Simple Girl.........

One of my favourite blogs, The Satorialist is in Europe right now covering the Fashion shows and Im really enjoying all the great street photos.
Some unique and super stylish people out there!
Here are some of my favourite shots from his blog the past couple of months. Can you see the 20's/30' influence in my favourites - love that look and era.

I’m so happy to have found his blog as he captures New York city street style so well and his little blog has taken him to new places as he’s gotten a few jobs out of it! Bravo Sart!

I miss Sex & The City, not only was it so fun to watch the girls chatting about their life, love and dating struggles in New York city but I miss the city, the clothes, the shoes, the all the cool accessories ( oh and Mr Big too!)…how I miss the style inspiration! I was definitely into Charlotte’s dress sense…a little reserved, a little conservative and ladylike.
No hoochie mumma here! My husband laughs at my constant attempt to cover my cleavage.
I love scoop necks, V-necks and sweetheart necklines but no cleavage on show thankyou! Granny chic I call it!

I love fashion but don’t really follow trends that much, I like to know whats ‘in’ but am usually found wearing A-line skirts with Tshirts and flip flops in Summer and Jeans with Vneck sweaters and lots of scarfs in Winter.
Not very inspiring haha… its comfy though and when you have to wear boring corporate suits to work then its nice to change into something simple and comfortable.

I love flicking through fashion magazines... All the new season’s clothes are so lovely!
The latest Lantern sleeves and smocked jackets have such pretty feminine detail. I doodled some whilst watching TV last night.... Looks like Grey is the new black – its everywhere in the shops!
I bought these grey suede ballet flats last week – I havn’t worn them yet as its still so warm and sunny but we had a huge thunder storm this afternoon so maybe Summer is on its way out and we can welcome in the new season…..rain and all! We need the rain definetely need rain!!

Top 3 photos by The Sartorialist
Drawing by me!
Dress by Tracy Reese ( I think! not sure!! I saved it months ago from somewhere on the net??!)

Recycle fun....

I spent yesterday running around, a usual busy Monday –swimming class for the boys, a couple of loads of washing then it rained so had to get everything off the line, lots of ironing – my never ending ironing pile…don’t you just love it (not!)

I still managed to sit down with some warm tea, and craft whilst the boys had an afternoon nap! Crafting is my chill out time….
I made these ATCs – I love how they are all different. I made them out of clippings from magazines and craft paper scraps. Recycling fun indeed!
I have about 15 folders crammed full of magazine clippings. Images that catch my eye or articles of interest, patterns, fonts, fashion images, some are upto 20 years old!
Every now and then I go through them for inspiration and most of the time I still get the same thrill I did when first seeing them intact in the magazine…Ok...now Im sounding weird…

We also had council rubbish pickup day so this weekend we cleaned out the garage but didn’t have too much to throw out.
The bad thing is they give you a set date but then take a week to pick everything up so the pavements are very messy full of people’s junk.
During the week you will see lots of cars stopping to go through the rubbish saving anything that might suit them which is a good thing I guess – as the saying goes, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure – Im sure some people make a living out of this so good for them!
Ive never done it myself although Im always on the lookout for an old solid chair that could do with a spruce up!
Im part of a Sydney free-cycle yahoogroup and it’s a great group if you have something free to give away or if you don't need a certain item anymore and are looking for the item to be reused rather than thrown away. I’ve given away a TV, kitchen stuff, magazines and books and a couple of months ago I spotted these vintage children’s patterns so emailed the person and she gave them to me – they are so cute!!

My Mum says Hi....

I love popping over to my mum and dads....they only live 5 minutes walk away from me and their house is always abuzz with things happening, neighbours dropping by, the TV blaring really loudly...

Dont get me started on my mum and her TV addiction. Their TV is permanantly fixed onto the Greek Channel especially the Greek talk shows - if you know any Greeks you'll know that we talk very loud and always interupt each other so you can imagine the comotion blarring from the screen....when my brother in law first met my family he asked my sister why we're always shouting at each other, ha! how embarrasing!

The end of Summer is near and I took some pictures of the edible goodies from my parents garden.
Some freshly cut Zuchhini flowers ready to be stuffed with seasoned rice and baked....some ripe figs, these are quite sun damaged and probably the last batch we'll have - so sweet and perfect with Ricotta cheese and honey! My dad's fig tree has been going strong for years now - we've eaten SO many figs (and so have the birds!) Andrew planted one in our backyard but it hasn't been very succesful.







Green Olives from my parents olive tree are soaking in brine, it will be weeks before they are ready for eating. I always serve my green olives with crushed coriander seeds, lots of garlic, olive oil and a splash of white vinegar.

Here is my mum's work-in-progress - a heavy and thick crochet blanket that she is making just for (lucky) me! She's been at it for months and months, its almost finished now... thanks mum!

!

EDM Challenge 106 - Draw something Sour

I had some sour cream in the fridge but decided to share one of my favourite summer drinks
Brandy Sour

Enjoy!

Sail Away........

Last night the city of Sydney was in traffic gridlock but we ventured into town anyway to join in on the celebrations of the cruise liner ‘Queen Mary II’ as she was ready to leave our shores to sail away for Hong Kong.

She was only here for one day but what a grand entrance she made arriving very early in the morning - as she entered Sydney Harbour, hundreds of ferries and sailing boats surrounded and followed her and people cheered on.

It was a fun night and felt like New Years Eve with thousands of people flocking to the Harbour to have a good look and they even had a spectacular fireworks display which the boys loved!
I took a few photos but it was so dark they didn’t come out so here is one that I found online. What a huge fanfare for a cruise liner but I love it!!! Any occasion to be make people happy and excited is fine by me! the atmosphere was wonderful and it was a perfect end of Summer evening!

The 'Queen Mary II 'stands at 28 storeys high, she is pure luxury and looks amazing but some people have forked up to $250,000 for an 80 day world cruise. Well honey that’s just crazy! ... but I guess if you have that kind of money to spend then good for you....people are paying more for Britney Spears hair so go figure....

Haha… don’t know about you but I can find lots of other ways to spend that kind of money!


Some pics of Sydney Skyline...St Mary's Catherdral, Centre Point Tower and the Art Gallery of NSW....

Illustration Friday- Gravity

Doing the best we can to defy gravity because some of us need help!

Up and out, Lift and cinch! no wonder she isnt smiling, its not the most comfortable things to wear!

Fridays with my little Neo....

How I love my Fridays!

I know there is no need to rush and get out of bed, frantic to make it out of the house and drop the boys off then drive to work and manage to make it on time...even that leisurely extra 10 minutes or so in bed is wonderful......stretching or silent and still ...listening to my boys waking up or chatting to each other, it puts a smile to my face - I love that they share a room, I hope I can get away with it for a while yet, I just think it really makes them bond ....

Peter has started at a new Pre-School this year so at 9.00am we put Neo in the stroller and walk there as its so close to home - perfect!

Then its Neo and me spending Fridays together ....

we go to the local cafe for Cappucino's (babycinno for Neo) and do the grocery shopping, sometimes we go to Grandma's for morning tea or for a play in the Park.

I love having that time with him, alone, all the attention on him - he loves it too!

Working part time is ideal for me, dont shoot me but I just couldnt stay at home full time, it would drive me crazy!!! Its ideal for some families but I think having that balance in my life makes me a better mother - It sure makes me appreciate the time I spend with my boys and I do the best I can!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Illustration Friday - Crash

Before the crash....
My boys do this often - determined little things so Im always on the look out especially if its quiet then I know they are upto something!



See this bar of chocolate here - Paul Newman's Dark Orange Chocolate....well I ate it all in a day..yes one day! All by myself...no sharing! I can feel a pimple coming on....it was really really good and Im slowly working my way through the Hershey bar too! Thanks to my Society of Secret Fairies pal, Kristin - what a treat to receive such a gorgeous parcel from her....
including her beautiful Valentine ATC card, note cards, paper goods and Burt's Bees lip balm - we dont stock that brand in Australia but Ive heard a lot about it!!! Thanks Kristin!

Sweet Love.......

Love is an Irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!

I made these Ginger biscuits with Vanilla Cream for my friend Carrie, but I made sure I ate a few warm straight out of the oven! They are really good!

Yesterday I got home to a gorgeous parcel from the very generous Mary Ann who hosted the ‘Oh So charming Valentine ATC swap’ and she included these Love candies, chocolates, the cute L-O-V-E candles plus an angel paper puncher and a gorgeous ATC she made for each and every one of us in the swap!
I also got 3 gorgeous ATCs from some talented woman! You can see all the ATCs here – the group even got a mention on WhipUp as being inspiring which was a huge thrill!
Mary Ann is onto her next fun project – she is hosting a Virtual Tea Party in April – come and join in on the fun!




I
also got a huge parcel from Sue my partner in the Pink & Brown swap. I was so excited to find so many gorgeous craft items, handmade paper, a vintage book for my boys, buttons, ribbons , the gorgeous pink vintage doily in the picture above and so much more! What a talented gal!! You can see everything here
She also included this gorgeous vintage tea cup – how pretty!! I love it!
Im so spoilt!!
Im so lucky to be part of this generous inspiring blogging community…

saying goodbye with a love quote....

Love is not finding someone you can live with but
finding someone you cant live without…..

Chop Chop.......

This week’s EDM challenge (no. 105) was to draw a pair of scissors so I drew my favourite pair… they are quite heavy but cut beautifully!

I wanted to draw some hair scissors because I recently had my haircut!
Ever since I had my boys Ive kept my hair long as its so easy to put up on a bad hair day (most days) and not have to deal with it but I had been craving a new look for a while so 3 weeks ago I went in for a drastic chop!

I’ll be getting braces on my teeth this year …there has been a little set back as I need a root canal first (Ughhh!) so looks like the braces will happen around June – Im really excited…how strange of me huh…the pain is unbearable Ive heard! but I am, I am!!!
so new hair and soon…straighter teeth!! No regrets!

Here is a pic of me aged 4 with a Milly Molly Mandy haircut.
Is it very weird that I really like my hair this way …very sweet!
And here is a pic at my friend Daphne’s wedding yesterday – what a beautiful day, she looked gorgeous!!
The reception was held at Wharf Restaurant so the views were spectacular and this picture was towards the end of the day, we were enjoying an espresso and petit fours before the happy couple said their farewell and left by boat ….

PaperCraft Fun....

Yesterday I went to the Stitches and Craft show and spent a few hours walking around observing, buying and getting totaly inspired. I didnt go crazy and buy loads of craft supplies, Im sure I could of as they had SO many beautiful things but I held back as I have so much at home already and Id probably buy stuff Id never use.

Last night I did an online Card craft class at Tarisota Studio , 12 cards in 90mins...I did lag behind but my computer desk isnt the most ideal place to craft. I have the instructions printed out and will finish them off soon. Here are 4 cards Ive completed.

I also decorated these journals recently. The Pink & Brown one is for Sue, my swap partner - you can see what else I got her here - all pink&brown, a great colour combination!

This journal below I made for sweet Nina who had her Birthday last week! She is Ellia's mum, we have fun on Flickr,she has the most amazing thrift finds!




Look whats coming to Sydney in April....lots of papercraft classes!! Cant wait!

Have a FAB weekend everyone!

Feel the Love.....

One week until Valentines Day everybody!!!
Can you feel the love all around us??

I think Love should be expressed and celebrated daily…In this busy crazy world we sometimes forget how important it is in our lives!

Some Free Love ….

*Write your partner a love note
*Make some handmade chocolates. Check out my recipe here (So easy!! )
*Invite them out in the garden for a Romantic picnic or if you live in Sydney the
Moonlight cinema is a cool setting!
*Read them something funny or share a book – one chapter each night!
*Brush their hair or give them a face massage with sweet almond oil ...


Some cute Vintage Images to enjoy!!!

Illustration Friday - Sprout

Give them lots of Love and attention and watch those children sprout!!

Click here to see more 'Sprout' illustrations

EDM Challenge 104 - Salt & Pepper

Im so behind in my challenges but here is my Salt pot and Pepper grinder that sit near my stove. I love freshly ground pepper and I use a lot!!! Not so much salt, I actually prefer using Vegeta (Vegetable powder) to season food.