America... America

Hi

I made it. I'm here.

I haven't blogged for a while as I have had jam packed days. We arrived in Vegas after about 20 hours travel. Surprisingly not too tired. Then managed to squeeze as much as we could into the next 4 days. Saw a magic show and "STOMP". There was so many casinos and lights and woo it was crazy. I must say 4 days was enough for me.

We then jumped on the plane with only a few issues. Like they had changed our flight on us and not told us. So we had to change it back and got the last 5 seats on the plane, and the people behind us in the line didn't make it. Fun.

Got to Jacksonville, Florida and we were there but our bags were not. They missed the connecting flight. Only had to wait an hour as they were coming on the next one, but we got free dinner vouchers because of the inconvenience caused. Woo hoo.

Then we go to Disney World and get on a roller coaster and me and my 9 year old get stuck sideways on the ride when it grinds to a halt mid way though. We have to be escorted off the ride by the attendant after he has extricated us out of the ride. That is the first time I have been stuck on a ride. Luckily we weren't too far off the ground. I did go on it again when it started up. Very exciting.

Well I must go its 1.45 in the morning and I should get some sleep as we have another day at Disney World tomorrow. Hopefully I wont get stuck in any rides this time.

Stay tune for more exciting stuff.

:)

Tomorrow we fly away

Well it is not exactly tomorrow now more like this morning. As per my last post I have left it all till the last minute again and have just spent the last 5 hours packing, cleaning the house, cant have my sister staying in a pig sty, running around doing all the last minute things you need to do before a holiday. But I think at last I have it all covered. I hope.

So in five and a half hours we are off to the airport and up, up and away. Now I can get excited. Now that I have everything done. I must go to bed though and get some sleep or this jet lag is going to hit me hard.

Next time you hear from me I will be on the other side of the world.

See you then.

4 Sleeps to Go

Only 4 sleeps to go. Woo Hoo. Can't wait. I finished up work yesterday and now have time to prepare all the packing and stuff. Lots of stuff. I have just had a little think about what I need to take and am already feeling overwhelmed. I hope I don't forget anything. But like I said to my husband, we are not going to a third world country so if we forget anything we can just buy it, right? Hopefully. Anyway I am the queen of the last minute so I have done no packing yet. I will hopefully not leave it till the last minute this time.

There was a time a few years ago when we were going on a trip to Vanuatu. As usual it came to the night before and, you guessed it, not packed. I tried to pack but I ended up spending the night in the toilet throwing up. Not good. I thought after a good nights sleep I would feel better and get up early and pack. We had to leave home by 5.30 am to get to the airport (2 hours away). Well the alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 5.30am when we were supposed to leave. Well we all flew into a panic and packed at the speed of lightning, rushed out the door and started madly calling the airline to tell them we were still coming. We finally made it and it turned out the terminal had checking in issues and they couldn't check us in for another hour, so we ended up being early, so to speak. The lesson to learn here is always leave things to the last minute because it will turn out ok in the end. (I only forgot 2 things in my last minute packing, job well done really) :)

My great bag - Just love it

Week Of Lasts

Well its only one week till we leave on our big US trip. Monday the 8th we fly away.

Thus begins the week of lasts. Last Monday before we go, last Tuesday before we go and so on.

Next week is a jammed pack week as I do all my last minute packing, sure to be done the night before and make sure I have everything.

Still haven't totally finished that concert dress. Will have to get a wriggle on with it, need it for next Saturday.

Did make this cool bag that I am going to take away with me. See photo. I am making one for my daughter and maybe my husband but he wants manly cool fabric. I guess I can do that.

Anyway the count down begins - 8 sleeps to go.

Concert Dress

Yesterday I made a dress for my 9 year olds end of year Australian Girls Choir concert. She had to have a knee length white dress, and could I find one in the shops. NO. All the fashions are short. I couldn't find any dresses or skirts that were longer than a wide belt.

So it was off to the fabric store to get some material and make a dress. I haven't followed a dress pattern in years. I can make quilts and things but dresses are a whole different ball game. I thought, this will be easy, nothing to it. So I got a pattern that said, EASY, "Make in one hour". Who were they kidding. Five hours later I think its almost finished. I don't know who writes those patterns but seriously, do they think that normal everyday people can understand them. Well maybe they can but I couldn't.

But its done and doesn't look too bad. I am thinking it needs a bit of tweaking though. That's were my creative thinking kicks in. It needs something else. I have a few ideas. Just need the time to make them happen. I need it finished in a week and half. When I'm done I'll take a photo so you can all see my work of art. LOL. :)

Storms

Well we have had some of the biggest storms in 30 years hit us over the last few days. Sunday saw raging wings, lots of rain and giant hail stones. We escaped pretty well when you compare it how other people faired. We only had water coming in the doors and windows. Some people had trees coming into their living rooms. It has rained almost every night since then. We lost power for 2 days. Its amazing how you rely on electricity and what you cant do when its gone. I'm happy to have technology, thanks, no going back to the "good old days" for me. Well hopefully we will be filling up our dams and drought is definitely broken. Bring on the sun.

New Blogger

Well today marks the day that my sister joined the ranks of bloggers. Check out her blog at http://memoirsofatsunamigirl.blogspot.com. I can only imagine it is set to be an awesome read. She always was a good story teller, just ask my 9 year old daughter.

Etsy Listings

I have just finished listing a whole bunch of stuff on etsy. Take a look.

My almost set up, Handmade Expo table in September.

Next Generation of Stitchers

Today my daughter (9) started her first stitchery. She designed it herself and started stitching today. I was very surprised at how good she was. It started off really neat. Her stitches did get bigger as she went along but she loved it. I can see she is going to take after her mother. Loves to create things.

I am planning to make this one into a pattern for her to sell. She is very excited about that. Stay tuned. I will post a photo when she finishes.

November Expo

Well I just got back from the November Handmade Expo in Ipswich.

This month was great. There were lots of people all busy buying many Christmas presents. I sold a lot of my goodies that I had been busily working on all month. Very exciting when that happens.

My next step is to list some of these items on my etsy shop. Check it out at www.designsoftheheart.etsy.com. Hopefully I can get onto this tomorrow and have some sales before Christmas.

46 days till Christmas

There might only be 46 days till Christmas but there is only 28 days till we leave for our big trip to America. 4 weeks tomorrow we leave. I am so excited. We are going to a football game over there and I must admit that it is probably the most exciting thing for me. I love it. Go the Indianapolis Colts.

Anyway back to the important things. I am busily making lots of stuff for The Handmade Expo this coming Saturday. If you have nothing to do and would like a great day out and to see some awesome handmade stuff come down to Ipswich, Queensland and have a look around. It is held in the Ipswich show grounds, from 8 - 2pm. Check out their blog at thehandmadeexpo.blogspot.com.

See you there.

The Snake Returns

Well the snake is back again tonight.

This time I got my husband to call the snake catcher and he spoke to him for about 10 mins. Didn't do much though as the snake has run off again and he wont come out till we know where it is. Anyway so far the two chickens we have left are still alive. See how long that lasts.

Other than the snake it was a good day.

My friend the Snake.....Not

While I'm here I might as well fill you in on the episode that happened in our house last night.

Well I came home to discover my daughter (9) sobbing and my husband out the back yard with a long stick poking something in the chicken coop. It turns out that my daughter, whose bedroom is closest to the chickens had heard a strange noise and had gone outside to investigate. She went inside the chicken coop to see her favourite chicken being strangled by a rather large python. She quickly called my husband who, very bravely grabbed a large stick and started poking it.

There was nothing we could do for the chicken, she was dead. We then had to watch this snake attempting to eat the chicken. My daughter went to bed fighting dreams of snakes attacking her, while I got a large box and put it over the snake with the chicken in its mouth. I thought I would leave it there till the morning and then call a snake catcher to take it away.

Well it escaped and now is on the run, who knows where. I tried to call a snake catcher but he said I have to know where it is first and if I could can I please locate it in working hours as that is less inconvenient.

So we have a large python on the loose and two more chickens for it to come and eat. If anyone knows how we can lour this snake into a trap and take it away I would love to hear from you.

So I will keep you updated. Hopefully we will find the snake before anything else has to die and live happily every after.

Or something like that.

I did it.

There you go. Its not as hard as it looks. I will put up some pictures soon. I would like to show you my quilt that I spent 3 years making. I call it my "Love" quilt. It has all the verses from the famous Love chapter in the bible 1 Corinthians 13. "Love is patient, love is kind....." I embroidered them all on there. All done in pinks and white and greens, lovely colours for my husband to sleep under. But like he says, his eyes are closed so what does it matter. He's so great.

Anyway I will try and get a photo soon.

Stay tuned, hopefully I will be back sooner this time.

I'm Back

Well it has been a little while since I wrote here. I have been busy listing all my products on some great new sites I just found. I'm sure they have been there for a long time but I only just stumbled across them. 1st one that I really love it Etsy.com. My shop is called "designsoftheheart". Check it out at www.designsoftheheart.etsy.com.

Another one is DaWanda which is a European site and, not sure how it will go but its good to get your stuff out there.

I have tried to get something from DaWanda to appear on my blog. Not sure if it will work. All this technical stuff is a bit too much for me.

Here goes.

Free Web Counter

Welcome

Hi

Welcome to my first ever blog. I have been meaning to do this for ages but never made it till now... So here goes.

My name is Sarah and I have always been a crafty person, in the good sense that is. Anyway recently I have really gotten into quilting and I have started to design my own items. Mostly with stitcheries and small wall hangings.

I have been selling my goods on ebay for about 6 years and recently set up a shop at oztion.com.au. So go ahead and have a look at all my goodies. www.oztion.com.au - vshop - Designs of the Heart.

I will upload some photos for you to see when I get the chance. I recently was part of the first Handmade Expo that took place in Ipswich, Qld. It was great. There were so many people that attended and so much great handmade stuff. The next Expo is September 20th at the Ipswich showgrounds, come along and check it out. See their blog at www.thehandmadeexpo.blogspot.com


Well I will be back soon. Stay tuned.

Sarah