A Sunday walk

Lyndon, Molly and I went for a wander down to the creek this afternoon. Molly gets so excited if anyone says the "w" word.

It's nice for her to be able to run around off the lead.

Look at that happy face! Isn't my girl adorable?

The creek must have been freezing, but Molly went in anyway. It is very difficult to keep her out of water.

Shaking the water off. Not the most flattering photo!

Her legs look very skinny when they're wet. We always have a chuckle at her expense when she looks like this.

We walked past some really interesting old properties on our way home. I'd love to have a snoop. I'm sure they could tell some great stories.

I hope you all had a nice weekend too. Did you do anything fun? 

Looks like fish and chips for dinner and a relax in front of the fire watching Downton Abbey on tv. Do you watch it? I adore the dresses they wear :)

xx

Friday flower...sort of...and lucky me!

I recently discovered this amazing eucalypt tree whilst out and about with Mum. It has the most amazing gumnuts.

The younger gumnuts were waxy and small but these older ones were covered in a white dusty coating.

So sculptural and interesting.

I also wanted to share these lovely cards.

I was the lucky winner of a pack of Cavania cards from Lesley at Life at Number 10.

They're so beautiful! Don't you just love receiving pretty packages in the mail? Makes for a nice change from bills!

Well, how about The Block last night? I was so excited to see that fellow blogger Katrina was successful with her sister and will now be moving into the house (if you could call it that). Very exciting!

Anyway, happy Friday friends. Have a good weekend!

xx

Painted sticks and magic puddings

Yesterday I painted a stick. Yes, a stick. And then I put the painted stick in my lounge room.

I must say, I rather fancy my new little grouping. Lyndon, on the other hand, thinks I am going mad.

(but I'm pretty sure he likes the look of my stick)

Doesn't my painted stick just finish it all off?

My lovely paper creation by talented friend Leonie Oakes.

A little group of inexpensive vases. The big one from Freedom, the middle one is a carafe from a local homewares store and the little green vase from good old friend, Ikea.

I adore the little cast crystal dress sculpture. It's by a New Zealand artist.

On to other things (though I doubt this is the last painted stick you will see from me... I'm thinking neon pink stickage next)...

Last night I cooked (for the first time ever) a coffee and chocolate self-saucing pudding.

This pic is from an old Donna Hay magazine, but mine did look the same.

I just don't get how it comes out with the sauce all separate and yummy?

It's like magic!

How does it do that? No, don't tell me, I like the magic of it. Great winter dessert goodness.

How are you Aussie readers enjoying The Block? I'm loving it though I wasn't so keen in last night's rooms.

Hope you are keeping warm.

xx

How I have been amusing myself lately...

I've been making cards!

I have found it rather relaxing and a lot of fun.

I've used my old wooden printing blocks for these 'wordy' ones.

There's that Washi tape!

I've also made use of tissue paper and some sweet rubber stamps.

Each one has a matching envelope too. Fancy, huh?

It all started because I made these gift tags and was having too much fun.

See what you can do with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a big HECS debt???

I do laugh about that a bit.



I did start making a washi tape tree but the shape was wrong so now it's just a prototype :)

Can I ask you guys what you think? Be honest, constructive criticism welcomed - you can post anonymously!!

Which ones do you like best? (if any that is!)

ps. yes I did try to iron out the wrinkles in the fabric, but hey, let's keep it real :)

pps. how exciting is it that The Block starts on tv tonight? Woohoo!!

xx

Friday flower - a dramatic backdrop

Something different for this Friday.

I took these images the other night during the most beautiful sunset.

There's those iceberg roses again. They pop up everywhere in this blog.

I think the sunset was enhanced due to the Chilean volcanic ash that's been floating over Tasmania during the last few days.

Out across the street with silhouettes of some lovely Federation chimneys. How I wish our house still had its chimneys. We guess there was at least 3. What a pity they were removed.

Anyway, happy Friday friends. I hope it's a nice one for you all.

I am really looking forward to this evening though, we are off to see Cirque de Soleil's Saltimbanco! I've never seen it before and have been waiting since last October when I was lucky to receive tickets for my birthday from Lyn. Yippee!

PS. I will post pics of my Washi tape creations in the next post. I haven't had enough light to take photos yet.

xx

I love washi tape

The title says it all. Have you discovered the prettiness that is Japanese washi tape?

I have accumulated a few rolls from Etsy but imagine my excitement when I went into a local homewares store recently to discover it on their half price table. Wow. I was thrilled. A nice little bundle came home with me.

What have I been creating with all this cuteness I hear you ask? Well, mostly giftcards. But that's a whole new post! I can't wait to show you guys and see what you think.

ps look at that fluoro pink tape. I'm rather enamoured by fluoro pink at the moment. It's funny as I tend to always feel that you should only do a fashion once. Well, despite being a teen in the 80's when fluoro was the big thing, I love it more now. I'd even love to paint something in the house this colour. Not sure how keen Lyn would be for me to do that. It's not the blokiest of colours! That reminds me of a boy I went to school with. He refused to touch anything pink and even wrapped his pink texta in paper before he used it so he wouldn't be contaminated with girl colour!

xx

Friday Flowers on a Saturday

I didn't get out in the garden all week to see what was flowering for Friday Flowers. It's just been cold, rainy and miserable. So I went out this morning.

Would you believe one of the few flowers blooming at the moment is this pink gerbera. In winter. In Hobart?

I always thought they were warm weather flowers but this one seems to keep on keeping on.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

xx

My pinboard project + studio update

It seems like an eternity ago that I decided to make a pin board for my studio.

Well, here it finally is!

This old piece of board was going to be tossed out at work so I saved it and took it home. I covered it in a very pale blue fabric by stapling it on the back. I love my electric staple gun - boy it has some kick in it!

 I bought some hardwood frame profile at the hardware store, measured it a million times (so Lyndon couldn't laugh at me when I got it wrong - measure twice, cut once he always says) and cut the angled joints on the drop saw (that thing is scary!).
Lyn them helped me nail it all together and I painted it with the left over turquoise paint from my old step ladder project.
I then put it all together thanks to the staple gun, attached a hanging wire and we got it up on the wall.
I'm really happy with the results.



There's still things to do in my studio room. I'm still sorting things, have curtains to make and hopefully add in a reading chair when the budget allows. I love the room though.

I don't think I ever showed you my rug. It's a Laura Ashley Malmaison design in French Blue, now discontinued I believe. I bought it from a German seller off ebay. It was less than half the retail price. She posted it and it seemed to go missing in transit. When I asked her to check it out for me it turns out there was a terrorist threat on one of the planes DHL used and so all the parcels were plonked on a boat. I decided to trust her story and sure enough, a few months later it arrived!

Initially I was thinking about bright rugs for this room, but I'm very happy with this one as it doesn't overpower the room. It's a timeless design that I'll be happy to use forever.

A piccy of my space :)

(must make a cover for my chair)

My desk is messy already. Too many little projects on the go.

As you can see, my shelving is well utilised! I just love it. For those of you who are newish to my blog, I'm very proud to say that Lyn and I built this shelving from scratch. It was a mammoth effort but I just love it.

A closeup of my pin board. Lots of flowers and bird inspiration. It will be full in no time!

Thanks for looking and wishing you all a great week.

Hugs xx

Friday flowers...sort of

I just had to start with this photo of the sunrise I took just a few minutes ago. How beautiful and no, I did not intensify the colour, that's how bright it was. Of course it's gone now, dissolved into a pale yellow and blue.

Well, on to Friday Flowers...sort of...

Okay, so not exactly flowers, but who's making the rules here?

I missed autumn this year on my blog but I did take these pics outside work the other day when it was still autumn.

What unusual fruit, or are they seed pods on this plane tree.

Very sculptural.

Can you believe it's winter already? In Hobart it has been chilly but lovely and clear. Are you all keeping warm? (Hi to those of you moving into summer).

I have to say I don't mind winter - I enjoy seeing the contrasts of all the seasons. It would be a bit boring for me if the weather was the same all the time. No risk of that in Tasmania!!

Happy Friday to you all :)

xx