Fun New Scrap Products - CHA Winter 2010

Awesome : Seeing brand new scrapbooking product releases at the american CHA - yay for the internet!

Here are some of my favourites so far...

Cosmo Cricket - "Material Girl"


My Mind's Eye - "Little Boy Blue" - Love this colour story, and the owl is so cute!

And I've always got a soft spot for a robots range - "Lil Robots"


Sassafras - Nerdy Bird - it's just so colourful and cutesy


Hambly Screen Prints - always awesome..




And lastly..this new range by Basic Grey looks pretty sweet...


There are so many more very cool products being released (Prima has some gorgeous 'Say it in Pearls', KI Memories 'Confetti Collection' and the Donna Downey calico range) but this has been a good taste of what's to come :-)

A Splash of Pink

Awesome : Having nosey & chatty children, who revealed (before it was too late) that the carpet layer was about to install the wrong carpet...

Fortunately, I overheard the carpet layer say to the kids, that they would have to be careful to keep the cream carpet clean...hmm...interesting really, as the carpet Lana and I had picked together was a smoky grey...lol...so unfortunately Lana didn't get her new room carpeted today, but it has been promised that it will be done over the weekend, and she will be in her new room by the time school starts on Monday.....fingers crossed anyway :-P

Here's two pictures of her new room, pre-carpet and her raspberry cream wall..



As you can see, the window isn't quite finished but it will be over the next 24 hours..it's on my to-do list, along with a few other things...

Have a fab weekend xx

Fabrics to Inspire

Awesome : Ordering two funky fabrics by Saffron Craig, from the fabulous Kelani Fabrics online store, for my couch cushions

I just love these two fabrics - perfect colours on a white base by an australia fabric designer. Saffron Craig has some very cool fairy fabrics too.



And last year, I purchased over a metre of this Amy Butler 'August Fields' fabric...I also bought the Amy Butler 'Zinnia' cushion pattern, which I was going to attempt (yeah...it looks a little complicated :-P) with this fabric...LOVE Amy Butlers products!


And here are some fabrics on my 'wish list'....

Anna Maria Horner - Sketchbook Ivory


Authentic for Moda - Word Play Black


Heather Bailey - Nicey Jane Lindy Leaf Blue (also comes in a very funky green)


And another aussie designer - Sprout Design - Bird Tree


There are actually a LOT of things I love over at Sprout Design....on the 'one day' list :-)

And lastly, this fun fabric by Alexander Henry - Sew Now Sew Wow


I can't wait until next week, to receive these fabrics and start creating.

So much going on over the next week - carpet going into Lana's room today and moving Lana into her new room, school starting for Lana, kinder starting for Jude, three of my oldest and dearest friends coming from interstate to stay, my little sister and nephew coming to visit from S.A, my baby 'sprinkle' that Dan has planned at the beach and just general life stuff on top of that...what a week!

Be back later with a photo of Lana's room, pre-carpet, and post-carpet.

xx

(just a note - have just posted about Kelani Fabrics as a very happy customer and love that they ship for free within Australia - am in no way affiliated with their business)

Awww

Awesome : My boy still loves snuggling with his mum

Pretty Girl, Pretty Dress

Awesome : Alannah finally getting to wear her new dress from Aunty Dan (a present from her Germany trip)



It's such a beautiful dress. Nearly everyday since Dan gave it to Lana, she's been asking me if she could wear it. Being such a pretty soft pink, it's not the kind of dress I want her riding her bike in...lol...but on the weekend she finally got the chance to, and I think she looked fabulous :-)

Ta Da!

Awesome : Finishing a big knitting project...finally!



This weekend I finally finished this throw blanket which I started last April - yes, I'm a slow knitter...lol...but it's finally, finally done - yay!!

The pattern is taken from a Panda "Throws & Cushions" knitting book, and the final size measures 1.35m X 1.1m, so a decent size. I'm so excited that I actually finished this, as it's the only thing I've ever knitted, other than a couple of scarves :-)

Now onto some new projects...including some throw cushions for my couches - they look a little underdone now with no cushions but a throw blanket. Maybe this week, we'll see :-P

Baby Style Postcard

Awesome : Having a very clever sister, who can create a funky postcard like this, out of website links I sent her, of bubby things I loved...

After having sold nearly everything after having Jude, we've kind of being starting from scratch for this new baby boy (less than 12 weeks to go!). And with that in mind, we are being more selective in what we do get for bub - after having two other children, we now know what we actually need, and don't find ourselves referring to the extensive lists of items that some baby websites say you 'must have'. Must be getting wiser with our old age :-P

And I love how Dan's created this postcard that sums our style up - might need to scrap it..

xx

Happy Snap

Awesome : Enjoying lazy mornings in our pj's (well, the kids do :-P)


Only 1 week left of school holidays here in Melbourne - so we're going to make the most of the next few empty days.

(Jude) Bowie Style

Awesome : Being unexpectedly inspired to create....

Thanks Dan for letting me raid your stash! xx

Renovation Update 2010

Awesome : Finally picking out carpet for Alannah's room, and booking it's installation - yay for progress!

So this is Lana's room in it's current state...it needs to be emptied and then we can paint - we've got Dulux 'Raspberry Cream' for the wall with the window in it, and then our warm white for the other walls. Carpet is going in any day from next Wednesday to Friday, so we have a deadline...always a good way to get motivated and get things done!


Here are a few more shots of rooms in their current states...

Our kitchen - nearly done. Roh's just been fixing up the plastering around the power points which now need to be repainted, the window still needs second coat of enamel and just one end panel needs to go on, on the above head cupboards. It's very functional though, so it makes life a lot easier now.


Jude's room is pretty much done. All that's left to do is put on the BIR doors, and fit off the ceiling light. Jude's room has been livable since mid December, which is when the carpet went in. The carpet is called 'Blue Strike' and it's a sisal stripe carpet in natural and a dark blue - quite subtle in a big piece, and I think it looks really good. The kids are sleeping in here now.


And here are a couple of shots of our new shiny floors, although they aren't quite this shiny any more :-P


More reno shots will be ready next week, fingers crossed, when Alannah's room is painted and carpeted.

Happy Wednesday xx

Crochet Granny Square Tutorial

Awesome : Free how-to at the Meet Me at Mike's Blog

Very cool! Step by step lessons have been posted with video & instruction. Yay for craft sharing!

Loving the 80's Vibe

Awesome : Footloose


Last night, Roh and I vegged in front of the TV and watched one of my all-time favourite 80's movies 'Footloose' - I love the dancing, the music and Ren (of course :-P)....let's hear it for the boy...he he

Catching Up with Dan

Awesome : Spending some quality time with my sister Dan and her family. Cedar cuddles were fab too :-)


It was great to catch up with Dan, especially since she'd been away a couple of weeks visiting her sweet friend Sylvia and her family, in Germany. So over some wine and indian food, we all caught up, among the chaos of the kids and the noises from their games - a usual night together actually :-P

Silence

Awesome : Quiet time while Roh takes the kids out for a forest walk

Bliss! After the last two days of chaos (which my house is still in!), it's nice to take a few minutes to enjoy the peace of an empty house.

Also, today I would like to share this lovely quote by Audrey Hepburn, available in print from here :

Prepping for Tomorrow's Garage Sale

Awesome : Having two enthusiastic little helpers to colour in our signs


I'm looking forward to our garage sale tomorrow - purging un-needed items, and hopefully making a little bit of money. Yay for decluttering!

Have a great weekend! x

Crochet Project & Happy Cousins

Awesome : Finishing a new project, learning a new technique

I finished this lady elephant today, from the book "Amigurumi World : Seriously Cute Crochet". I had to adjust the pattern a little - the head shape was all wrong, and I've over-stuffed the head trying to compensate, and the trunk is a bit too long (but is made according to the pattern) but she's still a bit cute and Alannah loves her, which is the main thing.

This feels like quite an accomplishment - it's the first crochet thing I've actually finished, and it's a different style to the granny square crochet that I have been doing. It didn't even take that long to do (the elephant stands about 16 cms tall) surprisingly :-P

And today, I have a second awesome thing to mention ....

Awesome : Watching all 4 little cousin's faces light up when they had a play date today, after over two weeks apart from each other...so sweet


Not So Awesome : Realising that I really need to work on my photography...especially the whole focusing thing...he he

Take care xx

Red, Red, Red

Awesome : Finding so many cool things in my favourite colour - Red!

Red is such a fab colour. It is a very emotionally intense colour. It can reflect danger, warmth, passion, energy, strength, desire and an all-time favourite - love.

I've had a look around online, and found a few things in red to share :

Funky cushion by FeltLikeIt, for those of us who appreciates 1980's music-listening technology... don't you remember making up mixed tapes for friends..or taping music straight off of the tv (or was that just my family...he he) ..those were the days :-P


Or how about this beautiful gocco print entitled "New York Love II - Bethesda Terrace" found over at Etsy by ArtSharkDesigns...


And this just makes me smile - A giclee print by Farouche...


I'm in love with poppies at the moment...gorgeous wall art by Charming925...


I've got this next one on my wish list from Ikea...would look fab against our 'Iced Woods' wall in the living area ...

I've always loved this quote, and I think this graphic art print is simple but stunning. Found here...


And last of all, for those of you who love a bit of fashion, this gorgeous vintage velvet dress. Isn't it just stunning? Found here...


Hope you enjoyed our journey of red today :-)

A Day Glowing with Ordinary Things

Awesome : Everyday Ordinariness (is that even a word? :-P)

I received this little paragraph from Story People just a few days ago, and I really liked it, especially the first half :

Perfect Day

It was a day filled with the glow of ordinary things & we passed them quietly from hand to hand for a long time & someone said she had picked a perfect day to be born & I think all of us felt the same.

So today was a great example of an ordinary life - it's been really, really hot (the cool change hit about 2 hours ago - yay!), I had to have my gestational diabetes test (a sweet, sweet drink and then a blood test - standard procedure), picked up the kids from the grandparents, came home and watched 'Up' and then lazed around for an hour or two, with Jude falling asleep on me. It really has been too hot to do anything excessively creative, although I do have a little elephant 75% finished. Maybe it will be completed tomorrow..

Take care xx

8 Years

Awesome : Celebrating 8 years of marriage with my lovely hubby today


Ain't love grand!

Lazy Days

Awesome : Sunday Downtime....just doing whatever - love it!

As the title suggests, not much happening here today. It was a warmish night, and an even warmer day, so we all woke up a little unmotivated to achieve much in the day. Which is ok - it's Sunday after all :-P

Yesterday I managed to get some scrapping done - one completely new page, and two finish-off's. It's been a long time since I've scrapped, and I enjoyed yesterday, as did Lana who created along with me.

Here's the finished layouts :

The new one ...The older two.....

Stay safe x