I'm leaving tonight...

I'm off to the Philippines! I think I said my other post would be my last before I leave but I had time to fit another one in. I'm coming back on the 7th of February.

Here's a pic of my packing. I'm basically done so just doing a few different things here and there.

Oh and it's my birthday on the 1st of February so I'll be in the Phils for it. Anyway, I thought I would make a little photo shop thing to show my ultimate wish.

And that is to receive a vintage suitcase (or at least vintage look suitcase)filled with paper, stationary and desk supplies.

A. Glasses Suitcase set by Pink Loves Brown

B. Love Heart Paperclips from Kikki.K

C. Sticky Notes:3 Hearts from Kikki.K

D. Jill Bliss Flower Mini journal set from Fred Flare

E. Giant Pencils from Kikki.K

F. Butterfly Notecards by EnfinLaVoila.etsy.com

G. Pen Pocket Set from Smiggle

H. Piece of Cake Notecards by EnfinLavVoila.etsy.com

I. Kikki.K gel pen from Kikki.K

I would have a made a few more like a vintage suitcase filled with books or ballet flat shoes or pretty home wares or jewellery or Etsy and other handmade goods. I have a bit of an obsession with getting a vintage suitcase. I want to fill it up with letters, journals and stationary.

Anyway, I must be off. I might be able to write some entries but not sure. So if not I will say goodbye and looking forward to reading and seeing the blogs when I can =)

xox

Mail, shoes and packing

I leave for the Philippines in six days! So this may be my last post unless I have access to a computer in the Philippines. I thought I would share a few things. This is going to be a mix of everything today.

First I was tagged by Heather to write 10 weird/interesting facts about myself. So here we go...

1. I'm a sucker for even numbers. I have to have things even. I can't have the volume on the radio/tv etc on an odd number or I will be staring at it and feeling all jumpy unless I can change it. But for some reason I don't mind 'certain' odd numbers like 3 and 5 and some others =s

2. Ahh I was vice captain of my primary (elementary) school. And president of the student council lol.

3. I was born here in Australia but I had my first birthday in the Philippines.

4. I can understand tagalog (main Filipino language) but I can't speak it. (A lot of people are surprised and ask why I can't speak it. It's so different being able to understand than speaking).

5. As a child I wanted to be a nurse (because of the white shoes??!), a teacher, a writer/or journalist(I loved descriptive writing as a child) and in highschool I have always wanted to be a PE (physical education) teacher. And I wanted to since year 10 but as soon as I got into the course Human Movements, I did it for a year and decided I didn't want to be one anymore.

6. I had my first penpal when I was 9.I still love receiving mail. Probably even more so now.

7. I became an aunty at 16 when Isaiah was born. And I was 20 when Caeleb was born.

8. Hmm...I was taken to the hospital in Singapore via an ambulance when I started to hyperventilate and couldn't get enough oxygen (this used to happen quite often but the doctors have taught me how to control it). We were only in Singapore for that one night as it was a stop over flight. It was pretty embarrassing.

9. I developed sport induced asthma when I was 12. After many tests of them thinking I had a heart murmur or some other major problem they found out it was sport induced asthma. Though I don't have it anymore.

10. And this will be my 6th trip to the Philippines.

Whee! Done. That was quite hard to do. Anyway moving on.

Yesterday I got my Amazon package. It was part of my Christmas present from Jason. Nothing like receiving a package.

I got the Where women create and Organsing your craft space by Jo Packham and the Craft Inc book by Meg Mateo Ilasco that I have wanted for ages. But it's way more expensive here. So can't wait to read these ones.

I received this beautiful print from Shae. It is lovely and such a wonderful surprise to get in the mail. I have to get a nice frame and put it up in my new room. (There's a bit of glare from the plastic, I didn't want to take it out yet until I can frame it).


I also received this from Heather. It was packaged so prettily.

It contained this gorgeous handmade bookmark and little tag with some Christmas greetings. I love it! Thanks Heather it will be very useful for my new books plus I'm a bookworm anyway =)

Here was all the mail I had received in one day! I love it so much! It's so exciting to look in the letter box and see a sweet letter or pretty package waiting.

I went crazy looking at shoes. I bought these at work in the kids section lol but I have small feet. I love these!

And these ones I love too. I also bought these at work. They were on a one day 50% off markdown. As you can see I shop in my 15 minutes breaks a lot. One of the girls I work with has the same two shoes. We are both small and have a lot of the same tastes.

Well that is it for now as I have to start packing because I won't have much time to do that at the end of the week. I hope to blog when I'm overseas but it all depends.
When I get back I will have ideas for my belated birthday as I will still be overseas for it. My birthday is the 1st February but I get back the 7th.

Everyone take care.

A wrap up

Christmas and New Year are both finished! It's crazy when you think about how fast it has all gone. I do hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

I thought I would do a little wrap up. I've taken photos of the things I received. So I hope you all don't mind that.

This first lot is from friends. The first is from Laura. I love those gorgeous tie up sandle shoes. The next is from Kristina. A jar full of yummy Cadbury Favourites chocolate and some movie vouchers. And the last is some little felt butterflies from Melly to be used for my note cards.

The first present is from my brother Alvin. He got me some of those new Giselle thongs (this is what we call them here).

The next is from Paula my sister in law's mum. It's for my trip overseas. So a great practical present.

The last two pics are from my oldest brother Rolf, my sis in law Liz and the two boys Isaiah and Caeleb. There's a black dress which I use for work, a white knit dress, Tommy Hilfiger True Star body wash, some summer wedges (though unfortunately a bit too big for me), a little Revlon makeup bag with some Revlon eyeshadow and Lancome mascara( my collection of makeup is sparse lol), some blue bikini bottoms and the last thing there is 2 Fast 2 Furious dvd which Liz added as it was meant to be for Rolf but he had already watched it.

This next lot is from Jason's family. The first pic is from his grandma and grandpa. It was a beach style present. So a beach towel, some thongs (flip flops?), some chocolate, one of those Green bags from Coles (a supermarket) and she made one of the coat hangers.

The next is from Jason's dad Peter, step mum Sandra and Melinda his sister. A little jewellery box with a simple pearl charm on a necklace.

The next is from Jason's brother Brodie and his girlfriend Emily. I'm a hot chocolate fan so they got me a little pack with a large mug, some mini marshmellows, hot chocolate powder and this tiny whisk. They also got my the new Alicia Keys album, which I am listening to right now.

The last photo is from his mum. Those yummy gourmet chocolates and this lavender sachet to keep in my drawers. But she also put money towards a ticket for Phantom of the Opera (this March I think it is).

This one is from Jason. He got me the cutest smock style dress, a sweet new bikini which I can't wait to try at the beach, a little headband to use for Christmas at work, a Tamagotchi (lol childish I know - heaps of kids would have received them this Christmas), this Mayan civilization kit (I love history and I thought this was cute at work) and four magazines (which I received before Christmas as they were mainly Christmas issues). There's Martha Stewart Living, Blueprint, Teen Vogue and Inside out. The first three are harder to get here. I got the Teen Vogue because it had Natalie Portman on the front and I love her.

Sorry this is a chatty blog =p. Oh and with everything happening I forgot to mention that I got a haircut. It's quite short. I got it just before Christmas.

I took this in the car when Jason and I were going around looking at Christmas lights. You can't see my hair that well but it's short though it's grown a bit since I got it cut.

This is my first real day off work since before Christmas, so I'm loving it. I had to work on Boxing Day and New Years day. Not fun. And I've been on a shoe craze lately.

Oh and I forgot to say what my parents gave me. They bought me a desk! It's lovely and long. Perfect for my new room. As my brother Alvin is moving out at the end of this week so I'm getting his room and my bedroom is turning into the craft room!
This is the desktop and I have one of those storage units and the other side is a set of drawers. That's what I love about Ikea is being able to mix and match items. I guess it's more a work table than a desk.

I hope to buy this one (the white) after I get back from the Philippines in February. It's like a graduation present to myself. And I think I have worked for it so I think I deserve it? =)

There is so much more to post but I have so much to do. And I'm going away in 1 1/2 weeks to go to the Philippines with my parents and Jason is coming along. His first trip overseas! More about that soon!

Sorry this post is all over the place.

Graduated!

I have graduated from university! Whee! I had my ceremony yesterday and it's really only hit me now that I'm completely done!

There next few pics are mainly from graduation. It was exciting though I was still quite nervous too.

Jason and I trying to take photos. It wasn't working for us yesterday.

Mum and me. Dad was trying to do all sorts of shots. He took this from the ground lol

Jason and me. These photos are all before the ceremony. Jase gave me this cute little graduation bear. And he surprised me with it when he came over in the morning to pick me up. He also got me a book which I'll show later.

This was probably one of the best photos. My parents were having a little snack before the ceremony.

This was after the ceremony with our celebratory glass of champagne. The ceremony didn't go long either. But I think it's because they have been having ceremonies all month plus there was three on yesterday.

And outside the hall at uni. Finally showing a pic with dad in it as well.

My degree! It's not the greatest photo but I did it quickly this morning. And the little tube which they handed to us on stage but it was empty. Which actually picked up our certificates and other things around the back when we came off the stage =)

This dvd is from my parents as a little grad present. They know I love Narnia and C.S Lewis. So it was really lovely.

And this is from Jason. He bought me the little grad bear and the book Atonement! We had just watched an advanced screening last week and it was amazing! So the book should be good.

An aerial shot of my uni campus. It really is a beautiful uni and I never really appreciated it until now. I googled this picture.

This is a gorgeous photo of 'The Great Court.' That's what it was called. And the grass is super green so it can't be that new. Seeing as things aren't that green right now.

So I want to say goodbye UQ. Weirdly enough I miss it now though I didn't a few days ago.

There are more things I want to post later on.

xox

Christmas is almost here

It's only about 15 days until Christmas. I can't believe how close it is already. I went shopping with Jason on my day off for presents, though we still have a few to go. It was absolutely crazy and it means I have much to look forward to working in toys =p It's been so busy and I have also had some of the worst customers, but then that's retail. It's almost to be expected.

Anyway, I am about to send the last notecards out tomorrow I hope. Here they are...


This is being sent off to Heather from Jeweled Elegance.

And this one is for Ellia from Green Bean Baby. So watch out for your packages ladies. Though it might take a bit longer as it's coming from Australia.

Oh other news. I graduate from uni next week!! On the 17th December 2007 I will be a graduate of the Bachelor of Arts major in sport studies from the University of Queensland. It's very exciting and I will be embarking on a new journey in my life. I feel like I've been studying for years now. I'm very excited for what is to come.

Runner up

Well as I mentioned in my last post I had a third place/runner up set. Which went to Anastasia. I have finally finished making them. So here is a preview.

I changed my envelope template. I think I prefer this style to the old one I was using. And I have also started making little stickers to seal the envelopes using my handy little sticker maker =)So watch out Anastasia for your package soon!

Oh and this is how I packaged up the note cards which I sent off to Shae. I hope it arrives soon.

And for my little sample packs, which will basically be the same as the one above, will be going to Heather from Jeweled Elegance and to Ellia from Green Bean Baby. I'm in the process of making those now =)

Also had my church young adults formal on the weekend but can't be bothered to upload photos from it right now lol. But I will leave you with this photo.

This Christmas tree in the city. Jason and I went shopping Friday night. The picture doesn't give the tree justice. Which looks gorgeous! Totally unrelated but my hair has grown a lot since I got it cut.

Ohh and one last thing. Most likely only of interest to me, but the new trailer for Prince Caspian has just come out!! Yeeee! I'm an absolute Narnia fanatic and it was so exciting to watch it. Especially because it only came out today. Eee! Can't wait for the movie next year!

Winners!

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Yay! Well I have picked the winners out of the bowl. I'll have pictures of my progress =)

All the names entered in the draw. I quite like this bowl. It's kind of vintage. I received it from my sister in laws mum and she has a lot of old nick nacks.


(As you can see I love this letter speller lol)

Picking the name out of the bowl....

So the winner is Shae of The Butterfly Collector. Congrats Shae! She has a blog full of wonderful eye candy. So many lovely illustrations and books whilst still being a mother.



Picking out the name of the second prize.

It's Karina of the fashion blog Karina xoxo She always has some great finds and tips on fashion. She always posts some of the hottest items! I hope this makes you feel better Karina =)

And I'm in a real Christmasy mood so I thought I would pick a third name out of the bowl =p I haven't quite made anything for it yet but I will.

So picking a another name out of the bowl for the runner up.

The runner up is Anastasia of Anastasia drawing and dreaming I first discovered her blog through Natashas Virtual Vintage Prom. And I adore her blog already. She is a talented illustrator and I look forward to reading her blog more often.

So I will contact all the winners by email to get their shipping addresses. And I want to thank everyone who left a comment on the blog and I truly wish I could give all of you something. I came up with another idea of making up little sample packs and the rest of those who entered will have another chance of winning them! I still have to make them up but the other 16 lovely people will have another chance =) I will blog about that soon.

Thank you again to all of you lovely people! I truly appreciate it soo much. Watch out for the next blog with winners to my sample packs =)



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