Yep, I'm still here. Though you wouldn't really know it. Like many others around Brisbane at the moment I think I've been suffering a little from survivor guilt. I also think that's been exacerbated by the fact that I work in a high end linen store and people are starting to come in getting quotes for their insurance companies and some are replacing some of the things they have lost in the floods, so I get daily reminders of just how much people have lost. I am by nature a very empathetic person, and have always seemed to attract people wanting to share their life story, so I'm hearing many tales of loss from many different people.
I'm finding it hard to concentrate on any one thing in particular, I've got no interest in any crafting (though there are some little ideas on things bubbling away), no interest in my new photo blog. I'm even finding it hard to get myself excited by my trip to France, and we fly out in only 9 weeks! I've done no real preparations, I've got no luggage, no real wardrobe, argh!
So bare with me as pull myself out of this little funk. I have so many things to be grateful for and happy about, I just need to remind myself of that and gain back my sewjo.
edit: auction is now closed! Mama Urchin, please email me at selinasvintage(at)gmail(dot)com so I can get your details from you, thanks!
In around 40 minutes time, my quilt auction for the flood appeal will be ending! The bids are currently up to $200, can we get it higher?! Remember, this is for a very good cause!
No, not the boring kind (God forbid!), I've extended the closing time of my quilt auction to coincide with the closing time of most of the other flood relief auctions. The new closing time is Monday the 24th of January at 9pm (AEDST). All bids made after this time will be null and void. To help international bidders with this, I have added a clock to the sidebar, so you'll know what time it is here. Thanks all, and happy bidding!
Oh, and Mama Urchin, could you please let me know your email address in case you are the winner and I can get in touch with you. Your comment is set to no-reply. Thanks!
After hearing that Sophie had opened up a new big cartel store and was donating 100% of her proceeds to the flood appeal, I just had to pop over and have a look. And this gorgeous little brooch was waiting, just for me.
There are so many people out there in blogland raising money for the flood appeal, there is bound to be something out there you want. My quilt auction is still up and running with the bids now up to $200! For a fabulous list of auctions and raffles, check out Toni's master list. And make sure you check out Sophie's new online shop, her brooches are just so sweet and so well priced.
The master list of blog auctions and raffles are up over at Toni's and wow, there are just so many of them! Head over there to check them all out, there is bound to be something on that list that will take your fancy and every cent raised for the flood appeal is going to be needed. Our Premier, Anna Bligh, has pledged that all money raised in her appeal will directly go to the flood victims, seemingly most of which didn't have sufficient flood coverage in their insurance plans, or who had no insurance at all.
My quilt auction is still running and is currently at $130! Woohoo! I also put the call out yesterday to help out Janie's MIL who lost everything, including all her sewing supplies, and the response to that has also been amazing. Thank you all for your generosity, together we can get this state and it's people back to it's former glory!
XX
I'm just passing on a bit of a call out for a fellow crafter who has lost everything. Janie has been helping out her in laws who have lost everything in the floods, which includes all of her sewing supplies. Janie would like to help get her set up again, and has put out the call. Pop over to Janie's blog if you have some of your stash to help her out. I'm sure if we all donate a little bit of our own (I'm sure overflowing!!) stashes we can get her back in supply in no time!
edit: Thank you so much for the wonderful and quick response guys, you are all awesome! If you could make sure your email addresses are included in your comment on Janie's blog post, it might speed things up a bit so she can get her postal address out to you quickly. Thanks again, you guys really do rock! xx
Edit: Auction is now closed! Thanks for bidding everyone!I can't sit here any longer twiddling my thumbs, waiting to get in and help in some way. So the auction that I thought I'd start on the weekend, I'm starting it now.
I've finally managed to get on to my boss to see how my workplace and my fellow workmates fared throughout this. There is good and slightly bad news. My job has actually been between two retail stores, one of these being at the Jindalee DFO, and the other at Mt Ommaney. Both of which have been hit fairly extensively. We still can't get into the DFO to see how things are, but early reports suggest it went under. The other shop at Mt Ommaney is fine, just no power as the substation that powers it has gone under, and there is no word yet on when it will be reconnected. But that is really all superficial at the moment. One of my workmates lives in the middle of Goodna, one of the other suburbs severely hit, though her house is fine, her neighbours not so much.
I've been sending out emails, checking in on all the fellow bloggers in the area, and for the most part they are all fine. But others, have lost everything. What do you say in these situations? How can any words make anything better?
At this point, money is what is needed, and lots of it. Currently the flood relief appeal sits at over $54,000,000, and as wonderful as that is, more is going to be needed. So here is my small contribution. The auction rules are as follows;
1) The bidding will start at $40 (Australian), and will run on this blog from now until Monday, the 24th of January at 9pm (AEDST)
2)You will be bidding in whole dollar amounts, leaving a comment and your email address with your bid amount in the comment section of this post
3)All postage costs will be covered by me, anywhere in the world
4)If you are the winner, I will contact you via email at the close of auction. You will then pay your winning bid to the Premier's Flood Appeal and forward the invoice and receipt number on to me. Once I have received confirmation of payment I can get your quilt into the post for you. Any donation over $2 to this appeal is also tax deductible (in Australia), so it's really win win.
So, what are you bidding for? Well, one of my vintage chenille patchwork quilts. This quilt is perfect for snuggling under, a nice little lap size. Approx 110cm x 110cm. Backed with a vintage sheet in lovely colours of lavender, mint green and white.
If my quilt doesn't take your fancy then why not check out all the other blogs participating in the flood appeal by blog auctions and raffles. Toni will be putting up a master list of participating blogs on her blog, so go and check it out, get yourself something nice, and help people out in the process.
So, I declare this auction, open!
I plan to set up an auction for the flood appeal sometime on the weekend, but can't decide what to auction. Would you rather see;
A) a vintage chenille patchwork quilt, or
B) one of my vintage chenille bunnies?
Please help, let me know which one!
Seems we're almost flooded in here. The sun is out, so we thought we'd try to head out to get a few things before panic buying set in and everything was bought from the shelves. This is what we were met with. For anyone who knows this area at all, this is Cusack lane. There is a road in there somewhere! This road does go under quite frequently, but I have never seen it like this before. And we're about 50 kms out of Brisbane. Just insane!
And no, that is not my kid in the water. Some people are just idiots.
This is all getting a little too much for me. All very close to home. My Mum lives in Ipswich, though she is fine. Her home is an old one and has been standing high on a hill through the 1974 floods and the 1893 floods before that, so she will be fine. Though at this point I'm pretty sure she's cut off, and without power, as other parts of her suburb were evacuated last night. I got myself to work yesterday and on the way heard of road closures behind me. I must admit I started to freak out, thinking I wouldn't get home. Very surreal to be at work (in a shopping centre) and see businesses around just packing up shop and going home as reports of evacuations in the very next suburb came through. Then we followed suit.
So sitting here feeling helpless, as parts of this city go under, I came across Toni's blog and the work she is doing to organise this crafty community into raising much needed funds to get people back on track once the water recedes. So with that, I'll put my hand up. I've decided to auction on my blog one of my vintage chenille lap quilts. If you pop back on the weekend I'll finalise the details and get the auction going. It's the very least I can do.
At the moment I am finding it hard to get any kind of blogging or crafting mojo going at all. I am constantly glued to the t.v watching all this wet weather devastate regions around me. Last week my mothers home town of Bundaberg was under threat, split in two by so much water. We still have family in Bundy who luckily live on the high and dry side of town, but seeing images of places you know so well completely underwater was just bizarre. Then yesterday a massive freak weather event, that can only be described as an inland tsunami ripped through the centre of the town of Toowoomba. After high school I spent a year in Toowoomba, attending art college and watching that footage has just broken my heart. The house I lived in in Toowoomba was literally about 150 metres from the small creek that carried all that water. That wall of water continued on down the Toowoomba range and has left many towns under water. As it stands right now there are 8 people confirmed dead and 72 missing. Just insane.
The flood appeal continues and I would urge people to contribute anything they can to try and get these communities back to their homes and begin the clean up. You can make a donation here.
1.
ParisC5, 2.
Paris - Fontaine de la Concorde, 3.
Snowstorm on Paris, 4.
Paris - Métropolitain, Ligne 4, Saint-Michel, 5.
Paris, 6.
TtV Fake Paris, 7.
ParisA6, 8.
ParisA10, 9.
20060320_paris 024, 10.
Paris street at night, 11.
Paris at Night, 12.
Moulin Rouge and Paris at night (3), 13.
Paris at Night-106, 14.
P7032175eiffel tower at night, paris, 15.
ParisA9, 16.
ParisA8So the real countdown for me has begun. In 12 weeks exactly we will be heading to the airport, about to board a plane for France. Honestly, I am starting to freak out a little. I spent a rather restless night stressing over silly things last night. Am I going to have enough spending money? How much is enough spending money? Will I have the right clothes? What sort of bag should I have to deter pickpockets? And the thing I am stressing about the most, will I be fit enough to get all I can out of this adventure? Regular readers may remember all the way back here how I started walking in order to get fit for this trip. Well here, the weather has had other ideas. It has rained constantly for months, no joke. So my walking went completely out the window. But I'm determined to try something, if only to stop my brain from keeping me awake at night stressing! Feel free to pull me up every now and then with a very stern, "how's that exercise coming along hmmm?". Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it.
Green apple gelato
Makes approx. 1 litre
1 cup water
220 grams caster sugar
3 small green apples, juiced
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup thickened cream
1. Place the water, sugar, apple and lemon juice into a small saucepan.
2. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight (I refrigerated mine for 24 hours).
4. Whisk together the apple mixture and cream in a jug.
5. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn following the manufacturers instructions.
6. Enjoy!
Delicious on it's own, or in a waffle cone. Loving these lazy days.
Just pottering around today, now that the weather decided to slightly cool down again. Making some gelato. Stay tuned for the recipe!
Do you remember back here, when I started a little petition up to get my Mum blogging? Well, guess what? She finally started a blog! Yay! Go here to check it out. Make sure you say hi, it'll make her day (and mine!).
Welcome to 2011!
I thought for the first post, on the first day of the year, that I would make a little list of my arty/crafty goals for 2011. I don't like to make resolutions, where is the fun in making up a list of things you have to change about yourself?! Feels very negative to me. And if you've been reading for a little while, you would know negative is not the way I roll. So, for me, goals it is.
Learn to knit (again!)
Finish off the crochet knee rug I started (ahem)
Learn to crochet more than just a granny square
Do some resin casting
Add more to my "product range"
Enter a photo in a local show
Sew more clothes for myself
Refashion more clothes for myself and Miss 13
Collaborate on a project with this uber talented blogger
Learn to take TTV shots
Set up the craft room with a little more inspiration around me
Hopefully this little list will be achievable. Surely I'm not asking too much...am I?!
Happy New Year everyone!
