Emergency Post For My Aussie Friends !!!!!!!!!

This is a very important post!!!!

Our Australian friends need our help! There have been DEVASTATING brushfires all over the Victoria region of Australia! These brushfires (most folks believe they are being set) have taken many lives (I believe the expected total so far is 208) and SO many others have lost their homes and all they hold dear.

This has become a monstrous disaster and the Australian people are suffering greatly.

My friend on Redbubble, MT has written a journal post on his RB site and I've copied it here to help reach more people. (I also journaled it on MY RB site as well.)

I hope all the links work, bare with me.

Bushfire Appeal:

Hello one and all.Victoria (one of australia’s states) has had a terrible fire rage through in the last few days, and has had terrible consequences with so far 108 confirmed dead.Anne Van Alkemade has set up a paypal bushfire appeal which you can learn more about HERE this is truly a devastating fire, probably the worst in Australian history – certainly worse than the Ash Wednesday fire in 1983.Australians are known for their genoristy and charity- we as a nation had given so much to the tsunami appeal, the nonsense in burma, even with hurrican katrina – in this time of trouble, it would be nice to see some of that charitable feeling return back this way.RED CROSS DONATION APPEAL HERE

Steven Sandler, another of my RedBubble friends took some terrifying shots of the fires approaching his home. You can see them HERE at his site. Click the 'browse art' link to see the other pictures. AND there is a website set up for donations and aid HERE .

Please...I know this isn't a HUGE blog with tons of followers, but we have a few, and you all have blogs, and friends, and THEY all have blogs and friends. Lets get this information swarming!!!

Thanks you guys.

Love and Light,

Gypsy

UPDATE!!!: Turns out that north and north west Queensland Areas in Austrailia are being devastated by horrible flooding!! What an awful summer for poor Australia!

If you would like info on THAT area or would like to donate to that cause, my good RB friend Dimsim gave me THIS link.

Again, all my happy thoughts, wishes for healing and positive eergy go to the people of Australia during this rough time.

Another AWESOME contest I DON"T want people to enter!!!

OK...so I didn't win the coffee/tea/chai/hot cocoa maker...that's ok...I can live with that...*sigh*
BUT it is time once again for another cool and amazing contest from my lovely and awsome SITS sisters! (seriously, go visit them! TOO cool!)
Here is the link to check it out. http://www.thesitsgirls.com/2009/02/february-giveaway-bedroom-bliss.html?commentPage=2
500 thread count sheets my friend! + new pillows, + linen spray and candles + a Target card.....so much swag any Pirate would be proud! (AND sleep better!)
S opop on by and check out the contest AND the SITS site. Swing by some of the other SITS sister sites, and PLEASE!!!! leave a comment whereever you see the cool SITS logo button! It's what SITS is all about!

My Favourite Things Part 2

Pottery. Much like the ACEOs I blogged about last month, pottery and stoneware are a 'special addiction I have. I discovered many years ago that even myself and my very tall hubby have trouble breaking good stoneware, and thus began my quest.
Some families feel the need to have a matched set or pattern to their dishware...not me. I figure, if I get only a couple of pieces from each magnificant potter I find, I not only have a really beautiful array of different glazes and textures, but if hubby or I DO manage to break a piece there's no running around like a mad person trying to replace it.

Discontinued patterns be damned! I will never worry about broken dishes again! I can even use the beautiful shards of a broken piece for another craft project!

Don't get me wrong tho! I am picky about my pottery! I prefer earthy glazes. The pieces MUST be utilitarian! And I'm not really into pictures. Painted on or otherwise. Any pattern to the pieces I tend to choose are done in the glazing process. Swirls of colour, dots, geometric patterns...all totally acceptable. I have even been known to indulge in the occasional carved or etched piece. But it has to be really exceptional.

My husband has become accustomed to my rampant pottery addiction, and tries to be both supportive and restraining...I guess we really don't NEED a fifth mixing bowl....really. At the same time, he's a doll about replacements now! If he breaks a piece, he actually gets excited about finding a new one! (I've even gotten him to enjoy seeking out potters at craft fairs!) I can't truly express how it feels to have a big cup of hot coffee or tea in a beautiful piece of hand crafted pottery! Each of the pictures you see in this post are linked to the Etsy shops of the truly talented potters that created the item pictured. In a few notable cases, I already own a piece or two from that crafts person, (Risingsky, I LIVE to have hot cocoa out of the GIANT mug I bought from you!) but I have mostly

chosen to highlight the works of those I hope to buy from in the near

future. Antb and Fehustoneware, you both know I'm comin for ya! LOL!

And though a couple of these crafters are very new to me, I plan on raiding their sites as well!

Many thanks to : khphillips, charityelise, karinlorenc, fehustoneware, antb, tlwpottery and risingsky . All fantastic potters with shops on Etsy.com. Just check 'em out!

(NOTE: I believe the piece I chose from Antb was thrown by hubby Danny.)