pardalote beads

Olives and aqua

2010-10-15T10:09:00.000+11:00

My olive brooch is in this great treasury!

A post.

2010-09-23T15:20:00.002+10:00

This is a post! a joyous post, filled with unbridled enthusiasm for its very being.

[Sentences with 'unbridled' enthusiasm should probably possess a trial of exclamation marks, but that's not my style.]

Possum - work in progress

2010-08-06T11:37:00.000+10:00

And then I wished that I might see
a possum up a tree.
Rumbling cars would pass beneath
on the dark and glossy street,
as possum climbs and searches -
stencilled on the sky.

He would reach from branch to branch -
small, sharp paws stretching out,
bare, dark twigs and cold, wet buds.
Obsidian eyes alight.

Drizzling down from heavy clouds,
dark and desperate cold and round
he bumbles ‘tween the branches lit
by traffic lights and cars below
and threatening skies above.

Neck creaking as I walk and stare
and others bustle shoulders hunched,
scarves wrapped tight and brollies by,
and heads in warmth of home.

And why this possum should be there -
wrapped in cold and mist and fear
and hunger, in the elm’s bleak boughs.
Winter bounty mean and dour,
I think

that I’d like not to see
a possum in a tree:
bound by city streets and lights,
caught between the cars and nights
of bare, black branches
huddled tight and stretching far
for food that can’t be found.

Treasury - pewpew!

2010-06-15T08:11:00.002+10:00

My space invader earrings have been featured in this great treasury by Artsibitsi:

Gorgeous collection, thanks for the feature! Also, check out Artsibitsi's great shop :-)

Blip blip

2010-06-10T11:19:00.000+10:00

A small string of unwellness: migraines followed by flu, and I've fallen off the online world for a bit. Shaking this flu and getting back into knitting, beading and the world in general, so I hope be chatting and posting a bit more now. Yay!

I've started back in the gym again; a couple of weeks without it, and I misssed it terribly. Back at work (still coughing a bit, but at least the director isn't coming out and telling me I sould 'comsumptive!). It's busy leading up to the end of the financial year, lots of crazy deadlines. Thank goodness I work with great people, but it's still pressure-time.

I have a new addiction - inevitable! Losing weight and shaping up has me looking at fashion shows online, and then onto the inevitable fashion blogs, look books and online stores. I've bought a few bits on ebay (which was fun) and few bits online from stores, and despite being ill I dragged myself to a warehouse sale which was also an experience.... and yes, I did end up back in bed for the rest of the day. Fashion victim!

I've made dad a couple of beanies, and have been looking into a new camera for him for his birthday. Now I want one too :-)

Anyway - new photos and posts of my craft and other activities should follow again as regularly as ever. It's been fun to be a 'consumer' for a bit, but time for making is at hand!

Ruby Tuesday

2010-05-11T22:55:00.004+10:00

A few of my Etsy favourites from some talented Australian artists:

Row 1, L-R: Applique messenger bag by Missy Mao Mao, Mr Brown Mo by chunkychooky, Stretchy Chain Maille by Xiztance
Row 2, L-R: Bucky earrings by wingbysea, Baby Ruffle Bloomers by RubyRoadAustralia, Raspberry wine pendant by planettreasures
Row 3, L-R: Skull Love Baby Quilt by KonstantKaos, Dual Pendants by LaFemmeJewels, Moroccan Star Kitchen Towel by brillianttreescoll
Row 4, L-R: Brody Red Silk Camisole by Hopeless, Patchworked Pixel Heart Cushion Cover by voodoorabbit, Paper necklace in red and black by frankideas

More treasury goodness

2010-05-08T14:44:00.002+10:00

My little green brooch is in fancy company again, this time in a lovely treasury growing green by jewelflyt.

I have put my knitting to one side (sigh, I promise I'll get back to it tonight) and making another brooch I have had sitting ready for a week. Will post pics if it stays sunny!

Two treasuries

2010-05-04T09:04:00.000+10:00

My new brooch is in two treasuries. One by flossadornments on Treasury west (so won't be there long!) with tangy citrusy goodness, featuring Australian Etsians:

And one by FebystanDesigns on Treasury east with a lovely palette of teals and olives (that I've only just discovered myself, but clearly is a well-known combo! it works!)

I really need to finish my knitting and make more of these. I even have a pallette of beads laying out on my board ready!

Exercise and weight: what I didn't expect

2010-05-03T12:02:00.000+10:00

My little story.
For about two months, I've been exercising regularly and eating lots less. I've lost weight and I feel fitter. I kind of expected that, but there are some other things I didn't expect.

My regular exercise hasn't been anything fancy, I started off walking and then added more and more jogging to it. Between an 30 minutes and an hour about 4 times a week. Sometimes more, especially over the weekend. I've tried to keep it to every second day, to give my body recovery time, sometimes on the weekend I've gone for a longer walk or run each day. I go after dinner, which restricts where I can go, darkness + running alone = scary, so I tend to run along main roads where there are lots of people about. Currently I'm running 4-5 km, which I'm pretty proud of :-) I also (sporadically) do some Pilates bits + situps pushups at home. Mainly on the weekend, but sometimes on weekday mornings too.

Again, my eating change hasn't been fancy either. Initially I just cut snacking out completely and have totally stopped getting takeaway junk food. No pizza, no chips, no chocolate... Lots of muesli and yoghurt =) sushi, steak and salads, fruit and carrots, wholemeal seedy breads and nutty fruit bread. But small serves of everything.

I'm a scientist. My aim was energy output > energy input, so I just went about making sure that was the case.

The first few weeks, my weight dropped dramatically. It's started to plateau now (which I didn't expect). I'm at the right weight for my height now, and I'm guessing I'm just starting to make some of this fat into muscle.

The main things that surprise me are that:
a) I'm hungry all the time. I have to have fruit/nuts/grains on hand to snack on now. I started off cutting out snacks, but now I'm finding I have to inject a healthy snack-sized-meal occasionally. I'm hoping that's a good sign that my metabolism has changed.
b) I'm cold! Where did all my iinsulation go?! Now that winter has hit, I'm really needing to rug up :-)
c) sitting on the floor isn't comfy any more. Now that's a huge lifestyle thing for me. I sit on the floor ALL the time. I lean against the couch, beading or knitting or laptop in hand, and spend hours on the floor. Now I need to sit on the couch. ON!

Well in any case, I'm enjoying the time I have to exercise (and craft!) since I stopped my harcore gamer girl lifestyle. I'm just putting my competitive drive into trying to improve my fitness instead of into my gaming skillz. ;-) It's funny to see that happen, and I'm enjoying all the little surprises along the way.

Brooching a new topic

2010-05-03T08:42:00.002+10:00

Ok, I couldn't resist a pun. No news there :-)

I've been making some french beaded brooches. At the moment I've just being playing with colour and texture, making similar style brooches to the earrings I've done, but larger. I've been sketching out some ideas for some more complex ones as well, so I'm looking forward to branching out with this idea.

Also, it would be great to make some geeky space invader/robot brooches as well, but I have to think a bit more about making those so that they are sturdy.

Let me know what you think :-)

I've listed the brooch above in my Etsy store, I'll pop a couple up in my madeit shop as well as I make more.

Coffee wrist band complete

2010-04-27T22:25:00.000+10:00

Well I finished the coffee wrist band. I made it a little large to see if it might fit my barista friend, and popped it up in my madeit online shop, as a custom item.

Know any baristas or coffee fanatics that would love a handmade reminder of their passion?

Stout for lunch

2010-04-26T13:21:00.002+10:00

Originally uploaded by pardalotebeads

I do like a good stout, and this Samuel Smith one is lovely. Well worth the price, and thanks as usual to the good folk at Blackheart and Sparrows.

(And I didn't actually have it *for lunch* only with lunch.... honest!)

invaded - new shop on Etsy

2010-04-26T11:28:00.000+10:00

I've been struggling for a while with my lack of focus. It's my nature to flit from idea to idea when it comes to my craft. Well, that's kind of reflected in my Etsy efforts, and I've worried that my huge range of zany/geeky gear kind of clashes with my elegant/feminine work, so I've started splitting this personality in two.

So now, I have two shops:

invaded is where I will list all my gamer, robot, mathsy, geeky beadwork. I'm slowly moving things over as I either they expire on my old shop or as I take better photos.

And there will still be pardalote beads:

Where all my more classical pieces will live.

Once invaded is set up properly, I'll have a giveaway here to celebrate. I've been working on some beaded badges with gamer motifs, so there'll be one here up for grabs in the next week or so. Hope you get a chance to check out my new shop.

Happy crafting,
Michelle

Crazy idea number 37.

2010-04-25T10:02:00.003+10:00

Well I'm used to acting on my own crazy ideas, but this time I've been working on something suggested by a crazy barista (I think his latest self-descriptive word is 'bonkers'). He wants a coffee handle bracelet. I tell him it won't work, he pleads for me to try. I explain that they will just look like a blob with a blob handle. He asks me to try anyway.

So I designed up something I think may work. Because it's crazy:

So now I'm playing with colours...

What do you think?

Lovely earrings

2010-04-12T17:59:00.013+10:00

Enamelled earrings by LaFemme

Although I have a bazillion pairs of beaded earrings that I've made myself, I have a weakness for finely crafted ear adornments of all kinds.
I bought these from LaFemme Boutique on Etsy. Rachel is a fellow DUST member and she makes all sorts of beautiful jewellery. I ordered a pair each of her silver enamelled earrings in red and orange, and was lucky enough to also receive a copper pair in this gorgeous turquoise green.

Because I love them so much, here are a few more pictures:

You can check out her work here: http://LaFemmeJewels.etsy.com

Tired but ...

2010-04-08T22:41:00.005+10:00

invaders wrist strap

Tired but happy. Finished work late, but had dinner al fresco in the city, lots of people around tonight, Melbourne had that pleasant end-of-week bustle that's entertaining to sit and watch. Especially over a coffee and biscotti...

Had time for a run when I got home, then showered and down to beads!

I have two commissions at the moment from friends, one a simple glasses strap, and one a customised version of my invaders wrist strap. I'm not selling my work in a B&M shop or market atm, so having commissions is good; it gives me direction and a tight constrained creativity that I enjoy working within.

Done for the night now though, conference for work tomorrow, so a bit of a different end to the week. Looking forward to the weekend ahead and some time for creativity (and trips out for coffee and brekky!)

Also I finally managed to juggle some time in at the post office and mailed out the dreamcatchers from my giveaway. Also mailed off a beanie I knitted for dad, and some earrings for my auntie. Need to send off some earrings for madeit tomorrow, then I'm all up to date!

Looking forward to sleep under lots of blankets tonight! Bring on winter and woolly clothes :)

Finding treasures - and ruins

2010-04-05T10:25:00.004+10:00

Peyote beaded beads

I dug out an old bag of beadwork this morning, to photo-document some of my older work. I found some gems - like a bundle of beaded beads...
... but I also found a whole bunch of really nice jewellery that's been basically ruined by not being stored well. I discovered earrings with silver that's so tarnished it's a goner - I didn't have my natty little 3M tarnish saver squares way back then. Also storing native timber beads, with jewellery with copper findings and some with silver - an oxidation nightmare waiting to happen.
So after taking a few photos, it's pull-apart, re-string, polish, re-photo, stow time. Although who knows, some may make it back into my favourite every-day wear box.
How do you store your old pieces?

Pewpew invader earrings

2010-04-03T23:31:00.004+11:00

Pewpew invader earrings

Newest space invader creations :0) Earrings I designed and then wove using square stitch - now in my madeit shop: http://www.madeit.com.au/detail.asp?id=71405
Happy Easter (pewpew!)

Zombies and robots and... zombie robots!

2010-04-03T18:15:00.003+11:00

Ok, I'm a gamer craft geek. I admit it. Time to share some of my handcrafted Etsy favourites, to really prove this to you all. (And also to prove that I've never grown up.)

^Black Robot Head Earrings by Tinkeringproductions

^Blue Zombie Bunny keychain by knittedlove

^Harold the Horned by UltraPunchToyCo

^Robbie the Robot by tweeling

^Tim the Proto the Robot knitted brooch by robotknitter

^Tiny Wigglebot Robot Type 1 - Rita by MiddleCreekMerchants

^Unhappy Sh.t Bunny, by spidercamp

And finally, a tshirt to celebrate the whole zombies v robots debate:

^Robots VS Zombies by dylanS

Green windows

2010-04-01T08:22:00.006+11:00

Green windows

These earrings are up for grabs in the latest madeit newsletter:
http://www.madeit.com.au/shopguide/31March10.html

Madeit is a great place to buy handcrafted goods from Australian artisans - in Australian dollars! You can use my little madeit badge to head over and check it out.

Drawing the winner for the March giveaway

2010-03-30T20:35:00.006+11:00

Going to draw the number from the random number generator at Random.org in about 30 min. So far we have these entries below, and I've assigned each person with a number according to how many entries they have. If we have any last minute entries I'll add those in.

Numbers for the draw:

Greenstar: 1, 2, 3
Chrisy: 4
tractorgirl: 5, 6, 7
livin wide: 8, 9
DELiciousDesignz: 10, 11, 12
Vicki: 13, 14, 15
Megg: 16, 17, 18
innerearthsoaps: 19, 20
angecasey: 21, 22
icitea: 23

I'll post the four winning numbers and a screenshot from the generator here at 9pm. Good luck all!
--------
And the winners are: 20, 10, 18, 4!
OR: innerearthsoaps, DELiciousDesignz, Megg and Chrisy!

I'll be in touch with each of you to let you know, and get contact details!

Hollow green triangles

2010-03-29T14:47:00.001+11:00

Hollow green triangles
Originally uploaded by pardalote_40

My second ever go at peyote triangles. As usual I went for tiny beads (size 15 delicas!) and so these took hours, but I had encouragement at home - 'Finished those triangles yet? Come on!'

Next pair I think I'll try in normal delicas (plus I only have about 7 colours of the teeny delicas, so my palette will start to get a little predictable!)

Anyway - it was fun =D

Green evening

2010-03-28T19:06:00.004+11:00

The light tonight is all filtered through cloud making the trees on the street, and the lawn across the road glow the most vibrant green.

So now that the cars have stopped squealing round the track, and people are starting to drift out onto the street and home, time for some of my green favourites from Etsy.

^Sugar and spice by BelleCreative

^Juliette the Plush Green Scottie Dog by leahkl

^Persistent Illusion by klbaileyART

^Lime orchard beaded bracelet by planettreasures

^Olive and Silver Beadwoven Earrings by windyriver

^Viney skinny green scarf by sprinklejoy

Aussies online - madeit!

2010-03-28T15:02:00.002+11:00

I've been playing with the idea of setting up a madeit shop for sometime, and finally took the plunge.

I've added just ten or so items so far, mainly as an experiment to see how it goes. I hear mixed reports from other Australian sellers, but I figure if I invest a little time (and a little money) in setting it up then I can give a fair appraisal.

You can find me there on http://www.madeit.com.au/pardalote.

Some of the items I've listed:

Triangles: man's best friend

2010-03-24T23:18:00.003+11:00

As you can see from my last post, I've been teaching myself triangle (or circular) peyote. To celebrate this lovely new technique, I'd like to share just some of the variations on this stitch: some simple, some complex, all eyecatching and by skillful beadworkers:

^by planettreasures

^by crany12

^by Wicked Oak Designs

^by ambrosianbeads

^by gasar

^by randomcreative

^by minomars

^by geometricjewels

Peyote triangles

2010-03-23T20:15:00.006+11:00

Peyote triangles
Originally uploaded by pardalote_40
I love trying new techniques. Browsing flickr I've been learning a whole lot of new techniques over the last month or so, and this is my first try at the peyote triangle or circular peyote technique. Some really simple ones here as a gift for my partner's mother. Will try some more advanced ones now - the hollow ones I've seen around are very cool.

Thanks to randomcreative on flickr for inspiring me to start these. Also see her lovely work in her Etsy shop.

I'll make a blog post in the next few days of my favourite pieces that use this technique.

Crochet

2010-03-21T12:02:00.007+11:00

Green crochet cowl detail

Inspired by Yokoo and her eternal range of gorgeous cowls, I thought I'd make myself a little bit of New York for the approaching winter. I bought some super chunky yarn in green (it's two subtly different green tones twisted together) and a pair of 10mm needles, and started knitting a rib scarf, with the intent to then sew the ends together and make a cowl. So I started, and knitted up one ball into my new scarf.

There are several things wrong with this.

Firstly, I hate knitting rib. When I knit garments, they always start with rib bands, and I measure the band every two rows in a 'are we there yet' desperation. Secondly, I'm increasingly convinced there is something wrong with my knitting technique. My knit stitches always seem slightly twisted compared to the backs of my purls. I think I need to unlearn some bad habits.Thirdly I was really hankering for something with a bit more texture than this was creating.

Ok so. I turned to ravelry, registered, used their (excellent) search filters, and found a few cowls I liked. I eventually settled on this one.

And here's the finished product.

After buying tights and leggings and boots last week, buying a crochet skirt yesterday, and busily buying more yarn for a knitted hat and another scarf, I've been accused of 'looking forward to the winter'.

I didn't deny it...

Pattern is here: http://compulsivecrafter.blogspot.com/2009/08/convertible-cowl-free-pattern.html

Lenny and friend

2010-03-17T22:14:00.001+11:00

Lenny and friend - earrings
Originally uploaded by pardalote_40

Lenny the robot has a friend. I think his friend is some sort of cat robot. I'm not sure, but he has pointy ears and um, maybe whiskers.
What's his friend's NAME though?
Anyone?

March giveaway

2010-03-14T14:29:00.000+11:00

Spring cleaning has revealed a big stock of beaded treasure I forgot I even had. So it's time for a giveaway!

This time there are four dreamcatchers up for grabs:

(Click for more detailed photos of each. There is one 15cm diameter, and three 8cm ones.)

Ok, so I'm giving these away, one each for four people, as generated by Mr Random number on March 30 at 9pm (AEST).

How to enter: Place a comment here indicating you'd like one. Too easy :)
As usual, you can get one more entry for each of:
- being a fan of the facebook group pardalote flits
- following me on twitter
- following this blog
Just mention those things in your comment if they apply.
You need to be contactable (either leave an email address or if you're logged in, or if I have your contact details already, that's fine.)

Good luck and thanks for visiting :)

Photo frenzy

2010-03-14T08:41:00.004+11:00

Grey invaders
Originally uploaded by pardalote_40
Yesterday I spent a few hours taking some better photos of my work, and taking photos of things that had previously gone 'unsnapped'. Like these silver grey space invaders.

It was sunny and warm, and I have a very rudimentary light box for sunny days, so I hunkered over the box in the sunshine and snapped away... only to realise after a while that I was drenched with sweat. Funny how physical discomfort isn't noticed when you're 'in the zone'.

So - I posted some of these photos up on flickr, but they all need tidying up. Some of the black beads give very odd specular highlights that look like dust, so I like to touch up the photos to fix that. Out came my Intuos2 tablet, I touched up a few, and started to feel a little restricted in iphoto. So I discovered and downloaded the trial version of Aperture3. Sigh. I was having fun, it was really nice to use... for a while. Then it started getting dog slow, AND when I came back to my photos later to export them, it had corrupted all my retouching. EVERY single brush stroke (and some images had 500+) was a weird smear. I've uploaded a pic to flickr:

Anyway, frustrated. So I just picked a few images and uploaded them as is. I will go back over them later, and upload the new images to all my Etsy listings.

But yesterday was lovely. Went out twice in the morning just for a wander to get coffee. (The coffee wasn't wonderful, but still). Also as Albert park is slightly difficult to walk around at the moment (walls of tyres, concrete barriers, 6m tall fencing, massive grandstands) I walked down to St Kilda and back in the sunshine. Bought some bread from D.Chirico and a boost and wandered back.

Finished the day by chatting to mum for a while on Adium. (That sounds like I was chatting while on some sort of drug...)

Orange space invader earrings

2010-03-13T14:01:00.002+11:00

Orange space invader earrings
Originally uploaded by pardalote_40
I'm actually excited about these. It's been a while since I've indulged in space invader spawning... er ... creation, and I love the bright pumpkin orange beads I've used here. I've popped them up in my pardalote etsy shoppe, here.

pewpew!

Amethyst zap earrings

2010-03-08T15:32:00.003+11:00

Amethyst zap earrings, originally uploaded by pardalote_40.

I've been busily beading up some more french beaded earrings. I am sadly addicted to it, my space invaders are lying neglected to one side.
I've added a couple of frenchie pairs to my Etsy shoppe (here).
But I've also taken a heap of pics for flickr and uploaded them here as well so you can see what else I'm working on.

Busy busy busy :)

square stitch bracelet

2010-03-07T12:29:00.002+11:00

square stitch bracelet, originally uploaded by pardalote_40.

I've been working on this bracelet for a few days. It has about 20 different dusty purple and gold delica colours woven in an interlocking square pattern. There are over 1000 beads woven one by one in square stitch with upholstery thread.

I wove it without a clasp, like some of my other squarestitch bands. This makes it light and comfortable, and it just wriggles on and off. (*If* you want to take it off - I wore my blue/green band for a year or more 24 hours a day.)

Anyway, I'm pleased with how this turned out - I just need some sunny days to take some nice photos.

Storm day

2010-03-06T19:25:00.001+11:00

hail storm st kilda road, originally uploaded by pardalote_40.

Well we went out early early for the usual brekky @ Dukes followed by the Prahran market trawl. A few hours later, in the bright sun, I headed out for my hair appointment. The storm hit while I was there, so here are my 'before and after' shots. Unfortunately no photos of the actual storm, I was strapped into a chair with al-foil on my head during the hail. I took some photos on the way home though...

Soft warm fuzzies

2010-03-05T21:01:00.001+11:00

I think the upcoming cool weather has turned my mind to snuggly crafts, here are a few of my favourite things at the moment.

Chunky yarn in all spice tones by ever-inspiring Yokoo
(I am definitely getting myself one of her scarves this year!)

Soft crocheted coasters in spring colours by Lovalizious

Awesome fuzzy bear by Flufftail. I don't know, he just kills me with his simplicity:

A touch of viking makes perfeck plvsh, from casscette

And finally, two purses.
This lovely quilted hedgehog purse from Cranberrylover

and the ultra fuzzy bag with handmade flower from the aptly named softaccessories

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2010-03-05T09:35:00.001+11:00

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Chile from space

2010-03-01T23:29:00.000+11:00

Check this amazing image of Chilean cosatline from space:

DUST swap

2010-02-27T14:14:00.001+11:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I participated in a swap with DUST - the Etsy 'Down Under Street Team'.

After drooling of the artwork and pendants at Kirsten's klbaileyArt shop at Etsy, I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to be paired up to swap gifts with her. And my, was I spoiled!

The first thing in my pack was this pendant, beautifully packaged in a sheer blue pouch, along with a mini card featuring Kirsten's art:

Needless to say, I wore this the very next day. :)

I also received a blank card featuring the same piece of Kirsten's art as the pendant. Greedily, I don't see myself giving this away any time soon!

Finally, I was absolutely stunned to also receive an original painting by Kirsten, called 'Michelle's Winter'.

I feel extremely spoiled, and can't wait to get this framed. In a flat with lots of picture hooks but with all my wall art in storage, it will be lovely to have some colour back again... all year around.

Thank you Kirsten! And thank you DUST for organising this swap.

For more of Kirsten's art, visit her etsy shop.

For more great Australian artists, visit the DUST website.

To read Kirsten's post about our swap, read more on her blog.

The madness ends

2010-02-27T09:34:00.000+11:00

Or at the very least, the madness subsides. Major deadline was the end of this month, and we made it over the line. I'm not overly pleased with what was produced, but we have time to go back and tweak things now. The main thing is no more 12 hour days, heh.

Now: finally some creative time.

I recently participated in DUST swap and was luck enough to draw Kirsten from KBaileyArt as my swap partner. I'll post some pictures of her work, with a full write up later today when it's sunny :)

Also, a nice bundle of brightly coloured wires arrived from AEMetals this week. So I'm hoping to bead up a pile of french beaded earrings this weekend and pop them on my etsy store.

So - updates later, time for a-makin'!

Blogging... and... Blogger

2010-02-04T17:38:00.000+11:00

I've been... crazily, stupidly, ludicrously busy with work, involving lots of 'after hours'. The project I'm helping to look after has a massive deadline looming, and I'm needing to take material home with me at night in order to make sure we make it over the line. I get paid for all this, so there's no complaint... except I have less time for writing, designing, creating. My current plan shows me as having everything done by Monday - so I should be back to beading, photos, blogging and all things craft-community-esque then.

Also - I received a letter from Blogger letting me know that in a week or so they'll no longer be supporting FTPed blogs (like mine!). So I may move house (ie URL) for a bit as I migrate. There'll be redirection etc once I set it all up, but if I vanish, fear not, I shall return :)

Randomness and beadery

2010-02-01T13:12:00.000+11:00

Okies, I had a great weekend for beading. I made a heap of new french beaded earrings, hopefully I'll get some pictures of those up tonight at lease as a work in progress pics for facebook, if not also listing them on Etsy.

Also - I got the most gorgeous custom order request for some green space robot earrings (which are now called GSREs around the house) with a matching pendant, so I got those finished up, packed up and ready to post out.

AND after my highly technical "pull a piece of paper out of a hat" for last month's giveaway, I now discover this: http://www.random.org/. Lots of true random number generators for doing fair lotteries. So I'll use one of these for next month's giveaway, which I'm thinking will be a wood themed one :)

ALSO I got a new computer today =) so tonight I will be madly installing everything and getting into being a mac user. Scary but fun, looking forward to being able to keep one hand on my beading and one hand on a laptop. Will post some photos tonight!

And the winner is...

2010-01-26T22:11:00.000+11:00

Thanks to everyone who entered! I used the highly technical method of writing everyone's name on a slip of paper (or two or three slips of paper for some!), and popped them in a bowl, and asked Brett to pull one out and...

Voila! (and voilin ;-)

Congrats Katie :) I will be in touch via email to grab a mailing address from you.

I will run another giveaway in a few weeks, I'll post it here and on twitter/fb when it's getting close, so stay tuned!

More works in progress

2010-01-26T14:06:00.000+11:00

Kind of caught up in trying to make something out of this colour scheme...

turquoise/aqua
silver
dark violet

not sure why, just seems to be where I am at the moment...

Pew pew!

2010-01-24T09:42:00.002+11:00

Yay! Sold a Pewpew necklace. So I made one more and put it back up for sale.

Still excited by the idea that someone in the US will be wearing my crazy gear :)

Bookmark finished

2010-01-21T20:17:00.001+11:00

I haven't decided if this is a gift or a sale item yet... or maybe just a proof of concept :)

Space invader bookmark!
What do you think? Sell or give? Have to work out the pricing yet, but I'm guessing it would be too pricey to sell unless you're as much of a gaming nut as I am :) Still, they make nice room ornaments!

Storqued!

2010-01-20T15:48:00.000+11:00

This is an old Storque article, but I only just discovered it! Lurking there, between the 2 and the 4... my 3 earrings!
http://postserver.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-1-2-3-4-1619/

Treasuried!

2010-01-19T23:17:00.001+11:00

I only just listed these bobble earrings and they have been featured in a treasury. So chuffed :)

Slap Chop cross stitch

2010-01-19T08:44:00.000+11:00

As a fan of Subversive cros stitch of all sorts, I'm in love with this:

Full story and comments here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beefranck/4286017630/

One more day to enter the giveaway...

2010-01-18T20:58:00.001+11:00

~~Thanks again to Karen for reminding me!~~
~~One more day to enter my earring giveaway, I'll draw the winner at 9pm tomorrow (AEST) - about 24 hours from now.~~

Woops! I mis-remembered my own dates. :) You still have a week left to enter the giveaway - it's drawn Tuesday 26th :)

Mum's visit - last day

2010-01-18T08:53:00.002+11:00

Mum's last day in Melbourne today.
Yesterday we headed out to the Arts centre market for a wander yesterday, no purchases, though I was tempted by a handbag... and some cushions... and a brooch... and some yarn.

Then along Southbank and across the Yarra to the aquarium. We spent a good couple of hours there googooing at the fish.

It was very busy, lots of people in town for the Open I guess :)

So today we intend to head out to Chapel street and stroll from Windsor (Yellow Bird!) up to the Como and check out everything along the way.

Work in progress

2010-01-16T17:50:00.005+11:00

Mum staying over the weekend, so I thought I'd just potter around craft-wise, in the time I get to sit. So a photo of the current state of my bead board.

French beaded earrings that I haven't finished, at the back - I've been making lots of these lately, but no photos yet worth showing.
At the front is a space invaders bookmark I'm working on. pewpew!
And left front a pair of Lenny the Robot earrings. With his robot cat, Beeper.

Karen's competition - earrings!

2010-01-15T18:22:00.001+11:00

Well Karen got me thinking - I should kick off my blog with a giveaway. So here it is!

What's on offer: any pair of earrings you desire from my Etsy shop.

How to be in the running: post here to say which pair you'd like, with a contact email address.
At the end of Tuesday the 26th of January (10pmAEST), I will pull one of these emails out of a hat, and voila! Totally free, no strings attached. (well, except those that I used to thread the beads with ;-) )

I will post here to let you know you won, and contact you by email.

You can get more chances at winning by:
- becoming a fan of my facebook group (one extra entry for you)
- following me on twitter (http://twitter.com/pardalote_flits) (one more extra entry for you)

Good luck! :@)

Back to beading and blogging

2010-01-14T12:38:00.001+11:00

Okie dokie! Now that I'm back into making things real rather than virtual, it's time to get blogging again too.

I'm pretty excited, Mum is coming to stay for the weekend. This means I forsee very little beading, but lots of shopping which should be fun, as my history of shopping with my mother includes much laughter.

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2010-01-14T12:18:00.001+11:00

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