New Gumboots

Thanks everyone for your lovely messages re our tough night on Sunday night.

My poor bubby has an ear infection and his ear drum is close to rupturing :(
He was so miserable yesterday but thanks to the wonders of antibiotics (how lucky are we to live in this day and age!) he is SO much better today and only woke once last night.

Anyway, I was going to post this yesterday... I got some new gumboots.

A lot of my fellow bloggers seem to have been getting new gumboots recently too! I.e. Deb, Jane and Nicole.

They are just from BigW and were $24.99 - so cheap! I couldn't justify the price of Hunter gumboots unfort.

So now Will and I can stomp around puddles together in our gumboots :)

Have a great day everyone,

This is me already...

William had us up for hours last night. Haven't really slept since 3am so I'm going to be in 'just get through the day' mode today with a tired toddler and a tired me. Poor Glen is off to work already, I hope he doesn't have any long meetings - could be embarrassing nodding off, I've been there done that before! :)

Image via here

Have a great Monday,

       

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday to you!

Love,

  Image via here

Bike Love

 

I feel a bit left out if I'm honest.... why you ask?

Because my boys often head off on a Saturday or Sunday morning together and bike ride into the national park.... and I don't have a bike to come along with them :(

Here is Will in his ladybug helmet on the back of Glen's bike, still in his PJs, warm vest and Vegemite still on his little face :) Doesn't he look so cute!

Image via here

 This is the bike I want to get! Venice beach cruiser in baby blue!
What do you think? Just add a basket on the front? Yeah I think so :)


Do you have a bike? Do you ride as a family?

Have a lovely day,

Garden Markers

Just before Christmas I bought a box set of metal letter stamps on ebay for the purpose of making old spoon and fork garden markers. It was lots of fun making them and I followed this tutorial http://mossymossy.com/?p=491 

  

Here is all the equiptment needed for metal stamping bar the rubber mallet.

 

Unfortunately these are my first 'worst' batch as I gave the best looking ones as Christmas Gifts. But in the end I wasn't 100% happy with the look of them, I think I need to get thicker, smaller and deeper metal stamps as the letters came out too faintly. I got all of my silver plated spoons from a Salvos shop at 20c each!

 

 

And when I tried them out in our veggie and herb garden they just looked lost as the garden is too big, they would suit a potted herb garden better.

 

So I bought these beauties from the very lovely Letitia of The White Shed shop and blog!

They are heart shaped blackboard markers and are MUCH better suited to our garden.

When I have to go outside at night to pick herbs for my cooking I can see the names quite clearly as they stand out on the black chalk board.

Our Basil is on it's last legs before it dies off over winter :(

I hope to use my metal stamps for other purposes though, I used them to stamp words onto my Christmas clay tags which was fun.

Do you have a veggie garden? What do you use as garden markers?

Have a lovely day,

A Rue-iful day

I'm in the need for a bit of cheer so it is perfect timing that the latest issue of Rue Magazine is online today.

Here are a couple of pics from a very gorgeous shoot!

So pretty!

Love the old fashioned swimming caps

Look at these colours, SO inspiring!

You can read the latest issue of Rue Magazine here.

Have a rue-iful (rue-iful - the way that scooby do would say beautiful) day!

Kitchen Inspiration

I thought I'd show you some of the kitchens I have in my pinterest homes and interiors board that I find soooooooo droolworthy :)


I really like the grey tiles as a splash back and their contrast against the white cupboards and counter top. And it ties in nicely with the more industrial stainless steal island bench.

Image via here

Again, the contrast of this grey in the cupboards 'makes' this otherwise all white kitchen, and brings out the grey flecks in the marble counter tops.

Image via here

Love the lights, love the counter tops, love the detailing on the cabinetry profiles and the stand proud kick boards.... drooooooool!

Image via here

It feels a bit poky but I guess it's just part of the kitchen and I really like the idea of a desk area in the kitchen for kids to do homework. And the blue ceiling is a really cool touch.

Image via here

I think this is pretty much my dream kitchen! I love the layout and the lights, the wooden floors, every detail!

Image via here

Do you like my selection or you prefer something more modern and streamline?

I hope you had a great weekend, we did :)

New Print: Chevron Love

Yay, I've got a new print to show you this morning!

It's called Chevron Love... because I've been wanting some chevron in my lounge room so I thought hmmmm lets make a print!


Chevron is the hottest pattern in interiors right now and teamed with a simple heart in a contrasting colour this print is a show stopper! The print measures a large 30cm x 30cm to fit perfectly within the matt of the Ikea Ribba 50 x 50 cm (20 1/2 x 20 1/2") frame.




I think it would look gorgeous in both a child's room and in a living area too. I think they would look HOT grouped together in different colours. (I really need more walls cause I would SO do that).


I've made 8 different colour options but like all my prints I'm happy to make it in your own colour choice.
Now available on my website here and my etsy store here and my madeit store here.

Do you like it? I would love to know.

Have a great Friday,

Yesterdays Thrifty Find

I stopped into Vinnies yesterday to have a little squiz if there were any cool treasures.

And I found these little porcelain, I don't know... what would you call them? Place holders/table markers or something?

When I spotted them in their box just lying flat like the picture below I thought 'What are they?!?' Then when I realised what they were my imagination ran wild pictured myself hosting a beautiful high tea for friends with all my beautiful silver cutlery and a china and using the little holders as either place settings or to label different teas or food.


They don't look old and I'm sure they're only worth what I paid for them, $12, but I just love them!

I've having my neighbour and her little daughter over for dinner on Sat night while our husbands are out at the rugby so I might get them out for our 'girly' dinner!

I have also spotted some really cool things on the side of the road recently, a beautiful little wooden table and a floor lamp which would have looked HOT painted white gloss but I procrastinated and missed out :( Oh well, my thrifty find makes me very happy!

Have you had any great thrifty finds lately?

Colour your day

Here is a little colour to brighten your day!

I love the colours in that rug, the white desk, light and dark frames.
Image via here

I want to do this, the plates on the wall
Image via here

Love the bed tucked into that arched nook. The red and turquoise look great together too.
Image via here

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mix of art on this wall and the BRIGHT pink chairs and the great light streaming in.
Image via here

I don't generally decorate my own home with bright bold colours but I love seeing others do it.

What are you like? Do you embrace the bold or feel more comfortable with neutrals?

Wishing you a bright sunny day,

Enjoying the deck

I have really been enjoying our backyard and sitting out on the deck this last week. I think because I know I better take advantage of the sun and 'not too' cold weather before winter hits.

I took some pics with my new camera quickly on sunday after a lunch we had and thought I'd share them with you today.

This is my dusk chandelier. I filled the centre vase with the same pebbles from our new back pathway and bought some faux peonies to put in the centre.

Here is the new side path that we (Glen) made and a little picket gate to keep Will from wandering round the side and under the deck.

Here is my vase of homegrown roses I had in the middle of the table. They have really opened up now and look stunning. I love using my Grandma's lace table cloth to dress up the table.

And when it gets too chilly we just put the outdoor heater on and roast ourselves :)

Are you enjoying the outdoors? Or rugging up inside?

Have a lovely day,

Creative Women Interview: Urban Road founder Suzie Atkin

I'm really excited to introduce a new series I'm starting on the blog called the Creative Women Interviews!

And to start off the series I have interviewed my gorgeous and very creative friend from church, Suzie Atkin.


Suzie is the designer and owner of a fabulous online store called Urban Road which sells her beautiful canvas art prints. Suzie is a self taught artist, mother of 3 gorgeous kids and wife to Greg.

Urban Road is Suzie's creative outlet and the vibrant and dynamic style of her art really reflects her personality. And I love the Albert Einstein quote in her store Bio which says "I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious!"

Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere...what I mean to say is I am always looking for my next idea. So because it is always on my mind it's like a filter, everything I look at seems to sift through my brain that way. I do love reading blogs and mags too and Pinterest is a new favourite...I could spend hours there!

Oh Deer - Giclee print on stretched canvas

What motivated you to start Urban Road?
Well, when I originally started doing illustrations I focused on custom portraits and called myself "Pop Me". But I decided to move away from portraits and focus on my original illustrations (it's more fun), so I thought a new name & look was in order. I called it Urban Road because to me art is a journey, and my style and inspirations are constantly changing. And the Urban part is simply my surroundings, plus I thought it sounded catchy...and the domain name was available LOL. All of my work is printed on canvas ready to hang, I love prints on canvas (even though paper seems to be the current trend) my goal with Urban Road is to make LARGE canvas prints gorgeous and affordable because often they are neither :)

Stocking Girl - Giclee print on canvas

How do you juggle your business as well as three kids etc?
Juggle is the right way of describing it that's for sure! My oldest 2 Mia & Ava are in school (Kindy & year 2) and my youngest Thomas (3 yrs old) is in day care 2 days a week. So I get 2 days to work from home (as well as do all my running around of never ending chores) and I work at night, that's when I'm most creative for some reason. I'm looking at the clock now...11:22pm...almost my bed time.

Mantel Flowers - Giclee print on canvas

Where do you see Urban Road this time next year?
Hmmm...I have never considered myself a forecaster, maybe that's because I don't want to be disappointed. Hopefully I will still be in business LOL, I am considering going into the wholesale market and I am also considering producing some new complimentary products but no definite plans yet. The additional time all of that will take has me hesitating...we'll have to wait & see.

Mexican Otomi - Giclee print on canvas

You can take a look at her shops here and her etsy shop here. (She offers an amazing deal of 40% off your second canvas print)!

And Suzie has just started a blog - yay! So pop on over and hit the follow button!

I hope you found the Q&A interesting and inspiring - I know I love hearing about other women's creative journeys.

Have a great day,