(clicky biggy)

Yes, that is Constance J. Woodle  – but no, that’s not really me, LOL! Connie is in her full winter coat – I think next time she sees the groomer she’ll have a close shave – her hair starts to get knotty at this length.

(clicky biggy)

The bottom line that the scanner cut off says “I am really looking forward to bed!”

We see the doctor again in a fortnight and I’m determined that I will have lost at least a couple of kg by then.  I’m back to using the CalorieKing.com.au website to count calories and record  exercise: that really helped last time when I managed to lose weight.  I’m aiming for around 80kg as my final goal – heavier than Weight Watchers or CalorieKing recommend for my height and age, but more achievable than their estimate  – 60 kg? I don’t THINK SO!!Last time I was that weight I was 20 something years younger and caught any flu/cold/lurgy that was going. That’s when I got the glandular fever that is still effecting my life NOW.

And here’s a journal page I started at Social Cre8te at Tammy’s shop yesterday:

There’s some stamping in the background using one of the new ($4!) Kaisercraft texture stamps (the one called “Flourish”, CS759) – I’m looking forward to using the same stamp in wet gesso to give more texture to backgrounds – I forgot to take the gesso with me yesterday!  The buildings are made from a book I bought for $2 on British plants -  a very good buy because the paper is such beautiful quality, no foxing at all, and very sturdy, even though the book dates from the late 1930s (from memory). (No, it wasn’t worth anything as a book, but it’s lovely as art material.)

In other news: Mr Beloved hired a slasher (what a beastie!)

yesterday, and did the yard.  First time in about (mumblety… 5?) months, and the !@&*^!* kikuyu grass ( Pennisetum clandestinum – if you do a search on google images you’ll see just how invasive it is!) had grown into knee high, tangled mats that an ordinary mower  had no chance of defeating.  (And our mower still needs to go off to be repaired anyway…)  At least we can see the dog when she’s in the yard now!  We’re pulling up runners and trying to poison the rest of the kikuyu, it’s awful stuff.

And now it’s time to hang the washing  – such a beautiful almost Spring day here,  blue sky and the birds are turning over the drying “hay” left in the yard…

As you can see, I’m working in a spiral bound journal (A4 size) rather than making either of the book’s Kelly’s teaching; I’ll probably have a go at the books sometime but for now I’m happy with yet another A4 journal.  I’ve used a lot of scrapbooking papers in these pages – mostly because I have them and I’m trying to use them up, instead of being precious about them and “saving” them!

More pages to come…

(and remember to do an extra layer of greasing and flouring the tin next time!)

The cake tasted GORGEOUS.  Like a light choc orange mousse pudding.  We were all laughing too hard to get non-fuzzy photos, I think!

(Polaroid frame from Kitschy Digitals‘ “Vintage Cameras ” kit; font is CK Ali’s Hand.)

Fingers crossed that this cake will turn out of the tin ok!  I do adore my Nordic Ware tins, but sometimes the cakes stick a bit.  (Anyone know here I can purchase “Bakers Joy” non stick spray locally? It’s NOT the same as the spray Mum used to use, this one is flour based…)

Anyway, the cake is to take to Social Cre8te (aka PLAYGROUP!) at the Local Scrapbooking Shop tomorrow.  Since the Birthday Girl (the shop owner, Tammy)  is mad for chocolate paired with orange, I decided it was time to give one of those cakes where you boil the oranges and blitz them in a food processor a go.

The only problem? I am GUARANTEED a migraine if I mix chocolate and orange – every single time.  I had to wake Mr Beloved from his nap this evening for a taste test of the mix (yep, he got to lick the bowl, LOL!) and he reckons it’s lovely.

I’m planning on leaving it un-iced, just a few choc orange speckled easter eggs and a little bit of grated chocolate to decorate.

Will I be able to resist? Stay tuned for an update tomorrow!

Working on my Junque Journal a la Tangie (the scrapbook paper and exercise book at left of pic)

and in the orange-with-lots-of-stitching-cover is my first Remains of the Day journal from Mary Ann Moss’s class.

(Apologies for flash glare – the other shots had flare from fluoro lights, I’ll try and get better shots in daylight tomorrow)

So – prep for art journals to come, but not much else creative happening.

Found out there is a school reunion in October for my Yr 10 class.  Hmmm, do I want to go?

Kelly Rae (Very different style, very cool – you’ll need to scroll down
to get past all the Christmas stuff and see her art)
http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com/

Dina Wakley – QUEEN of stencils and masks (and very cool scrapbook
pages, too)
http://dinastamps.typepad.com/ponderings/

Marsha Jorgensen, Tumble Fish Studio (her stuff looks so complex you’d
think it’s digital but it’s ALL hand cut, coloured, and glues.  Freakin’
amazing.  I wanna be her when I grow up.)
http://tumblefishstudio.blogspot.com/

Nancy Baumiller (Crowabout)   – I did a class with her in November and
she’s a cool teacher!  She also gives away a free collage sheet every
week (via Flickr) – the link is in her sidebar.
http://crowabout.blogspot.com/

Different style again (and she’s been in a lot of scrapbooking mags:
Julie Fei Fan Balzer, very cool art journals
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/

Samantha Kira was featured in the most recent issue of Art Journaling
mag and I love the way her stuff is messy
and honest!
http://www.journalgirl.com/

And the digital/hybrid year long “Art Journal Caravan” class I’m doing
via http://scrapbookgraphics.com has a gallery here:
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3500
(I’m rather intimidated by everyone else’s work there, to be honest!)

We had a  fairly uneventful New Years Eve, where I didn’t even last long enough to open the bubbly – I was out like a light by 9 pm. I woke up again after some commotion at the end of the street (very drunken girl and her friends from one of the parties around the place, behaving stupidly ) and again when the roar of “THREE… TWO… ONE… NAPPY YEW HEAR!!!” (or something of the sort) rang out.

For NYE 2000, I believe I was chatting (IRC, oh, how long ago!) with friends online.  And for 1990, I was having a wonderful (ahem!) time under the stars with my delightful dairy farmer, near Corryong … can that really be TWENTY years ago? I feel so old.

I had a fabulous day yesterday – went to Brisbane with friends – long day, but good company and some fun shopping. (Thanks, L and T!)

We went to Photo Continental at Mt Gravatt. Did I think to buy more matte photo paper for my collages? Nope! We got to the scrapbooking side of the shop and spent 2 and a bit hours wandering in a bit of a daze… they had a lot of older lines in stock (which were new to me, since they were before I discovered just how cool scrapbooking supplies are!) and I grabbed some more O-wires for my Bind It All machine at half price. (Yes, I succumbed.  Expect to see LOTS of coil bound books this year!)  I wanted a new alphabet stamp set but decided I’d already spent quite enough…

Then we went to IKEA!  Oh maaaaaaaaaan I love Ikea.  It’s pure fantasy island.  Especially the kitchens (even if some of the display kitchens would take up our whole house, LOL!)  And of course, we had lunch there:

I’m pretty sure that on January 2, 2009, I was having this exact same lunch at the Ikea store in Adelaide!  (We make our own traditions…)

Buys at Ikea: a new kitchen clock, with a sweep second hand so we can see when the battery has run out (D’oh!) for $3.49; a new rubbish bin for $2.99, and a pack of face washers for around $7.  Wins, eh!

Then on to the new Kaisercraft Outlet store at Browns Plains, where I grabbed a couple more sheets of my favourite (old) range, “K-Bots”.  I’m hoping they’ll release it as a digital set soon (although their digital stuff is overpriced, IMHO, compared to the value from places like Scrapbook Graphics, Designer Digitals, Scrap Girls, and Pickleberry Pop.)

And now I must get on with the Art Journal Caravan pages I want to make today.  Our first assignment (and one shared in other places, including the QuiltArt list and Ali Edward’s blog, who links to this very useful worksheet by Christine Kane on discovering your word) is to choose a word we want to inspire us for the year.  (I am NOT into all that “wooooo” stuff about “manifesting” – but I do want to keep this particular word in my heart, mind, life, and art this year.  All will be revealed next post.)

Uh – right. Am I the only one to notice that’s a bit of a WTF moment?

Last night (well, early this morning, since this all started at about 1:30 am with a cascade of barking dogs as the youths in question ambled down the street) we heard breaking glass, lots of thumps… Mr Beloved reported the suspicious behaviour of the three kids, turns out so did a neighbour, also alerted by the dogs… and this is something of a miracle in itself, since usually the neighbourhood dogs bark unheeded for hours…

Young thieves, stolen Christmas presents including a block of very big new knives, and break and enter of commercial premises.  Yikes.  4 police cars at one stage. Policeman with very powerful flashlights.

And next to no sleep.

Here’s Mr Beloved’s (much better and more coherent) version:

The dogs tell me first. The right sequence of barks, from Scruffy at the top of the street, down through Hamlet the Dane, Gillis the Dobermann, Psycho Bitch, Ugly Dog, Fat Staffy, Old Black Lab, and now my poodle… I can almost plot the intruders coming down the street.

Forewarned is forearmed. I was almost asleep when Scruffy started barking, a few hundred metres away. That was not just a bark: it was a serious let-me-at-’em, and Scruffy’s not normally a gung-ho kind of dog.

We’d gotten to bed late anyway. My partner’s reading light was turned aside to let me doze off. I wave my hand sideways with a cut-off motion, and now it’s dark.

I move as quietly as I can, given the old, creaky, wood floor I’m trying to cross . Damn it, I’m getting a bit old and creaky myself. Still, the instinct and reflexes haven’t let me down: I’m in time to see three kids go by, crouched forward and moving like Guilt itself was after them.

Two are about fifteen by appearance, not tall. One carries a box that looks like a carton of canned beer. Another has a light-coloured, almost cube-like carton: I make the assumption that is is a six-pack of premixed bourbon and cola.

The third kid is smaller, perhaps twelve, or a girl who doesn’t curve a lot. There’s a bundle in his/her hands. Moonlight makes spotting detail at even twenty feet a difficult job, but it looks like one of those eco-friendly shopping bags.

They’re headed for the park at the end of the street.

So, a spot of underage drinking is nothing to worry about? I dismiss the idea of letting it go: if they’re going to spew, make loud noises and leave broken glass, I’d rather it was somewhere else.

A quick phone call to Plod, and I wander down to the backyard. Across the fences, I can see a small white light in the bushes by the creek.

I relax. Even if the kids have night vision as good as mine, the LCD of that mobile means I’m as good as invisible, and I have them pinpointed.

Back to the house, and a follow-up call to the police operator. When that crew arrives, they now have an exact spot to shine those blinding lights. That will be demoralising for the kids in the bushes, provided a crew gets there on time.

Time is always crucial.

I’m ready when the first car arrives, about five minutes later. Plod doesn’t have the home advantage, so I shine a large torch into the area where the kids were.

Past tense is the thing. Even as the second patrol car arrives, thuds and breaking glass can be heard from a business across the road.

One of the police and I talk briefly, I give him some details of how many, approximate appearance, what they were carrying. Attention shifts to the source of the noises.

There are four cars, each with a couple of officers. From the look of the torch beams, they are inside the business premises, which means that the private security guys are on-site.

They’re taking this very seriously: individual cops are patrolling on foot in a number of areas on two blocks. I stay out of the way for over an hour and let them get on with their work.

My partner has stayed well out of the way. The dog knows her job: she’s looking after her Mum, staying quiet and looking for any hand signals to bark, search or whatever.

Eventually I leave the house and speak with the constables who are re-examining the area where I saw the kids hiding. I direct them to the exact point, and one cop exclaims, “Look! There’s a bit of gear here.”

There is. It’s most of a chef’s knife kit, new, in an aluminium-finish case. So there’s my assumption about a pack of bourbon tinnies shot down. Or stabbed.

Oh joy, there are some knives missing.

By now, it’s about 3:30 AM. I’m so heavily into hypervigilant mode, I can hear individual birds moving about restlessly as the humans invade their dark scrubland.

I give my name and details to one of the police and go back inside. As the police leave, I wait. So often the departure of Plod is the beginning of “Give it ten minutes and we’ll leave.”

This time the kids have all departed. It starts raining. I wait as dawn breaks, and have a walk around the block. There is a window broken at one end of the warehouse, but from my outside-the-fence viewpoint, I can’t tell if it was pushed in or out. That thumping and glass-breaking may have been the eastern side, and invisible from the road.

It may have been indoors. Forensic police spent a considerable time at the business premises later in the morning.

With the benefit of full sunlight and two hours’ sleep, I went back to the scrub at the end of the park. There were a few items further down the slope, missed in last night’s search.

The kids must have done a quick raid on somebody’s outgoing Xmas presents. There are tags “from Grandma”, a few cheap stocking-stuffer toys (discarded by the little thieves, who are obviously too sophisticated for anything less exciting than a long knife), hand-crocheted doilies, an address book with the crabbed writing of an older person.

I bundle the dew-soaked finds up, for handover to police.

I love the special feelings this time of year brings out in people.

***************************************************

So today: migraine.  Yuk. And a heightened feeling of unease and danger.  Doors and gates double checked.  Triple checked.  Rattled as I go past just to check again.  I try to sleep away the migraine but mostly I’m restless and over-tired.  Another day of feeling like I haven’t been able to achieve anything.

I did make a few (physical) scrapbook pages last week.

[clicky for biggy; paper is hand painted by me (inspired by some I can't get!); mask on photo from Paislee Press; background on photo is paper from Thao Cosgrove's digital kit "Beautiful Life" from scrapgirls.com]

[clicky for biggy; cardstock is Bazzill; paper by Teresa Collins; chipboard by Maya Road; Glimmermist by Tattered Angels.]

Quite enjoying that. Please excuse quick and dirty photos with parallax error.   Oh, and did you know you can buy COLOURED staples? Who knew?! Now I just have to find a stapler (it’s somewhere in the house…)

This time of year makes me want to clean out the house. I got rid of an armful (heavy!) of magazine scraps today, ones that I’d already mutilated in my search for faces and alphabet pieces for my art journal.  I’m planning to get into the sewing room SOON and move a lot of things OUT -as in, to the op shops etc – they are eating my physical and spiritual space.  There’s little point in trying to flog small pieces of quilting fabric on ebay – the only people who make money from that are Australia Post.

Speaking of the art journal, here’s a quick pic: It’s actually too bulky to work in now, after painting  and border-collaging the pages.

Most of the pages don’t have their main image or journalling yet but I am quite overwhelmed by the COLOUR and might have to start a new, more spontaneous journal.  I haven’t been able to do anything in this one for at least 10 days and I hate feeling this STUCK.

Also, I think I need to go back to a smaller format, that fits in my bag. This A4 size is fun, but cumbersome.

Think it might be another bed day tomorrow.

Another customer commented “If I could do pages like your art journal, I wouldn’t bother doing ordinary scrap book pages!” – but I WANT to be able to do scrap book stuff too. Except now I realise I need to stay true to MY style, especially in physical scrapbooking.  Even Mr Beloved says “I prefer your digital stuff…

Okay, so here (complete with lousy flash photography and parallax error, sorry!) is the Actual Paper Page (sitting on a white paper bag to keep it clean):

(clicky for biggy if you must…)

Things I like: I vaguely remembered seeing a tutorial on how to make these paper roses, so had a go on the night.  Not too bad, I think. (Although now I look at the instructions – not so much!)

Things I didn’t like: Grrr! I had issues with GLUE.  And the photo didn’t really pop.

Credits: Cardstock: Bazill ColorMates; Papers: Basic Grey (all the oranges) and Kaisercraft (all the greens); Journalling tag by Michelle Coleman, part of the “So Charming” digital kit from Little Dreamer Designs; Chipboard alpha by Heidi Swapp; Grey pearls by Kaisercraft; pens: various (seriously, you want me to remember PENS?!)

And tonight I made a digi version:

(clicky for biggy, this one is MUCH nicer!)

Credits: Background paper: Jen Wilson‘s “Midnight Jack” kit; Orange/red papers and green paper behind photo (modified)  “Sweet Sensations  2″, Lori Barnhurst of Little Dreamer Designs [get in quick if you want this, her store is retiring Dec 12!]; Journaling Tag: Michelle Coleman, “So Charming” kit, Little Dreamer Designs; Butterfly and Flower elements from Holly Designs “Naturally” kit; Alpha is Katie Pertiet‘s “Basic Bare Chipboard Alpha” (modified); photo frame and staple are from Katie Pertiet’s “Classic Curled Photo Frame” pack; leaves (modified) from Thao Cosgrove‘s “Beautiful Life” kit.

Hmmm. Yep. Which format do you think I should persist with?

Hey , guess what? I won a little package from the INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL Anna Bartlett of Shiny Happy Art! Just by being on her mailing list!

(photo to be added – camera batteries flat..) – go here to see the very sweet little Tulip Bird Art Tags, she added a peacock art tag to a little pink journal for me, and a wonderful postcard of Toowoomba’s main street!

She’s also the local source for Golden paints (which are out of my price range,*sigh* but one day…) and also writes a cool blog.

Meanwhile, there are fires burning across three states.  Now, that might not sound like much, but look at this:

“Disclaimer: This illustration is indicative of areas currently under catastrophic, extreme or severe fire warnings. Please contact your local fire authority for specific warnings for your area.”

Maaan!  Since the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in January this year, Australia has a new fire warning system – not to make light of it, but it goes to ELEVEN. ( Spinal Tap, what a classic movie, eh?!)  Where we used to see “Extreme” as the highest fire warning on the news, radio, and the roadside signs, now we go further – to “Catastrophic” -

“A fire with a rating of “catastrophic” may be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving.  The flames will be higher than roof tops. Many people will be injured and thousands of homes and businesses will be destroyed..

Temperature records are being broken – where my brother lives, in Adelaide, they’ve had over a week of temperatures over 40 C – that’s 104 F.  And it’s only November, we’re not even officially into Summer yet. (But don’t get me started on the absurdity of imposing a European concept of Seasons onto a continent which experiences climate in a complete different way…)

Where my parents live (Wagga Wagga, in south west New South Wales) is also in the red part of the map, with similar temperatures.  It’s only 34 degrees ( 93 F) in Toowoomba, allegedly.  Still hot, but not AWFUL.  The fact that the ongoing drought (let’s be real, it’s no longer a drought, it’s climate change) means that water storages are at an all time low (ooh, did anyone else just get a David Bowie earworm?!) doesn’t help …we’ve been under server water restrictions for so long, I doubt we even own a garden hose any more.

Everyone is supposed to have an emergency fire plan ready to activate.  Ours is very simple: If time, grab computer towers. If less time, grab pets. Get in car, GO.  No staying to defend the indefensible for us, thanks very much.  Everything but us and the littles can be replaced.

I was in Canberra during the big fires there in 2003.  Since then I have an absolute terror of bushfires.  Not a rational, sensible fear, “oh dear, we must prepare to evacuate because the fire is nearing” -  just writing about them or watching them on TV can make me panicky. And when I panic I talk a LOT. So if it seems like my blog is fire focused sometimes, you’ll know why.

Ok – time for me to go showe and start collecting my supplies – play group at the scrap book shop tonight from 6:30 to MIDNIGHT – how awesome is THAT?!