Monday 30 January 2012

Friday 27 January 2012

growing

its almost that time of year. my birthday! even though it means getting another year older it's still my favourite time of year (selfish, i know). this year i'm going with some friends to see Roxette in concert the night before my birthday. an outfit decision must be made.
the dress i'd really love to wear but which i must really get over is this sequinned mini from Sportsgirl
what i will more than likely end up wearing, given the sequinned mini is out of stock, is my once-worn red dress and my new statement necklace.
can't wait for my birthday. only 21 days 13 hours 25 minutes and 30 seconds.

Monday 23 January 2012

aqua dreams

my favourite colour, aqua. i love it! 


in July 2011 i went to the Greek Islands for 3 weeks. the colour of the ocean there is amazing. when i returned home to the Aussie winter i missed my beach holiday terribly. and so the inspiration sprung to paint a feature wall in my bedroom to remind me of my island holiday.

here's a few photos of my bedroom make-over plus the all inspiring Greek Islands

main bedroom before...
picking the right shade...
the mess in between...
the finished product...
 and now with the added flower garland (see how i made it here) it also reminds of the beach-by-day, party-by-night that was the Greek Islands
take me back...

post to come on how i made my bedhead...

Thursday 19 January 2012

good luck trunk

my first ever stuffed toy as a baby was a little pink elephant which my dad brought to the hospital. 

i love elephant's. ever since i was a kid i have been in awe about their size and seemingly casual chilled nature and that they are 'good luck' when their trunks are turned up, or so they say.


i recently noticed that i have a few around the house. the collection is one thats evolved subconsciously. i didn't realise i had so many...

what do you collect?



Tuesday 17 January 2012

dress me up

i’ve been wanting to learn to sew for ages but have struggled to find (read: make) the time.
over the Christmas break i set myself a goal to make a dress which i had sourced the pattern for back in November 2011. i had a great morning shopping for fabric with my step-mum and in the afternoon she sat me down and taught the basics of how to follow a dress pattern (a basic three piece dress pattern), pin it, cut it and sew it. my first attempt at dress making turned out to be a success and i love my new red maxi!

Saturday 14 January 2012

here's to an arty new year

i never make new year resolutions but after 2011, which was a year of great plans and little action, i decided to make a list of resolutions for 2012. i’m not sure how or if i’ll achieve all the goals i’ve set myself but it’s worth a try. my list reads (in no specific order):
1. SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!
2. arrange an island holiday for 2013
3. back-up and organise all music and photo files (sounds simple but this was not done for the whole of 2011 and possibly 2010)
4. art journal once a week (per Rachel and Elsie's Art Journal All Year E Course)
5. get skirting boards for my house (this has been a plan since October 2009)
6. update family photos around the house (this has also been on the cards since 2010)
7. try harder to get friends to visit me in Singleton (not fun for them, but fun for me)
8. visit the Hunter Valley Wine Region more often (it’s only 20minutes away!!!)
9. EXERCISE! EXERCISE! EXERCISE!
i’m in the process of completing item 6. i've selected the pics and saved them to a USB, now i just need to print and frame them...

i've had 3 friends come to my home town in the last 2 weeks so item 7 is off to a good start.

item 4 is going well also. i've completed my first journal entry. its on recent day dreams which for me have largely been about the beach, relaxing and the idea of having a more chilled lifestyle which ideally feels more like a permanent holiday. i did say it was a journal entry on "dreams"...
my friend's Amy and Mel are also creating an art journal so they will help with my motivation to keep at it when i find excuses not to. 
today i decided to keep my journal looking pretty for when i leave it lying around my house. i decided to make a book cover (as suggested by Amy).

here's how i made my fabric sleeve for my journal...

supplies:
1. A4 diary/or other book 2. fabric 3. iron on facing 4. scissors 5. sewing machine 6. thread 7. overlocker

instructions:
1. cut the iron on facing to the exact size of the A4 book (size when fully opened) 2. cut the fabric with approx. 2cm overhang at the top and bottom and approx.  4-5cm overhang at each side of the book 3. hem all 4 sides of the fabric with approx. 1cm hem 4. iron on facing to fabric (centre) 5. using the overlocker stitch the long edges ensuring you fold over a sleeve for the book cover to fit (see pictures - make sure you measure before you sew)
NOTE: i also attached a heart to the cover using a zigzag stitch.


here’s to a creative and fun 2012…and on to those other resolutions.

Friday 13 January 2012

bloomin’ threads

my friend Amy recently blogged some inspirational home pics of Bri Emery’s loft featured in Rue magazine (check out Amy’s post here and the full shoot here 
i love the bright colours Bri has used in her loft and particularly like the flower garland hung on the wall in Bri’s bedroom.
i was looking for something creative to do over the Christmas break that wouldn’t consume too much of my time and found a DIY flower garland.  Amy and I met up and made some flower garlands of our own. here’s some pics of my “bloomin’ threads”. i’m very happy with how they turned out, had a great afternoon with Amy making them and am looking forward to having an excuse to make some more…





Christmas past

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
i know i’m a few too many days late. i had good intentions to blog in the first few days but time got away from me.
i hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year break. i certainly did, spending time with family and friends, being creative and spending loads of time in the summer sun!
here’s some of my favourite pics from Christmas 2011