Journeys.....

Bessie had always been a good girl. Keep yourself neat" her grandmother had always said...
But lately, she had been yearning for adventure. She just wasn't ready to settle down with Jack Jr of Brampstons Furniture Emporium and he had been calling on her rather a lot lately. She dreamt of exotic places and the stories they held. Her passbook account held enough for a ticket and lodgings, and so with a feeling of determination which was becoming increasingly familiar, Bessie booked her one way ticket on the oceanliner 'Strathaird', departing Circular Quay for England, June 11 1948.
Her voyage of discovery was just beginning ......

that is her journey and this is what I created in Bessie's book....hope you like it! more to come soon!

So this weekend was full of creativity as I spent all of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning at Freestyle Downunder. It was awesome!!!!
It was great to meet Rhonna and she is so sweet and petite and full of energy. I loved her American Accent and her enthusiasm 'You're all doing great!! Awesome!! ' she chirped....her paper designs are beautiful!
The class ‘Art Attack’ was so much fun but pretty full on and I kept lagging behind …they should have named it Heart Attack…haha!
Im so use to crafting at such a slow leisurely pace, no wonder I never find time to make stuff for my non-existent Etsy shop!
You can see the mini journal I made in Rhonna’s class below. Lovely!!
I’ll show you what I made in Emily’s class after I finish it. I got home and wasn’t happy with the colours I chose so I took everything off the canvas, re-painted it in white gesso and will start again!

On the way home I stopped at to the
Vintage Fair not far from my house…Ohhh I felt so bad as I hadn’t seen the boys all morning (mother guilt!!) so I quickly ran around the stands, spotted so many treasures…lovely fabrics, vintage coats, silk scarfs and some lady like leather T-bar shoes from the 40’s ….so nice! I just couldn’t fork out $120 for 60year old shoes…ohhh they were beautiful!!

Things weren’t cheap but I did find a large Burda pattern book from 1963, the ones that you’d find in the Harbedashary stores – so many vintage illustrations of woman’s clothing, bridal and cute kid images too! Its so thick 1000 pages for $25! When I get some spare time (yoohoo spare time where are you??) I’ll add some images to my flickr and to the collage image group for all to share. I also bought a small bag full of lacey trims and scrap ribbons …nice!!

A Busy Day....

Peter went back to preschool today after a two week Easter break. He was totaly excited and really anxious to get back....'Mum, quick we have to go.....I dont want my friends to forget about me!'
bless him!
So after dropping him off, Neo and I headed to our local shops - first to the postoffice then to the dry cleaners and then to the barber, Mr Candorro for a haircut.

Love this little Italian barber, he cuts hair with such skill and flair and has been at his shop since 1973, the decor hasnt changed since then....look at the kiddies chair and brown paisley wallpaper. I asked him if I can take some photos. 'Yes, yes Signiora '
I love this old picture he had on the wall. It was set in the late 50's....look how busy the barber shop was , six barbers working full time grooming men, guess with all the trendy hair salons around you dont see the barbers so busy anymore, business is slow these days he tells me...each time a house is sold in the area, I lose another client, they are all getting on growing old...passing away. Makes you think huh? Anyway here is Neo with his new manly haircut.

Walking home we popped into the Old wares shop. I bought a bunch of Australian Home Journals....some great vintage images and patterns! The ads are so funny!

This vintage craft book is fun too! a bargain 50cents!




The mailman delivered some goodies. I got my notecards from Regina's swap....some great cards from some talented ladies!
Here are the cards I sent (you can click on picture to see the detail)

Soft Hues for a rainy day.....

I had a few deadlines at work yesterday so stayed back until 6.00pm - thats very late for me
as I only do part time hours.

As I was getting ready to leave the office, a huge thunderstorm was brewing and the rain just got worse and worse.

I'm such a chicken driving in the rain - it was dark and shiny and I couldnt see very well....my contacts felt hazy and my car windows fogged up and I was freaking out and trying to convince myself I would make it haha.... By the time I picked up the boys and drove home we were all soaked to the core.....so it rained all night and its still raining now, not complaining though as we need the rain, despretley need it!

After I put the boys to sleep I sat down to draw but just wasnt in the mood so I cooked instead....beef bourguignon, that will be tonights dinner. I love stews and casseroles because after the quick preparation, turn the heat down and simmer for a couple of hours - how easy is that!

My Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine came in the mail yesterday and it got totaly wet so I let the poor thing dry overnight and its still wet....all the pages are buckled! There is an article with Rhonna Farrar and Im thrilled as Im going to be doing an Art Attack workshop with her this weekend at 'Freestyle DownUnder'! There is also another talented artist coming from the USA, Emily Falconbridge and Im also enroled in one of her workshops! Cant wait!
So I leave you with some pretty images.....

* Top sofa image from Domino magazine

* Romantic girls - advertisement from Max & Co (I think?! its an old clipping....)

* Sherbets & Mousse from Flickr

* Flower Tower in Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion by

Mary Smilove

* Cake please photo by Arthur Elgort for Vogue

You're my Cuppa Tea.......

Today is Tea Day....well we're 14+hrs ahead so I had mine yesterday.
My sister and her girls came round so we all had some nice warm tea.
Last week I bought some White tea which I usually have late at night, its really refreshing and very light
so my sister tried that and I had my black tea with milk.

my niece Styliana having some milky tea too!





I found this vintage Lipton tea ad in a magazine, its perfect for the occasion!....and look no dregs! drink to the last drop!

In the afternoon I craved some more tea so made another cup for myself. I made these biscuits using left over chocolate easter eggs ...skip the choc buds/chips and crush some chocolate easter eggs instead....I cant keep eating chocolate all day...so I'll eat biscuits instead!
check out all the tea day pics here




Oh and some very exciting news!
Ruby St designs were looking for some design team members so I sent them 3 recent pics of my ATCs and collage and I got picked to be guest design girl for December 07! Im super excited...scary too but it should be fun!

E is for..........

E is for Ellia!

Congratulations Ellia, Ramel and little Diego
on the arrival of gorgeous baby Isabella!
She is beautiful!
Cant wait to hear all about it....

E is also for Elephant!

I made this little elephant for baby Isabella. I used this green print as green is Ellia's favourite colour and I embroidered the eyes and ears.
I also made this card - loved this baby elephant image, so sweet!


To finish off my post here are some more vintage elephant images to make you smile!

Illustration Friday - Fortune

Spending a Fortune to save a Fortune

For more 'Fortune' illustrations

check out Illustration Friday

This and that....

I was flicking through this month’s Real Living magazine and saw this image – a mood board turned wallpaper! how cool does that look!?

My inspiration board is tiny and most of the images have been there for ages...still, i like having it up near my computer....I move things around, always adding to it....

Nothing too exciting happening this week, had another round of root canal treatment, one more appointment to go....... but another problem came up with the discovery of a small tooth embedded in my gum!?! I feel like a freak!!!

this tooth never decided to grow so now I have to see if this tooth will affect me once I get the braces on, if so I need surgery to remove it! Cha-ching....we went from $6K bill to $8K bill after the root canal to what now looks like a $10K bill for straight teeth!!! ughhhh! off to get a CT scan on Friday - fingers crossed!!

An ATC I made last week ‘Skip to My Lou’

I also made this tea inspired collage card
for the ‘My cuppa Tea’ swap – it went out to Sally , a fellow Sydney-sider

Oh and speaking of teeth...Peter’s two front ones are wiggling, he’s not even four and half yet! He’s ever so excited about the tooth fairy though…

Chilling out.....

Just uploading some of my pictures from the Sydney Royal Easter Show last Monday.

We had such a great time! there is always so much to see and do and I must admit I hang out for it each year, Im worse than any kid. haha...We were there for 9hrs so a long tiring day but the boys did so well!

Helen from Grabyourfork has a great post about the food at the show.

This weekend was pretty quiet which was great. Every now and then I just want to chill and hang out at home. I even had a nap this afternoon, the boys were asleep, Andrew was on his laptop finishing budgets for work and I just dozed off...Zzzzz...very unusual for me but I guess my body was trying to tell me I needed a break.

Anyway friends, here's to a great week for us all!

Cake decorating displays - chinoisere inspired cake, such pretty detail

Sushi cake -this looked so amazingly real!

'My little cupcake' stand - delicious

Peter and Styliana saying hello to the piglets

Floral Birthday cake and beautiful flowers in the garden pavilion

A week of Colour - more pics....

Turquoise bead necklace - I love wearing this with a simple white tee!

My green laundry door that leads out to the garden.


Pink flowers on my sister's deck
Yellow oil in a dipping plate


My red crochet scarf and a tote bag

Colour Week
Friday - RED

Does anyone know the name of these flowers? My inlaws had them in their garden and so planted some for me and my sister in law.

They're deep red and look like velvet bunches - so beautiful...

Im loving this too! 'Keep calm and Carry on'...Ive seen it on a few blogs recently. Its a reproduction of a British WW II poster....great message!!
Alison is selling them as tea towels too!