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Make It Perfect

Make It Perfect

.Queensland Flood Relief Auction #3 – Leanne’s Art Print.

This auction is now CLOSED.  Thankyou for your generosity 🙂
If you are a regular reader of the blog you might remember my post where I shared a heap of free art prints from Leanne.  When Leanne heard about the auctions she asked me if I would hold one for her on my blog as she doesn’t have one of her own (but she REALLY should!)
Leanne’s auction is for an Art Print designed by her, professionally printed and finished off in a crisp, white frame.
(AND I WANT IT!!!!!!)
Leanne has quoted the poem which Jan emailed to me and I think it perfectly sums up every single person participating in the Flood Appeal Auctions.  Whether you are holding an auction on your blog or placing bids or doing both – you are making the most of your today and helping to make someone happy.
The print size is 8″x10″.

How this auction works:

1.  Bidding will start at $30 (Australian).
2.  You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.  
3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4.  This auction is open to everyone.  Postage is FREE for Australian residents, International buyers will need to pay Leanne $20 to cover some postage costs.
5.  The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.

6.  At the close of the auction, Leanne will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and send her proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, Leanne will post your print to you.

8.  Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

January 16, 2011
Make It Perfect

.Queensland Flood Relief Auction #2 – Creative Abundance.

This auction is now CLOSED.  Thankyou for your generosity 🙂

My very kind and generous pattern distributors, Nel and Jacques at Creative Abundance asked me if I could hold an auction on my blog in their behalf.

They are offering FIVE sewing books, written by top Australian designers to TWO lucky winners.  That’s right – there are two lots of five books up for grabs!

Included in the book pack are:

Pieces of Me by Janelle Wind
Gift by Rosalie Quinlan
Kaleidoscope by Melanie Hurlston
A Stitch In Time by Rosalie Quinlan
Romancing the Roadtrip by Leanne Beasley

I own most of these books, and have flicked through them all.  They are fantastic and have a combined RRP of over $170.
How this auction works:

1.  Bidding will start at $50 (Australian).
2.  You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.  
3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4.  This auction is open to everyone.  Postage is FREE.
5.  The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.

6.  There will be two winners of this auction – each winning an identical pack of 5 books.

7.  At the close of the auction, I will contact the winners (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winners will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, Creative Abundance will post your books to you.
8.  Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

January 16, 2011
Make It Perfect

.An Auction Teaser.

I know a lot of you are hanging out for the Auctions Master List to be released – we are too!  Every time we get a new auction link sent through to us we are oohing and aahing over the awesome craftsmanship and variety of products that are out there to win.  

Seriously – you guys are going to LOVE it!  We are so excited and can’t wait for tomorrow night.

We have over 150 participants so far, with many of them holding multiple auctions.  Carli is taking care of the master list and says that we are getting close to 300 individual auctions!  That is not taking into count The Oz Material Girls 250+ auctions on their Facebook page!  

For now, I just couldn’t help myself and have put together a teaser of a few super cute, bright and happy auctions which are up and running now.  (Click on the corresponding number below the mosaic to head directly to their site). 

 Carli shares some of her favourite auctions so far on her blog today also.

See you tomorrow and keep checking the list next week as we add many more auctions!

January 15, 2011
Make It Perfect

.The Oz Material Girls.

Thankyou Sarah for your touching guest post yesterday.  As the waters subside today, the clean up effort is enormous.  I can’t even begin to imagine entire cities, towns and streets covered in mud and silt.  With small children of my own, my thoughts continually turn towards those with babies and toddlers and how difficult it must be to try and clean up your surrounds while making sure your children are safe and sound.
The Master List is looking amazing!!  Can’t wait to share it with you on Sunday evening.  We have decided to make a change and have NO cut off date for joining in on the auctions.  If you would like to begin an auction any time next week, please email us as soon as your link is up and we will add you to the list.  The more the merrier 🙂 
When we sent out word about the auctions, one of the first people on board was Louise from The Oz Material Girls.  Louise had actually been thinking of doing something similar and wanted to involve her customers, especially those who don’t have blogs or Facebook pages to run their auctions from.  Along with a few helpers, Louise has compiled hundreds of auctions, donated by generous individuals.  All of the auctions begin at $1 and there are so many gorgeous handmade items to choose from.  Obviously I couldn’t share all of them with you, but here is a selection of the goodies they have up for grabs.
Thanks Louise and to all of the wonderful women who donated items to this auction.  You can see all of The Oz Material Girls auctions on their Facebook Page.
#1 #2 #3
#4 #5 #6
#7 #8 #9
 
 
January 14, 2011
Make It Perfect

.Guest blogging: From Sarah.

My summer had been meandering along at a nice relaxing pace. I was conscious of the incessant rain on the eastern coast of Australia that I was hearing about from family and friends, I knew it was inconvenient for many, for others it had been much worse. I hoped for a reprieve from those affected but was largely moving along with my life. Then Monday night, my increasingly growing pregnant belly had me awake in the early hours and as I switched on the news for the first time I really stopped and looked and listened and realised.

I watched a wall of water thrash its way down once peaceful country roads, destroying everything in its path. I saw frightened families clinging to their roofs as water inched ever closer, completely covering their homes. Cars, trucks, whole buildings, washed away. Lives destroyed so suddenly and without warning. The terror of Toowoomba, so aptly described as an inland Tsunami, brought a very visual realisation of the desperation of the situation all of Queensland was facing. And as the week’s events have continued to unfold, with the flooding of Brisbane and so many of its surrounding areas, I think all of Australia has held its breath, terrified at the mighty magnitude of this disaster.

The aftermath that is beginning to emerge has been likened to a war zone. Three quarters of the state, equivalent to the size of all of Germany and France combined, have been hit by floods. 118,000 residences have been left without electricity. 11,900 homes are completely flooded with a further 14,700 partially flooded, many of which will never be habitable again. Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia is shut down. Businesses are closed, infrastructure destroyed. The threat of disease and infections spreading as the water recedes is ever present.

And looking beyond all of these harsh facts are the very personal stories. For me it is a friend, desperately asking for prayers as he waits for news of his sister and her baby, trapped in their home in Toowoomba as the fierce waters rage around them. It is my sister-in-law trying to feed her family as roads to much needed supplies are cut off and water continues to creep closer to their door. My brother stocking up on anything he can find left at the store, unsure when he and his family will be able to access food again.

It is the story of parents, sacrificing their own lives to save their children. A boy who insists his younger brother be rescued first, only to be washed away before he has a chance to be saved himself. People desperately searching through the debris for their neighbours. And thousands of stories I don’t know, personal tragedies too numerous to count. I think the Premier described it best when she spoke of her experience flying over the affected areas.
“I could see hundreds of roofs yesterday and that’s all I could see was those rooftops… underneath every one of those roofs is a family, underneath every one of those roofs is a horror story.”





But beyond the horror is the heroism, as individuals step up in so many ways. While the recovery effort ahead is immense, and each of us may feel helpless in so many ways, there is always something, no matter how small it may seem, that each of us can do to help. The days and weeks and months ahead will reveal so much. I believe it will reveal far more than just the destruction left by such an incomprehensible disaster.
I believe it will reveal the true heart of Australia, the friends, the families, the neighbours and communities, all clinging together in whatever way they can, to walk proudly forward from this devastating tragedy.

All images found here.  

Follow the link below for a moving tribute gallery of the Queensland Flood Disaster.

Multimedia Interactive | Daily Telegraph

{Thank you for guest blogging today Sarah and sharing your thoughts – we’re mindful that your state, Western Australia, is not free from it’s own share of flood and fire woes. Tasmania is experiencing lots of rain and unprecedented flash flooding so I’m sure Toni’s camping experience will be interesting. She will be back tomorrow. Get ready to bid – the master list will be up on Sunday night! Carli x.}

January 13, 2011