Something to Smile about!

 Hi there everyone - hope this finds you well today.

I received this email and thought it so good I wanted to share it as a post

Story behind this photo:

H.M. The Queen, accompanied by H.R.H. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, paid a Jubilee visit to Nottingham and, during the three hours in the East Midlands city, attended a children’s event in which the 5-to-10 year olds were asked to present something to celebrate the Jubilee. Out of the more than 1,000 children attending, six were chosen to give their own speech to the Queen, of 50 words or less, that expressed their devotion and admiration for Her Majesty’s long reign.

The last child to say his piece was 8-year-old Devon Parker who stood at the microphone 25 feet in front of the Queen and, as a result, the royal photographer caught Her Majesty’s reaction and response.

Devon Parker: “Your Majesty, I think you are the nicest old lady in all of England, but I wish you weren’t so old because, if you were younger, you would live a lot longer.

Thank you very much.”

The Queen’s reaction and reportedly her response: “Now, what can I say to that!?”

Hope it has brought a smile to your face - it surely did mine!! totally cracked me up.

May God bless your day everyone, and thanks for popping over for a peek and chat,

Shaz in Oz.x

WOYWW! Exotic fruit + Sharon's Craft Cupboard!.

Hi folks, 

Well another week and although we are so enjoying the sunshine, we do need some precipitation - but hey rain will come. if we pray and pray and wait, and pray some more!

Before I forget have been meaning for weeks to share with you a very new blogging friend here in Oz. She must have really great taste as her name is Sharon :D 

and her Blog is "My Craft Cupboard" -link here !  

Just to prevent any misunderstanding, this is NOT my card. 
Made by Sharon ~ My Craft Cupboard's stunning card, please pop over if time permits - her blog is http://sunshine2go.blogspot.com.au/

As you can see such beautiful, exquisite work is over there - I told her about WOYWW but she said she was not game to show us her her desk... maybe pop over say hi and let her know we would love to see it!!

Some pickies to share, because it is WOYWW and the great World Wide Blog Hop of What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday, please do take peek and join with us over at Julia's fab blog.

No desk today, as it's the same as last week here - zilch done in crafty dept!! 
Getting jobs done inside and out before cataract surgery 2.10.12. Have made few cards which will schedule soon, but they are given away so not on desk. 
I was asked by Morti of WOYWW if my fruit tree shown also in last weeks post tree was an exotic one - so here it is!

Exotic (!) lemon and lavender - the lavender is a natural insect repellent!

This week I have made something with our lemons, so sharing it instead!

Lemon peel on the plate, it is Granny's Lemon Cordial as you can see -  peel is thrown out afterwards. Recipe is below if anyone wants it. If trouble reading it just email me! really yum, Granny's was not brown like mine as she used white sugar, I use raw sugar. So nice in summer.

We do have an exotic fruit our yard, so I thought would share this. It is a Macadamia nut tree, full of abundant flowers as you can see. This photo is almost on full zoom, about 15 ft up.

Yes, we do get some nuts but as it is in our neighbour's yard (it over hangs our fence) it is not sprayed, so little greedy insects get most of them! It never fails to amaze me they bore  tiny, weeny holes through the hard outer husk, as well as the very, very hard shell! For more info see here.
One last photo thought you might like! 
Finished mulching the roses and here is the third and fourth rose of the season.

Black Beauty Rose and Sutter's Gold very small small bud - with visiting lady beetle :D I did not know till after uploaded to computer it was on there! (Oh, to left front, my wee Scottie dog from Scotland)

I would really appreciate it if time permits and you can check out 
my "Consider the Clouds" post down below! You will see why if you do!

Happy WOYWW every one and thank you SO very much for popping over for a peek and a chat. May God bless your day wherever you may be!
Shaz in Oz.x
PS a VERY special welcome to new followers Cardarian, Mary H, Gita and Lori!

Consider the Clouds.

(WOYWW post below, sorry)
My dear dad is the one who taught me to love clouds.

When I was young, we would sit on the sandhills watching such clouds as they rolled across the sea.

There we watched the glory of the storm as it approached us, then took refuge in our tent.

I well remember one day when about twelve, new to town, and there we were were on what seemed to be the top of our new town, looking at and talking of these wonderful clouds above us....

To me now, they are the finger of God pointing the way to Him.

I was reading Our Daily Bread (by RBC - Link here - and here) again this morning, and thought I would really like to share this. It was titled Consider the Clouds.

The passage used was from the wonderful book of Job - Job 37:1 - 16 (for link click here). Here is the Our Daily Bread excerpt - by David Roper

"One day many years ago my boys and I were lying on our backs in the yard watching the clouds drift by.

"Dad", one asked, "why do clouds float?"

"Well, son," I began, intending to give him the benefit of my vast knowledge, then I lapsed into silence. " I dont know," I admitted, but I will find out for you."

The answer I discovered is that condensed moisture, descending by gravity, meets warmer temperatures rising from the land. That moisture the changes into vapour and ascends back into the air. That is the natural explanation for the phenomenon.

But natural explanations are not final answers.

Clouds float because God in His wisdom ordered the Natural Laws in such a way, that they reveal "the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge." Job 37:16

Clouds can be thought of as a symbol - and outward and visible sign of God's goodness and grace in creation.

Remember this: the One who makes all things beautiful makes the clouds float through the air. He does so to call us to look with wonder and adoration, and to look to Him for salvation. 
The heavens - the cumulus, stratus, nimbus and cirrus clouds - declare the glory of God.

Creation is filled with signs that point to the Creator. "

This reminded me of the passage in Psalm 8: 3, 4a.

"[3] When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; [4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him?..."

I have had a rather topsy turvy week with some very stressful things (now, God willing, are ironed out).

However, when it seems like everything is hitting the fan, I find it is great comfort to know with all my heart - God is there in it!

God, Who formed the beauty of the clouds or the beauty of the sea, the glory of the rose. etc., the whole of creation, God - He cares for me (and you)!

In the depth and length and breadth of the problem I am (or you are) going through - He is in it with me (and you).. and will bring us through the other side of it.

My dad loves to paint the clouds he loves, too. This is one of his paintings North Wall beach looking south over to the Jetty and the Marina - you can just see the masts of the boats.

I pray for each of you who read this, that it might really bless you heart, and that the LORD might walk with you through the rest of your day, wherever you may be, and bless you in it all.

Thanks so much for popping over for a peek and chat,

Shaz in Oz.x

PS I would also like to link this post over to this weeks Little Birdee Blessings blog hop, as this week it is as shown below - please take look at the rest!

~ Increased Strength~   Posted by Little Birdie Blessings

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might
He increases strength.
Isaiah 40:28-29 (NKJV)

Wow! it is WOYWW again!

Hullo there everyone ~ another week flying by and over here we are into spring +summer all at once! it is supposed to be 27C here today and another week of sunshine ahead ~ would you believe, here on the north coast, we have had 9mm of rain here at my place since 14th of July?
Mm we had our winter's rain in June and then sunshine ever since it seems almost..
NSW wide total fire ban today, and they have brought the season forward, too.
Now to the business end of the day, my desk!!

First of all a very big thank you to each of you who popped over last week and sent so many get well cheery messages .. My tooth is fine now (and pray most earnestly it stays that way, please Lord) and well apart from self inflicted aches from attacking the garden as you see down below..... and as you see there is very little going on the actual desk - except some of Mrs A.'s very scrummy sea glass has arrived - she found a big pile of after much searching on the Mediterranean coastline in Italy ~ see her desk here!

We dont see it here on our east coast of Australia, I guess not enough glass thrown overboard on big ships.. I do have one piece have found - a clear piece in many, many, many days of walking our beaches up and down the coast...
Anyway, how very kind of Mrs A.  to share here stash. I have graduated it as when you look at each piece they are so very different - fascinating isn't it, how unique everything is? including us! God's wisdom in that.
Also on my desk is Bridget in Oz's ATC as found hunting through my posts I had not shown it - must have been one of my off weeks, - very sorry and THANK you, Bridget! Here is where my desk has been for most of the past week or so - the garden!

I have been doing the roses again - have about three dozen and it is time to feed and mulch them with sugar cane mulch. The bottle around each rose is my deep watering system it mean 2 litres of water gets to the roots of the plant when watered. May well be needing this for this summer at this rate..

Rose, second of season called "Delores", tough as nails and magnificent long lasting blooms.

This bed is half done - has been weeded (first by male hands, then I come along after - never good enough - fussy, huh?) and feed but only half has been mulched. In an effort to deter weeds, we cover it with wet newspaper before adding the sugar cane mulch.

Also following on from last week here are some more crab eggs.. or really crab excavations balls at very very low tide late yesterday afternoon like my other shots. You can tell it is spring. These were seen on yesterday's walk.

  Here is a dwarf yellow Kangaroo Paw and Breadfruit Tree at the T intersection on our street near the creek mouth. Railway bridge in distance also.

No more time here, must fly - but do rush over to the best exploring and learning blog hop around at Julia's  - the Queen of WOYWW for What Is On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

Happy WOYWW everyone and thanks so very very much for popping over for a peek and a chat. May God bless your day wherever you may be!

Shaz in Oz.x
PS I promised someone who blogs here in Oz this am that I would show them my non stick scissors and now I cant remember who it was - please email me or leave a comment and will try and let you show them by next post ..dont you hate memory block!?

ATC's made for WOYWW folk - yes, about time I showed you!

Hullo there dear patient folk in blogland!
I am sorry have not been blogging much as I have been sick with tooth infection again; on double antibiotics for two days before it took affect and now on the tail end of second lot of them.

They are great, but it does make you feel peaky. I have to have it out by day surgery later in the year as it is an awkward extraction.

Finally here are my first ever ATC's (Artist trading cards, and measure 2.5" x 3.5" in case you did not know what they are, as I was puzzled as to what they were some time back! ).

 I have made them for folk in WOYWW - when we had the 3rd anniversary at the end of May, 2012.

I was away when it was all announced and made it home just when it was due. Some kind folk still offered to send me one and waited patiently till I made mine and sent them off to them..

I took a while to make these as I really struggled with them. 
I had never made an atc before and really found them hard... maybe I wanted to make them too complicated...anyway dont think I will ever fall in love with the format.

First one I made for Jo (Twiglet) in exchange for her gorgeous dumfling, and made with Stampin up stamp set (Oriental) on sponged background. 

The second was made for Neet, was using a piece of  multiple layers of EP and stamp work originally made and explained back here.

Third one was for Bridget from Oz, and I made it with a scrap piece of card I had inked up with left over ink and glimmer mists  - had sprayed onto a craft mat and rubbed the card in it to get the mottled effect then stamped with a Penny Black stamp.

This last one is for Bella in South Africa and made with Stampscapes..(see her's here). It is a scrap piece again but brayered and then stamped and mounted with two mini tags with Stampin Up punch and stamp set.

I think I like it best but maybe that is because I love Stampscapes so much... think you either like them or you dont!

Okay I have been not to beach much lately but here are a couple of photos taken with my **mobile phone camera two weeks ago when my brother was visiting. (**For those of you who may not know all my beach shots are taken on it as rarely have my camera.)

I love the crab eggs as we used to call these when we were kids on this beach - they are of course the neat balls from crab excavations of the holes - at low tide.. 

We used to try not to tread on them because we really thought they were crab eggs!! and then here are a couple of views on our walk..

A sandcastle and two windsurfers in distance waiting for the wind to come up - but it did not..and yes, we have had days like this for all of August, smashing "winter" weather, it will be about low twenties today.

 As this post is concerned with WOYWW  and some folk may not know what it is; it a weekly blog hop called What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday and most kindly hosted each week by the instigator of this world wide blog hop, our Julia of Julia's Stamping Ground!

 Not much happening on my desk, just some new LOTV cards, mostly for Christmas toppers as they had free post at the mo, even to Oz - always a draw card - check them out here! 
And still not unclogged the glimmer mists and cosmic shimmer but was told by Joanna Sheen they are meant to be laid down for starters so did that (top right)! I have not finished the Stampscapes card (left) begun on post below yet, but it is one step further along.

Thanks everyone for popping over for a peek and a chat and may our dear Lord bless your day wherever you may be!
Shaz in Oz.x

WOYWW Stampscapes + Clogged Glimmermist????

 Hullo there everyone - sorry things have been a bit quiet but you know how it is! I have been silent as had doctor's visit down in Sydney last week and rejoicing over improvement in results,  yay! thanks LORD! :D

Here on my desk today... mm bit messy.  Supervisors in attendance  - they actually do live here but move around a bit of course!! 

 You can see some sprays of glimmermist, Cosmic shimmer mist, etc. to the right. These have become clogged up because I did not read the fine print about washing them after use to prevent clogging!!
DER!!! now I am wondering what to use to unclog them...was thinking of cleaning spray head with methylated spirits - or should I start with warm soapy water??

A new addition to left of my desk! Another "hand me down" from my sister for my new room - how cool is that? things to be sorted but great storage and height wise next to my desk.

 Also on desk are some brayer snippets decided to make into cards - you see I tend to do a number at once when playing then make them up later. I was looking at the Stampscapes one when came up with this idea.

With this one I wanted to make a square, with a border edge around it. All my dies were a fraction too small and I was loathe to cut the picture down.
Then I thought, why not cut the die to pieces? {Addendum - some folks seems to think I cut the die up- I did not! I cut the die-cut of black card  to pieces :D not the actual die.}
 This the beauty of this die, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis square, it lends it self to this exactly - see ... none of the pattern is lost. This would make very good corners for a larger card or if you want smaller corners, just use one of the smaller dies.

Anyway Julia, head teacher of WOYWW (oh yes, WE ARE looking at desks folks, cos it IS: "What  Is On Your Workdesk Wednesday?") will be proud of my brevity. Do pop over to her fantastic blog and join us today!

Thanks so much for popping over for a peek an a chat. May God bless your day wherever you may be!

Shaz in Oz.x

WOYWW - a W.I.P everyone!

Hullo there everyone and as promised a few weeks back.. I had a craft room to organise - didn't I? You know this is my very first post of my craftroom!

{{ INSERT -a very loud "Woohoo" here!!!!}}

For those of you not in the know - WOYWW is a weekly blog hop - What is On Your Wordesk Wednesday? and here we do a reveal of what we are working on at present - or not! check desks all over the world, (click here) at our brilliant hostess', Julia's blog and see what you may learn and glean. 

Warning picture heavy post..

My room is shown in pictures below and it is still a WIP or Work In Progress.

Distant view of crafty space, the back of **bookcase in foreground to be a display board - has thick card over old spare material form previous curtains. (**Snaffled from lounge room)

This is my crafty desk with a Marianne die and  3D card in process of being made for friend's wedding at weekend. Wallpaper and carpet are from 1974 when house was built and purple was all the rage - another bedroom has burnt orange carpet :D and others have wanted to get rid of it - but I like it! Wait long enough and it is back in fashion...

My WOYWW corner and the supervisors of all crafty activities here. Monkeys being not so naughty at present as there is too much going on!!

Bookcase behind desk, with Cuttlebug etc., the embossing folders, Spellbinders and other dies and black/orange folder has unmounted stamps (see here) which don't come in packs; others are stored below.

Cupboard behind desk and bookcase, and has a cube shelf system.

Inside of cupboard top half, shows my stamp mounted on left (from 1990's when I sorted them this way), unmounted stamps in sets, other items in drawers. Snippets mentioned on previous post are in categories in lower right drawer system, with Ink dusters atop.

This was originally a spice rack my dad made and they no longer wanted it and he asked if would I like it - posted it back here, one of my first WOYWW posts.

Isn't he beautiful? Here is a new little visitor who has just flown in all the way from UK, he s having a rest here before flying off to my sisters just up the road! Jo, she was was over the moon with your stunning creation.

and dear kind Jo sent me two gorgeous poppy dumflings when I only ordered one - isn't she so kind??? One of these was also for my sister Di, who had been very kind for me.

 Please do pop over to the Crafty Sister's blogspot (see my sidebar) and check out these over there. I know Jo had four of these lovely dumflings for sale - and Jo, I will give the other one to my youngest sister....
Thank you Jo, they are VERY stunning. I so adore this felting work you do! It is amazing to think the owl was made out of a piece of Laura Ashley woolen sweater, I think Jo said, and then she felts it and creates!

Oh, I just went to the post - yes it is still morning here (Wed.) and look what the postman brought today.. all the way from South Africa - thank you, Bella! I do so adore TH elephant stamp! It has been on my wish list for a loooong time and I saw it done with shrink plastic like this on Neil's blog some time back and marvelled at it, thanks so much Bella ..
Happy WOYWW everyone and thanks for popping over for a peek and chat and may God bless your day wherever you may be!
Shaz in oz.x
PS any who want a seashore photo fix see post before this - here..

Oh, and you Brits, fab Olympics - am loving them and getting very eye heavy as it is wrong time of day for us - could stay up till 6am each day, that would work - then go to bed!!