A bit of a tidy up

...after reading pips tips on blogging - i felt like i had to do something....so i made a banner (almost typed new but what i had before wasnt really a banner)

while i'm not sure it really captures me or the theme of my blog....a big stop sign and a fence around parliment house did sort of scream "waiting in the capital"

I really need to do more things to spruce the place up....but I'm sick....so i might stop now......will post more tomm.

It arrived in the mail first thing....and its all I've thought about all day.....I just got my invite to SpoonFlower - in their words.....

"Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you. "

I'm giddy with the possiblities....and although others might not agree with me - I think that $18 a yard and $7 international shipping for up to 5 yards, is quite reasonalbe given you get to make your very own fabric!

I'd been keen to hear from anyone else who has already dived in and got something they've designed printed. Off to try and make some worth putting on fabric! Should have gotten some photoshop lessons when my sister visited last year!

Queen's birthday long weekend

Aust Day fire works - focus blur yay!
Originally uploaded by Allyeska

Today is a public holiday here in Canberra....we're celebrating the Queen's birth - its not actually her birthday & WA doesn’t seem to celebrate it today with the rest of the country both of which are terribly confusing but I'm not about to look a public holiday gift horse in the mouth so I'll happily enjoy it even though it makes no sense whatsoever- and because the obvious thing to be waiting for on the last day of a long weekend is for it to end and the horrible working week to start, both things I'm trying not to think about, there wont be a "Waiting" post today.

But seeing as Canberra is known for the fireworks (and porn I guess) and this weekend is the one where Canberrans gets to go crazy letting fireworks off in their backyard - i thought I'd post this amazing photo by local Canberra photographer. Allyeska.....can you believe its not photoshopped ? Check out her stuff - its great....found via a search of Canberra and fireworks in Flickr - be sure to select interesting rather than relevant!

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home
Originally uploaded by redmag

While doing a bit of op-shopping this morning I picked up a little book called "Ladybird ladybird Flay away home" by Judy Hawes - sadly i cant find a link to a picture of the cover anywhere - amazon.jp seems to stock it but my japanese is terrible so who knows...... I bought it because I loved the pictures (they are by Ed Emberley).

.....but on the way home I started to read it and it had some wonderful things in it about ladybirds that were so adorable and I had to share them:

• The farmer's wife believed that ladybird's cured toothache, colic and measles (it doesn’t explain how but judging by the picture it might involve letting them crawl all over you! Also not quite clear on who the farmer or his family are)
• The farmer’s daughter believed that if a ladybird walked over her hand it meant that she would be married within a year
• When Ladybirds are scared they fall to the ground and pretend to be dead! and if the situation gets worse they can apparently squish an "evil-smelling" liquid out of the leg joints.

There's also a wonderful story about 500 Australian ladybirds (apparently ours are different) being sent off to California way way back in the 1880s to eat the cotton-cushion scale which was killing all the orange trees. Needless to say the Ozzies kicked major scale ass and saved the day!

Too cute!

Edited to add a link to this cute story about a ladybird invasion - which according to my book is good luck and a sign of good weather and great crops in the future!

Waiting for...... inspiration

Day 230 :: sitting. waiting. wishing.
Originally uploaded by Meredith_Farmer

This isn't mine....I typed waiting into flickr and this came up....isnt it beautiful.....I want that bag....and those hands....you see i have stumpy hands....homer simpson like stumpy hands and I've always wanted long beautiful fingers.....I guess you always want what you dont have.....and that brings me back to the lovely green bag!

If you're waiting too I'd love to wait alongside you. so please leave a comment and let me know. Otherwise hope your week is wonderful

Plushteam scavenger hunt

The Plushteam is celebrating its one year anniversary!
As a thank you to all our customers and Etsy we are having a BIG team contest.
It's a scavenger hunt, where team members have hidden our team mascot "PT Stitchy" into our shops. Once you have found him - you need to send me an Etsy convo with the item listing numbers you've found.

The game will run until June 6, with the winner announced Monday June 9.
Check out the Plushteam website http://www.plushteam.com/for details of the participating stores and some pics of the wonderful prize!
Good Luck!!