And I cannot compete with you, Jolene

There's a twang in the air tonight as my speakers yawl with my most recent iTunes purchase, the original Jolene album. And for a little more on hearts, even if they are unbroken ... this week you can win yourself a 'carnie heart'. So roll-up, roll-up and leave your comment here to win a pre-Valentine heart.

WIN ME !!!!!!!!!

Win me !!!!!!

Win me !!

More gifts arrived in the mail, yesterday. These are from my lovely Mum. She can't send me a reindeer so these are the next best thing. Some Finnish jewellery from Cloudberry Market. Also the 'egg carrier' made by my grandpa arrived, good thing I have a lot of eggs to carry about.

Lapland God of Thunder ...

Finnish Shaman drum symbol - Reindeer antler ring

Lapland girl and wolf pup pin ...

Finnish Taigakoru ancient boat ...

what I carry my eggs in !!

Some little Ladybird Learning books arrived too ... from a BrisStyler, you can see her great stuff here at Little Mary Moo. The books have been sacrilegiously cut-up and made into book marks. They've gone to a better place.

Don't forget to comment and be in the running to win the carnie heart, and if you are in the market for a heart there are some new ones up on my Etsy store. Enjoy the weekend x.

Over the Hill and Far away, Mother duck said ... quack, quack, quack, quack

And only one little duck came back. Not true, I just started that post with over the hill and it progressed from there. I got back from a island weekend of swimming in the beautiful clear waters of North Stradbroke. I got a good way through my reading effort, drank some posh wine, ate cupcakes that had an 'accident' in the over and soaked my skin squeaky clean. And all the little ducks came back.

view from the deck, bit of alright

anyone for a nice peaceful swim, or do you just want to thunk your head on rocks etc?

my wee feet with the board after a piss weak effort at surfing

many of these friendly little fellows about on Australia Day

scrub up alright after a day in the sun and surf

Two more presents to add to the booty. These Matryoshaka dolls are measuring cups, how cool is that! And the lovely ladies at work got me a pony inspired card along with some wares you can get here at Red Phoenix Emporium.

Now after my restful little jaunt on the island I need to get back into the cutting, pasting and general mess making that is REread. The next market is on Sunday February 7 at Southbank. Do come along and check it out if you have not had the chance to do so yet. And tune in soon for another heart giveaway ...

I will have a big range of Valentine guff for all your romantics out there. Heart garlands, heart brooches, maybe a impromptu sonnet about daffodils and elfin grotts. And for those of you who fart in the general direction of Valentine and his silly day, I have banded together with my mum to make some less loved up tags.

see you round ...

Elk, deer me, you're a lot like your mother

Turns out turning 30 is not so bad after all. You get lots of presents, and people make a fuss, so milk it while you can I guess. I got a motherload in the mail yesterday. Firstly a card from my mum. Funny because I am more and more like her each day, we sound the same, look the same and even (apparently) say 'bye' the same weird way. I got 'Pyrex delight' from her and other gifts that have yet to arrive, eBay I love you. My Trans Siberian cabin mate sent me a parcel of fantastic goods. She knows me pretty well, they were all such cool little gifts ... thank you :)

awesome resin necklace from Ms Slade ... danka

The official number one placement for 'Grandpa 2010' goes to my Poppy who sold a goat and gave up his cocaine habit to buy me a Kichenaid ... A pistachio one, drool.

I received some glass beads I bought off Etsy, turned them into little vintage book pendants ... very cute. Again, creating more mess ...

I also treated myself to some 'air plants' as I am back in terrarium mode and enjoy green things in glass immensely at the moment. Vacola jar, one air plant, some fish tank gravel scooped off the driveway ... viola! A cute little indoor plant number, now all I need is a macramé owl.

And I got a single, red, long stem rose to day at work with a lovely card, written from afar. Blush. Image from we heart it.

If you're considering having kids, try to time it with a public holiday. Having the Australia day weekend for a birthday is a pretty sweet deal. The only bad thing about Australia day is those bloody Sam Kekovich ads, funny year one, again year two, third time, yeah nah ... fourth year running the humour left the building Sam.

We do really bad TV commercials really well in this country ... what's harder to get rid of than the Clapp? That fucker off the Rugs A Million ads. They should put that in the citizen test 'how much will a Rugs a Million Rug be after 70% the original discounted price, after the twenty fourth closing down sale?'

So talking about closing down sales ... two more sleeps until my 20s fade away like a fart in a supermarket aisle ... painful at first, but if you walk straight ahead without looking back you'll get over it pretty soon. Shall I do the 29 things before I turn 30 list? Yes ... OK

1. Don't makes lists and post them in a public forum, as nobody really wants to read them or actually cares

2. refer to point one

Thanks ... Jettas Nest won the Harajuku Fox, go you!! No giveaway this week as I'll be removing the front part of my brain with an ice cream scoop on a tropical island. See you next week.

www.weheartit.com

Books, books, and hearts ... I heart books

Have spent the weekend making bookmarks and garlands for the next market. I have moved my craft outside of my designated craft space. At first it was just going to be my cutting board and some paper. Now I have two dining tables covered in books, paper scraps and bits of string. Go me.

bookmark ... made from a ladybug reading series

heart garland, made from romance novels (really cheesy ones) and vintage kids books ...

Went for a walk today to get out and about, in the 36 degree heat, as you do. To escape the ball of fire in the sky Brisbane calls the sun, we went into the climate controlled heavenliness of GoMA. This time I went straight to the glass ball elk. So worth it, you have to go see it. I endeavour to earn bazillions of dollars and buy that elk. See it here, from Kohei Nawa.

Then we got a cup of tea, from a place called 5thElement. If you want little to no atmosphere, surly as fuck waiters and earl grey tea that tastes like peach tea? Try it. After the disappointing beverage stop we trucked on to the Lifeline bookfest. Oh my goodness, I nearly popped a vein. I got a great little stash of treasures to cut up for $4. Bargain, I will be back in my lunch break.

And leave a comment here, or on the post below to win a fox brooch ...

Foxy lady ...

Something to talk about first off is Wendy and the little bird brooch she won. The bird will be flying south (or north?) for the winter, (better be north then). This week fox-off with this harajuku lover. It's a handmade brooch made from old children's books.

Comment or retweet to win him!

I have been making some little heart garlands and more heart brooches, getting ready for the marketing ploy that is Valentines day. As Valentines day makes me want to smack people, I figure that making gifts that serve more than just the 'occasion' is a good idea. Who wants a rose when you can have a heart from your sweet to wear everyday, or a pretty paper heart garland to sting up in the kitchen. Will post pics of them on the weekend and add them to Etsy.

Here are some fantastic Mr Foxes for you ... from Etsy.

Felty fox goodness with this charming little fellow from Hanna & Leijona miniatures ...

Your acting was a little wooden, here have a pendant from peppersprout ...

And antiquate yourself with a pewter fox to adorn your neck from makeit ...

see you soon with some hearts

The Notebook ... Vomit. And win a bird

Watched The Notebook on DVD last night. Please don't if you haven't yet. Apart from the highly unbelievable plot, the manic, happy laughing scenes and mediocre acting, it's just terribly bile inducing. I told my DVD comrade 'be prepared, I'm most likely going to cry like a little bitch'. There were no tears, just the faint noise of retching and groaning at the clunky dialogue. Don't waste 2 hours of your life, read a book instead or surf YouTube for a while.

There is some new stuff up on my Etsy store, little best friend matching chickens and some fish. If you don't like red meat, it's the perfect accessory.

Also a few more days left to comment and win this bird (on this post or the one below).

I celebrated my 30th on the weekend (prematurely) as boy crafter will studying up at La Sabana for the actual day (a long way away). So I told him it was all about me, and we spent all day Saturday doing exactly that. Went to GoMA and saw the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial. Fantastic, go if you are in Brisbane. The room full of white string is just so cool, I want a room like that at home. I am going to have to go back though as I missed the one exhibit I went specifically to see ... the glass ball deer or 'Taxidermied elk. See here

The string room ...

Chatting up an exhibit ...

After a bit of culture we stopped at The Joynt for beer and a bite. This is really a great little local bar that serves the emerging Brisbane music scene well. If you're in town check it out (preferably after a stint at the APT6).

The Joynt, In South Brisbane on Montague Road ...

Phenomenon consuming Brisbane ... put a shirt on dickhead ... (taken from The Joynt)

Lastly we took the Italian road monster up the mountain with cheese and crackers and watched the Samford Valley vista fade as the sun set behind us. Best way to end the day xoxox