Awww. Owl love! This adorable original artwork is from Cate Lawrence at reqbat. Cate is a Canadian artist donating 100% of anything sold from her Etsy store to the Canadian Red Cross relief and rescue efforts in Haiti. Good on you Cate!

In life, you can never do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I am struck by the tragedy in Haiti, so many lives destroyed with such sudden violence. While I am a monthly donator to Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders), I've made the pledge to give all of my sales earnings from my Etsy store for the rest of the month as well. It may be a small thing, but if everybody gives just a little, it adds up pretty quickly.
I am really impressed to see a number of Etsy stores adopting the same approach. What a cool bunch of handmadies!

See! She may never be the same! My dearest bestie Cass, playing with knives again.
With three weeks to go until we take off for France, I think I'm displaying the classic symptoms of travel anxiety. Writing a will, constantly revising my packing list, dreaming of sleeping in or missing trains and planes. Sitting bolt up-right in the middle of the night saying "Where am I?" Asking well travelled friends how many pairs of knickers I'll need, and wondering what people actually do on a flight that long.
And I can't decide which book to take. It's an important choice. My darling friend Cass took a copy of "The Shining" by Stephen King on a trip to the U.S., and is still scarred by the bathtub scene. I finished "Choke" by Chuck Palahnuik on a flight back from Tasmania, and let's just say I'll never look at airplane toilets the same way again!
So, suggestions please! Book me!

A recent bead shopping expedition netted a swag of gorgeous beads from Off Beat Design in Ashgrove. The owner of the store, Lesley Marshall, told me of their stockist in the U.S., who came across a warehouse full of crates of forgotten beads, and sells them as she opens them. Dating back to the sixties, some of the beads are like nothing I've seen before. Fantastic plastic, wild colours and designs, there are some real vintage sweeties among them too. A girl could get into trouble in a store like that!
Personally, I can't go past faceted semi-precious stones like garnets and chalcedony. What type of beads really get your creativity flowing?

Puttin On The Ritz Brooch and Velvet Headband
From my Etsy store, MiuAndUmi. Today I have done the unthinkable in this humid Queensland weather - I have put on layer upon layer of thermally insulating clothing, making sure that the gear I pack for Paris will keep me warm in those icy temperatures. But I ask you, how can I be sure, when I'm already sweating?