in a spin...

Earlier this month I was thrilled & honoured to find out that I'd won the 'Undiscovered Treasure' category in the 2012 DUST (Down Under Street Team) awards!

& what has a cute pincushion to do with this you ask? Well, not only did I get a huge thrill, I got a prize too!

This delightful mini pincushion, made by the lovely Shelley from Spincushions.

It's so gorgeous & beautifully made. My sister even tried to steal it after I got her to hold it for the photo.

& there are lots more lovely ones in the Spincushions etsy shop, like the sunflower below:

Sunday markets...

On the Sunday of the conference those who could met in Brisbane to do some market browsing. Though it turned out to be a small group, we had lots of fun.

Andrea, Meggan & I caught the train from Surfers to Southbank & met Gaynor near the cafe's. From there, we went for a wander through the Southbank Market.

Gaynor very kindly acted as our tour guide, driving us around & making sure we didn't get lost - thanks Gaynor :)
Next we went to the Marky Markets, where we met Cloud & Ky from Voodoo Rabbit (I didn't get any photos unfortunately).

I also treated my self to two lovely brooches - the mushroom is from pannikin & the lady is from Amanda - Hungry Designs.

After that we headed to the Valley Laneway Markets - held in several different Brisbane laneways, of which we visited two. We also stopped for some lunch at the first - yummy greek spinach parcels, followed by a very nice nut-filled biscuit. We had some company too...

Last but not least, we visited in.cub8r & met the lovely Sandra - another DUST-er :)

We left Andrea at the airport & Gaynor took Meggan & I back to the train station, from where we headed back to Surfers (& I got my extra crochet lesson)

wonderful workshops...

The Saturday of the conference was spent learning some new skills (or attempting to anyway)...

First Trish from TrishAlan Designs gave an interesting talk on teaching craft...not sure I want to go that way at the moment, but it certainly raised some things to consider if I do. Then we had morning tea  - & I would like to thank Ali for insisting on organising real coffee :)

My first workshop was Freeform Crochet - taught by Meggan. I made a cord for my id tag & started a circle...I didn't pick it up super fast, but I started to get somewhere. Then I travelled by train with Meggan on Sunday & got an extra lesson :). I not a crochet prodigy by any means, but I will spend some time playing & see if I can get anywhere...(in the photo below, the purple string & the smaller circle are my work - the larger circle Meggan made to show me a pattern).

After lunch, I did a zentangle workshop with Melanie. Zentangle is heaps of fun - I've been playing since I got home & have introduced my Mum & sisters to it. Amy has been especially taken with it & has produced some gorgeous drawings.

The bigger sheet in the photo below is the tangle I started at the workshop & have since completed. The smaller drawing is one that Melaine gave us the outline for, so we could all fill it in & see what we came up with - they have been great so far.

a better look at my first zentangle...

Conference goodies...

Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural DUST Conference, held on the Gold Coast. Not only did I get to meet some awesome DUST-ers, have a holiday & learn some new skills (more on that later), I also received a goodie bag, full of DUST-y goodness.

all the DUST-ers who attended - as well as some who couldn't make it - provided something wonderful for the bag. There were rings, earrings, hair accessories, pendants, brooches, beads, prints, vouchers.....the bag they came in is pretty good too :)

My contribution isn't shown above - I had two left & my sisters adopted those :)

I gave everyone a copper charm (made from ArtClayCopper) & a print of one of my mandala drawings.

I had an amazing time.....there will be a couple more posts on the subject coming soon.

{ rise & shine }

Back from the Gold Coast, met some wonderful DUST-ers & had a lovely time.

I'm still going through the photos, but I thought I'd post a sneak peak - yes, I was up in time for sunrise, despite being on holiday. A proper post might have to wait until next week - off to Gumeracha for a fair on the weekend.

springs, biscuits & travel plans...

Ooops, it's been a while since I've blogged, so you get a little catch-up post :)

Last week we went to Appila Springs. It was (very) cold, wet & rainy, but we still had a wonderful time. We had yummy cake & coffee (or tea), then went & took some photos. If you would like to see a wider shot, click here.

I baked the other day - 'Dad's Biscuits', a gluten-free adaptation of anzacs. Yum.

& last but not least, I'm getting ready to head to the Gold Coast to catch up with some of my awesome fellow DUST-ers.

I've also been playing with some copper clay, I'll blog about that when I return :)

& speaking of metal clay....the Metal Clay Heads Team have their (our) very first give-away on the team blog . The prize is a piece by the talented Terri of NineteenThirteen.

enter here & good luck :)

minty-DUST...

Recently I subscribed to peppermint magazine, which is a cool australian mag, full of gorgeous photos, interesting articles & great interviews. 

They have stories about eco designers, natural products, handmade goodness & much more. I just love the whole feel of the magazine, including the paper it's printed on :)

& if that wasn't enough to convince you to give it a go, the current issue also contains a DUST (down under street team) ad, with something extra special for peppermint readers - a web address leading to all sorts of DUST-y goodness & discount code - for getting said DUST-y goodness at an extra special price.

so, what are you waiting for?

Etsy weekend deals...

this weekend some of the talented people from the DUST team are participating in the Etsy weekend deals promotion. Everyone participating is offering % off their prices, from 5% to 50%. You can find all the participants on the Dust blog.

I am also participating...10% off everything at jewelflyt.etsy.com

I finally got some photography done & listed a few pieces:

soft rose

fresh glass

forest dreams

& a sneak peak at the next few things waiting to be listed on etsy:

New bag :)

My gorgeous clutch arrived today from Penny of PocketCarnival. This the last of my DUST cij goodies...I'm really happy they've all arrived, but kinda sad there's nothing else coming.


This too was beautifully packaged....I'm blaming mum & dad for my lack of photos of the wrapping, they wanted me to open it so they could see what I'd bought. It's been fun having so many packages arrive, normally I don't get many but I had three on friday & two this morning (seed beads in the other one).

Yay, presents for me :)

I bought myself some goodies during the DUST christmas in july sale.

a 'Colours of the Earth' scarf from rainbowrevolution

a hemp jersey loop scarf, also from rainbowrevolution

a gorgeous hair comb from realisationcreations

& a cute notebook (& some lovely gift tags) from littlemoandfriends

I wish I'd been a bit more patient & taken some photos of the lovely packages...but I wanted to get to my goodies :)

I have one more package on it's way...I'll blog about that when it arrives :)

the end...

...of the DUST Christmas in July promotion. A busy, fun weekend. I sold something (yay!) & bought lots of lovely goodies. I'll take some photos & blog about them when they arrive, I can hardly wait :)

I'm running my sale until the end of July...10% off & free postage if you buy 2 or more items, so come & visit :)

{the photo is one I uploaded to my flickr tonight, I'm quite pleased with it, so I thought I'd share it here too}

Wishlist Wednesday .....errr....Thursday

Art Deco Evenings print by matouenpeluche

Tropicana brooch by realisationcreations

Hand Dyed Earthy Ochre scarf by rainbowrevolution

it's nearly here....

The big DUST (down under street team) Christmas in July sale is coming & there will be heaps of awesome goodies to buy :)

As well as having a sale myself, I'm planning a bit of shopping :)

I made the above treasury (full of dusters who are participating in the sale) this afternoon. You can view it here
I decided to go with greens to compliment the treasury I made a few days ago (below), which was in warm reds



I'm really looking forward to this....see you there :)