Finally

Before I give you my good news, I think you had better sit down.  I don't want you to fall over and hurt yourself.  You may also want to make sure that someone is present in the room with you, phone in hand ready to call your emergency hot line in case you have a heart attack.

Are you ready?

Seriously make sure you have taken life saving precautions!

Ok here goes ...

For a few years now I have had an Etsy store that is full of nothing.  Nothing unfortunately is not a good product to sell and therefore was not going so well.  I blame the economic downturn personally.  Well guess what ...

I FINALLY STOCKED MY ETSY STORE

Are you ok?  Is there a need for an ambulance?  Do you need ice?  Would a paper bag help?  I know shocking isn't it.

On the right hand side of my screen is a link to my store.  It is called Art Lore. Now my aim is to keep it stocked.

I am so happy.  I finally accomplished something.  Big grin and happy dance all round.

Now onto my second finally.  Yes there are two.  I have finally uploaded my Liffy Falls photos.  Yes this is only the first photographic day of my week in Tassie, and there are still more to come for the first day.  This selection is images taken on the way there and once I got there.

On the way to Liffy Falls

 Apparently while I took this photo below, all three of the sheep in the above photo stopped and looked at me.  They got camera shy when I went to take their photo again.

 Loving the colours

We parked in the top car park at Liffy Falls.  This little bird, and I mean little, was flittering all over the place.  By the time my camera would focus he was somewhere else.  I am lucky I got what I did.  The first one is a little blurred but the second one is a perfect in focus shot of his butt.

 The walk down to Liffy Falls from the Top Car Park is a 20 minute round trip.  That is unless you are a mad keen photographer like me who is also majorly unfit.  The way down was fine, it was the way up that killed me.

 The walk down to the main falls is scattered with smaller ones that are just as beautiful in their own right.

 You will notice that some of the photos are of the same area but a slightly different view such as these two below.

Ok this is me being bad.  I have waited all my life to go to Liffy Falls (lived in Tassie 11 years and never once went) only to get there to find that the main viewing platform was under repair.  No I did not push the orange plastic out of the way.  It was like that when I got there.  I appraised the situation and deemed the platform safe (it was obviously the newer one), so a snuck on to get my photos.  I did not know my cheaky Aunt was taking photos of her naughty niece!

 It was worth the risk.  This is my photo of Liffy Falls.  It is a beautiful place.

 These following photos are also taken at the bottom of the falls.

 The rest of the photo's were taken on the way back to the carpark.

These are the Liffy Fall photos from one camera.  My other camera has a proper macro so I took macro shots on it.  I still have to fix them up to put on here.

I am thinking of putting some of my photos for sale on my etsy store.  What do you think?

Playing

What are friends for, if not to help you out of predicaments where you seriously don't want to have to pay for photos being uploaded to your blog.  Thank you to my wonderful, more techno advanced than me friend, that I now know how to resize my photos to a size that is free to post.  Yippee.

I recently got a new phone and have been playing with the camera on it.  Well not so much the camera but the apps.  I first downloaded instagram and dare I say it, I did not like it.  I then realised that a free program I use on my computer was available as an app.  I had so much fun playing around with it.  Below are some of the results with my gorgeous furbabies.

Just look at those gorgeous eyes of my faithful Tessa.  It is rare I get her looking at me like this when I have the camera.  She tends to look worried more than anything because I am trying to get her to look at me and she thinks she is in trouble.  In this one she wasn't aware of the phone.  It is perfect.

And then of course there is Bo.  What more can I say.  By the way behind Bo is a hint of the quilt I have been sewing.  It is draped over the lounge and Bo is on the arm rest (her favourite spot).

Janelle's Giveaways

Janelle is certainlly outdoing herself with all her freebies.  Giveaway number 8 revolves around Etzcetera Magazine and a club that is run from it.  It sounds like a great gift.  It is run by Kim Archer and is worth $99.  Janelle as done all the hard work and put all the links to Kims blog, magazine, etc so go to Janelle's blog and have a look for yourself.  I have purchased a copy of the latest magazine and it is full of so much information from paper craft to sewing to cooking.

Giveaway number 9 has got to be one of my favourites so far so it is only out of the goodness of my heart that I am providing the link to make life easier for you.  Considering that so far this is the one I want to win.  :)  I love Janelles designs.  They are so me.

I would put some photos on here of her work but I have realised that I now have to pay Picasa to allow more to be shown.  Grrrr.  I am in the process of deciding if I should pay the small amount per month that will give me so much storage I won't know what to do with it, or do I change blogs and start fresh elsewhere.  Many of my friends use wordpress but I found it confusing at first so I am not sure I want to go back there.  Better the devil you know kinda of thing.

Freebies and Sneak Peak

Everyone enjoys a good freebie, especially when my very creative and talented friend Janelle is doing it.  Starting today, she is having 40 days of giveaways to celebrate her birthday. 

Some of her equally creative friends are also supplying items.  Today is day one and Sheree is giving away a gorgeous Bear hat that she has crochet for a Blythe Doll.  Poppy Tree Lane is her new etsy store where she sells cosies for tea cups as well - nice.  They look well made and if I drank a lot of hot drinks I would certainly get one for myself.

Back to Janelle's giveaway.  In the time it has taken for me to write this she has already posted giveaway number two!!!  This time it is one of her creations.  If you are into quilting, this is a gorgeous table runner pattern.  I have added a link on the side of my blog to her giveaways but you can link to her blog in general from here.

As for me, well I got told by my friend at work that I am wasting my life away working where I am and that I should be out there creating and selling my creations.  I have my hand in so many crafts right now that I don't know where I would begin.  I started my Etsy store years ago and it has been sitting empty since.  Back then I only had a few craft skills, now!!!!

Let me see: card making, scrapbooking, sculpting, carving, sewing in general, quilting, photography, jewellery making, mixed media, my doodle artwork, embroidery, poetry, creative writing, doll making, soap, and woodworking but I don't have the tools for that so it probably doesn't count.  If anyone can see how I can make a living off of all of that and not worry about the bank taking my house or where my next meal is coming from, please let me know.

My photos from Tassie are coming along nicely.  I hope to finish sorting them this weekend.  Here is a sneak peak of a couple of them.

Well I was going to give you a sneak peak but I think I will be lucky to show you any.  Apparently I now have to pay to upload my pictures because I have met the free quota!!!  Will have to sort this out another day.

Away and Home

At the end of June I flew to Tasmania to surprise my father for his birthday.  My Aunt collected me from the airport and took me back to her place where I would be staying.  She had told dad she needed him to take her somewhere, so when he turned up I stuck my head around the corner and said hello.

This is what I think he was thinking while he was talking:
Dad: Hello there - I know the face
Dad: Good to see you again - I know I know this person.
Dad: How you been? - for the life of me I still can't think who this person is.
Aunt: It's Kerin, your daughter!
Dad: I know that! - Hmm did I say anything to make them realise I didn't?

Granted I am wider, I have had my hair chopped really short (he is used to it long), and he was looking into the sun.  However I still had to ask for a hug and it took us a while to convince him he didn't have to take my Aunt anywhere.

The next 7 days was full of family drama (as all families have) as well as some great time travelling around Tassie.   As much as my Aunt would hate me to admit it, I am glad to be home.  Tassie has all the lovely forrest and snow but Western Australia has always felt more like home to me.

I will be putting photographs on here shortly as soon as I finish sorting them.

Since my last blog post I have:

• won a jelly roll of the Birds and Berries fabric from the Fabric Patch.
• Stitched the jelly roll into a quilt.  Photos to come.  Still waiting for batting and backing fabric to finish it.
• Bought some books on modelling with polymer clay.  Can't wait to start and have a play.
• Made some items for my Aunt for her birthday but never got a photo because mum posted it off before I could.
• Got my hair cut short - too short.  Not sure I like it. 
• and finally, I have got the pattern for the outfit I want to make for the Blythe doll I have altered.  Here's hoping I can do it.  I just need to get the fabric first.

Oh I came to work today without my shoes.  It is all Corinne's fault.  You see, we decided we would go walking at lunch time.  I put on my sneakers to wear to work and put my shoes in a bag.  As I was about to leave, I noticed Corinne's birthday pressie sitting on the table that I was yet to give her.  I went hunting for another bag to put the pressie in.  I then donned my scarf and jacket, grabbed my keys, put on my gloves, picked up my handbag and went to work.  Shoes and pressie still on the chair.

How is this Corinne's fault you ask.  Well it all started because she was born.  If it was not her birthday, there would not have been a gift sitting on the table waiting for her and I would have walked out with shoes in hand.  Secondly, it was her idea to go walking.  If I wasn't going walking I would not have worn my sneakers. There it's all her fault. 

Yes I am kidding myself! Love you Corrine.

 Found this on facebook.  Thought it was great!