Playing with Macro

I've been exploring the possibilities with the Macro settings on my camera lately.  Here's a few piccies I've taken...

What do you like using your Macro settings to photograph?

Hope everyone has a super weekend!

End of Listing Sale - be quick!!

I have a small handful of items in my Madeit Store.  A couple of those items listings expire today.. so I thought I'd have a quick 'end of listing' sale!!!  Then I thought, that's not good enough, so decided on FREE postage within Australia too!!!  Catch is, the sale will only last for the 8 or so hours left on the listings!!!  I love seeing my treasures go to new homes, so feel free to check out what's on offer, and head over to the shop via the links under each item if you're interested!

"Congratulations" Card

Original Price: $3

Original Postage: $1.50

Current Price: $2

Current Postage:  Free in Australia

Find it here.

"Birthday Greetings" Card

Original Price: $3

Original Postage: $1.50

Current Price: $2

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

"Wonderful" Card

Original Price: $3

Original Postage: $1.50

Current Price: $2

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

"Adorable" Card

Original Price: $2.00

Original Postage: $1.50

Current Price: $1.00

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

Sage Ribbon Flower Clip

Original Price: $3.00

Original Postage: $2.00

Current Price: $2.00

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

Orange Fabric Yoyo Flower Clip

Original Price: $3.00

Original Postage: $2.00

Current Price: $2.00

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

Turquoise & White Spotty Fabric Flower Hair Clip

Original Price: $3.50

Original Postage: $2.50

Current Price: $2.50

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

Cream Flower Clip

Original Price: $2.50

Original Postage:$1.50

Current Price: $1.50

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

Swirly Ribbon Flower Clip

Original Price: $3.00

Original Postage:$1.50

Current Price: $2.00

Current Postage: Free in Australia

Find it here.

*****

Have fun shopping!!

My camping creative space + craft room reveal

Well this past week, my creative space moved to the outdoors.  I went camping with a bunch of family and friends and we had a great time.  But as desperate crafters, we (my sister and I) had to bring something along with us to do.  We took over the table with supplies every day.

I'll show you soon what we got up to.  

And here are a couple of long awaited photos of my re-vamped, more functional craft room.  I love my new desk!  Especially the fact that is it SO big that I can make messes as I go along, and there is still room to work hah!  It just means it takes longer to clean up after though!!

For more spaces duck over to Kirsty's.

Ahhh the serenity

What are you up to this long weekend? I'm camping!! Soooo relaxing. Only one small problem. Sinus infection!! Something always has to go wrong doesn't it? Regardless we're enjoying the cool country air up in the mountains, and being able to see the millions of stars at night sitting around the campfire.... which is what I'm sitting by as I type this post on my phone.

So far we've been to the markets, gone for a drive, my sister and I have been making the felt food from The Hungry Caterpilla book (photos to come next week), naps have happened, yummy food has been eaten and lots of laughing with friends and family. Over the next few days we're going to hire canoes and have fun in the river, go to the Cheese Factory, relax some more, make more felt food, play some board games, and take more naps. No complaints from me!!

Sorry no photos, too complicated for me to work out on a phone :). Hope you're all enjoying a lovely long weekend too!

My Creative Space - hair hiding accessories + the hair reveal + envelopes

*WARNING:  Sorry about bad pics, I had to get them off my phone.*

If you've not heard my hair story, feel free to read about it here.  If you have, you would understand why on the weekend, I was embarrased to go to church on Sunday with that hair.  So Saturday night I made a hair accessory... big enough to cover the whole front of my hair.  And you know what?  No one noticed my ugly hair.  Win!!

And I think my hair story can also be included in My Creative Space this week, because it has been a creative journey... to put it mildly.  So here's the final result.  Not perfect, but acceptable.  My sister put the colour in on Tuesday night - just in time to go back to work!

Much improved!

And last but not least, I've been having fun playing with my new envelope template.  I think I'll be making quite a few more, and even might pop a few in the shop!

Pop over to here to play along!

What I got up to today...

I loved today.  The first of our 5 day long weekend.  Let me step you through my productive, relaxing & enjoyable day.

6:00am - Woke up, looked at the time, said hell no, rolled over and went back to sleep :)

8:30am - Got up, got dressed, went into husby's study and joined in talking on the webcam to his family (who live in Texas)

10:00am - Started making some paper flower embellishments for my shop whilst still chatting with the husby's family... I'll list them soon.

11.30am - Realised how late it was and finished up our conversation with husby's family, headed downstairs and had something to eat

12 noon - Watched "Megamind" - which was surprisingly hilarious.  Would definitely recommend it.

1:30pm - Cleaned the kitchen and made a Shortbread cookie dough - and popped it in the fridge.

2:00pm - Started doing something I've wanted to do since we moved in 1 1/2 years ago.  Scrubbed the exterior of ALL the doors and drawers in my kitchen.  They were dirty when we moved in!!  Gross I know, but because it was on the outside it didn't bother me so much after a while!!  

3:30pm - Made Chocolate Mousse for dessert :)

4:00pm - Started rolling, cutting out and baking the shortbread.  I also watched another DVD whilst baking - which is why it took me so long to make the cookies....  I watched a movie that I already can't remember the name of.. BLAST!

Anyway, I am a self confessed cookie burner.  I have tried a few times in the past few months to conquer cookies, and not burn them.  Here's how they turned out.

5:30pm - Made dinner with husby.  It was delicious.  Steaks cooked on the BBQ, eggs, bacon, tomato & onion & a couple of chips.  Not exactly WW friendly.. but it's Easter!!  It will be a weekend of delicious foods here and there.  We ate on the couch and watched ANOTHER DVD!!  Sorcerer's Apprentice I think it was.  It was OK.  Few things were unfinished in the movie.. but I'll get over it :)

8:30pm - Cleaned up kitchen and came upstairs, and cleaned my craft room... to a certain degree.  A friend recently moved to the other side of the country and offered me a few bags of fabrics she no longer wanted.  I of course accepted :)  But am yet to unpack it all and find hangers to put it on and put in my wardrobe.  Maybe tomorrow???

9:00pm - Discover cookie dough in my rings and feel ill

9:15pm - Listen to my new Josh Groban CD... and work on a few more flowers. 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.  Don't you just love Public Holidays!!!

What did you get up to today?

Just a quick post to share a great giveaway..

Adrianne over at Little Bluebell has a great giveaway running - just wanted to share so you could enter aswell!  I don't often post about giveaways anymore, but this one is great!

Pop over here if you want to win this...

Good luck!

The anxiety that comes with pink hair.

Not entirely sure why, but it's been a rough trot for me lately.  Been feeling unmotivated - in general life.  It has been a bit of a struggle to get through the daily grind, when I would typically just potter along and not take notice of things so much.  Right now, all I seem to be able to stay on top of is the laundry, and sleep.  I haven't really cooked anything for weeks.  I'm grateful for a husband who realises I'm not myself and doesn't mind that I haven't made him a roast dinner or something delightful.  He's happy with a frozen meal, or some steamed dim sims.  My craft room has barely been graced with my presence lately either.  I have done a few projects.  Projects which I normally would have shared with you, but lacked the desire to photograph and load them up, and edit them, and then write a blog post.  You get the message. 

Yesterday I decided I wanted a pick me up.  Some may or may not know, I am a hairdresser.  I no longer work actively in the industry because it's RUBBISH money :)  My sister is a hairdresser too... which comes in handy.  I have been talking about going dark for quite a while now.  I have been blonde for around 3 1/2 ish years.  Naturally, I am a medium brown colour.  I decided I wanted to go back to my natural shade, but add a little touch of mahogany, just cause it's always looked nice on me.  My skin is quite pale, so going really dark doesn't work for me.  The word 'gothic' usually comes to mind :)

Yesterday didn't quite turn out as planned.  My knowledge of colouring chemicals was proven to be faulted from my years of not working in a salon to keep up to date.  It was also tested on information that you don't usually need.  Let me expand on that for you.  

Here is my hair before.

 

One hour later I was left with this.

Along with this pink hair, came a mild panic attack accompanied with chest pain.  This was NOT what I wanted.  This was supposed to make me feel better.  After a little cry, and after I calmed myself down from the panic and anxiety, I got myself together and went to my supplier.  Walked away with 2 lots of hair colour erasers, and 3 boxes of different shades of brown semi permanent colours.  You see, I had to buy everything I could have possibly needed at that time, because two hours later, I was due to have a client come to my house to have HER hair done, and by the time I finished her hair, all the supplier stores would be shut for the day.  SO I had to purchase all that I needed however way  my hair turned out.  Sorry, I suck at explaining.  Let me try again.  I was prepared for whatever my hair threw at me. 

So I started with Eraser box 1.  It smelt bad.  Like perm solution.  But I read all my instructions, got everything set up and slapped it into my hair at super speeds.  Five minutes after application... it looked like this.

Notice I haven't been including my face since I stuffed up the colour?  Yeah.  You don't need to see the look on my face!!

The eraser is fantastic.  It is new technology and doesn't use bleach - which destroys your hair!  It literally goes into your hair and erases as best as it can.  When I saw how well the eraser was working, I started to relax a little.  Lighter weird coloured hair, I can work with.  Dark weird coloured hair.. not so much.  

This is my hair after the first colour eraser.

At this point, I felt like a teenager who had black hair and tried bleaching it myself resulting in patchy nasty colour.  But, it was better then what I started with.  Afterall, in a short 15 minutes my hair had gone from super dark fluro pink, to random cherry red & blonde - not to mention the still dark roots in some places. 

I did another round of colour eraser on the red ends, and then for the last 5 minutes massaged it into my dark roots.  I didn't take a photo of the outcome because I forgot, and had to duck out to pick up husby from the train station to scare him with my hair :)  Basically I was able to reduce that cherry red by about half, and removed the dark from my roots.  So I was left with blonde at the top and red on the ends.  How delightful!

This is with the second lot of eraser on.

After dinner, husby came to my aid and helped me get a medium brown semi permanent colour in my hair.  The colour I ended up selecting to use was just a basic plain brown colour with a little bit of toner.  I didn't want to try anything too experimental - I just wanted to achieve something socially acceptable.  But of course, by this point, I was OVER IT.  I had showered 3 times that day, shampooed my hair about 8 times.  My scalp was mighty sore.  As the photo shows, I was spent.



 I don't have an after picture of the colour with my hair down, just one how it is pinned up for work today.

So it's back to being socially acceptable.  The roots are a boring flat brown, then all the ends are still quite a bright reddish brown.  I am going to let it rest for about a week.  Put in lots of treatments, and just deal with how ugly it looks (to me).  Then I hope to put in a permanent colour that will deposit a LITTLE red into the root area, and then cool down that red in the ends so that it's just an even medium mahogany brown. 

So I am REALLY looking forward to this gigantor long weekend approaching.  For those who are not Aussies - we not only have this Friday and Monday as public holidays for Easter, we also have Tuesday off for Anzac Day which is our version of Memorial Day.  So that means a 5 day weekend.  I have NOTHING planned.  NOTHING!!!  I am absolutely thrilled and have been thinking about how I want to spend these upcoming 5 days.  

A few things came to mind:

-  self administered pedicure

- doing a corned beef roast

- eating hot cross buns till the cows come home

- snuggling up on the couch with husby watching DVD's

- putting a few things in my madeit store

- putting together a few packages of goodies I want to sent to some friends

- maybe putting together an inspiration board

- make a few more rosette headbands like I'm wearing in that last pic

What do you have planned for the long weekend?

Hopefully next week I will come to you feeling refreshed, and know what the bejingies to do with my hair!!!

Blogger Butt Update - 1.1kg

Not a bad loss, considering it's Hot Cross Bun season.  1.1kg.  Can't be disappointed with that.  I don't really have much to say this week.  I still hate exercising.  I pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday - which is probably why I continue to lose weight.  But I like eating the same thing everyday.  I eat the following:

Breakfast:

- WW bar, either the Blackforest one, or the Ginger Kiss one

- a popper

- a sesame bar

Lunch:

- a sandwich or a WW frozen meal

- a mini bag of chips (my daily salt fix)

- a fruit jelly cup

- a low fat yogurt/custard

Of course a few hot cross buns have been thrown into the mix lately too...  

I mix it up for dinner of course.  But that's pretty much my daily menu.  It's tasty and I still lose weight, so I ain't changing nothing!!!

I do think that stress has helped me lose weight lately too.  My life is hectic and it makes me sad and distressed.  I don't have children yet.. I'm not supposed to be this busy.  Sigh.  I'm supposed to have too much free time and have nothing to do, and never get behind in housework or laundry.  This annoyance for some reason has been causing anxiety pains in my chest - which also annoys me.  Thankfully there is a gigantor 5 day long weekend happening soon thanks to public holidays coinciding.  Thank you for being on my side public holidays.  Best part is, I have NO plans for those days off.  It will be marvelous.

Link in over here.

My Creative Space - making and fixing

Things have been quiet around here on the creative front.  My husbands new work schedule is grueling and in hope that I will see him on occasion I have adapted to his schedule.  So I am up at the crack of dawn, and my normal creative time at night is gone, because I'm usually snoring at an early hour.  But last night I was fed up and brought a few things to bed to work on before I went to sleep.

I fixed a necklace that broke over 3 years ago...

And fixed a few other necklaces while I was at it...

 

And today, thinking about having a play with making some more jewellry.  I have such a big collection of goodies in this bag...

Not that I need any more jewellry or anything...

Join in over at Kirsty's.

Staying in the loop...

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As some of you may or may not know, I work for an Accounting Firm.  My job is a Receptionist, with a Marketing twist.  I manage our companies Facebook, Twitter & Blog.  Every day I'm at work, I find fantastic articles and type them up, copy and paste them, pretty them up, and post them on our blog.  I was just scrolling through the blog checking it all out and was thinking about how under utilised our blog is.  We have two followers.  One is me, and another a friend of mine.  We spread our blog posts through our Facebook & Twitter, but people don't seem to grasping the technical side of things!  

Recently I've put up some fantastic articles about the following topics:

• Changes to dividend payments - read here
• Employee superannuation - read here
• One of our FAQ's - How to pay the ATO - read here
• Fringe Benefits Tax Audits - read here and here
• Information about SMSF's - read here, here, here and here
• Investing in Property - read here
• Saving for Retirement - read here
• Identity Theft (TFN) - read here

It is FULL of interesting articles and important information about legislation changes and updates.  I just thought this would be a great forum to let some of you know about my work blog in case you are someone who may be a small business owner, or own some rental properties, or looking into opening a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF).  So feel free to follow along if you like staying in the loop with the taxation side of things.  I'd love to see these articles benefiting people from all over the country, and world and not just our client base.