Flying to the land of the long white cloud...and chip packets

Well, my OWOH giveaway is all finished, and popped into the post this afternoon, off on its way to Sheree at the very tip of the land of the long white cloud.  I took lots of photos, and REALLY want to post some here...so I thought maybe a couple more little teasers wouldn't spoil Sheree's surprise.

a few words....

...a little pencil scribbling...

...all wrapped up and ready to go.

Speaking of wrapped up, I'm a sucker for beautiful packaging.  I don't mean excessive, 'lets see how many trees we can waste to make this (probably) pointless piece of junk look desirable'.  You know the kind of thing I'm sure, where the item inside is about a tenth of the size of the packaging, which itself is an annoying mixture of recyclable and non-recyclable materials rendered inseparable through some secret nuclear fusion procedure.  With some wire ties thrown in for good measure.  No, I'm talking about things that serve their purpose, are simple and functional, and yet beautiful.  I think the Japanese are the best at this, they have, quite literally, taken wrapping to an artform.  So I just HAD to rescue this gorgeous...chip wrapper.  Yes, this delightful piece was wrapped around a cellophane bag of...Octopus crackers.  Kind of like Prawn Crackers, only...Octopus.  My cousin lives in Tokyo at the moment, and he came home at Christmas bearing gifts, mostly edible ones, and this was among our presents.  The crackers themselves were quite nice, but it was the wrapper I coveted.  I have no idea what it says, probably something entirely inane like "Crispy Octopus Crackers, baked not fried", but I don't care, it's a beautiful thing, and the world would be a much better place if all chip packets were this delightful!

OWOH Winner...and my 'Painting for Haiti' is sold!

Well, it's time to announce the winner of my mystery giveaway.  It turned out rather more complicated than I thought, but then I hadn't expected 267 people to leave comments!  I found I couldn't print my comments out to put into the hat, and because I didn't fancy writing out 267 names, I thought I'd use random numbers, but the thought of counting through all my comments onscreen made me go cross-eyed.   I decided there MUST be a simple way to number individual comments, so I don't have to manually count through them.  So that set me off on a search for some html code that a complete novice like myself could insert.  Finally found a method that sounded RELATIVELY straightforward...but still took several attempts to get it to work.  Phew!  OK, so now I've got my comments individually numbered, so I found an online random number generator to use.  But then, the old-fashioned romantic in me reminded me that I'd mentioned an old-fashioned hat-drawing.  Hmmm, well, I suppose I could write 1-267 on small bits of paper and put them in.  But then I thought of a better idea!  I generated 20 random numbers between 1 and 267 using the online thingy, then put THEM into the hat.  And here's the results!

Into the Hat they go.

Now I need a couple of little people to help!

And the winner is.............

Comment No. 14

And who is that?  Back to my blog, making sure I'm checking page ONE of the comments (because the numbering starts again from 1 on each subsequent page...bah humbug...so it says that comment No. 215 is comment No. 15).  And No. 14 is..........BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....no that's not my teeth chattering, it's a drum roll.....................the lovely Sheree, from Raven Moon Magic, in beautiful New Zealand (or Middle Earth, if you prefer!)

Now, I can't show you any photos of the finished piece YET...because it needs some finishing touches added to it, but also because I want it to remain a surprise until Sheree receives it.  So I'll take lots of photos, and as soon as I know it has reached its new owner safe and sound, I'll post them here so everyone can see.

A Painting for Haiti

Well, I woke up to some lovely news this morning, an email from PayPal saying that someone has bought "Wherever I lay my hat".  So my painting will shortly be winging it's way to its new owner (who by the way, found me through OWOH), the generous Carol in California USA, and $100USD has been donated to World Vision.

Goodness me, I've WON!

Well, knock me down with a feather and call me Prudence...I've won not one, but TWO OWOH giveaways.  Woo Hooooo!  Look what lovely things will be in my clutches soon...that sounds like there should be an evil cackle to follow, but I'm feeling far too happy, so I'll giggle like a silly schoolgirl instead!  From Salihan in Sydney (check out her blog, she has some seriously cute crochet critters), this cute little fellow...an Apple Mac to sit on my Apple Mac!  And from Michelle at The Muse Factory, this scrumptious bracelet.  I am SO spoiled!

Last Chance for Giveaway...and other sundry items!

Giveaway ends 12.01am (GMT...which is about 8am Monday here!) February 15th.

Just a reminder to all who pop in, especially the lovely Followers who have been with me since I first took shaky steps on wobbly legs into Blogland and who may not have entered yet, that you have a little less than 24 hours left to leave a comment on this post HERE (not this post here!) for a chance to win my OWOH giveaway.  All you need to do is a) have a blog, b) have a way I can contact you, and c) leave a comment on my OWOH post.  I have been busy working on my mystery gift, and it has worked out so well I almost don't want to part with it!  Here's another sneak preview!

The Improved Kitchenette

Well, what a difference!  I think the green works beautifully, and now that I've filled it all up with the pretty bits and pieces of china that I've bought or inherited (I must admit to a slight china fetish!) it looks fab.  And even better, now that my china is easily at hand, I'm more likely to actually use it...how nice to open up those lovely doors and think 'hmmm, which one shall I have my cup of tea in today?'

How to have a thumping good time with an 8 year old!

Well, I got a ring from the bookshop the other day...my copy of Eco Colour by India Flint was in!  I've wanted it for ages and finally decided to treat myself and order it.  Isn't it delicious to look at ?!

So eager to get into it, and with a bored 8 year old underfoot, we decided to try this!

And these are the results!  Pretty cool.  Apparently they should last relatively well, (after I've given them a steam iron), as long as they don't get vigorously washed too often.  Well, it kept the munchkin amused for at least 10 minutes!

Oh yes...I forgot to mention...a thumping good time because we used the other half's large rubber mallet and, well, thumped!

Some day my prints will come...

...and now, after much faffing about from yours truly, they will be available in my Etsy shop.  I have a small selection of A4 prints currently available, but I'm intending to add more in the next couple of weeks, and also A5 sizes.  For those of you working in inches, A4 is approximately 8" x  11.5", and A5 is approximately 6" x 8".  That's the paper sizes, the images are slightly smaller to allow for framing.  I'm going to also offer a set of the 4 'Girl in the Boat' prints, but that will come in the next few days, so if you'd like all 4, hang about for a bit, and they'll be available at a lower price than purchasing each one individually.  Please pop over and have a peruse!  Here are some ready and waiting right now.

Teaser time!

It's been a busy week, kids back at school but my little one is doing staggered days for two weeks, so I don't know whether I'm coming or going!  But I thought I'd post a few little 'teasers' of my OWOH giveaway (see here if you haven't joined in for my giveaway yet!), just to whet your appetite!  So far....there is a bit of this involved.......

and then there's some of that.....

and a bit of this happening on the outside....

some of that on the inside.......

and lastly, some of this.......

and then again...I may change my mind completely and it won't have any of this at all!

Speaking of changing my mind, it's not exactly the weather for crocheting, but I've decided to give this old cardi I bought a while back a makeover and so am taking it from basic black to something that I hope will be a little more interesting.  I thought it would be a nice, practical wardrobe item when I bought it on sale, but no, it's just never worked for me, the tie waist isn't particularly flattering because it's rather BIG on me, and it has just hung on the back of my door for too long now.  As I am terminally disorganised, I haven't got a 'before' picture, so this is a 'part-way-through-could-go-anywhere-from-here' picture, having added a fluffy blue-green edging.  I'm considering adding a point to the hood, but not sure how, so there will be some fiddling and twiddling to come!  I might keep it, or it might end up in my Etsy shop (or the Op shop if it doesn't work!).

And finally, another project, my lovely old kitchenette, bought off a friend for a song and in need of some love.  I thought initially that I might sand it right back, but it is honeyish wood panels in a jarrah frame, so would be very dark.  It looks rather lovely in my kitchen just in white, so I might leave it like that (I did entertain the idea of bright red for a bit though), but the inside needs some attention, as you can see.  I wish I knew who invented cork-look plastic contact, I'd lock them in a room for a year with nothing but Dan Brown novels, and a dvd of Judge Judy.  The beige paint HAS to go, and I was just going to paint the whole inside white...but now I'm rather tempted to do it a nice apple green.....hmmmmm.

And then of course...there are a few drawings that need to be finished!

Faeries in the kitchen....

A small faery, and very cheeky I must say, popped into my kitchen the other day.  I'm not sure whether this face was a reaction to my cooking, or just general faery cheekiness...or quite possibly both, given that this particular faery has got quite fussy of late, and will only eat Cheesy Tuna Pasta, parmesan cheese, popcorn, and pickled cucumbers (not necessarily all at the same time though).  Oh, and grapes...but only the seedless kind.  I really must post a FINISHED drawing sometime, mustn't I?!

Oh the deliciousness of parcels in the post...

...and from foreign parts no less!  I've been meaning to post about this lovely little package that arrived last week from Claire over at The Fairy Tale Cupboard, but me being me I hadn't got around to it.  A beautiful selection of Fairy Tale postcards, 2 of each!  And an extra special one from Oona Patterson, who wrote Ream, the lovely book I won in Claire's competition.  I hope you can tell, that the tiny figure of Ream herself has been cut out of the postcard (that's my finger you can see through it)!  There was much amazement from young and old in the Mermaid household as to the detail.

And what should arrive today but this lovely parcel...my prize!

And have a look inside...isn't it gorgeous?