BrisStyle Handmade Ark Appeal

As I promised, here's more information about the fund raising for the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

The lovely team at brisStyle (present company *included*) are either donating a piece from their etsy shops, with all proceeds from the sale going to the fund or are donating a percentage of their sales.

shelleyberelli's donating her 

Navy denim and rusty orange floral trim tote

It's a win/win - you donate and you get a tote. It doesn't get easier than that.

Back to the real world

Hello all,

I was quite organised before I went back to work and drafted a couple of posts as I knew I'd be busy in the new year. Little did I know what lay around the corner for my home town of Brisbane. I've still posted my original blog, which is a bit of a year in review (in pictures), but my prologue is about 'The Big Wet'.

For those of you who haven't heard, Brisbane is experiencing its worst flooding in 36 years. Actually, it's not only Brisbane, but a third of our rather large state. For example, parts of the flood waters around Emerald have been over 15km wide! Rockhampton, Gympie, Dalby (for the third time!), and not to forget the tragedy of Toowoomba's 'inland tsunami'  and poor, ravaged Ipswich .. well, basically all of Central and Southern Queensland have all been affected.

The comment that strikes fear into the heart of anyone who lived through the 1974 floods, or those who grew up in Brisbane, aware of 'where the water came up to last time' and water depth indicators beside suburban (seemingly distant-from-water) roads, is 'this is going to be worse than the '74 floods'.

(source)

This, amazingly, is the first photo I found when I googled the floods. It's where I was this morning. Westerham St, Taringa. This was 1974 (source)

This was this morning.

Heart-breaking.

And there's more to come. Water has had to be released from the Wivenhoe Dam, built after the 1974 floods to prevent this ever happening again. Some scoff about its effectiveness, but from all reports the flood would have been earlier and more devistating without its presence. We've got a high tide at about 4am tomorrow and waters will continue to rise.

Here's an aerial shot of Brisbane, 1974 from here

I feel for families who have been evacuated, or worse, have lost loved ones. My house is unaffected, but I live relatively close to the river and have had many roads around me cut off. Even if I wanted to help, I'm at a loss to know what to do. One thing I've done and you can do too is donate to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

Another thing that I, as well as many of my BrisStyle friends, will be doing is a Handmade Ark Appeal to contribute to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. I will post more details as soon as they come to hand.

Exhale.

Ok, so this now is my regular post that I'd planned. My inital comments seem a little glib after all that's gone on, but I hope the pictures can serve as a short escape from what might be going on around you at the moment.

shelleyberelli xxx

I've had a lovely, long and relaxing holiday. It started just before Christmas and finished abruptly when my alarm went off on Monday morning, rudely reintroducing me to the rat race. 

I savour the break to take stock of the year that's been and make plans for the coming one. As well as catching up with friends and family, I potter around, gardening, going for walks, cleaning, reading, shopping and eating - in no particular order. One of my jobs (nowhere near a chore) is sorting all of my digital photo files and deciding what's going to be printed. I usually end up with a few hundred for the year - it's a meditative process that allows me to reflect on all we've gotten up to over the past 365 days. Here are some of my favourites from 2010.

Australia Day Bushwalk - Mt Cordeaux

BrisStyle catch up, Bleeding Heart Gallery

Hiking in Arthur's Pass, New Zealand

 shelleyberelli at the BrisStyle indie Twilight Markets - King George Square

My birthday hot air balloon ride

A new purchase!

my garden visitor #1

 my garden visitor #2 - we were both happy to see the back of #1

Dinner and drinks for absent (and soon to be absent) friends

Work ball 

Good friend's high tea birthday at Mt Tamborine

Pirate shelleyberelli!

Thrift shop finds

A serendipitous visit to Tessuti fabrics, Flinders Lane, Melbourne

New shelleyberelli cards from moo

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from O'Reilly's 

Merry Christmas from the UK (my gorgeous niece visiting relatives)

Here comes the bride

My sister-in-law's sister is getting married today. 

This has inspired a wedding-themed (kind of) made-it roulette, starting with a lovely 'sisters' illustration and my take on old, new, borrowed (or upcycled) and blue. Have a wonderful day Amanda and Mark. xx

nevertheless

posy sisters illustration print

old

Little Wise Owl

Vintage print with kiss closure

new

shelleyberelli

yellow strawberry zippered coin purse

borrowed (upcycled)

paisley path

1979 Australiana upcycled pillow cushion cover

blue

swoon and blues

jiminy tea towel

Line up, line up

In the flavour of my previous post, I’ve put the Bernina to bed and tidied up my crafting space. We now have a dining room again and dinner plates are firmly on the table, and not perched precariously on laps. (Although, when it’s dinner-time, we insist the tv’s always turned *down*). 

Really, this is the proper way to have dinner, or any meal – especially if we want to eat intuitively or mindfully and listen to our hunger and fullness signals. When was the last time you really noticed, tasted, or enjoyed what you’d eaten? 

(image used with permission: for more cards like this and other 
very useful resources to help you think differently about food and the way you eat, 
check out Dr Kausman's 'if not dieting' website)

I’ve had a spree of a cleaning kind; fabrics have been stowed back in my lovely ikea boxes – one for decent sized-pieces, one for ‘cut into, but something big can still be made from’, and one for wee pieces that might make a good pocket, closure or zipper purse. 

Thread is being sorted (colour-coordinated, of course), and it looks like I need to get tucked into some more shortbread over this Christmas break as all my current storage tins are full. That’s ok, but I'll have to remember it’s a ‘sometimes’ food.

Hit the nail on the head

Don’t you just love it when someone gives you a gift that is you, well, me-to-a-t? My lovely, reliable, and hard working dream of a research assistant gave me a parcel of goodness for Christmas. Ok, maybe my OCD-tendencies aren’t hidden under a bushel, but it’s so lovely when someone gives a thoughtful gift. Thanks Nicole – good luck in Canberra. I’d say I’d give you a call in another 3 years to see if you want to do some more research for me, but something tells me you’re going to go far and may not need the work by then ….  xx

paper clips and magnetised clips

magnetised pegs and 'to do' post-it list

Old school made-it roulette

Ok, it's an oldie, but a goodie. I've been virtual window shopping on made-it again. I just keep hitting that 'made-it' banner and see what goodies come up to tempt me. This is what I found. Do any tempt you?

Radish and Ruth

Handfelted toadstools

Zozo designs

Patchwork teddy bears

Sandra Darling

Beneath an awakened surface

Denim Days

Little matryoshka ring