Busy, busy, busy!

Busy, busy, busy! That definitely describes my life right now. Busy weekend as we were out 3 of the 4 nights of the long weekend then on Tuesday we got to visit our brand new 'neice' Layali (isn't that a beautiful name?) - 2nd daughter of our fab friends N & Z. She is so tiny and cute and almost exactly the same weight etc as our little guy was born at.

And speaking of new babies - here are some of pics of photo album gifts I have been making recently for the new babies in our lives:

Hopefully I have some time to do some more crafting next week as we are off to visit my sister and her family this weekend.

Polka Dot Party and My New Love

One of the things I love about the internet world is finding new and interesting blogs to read. Amanda from The Homely One is a woman after my own heart. Her fantastic blog details the craft and home projects she undertakes - her kitchen renovation I can only dream about.

Recently she threw a polka dot themed party for her daughter Grace's First Birthday:

I especially love the bunting and the party bags. The birthday girl also wore a gorgeous green polka dot dress to complete the theme.


Now onto my new love:

The armchair was picked up today with the help of my generous sister and has prime position in our (almost) empty dining room. Slowly but surely we are getting there. Next step I think will be new curtain rods for the lounge and dining rooms. I already have curtains for the dining room ready to hang but need to organise some for the lounge and have found the perfect fabric at Lincraft.

Off to a 30th birthday party tomorrow and hopefully a nice dinner out on Monday with my boys.

Happy weekend everyone.

I'm Still Here!

It's been a while since I have posted. Lots going on at the moment - few health scares with people close to us, a brand new gorgeous little neice Charlotte and a very demanding one year old. Plus something else very exciting (well for me!) that I've been working on and hope to have up and running with very shortly.

Last week I did manage to visit the new Gymboree store at Westfield Parramatta with the little guy in tow and am happy to say it did not disappoint. Master E will continue to have Gymboree pieces forming a large part of his wardrobe.

As promised weeks ago here are the full pics of the two Personalised Canvas Boards with Mini Pegs I made for some birthdays recently:

Hope to be back to regular blogging this week.

Home Organisation and Decor

Those who know me in real life know that I try to be super organised at home and cannot stand clutter or mess and try to achieve that modern, sleek & clean line look in our 1980's era house. I am on a constant look out for new organisation and decor ideas for our home. I've become totally addicted to real estate and renovation shows on tv and other people's blogs on design and organisation so 3 years after moving into our house I am still putting the finishing touches on our rooms.

Today I stumbled across Katrina Chamber's blog and love her idea of transferring her washing powders and other liquids into pretty glass jars. Oh how I dream of a proper laundry one day (rather than a corner of the garage we currently have).

And speaking of laundry and the fact that I can't post without a photo, here is my clean washing waiting for my attention tonight:

Luxury .....

I know I often get caught up with the chores of daily life and have to remind myself not to take for granted the small luxuries especially after a challenging day with a one year old.

Rosamunde Pilcher describes luxury in her novel 'The Shell Seekers':

'Luxury, I think, is the total fulfilment of all five senses at once' page 484

'Mountains, and the bitter cold of snow, all glittering beneath a blue sky and a savage sun. Or lying, baking, on a hot rock, and knowing that, when you can't bear the heat another moment, the cold, deep sea is only a yard away, waiting for you to dive.' page 484

'Being out on a freezing wet day, and coming home, chilled to the bone, and being able to wallow in an immensely hot, deep bath' pages 484-485


These were my luxuries today:

Winter really seems to have arrived as the day was quite chilly, so I set aside my To Do List and instead curled up on the lounge with a blanket and one of my favourite books while our little man napped:

Freshly baked scones with strawberry jam and a chocolate milkshake - perfect for a chilly day:

And my luxury tonight: my electric blanket!

Personalised Canvas Board with Mini Pegs

Here is a sneak peek at two personalised canvas boards with mini pegs I have been working on this week (sore back and all) for Master B and Miss A's birthdays. More photos to come after Master B and Miss A receive their presents (don't want to give too much away in case their mum is reading my blog!).






(again excuse my poor photography)

Happy Mother's Day

Hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day. Here is an accordian album I made for our little man as part of his gift to Grandma. This is my first attempt at this little craft project and I am very happy with the way it turned out. And of course I had to include one of my lovely polka dot ribbons!

I was well and truly spoiled by my little guy and his daddy and we had a lovely dinner out with family. What a gorgeous Sunday - the weather was perfect.

More crafty projects to come this week as I make some birthday gifts for a spunky little boy and his adorable sister.

This could be dangerous!

I have just discovered one of my favourite children's clothing stores is now open in Australia - Gymboree. This could be very dangerous to my bank balance. Our little man has a great range of Gymboree clothing for the coming winter which I ordered through their US website and I am very excited that there is now a store not too far away. A trip to Westfield Parramatta in the next few weeks is definitely on the agenda.

Cute boys tee:

Elephants & Polka Dots

Here's a sneak peek look at the theme for my sister in law's baby shower in a few weeks (sorry about the poor quality pics - a decent camera is high on my wishlist):

Still have a few more things to organise but I'm getting there!

Wishing For Crate & Barrel ....

Oh how I ♥ these Crate & Barrel items:









They do ship to Australia but I'm sure the shipping charges will far exceed the cost of the goods. Wonder if I can find something similar here?

Red and Yellow

How cute is this Oobi brand romper:


Check out Cradle Rock for a great range of kids clothing and accessories.

One of my favourite colour combinations is red and yellow - especially for little girls. A nice change from pink!

My little man is all stocked up for winter but I have lots of family and friends expecting babies this year to indulge my love of shopping!

The Beginning .......

Day One of blogging. I decided to start blogging to keep a record of all the creative, crafty projects I'm getting stuck into plus all those wonderful, pretty and sometimes completely useless items I find courtesy of my friend Mr Google (internet junkie I am).

Here is my inspiration for the theme for my sister in law's baby shower in a few weeks (look out for my post soon)more at this blog: