Gladioli

Most Sundays we take ourselves off to the local markets to shop for fruit and vege's. We're very lucky here because the area has a lot of small crops so it's very easy to get variety and value. The last couple of weeks we've been buying beautiful cauliflowers that I've made into soup and the strawberries are lovely. Custard apples have started to appear as well and they have a velvety texture when you cut them open. I really like the interaction with the stall holders it's much nicer than the sterile environment of a supermarket.

Flowers are also available and on Sunday we bought two bunches of gladioli for $6, you can't beat that. I love cut flowers. Both my grandparents enjoyed having flowers around. Nana lived in Sydney and bought hers although she did have green fingers and maintained a small garden. She was prone to gathering cuttings while you were out walking, talk about embarrassing your grandkids. Mum's parents lived on a farm and Grandpa would grow long rows of flowers that he would rotate every couple of years. Sweet pea's and gladioli are the two that I remember most. $6 is pretty cheap for beautifying your house and maybe making some memories for your own kids.

New Stock in at Lorna Blue Studio

Well I've had a couple of more deliveries of stock for Lorna Blue Studio and it's all been photographed and added to the website.

More jewellery has arrived so if you're looking for something to dress up that outfit go over to the gorgeous gifts category and have a look. There's something timeless about pearls and you'll find two sizes in the single strands and a number of other variations. A girl can't have too much jewellery can she?

Wow, I know it's ridiculous to get excited about stamps but the Lil Stamps range is such good value. Just $2.00 each, no that's not a mistake. They are unmounted rubber stamps that have the design printed on the back so you can see where to place them. Even if you're not a stamper they have a journaling one that would be fantastic on your scrapbook page. I have to buy these as an assorted box and there's only 4 of each design, so first in best dressed as they say.

The other stamps that came in are the Savoir Faire range. Again an unmounted rubber stamp with the design printed on the back at the fantastic price of $5.95. They are scattered throughout the different categories so feel free to browse.

Bearly There

We have a really good art gallery or I should call it by the correct term of art centre in town and recently they decided that they wanted to do an exhibition of teddy bears in September. I know this because I saw the advertisement asking for people to lend their bears and so I contacted them to say I have a few and would they like to see some photos? Evidently my bears pass muster because now I have to fill in the paperwork for each bear (who knew) and be prepared to hand them over for about a month. I'll have to give them a talking to about behaving themselves although they're normally very placid.

I wouldn't describe myself as a collector but I do have some. One of my nieces was very taken with bears and soft toys and I was at a craft show about ten years ago and they had teddy bear kits so I bought one and made it up for her. Of course then I got a bit hooked, bought a few more kits, assorted materials (coloured mohair is beautiful), magazines, went to a couple of workshops and bear shows. People are just so talented and it amazes me how many different bear makers there are. Everyone has their own style and the ones that make the tiny bears are fantastic. When your interested in craft it gives you an appreciation of the time and effort that goes in making something and so I did buy a few bears that I particularly liked. These days the bears alternate between the cupboard and the spare bed so it will be a bit of an adventure for them to go out to the gallery. I've left the bear making days behind me but I will show you one I made and the one bear I have left from my childhood (Dad gave him to me when I was one day old) that managed to survive being dragged around and laid on.

Sex and the City

Do I have your attention now? Last week a friend and I went to see the movie Sex and the City and for someone who has only seen probably half a dozen episodes of the TV series I managed to enjoy it a lot. Even though it wasn't one of the programs I watched regularly it felt quite familiar, I suppose because of all the write ups and advertising I would have seen when it was on air.

It's just one of those easy to watch, humorous in places, sad in others, chick flik type of movie that draws you in and makes you glad you have girlfriends to hang out with.

I also saw the Indiana Jones movie and it was another good one. I have to say Harrison Ford did a great job of convincing you he wasn't too old to be leaping around the screen and of course they now have a son of Indi so I assume at some stage they'll make another one. Oh.... sorry to mention that if you hadn't seen it and were planning to, just forget I said anything.

Moving right along now I'll just show you two of the cards I made using the butterfly unmounted rubber stamps I got the other week. The green card looks a bit orange but the colour in real life is more pink.

So here we all are

Well I'm here so I guess that's a start. As this is my first post I'm a bit nervous & unsure but I hope it will settle into a space where I can post a bit of whatever creative endeavours I'm up to, some info about whats new at Lorna Blue Studio and a little social chit chat.

Unfortunately I didn't get to the Papercraft show in Brisbane last weekend as there were too many other things I needed to do so that was a bit disappointing but I guess there's always next year. Last week I received a box of products for my on-line store Lorna Blue Studio and it contained quite a lot of stamps both unmounted and wood mounted so I thought I should make some cards. I'd ordered a few for myself and was really happy to see some male oriented ones as it's sometimes hard to get a stamp that you think they'll like. Next time I'll show you a few I'm done using the unmounted sheet of butterfly stamps.