Petrina McDonald

so much to do.....

2009-11-11T20:25:00.004+10:00

...so little time!
I'm sitting here amongst all my usual mess (yes, my corner of the lounge room is commonly referred to as "'Mum's mess") with a rapidly growing collection of doilies and Little Golden Books to one side of me and another rapidly growing pile of year 8 visual diaries to mark and year 11 tasks to monitor on the other side. It's that time of the year when the marking grows out of control and the creating time comes off second best. I get the guilts when I ignore the 'have to' stuff but I get the irrits if I don't get any creating time so it's balance I seek!! Oh well, if things were balanced there would be nothing to strive towards then would there?!!
So of course I've gone and thrown everything out of whack and opened up a madeit shop haven't I!!! What's one more thing to occupy my time?
So if you'd like to have a gander at what I have on offer - here it is! Just click on the logo to go to my 'shop'.

Nothing like a bit of self promotion....;-)

jacking the stash

2009-11-07T17:00:00.003+10:00

Well we weren't actually supposed to jack eachother's stash but when you pop over to Aussie Scrapjack this month you will see that it really does look like Leeann and I have been diving into the same stash for our layouts LOL! Sharing the doily love ;-)
Lots of inspiration over there this month - if you haven't joined in for a while now might be the time.......

don't ask me how it works.....

2009-11-03T20:58:00.001+10:00

....but over there in my sidebar is a box showing a thingo on facebook where I have uploaded pics of what I have been doing with my stuff I made for the art market last month. I don't know how the heck it works but there it is!!! >>>>>>

covered buttons

2009-11-02T21:07:00.004+10:00

Covered buttons have always been cool, right? I thought they were back in the eighties when Mum put them on a shirt she made me ;-) No, really - they are cool. And they aren't all that new in scrapping or anything but I did think I was pretty clever last week when I made some with some ribbon scraps for a few Craft Queen layouts I was working on. I mean you would think I would be getting sick of ribbon by now but, no - not me!! I love the challenge. And ribbons are so PRETTY!!
Of course it is even better when the covered button kits are only 50c for a pack of ten from an op shop ;-)

As for the weekend in Brisbane - I had a great time :) So relaxing just hanging out with the fam.... being the kid instead of the mum...... being the aunty for a bit too. I seriously think Renita must be getting Amber's eyelashes dyed or something........

proud mama moment

2009-10-30T08:59:00.002+10:00

Last night Angus played his violin as a part of the year three strings group. It was their first public performance and they were FANTASTIC!! I was blown away (and had a few tears as well of course!). It sure does sound different in a proper theatre when they all play together (rather than in a tiny bedroom with the door shut).
There were about 50 or so of them on stage.He was a little nervous before hand - but he just looked so darn cute! ...awwwww.......

It was a very late night for us - almost 10pm by the time we got home and into bed. Needless to say they are both very weary this morning :(

Oh well! This proud mama is actually taking a bit of a break this weekend and leaving them to it! After I do a few hours at work this morning I am flying to Brisbane for a few days for some much needed R&R. I'm hoping to catch up with Jen and check out some markets and stuff - lucky me!!

just because

2009-10-27T19:42:00.002+10:00

I've been doing quite a few 'just because' layouts lately. They are good for when I feel like scrapping and have lots of pretty things to use but can't be bothered engaging my brain to make it all meaningful. Speaking of pretty things - isn't it lucky that I can have this photo of Thea on my desk seeing she grazed all down the side of her face on Saturday in a 'wheelbarrow race incident' with her brother. Grrrr. No photos of that thank goodness!

Looking around a few of my fave blogs tonight I was really excited to come across some news on Sara Gladman's blog. Remember this:

Well if you go over to Sarah's blog and read this post you will see some letters of thanks from the recipients of the albums - incredibly heartwarming! It is just so lovely to see such an amazing project go from start to finish and see what a difference it is making to some people in need of hope.

another weekend already?

2009-10-23T20:55:00.003+10:00

They seem to be coming around quickly - this week has flown! It's funny, whilst you are in the middle of the week it seems like it is dragging on forever but once the weekend is here it flies by. The middle of the week saw John have a bit of a health scare but he's ok now and will be having a few tests over the next couple of weeks. We'll be embarking on a few lifestyle changes - the first of which saw us all go out together for a walk this afternoon so that was really lovely.
Also high on my list of priorities this weekend is some scrapping (so selfish, aren't I???!!!!). I'm really looking forward to catching up with the girls for a scrap on Sunday :)

Last of all tonight I have some art to share (by a real artist LOL!) Some people who read this blog might know of my friend Jenny who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. Currently she is in Brisbane, away from her husband and two sons, receiving radiation treatment. She's already been through the rounds of chemo. I am constantly amazed by her strength.
You can read all about her artwork here and while you are over there having a look you can vote for her work. She has entered it in a competition over on the Mural of Survivorship website. A bit of info:

Open to those who have been affected by breast cancer, their families and friends, the Mural of Survivorship competition encourages people to enter an artwork that they believe depicts some of their experiences.

All forms of artwork, can be entered and will be displayed on this website during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October 2009.

The winners will be announced during November 2009. Participants will also have a chance to vote for their favourite entry in October and November 2009. The “People’s Choice Award” winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize.

And so the weekend begins. Have a good one everybody!

dribs and drabs of creativity

2009-10-18T20:06:00.005+10:00

I was going to call this post 'a burst of creativity' but I don't think that would be accurate. I have plenty of ideas but never seem to be able to do anything all in one go (a familiar story to many people I am sure!!) so dribs and drabs it is!

I had Thea home sick on Thursday and we decided we might as well make the most of it and make a little coverall thingo for her to wear over her togs in summer. I have every intention now of making one or two for myself!! We just used a wrinkly cotton cheesecloth fabric (technical name??) in a natural colour along with a small selection from my doily stash. We got to sketching and measuring and after several interrupted hours, hey presto!! The dyeing took a little experimenting to get it to go from yellow to green to turquoise and I think I will do it differently next time, but she loves it and I think it does look rather cool.
It's a shame I can't say the same for the layouts that have been sitting half started on my desk this week. I get more than frustrated when I start something and can't get at it, so this afternoon I went hard and very quickly spat out these 5 layouts. Yes, spat out. Not entirely happy with them in a creative sense but it felt good to do some from our camping adventure and that is all that matters.
This one is one of those 'get out of a bad mood' layouts. My jacaranda tree does it for me every time.
And this one came straight after that one for a very similar reason! It's been a bit of a rough week with madam.... the three-nights-in-a-row-coughing-all-night-saga that has plagued her this winter has been back this week. As much as I want to whinge about how tired I am from being up with her at night I know that it is even worse for her poor kid. No one in our house is very friendly when they are sleep deprived.
I used a few leftover bits and pieces from my market stuff on this one.

Oh well, another big week ahead. Almost ready to start counting down to the holidays again!

our new home?

2009-10-14T21:06:00.005+10:00

We've been at the BRAG so many times over the last week we might as well live there!

On Saturday Thea and I spent an hour there as Crush Ambassadors, surveying visitors and promoting the Crush Festival. That was cool. For anyone who was wondering how the logo turned out after we participated in the photo-shoot at the beach (I'd link back to that event which I posted on here but it's getting too late for my overtired brain) here it is:
On Sunday was the Art Market of course - Thea managed to stay and help me until after lunch which was an awesome effort ("no show without Punch"). A lot of the other stallholders kept commenting about how well she behaved which made me very proud. She thoroughly enjoyed herself - as did I. I made a decent number of sales but most importantly I got lots of lovely positive comments. It was a fun day.

I'm pretty sure that the highlight for Thea was watching a nearby artist work on a watercolour painting - she was fascinated! And the artist gave it to her when she was finished - lucky girl. (not the one on the easel - oops, bit of a bad pic!)And tonight we were back there again! It was the opening of the annual student exhibition, Emerge. This is part of a body of work submitted by my year 8 class from last term - I was so happy with how it turned out (even if the other part of it was displayed at the other end of the gallery!). About 2 seconds after I took this both kids had their fingers in their ears because they thought the band was too loud!
Phew! Only Wednesday and it feels like it has already been a very long week. Looking forward to a much needed day off tomorrow to restore some sanity (hopefully).

we have a winner

2009-10-09T20:51:00.002+10:00

In the absence of anyone young and good looking awake at this time of night I had to just get John to 'pick a number'. He chose number 7 (I didn't have 39 comments for him to choose his 'lucky number') so the winner of one of my little pencil cases is Leah. Yikes! Leah is really good at sewing and making cool things!!! I hope you like your prize Leah - you'll have to let me know which colour you would like :)

Well - wish me luck for Sunday - nervous and excited all in the one breath!

back again!

2009-10-06T19:35:00.005+10:00

Yes, 2 posts in the one day! Isn't it always the way that when you are busy busy busy you can get a lot more done in your day?
I don't know if I was actually that busy today - there were a lot of things I SHOULD have been doing - but I just decided that I needed to scrap a couple of photos I had printed last week. And I had all these bits and pieces of crochet everywhere......
Yes Mum, I think you are a total groover!!! Love this photo :)

In other news......the little mini artwork I created for Tamar's "Creating Hope" project has been uploaded to her blog. This is one of the images from it - you'll have to head over there to see the rest of them (and the 'how to' if you would like to make something similar). While you are there you might consider a donation to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation - a very worthy cause. You can then go in the running to win not only this mini artwork, but several others that are being revealed every couple of days.
No doubt I will be back on Friday to draw the winner of my little giveaway......

this month over at Aussie Scrapjack...

2009-10-06T10:53:00.004+10:00

...we are having a free for all!
We've been given free reign to choose any scrapper we admire and to jack one of their layouts - or in my case to jack more than one! I just couldn't make a decision on which of Emily Falconbridge's layouts I liked the best so I did a bit of a combo of a few of my faves. The plaited fibres and the big flower made from bits and pieces are the particular elements I thought said "emily". I am rather happy with how it turned out (even if Miss Thea is looking like a grump in the photo!)
As per usual there is plenty of inspiration going on at ASJ - some fabulous Aussie talent is being jacked this month.

more market goodies...and the little giveaway

2009-10-03T20:17:00.004+10:00

With today being the 2nd last day of the holidays (I am squeezing all possible goodness out of them!!!) I went hard with my sewing and crafting. It felt soooo good!!! Actually, the best part about it was that I had my little sidekick with me chattering away and helping me out and creating her own little goodies as well. I really have missed our crafting time since she has been at school.

For the blog lurkers who are also facebook lurkers (and participants LOL!) some of these images will be familiar. (I have actually uploaded a whole album of my market stall pics on facebook here.)

So up the top there is a little banner (or bunting as it is sometimes called) made from some thrifted jeans and other up-cycled bits and pieces as well as another fave LGB - "Scuffy the Tugboat". I think the photo could be improved there but you get the idea. Really fun to make. No idea on price though - any suggestions?

Another super-fun thing here to make - a sort of bowl made from one of my doilies (I am still not sure on the spelling of doiley? doilie? anyone???) I've got a few of these ;-)
Some more cards and envelopes.
Another little cosmetic bag - similar to the one I made Thea for her birthday.
And some more pencil cases.
For anyone in Bundaberg - the market I am participating in is the Sunday Art Market at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery in Barolin St on Sunday the 11th of October from 10am -3pm.

So back in my last post I mentioned a little blog giveaway, didn't I? Well then.....how about if you leave a comment on this post, I will chuck all the names in a hat and draw out a winner by the end of this week (Friday). I'll give away one of my pencil cases (without the pencils.......). Hmmm...might be a bit empty though without the pencils. I'll chuck in a few scrappy/crafty type goodies instead. Internationals welcome. Only one pencil case giveaway though - I'm too scared my table will look bare at my stall!!!

So leave me a comment before Friday and I will put your name in the draw...... a constructive comment on prices would be reaaaallllyyyyy helpful ;-) I'll open my comments up to everyone (so non-bloggers can enter) so if you are someone who has been making excuses about comments being too hard - here's your chance!!

some of the doileys...

2009-10-01T15:53:00.003+10:00

....have been turned into pencil cases.

I've been photographing everything I have made for my stall so far and will be uploading over the next few days. I'm desperately needing some feedback on what might or might not sell and what sort of prices to ask....perhaps I should upload them all on the weekend and do a little giveaway. Anyone interested?

i've been creating....

2009-09-30T21:19:00.003+10:00

In between lots of wonderful school holiday visitors today, I've been sewing and creating like a woman possessed! Some of those wonderful colourful doileys are now very happily sewn into little bags and pencil cases (no photos yet) in preparation for the stall I am having at the annual Sunday Art Market at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery in 10 days time. In the mean time, here are a few pics of the cards and collages I've been making as well. Yes, that's the Poky Little Puppy - one of my favourite Little Golden Books. It took me a long time to cut that one up - in fact I have been cutting a few of them up. The kids were horrified. Of course I am only cutting up ones that were previously unwanted (I get them from op shops) - I would never cut up the "real" books (the ones that Mum has stashed at her house from when I was a child). But I am coping ok with cutting up the ones that other people didn't want - giving them a new life so to speak.......and I am having a bit of fun mucking around as well :)

success!!

2009-09-28T21:03:00.004+10:00

he tamed the beast!
Well, he picked up a mud crab. Eight years old and he finally gets to pick up a mud crab. Better late than never I say.
Of course I had to show him how it was done.
And I was taught by the best of course ;-)
Yes, they tasted very, very good.
Thanks for a fantastic camping/crabbing/bonding experience Macka - we had the best time!

So many more pics from our holiday - so many things we managed to cram into those 7 days! So many more to cram into the remainder of the holidays. We'll need a holiday to recover.

back in 7

2009-09-20T21:11:00.005+10:00

The kids and I are heading off for the school holidays and John will be joining us in Brisbane next weekend. We have lots planned - Angus and I will be camping out with Macka for a few nights and Thea has grand plans to be spoilt rotten with Nanna. I think we are all going to have a pretty good time. There are a few people who are just a bit excited!!
Funnily enough, with the end of school for what seemed like the longest term ever, I have been feeling super creative! I spent a lot of yesterday mucking around with bits and pieces - sewing, stitching, sticking, cutting, gluing and drawing - just the usual stuff I love to do! These are some of the bits and pieces I have been playing with - almost enough to start a rainbow farm!! Let's hope the mojo is still here this time next week.

lucky me

2009-09-15T20:42:00.003+10:00

Last week a friend asked me to attend a ball with her because her husband's golf tee off time was changed and he couldn't go. Lucky me!
After some deliberation (attending a ball is so not my thing) I decided to throw caution to the wind and say yes. What to wear?
I searched through my cupboard and found this vintage black dress that I had rescued from the chuck out pile after John's Aunty Hope died. I rescued quite a few of them but until now had never worn any. This one is my favourite (circa 1960 methinks?) so I was so glad I got to wear it. Lucky me!
And did I have a good time at the ball? Yes!! Lucky me! I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to try something different.

I am counting down the days until school holidays (actually I started counting about a month ago....) and now there are finally only 2 working days left for me with a lunch date on Thursday to break it up a little - LUCKY ME!!

When you get to this stage of third term you really have to look for good stuff ;-)

nearly friday....

2009-09-10T20:49:00.004+10:00

....and I think it is fair to say that the last 7 days have been tiring for the whole family. Grandad's funeral on Tuesday went really well. It feels strange to say that I actually enjoyed the day because it was very hard emotionally, but it felt so good to say goodbye properly. Yes, it was sad, but it was also a wonderful celebration of good times. For us there was no question of whether or not the kids would be there and so many people commented on how lovely it was for them to be a part of saying goodbye. I think they were a bit of a welcome distraction as well.
Here they are all dressed up in their finery - I spent a relaxing day last Saturday making Thea a special dress for the occasion. She was so proud to wear it too which made me oh so happy.
They were so well behaved and I was so proud of them. Before we went home we had a bit of a walk through Queens Park in Maryborough - such a beautiful park. Angus and Thea really enjoyed the time with their cousins.
Of course a pic of Eli just has to be included - he is growing so fast!
In line with 'looking after myself' today, after doing all the washing and blah household jobs, I actually did a bit of scrapbooking. It was so relaxing! Paper, ribbons, a bit of paint (and a cute pic of course!) and I am in the zone - too easy. What would I do without my hobby to keep me sane???

happy father's day to me!

2009-09-06T20:21:00.004+10:00

Well, happy birthday to me actually. Yes, sharing it with Father's Day this year. The kids brought us both breakfast in bed (Vegemite toast and a cup of tea for me!) and then we spent 3 hours down at Coonarr Beach doing a spot of fishing. We only caught tiddlers but it was still good. I also managed a little nap on the couch this arvo followed by some creative time - lucky me! This is what I was working on:
I don't think I can really call that a layout - more like a bit of a collage I think. It's for our September Scrapjack - you'll have to head over to the site to check out who we are jacking this month ;-)
And while I am linking out....go and have a look at the new blog banner I made for Craft Queen - it's a cutie :) Nicole also has a giveaway that just needs a comment for you to win - easy peasy!
Big week ahead. I'm doing it.

thanks so much...

2009-09-06T20:13:00.002+10:00

...to all the lovely people who left a comment on my last post. I've tried to thank everyone whose email address I already have, but for those of you I couldn't contact, please accept this as my thanks. It really warmed my heart each time I checked my messages and received such warm wishes and prayers from friends new and old. Thank you :)

his wish

2009-09-03T11:12:00.002+10:00

I love this photo from our wedding - Grandad looks so cheeky and full of fun...and I look so....young!
During the night last night Grandad died in his sleep.
Ever since Grandma died nearly 8 years ago it has been his wish to be with her in heaven and it has finally come true. We are sad that he is gone, glad that we had a good visit with him a few weeks back and grateful for all the years we have had with him. Now we can all be reassured and happy that he is at peace.
Still, it is a shock, he wasn't even sick.

big weekend

2009-08-30T20:34:00.004+10:00

isn't it always?

Our schedules were full all weekend with sporting, social and cultural commitments each day. It's nice to be busy but the half hour I lost to a nap this afternoon was very much needed - I couldn't keep my eyes open!

Angus and I went to the multi-cultural festival this morning in the hope of trying lots of yummy new treats. The food was a little disappointing this year; none of my favourite Asian delicacies like sticky rice in banana leaves....instead I settled on something from the Hare Krishna stand which was rather tasty.

We really enjoyed the Aboriginal dancers from Eidsvold and Angus was as keen as anything to have his face painted - there was ochre all through his hair and an emu feather stuck to the back with beeswax. He and his mate thought they were so cool and wore the feathers to a birthday party this afternoon!

Once again he had a go on the rock climbing wall - he made it all the way to the top on the third go and rang the bell! I'm not too sure what was multi-cultural about a giant plastic rock climbing thing but oh well.
I would have liked a bit more creative time this weekend, but by the time I cleaned up my desk it was dinner time. I suppose that's the sacrifice you have to make every 6 weeks or so (cleaning up the mess that is!). Amongst the junk I found this layout I created last weekend. The crochet flowers with pearl centres are from Craft Queen - and the two other flower/crochet embellishments are from the flowers I created for the swap with the Simply Crafty girls last Sunday.

It's another big week ahead too - only 3 weeks until the holidays - yeehah!!

as far as we are concerned...

2009-08-25T20:37:00.003+10:00

...spring is here!
(well the jacaranda tree and I think so, anyway - hurrah!)

putting the fun in fun run

2009-08-23T19:21:00.004+10:00

It's easy to do when you are 8 years old.....not so when you are nearly 38 years old and recovering from a yucky illness. But the three of us today went in and did our very best for the challenge for cancer fun run at the botanic gardens and it really made for a wonderful morning. (Poor John was away on a fishing trip and missed all the fun!)
Angus did the 2km run with a heap of his mates and we think he came in 3rd for the under 9 age group (there was no group for under 8s or any of the younger kids - they were all in together). I was really proud of him. He wants to do the 4km run next year. Thea and I did the 2km walk - next year she wants to do the run 2km run! Maybe I will work on my fitness so I can run with her.......? We are determined we will at least get some sponsorship and raise lots of cash next year - something I KNOW I can do!

The weather is really starting to warm up now so it looks like winter is over which makes me oh so happy :) I think I even spotted a very early purple bud on the jacaranda tree yesterday - bring it on!