Postcard - week 2

Its been such a lovely day today.
The sun was out - I did a ton of washing and hung it all out to dry.
I made Eggplant parmigiana (my favourite!!) whilst Andrew took the boys to the local park for a play...so that's dinner for tonight sorted!
I even got some down time to relax a little....
Today I finished off my third postcard for the Postcard swap and completely forgot that I hadn't  published my blog post about Week 2 postcard - the theme was 'illustration'.
I've been offline the past two nights - no emails, no facebook, no twitter ...its been nice actually.
I watched 'Argo' with my hubby on DVD, caught up on my reading and have started a paper collage for a creative challenge I'm doing with Sally and Suzanne  - more on that soon!

a shop update!

Some new things in the shop - a mix of handmade, vintage flea market finds and craft supplies.
Next week I'll be stocking some lovey new Ribbons and trims!
plus Im working on some new collage greeting cards!
Crafty time!

Postcard swap - Black & White

The lovely Gracie is hosting a Postcard scavanger hunt and I am taking part!
We could buy or make the postcards so Im making the ones I send off only because I need a little push to take out my crafty supplies and play!
The rules are to send one postcard to our swap partner each week for four weeks - happy mail!  Who doesn't love to receive something nice in the mail?

Week one's theme is 'Black & White' and  has been mailed out already!  I gathered some vintage papers as well as some dotty paper scraps, my glue stick and some thick cardstock and created a collage.

I cut my paper into two to create a postcard size (I'll save the other piece for another crafty project).

I then painted a very thin and watery coat of white paint to soften the look and dabbed it dry with some paper napkins.
I kept at it by layering more -  decorative tape, dotty stamp, a vintage girl image, paper lettering and a floral piece of scrap paper which is not black nor white but I thought it was pretty anyway...
I got a little carried away with ink and glue that I accidently smudged her pretty little face! oops!

Blog Society

Two weeks ago I attended the
'Blog Society' Workshop launch: The Art of Digital Story-telling,
which was part of Sydney's Vivid Festival and the Vivid Ideas program.

Jaclyn the super lovely blogger behind 'Little Paper Trees'  created 'Blog Society' a  connection, collaboration and inspiration to ensure  Blogging and Creativity meet!  More Workshops and events planned so make sure you subscribe to their newsletter or like their Facebook page to get the heads up of whats to come!

The launch was a great afternoon outing for me - I always enjoy a catch up with blog friends and a chance to meet new bloggers.
I organised to have lunch with Sally and Suzanne beforehand and it was great to chat about blogging, Etsy, creating, mothering and Life in general...

The workshop included a Q&A with Jen from The Interiors Addict and also Viv of Ish&chi whose blog I have admired and am a fan of! It was great to meet them both and hear their story and journey so far!

We also got to write our own Blog Manifesto - you can see Sally writing hers here!  I wrote  'Find inspiration in the everyday' 

 We also got to chat, ask questions and listen to tips from experts like photographers
Emma Scamell
Milton Gan and Sam McAdam as well as stylists
Madeline Johnson and Jessica Bellef from Temple & Webster as well as blogger Natalie Hallyar and there were plenty of props on hand for those of us who felt like styling things up a little....

It was a great event in beautiful surroundings, with a wonderful atmosphere, and a chance to do some networking!
overall I had a fantastic time and am looking forward to more events and connections.  We were also sent home with a generous goodies bag - so many cool things!
* all pics by me
except the last one (of me styling pretty props) taken by Sally *

The City Bride

Last week I blogged about wedding season and beautiful images of a Country Style wedding ,
today I wanted to share a little  glamour on this cold and wet Tuesday night...

The City Bride - a fun layout from STYD magazine.
Elegant, sophisticated
and radiant wedding styles.

Paris in Love....

I'm reading the most delightful book -  Paris in Love by Eloisa James.
They say never judge a book by its cover...or title
but I did...plus it was in the bargain bin for a cheap $6.
I'm glad I picked it up though because its been such an enjoyable read so far - Ive been reading it a slow leisurely pace....

The author Eloisa James writes Romantic novels but she moved to Paris with her family and the book is a memoir of her year in Paris.  Its written like a diary (or blog posts) in short paragraphs - observations, feelings, thoughts and day to day happenings that Eloisa and her family experience in the city of lights....so funny and heartfelt!

*

Today young men stood outside the Metro stations selling bundles of small narcissuses, their stalks tied together very tightly so the heads burst into exuberant posies.  Almost every woman handed over a couple of euros, so the street was filled with woman holding bright yellow flowers to their noses, looking happy.

(an excerpt from the book...)

*images of Vintage Paris via Pinterset 

Etsy picks of the week: Vintage 'Faux bijoux'

Funky

Cheap(er)

Unique

perfect reasons to choose Vintage 'Faux Bijoux'?...and there's definitely a lot of choice on Etsy!

The term 'Faux Bijoux' is not commonly used in Australia but I came across it when I lived in Cyprus - its the French translation for 'Fake jewellery' what we normally call Costume jewellery....Faux Bijoux just sounds better dont you think?!

Ive been drawn to Vintage jewellery lately but not the delicate, precious kind, instead, Ive been looking out for chunky, clunky, large pieces that have that 70s/80s vibe happening...

Growing up I remember my Mother had a ton of fake pieces, large round glossy beads that she'd wear with her turtlenecks, armful of bangles and stacks of rings.  

She was also a fan of AVON jewellery - I guess she only had an AVON budget at the time...but I do remember the happiness (in me) when she'd buy something new!

* 70s hammered metal necklace by JerushadVintage *
Vintage Bezel Glass cluster ring by GenerationsofCreations * Vintage Trifari white flower clip on earrings by Upcoming Legendary

a Country Style Wedding....

Is there such a thing as a Wedding season?
I know many couples choose a date during the warmer seasons but we've just started Winter in Australia so it's strange that all the fashion magazines out this month have a Wedding & Bridal supplement...
Vogue Australia has a special Brides issue and there is also a new Australian Wedding magazine out on the shelves,   'Hitched'  - it has a lovely creative feel to it and the illustrated cover is gorgeous...its more like a beautiful book than a magazine!
Country Style magazine has a gorgeous wedding layout in its latest issue.
Photographed by Corrie Bond and styled so beautifully, by Lara Hutton  here are some of the images - lovely!

7 vignettes challenge

Jen from 'The Interior Addict' is hosting '7 vignettes challenge' again.
I stumbled across it on my Instagram stream so in a click of a moment I decided to join in on this creative challenge - its been a while... here is what I gathered together for
Challenge 1 - Holder
little glass jars
wooden pegs
mini envelopes in a delicious shade of purple (my fav!)
ribbon spools
decorative string
and Washi tape that holds down beautifully!
Hope you like it - you can follow my Vignette attempts all week over here on Instagram

at the Rose Bowl Flea Market

During our recent trip overseas, I was lucky enough to be in
Los Angeles the same week as the monthly Rose Bowl flea market.  Ive dreamed of visiting one day.

I first heard about the Rose Bowl from the teen series 'Beverly Hills 90210' when Donna sat on the float at the
Rose Bowl parade haha ...but after Rachel Ashwell and her Shabby Chic style came about a few years later, flea market finds were all the rage (and still are!)

The market can pull in about 20,000 visitors in one day and there are SO many vendors that sell all sorts of things - you just never know what you'll find!  ...so on our first Sunday in LA we drove out to Pasadena, took the wrong exit and headed back to Downtown and ended up on the wrong side of the road (crazy tourists!) - lucky it was early and not much traffic about - we made it in one piece and picked up my good friend Tammy, who lives in Pasadena and headed into the fun chaos of the flea market!
Parking was free which was awesome considering they could make so much money from all those cars and admission was a cheap $8!
The Flea market was a great day out, a visual treat and a little over whelming for this Aussie gal....Americans love their vintage and because of the population (or perhaps people's hoarding tendencies) there was SO much choice, so much to sift through, so much to see!
Tammy, my adorable friend whom I met through an Ebay transaction
13 years ago (for real!!) was on the hunt for vintage wooden crates for her baby succulent plants - she found two great ones.
We both found some great paper ephemera, found photos and postcards and bought goodies from 'Oh, Hello Friend' stall - sweet stuff!
People watching at such a venue was super inspiring - so many rockabilly styles, Victorian inspired guys sporting handlebar moustaches and beards (hello Etsy trend!) ...apparently a team from H&M headquarters in Stockholm were there to gather ideas & inspiration - loads to go around!

and here is a set of adorable Vintage Party invites that I found at the Flea market - I have listed them in  my Etsy shop now!

Caramelised Onion & Blue-Vein Cheese Tarts

Hey thanks Donna Hay for such an easy and delicious savory appetizer.
I found this recipe in a back issue of on of her magazines.

Caramelised Onion & Blue-vein Cheese tarts -  so yummy.
Ingrediants
2 sheets ready bought Puff Pastry
2 brown onions - cut into 8 thick slices
50grams butter
100grams Blue vein cheese (so good!)
Baby Spinach & Balsamic vinegar to serve (optional)

First step is to caramalise your onions in the butter - this adds such a sweetness to the onions....be careful when turning so you dont undo the onion rings...fry gently until nice and golden and smelling good!

Cut each sheet of Puff Pastry into 4 equal pieces - I used a large teacup, the old fashion kind, with a wide circle shape - cut out 4 large circles from each sheet so 8 circles in total.

cut your blue-vein cheese into 8 equal sizes and crumble slightly onto raw pastry.  Add your onion ring on top of the cheese.

Bake in hot oven for 10-15mins until golden.
Serve hot...

Optional - drizzle some Balsamic Vinegar over baby spinach and toss over the tarts...
Yummy!

Makes 8

recipe by Donna Hay 

The Growing Child....

So last year we had a bit of a reshuffle in our home – the boys moved into separate bedrooms.
Neo, my youngest is settled in the smallest bedroom in the house but the room got a little makeover (which you can see here and here)  and he seems really content and happy!
 My big boy Pete got a double bedroom all to himself but he also scored hand-me-down furniture (my old bookshelf and his dad’s old clunky desk) which somehow made their way into his bedroom – lately he's been hinting (often) that he’d also like an update to his bedroom...

He's a growing child... but he's still my little guy at only
10 years of age -  he's at that delicate age between child and teen and I want to hold onto that for as long as I can...
but maybe it is time to get rid of the 'little boy' bedroom and make some changes.

Christine who helped me out with our family room had a free 'happy up your home' session on her blog and I signed up!
The main issue I have with Peter's bedroom is that its the darkest room in the house - it has a beautiful large window but still doesn't get a lot of natural light so I asked Christine how I could brighten it up using furnishings and colour.

Christine recommended
*we paint the walls lighter and could even go for a bright  feature wall in a punchy colour.
*Change the heavy curtains and go for light holland blinds - this will also help make the window stand out nicely
 * She also recommended a lighter 'colour + print 'quilt cover and to add some funky art work.
* She also said we should leave the natural sisal rug but could add another smaller striped rug on top too add some colour and interest.

We aren't ready to change the furniture - we'll probably do that towards the end of the year but the changes Christine recommended are easy to do!  Im feeling white, gray, pale blue and accents of yellow for his bedroom!
Looking forward to letting my growing boy join in on the fun of this makeover...!
Thanks Christine!

* images Top via Pinterest and bottom via theSocialiteFamily

Its a little Nippy outside....

I'm snuggled up in my warm pyjamas as I type this...hot tea by my side!  a comfortable setting and  the best way to blog...
It was really cold today, we had a simple bean stew for dinner tonight served with crusty bread -  perfect for such a nippy day.
… I came across this image on Pinterest - I adore cable knit jumpers, her complete outfit is adorable dont you think? but I love the idea of a cozy bakery on a chilly day...the smell of warm dough in the air...

speaking of bakeries have you ever tried to make a batch of French croissants ...from scratch?
'Why bother?'  you ask,
when its so easy to buy one somewhere nearby...?
I just think it would be a nice  challenge Id like to try sometime...and the image below is from 'Adventures in Cooking' blog - the recipe looks easy enough?
I must admit I really enjoy
baking more than cooking- I came back from our USA trip  eager to learn to bake Cinnamon rolls (yes, we ate many rolls during our trip! SO good!)
I made coconut bread last week - it took 4hrs in total but was so satisfying and my loaf looked awesome - I was so proud!  It was also a big hit with  my boys - we ate the whole loaf by the end of the day!

*images via Pinterest 

Etsy picks of the Week: So Fresh & Lovely

Oh Etsy you are so full of lovely things to buy!
Is Etsy your go-to place for gift buying?  It is for me...

Inspired by this top image (by Shipra Panosian Photography found via
Style Me Pretty   ) its so wonderful  - reminds me of happy days, picnics and peaches!

and here are my picks this week!
Pot Plant by Amy Blackwell  *
Linen Ruched Clutchbags by HelloVioleta *
Thinking of You card by ThePaperCub

Goodbye Google Reader....

Have you heard that Google Reader will no longer be available after 1st July, 2013?
Do you keep up with your favourite blogs via Google Reader?
I was a huge fan - it made life a little more organised so I'm sad about Google's decision - but I quickly scrambled to find a new way to ensure I stay connected to my favourite blogs.
I asked around and most peeps are now using Bloglovin or Feedly.
I imported all my blog subscriptions to both and am trying to figure out which I like best....

My blog had over 1300 subscribers over at Google Reader...Im not one to check stats obsessively but if you'd like to follow my blog posts on Bloglovin click here  or on Feedly,  here 
or via email - there is a link on my side bar to the right!

* image - Vintage paper ephemera bundle in my Etsy shop 

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day to all the beautiful Mums out there!

I hope you have a splendid day (off)
and get to relax and enjoy 'your' special day with your loved ones.

I will be enjoying breakfast with my boys and then off to lunch with my Mother.  I will also be visiting my Mother-in-law in the afternoon...Im very blessed to have both these amazing woman in my life!

Vintage Mothers:
Lauren Bacall & son Stephen,
Audrey Hepburn with her son Sean and
Shirley MacLaine with her daughter Sachi

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