The time has come! The giveaway winner is...

From throwing poorly crafted paper planes with the names of the entrants from my verandah ...

...to letting physics decide the winner!

Congratulations Christine from Little Chrissy on winning the package of summertime booty!

Christine wrote in her entry: "Summer for me is picnics in the park, gin and tonics on the deck and dunks in the salty ocean. Do you hear that, rain?? We've had enough! Begone so that we may picnic and laze at the beach!"

Confession: I know I said the goal was 150 likers on Facebook, but I just couldn't wait any longer! I kept checking the number of likers and wondering why I wasn't drumming up a bit more interest, and generally feeling a bit 'wah, poor me', but then I realised I was undervaluing each person who had taken the time to visit my page, and missing the point of the exercise - to make new connections!

Every single person who comments or even clicks that 'like' button is showing me a bit of support, and each new 'friend' has the potential for genuine connection. Not just for jewellery, or giveaways, or hearting some new cute thing, but for honest sharing, education and growth as a human being. Just look at the support rallied for those hardest hit by the floods, or raising funds for the Red Cross in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami, all through social networking.

I'm all about people, not numbers, and I'm really very happy to be making all these wonderful new connections!

A lounge, a yurt, a studio

So, I'm at home today, playing nurse for my poor mister, who was hit by a car on Tuesday. He was just riding his bike home from work, and a silly car wasn't paying attention. He's a bit banged up, with a nasty gash on his face, but I can't stop myself from saying to him again and again "I'm so glad you're ok!", because I know it could've been SO much worse. You've got to count your luck, don't you?

These photos are from a slowly expanding collection of places to envy, to covet, to admire... how about the lounge with the vines on the wall and the gorgeous sunlight streaming in? The yurt from Goulburn Yurtworks is so rustic and classy, and the studio workspace is courtesy of Sweet William, the dreamy result of what two awesome sisters can do. You should definitely check out their Etsy store too, for prints of original artworks but Paula Mills.

Stay safe - you are very important!

A picture, a poem

Sylvia Plath: Treasure

by Bett Norris

 These are the imagined treasures of Sylvia Plath, tragic American poet and novelist, hand drawn by Bett Norris. If you aren't familiar with the work of Sylvia Plath, I would say read her, but I would add a caveat: her poetry can be dark, and 'The Bell Jar', Plath's most well-known novel, even more so. The author battled with depression throughout her life, and lost in the end, and this quiet authority of knowledge soaks through her writings.

This artwork is one of the reasons I love Etsy in particular (and the internet in general) so much. With a little searching, you can find the most wonderful things. You can find things that are so carefully thought of, so lovingly made, so bang on the money that it's as though they were made for you. 

This week I've jumped into my new studies with gusto. This is my opportunity to see if I really have an uncut gem of skill inside me, or just a big lump of rock. I'm keen, I tell ya!


Ooops! Silly me, forgot the title of this post! There is a picture, but no poem! The poem I wished to use is 'Ennui', a big old shoulder shrug of a poem. What do you think?