A Round Tuit (7)

Hello and welcome to this week's 'Round Tuit'  

MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION and the key factors behind my Monday posts and opportunity to link up and encourage, motivate and inspire each other....with your very own ROUND TUIT

Tuits are very hard to come by, especially the round ones. For years people have been saying, "I'll do it as soon as I get a round tuit". Well now you can have one of your very own, and all those jobs that have needed doing will finally get done!

Firstly thanks to those who linked up last week - and as promised - here's the features:

First of all a cloche revamp from "The Cape on the Corner"

A basic cloche - set on top of a candlestick and spraypainted with a lovely shiny metallic finish.  I love the way she's filled it with pinecones - and I can imagine this as a great Christmas table centrepiece too!

The other blog entry I wanted to feature was from zuzi's new blog called "Free and Shared Crafting" who posted a lovely quote:

And now to how I went with my "Round Tuit" project last week.

I was to finally get round to making up some stuff from the fishy fabric I'd been given; in preparation for the tourist markets my friend and I were doing on Saturday with our venture JeMbellish.  I made up a few kids bucket hats and small backpacks...

and was very pleased when they were amongst the hats sold on the day!  So well worth the effort of getting organised!!

So now to look ahead and see what I can get A-Round-To this week.

I'm constantly trying to think up new ways to organise things around my house in the hope that it will result in a tidier house!  This week I've decided to tackle something in my daughter's bedrrom that really needs some organisation...

Hair ties and jewellery:

They have SOOOO many of them - really pretty stuff - but they don't get used nearly as much as they would if they could actually see what they have and find it!! Stuffed into various boxes isn't the best place for them and definitely not user friendly!

So this week I've a few ideas - and I'm going to organise them in an easy to use - fun way for my girls!

As always - feel free to link up your projects - or perhaps posts to movtivate, inspire - it's all about helping each other out and giving encouragement!

So grab a button and let's get "A Round Tuit"  And do visit some others to give them some praise and encouragement too!  Once again - next week I'll feature my favourites of those who linked up!

(by linking up to this post you are giving me permission to use photos from your linked post on this blog)

<a <br /> <center><a href="http://jembellish.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Round%20Tuit"><img border=”0” src=http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/jembellish/Blog%20buttons/ARoundTuit.jpg /></a><center><br />   Have a great week everyone!  

Wobble over Wednesday

This week I'm linking up with Wobble over Wednesday at My life with rats and more.  Amanda has a great blog there with lots of great giveaways, and some interesting thoughts and pictures too!!


  Now I thought I'd just comment on enjoying the simple things in life - after our annual family trip to the dentist yesterday. Enjoying? Dentist?  I know, I know, I was surprised too!  

We started going as a family about 4 years ago - to get our 2 young daughters used to being in the dentist, and hopefully not scared to go.  Well our plan has certainly worked!!  Yesterday my girls bounded out of school full of excitement about going to the dentist!!

We came home, had a snack of - and apple (nothing chocolatey or bad for you teeth just before a dental trip!!).  Then brushed our teeth... LOTS, before heading out.  

Daddy met us at the dentist's from work, and it was just the 4 of us there with the dentist and his assistant, who is also his wife.

My youngest daughter (aged 5) wanted to go first!  Hopped up on the chair and loved the dentist moving it up and tipping it to get it at just the right angle to look in her mouth.  Having had her teeth checked and been told she was doing an excellent job brushing her teeth as they were so clean, she hopped down happy.

My older daugher (aged 7) went next - and was very excited when the dentist spotted one of her new teeth emerging behind one that is currently wobbly!

Mummy was next, then Daddy - the girls watching, giggling, commenting, and sometimes heading off to play with the dinosaurs in the waiting room.

At the end of our visit - the dentist blew up a couple of disposable gloves into balloons for the girls, and his wife / assistant found them stickers saying "number 1 patient".

Just as good as the show which is in town at the moment - a ride on the dentist chair - balloons and stickers, toys to play with.. Who could ask for more!!

I wonder how much longer excitement over a dentists visit will last?  I'm happy that we can enjoy the simple pleasures in life now!

Hope you're all having a lovely week!

Jill

More encouragement!

I stumbled across a blog today recommending a link to a site where you can find out who you write like!  You just have to copy and paste a few paragraphs of your writing and it will analyse whose style your writing matches best!  Since I am a writer aspiring to be published, I thought I'd give it a go.  It came out that........

I write like
Anne Rice

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Now I don't want to go into the reality of this at all.  I like this gimmick - kind of like the things you did at school with working out percentages of how much you liked which boy by counting the letters you shared in your names!  It's a bit of fun - and it put a smile on my face as I took a break from - yes - writing! If you want to try it for yourself - click here.

Words can make a huge difference to the way you view things.  After a recent rejection from a publisher, a friend commented with some very kind words to say I am in fact already 'published' by virtue of the fact that I have 'published' the first half of a short romance story I wrote, by putting it here on my blog!  Now it's out there for anyone who wishes to read - and hopefully I'll gain some feedback too!

Each step I take, and each piece I write is a step closer towards my goal of seeing my name on the front cover of a book in a shop! 

I'm a great believer in following your dreams and that you can do anything you set your mind to!  What are your dreams?  What do you aspire to be or do?  Perhaps there's somewhere special you really want to visit...

Or maybe there's a cause you're passionate about ...

Or maybe you want to be rich? (who doesn't)

Whatever it is you want to achieve - you can do it! 

I'm finding that blogs are a great way to meet people and get inspiration and encouragement. - I've started up my own linky each Monday as another way for people to gain and give praise, encouragement and inspiration.  Feel free to link up any of your posts to my Round Tuit. 

I hope everyone is having a great week! and I look forward to discovering some new blogs through this weeks' Tuesday Tag-Along:



Jill

A Round Tuit (6)

Last week I was reminded how important encouragement is and just how much words can make a difference. 

I mentioned in a post that I am an aspiring writer and have just received another rejection from a publisher.  Thank you to all those wonderful friends out there who commented and encouraged me to keep writing.  Your words of support mean a lot to me, and I believe in making the most of every scrap of inspiration, encouragement, motivation and accountability I can find.  I can be very self-disciplined in getting things done, but I can also get very side-tracked and distracted; so regular refocussing assistance is much appreciated!

MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION and the key factors behind my Monday posts and opportunity to link up and encourage, motivate and inspire each other....with your very own ROUND TUIT

Tuits are very hard to come by, especially the round ones. For years people have been saying, "I'll do it as soon as I get a round tuit". Well now you can have one of your very own, and all those jobs that have needed doing will finally get done!

<a <br /> <center><a href="http://jembellish.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Round%20Tuit"><img border=”0” src=http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/jembellish/Blog%20buttons/ARoundTuit.jpg /></a><center><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  Each week I'm choosing something that has needed doing for a while and finally getting 'A Round Tuit'.  This week, I'm finally making up things for my market stall, with the Barrier Reef, and other fishy fabric I was given:    

I've had this fabric for several weeks, and I've been given some great suggestions as to what to make with it - but sadly still haven't done anything with it!!  Now my tourist market stall is in 5 days, so I have to get a move on! 

What are you up to this week?  Feel free to link up to a project you're working on, have just finished - or even just a post that might encourage or inspire others.  Visit some other people too, and offer some words of encouragement, or praise. And please do take a copy of your very own "Round Tuit" (button code above) and hopefully it will help you get things done!!

Next week I will feature the link that has inspires me the most.

(By linking up to this post you are giving me permission to use photos from your linked post on my blog)

Have a great week everyone!

Jill

 

My Creative Space

Back from 2 weeks holiday, it's back to action now!  I still have just over a week until our next markets at the esplanade - so I'm adding to my stock with my 'tourist' barrier reef fabric. 

 And now I even have a lovely cutting out board to work on - found it at the charity shop for $4!! 

I'm also getting on with some writing; polishing my next romance manuscript to send off to Mills and Boon! 

I do have a dream that one day I will be a published author - but am still at the rejection stage - battling to get there!

Just before our holiday, I received another rejection to add to my pile...

Not to be discouraged (didn't JK Rowling have several rejections before she got Harry Potter published??) My next story is written and I'm getting it ready to post off this week.

If anyone reading this post does like romance stories - I've posted a short story I wrote here on my blog, and would love to hear what anyone thinks of it.

For now, time to get on, but do hope over to Kirsty's place at http://www.kootoyou.com/ for some amazing creative spaces!

Jill

Back from holiday!

First of all, hello to anyone popping over from Wobble over Wednesday!  I hope you'll stay for a look around, and leave me a comment so I can return the favour too!!

Well I've just returned from a lovely 2 week break driving and camping down the East Coast of our wonderful Australia! We had a wonderful time, but it is good to be back in the warmth of Carins, and with the kids back to school I'm catching up with the washing, tent airing and general unpacking and settling back into home!

Before I get into a few photos from our holiday, I was very happy to find out that while I was away, my entry of a pillowcase handibag, into the iron crafter competition run by Fireflies and Jellybeans made the top ten!! Yippee!!  I didn't then win, but was amazed once more by the creativeness of so many people!  Congratulations to the winners!

But back to the holiday and a few photos:

Here's where we went in Queenland (top right hand corner of Australia) : starting in Cairns and driving down to Brisbane, around 1700km

First stop was Townsville, and the highlight for the kids was the free water park on the esplanade...

Next we went on to Airlie beach, where we did a day cruise around the Whitsundays islands.  We had been there about 12 years earlier, and wanted to show our girls Whitehaven beach, which is quite spectacular!  Unfortunately that was the only wet and cloudy day we had on the trip, but we still had a lot of fun, and even saw a whale!  Here's how we saw the beach from the lookout:

And here are a couple of pictures of Whitehaven beach on a beautiful sunny day, so you can see why we wanted to go back so much:

The sand is so white and fine it's like snow!  Just amazing!

And the sunset at the end of the day sailing home was lovely too!!

Next stop was south and inland a bit up into the hills to Eungella, where we had a fantastic view down the valley from our campsite (here's our tent - a room on one side for us, and one on the other for the girls!):

And the view..

We went up here to see Platypus in the wild!  A pretty special sight - not so easy to photo since they're only about 30cm long and come out at dusk!!  But here's one!

We did see lots of other wildlife, possums, kangaroos, and lots of birds including this Kookaburra very close up, munching on a locust!!

More wildlife was seen at our next stop Australia Zoo.  I was hugely impressed with this place.  It's owned and run by the Irwin family (I'm sure everyone remembers Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter). 

Apart from the Elephants, the zoo had much the same selection of animals as other smaller parks in Cairns, and other locations around Australia, but it managed to present them in a different way.  It's very much centered around conservation and that theme shines strongly through in all the displays and shows. 

For a large, commercial, and hugely popular park, it manages to get across this vital message about conserving our wildlife.  I know some people think it's too commercial, but it's nice to know that some of that money (and I do believe it is a large part) is going back to the environment, animals and conservation.  I think of parks with that message as being small, run by volunteers and entry is the cost of a donation.  The Irwins have found a way to reach the masses with their message - and gain donations from people who may not otherwise give money to the cause - but in this way they get a fantastic experience out of it themselves!

The best part for me was the show at the crocoseum, where we saw amongst other things, the crocodiles being fed.  The Irwins (Terry, Bindi and Bob) are all very entertaining too!

Our final stop was Brisbane, where we were lucky enough to stay in a city centre appartment - a nice change after camping, especially since the temperature was quite a lot cooler than we were used to!

On the last night, we went to see an AFL (Australian rules football) match at The Gabba.  My team ( the Brisbane Lions) unfortunately didn't win, but as always it was exciting to be there at a sports match!  Here's our star - Brendan Fevola kicking a goal!!!

We then spent the last two days of the holiday driving back up to Cairns.  Things didn't start well at 4.20am on our first day with a flat car battery!  Fortunately the RACQ man was just next door, and we had a new battery and were off just 40 mins later!

All in all a fantastic holiday - heaps of new experiences for the kids, and a good break for us - with plenty of fresh air!

Time now to get back to reality!

Now just before I went away, I noticed that a blog I follow (My life with rats and more) had started up a new linky party, so thought I'd link up and support them, and hopefully make some new friends along the way. So here's the link to :

 

Jill

My Creative Space

I have lots of creative ideas for this! If only I could get into it......

It's the thought that counts..

I just can't quite reach the pedals....

My Creative Space

Just not feeling that creative today.........