Amanda’s Musings

Poor Kezi, stuck inside so much because of the rain and cold. I decided to go outside with her in the rain anyway a couple of days ago. As you can see she’s completely protected from the rain, in fact she was totally dry underneath when we went inside. She had a lot of fun even if she was only out there for a little while!

This morning my friend Karen, Keziah and I went off to Sonshine FM in Morley to share in a free morning tea they were having during their yearly Radiothon. The Radiothon is a fantastic event where they raise funds to keep the radio station going.

You can contribute to this great community radio station by donating online here.

We had a great time listening to them broadcast live in the same room as we were sitting and watching the shenanigans of Todd Johnston who was their guest this morning. He was a lot of fun. Half way through Rick Ardon from Channel 7 came along and enjoyed being hassled out by Todd as he made him sing the Telethon Song with us all on air. Monika Kos from Today Tonight came shortly after that so it was a lot of fun.

Some of you out in blogland might know Rodney Olsen from his blog The Journey, he was one of the hosts today alongside Arthur Muhl.

We had fun and so did Keziah who ran a riot the whole time. I think all the balloons in the room, and the fact that some were within her reach was the culprit!

I thought I’d show you some shots from our morning so here they are:

Me and Kezi watching the fun (this was one of the rare times she sat still this morning)

Todd Johnston singing a song live on air.

And being a nut.

Rick Ardon being hassled by Todd Johnston

A blurry shot of the two presenters, Rodney Olsen and Arthur Muhl

My friend Karen with Monkia Kos and Todd Johnston

PS. If you go to this page on their website, see if you can find Keziah and I in one of the photos of the crowd, its not too hard.

Recently I posted how Suki from tamptation.etsy.com made me some stamps using designs from my moleskine. Well, finally I was able to get hold of some fabric paint (in my two current favourite colours) to try my hand at stamping onto felt. I love felt, I love the fact that I can cut it and not have to edge it or anything like that (which is good since I really have zero sewing machine skills).

Anyway, back to the stamping. I tried out two different brands and tested it on different types of felt. I then used up the excess on paper. Here are the results so far:

On White Acrylic Felt

On Blue Acrylic Felt

On Paper

I also stamped onto a camel beige coloured felt and pink but these didn’t photograph too well. I am hoping to turn these into pin cushions to sell in my shop, if I can ever find my big bag of threads (I really can’t find them anywhere!).

I have been browsing through the book of Isaiah a little bit and rediscovering just how powerful some of the verses in there are. I know some people aren’t that intersted in reading parts of the Bible but this bit is much like poetry and worth spending a moment taking it in.

For example, how can you go past this:

Lift your eyes and look to the
heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry
host one by one,
and calls them each by
name.
Because of his great power and
mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.*a

or compare this:

See, the Sovereign Lord
comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense
accompanies him.

with this bit that comes directly after it:

He tends his flock like a
shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his
arms
and carries them close to his
heart;
he gently leads those that
have young.*b

There are some fantastic descriptive words used here demonstrating a true comparison:

- ‘great power’
- ‘mighty strength’
- ‘like a shepherd’
- ‘gathers the lambs’
- ‘carries close to his heart’
- ‘gently leads’

These are descriptions of Jesus and this is why I am so drawn to him. I like the fact that I am being carried close to his heart as he gently leads me and at the same time he has such mighty power. I can just hear the conversation:

“Follow me, no hang on, I’ll carry you. Alright, now just wait here while I set out the starry host, won’t be a minute”.

*a - Isaiah 40:26 *b 40:10-11

The Polymer Clay Artist’s Guild Of Etsy is currently running the voting for our August Challenge. The theme was ’something inspired from the ocean’. You can vote for the entry of your choice here at the guild website:

PCAGOE Website

Here’s my entry called ‘Undertow’

Tomorrow (Sunday) is a special day for us. Michael (hubby) is being inducted as the new part-time Associate Pastor at Melville Baptist Church. Its the start of a brand new era for us and we’re really looking forward to settling in, making new friends and getting to know people. I mentioned my new role as Pastor’s wife in a post earlier which you can read here.

I have always thought that the humble tic-tac container could have a much higher calling. Before the days of recycle and upcycle I used to try to find ways to use these little boxes but mostly they ended up in the bin. Well, now I’ve found a very simple way to get more use of of them.

I must admit, this isn’t very hard and not something that took a lot of brain power, nevertheless its at least allowing me to formally enter the world of upcycling!! So, here’s a little tutorial on what to do with the humble tic-tac container:

1. Collect however many tic-tac containers you would like to use and proceed to eat the tic-tacs until all gone!

2. Remove labels from the containers, these should peel off without any need for soaking.

3. Once stickers are removed, gather the containers into a group.

4. Cut out a long piece of clear sticky book covering (contact) making sure that it will be long enough to go all the way around the containers. Check by laying them side by side.

5.Peel off the paper backing and lay the covering down. Start by placing one of the containers on the covering followed by the rest.

6. Carefully wrap the sticky sheet around the containers so that both sides meet in the middle. Make sure they are lined up evenly unlike the containers in the second shot which were corrected.

7. Fill containers with small items. I’ve used my own handmade beads here.

8. Remember that the lids will slide off easily with a little pull. Do this to put larger objects into the containers.

9. Voila! Finished product.

Of course, if you used the new large sized Tic-Tac containers you would have an even better storage system. I’ll have to start saving those up too! The great thing about this is that you can add to this container as you eat your way through more tic-tacs and as an added bonus, your items will smell like mint! Happy tic-tac storage box making!

So, in reading that title, what images came to mind? (feel free to say so in the comments). Perhaps the image of a well dressed person who can cook, feed a hundred people at the drop of a hat and play the organ. Hmmmmmm. I don’t really fit that image at all! As far as cooking goes, its usually a miracle when my many attempts work out and if there were a hundred people coming over I think I’d go and hide up in my room (after cleaning the house)! Oh, and I can’t read music for the life of me.

This month my hubby Michael officially became the part-time Associate Pastor at Melville Baptist Church alongside Pastor Mike Fischer. This makes me a Pastor’s wife and it makes Keziah a ‘PK’ (Pastor’s Kid). I don’t know about cooking but I’m happy to try although Michael is more likely to cook if people come over. Its just nice to be part of a church again and to have other women to talk to. Kezi gets to go to creche each Sunday morning and for the first time in ages I get to sit through a service!

Congratulations Michael on your new role, I know you are going to enjoy it and, as long as I don’t have to play the organ, so will I.

For the third time ever I was on the front page of Etsy over the weekend (in the middle of having bad net access). For those who aren’t aware of how exciting this is, let me explain. Etsy is one of the sites where I sell my polymer clay creations online. It has huge statistics as far as web traffic so getting on the front page means that there are potentially thousands of people looking at your item.

The other reason that this one was exciting was that out of the three times I’ve been on the front page;

1. First time I was in Sydney and had a slower connection.
2. Second time I was told I was on the front page but didn’t get to see it.
3. This time I had a slow connection (thanks to Telstra, see post below) but I managed to see it and get a screen shot which is here:

It worked for me as this item sold and this is the first time its happened this way for me! It was also a great milestone as this sale was my 25th sale on Etsy. I’ve sold a lot more items than that but these are the ones that are contributing to my overall rating and sales stats there.

For those who can’t figure out which item is mine, this is what I sold:

Miniature Veggies on a Cutting Board. I have another one for sale here.

We have been cut off from the world for four long days. Ok, that was a bit over dramatic but it did feel that way. Telstra accidentally cut off our phone line around midday last Thursday which meant no phone and no internet. We were able to check in occasionally via our mobile phone internet service (which was unreliable) or whenever Michael went to the new office (which I will be writing a post about soon) but mostly, nothing.

So, now we’re connected once again and I can post the last four days worth of blog posts that have been building up in my mind for days. Brace yourselves.