A Merry Christmas Card

Tuesday, December 21, 2010
So I have been a little bit lazy about Christmas this year, behind on my presents, haven't been the Christmas Elf that I usually am! One of the things that I have been doing for the last couple of years is sending hand-made Christmas cards out to friends and family. Well this is one of the main things that I am lagging with. I got part way there, we took some funny pictures to send out on the cards, and then I didn't make it any further. Well since today is the 21st I don't think the cards will make it in time, so this is my online card version.. still made with love, but a little bit cheaper (international mail has gotten painfully expensive) and a little less time consuming, but not quite as nice.
So I hope that everyone has a wonderfully blessed Christmas, and an amazing time with friends and family. Lots of good food and lots of laughs! I wish we could see all our friends from around the globe this Christmas, but we will be thinking of you that is for sure!!

Taking the Plunge!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Today I finally took the plunge and listed a couple of my hand-stitched embroidery items on etsy.com, my store name, like my blog name is Yellow Dandy (if you want to know what Yellow Dandy means, check out the About Me tab). I only have a couple of items up at the moment, but trust me, it is going to grow. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but have finally gotten my butt into gear!

5 Great Dresses for Under $100

Monday, December 6, 2010
Whether it is for a present or for the many different Christmas parties you will be attending, dresses are pretty much essential for this time of the year. If you are anything like me, I love clothes and shopping but I hate expensive price tags. One of the ways I avoid this is online shopping from America, because the prices are just so good, even when you include shipping. Here are 5 of my personal picks of dresses for the Holiday Season for a sweet, sweet price.
1. Everyone needs a black dress, and this one by BBdakota is flattering and cute on anyone. Best of all it only costs $84, and can be found at Karmaloop.com (who offer world wide shipping)
2. The Urban Renewal Johann Lace Dress from Urbanoutfitters. I love this pretty red dress, that also comes in other colours! I also love the price $68. Urban Outfitters offers $35 flat rate shipping to Australia, so you can stock up on as much as you want for the same rate, or go in with a group of friends.
3. The Morning Hour Dress from Modcloth. Modcloth has some beautiful retro, vintage inspired dresses for great prices. This one comes in at $74.99, and they have really great rates for shipping to Australia, some of the best I have seen. This one may not be bright and cheerful, but it is classic and can be brightened up with great shoes and a classic purse!
4. This Flight & Feathers dress hails from right here in Oz, a company called Friends Of Couture I already own one of their dresses, and I love it. This one is next on my wishlist, and just sneaks in at $99.99. I love the style of this company, they have lots of vintage 40's inspired clothing, and it is so well priced. They have an online shop, and will ship within Australia.
5. And last but certainly not least, the Ringwald dress, by L.A boutique, that can also be found at Karmaloop.com for a steal at only $68.00. Its got a cute little V at the back and great detail on the ruffles on the sleeves.

An Aussie Thanksgiving

Thursday, December 2, 2010
When we were living in America I often had people ask me what we did in Australia to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is so huge in the USA that I totally understand why so many people hadn't really thought that it isn't celebrated around the world. Australia has a bit of a different starting point as we began as convict colonies. After the American Revolutionary War, England had nowhere to send their convicts, they had limited jail/gaol space and criminals were locked in large ships awaiting to be sent somewhere. England first tried the West Coast of Africa, and most of the convicts died within the first month there. They needed another place, and thus Australia was chosen. That is my long version of why we don't have Thanksgiving, its not that we aren't Thankful, we just have a different story.

This year having two Americans in the house it was pretty necessary to celebrate it anyway! Also it hopefully made our other American friends feel a little less homesick on one of their biggest holidays of the year.

We had a beautiful Turkey, named Tilly! We had a full spread of all the goodies, and making vegetables as fatty as we possibly could! Joels own personal beer selection of homebrew and lovely lovely desserts! Also, good friends to celebrate with.. all in all I think that we may have to continue to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the future! Might have just started our own new family tradition. Hot weather, turkey, and shooing the flies away from all the food!

Some Vintage Lovelies..

Friday, November 26, 2010
This last week I aquired a couple of new items for my house. I love finding quirky, vintage and retro items for my house. I think it feels more homely and more like me, than just buying new things. This lovely 1960's desk I picked up from Ebay last weekend. You can't see it in the picture but it has a little bookshelf on the right side as well.

Yesterday I went to have morning tea with my Mum and Nanna and we starting chatting about crafting and sewing and all that fun stuff. My Nanna, in her younger years used to be a dressmaker, and according to my Mum she was pretty skilled at making them all sorts of dresses and outfits when they were young. Anyway, Nanna told me that I could have her old sewing machine, because she no longer uses it and it just sits in the closet. When I saw it, I immediately Loved it. It is an old Singer machine, and is
absolutely beautiful.












Isn't it lovely!! I love it.. I can't wait to actually learn how to use it. I need to oil it, and then download the manual to figure it all out. But right now it has found its perfect place on top of the new desk!



Super Cute Softies!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Glenn (my brother) and Raphaela (his girlfriend) have been making these super cute softies, they spent most of yesterday at our place stitching and creating!! I love their creativity and style. The colours are awesome, hopefully there will be a way for more people to get their hands on these soon.





I love this picture.. Raphaela will probably kill me for posting it!

Finished for the Year!

Friday, November 19, 2010
I finished with Uni today, for the Summer Holidays. I will have off all the way until March. After a three hour exam this morning which included 4 essays..I decided to do a photo log about how I feel about this...





Can you guess how I feel???

New Online Craft Mag!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I was taking a quick (really, really quick I promise) break from studying and I was checking out a embroidery blog that I really enjoy, Sublime Stitching. The most current post is all about a new online craft magazine (oohhh yeah) called Toffee. Toffee is 24 pages of all sorts of crafty things! The best thing is that it is cheap... and with the Sublime Stitching voucher, you can get an extra 10% off of that.. how exciting. When I finish exams (Friday) I am planning on getting on that!

Musician with a heart!

Thursday, November 11, 2010
On Monday night I was asked to work at the Ed Kowalczyk concert. For those of you my age and older may remember him as being the old lead singer of the band Live. He is on tour at the moment promoting his own solo album. I think Live was one of those bands that most people know a number of their songs but you don't realise it is them, at least that's how it is with me. I was happy to go along to help out, and I thought I knew a couple of songs, and the main reason we (being World Vision) were there was because Ed is a part of the artists affiliates program, and at all his concerts has been encouraging people to sign up and sponsor a child. So we were there with sponsor children ready to be sponsored! How amazing is that, a rock star taking time out of his gig to encourage people to care about some of the poorest people on the planet!!

Our job wasn't until the end, when everyone was filing out, so for the most part we could just enjoy the concert. I wouldn't call myself a fan before that night, but he was really amazing. His voice is fantastic, and more than that he is such a nice guy. I also figured out I knew way more Live songs than I had initially thought, I kept saying.. oh they sing this too? Ed stayed around afterwards to hang out and meet some of his fans! While the masses were mobbing him we waited for the opportunity just to say Thank You to him for all his support, and of course let him know that a bunch of Children got sponsored because of his encouragement!! When he saw us waiting, he made a beeline for us and was stoked to have a chat, he asked how many sponsorships we got, and was really excited about the whole thing. He was so lovely and passionate about poverty, I wish that more people who had a platform like Ed does would use it to be the voice of the voiceless. He is a fantastic advocate for the poor and helpless and it was really encouraging to meet someone using their fame for good! (and not evil! )
Alistair, Kevin, Ed, Me and Tia
Top Photo by Kevin Moffat

Anyone for a Dancing Skeleton!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
On Sunday Joel got some more permanent ink. Don't mind how creepy he looks in this picture with the moustache, it isn't what he usually looks like, but he is participating in Movember. To raise money and awareness about Mens' health issues. So the creepiness is for a good cause!

Also in the picture you can see Kitty, from Cherry Bomb, the wonderfully talented tattoo artist that took his vague idea and made it into a work of art! Then of course made it permanent! She does some amazing work!!

The final product, although still a bit red and raw! Looks like this, and with Joel's lovely white canvas skin, the colour is nice and vibrant!


New Embroidery!

Monday, November 8, 2010
It has been a while since I have posted a new creation, mainly because I have been busy studying and doing prac! This is exactly how I felt when living in land-locked Pennsylvania, as a Perth girl the ocean is just a way of life, and it was just so weird to not have the beach at my fingertips! I was going to do a loopy phone cord going from the shell to the edge, but decided against it, although I still think it would look pretty cool!

Kayak on the Canal!

Thursday, November 4, 2010
My brother posted these pictures of me and my boy Angus, on his blog, and so I thought he wouldn't mind if I stole them! I have taken Angus kayaking a few times now, and each time he seems to get a little bit more relaxed, at first when we went out as soon as I turned to face the shore, he would jump out and swim back to land. I think now he has realised that swimming is unnecessary and just has been enjoying the ride. He is very, very interested in what is under the water, but not interested enough to jump in after them. I would love to go out with him when there are dolphins around, I am not sure what he would do!

New Places!

Monday, October 25, 2010
It is so easy to get stuck in a rut! To keep doing the same things and going to the same places, and never really seeing, exploring or discovering new wonderful places and things that are right underneath your nose. I have recently come to the realisation that I had somehow transitioned from someone who loved exploring and finding new things, to someone who just likes to be comfortable and do the same old same old. Wow, this is not me at all...but it has become very much my lifestyle. I have decided the the only was to break out of the status quo is to challenge myself! So this is my simple, 'New Places' challenge. Nothing extravagant like packing up everything and moving countries (I've done that twice before) but just checking out new places in my City! New restaurants, new pubs, new cafes, new stores, new anything really, something that is not necessarily new to the city.. but a new experience to me! Who knows I might find new things I love or despise! But either way, I'll let you know about them, so maybe, you can try some of these new discoveries too! Already had my first new place experience this weekend, so I will update soon! Until then, remember life is short! Enjoy it...

My Mum finds the best things!

Thursday, October 21, 2010
I was pretty excited yesterday when my Mum gave me a couple of things that she picked up at antique fairs and opshops for me!

Firstly, these two awesome Embroidery Magic binders, they are filled with templates, stitch guides, ideas and everything else that someone like me could pour over for hours.
I love them! I also know that they will be very,very helpful in my development of embroidery.
Secondly, she picked up these cute little Betsey Clark Crewel Pillow Kits. They are pretty cute, I wouldn't of thought they were necessarily my style, but I think they can work in the right place! You can still see the price tag, my Mum always finds great deals.
Angus (of course) couldn't let photos get taken without being the poser that he is!
Just goes and sits right in the midst of it!
This one is a great shot of the huge bump on the top of his nose! It is so soft and velvety!
Now I better get back to my assignment, and stop procrastinating!


Germs Of Perfection: A Tribute To Bad Religion

Back in my high school days I was a big fan of Punk Rock! Recently I loaded some of my old CDs onto my ipod, I was feeling like I needed some more punk in my life, and I love how when you listen to particular music so many memories flash into your mind and it takes you back to a particular time in your life! Occasionally I still love to listen to a bit of Rancid, Pennywise, Bad Religion, NOFX, Goldfinger and many many more punk bands that hogged most of my cd collection.

Today I was particularly excited, because I found out that a group of different artists all did covers of Bad Religion songs. There are 12 songs in total! The best thing about it, is that they are all free. I downloaded them and am listening to them right now! I especially like Tegan and Sara's cover of Suffer. I also really enjoy Ted Leo's cover of Against The Grain, it is so weird hearing it so slow. Other cover artists include Guttermouth, The Weakerthans and Switchfoot.

If you want to get your hands on this wonderful free MIXTAPE of these artists paying tribute to Bad Religion.. Click HERE


Ask and you shall receive!

Monday, October 18, 2010
So exciting I found out last night that Woolworths is stocking American style pumpkins this year, after my previous blog about missing them, now they are here. My, my how Australia is becoming much more Americanized, although I think these are strictly Halloween pumpkins according to the advert, unlike in the USA how Pumpkins are associated more with Fall.
They are however $26 each. I don't really remember how much we payed for them in the USA, but I am pretty sure this seems pretty expensive. Most likely because they have been imported from somewhere. Either way, I might just get one...

Wecipe Wednesday...

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wecipe Wednesday!?!
This is one of my favourite things to make! It isn't really like a bar, it is more like a cake...and it is delectable (introducing it to my vocab thanks to Bill Compton) . This recipe is from my Pennsylvania First Church of God cookbook that was given to me as a wedding present, it has come in very handy when trying to prepare traditional Pennsylvania dishes to help Joels homesickness!

Ingredients: 1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed bananas
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
cinnamon to taste
sprinkle of salt
nuts ( I use walnunts) or grape nuts cereal.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Beat sugar, bananas, oil and eggs together. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir until moist. Add vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Mix in nuts, as many as you need. Bake 25-30 mins at 350F (180C). Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:
1 (8oz) pack cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla.

Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add the sugar 1 cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix. Apply to cake when it is cool.

(By Christopher Weaver, Newville First Church of God)

Well this is definitely worth a try, I assure you. Of course, there is a whole lot of sugar in these, so I only make them every so often! But they sure are amazingly yum! Enjoy!

Adventures of a Weekend!

Monday, October 11, 2010
What a weekend, I am still exhausted! I need two more days off. I am still obsessed with my hipstamatic app on my phone, and like to take pictures all the time, unfortunately they are nowhere near as good as those on my digital SLR, but way more convenient to carry.

Stop One: Burgers at Grill'd in Mt Lawley Friday night: Best things about this place is the burgers, of course. I have only tried one, but it must be the best in my opinion the Mustard and Pickled! Also, they are BYO, brilliant. The boys brought their "beer sack" and then there was wine! Swings and Roundabouts is one of my favourite wineries, it is from Yallingup WA, and this Kiss Chasey Premium Red is not very expensive, but so so lovely!
Stop Two: Saturday, Cottesloe Beach. Our dear friend, and house guest Tony has a serious obsession with Fish and Chips, and what better place to eat them, but hanging out at Cottesloe on a lovely, warmish day!


Stop 3: Sunday Morning Farmers Market, with friends Kellie and Adam!I love this places, the community comes together with their kids and dogs and get produce and all sorts of interesting things from their local area! Plus it is sooo yummy, we walked away with a big bag full! Joel also got his fill of a Tamale, and me a Gozeme! Yummo!


I don't know who this musician is, but I would sure like to find out, she was really good.
There is one more event, but that will have to come later! It was a lovely weekend, with friends, good food and entertainment!