Out with the old.....

In with the new!
2 days until a brand new year, can you believe it...I just feel like this year has flown by?!
Another card I made for Nikishell's card swap using recycled materials.

I havnt been online for ages - We've been busy painting...well not me, Ive been looking after my boys and getting them out of the way.

My bedroom is complete and the hallway and back family room, its such a slow process when you are living in the house as furniture has to be moved and protected. I had a Dulux colour consultant come in two weeks ago and she gave me some good ideas. I like how everything is looking so far!

My house is one big mess though!! a good chance to declutter ...cant wait until its over!


Before shot of the back family room - ive been so over the pale blue for ages now
and after....
what do you think? all the wood door frames still need to be painted white - I think it will look fresh and crisp... i like it!
I didnt think my house would suit a feature wall as its quite old but I like the effect.

Have a FAB weekend everyone!!

Night before Christmas

Well my boys are tucked in bed and are anxiously waiting for Santa to visit our little house and bring their presents.
Im still busy doing stuff, looks like a late one for me - I might even bump into the jolly man ..I had to go into work this morning so Ive spent most of the afternoon clearing up, baking biscuits, wrapping presents and Ive also got the ham boiling in coca-cola (yep you read right)....its one of my favourite Nigella recipes...from her
'Nigella Bites cookbook in the 'Trashy' section.
1hour to go, then cool and into the fridge and I'll finish it off in the oven tommorow for Christmas lunch at my inlaws.
my mum made a family of snow men this year using empty tin cans and thick wadding....she gave us one - what a cutie, the boys love him!

Its also time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas for my family....the birth of Jesus.
The Virgin Mary is such an important figure in the Greek Orthodox faith.
This beautiful icon has been in my husbands family for over 60 years and I was so honored when my mother in law gave it to me....especially since it has so much meaning to her.
When my in-laws had to flee their house in Northern Cyprus after the Turkish invasion of 1974, she packed a small suitcase of belongings for her and her 3 small children and then quickly grabbed this icon on the way out - she said she wanted the Madonna to protect her and her family on their journey to safety...they never realised they would never be allowed to return to their house even now 34years later so even though my husband's family lost their home, farm, land and material possesions, family heirlooms and photos we have this beautiful icon as a reminder of faith, strength, love and joy .....

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Give a little.....
this weekend will be spent visiting family and friends and taking presents and plates of festive treats....ive been busy making panfortte and mince pies....got to work on the biscuits and rum balls ...yum!
I took the Handmade Pledge this year but must admit I did buy a few non-handmade goodies too....Etsy is fantastic though, i cant believe all the wonderful items available...i had fun looking for stuff to buy!
These are some of the things I bought ( all images are the etsy sellers...ive added links. Hope they dont mind)

Prints from Belle and Boo

Sweet Necklaces from Lulu Sparkles
* ive told her I want one of these too!

Some little ones will be happy, yeah?

A Charm Bracelet from
Christina Evans Argent



Crayon Rolls from PurlyShells



Birdy Necklace from ERMOriginals

Gorgeous notecards from GoodKismet
love these!!


I also bought this book for my niece Stephanie but loved it so much I kept it for myself....a must have for any girl big or small heehee

and look what Shae sent me the other day - one of her art prints
i love it! baking is one of my favourite things to do and so is eating!!
Have a fun weekend everyone! 3 days until Christmas Yeahhh!

Three Today!!

Happy Birthday my sweet little Neo
love you lots!

This time 3 years ago I remember waking up so heavily pregnant (and very overdue), totally peeved off that I hadn't gone into labor during the night and right then and there my waters broke and off we went....4 hours later my sweet little boy was born.

The festive House
I thought id show you some of my Christmas decorations...most are in my formal living room, the room I blogged about months ago, the neglected room that no one visits...
but its ideal for the christmas tree as there is no where else to set it up really and I like it in front of the lead light glass door as it reflects nicely from the street once the lights are on and its dark outside. The room also has a (non working) fireplace so we can hang our stockings and wait for Santa to arrive.
The glass door normally leads to a cute little porch that you can see here but until the 6th January its out of bounds haha...the only way in is through the chimney.
I sent Anna some pics of our festive decorations for her competition and included a house in our neighbourhood that is a huge favourite with kids - i think it has every single flashy light that is stocked this year - you can see it here.
We also add lights but teeny tiny ones - even though its summer here I love a festive glow....7 days to Christmas!!

Been a busy girl.....

Yayyyy!!
i finished my handmade cards for Nikki-Shell's christmas card swap. The deadline was 10 days ago and I feel so bad these are so late!
We had to use recycled or materials we already had at home and so I just got into my paper scraps folder....us paper lovers never throw anything out!
The colours arent very
Christmas-sy (is that a word?) but I found some Christmas clip art that I had and added some swirly paperclips for detail.

I have my dad's 60th birthday party tomorrow so I've been roasting almonds all afternoon to make these
Tomorrow I have to wake up very early as its going to be a full day - I also have to start on the quiches and make some dips. Ive been playing around with table decorations - Im loving pale blue, white and silver.....hydrangeas are currently in full bloom and I found these cute tea light holders for $2 each so bought a few of those. My mum has been crocheting lacey table runners for years now so I think we might use those for table centers....I just hope the rain holds off, we've had such weird summer weather!

Lovely Mail and Santa baby, ive been a good girl!

My christmas came a little early - look what I got in the mail today!
some lovely handmade paper goodies from Gracie in Queensland - I met Gracie through Natasha Burns prom blog party and she had a giveaway on her blog
Thanks Gracie - everything is FAB!! lovely packaging too!
I think I might have to do a giveaway early next year - its been a while....

Well ive been spending my nights wrapping presents and writing cards - Im still working on a Christmas card swap, Im SO behind...hope to finish everything tonight!

Ive been thinking what Id like from Santa - ive been a good girl this year....(really!)

* Id love some new Mavi jeans

* Anything from the new MOR 'Imperia' range - I smelt 'Fruits of Cornucopia' body milk the other day and its beautiful!

* This necklace - simple but so sweet!

* an Ayuverda facial - traditional Indian beauty treatments are fascinating!

* Some new ballet flats

* id love some vintage Miroslav Sasek books.

First Editions would be wonderful but they have been re-published and are really cheap on Amazon...i might keep a look out on Ebay for old copies, nothing like vintage books....

* vintage christmas card from my personal collection

* Bird Market by Miroslav Sasek 'This is Paris'

Happy 60th Birthday Dad

have a super day!!!
We love you very much!

* this photo of my dad was taken in 1973
and is featured in Gracia & Louise's latest zine
Have Wheels, will go
Cant wait to show my dad!!*

Rummaging and Blending.....
Yesterday I went to a local library sale and found a few bargains.
I usually head straight for the foreign language books as Im always guaranteed to find children's books from the 60's/70's... i love the sweet illustrations.
I also found these small but beautiful red leather bound novellas with gorgeous gold detailing for only 20 cents each...stunning! they'd be perfect for altered book projects - they had quite a few and I just wanted to grab more but Im trying really hard to declutter so I cant give every book a second chance.

Last night I made some pesto sauce...there's something exciting about making things from scratch and since i have plenty of fresh basil I thought Id give it a try - it was so easy!! and so tasty!!
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons pine nuts ( i didnt have any so used cashews - just as creamy)
Salt
Blend until a smooth paste
Stir in 2-3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
Add to pasta - I boiled up some gnocchi and you can add some pasta water to thin the sauce out! The gnocchi was from an Italian deli - not made from scratch...maybe next time....

The doll house....

A while back I posted about a wonderful project that I was so lucky to be involved in -
Crustation's Doll House
each girl involved was assigned a room and I got the kitchen which was great...love kitchens!

This week you will be able to see each room being unveiled on her blog - they are all so unique and decorated fantastically so go have a look at what each girl has created!

Here is the kitchen I designed - a little retro, a little clean...not sure if this dolly cooks much?

I shall leave you with some darling vintage 'Doll house' illustrations!

Simpy Red...

Just got home from grocery shopping...I think I'll avoid the shops until after New years haha!!
I came home with a huge headache but then just realised all I needed was a strong cup of coffee....phew! Im relaxing now, the boys are having a nap and Andrew is out on the roof putting christmas fairy lights up...
Yesterday was the 1st day of Summer but it was rainy, windy and wet so not a good start - today is the total opposite and I hope it stays this way....Summer is finally here! Yayyyy!

my dad went to the grower's market very early Saturday morning, I keep saying Im going to set my alarm clock and go with him one day but he's usually home by 6.00am...so maybe not....
anyway he came back with a box of summer fruits and way too many red capsicums (bell pepper for my american friends...not sure if the Brits call them capsicums too?)
so yummy!
...ive been going through my 'Stephanie Alexander - The cook's companion' for more capsicum recipes...love this cook book, I use it all the time! its got over 1000 pages (heavy heavy book!!) and the recipes are listed by ingridiant so its more of a reference book.
highly recommended for any foodie!

Andrew suggested we go cherry picking this weekend and whilst it did sound like a fun thing to do, just the thought of driving out of town for a good 4 hours in wet weather, packing and then unpacking did seem too much a task so we gave it a miss...my parents are going next weekend so Im sure they'll pick some for us too...
instead, we did a lot of house cleaning and decorating for Christmas!

I spent most of yesterday afternoon going through December magazine issues ...I love flicking through for festive food and inspiration...
I also finished my Christmas stocking for a swap - i think im the only one who made one of paper not fabric... my paper sewing is so wonky haha...

ohhh look what came in the mail the other day...Victoria magazine is back!!! we've missed you!! my good friend Tammy who lives in LA sent it over to me along with USA Vogue Living!

Actually Tammy was the one who first got me onto Victoria magazine - I was hooked! I have kept all my back issues!...I met Tammy through an Ebay auction 7 years ago and whilst we've never met (maybe next year -fingers crossed) we're really great friends...thanks Tams!