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

Decluttering

Awesome : Decluttering - Ebay selling & preparing for a garage sale

Sorting through and cleaning out our belongings has been long overdue. Since we pulled nearly everything out of storage we've been getting a bit more ruthless in what to keep, what fits in the new house and what things we really could continue to live without.

So far, Roh has listed a few of his collectible Transformers on ebay, which ends tonight, and I have uploaded a huge amount of books - chick lit novels, interior decorating books & a couple of craft books - all under Roh's username, just to keep things simple.

Here are a few items up for grabs :


Roh's username is the.reactor and you can find him here, if anything sounds of interest to you.

Yay for decluttering!

New Projects

Awesome : Being inspired to try new patterns, and play with colourful wool


I'm not far off finishing my knitted throw blanket, and have found my next project in the above pictured pattern book.

Using the top two-tone denim blue wool, I am hoping to make our april arrival a little 'wee willie winkie' beanie - so cute!

The other wool is for some crochet projects and possibly a baby blanket (the grey wool). If only this hot weather would go away, I could get stuck into some knitting/crochet. I seriously lose motivation to play with wool in the heat.

Stay cool xx

Colour Makes Me Happy

Awesome : Magenta & White Dahlias.....just beautiful


And I just LOVE how these look against my kitchen's red walls.

Fresh flowers are such an effective way to cheer up a day, and freshen up the home. Even bargain supermarket flowers can do the trick (that's what these are, and were only $5.99!).

Why not spoil yourself with some bright flower goodness? Go on, you deserve it ;-)

Crafty Inspirational Links

Awesome : Inspiring & Free Craft Patterns from Fabulous, Generous and Creative Crafters

The wide world web is just full of so many free patterns and tutorials for all sorts of crafts, so it's easy, when looking for inspiration, to find some. I have many things on my 'one day to-do list', including these links....

A Knitted Hot Water Bottle Cover - would be so cosy for winter snuggling on the couch. It's even classed as 'an easy knitter' so there is hope that I could do it :-P

A Funky Toadstool House Pin Cushion - Cute, cute, cute!

Fold Twist Fabric Flowers - would be great to make into hair clips, or for using on clothes/bags/cushions or scrapbook layouts.

Three Little Pouches - Purl Bee is a fantastic site for knitters & crochet people as it regular uploads free patterns and has quite a catalogue available now. How adorable are these pouches! I think I might have to try one soon :-)

Super Easy Knitted Baby Blanket - I love how Purl Bee call this one 'super easy' - very appealing to the new knitter! I'm thinking of doing this one up for bub, but I would have to get a move on, as bub is due in mid April, and I haven't even bought the wool yet :-P

Would love to hear if anyone out there has any other fabulous free patterns or tutorials that they have created or have created from, or have on a wish list to create, or a favourite crafty blog.

Keep on crafting :-)

Roh's Bruschetta

Awesome : Fresh, simple, flavoursome summer foods....made by my hubby :-P


Roh's Bruschetta is so, so yummy! Here's the quick low-down on what he does :

He dices up :
1 spanish red onion
4 tomatoes
A few fresh sprigs of basil

He mixes this with :
Balsamic Vinegar
A dash of Olive Oil

He places this on top of :
Either a halved baguette, toasted with a brush of olive oil and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese
OR
Cooked garlic bread slices

A fantastic dish for a light, refreshing summer dinner. Even the kids love it!

Happy Snail Mail

Awesome : Receiving a funky card from a kindred spirit


It's always such a lovely surprise to hear from one of my oldest friends, and wouldn't you just love to own a pair of these shoes - I know I would! She knows me so well..xx

The Joy of Giving

Awesome : Watching Jude & Alannah's faces light up while opening up presents..


As we don't celebrate Xmas, Roh and I try and surprise the kids with special gifts throughout the year, especially around our wedding anniversary (which is next week). The kids know our anniversary as our 'Family Day', as that is the day we started out as a family of two, but that has now grown to 4, nearly 5 :-)

I love watching them open up their presents, not knowing what to expect, and then seeing their little faces light up in excitement and delight. Alannah just loving all the little pieces that come within her new Barbie Glamour Jet (seriously, what's not to love about miniature soda cans, utensils, coffee jug, tea cups plus so much more...so cute!), while Jude trys to help Roh build his Pirate Lego Fort, as well as the Pirate Lego Ship (not pictured), but really just wanting to play with his new peg-leg pirate lego man. And I actually think that Roh has just as much fun as Jude :-)

Photo Fun

Awesome : Playing with new photos on Photoshop Elements 8


For our anniversary this year, we've given gifts a little earlier due to super bargains, and the holiday fun to be had with our pressies. As I got a new camera from Dad, my darling hubby has bought me the latest Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 program, along with the Premiere Elements 8 program which allows for video editing, as well as a memory card reader. (He got the new DJ Hero game for the Xbox 360, and is having lots of fun with that too!)

Of course, with new things, learning must take place. So I'll be studying up on my Canon 400D, as well as learning lots of little tricks through Photoshop. Be warned..the following posts may contain odd looking images while I play :-P

A New Year, A New Challenge

2010 is here, and with it, I have decided to challenge myself.

A friend did a post entitled 'Has blogging died?' and this got me thinking. I admit to being a naughty blog reader, in as far as not clicking through to leave a comment, due to the ease of Bloglines, but I aim to improve that in the coming weeks and months. And I also admit to missing the comments that use to come with regular blog updates. And as far as I'm concerned, facebook doesn't cut it over a blog - not for me anyhow :-P

Something about a post made on The Craft Blog hit the spot for me. The blogger is keeping a journal entitled "365 days of Awesome" to document her year. I LOVE this idea - not only does documenting the everyday appeal to me but so does the word 'awesome', as my 4 yo uses this word all the time, and it cracks me up.

So this is my self-imposed challenge : My 365 Days of Everyday Awesome.

2010 looks to be a year of variety for me - we are still renovating though nearing the end, bub #3 is due mid April, I've just gotten a new camera so will be learning & playing with that, I am still loving art & crafting - scrapping, knitting, crochet, sewing and I hope to add onto that with acrylic painting on canvas, I am trying to make the most of my new kitchen with cooking and trying out new recipes and of course there are friends & family to spend time with.
I hope to post daily, as much as possible, and with images, as much as I can. A visit to a pc shop tomorrow should help me with the latter :-P

So to start off - today's everyday awesomeness...
Cooking side-by-side with my hubby in our new kitchen - DH attempting Sticky Date Pudding for the very first time, and me attempting Nigella Lawson's Banana Bread (found in this book) for the first time too. We've decided that we have to try out a new recipe everytime we have people over for dinner - tonight the test subjects, um, I mean guests..lol...are Roh's parents.

Hope everyone is enjoying Day 1 of 2010!