn to do my hair and make up well.
Do Yoga.
Do more exercise in general.
Stop drinking for a month.
~~Clean my linen closet.~~
Finish my English piecing quilt.
Spend more time relaxing.
~~Fix my iTunes library.~~
Sort all of my photos.
Finally completely move all of my stuff out of my parent's house!
Drink more fresh brewed tea.
Eat less processed foods.
Buy more food from markets.
Make people nice Christmas presents.
Read 10 books that people have recommended to me (suggestions please).
Paint my bedside tables.
~~Make progress in my job.~~
Teach myself Dreamweaver.
Teach myself how to use Microsoft Excel properly.
Go to New York.
Go to the Renegade Craft Fair.
Take more photos.
Spend more time outside.
~~Post on my blog more.~~
~~Refashion my blog.~~
~~Have my own business cards.~~
Go through my things and sell stuff I don't need/use/want on eBay.
Take a road trip somewhere.
~~Go camping over Summer for a couple of weeks.~~
Make my own list of the 100 best things to eat (via Mighty Girl).
Get my bike serviced.
Get a basket put on my bike.
~~Write more thank you notes.~~
Stay at Library Hotel in New York City.
Go to the Museum more.
Go to the Art Gallery more.
Choose my top ten things to do when you visit (via Mighty Girl).
Plan my wedding.
Get more photos of my family and put them on display.

Well. I found thinking of 101 things pretty tricky? Did you? I think I cheated a little, with some things being similar! Oh well. I hope that people can get inspiration from this... and that they too share their lists, because that's a fun thing to do (^_^)

Speaking of stationery...

2010-06-23T14:31:00.007+10:00

This reminded me of another nice stationery blog that I've been reading: Field Notes. I really liked their post that I read the other day about the lovely Card & Paper House at the Queen Victoria Building.

Also, they took really nice photos of the shop:

If you want to go to Paper & Craft, it is on the lower level of the QVB. I may have to visit tomorrow for late night shopping...

I Love Snail Mail...

2010-06-23T14:05:00.004+10:00

You may know from reading this blog that I really enjoy sending and receiving snail mail. I have a link to Swap-bot on my sidebar, and have spoken about my love for that website before. As part of getting my mojo back, I've recently joined three swaps. I haven't swapped in ages, and I forgot how much I like it.

The three swaps that I'm joining in with are:

I like the sound of the stationery one the best... which leads me to a really cute stationery blog that I've been looking at lately: Parcel Post. They like the same things as me! Their byline is "style. design. and all things uniquely made... particularly on paper."

Parcel Post had these really cute pictures on their blog the other day from Yellow Owl Workshop:

If you like these stamps, you can buy a selection of Yellow Owl's stuff over at NoteMaker, one of THE BEST (online) stationery shops [in my opinion]. Sets of 2 and 3 stamps are $17.95 or you can get a set of 5 for $44.95. Love it!

Cloudstreet

2010-06-22T16:17:00.008+10:00

You know... I haven't done much of anything lately. I feel like I've been hibernating for Winter or something like that. The weather has been grey, rainy, utterly depressing. I was feeling a lot like Harvey Swick, from one of my favourite books The Thief of Always: "The great grey beast February has eaten Harvey Swick alive".

Then last week occured... lovely, sunny (albeit chilly) days. I had not one, but two nights of Brown Owls back-to-back and a lovely girl's 30th birthday party. Life was looking up! Jess H is back on the blogging scene, and while I always promise to be better this time, to keep my blog updated, well it never happens the way I imagine it will... so let's just say, we'll see.

I read Cloudstreet today. Read it in 24 hours actually. I had seen a Tweet last week that said that it was a cross between Harp in the South and One Hundred Years of Solitude, which happen to be two of my favourite books. I did enjoy it. I have always avoided Tim Winton, maybe it's the ponytail? Weird, I know.

Image from here.

There was a small anniversary last week. One year since I bought the fixings for my hexies quilt. It seems everyone is mad about hexies at the moment - everywhere I look, there they are. So the plan is to post some pictures of this ever continuing WIP.

Hopefully you will soon find me with my crafty mojo back, my blogging mojo back and the furrowed brow unfurrowed...

Five Faves

2010-04-05T08:10:00.005+10:00

Hmm, this week I've only managed to post the Five Faves meme and that's it. Now I'm in Melbourne, without my camera cord...so I can't upload my photos. Oops!

Anyway, following on with the meme for the the week. My Five Faves are:

1. Spending time with my family over the Easter break. Always fun! Lots of laughs and Yahtzee.
2.Thinking of the things that I want to do this week. I am excited about having a week to potter around and do what I want.
3. The Lifestyle Channel. I'm staying at my parent's house and they have Foxtel. I do not have Foxtel. So there is a lot of trashy shows to catch up on!
4. Daylesford. We trotted up there on Saturday and had a lovely day in the shops, at the Maker's Market and at the Farmer's Market.

5. Lark. I have been wanting to go there for aages. I bought these lovely little cards, which I'm going to frame and put in my kitchen. Cute! My favourite is the teapot and cup.

Images from here.

Go here to see who else is playing this week!

Five Faves

2010-03-28T14:41:00.005+11:00

Yay! Meme time!

But it's a quick one, coz I got stuff to do peoples! Just kidding :op But please don't get upset by the lack of pics in this post.

So my fave fives this week:

1. The weather. It has been pretty damn delightful this week. Sunshine = happy.
2. Book Depository. Yes, I'm meant to be budgeting... but I bought myself some new books this week. Oops.
3. Typo. I found out about this shop when I went to Melbourne last. Apparently it's everywhere. We're only just getting it in Sydney. I want it at my local Westfield. Get your act together, Typo!

Image from here.

4. Speaking of Typo, I want those pug bookends.How adorable are they?
5. Anticipation of holidays at the end of this week. Two. Blessed. Weeks. Off.

Oh. And a sneaky #6 would have to be the Personal Library Kit, which I posted about already.

Go check out who else is playing along this week, over here.

I love embroidery...and so does Martha, it would appear (sneak peeks from the Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric)

2010-03-28T07:52:00.002+11:00

Images from here.

Martha has been giving little sneak peeks of her new book lately over at her blog. Well the Martha Stewart's Craft Department blog, anyway.

I may have mentioned the other day that I want this book. And *ahem* I may have purchased a copy. It was only $28! How could I say no to that?

Anyway, it looks absolutely delightful and should arrive here just in time for the second week of my holidays. Yay! I will be giving more sneak peeks of lovely pages and projects when my book arrives.

Is this spam?

2010-03-26T09:50:00.004+11:00

Yesterday, I received this email in my inbox:

Hi Jessica,

We just posted an article, “100 Tips & Tools to Create the Ultimate Home Library”
( http://www.onlinedegree.net/100-tips-tools-to-create-the-ultimate-home-library/ ) . I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Cheers,

Anna Miller

It appears to be spam. I know that I'm not a member of onlinedegree.net. I'm guessing that they searched Blogger and found people with 'library' in their blog title or description. I am a wee bit flattered that they think I have "readers". Hahahaha.

Anyway, the link was pretty rubbish. What a surprise. However, it did have one gem. And that was this:

Image from here.

I need this. I really do. My boyfriend says no. I may have to purchase it anyway. I work in a library everyday, but by golly, I would love to use this at home!

Go check out Knock Knock's online store. It has loads more delightful things that you may decide you need.

My Place and Yours - Top Drawer

2010-03-22T20:09:00.000+11:00

Danielle at Danimezza chose this week's theme: Top Drawer. I have to say my top drawer, or rather my desk drawer is an absolute disgrace.

Full of all sorts of things: a small cutting mat, love heart tape from Kikki-K, matroyshka paperclips from Typo, love heart paper clips from Japan, not one but TWO hole punches, a travel alarm clock... and so on.

I think the top drawer is indicative of my mind... which is a worry, isn't it?

Go visit Danielle at Hello Owl and see who else played this week!

Five Faves

2010-03-21T19:34:00.005+11:00

My sister is back into the swing of blogging, which is very exciting for me. She lives in Melbourne and this is the way I get to see the awesome stuff she makes! Anyway, she joined in with Pip's meme this week and I thought "Ooh, that looks like fun!" So I've joined in.

So *drum roll please* my Five Faves of the Week:

1. True Blood books. I have read about 4 of these this week, I am addicted!

Image from here.

2. Quelch Fruit Sticks (it's been pretty warm, and we're eating loads of them at my place).

Image from here.

3. This video clip:

I cannot wait for this album to come out this week. Purchasing!

4. Watermelon. Refer to #2...

Image from here.

5. Football. My football season starts next weekend, and I've been enjoying kicking the ball around with my friends. Also, did anyone watch the A-League Grand Final? Awesome!

Head over to Pip's and see who else is playing! Fun!

I want it...

2010-03-20T14:20:00.003+11:00

Image from here.

Going price at the moment through Booko is $31.36. Hmm, food for thought...

My Place and Yours - Behind the camera {a self portrait challenge}

2010-03-12T22:42:00.002+11:00

So this is me. I was over at Drewzel's when I saw this post, and the new home for My Place & Yours at Danielle's. I thought I'd join in. This week, anyhoo. I'm awfully bad at keeping up with the memes that occur all over the place.

So about me. Hmm... I think a lot of this ground has been covered before, but here goes...

I'm short, not in a 'Golly that lady may be a midget' way, but quite small.
I'm a geek: big time.
I am notorious for starting (and not finishing craft projects).
I got my sewing machine out tonight for the first time in I don't know how long.
I love baking. Unfortunately my body stores fat like a squirrel does nuts for Winter. Boo.
I am a big family/friends person. Love 'em.
I am a librarian. What, the blog name didn't give it away?

I'm not quite sure what else I can share with you? I've had a few glasses of wine tonight, and am quite tired... oops!

What I'm up to right now

2010-03-04T13:02:00.003+11:00

I was reading Steph's blog, and decided to participate in 'What I'm up to right now' as I thought it sounded like a bit of a giggle...

Currently I'm...

Watching - Season 4 of How I Met Your Mother. This show cracks me up (^_^)

Reading - The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. I get into this mood where I like to read entire book series in one go, one after the other. At the moment it is the Isabel Dalhousie mysteries... I went and borrowed them all from my public library.

Making - The English piecing quilt continues to be put together. It should be ready by Christmas, which is actually quite good as it is Christmas-y colours...

Eating - Crumpets with lashings of Vegemite. Yum.

Feeling - Sleepy. I would love to be eating Vegemite crumpets on my couch while watching HIMYM. Bliss.

Thinking - About my trip to Melbourne this weekend. Fun! I get to hang out with my mum and sister and go to Healesville Markets. What more can a girl want?!

Hoping - That I can fit in all my Autumn cleaning in time off in April (dull, I know!)

Wondering - What do I feel like doing tonight?

Hearing - Shuffled songs on my iPod. Whatever comes.

Liking - Cooler weather for sleeping and wearing cute outfits!

Wanting - My spare room to convert itself into something a bit more lovely, and less of a dumping ground for all of our s***!

Playing - UNO on Facebook. It appears that South Americans are mad for UNO!

Wishing - That it was Easter already (not that I'm wishing my life away...)

Enjoying - My new job and it's locale: delightful.

Coveting - Hmmm... tricky. I really want a beautiful spare room a la Martha Stewart (I've been reading her Homekeeping Handbook, can you tell?) Oh, and I have major iPhone envy. But who doesn't?

75 books in one year - 2010 edition

2010-03-02T06:10:00.002+11:00

In the past, I have attempted a 75 books in one year challenge, and been moderately successful. What I haven't been successful in is keeping track of the 75 books that I've read. Well I'm hoping 2010 is the year...

I have recently moved to a new work locale, which affords me the opportunity to do more reading as I no longer drive to work and catch the train instead. Delightful! So far I have been able to read ten books in the first 2 months of the year, which is putting me right on track for my 75 book challenge.

Sometimes I like to talk about the books, but in today's posting I'm just getting everyone up to date with the book's I've read so far:

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

Double Exposure - Bryan Caswell

Right behind you - Gail Giles

Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly

The Outsider - Albert Camus

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

If you want to join in with the challenge, let me know!

P.S. I made my picture mosaic at Big Huge Labs.

Ten things that make me happy...

2010-03-01T21:29:00.005+11:00

T he domestic novice just recently posted '10 things that make me happy' using Wordle. I really liked that idea, so ran with it!

Image from here.

Lucky Sundays

2010-02-07T14:23:00.003+11:00

Well, I've just had a couple of lovely surprises. Once the Internet decided to work again (grr...)

Firstly, the delightful Christine over at A Rambling Fancy has just declared me the winner of her first ever giveaway. Delightful!

Look at these beauties:

Images from here.

Go visit her and read her blog, it is really sweet and she loves the fashion of Mad Men as much as I do!

Secondly, a St George and Sutherland Shire Brown Owls chapter has arisen! Now, I know, I'm a prefect for Sydney Brown Owls...but when they have their first ever meeting at the coffee shop 2 minutes from my house, it would be rude not to go! How much fun!

From one crafty woman to another...

2010-01-25T23:40:00.003+11:00

Once again it has been a long time between drinks in my blog posting. But this time, I have a good excuse. I have been in Africa. Well I was going to Africa and then I was there and now I'm back.

I went on a trip that covered a large portion of East Africa, and it was amazing: Tanzania -> Kenya -> Uganda -> Rwanda. Camping for over 4 weeks.

While in Kenya, I came across a really terrific women's co-operative - Kenana Knitters. They are a knitting co-operative which helps rural women obtain income through their skills in knitting and spinning.

A hand puppet.

From one crafty woman to another, I really felt the need to support these women the best I could so I bought some of their products and will hopefully spread the word a little bit through the blogging world.

The hand puppet, this time with a hand inside!

Giraffe that looks slightly llama-ish, but still adorable.

I have seen first-hand what life is like for these women, and how hard they work to feed their families and think what they do is amazing! They also dye and spin their own wool on premise, it is really terrific to see.

Blogtoberfest - Day 31

2009-10-31T19:29:00.004+11:00

And it's over! 31 days of posting. I must say I'm exhausted (^_^) There was some good posts, and some dodgy ones... but I have to say, it really did reinvigorate my blogging.

Image from here.

And now it's Halloween. You wouldn't know that we're in Australia at the shops, retail has really embraced it this year. Well who am I to complain, I love costumes and lollies!

Anyway, be sure to go and visit Tinniegirl and go see all the others that have finished their month of blogging! Well done everyone!

Blogtoberfest - Day 30

2009-10-30T23:52:00.000+11:00

It's 11:52PM....but this still counts. Last day tomorrow!

Blogtoberfest - Day 29: I ♥ Libraries

2009-10-29T18:31:00.004+11:00

Goodies borrowed from one of my local libraries yesterday:

Did I mention that I love libraries? Because I do.

Blogtoberfest - Day 28: We have a winner!

2009-10-28T12:14:00.005+11:00

Yay! Giveaway winner time!

I used the lovely random.org to select a winner...

I zoomed in on the result so that you could all see it a bit better. The winner is...

8. Cherry

Thank you all for joining in my giveaway. Better luck next time!

Blogtoberfest - Day 27: Knacktober

2009-10-27T19:36:00.002+11:00

I can't give up now, I can see the finish line! But bloody hell, I'm just exhausted! Serious case of the "can't be... bothereds"!

I'm a terrible person, I can't remember where I got this image from.

The good news is, my giveaway is being drawn tomorrow. Yay! So stay tuned!

Blogtoberfest - Day 26

2009-10-26T18:35:00.002+11:00

I'll be here in two months time. Won't that be nice?

Image from here.

Blogtoberfest - Day 25: A lovely way to spend... a Sunday

2009-10-25T14:00:00.007+11:00

Well, when they said it was going to rain, they really meant RAIN. Like, Noah and his Ark rain.

Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea for a visit to Newtown today for coffees and

bookstores and other nice Sunday things. And it was! Until the rain...but we managed to ensconce ourselves into a cosy little cafe, so we were fine. There was a little bit of running and squealing, but that is not unusual for me!

I bought myself some treats today, because I have been so good all week and yesterday was spent in the depths of Dewey. We went to Gould's Book Arcade (via the brand spanking new Mag Nation store), where I got a Sookie Stackhouse book for $7.95 which was not what I was looking for, but still a nice surprise!

Image from here.

We then went to Pentimento, which is an absolutely delightful stationery/book/home shop. I could have spent A LOT of money there, so I was quite restrained. I did buy two things though that I couldn't leave the shop without.

These delicious measuring cups from Worldwide Fred:

And these sticky notes from The Small Object:

Image from here.

I was also tempted by this new book from Penguin:

Image from here.

I'm an absolute sucker for felt creations! But as I said, I exercised restraint...

We were also going to duck over to Waterloo to visit some friends selling at the PYD Market, but the aforementioned torrential downpour soon put a stop to that!

*Sorry for the lack of self taken photos, the camera cord remains MIA!

Blogtoberfest - Day 24

2009-10-24T13:20:00.004+11:00

Well, I'm wrapped up in Dewey today. What an exciting Day 24 for Blogtoberfest! I am also officially 26 and 3/4. If that's not cause for a cupcake later, I don't know what is!

Image from here.

Dewey has a bit of the Manson lamps going on in this picture, but it stands to reason as he was somewhat of a maniac!

Back to the grind of studying, I just didn't want to miss a day of Blogtoberfest so close to the end! Go visit Tinniegirl to check out other players!

Blogtoberfest - Day 23

2009-10-23T16:07:00.003+11:00

Image from here.

Change may be afoot... or it may not be... either way, there is some disruption in my life and I have to say it is a little bit scary. A departure from my comfort zone, if you will. I have a lot to think about.

Blogtoberfest - Day 22: Goctober?

2009-10-22T14:14:00.003+11:00

Hehehe, I'm still laughing at Goctober. That is not a word. Anyway...Brown Owls tonight is Gocco Demo Night, which I'm quietly excited about.

Image from here.

If you're in Sydney tonight, come to Lane Cove and see the demonstration!

Blogtoberfest - Day 21: What's Hot + What's Not

2009-10-21T11:38:00.005+11:00

I'm joining in with Loobylu's Hot + Not again this week... I'm in my third week of Blogtoberfest and running out of things to talk about. Unfortunately, in reality, I'm not really that exciting!

HOT

The Night Noodle Markets as part of Sydney's Crave Festival. I went last Friday and it was lovely. I didn't eat noodles though, because the dim sum was too yummy to pass up!

Images from here.

Having visitors from Melbourne, we had such a good weekend!

Sunny weather, finally! I'm in dire need of some Vitamin D.

NOT

Having to eat salad and work out this week due to the massive excesses of the weekend. I lived too much of the good life and now I'm paying for it!

Time passing too quickly... I have such a lot to do in a short period of time!

Make sure to head over to Claire's blog and see the other players in Hot + Not. I love how people's posts always inspire me to look at new things!

Blogtoberfest - Day 20

2009-10-20T08:26:00.005+11:00

I am back at work after two weeks holiday and finding that it has been a relatively easy start to the new school term.

However...

For some reason, there has been a massive ad campaign up here in Sydney to visit Daylesford. I am tempted, I must say.

Image from here.

And then, driving home from work...it was like a sign! Well, actually it wasn't just like a sign, it was in fact, a sign. For Virgin Blue Holidays to Daylesford of all places. There are some lovely looking deals which I may have to partake of in the new year.

Blogtoberfest - Day 19: Swaptober

2009-10-19T12:54:00.003+11:00

I am currently taking part in this swap. I got my partner today, and I'm super excited! It seems like a really cute idea for a swap.

Image from here.

What do you think is a good idea for a swap?

Blogtoberfest - Day 18: Slacktober (um, continued?)

2009-10-18T18:49:00.002+11:00

It's Sunday... take a load off and watch this video. Thank me later for its awesomeness, I'm having a bit of a lie down. I had a big weekend! (More details next week...)

Blogtoberfest - Day 17: Slacktober

2009-10-17T15:22:00.000+11:00

Feeling a bit slack today... so thought I would share with you a selection of photos from the State Library of New South Wales' Flickr photostream. Their stuff is amazing! Go check out their photos, they're lovely!

I did have all of the titles of these pictures, but unfortunately my Internet browser just died and I lost them. If you go to the photostream I mentioned, you will find all of them there. My particular favourite is the elephant tea party!