Piccaninny Creek lookout walk video

AAAggghhh...this doesn't seem to want to work in the post below so I shall leave it here all on it's own.It is just a little video as I turned around along the Piccaninny Creek lookout walk.One thing though as per my previous "how too" do Opals embossing enamel and inkjet water transfers videos and posts here,I hate hearing myself talk and I did turn the sound down when I uploaded this one.Anyway after loading this I was checking something and I say the Purnululu National Park is just East of The Kimberley's when in fact it IS in the East Kimberley area.

Kimberley Trip Photos

Finally I got time to upload these pictures from our quick trip to the Kimberley's in Western Australia.It takes two days to drive to where we went and back.Again there were a zillion Kangaroos on the road at and after dusk so driving at night is a NO NO.As we only had 7 days leave we really only had three days to sight see.We took Tim with us as leaving him with his cranky teenage older sisters was not an option LOL.It is truly beautiful over there and we saw just a glimpse of what there is too see.We hope to go back next year for three weeks,head straight to Broome and then drive slowly back home stopping at lots of places on the way back.Our first stop was Kununurra.We got there just in time to climb up Kelly's nob for the sunset.We climbed beyond where all the tourists where to an old steep walk to the left of car park and up the far side.The huffing a puffing was worth it. First view is from there looking down over Kununurra

and behind looking over Hidden Valley.Even here you can see the mountain range is eroding similar to the Bungle Bungle's and people call it a Mini Bungle Bungle range

Minutes later there was another gorgeous sunset

The next day we drove down to the Bungle Bungle ranges.They are in Purnululu National Park and are World Heritage listed.The area has only been known about by the general public since the 1980's when a documentary was done here.Most people just fly over this amazing range from Warmun(Turkey Creek) for views of huge eroded sandstone domes.The domes have gorgeous bands of black and deep ochres.I first did that in August 2000 and was blown away then by the visual sites here but this time we drove into the campgrounds at the base of a small section of the range.You have to take all your own water,cooking gear,tents and food as there is limited facilities here.Drop toilets are the norm and no showers at all.
There are only two small areas open to the Public at the moment.The road in is very rough and 4wheel drive only...takes about 2 hrs to drive 53km's so you can see why.You have to sign in at the Rangers station and pay camp or day trip fees.These are the first domes that we saw up close on the road to the camp area.

After setting up our tent at the camp grounds to the left of the Rangers station we had just enough time to go for a few walks.The trademark stone domes are not greatly evident in this part but there are some pretty Gorges to explore.First we went on the Mini Palms Gorge Walk.As you pass the entrance the high sandstone walls part to reveal a rocky palm dotted pathway.Here is Grant and Tim in a cool leafy section of the walk.Judging by how steep the walls are the water MUST rage thru here in the Wet season(we do not have the regular four seasons here...just two...the WET where is rains alot and the DRY where it doesn't LOL).

looking back toward the entrance over the palms

At the end you climb over huge boulders(that have thankfully had steps and a viewing point built on them)to see a lovely mini palm lined chasm below.

The afternoon light was fast fading but we still had time to go on Echidna Chasm Walk.On this one you felt you were being engulfed by the steep sides of the walk.It goes for ages thru numerous tight walled areas that spill into open areas.Toward the end it opens into a large circular area.Tim had a hoot here making his voice bounce of the walls and it was so cool and peaceful.This next photo is taken from there looking toward the next tight walled section to walk thru just before the end.

Night quickly fell and after a restless sleep in the noisy packed camp grounds we headed off to other walking tracks and Gorges to the right of the Rangers station.As you drive there the domes start to appear more and more.We were all transfixed by these stone structures and there coloured bands and kept stopping and taking photos of them.On one stop I walked away from the road to get better pictures and discovered Wild flowers and emu tracks in the red sand.

In the distance you can see the dome range that we are driving toward.

Getting closer the white bull dust road we are on goes over a rise and gives you a wonderful view of the domes

Once you are in the car park there are three walks here to do.The first we went on was The Domes Walk which also branches off to Cathedral Gorge.The Domes walk gets you up close to these unique looking rock formations

and closer

closer

AAAhhh what a perfect backdrop for a photo of Grant and Tim

We did go to Cathedral Gorge which I think was the best Gorge walk there but my photos there were crap as it is so large they do not do it justice at all.Grant had this one though.It shows about a quarter of the HUGE circular area that has been eroded by water.You can see where the water comes in the roof at the top in the Wet season.In the centre you can see part of the stagnant still pond that has remained well into the Dry season.That is Tim and Me beside the pond.

The last walk we did was to Piccaninny Creek lookout.There is a Piccaninny Creek Gorge walk here too but it takes a day to walk there,sleep in the tent overnight and a day to walk back so we did not do that one...this time *grin*. Below is a section of the creek walk domes and a cone.

Looking up the domes as you pass them

View from the Piccaninny Creek lookout

That afternoon we drove to Hall's Creek and stayed in a hotel.Man that shower there was sssooo good after being coated in sweat and dust for two days LOL. As our time was limited we decided to not drive on to Broome but did a day trip down to Fitzroy Crossing and back.Grant had seen a documentary on Tunnel Creek in the 60's and had always wanted to go there to see it for himself so off we went.It's on a good dirt road not far from Fitzroy Crossing and is a creek that has tunnelled it's way thru a mountain that you can walk thru.In the car park you are met with the step sandstone mountain walls.

As you approach the creek tunnel mouth there is Aboriginal rock art to be seen.

View in at the entrance.This creek must have been tunnelling under the mountain for thousands of years.You easily walk upright and it's really quite wide and is about 750meters long inside.Make sure you have a torch(No artifical light at all but there are sections where the sun comes in)and good shoes that you don't mind getting wet.That's Tim in there with the head torch on.

Some sections of the roof have broken off to let sunlight stream thru and you can see stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.In the dark unlit areas they are very hard to photograph as you can't see well to focus.The roof and walls have heaps of small bats on them.Even fruit bats come inside from the hot mid-day sun which is really unusual to see.They are just outside hanging on the trees and intermitantly one flies down and up to the cool roof.

some of the formations inside

Fresh water crocodiles live in the tunnel and we spied this one against a back wall.We got up quite close to him and I don't think he was too happy about that either.

The creek exists here to a still pond and there is Grant the conductor. LOL

some more rock art at the exit where you can see the bottom half has been washed away from the water running thru in the Wet Season.

On the way back we saw some iconic Boab tree.These trees have bottle shaped trunks and many are ancient as they are really slow growing.Here is a typical one.

and a huge old one with Tim in the middle and Grant bottom left.

Our last night we stayed at Hall's Creek again and then headed back home.On a section we took a rest at,there was a huge dried up creek bed that Tim and Grant went exploring in for rocks.I just loved the patterns of this dried up mud there.

Another funny thing for me was the length of the Aboriginal community names that we drove past signs for.Here is one of the many that easily tongue tied me.

I'm not sure what it is with me and holidays but again on the last days drive home we had an interesting thing going on above us with this ring appearing around the early morning sun!!!WAHOO and thanks to Paulo the great rehab Dr from Brazil, who let me know that it is a 22 degree circular halo caused by ice crystals in the skies...and YES they occur even in hot areas like here.You can read about them at this site.Thanks Paulo :o).It was an amazing sight to see.

Opals Encrusted Jewellery stand

"Opals embossing enamels how I love thee let me count the ways" LOL.I made a large jewellery stand using Opals embossing enamels,Fantasy Film,Aftermidnight Art Glass and stamps,Krafty Lady moulds and so on and so on.It started as plain chipboard frame that was around the length of a ruler so quite large.I made one side bluish brown and the other whitish blue.This side below has central torso made using Opals,Fantasy Film,more Opals and then stamping with a large floral Aftermidnight art stamp.Aftermidnight art glass used for the three "buttons" covered in Opals and Fantasy Film and then stamped on.Krafty Lady small face mould caste with Sculpey and then painted with Pental Metallic brush pens.Torso face is a large plastic face mould I found at Spotlight caste with Sculpey and painted with Pental metallic brush markers.Mask is an Aftermidnight Art stamp stamped on fun foam and then painted.Beads hand sewn on.Hair was made by dribbling molten Opals around the made face which was placed face down in a tray of iced water.Arms where made with some ???shower clips I found in Bunnings.I placed images in the circles and then added keys made from Krafty Lady key mould caste with Sculpey attached with jump rings.Bottom of the stand is Opals built up with three layers and then stamped into with an Aftermidnight art stamps butterflies stamp.

On the reverse is the whitish side.Made in a similar way with different colours of Opals embossing enamels,Fantasy Film,Pental paints and Krafty Lady art moulds

Closer look at the whitish blue side

and the brownish blue side

Transfers Link I Found Today

Hi all
I was looking for my Sheer Heaven to do Sheer Heaven Transfers and could not find it.Went thru every draw twice and then in frustration ordered more.Then I went looking for the transfer instructions....couldn't find those either after three searches so Googled them and found them here.After ordering more Sheer Heaven and printing instructions again I decide to use some vellum and open the draw to find...yep the Sheer Heaven and the instructions I was looking for for the last 2 and a half hours...sheesh!!!!!Anyway the good thing was that while I was looking for the dotcalm Sheer Heaven site info I found this other site and it has lots of instructional how too's for all sorts of stuff you can apply in your paper arts persuits.The link will open on a transfer tutorial (rolls eyes and sighs "of course")but you can click at the left for others.Here is the link
My daughter Melissa needed to go to a friends place this evening and while I was driving her there the Something With Numbers song "Stay With Me Bright Eyes" (from the post below) was on the radio that my nephew was in.It was the first time I had heard it on the radio here and made me smile.I was one proud Aunty LOL.Still picking these darn spinifex spines out of my hands but I am starting to be able to hold my pens and brushes again at last.I've resized the Kimberley images and hope to do a post about them in the AM :o)
hugs
Annette In Oz

My Nephew Is a Star LOL

Check out this video: Something With Numbers - Stay With Me Bright Eyes



My nephew Chris Ross is the ginger bearded lead(who looses his love to the lead singer)in this corny music video clip he did for his friends who are in the band Something With Numbers.It was released on My Space when we were away in QLD recently and it was so funny to us to see him there with the big grin and blushed face cheeks.We all sat around Mum's computer laughing and pausing it in spots.Really though I quite like the song itself and hope the guys do well with it.Chris and his brothers are great fun to be around.I'm not sure if this video code will work here so just in case here is the direct link to My space too.
Just sorting the Kimberley photos today and shall get them up soon.I fell into a spinifex plant over there and had all these sore infected spinifex spines stuck in my hands for over the last week but now I have most of the darn spines out so hope I may be able to get creative again without being in pain.

Christmas At My House Swap.Last pages are here and what I did

Life has a way of surprising you doesn't it.Grant turned fifty last week so we both arranged to have three days off work on our quieter week which gave us seven days off.He isn't a drinker and does not like parties so I let him choose what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday...and he chose a quick trip to the Kimberley's in Western Australia.OMG there is so much over there to see and do.We camped at the Purnululu national park(Bungle Bungle's)in tents and did two days of bush walking to various gorges and lookouts.The colours of the eroded sandstone mountain range takes your breath away.They have eroded to cone like shapes with gorgeous ochre coloured bands.Against the vast blue sky they look breathtakingly beautiful.We went as far as Fitzroy Crossing and explored an amazing creek that has tunneled its way thru a mountain.You can walk all the way thru it for 750mtrs!!!.It's full of stalagmites and stalatites,bats and even fresh water crocodiles.I need to back up some photos in the computer and then I shall load some photos up of what we saw which was just a tiny bit of what there is to see...we are going back for longer next year
On another note when we got home there were the gorgeous last three pages from the Christmas At My House swap waiting for me.Jessie Scherf made this LAURVLEY interactive page with two hinged doors

Here are the doors open

Next is a shimmery red and gold one from Bridget Larsen

This 3D textured one was made by Carol Anderson.I so love the texture and embedded bits in the Opals frame here

Now we all have our pages I can show you what I did.This is my front page.I made thin sheets of Opals embossing enamel using light weight Vilene,sheer material and Opals embossing enamels.You can read how here

Then I put it thru the Cuttlebug several times in different directions using different embossing folders each time.The page is larger then the Cuttlebug allows so I firmly folded over the bit hanging out across the top of the folder and ran it thru(had my eyes closed the first time LOL)...it makes all sorts of crackling noises BUT pops out the other side unharmed!!!.It makes Textured Cuttlebug pages like I have made before but without all the tearing and gluing.Then I added a inkjet water transfer on calico of an Angel,some stamped words on tissue,stamped fabric paint holly around the image and some tissue texture areas around the Angel to make a frame.I love this Christmas quote I found that says "Christmas is the keeping place for memories of our innocence" so used that.Lastly I added the initial of each person,added some trim and then highlighted the texture areas with Golden Acrylics,Luminarte Polished Pigments and Jo Sonja pale gold paint.

This is the back of my page.I got carried away here and meant to leave room for my Christmas story and details but didn't.I ended up adding that in a separate decorated enve.This side is a Vilene and tissue base sprayed with Radiant Rain sprays.Star texture added at top left and bottom right by pressing texture paste thru sequin waste and when dry painted over it with Golden Acrylics.Vintage Santa inkjet water transfer in the middle and textured tissue to make a frame.Then I stamped holly with black Stamp and Stick glue pad,activated the adhesive with the heat gun and dusted on Lumiarte Polished Pigments.Words were stamped onto tissue and glued down and then Plaid Dimensional Magic applied over the top to finish it off.Areas highlighted with Jo Sonja pale gold acrylic paint.

More Christmas At My House Pages

Two more Christmas At My House pages came on Friday but I didn't have a chance to upload them till now.This first one shows the front done by Gail Hart...I have adored Gail's style for many years and she has visited me here in the NT before.A really lovely lady who's artistic abilities and creativity I admire greatly.

and this is the back of Gail's page...wahoo she used Opals embossing enamel here to make a star ornament.Gail makes her own glass shapes

Lastly(for today)is a page by Loretta D'Onofrio.It does not show in the photo but it is all shimmery...she has used some shimmery colourful sprays on the background and the door and there is also a shimmery foil strip at the right.Loretta is another artist I admire greatly here in Oz :o)

Only three more pages to come and then I need to decorate the front and back of the book and put all the pages in.

Christmas At My House Swap

OMG some of my swap returns have come for a small private Christmas At My House swap I was in last month and they are all lovely and unique.There were only 12 of us in the swap so I shall upload them as they arrive and I am sure all others players have there's too...hate spoiling surprises LOL .Mine I shall upload last and THEN I shall get to how you put Opals embossing enamels thru a Cuttlebug *grin*
Okies here is the swap hostess's entry...the devine and sweet kind Mary Fenton.This is one side
of Mary's and I love the scrapped paint look of this

and here is Mary's other side...I am so hanging the Chrissy man on my tree this year

Next is Jenny Crossley's page...I adore this child image and don't you love that material strip at the side.

This cute one is Evelyne Poole's page and has a lovely image of a decoarted tree from her childhood

It opens to a story of how Evelyne celebrated Christmas as a child

Next is a touchy arty page from Elaine Hannam.I see something different everytime I look at this one...it has twisted wire,a transparency,stamping,muslin and so on...love it

Oh I do love the Chrissy lights here in this one by Anne Spiteri.The rectangular image has fine glass beads on it and the bear has flock to make him soft to touch

The last one that has been sent so far is from Amanda Cordingley and she has a cute piccie there of her kids that opens to tell what Christmas means to her.This is the front

and here is her back page

So far nearly all swappers have sent some little Christmas treasures as well with thier pages like tags,serviettes or whatever.We where all sent a front and back house shape to decorate too but as I was away and then sick I have not got to mine yet.I'll post more images as the other pages arrive....wouldn't it be great if we felt the way we do at Christmas all year round