Yes, I do have another life!

Or at least another aspect of my business life. That is the web design and graphic design part of my working life.

Recently I’ve been working hard on building myself a website for that aspect of my business – something I’ve neglected while I’ve been busy working on other people’s sites!

And finally it’s done (well, as done as a website ever gets!). If you’re interested in having a look you can visit the Web design & more website.

If you’re interested in the ins and outs of running or promoting a website, you can also check out my web design blog.

Oh yes, I’m going to blog about the weather. But with good reason!

This big hailstone is one I picked up next to my front door – there were bigger ones but it was dangerous to go out and get them. I got bruises just from trying to cover my car!

In recent weeks the weather has been taking up an enormous amount of time and headspace as I clean up puddles of water inside my house, strategically place containers to collect drips also inside, deal with damage from enormous hailstones (including to my new car … excellent), deal with the real estate agents re the leaks and doors and windows that no longer open and close properly … and generally cower in fear wondering when the ceilings will collapse or the roof will fall apart!

It really has been that bad where I live. Despite being the middle of summer – and what we were warned would be a long, very dry and dangerously fire-prone season. Instead it has rained and rained and rained, stormed and stormed and stormed.

This has been going on since Christmas, but in the last fortnight has been unbelievably bad. People who have lived in this area for 30 years or more say they’ve never seen anything like it.

Nearby there have been mudslides and rock falls closing roads and train lines – there was even a train derailed. A house not far away had lightning come through a window and set curtains on fire! A gas pipe exploded after being hit by lightning as well. There have been many fallen trees, dirt roads (there are plenty of those around here) have fallen apart and sealed roads now have enormous potholes in them. Then there are all of the car accidents, power outages and other issues!

On the upside, drought conditions are suddenly looking better and our dams have had an enormous amount of desperately needed water go into them. And my garden looks greener than it did at the end of winter!

But all up it’s been very disruptive and there appears to be more to come, starting this very afternoon.

In addition I’ve been dealing with a few issues to do with my housing situation, which is currently less than happy. I’m working on sorting that out at the moment, which is also fairly disruptive.

I am getting orders out generally within the usual timeframe, unless the weather is so severe I can’t risk going out or if the power is out at the post office! However, I am a bit slow on the communications front at the moment, so please bear with me.

I’d love it if you felt so inclined as to vote for me in the first ever Poppies – a series of indie design awards being run by the lovely Jan at Poppytalk blog.

You can vote for my handmade jewellery right here.

Just scroll down to check my name and then a bit further down to click on ‘vote’ … and that’s it!

I’m thrilled to be in the running and have my fingers crossed for a happy outcome! Winners will be announced on 5 February 2010.

Good luck to everyone else in the running for a Poppy too. View all of the award categories and get voting for your favourite indie designers!

Well, finally it’s all over and a fresh year is underway. Hooray!

My festive season was even more tiring than usual, having lost about two months worth of preparation time after a major project ran behind schedule a bit earlier in the year. So I felt like I was on the back foot throughout the season in terms of my handmade jewellery business. But I survived it, which is the main thing!

I also had my entire family come and stay for several days – they all live in another state. Given that I was hosting Christmas it meant a lot of preparation for the day itself, as well as for having numerous extra people in the house for some time, including two children. Exhausting!

But they have all gone now and things have slowed down, so it’s time for taking stock and spending some time getting myself sorted out for a new year – and my first full year of full self-employment.

I plan on spending much of the next few weeks doing some serious business planning and analysis. But also looking again at the fact that I continue to work far too many hours and don’t have enough of a life! It will be good to take a long hard look at all sorts of bits of my life to make them work a bit better.

So here’s to a happy and successful 2010 for all of us!

Just a little note to update you about delivery details for Christmas.

It’s really getting a bit late now for non-Australian orders to arrive in time for the big day, however, sometimes airmail can be surprisingly quick (especially at Christmas), so feel free to take your chances! But be prepared that your order may not arrive in time.

Australian orders being sent by regular post should be placed by 20 December at the latest. Again, orders placed after this time may still arrive in time, but they may not. I strongly suggest you order immediately to be sure your item will arrive in time.

If you’re in Australia and wish to have your order sent by Express Post, you should be safe if you place your order by the morning of 22 December at the latest – or by the evening if you live around Sydney or in the ACT.

Really the main thing is to order asap to avoid disappointment. I am turning orders around as fast as I possibly can, but the more time you have between ordering and Christmas day, the better!

I hope everyone is surviving the insane season so far. I am! But only just.

Yes, it’s that time again! Can you believe it?

I thought it would be a good idea to give people an idea of cut off dates for Christmas delivery from my handmade jewellery shop.

If your jewellery order is to be sent outside of Australia and New Zealand, you should place it by 16 December 2009 at the latest. The earlier you order overseas deliveries in particular, the more likely they will be to arrive in time for Christmas, so don’t delay.

Orders being sent by standard post to Australian addresses should be placed by 21 December 2009 at the latest to arrive by Christmas eve. However, the earlier you order standard post items, the better.

Items sent by Express Post to Australian addresses can be placed as late as the night of 22 December Australian EST, provided the address you are sending to is within a guaranteed next business day delivery area. Learn more.

Orders to New Zealand should be placed by 20 December at the latest.

If you place an order later than these times it will still be posted as quickly as possible.

Orders placed from Christmas onwards may be delayed due to public holidays, but I will still be sending orders out on business days as usual. They will continue to be sent from just outside of Sydney as I will not be going interstate for Christmas this year.

Note that dates listed above are based on Australian times.

Christmas pudding tokens

If you’re looking for my Christmas pudding tokens (an English tradition still celebrated in UK, along with Australia and some other places), you can find them in my international shop and in my Australian shop.