Australian Bushfire Appeal

This time last week Australia was hit by the most terrible tragedy in its history when bushfires and firestorms swept through country Victoria. So many people have lost their lives and entire towns have been wiped off the map. The news is devastating and sometimes it is almost too much to bear. The only way all the horror can be made even slightly manageable is by helping where I can. You know my state of Queensland has also been hit by a natural disaster with two thirds of the State under water from severe flooding. The top of the country is awash. Many of the people in far north queensland have lost everything also and many of the losses won't be fully realized until the flood waters have receded and yet despite all this, these flood ravaged folk are also donating to help their cousins down south!
This post is an open appeal to all of you out there to help in anyway you can. If you can donate to the Australian Red Cross or the Victorian Wildlife Appeal, please do...every little bit helps.

Onwards and Upwards

Well, it's been a while since I dipped my toes into blogdom, but I'm back again. It's actually been a pretty hectic time in the last few months. I spent most of October and November making luscious lovelies for my stall at the BrisStyle Christmas Marekts. It was a helluva day, super hot and humid ( and it didn't help that I was situated right in front of the airconditioning vents outside the Hamilton library) but a great time was had by all.

The BrisStyle team did a bang up job organising our first markets and for me it was a roaring success ( extreme humidity aside). I'm looking forward to '09 with more markets, hopefully at the same place outside the Hamilton Public Library.

I've also been finally getting my little online shop up to sratch with lots of photos of my stuff. I've made heaps of gorgeous jewels but I've found the hardest part is photographing them. After a number of abortive attempts at scanning my pieces I've gone back to using a camera. Or rather, I've gone to to getting my husband to use the camera. I'm absolutely rubbish at taking photos. Even with a digital camera I still manage to chop off heads! Anyway, luckily my husband is a crack shot with a camera. So I owe all those lovely photos of my pieces to him. This is for you honey - MWAH!

All told I feel I'm really growing as an artist and starting to stretch my wings. A year or so ago I never would have thought that I'd been making jewelry, let alone selling it. But the journey so far has been a good one and I'm really enjoying making my beautiful pieces. I have to admit though I'm a bit reluctant sometimes to part with them. At the last markets I was really keen for sales and people bought. However, it was with a little sadness that I wrapped up by gems & handed them over. It sounds ridiculous but I do hope that they've found a good home. I put a lot of myself into my pieces that I get quite attached to them- they're like my children. Silly but there you are. I've now got pieces making new homes in the USA and soon Japan!

If you come across my site, drop me line & let me know what you think of my work. I'd love to hear from you!