A Piece of Sky:

Just a quick post:

Here is a little mini canvas I recently made ...

Not a great deal to this one - the bottom right hand tile is done using Polished Pigments and gel medium, it's been a while since I have done that so felt like having a play with some of the colours. Had fun with the little bottle too which I found in my stash - has a little surprise inside too!

Also made a birthday card using the tile concept too, which I am a little addicted to at the moment. These tiles are true "inchies", cut down smaller from the ones you get in the Collections pack.

The front of the card is Java Bazzill with the Old Lace Glimmer Mist sprayed over it. It is the one shame about photography - you just can't see the true beauty of these Glimmer Mists, I just love them. So easy to use but the effect is stunning.

I am also working on some ATC's at the moment and a mini album of our trips down south recently - will share soon!

My first post for the New Year - which I have been meaning to do for a couple of weeks and I can't understand how I already find myself at the end of January. How did that happen?

I am so excited about this year. Last year was not a good one for me - but I have learned a lot and can't wait for all the good things I know this year will bring. I am committed to just enjoying myself, enjoying my kids and .... trying new things. Those of you that know me well will know that I have never in the past been one to try new things. I get in a comfort zone and there I stay. But I have to say that over the last couple of months I have gone ahead and taken the plunge!!

I even ate a mushroom, and yes, I enjoyed it. You may laugh, but a few months ago I would never have let a fungus past my lips .... In fact fungus isn't the only food I recently tried and enjoyed .... I would like to add squash to that list ... had never had it before until recently and now it has made its way onto my list of favourite foods.

I tried an olive and am sorry to say, they remain on the "don't touch it again" list for me. And I am still addicted to Diet Coke. Some things will never change.

Ok - so here is the big one.

In case you don't know me so well I will let you in on a little secret. I have a fairly major phobia of boats and jetties. In fact anything that has water underneath it freaks me out. Consequently I have always declined invitations from friends to spend a day out on the boat or do anything that involves the ocean. The strange thing is I love fish, in fact I used to breed tropical fish (Lake Malawi Cichlids) ....

But this year things are different. This is the year of change .... so what the hell I thought, put me on a boat, take me to the longest jetty. I'll do it.

And we did. I recently went down to Busselton and walked over the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. All 1.8kms of it. I freaked out at first - I just get this feeling I am going to fall over the edge. But I talked myself through it and made it to the end, where we then took a look at the underwater observatory which was such a beautiful thing and made me want to try some snorkelling ... true!! I don't have any photos to share because I didn't want to take my camera. One thing for me to fall over the edge - I couldn't risk losing my camera too!!

So we conquered the fear of jetties, the next thing we did was go out on the boat. And not a big boat ... a dinghy of all things, the thing I was most scared of.

I have been out about half a dozen times now in the last month. Oh my god I wish I had have done this years ago. It is by far one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The fresh sea air, the thrill of catching a fish, the exhiliration of travelling fast in the boat through the choppy waters.

And so it is official - I have conquered my fear of boats. And here is what I got to see, up close and personal, as a result. Now I have been to Europe, climbed the Leaning Tower, seen Venice and the colosseum and the amalfi coast. And yet look at what we have in our very own backyards ... less than an hour away from the city.