Amanda’s Musings

Took this pic this morning while visiting some friends. We put Keziah in front of a piano for the first time and she put her hands on the keys and tinkered away like it was natural. She didn’t bash the keys, just played one at a time with both hands. She’s only 20 months old so I reckon thats pretty good. Maybe she’s a natural!

I have two more auctions going in my wahmania store.

The first is this lovely necklace, here’s the store description:
This unique pendant is an original design made by me from polymer clay. Pretty and round, this pendant has swirls of white, brown and black

The whole pendant is 3cm in diameter (just over 1″). It is 7mm thick at the highest point. This pendant has been strung on a 46cm (18″) long silver plated chain. It has been finished off with a coat of glossy varnish.


Just 19 hours left of this auction.

The second are these funky napkin rings, again, here’s the store description:
Set of two very unique napkin rings. The base for these has been upcycled but the polymer clay is an original design by me. These are one of a kind napkin rings

The price of postage for this item is $4.00.


There are three days left on this auction.

For the month of May the PCAGOE (see title) had the theme of using polymer clay plus one other medium for their monthly challenge. As I am a painter as well and recently experimented with using paint on clay I couldn’t resist this for the theme.

I created a piece of artwork which shows the similarities between African and non African women.

I’ve painted the face and features and added gold earrings.

There is more to this than a nice picture. The bright blue space behind her has writing in it. It reads:

To Do
Collect;
water
wood
maize

and on the right:

Pound Grain
Cook maize,
Feed man and Kids.
Rest.

Its for sale on my Etsy store site which can be found here - Polyclarific

Soon it will be listed on the PCAGOE website along with all the other entries for voting which can be found here: pcagoe site

This month its my turn to be featured for a week on the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy blog. I answered four questions and sent in some photos for it. You can read it here:

Polyclarific Feature

I was also contacted a couple of weeks ago by the editor of a local advertising magazine asking if I would like a free editorial. I was quite surprised and it turns out that she picked up one of my business cards from one of the many places I’ve left them. I happily obliged and I have a large space on Roleystone’s Valley Reporter with colour photographs of my work (pg 35).

So far nothing much has come from either of these as far as sales go but I’m encouraged by both free forms of advertising.

My sales have been quite erratic across the board. So far I’ve sold two things during my special sale week at Wahmania and nothing at my Etsy Shop in which I have the same sale (10% off storewide).

I am also running two auctions again in my wahmania shop which are found:

here - Bags of Beads

and here - Novelty Earrings

So far no bids but the auctions go until the end of the week.

Anyway, just wanted to share all that with anyone who does read this, thanks for reading!

There is a sale starting tomorrow (20 May) at WAHMania. Every shop there has a sale until May 26th including my store Polyclarific. I have 10% off everything storewide (excl shipping) so come on over and have a peek at what you can buy! I have currently got 34 items listed so theres a lot to choose from.

The items below are an example of whats in my store;

Beads

Necklace

Bracelet

Necklace

Napkin Rings

Magnets

I just wanted to recommend James and his new business Aussie Green Thumb. He has just started his gardening business and we had him come and do our lawns this morning. He did a great job and we’ll book him again in the future.

If you live in Perth and need some garden jobs done, give him a call!

His website is here - Aussie Green Thumb

His blog is here - Middo’s World

After James has been - looks great hey!

What a title! Those words actually come from the book of Proverbs, I keep finding some interesting statements in there (see my two earlier posts - Kindheartedness and Gold Ring + Pig’s Snout = Indiscretion).

The verse actually says:
“Widsom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (Prov 4:7).

The word supreme is something that usually brings the singing group or a pizza to mind!! What does it actually mean? According to dictionary.com it means:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
su·preme1 /səˈprim, sʊ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-preem, soo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.
2. of the highest quality, degree, character, importance, etc.: supreme courage.
3. greatest, utmost, or extreme: supreme disgust.
4. last or final; ultimate.

So, when the proverb says that wisdom is supreme it means that having wisdom is the most important thing, the thing of highest importance above all else. The question that has to be asked next is ‘where do we get this wisdom from’?

Proverbs has a lot to say about Wisdom, there are whole chapters dedicated to it so ultimately I would start there. Whether you are a Christian or not you have to admit there’s some pretty sound advice in the book of Proverbs, lots and lots of wisdom.

God has put a high price on gaining understanding here - ‘all you have’. I’m sure most of us would be willing to argue with this high cost but in the end, I do believe that God would know best about this area of life. Afterall, he knows everything, he created everything and he understands everything.

One last note, I don’t actually think that knowledge and wisdom are the same thing. Knowlege is a tool to help us make wise decisions but there are plenty of knowledgeable people in this world who lack true wisdom and understanding. On the flip side, there are plenty of uneducated people who are full of wisdom.

Again, I’m not the ‘full bottle’ on wisdom so perhaps its something you could comment on and add your two cents worth to. Where have you found true wisdom in your life? Who has given you wise advice or direction? Feel free to add in the comments box below.

I’ve seen this meme around the place and wondered if I’d eventually get tagged. I did today by Etsa Sketch (check out her blog and shop, her work is fantastic!).

Rules
1.List seven random facts/habits about yourself
2.Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
3.Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

Ok, heres the 7 random facts (with added piccies for fun!):

1. I have always had an interest in other cultures. When I was a kid I collected dolls in national costume starting with a gorgeous Hawiian doll my Aunty brought me back from her travels. I then wanted to be a translator or liguist. We did end up travelling to around 13 countries since we got married including some of the usuals (UK, USA, France) and some less commonly travelled ones - Papua New Guinea, Benin and Niger (those two are in West Africa). We were doing missionary work teaching in a MK (Missionary Kid) school in Niger and visiting my parents in PNG (who are missionaries there). We are now involved in an international mission called SIM.

Chicago USA - Navy Pier (1998)

Papua New Guinea (2001)

2. I love to be creative. I have to create every single day or I go nuts. I have a background in painting mainly in acrylics and oils and did a BA Arts (Visual Arts - Painting) from 2002-2004. I have never had a ‘proper’ exhibition (I’m a bit of a chicken) but feel that I could if I tried. I’ve tried my hand at calligraphy, beading, pastels, watercolour, scratchboard, folk art, paper art, printmaking, sculpture, illustration, mixed media, murals, backdrops, knitting, hand sewing and more recently took up polymer clay work. This is my current passion although I know I’ll return to painting one day (first love and all that).

Start of a pastel Painting (Girl from Say, Niger, pronounced Sigh)

3. I am an organiser. I have to be organised to function. I tidy my house anyway even though no one is looking, mainly because I go crazy if there’s mess. I have done a secretarial course (one requirement was to prove that I could use a stapler so no, it wasn’t hard) and have worked as a secretary a few times.

4. I love white chocolate. Thats all I have to say about that.

5. I’m a fan of Tom Hanks. Everyone who knows me well knows this. I know most of his movies (fav being Forrest Gump) and have collected quite a few, even the more obscure ones. I just think he’s one of the best actors in the world. Oh and and once again, thats all I have to say about that.

Michael sitting on a bench at the Viacom Store in Chicago, similar to the Forrest Gump one

6. I’m a bit of a loner. I can go for days on my own and keep occupied.

7. I’m a Christian. I chose to accept Christ when I was a kid and this relationship with God grew more when I was in high school. Some influences have been my parents and their example to me, reading stories of the old missionaries, especially George Muller, attending Girl’s Brigade and going to Bible College (by choice).

Girls Brigade fonomarie 1990 (I’m third from the left in the front row - I’m short so I’m always in the front row!!)

Ok, I tag: My sister-in-law Candy at Burns Abroad, Jeremy at JeremyinAfrica, Suzy at Diuranta, Kate at Two Little Banshees, Simon at SIMMISSION, Jenise at JPatPurses and Jay and Janella at The JayRod

A few weeks ago my husband Michael was interviewed on Sonshine FM about our involvement in SIM here in WA. I’ve been meaning to put a link to the interview on here and only just remembered! So, here it is:

Sonshine FM Interview

You can’t tell me that God has no sense of humour, just read this Proverb:

“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” (Prov 11:22).

Discretion is something that seems to be a character trait that is disappearing these days. The dictionary definition for it is:

the quality of being discreet, esp. with reference to one’s own actions or speech; prudence or decorum

I think in todays world being discreet is often attached to being secret or covering something up but this is not what is intended here. I would love to hear some feedback from anyone reading this as to what you think this verse is really getting at (doesn’t matter if you’re male or female).