Amanda's Musings

Archive for Australia

Me

July 21, 2007 / Molly / 2 comments

I have been posting a lot about my polymer clay creations here this year and just wanted to take a minute to summarize a few things completely outside of that. I suppose to be honest, creating and being creative is an integral part of my everyday and this year I have been trying to get my Etsy and Wahmania (and now Mintd) stores up and running.

There are however other facets of my life that I would like to share. I’m sure that you’ve probably figured out what they are by now but here’s a summary of the things that I’m passionate about besides Etsy and selling my polymer clay.

1. God. Underlying all my decisions, behaviour, attitudes and reactions is God who reminds me gently when I’m off kilter or acting selfishly. No matter how undisciplined I might get as far as reading my Bible, its ingrained firmly in me that I need to pull myself back into line.

2. Family. My hubby, daughter, parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, in-laws and extended family are all very important to me. Our family is very close and yet most of us live very far apart. This is very hard but something I have accepted as I believe my parents and brother and sister-in-law are following what God has laid on their hearts to do (they are all missionaries in Papua New Guinea). Yay for Skype!

3. Missions. I have always been passionate about seeing others around the world hear the good news that they are not alone in this world. When I say always I mean since I was a little kid. Whether its SIM or another mission doesn’t matter to me. I also believe strongly in a holistic approach to this. There is no point in preaching at someone that Christ died for them and loves them if they have no food, water, education, skills or shelter. In order to really tell someone that Christ loves them you must first display this love GENUINELY. If someone chooses not to accept that Christ died for them then that is their choice. It makes me sad though.

4. Some General and Less Serious Passions. Op (thrift) shopping, Moleskine doodling, painting, drawing, playing with Keziah, white chocolate, malted milk, jam donuts, patterns, damask, being tidy, journaling, traveling, Africa, watching Survivor, watching the amazing race.

Ok, so if you didn’t really know me, now you’re getting a little closer. I may sound as if all I talk about is my Etsy shop but the truth is, that would be number five on the list of true passions, it just so happens that I find it easier to blog about it!

Category: Africa, Art, Australia, Darling Daughters, Etsy, Family, Michael, Niger, Polymer Clay, SIM, Wahmania /

Things I’ve Acquired

July 6, 2007 / Molly / No comments

One thing I enjoy doing whenever we’re interstate is visiting shops that we don’t have over here in Perth. I don’t mean shopping centres but the unique little shops that have unique items in them. Most of the time I can’t afford these finds but sometimes I come across things for a few dollars. Here’s a pic of the things I managed to pick up during our time in New South Wales (Laurieton and Sydney). Some are gifts and some are for me to keep!

Beads from Bijou Beads and Design – Penshurst NSW
Damask-like tea light holders, beaded jewellery holder, wood shaving scented flowers – from Simply Gorgeous – North Haven NSW
Bamboo mat, papers and chopsticks from Japan House – Hurstville NSW
Jug from Timbertown – Wauchope NSW
Spoons and bookmark from Santina’s – Penshurst NSW
Pewter gumnut card holder – from The Rocks Markets, Sydney NSW

Category: All Sorts of Things, Art, Australia, Etsy /

SIM on the Internet

July 3, 2007 / Molly / One comment

Steve Knight over at Kingdom Journalism wrote this post about SIM (the mission we represent) and their presence on the internet.

Apart from having a SIM International website, various country websites (including Australia) and websites for different projects, SIM is starting to be seen in other social networking areas.

Some of the areas that I didn’t know about until reading Steve’s blog post incude:

Facebook – SIM International and HOPE for Aids

MySpace – SIM USA

YouTube – SIM International and SIM USA

I will be looking into ways to be involved in representing SIM around the world and specifically in our home state of Western Australia. We also have a website which we are trying to be more regular in improving which can be found here.

Category: All Sorts of Things, Australia, SIM /

Travelling

July 2, 2007 / Molly / 3 comments

We have been interstate for a couple of weeks so I’ve not had a lot of chance to update this blog. Finally, I have enough time to sit and add some posts about our trip so far.

Our first week was spent up in Laurieton which is near Port MacQuirie in New South Wales (Australia). We had a week with my brother and my sister in law and our newphew Malachi. Kez and Kai (as we call him) got to play together which was really wonderful. Here’s a shot of them having fun hiding in the wardrobe (bit blurry!):

and at a wildlife park together (notice the sign at the back):

at a playground:

Not only did they get to play together but they did this:

which is why Kez ended up getting Kai’s cold just before we travelled down to Sydney last week. She picked up bronchiolitis as well so she’s not quite been herself while we’ve been here.

We were able to be there for my brother’s 30th birthday which was really great and my sister in law did a great job organising a small get together for him.

We did have a problem getting back down to Sydney as we ended up on a bus instead of a train. I wasn’t too happy about that as its hard enough entertaining a toddler on a train let alone a bus that you can’t walk around in. There’s a reason I chose the train not a bus!! Kez wasn’t too bad but at least the trip was about an hour shorter than the train would have been (around 4 hrs instead of 5). The biggest problem was that they had a rule on the bus of no food at all with only one 15 minute stop. I have to admit that I did eat on the bus…..lollies and I gave Kez a bannana (you can’t seriously expect a toddler to go that long without proper food!).

Since being in Sydney there are other stories to tell and pics to share but I’ll do a separate post for those. Thanks for reading!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Australia, Darling Daughters, Family /

Aussie Green Thumb

May 16, 2007 / Molly / One comment

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!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Australia /

Tagged by Etsa Sketch

May 10, 2007 / Molly / 2 comments

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

Category: Africa, All Sorts of Things, Art, Australia, Etsy, Niger, Polyclarific, Polymer Clay, SIM /

Interview

May 8, 2007 / Molly / 2 comments

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

Category: Africa, Australia, Michael, SIM /

Keswick Weekend

April 29, 2007 / Molly / No comments

For as long as I can remember we have been going along to Keswick Conventionsand this weekend we’ve done it again. I almost said ‘continued the tradition’ but thats not really why we go. It used to be that we would go just for the meetings but ever since our involvement with SIM we go to put up our SIM display and represent the mission there too. Of course theres always a lot of catch up with people we haven’t seen in a while.

Our SIM display this time was nice and neat. I was hopint it would look a lot messier by the end of the convention (indicating that a lot of people have been there) but sadly it looks much the same. There are however a few magazines and brochures less so thats a good thing.

This time we just weren’t able to stand there and mann the display for much of the weekend. Normally we stand there half an hour before and after each meeting. We didn’t get to hear a lot of the speaker either this time, mostly because I needed to stop Kezi yelling in the middle of the message!

Here’s some pics from the weekend and the improved grounds of Camp Wattle Grove, home of Keswick Conventions in WA (click the link if you want to know more about them).

Category: Australia, Darling Daughters, Family, Michael, SIM /

Photo Friday – ‘The Blues’

April 13, 2007 / Molly / No comments

PF this week is ‘the blues’. Instead of taking that as its usually meant, I’ve gone with ‘the blues’ of the sky and ocean. These colours are typical of an Aussie summer! It’s Autumn here now so its nice to have a look at something warm and inviting. This is Manly Beach in Sydney:

Category: Australia, Photo Friday /

Getting Ready for Keswick

April 12, 2007 / Molly / No comments

The next Keswick Convention is coming up in just over 2 weeks so I”ve been trying to come up with some new ways of presenting our display for SIM. I found this very cool tool on the flickr toys site and have made six cubes which will work something like a puzzle. Took me hours to get them exactly right (I’m a perfectionist) but I think they turned out well.