Droughts and Flooding Rains.

Not as high as 2011, but still this flood created havoc.

The Bremer River in flood. 

 Colleges Park was due to be reopened after a full reconstruction
 following  the 2011 floods.  I think the  opening might be
 delayed for a while.  

The month of January has been an exhausting start to the year.  One week we were sweltering in 40 degree heat, and the next we are isolated by floods!  

Personally we have been very fortunate to have gone through the whole flood issue completely unscathed.  Our house is on the highest point in town, and we didn't have any electricity outages at all.  Sure there were some minor inconveniences but nothing that couldn't be handled.

I feel so sorry for those people who experienced evacuation, water flooding their houses and businesses, loss of electricity for extremely long periods and other challenges thrown at them by mother nature.

Sadly to say there were also a number of lives lost as well.

A very big thank you must be said to all those tireless volunteers and professionals who are out there doing there best for their community.  SES, police, fireman, ambo's, council workers, electricity workers, even down to the those who baked items and donated them at the evacuation centres around town.

Thankfully this experience was no where near as bad as the 2011 floods for the people of Ipswich and Brisbane, but emotionally it brought back those memories to a lot of people and that in itself was bad enough.  

Love is in the Air....

Isn't this Valentine Cake, from Cocoa Bean Cakes, just adorable?  I just love how Renee incorporates so much chocolate into her cakes.  Chocolate cake, with chocolate icing and even chocolate hearts... yum!!

Valentine Cake

and this is just one of the amazing cakes that Cocoa Bean Cakes has created ! Here are a few more of her absolutely gorgeous, made to order, cakes.

Vintage Rose

Merry Chocolate Christmas

Playboy Delight
Even the bunnies are chocolate!

I don't know about you, but I am sure I could find the an occasion that needs a cake!  Especially one of these yummy chocolate delights.

Download this cute Reindeer for Christmas

It seems I just can't stop designing for Christmas! Here it is, New Years Day and I have spent the last few hours drawing this little fellow playing in the snow.
Feel free to follow the link to download him for FREE.  I have supplied the image as is, as well as the little reindeer and snowman on their own for you to use on your own Christmas creations in 2013.
Nothing like getting in early is there ?

Just follow the link to download this image as either a jpg or png (with a transparent background)
Download Link

Cultiver Goes Digital !

People from all over the globe can now have the wonderdful  Cultiver- Indie arts & design experience digitally,  via the store's delightful Cultiver Christmas app available for only $0.99 at iTunes. 

The lovely ladies at Cultiver, together with  Tangible Media,  have joined together to create the first I hope of many, delightfully interactive publications.  Cultiver is an eco-ethical, handmade fashion, accessories and homewares store located here in Ipswich, Queensland - which specialises in ethically sourced, handmade products from local and Australian artisans.  

The 2012 Christmas issue,  entices readers with creative design and beautiful photography, and includes innovative and interesting interactive elements. Content includes craft tutorials, a recipe, movie review, poetry, an interview with a craftisan, a developing photographic storyline to unfold in future issues, and a blend of hidden surprises.

Are you creatively-minded, inquisitive and have a sense of humour? If so, then this is the magazine for you.

Buy it once and receive their Christmas specials for free in the coming years!

Cultiver Xmas for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store


Hop on over to iTunes and check it out.... 

Having a Hoot!!

Hi there,
I don't know about where you are at the moment, but here in sunny Brisbane, Australia it is a very hot and humid day.  Great for sitting inside, in the airconditioning and working on some new designs to share with you.
My owls from last week have now taken pride of place on these Birthday Card graphics that I have made.  Suitable for both adults and children, these owls look so cute - especially Mr Owl in his tie!!
Feel free to download these images for use on your own cards, I would love to see the results!

Select the link below the picture to be taken to the download site.

cheers
Grace.

Download png file

Christmas Cards Ready to Send

Here are a few of the Christmas Cards I have created using the Free Christmas Downloads I am giving away.  If you haven't been over to collect your freebies please hop over to the Freebies page on my Website and check them out. Hope you like them :)

An Owl Family for you

The lovely Terri, over at Cocoa Mint has been assisting me with setting up my own little digi downloads.  I love the simplicity and clean lines of her work, it's really worth having a look at her store if you like cute and simple designs.
Here are a couple of owls, complete with fashion accessories, that I have created for you to download for FREE!! Just select the hyperlink below and off you go. If this is your first time downloading with 4shared, you will need to register - but it is a pretty simple once only task.  The download includes png and jpg files of all the items you see in the image below.

Please leave me a comment if you download the files. As I am pretty knew to all this I would really appreciate your feedback/suggestions regards the download process. If there are any issues with the files please leave a comment and I will get onto it straight away.

Owl Family digital images

Download here 

Enjoy these little cuties,
Cheers,
Grace