conquering my fears, relaxing, and ralphing...

I just got back from a lovely week in Fiji with my fiance Josh... It was gorgeous - turquoise water, cobalt blue skies... amaaaaaaazing sunsets...

We went on a tour of a Fijian village, including a river boat cruise and a waterfall swim and a traditional Lovo lunch, but other than that we lazed by the pool, snorkelled in the water (I have a phobia of open water... this is the conquering fears bit) and generally did sweet FA. It was just what the doctor ordered!!!

We stayed at the Wellesley Resort, a "boutique" resort boasting 15 rooms only, with no children allowed - woohoo! It wasn't all it boasted, with two small children staying (and wailing) a couple of rooms up on our first night (thankfully they left on our second day there), a double-bed only (the website boasts king size), repetitive (but yummy) menu and no BBQ / Lovo nights as advertised... and a bit of a whammy when we left - guess what guys - your transfers are one way only! That'll be $150 thanks to get back to the airport (we negotiated our way out of that one though as the website wording is dodgy "pick up and transfer")...but sheesh!

We chose to ignore those little things, and looked on the bright side - at any one time there were only 10 guests at the resort - we had pretty well exclusive use of the pool, beach, kayacking and snorkelling equipment, and it was so QUIET! No dogs, no kids (except for the first night), and no mobiles, computers or televisions! Heaven.




Then we got back home... I felt a little dodgy... then Josh felt a little dodgy... then the ralphing began - we'd gotten food poisoning! We figured it was the burgers we ate in the departure lounge at Nadi airport... 36 hours later I'm able to stomach coffee, but solid foods are a no-no...

All in all, a lovely relaxing break, with a bit of a funny (in time I'm sure it will be) story to tell at the end...

pic 1 - kayacked to a secluded beach and drew this in the sand
pic 2 - snorkelling in 4ft water... i still hyperventilated, but did indeed snorkel!
pic 3 - Josh playing rugby with some of the plantation workers one evening - the sunset was just gorgeous

New listings...

a few new offerings...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33274617

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33172599

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33057877

Etsy's Last Weekend Deals...?

There has been a lot of talk lately on the Etsy forums about Etsy's Weekend Deals. I've participated in one so far, and was lucky enough to get in the gift guide, storque and the email - WHOA! :) Got me a lot of hearts, only two sales, but hey - sales is good!

But after much contention on the forums, Etsy has decided to can them. So, I'm giving it my last shot too! So, for this weekend only, you can receive 20% off all full priced stock in my Etsy store! Whoop!

Also, there are bargains to be had in my clearance section, including items with 60% and more off.

This weekend only... the last Etsy Weekend Deals!

New listing... a work of art...?

Literally, a wearable piece of art, well I think so anyway!

This piece is inspired by my obsession with Laurell K Hamilton's books - in particular the Merry Gentry faerie princess series.Princess Meredith has sidhe scarlet hair, most often described as being as garnets spun into strands, and moonlit skin, like the shine of the gleaming silver.This piece is truly decadent, and definitely one of a kind.

Yes, I have used genuine natural and dyed garnet gemstone beads, along with lashings of sterling silver. Finished with a wire wrapped clasp, this piece is full of detail.

New Listings and New Pics!

I treat myself to a new camera recently! A Canon Powershot. Quite exxy, but I think worth it. I've retaken some shots of existing listings, plus my newest piece (the garnet wire wrapped one at the bottom).

What do you think?

20% off this weekend!

This weekend I am participating in etsy's weekend deals.

This means everything in my store is discounted by 20% - incredible!

Pop on over to see- http://angelene.etsy.com

Ends this Sunday night 27 September 2009.

SELL FOR FREE AT ZIBBET - Win! Here's how...

Article posted with permission from The Australian Etsy Blog.

I wanted to tell everyone about the site because sellers can sell items for free- with no listing fees, no monthly fees and no commission on sales with a basic account!!! The basic account allows you to have a store with 25 items at a time, and pay nothing at all- sounds good to me :)

There's also the premium account with lots of cool features, including unlimited listings/relisting, a customised shopfront that even allows you to add widgets including an etsy mini, twitter links, facebook fan box and project wonderful advertising- which might mean your shop ends up paying for its own advertising!

Premium accounts are currently available for a reduced monthly fee of $7, but for every person you refer who signs up for a premium account, $1 will be taken off your monthly fee. So refer 7 people and it's free for life!

I think Zibbet is a very promising site, and they're extremely responsive to sellers' suggestions. It's a great option for those wanting to try out another selling venue. Also, seeing as we have to put so much effort into promotion, why not direct the traffic that you're generating yourself to a shop where you don't have to pay any fees?

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Zibbet has kindly arranged two special offers just for Australian Etsy Blog readers:

Free 7-day trial of a premium account
Have a play! Create a video of yourself for your profile, change the colour of your shop every day!
Just enter the code AUSFREE when signing up (available to readers in all locations)

Try Zibbet Out Here.

WIN a FREE premium account FOR LIFE!!!

Sell for free for life, with unlimited listings and a customisable shop!

Readers of the Australian Etsy blog are also being given the chance to win a free premium account! Info about the giveaway at the Australian Etsy blog.

To Enter the Giveaway:

All you need to do to enter is become a fan on Morphologica's facebook page and leave a comment on the 'Exclusive from Morphologica & Zibbet: Zibbet Giveaway' post on the facebook page- that's it!

(there is a 'become a fan' button at the top of the page, and the link to leave a comment is just below the competition post)

The winner will be chosen using a random number generator after the 8th October (closing date), and contacted through facebook (unless alternative contact details are left). Entry is open to everyone in all locations.

Good luck and don't forget your free trial :) (code AUSFREE)

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latest creations...

These won't be listed in my etsy store until after the Womens Legal Service Art Show... (if they don't sell that is).

The Womens Legal Service is holding a fundraising art show, from 16-18 October 2009 at Studio 13, 13 Kurilpa Street West End Brisbane. I have been asked to show some pieces, which is an honour and very exciting, as it's my first art show! Yay!!

i am engaged! now what?

Yep. That's my ring... gorgeous huh? So for three weeks (nearly) now I am a fiancee officially. It's weird. I keep saying "boyfriend" when I should be saying "fiance"... and I don't feel any different, except that it's OK to talk about "when we get married" and know that it is actually a possibility that it's gonna happen.

The now what refers to the fact that we're going to have a long engagement... 18 months or 2 years or thereabouts... People are all asking when's the date? in reference to the wedding, noone seems to care about the engagement party!

I'm excited to be engaged, it means that my relationship with Josh is going somewhere officially and that's fantastic. We can continue to renovate our house and I can remain secure in the knowledge that we are committed and all "official". That might sound archaic to you, but it's important to me.

So... now what... engagement party planning! Yay!!!! And in the meantime questions about weddings, bridesmaids and dresses will all be responded to with "ask me in a year" :-P because that's when I'm going to start planning! For now I will just enjoy this loved up, glorious time of our lives! Well, glorious, but still in the middle of a massive reno...

on the subject of muses...

I now am one heheheheh. Isn't this painting gorgeous? It was painted by the incredibly talented Ms Lindsay (Linz) Cheesewright of FaerieMajikk on etsy (of course!). Linz has on a number of occasions, painted dust team members into some pretty gorgeous works of art. And now I am honoured to be a part of the muses for her body of work.

Below is the photo, taken by Sarah of SculleyDesign which served as the inspiration for this piece.

Thank you Linz - I feel very special!!!!

What do you think??