Happy Halloween!!!

Some quick pics from our pumpkin carving party over the weekend...

Have a very very very happy Halloween and sweet Samhain!

Be safe and eat candy!

Happy ______________!

Halloween, Samhain, Celtic New Year...

via For The Vintage Fashionista

The weekend catch up...

... not including my soon to be written love note to the All Blacks - who, yes!, won the Rugby World Cup on Sunday night! I think I'm still recovering... but here is the rest of the weekend!!

Chaos Kitchen. I can't wait to have bench space. And a pantry....

Running out of space. And the celebratory cake stencil!

Lemon Sour Cream Cake from the good old Edmonds Cookbook
recipe below for you eager beavers!

We are suckers for marketing.
Jacob and his Duff, me and my Dirty Granny Ciders (notice the crochet work?) - very nice btw!

Granny Squares. From now (top) and a couple years back (bottom). Such a difference!
And Halloween bunting!

Peabody you reckon? Jacob excited over his thrift find, Bruce being sleepy.

So, yes, a very lovely weekend. Catching up with some lovely friends, baking, thrifting, more pre-move de-cluttering and a bit of Rugby!

How was yours? 

125 g butter, softened 

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup Edmonds plain baking flour
1 teaspoon Edmonds baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
icing sugar

Beat butter, lemon rind, sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy.
Sift flour and baking powder together.
Fold sifted ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream, mixing until smooth.
Pour mixture into a greased and lined 20 cm round cake tin.
Bake at 160°C for 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Leave in tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
When cold dust with icing sugar.

via Edmonds Cookbook

Leftovers... Fabric that is!

A few weeks back I decided that, as a family, we should be civilised and have some handy napkins to use at dinner. And as I've been trying to make an effort to finish projects, get rid of fabric and wool and art supplies I won't need, (which is harder than you may think) I decided to make some napkins!

Nothing like fancy flamingos and palm tree prints!!

So, I cut out a heavy card for a template approx 13x13 inches and cut all the napkins to be around the same size. Then pinned down and ironed out all the hems at about 5mm or a quarter of an inch.. That right there is enough to drive you bonkers. (BONKERS!) So tedious, but once that is done, all you need is a simple stitch and ta da! Look ma! Clean faces! and hands!

about a 5mm hem on all sides, pressed over twice and stitch!

Yeah, I know. My stitching is far from perfect, but it's done with love!

I've been slowing collecting old dress shirts of Jacob's, some old pyjamas that I love the print but can't bare throwing them away, and lots of other red and light blue fabrics. The goal... A quilted duvet cover for our king size doona/duvet! According to my calculations... (geeeeeeeeek warning)

I'm going to need a lot more squares!!!! Damn!

Any other ideas for using up scrap fabric? 

I'd love to here your ideas!!

xo

The Funki Little Frog Shop

Many kudos and congrats to my lovely old friend, Jennifer, who's shop was featured on one of the Daily Etsy Finds! Her work is really gorgeous and I can't even articulate how proud I am of her! She had an amazing amount of hits and traffic to her shop and all because of one email!

Here's some of my favourites from her shops...

Check out her two shops - Funki Folk Art & The Funki Little Frog

Me and the lovely Jenny (anydots) Ambot Babcock @ my wedding.
Miss you darling!

Herb-a-licous Treasury!

Love this one! So inspiring! 

I think I'll go make some soap this weekend!

Thanks Briga!

Fill in the _____ Friday!

This was my last weekend - and will probably be this weekend too. Crochet. Beer. All Blacks. The life.

1. The most selfless thing I've ever done was moving countries to be with the one I love... even though I guess I did it for me as well... I guess that doesn't count as selfless.

2. When it comes to working out I'm hopeless. I'm all for exercise, but don't have the patience for actual workouts. I like to think riding my bike to work everyday, and covering about 125km per week is enough.

3. A woman should always be prepared. Wait. Is that Girl Scouts? Or Cub Scouts?

4. I wish I could fast forward through the moving process. I am learning a lot and am thankful I've been working as a Project Manager for the past couple years, but nevertheless, it's still stressful and nerve-wracking.

5. A best friend is my dearest husband. Seriously, don't know what I'd do without him. We pretty much do everything together, except for craft/girl group of course... But yeah seriously. BHF. Love you babe!

6. I can't get enough of tea at work and The Great New Zealand Songbook. I'm a geek.

7. This weekend I am see above. Watching the Rugby World Cup. GO ALL BLACKS!!!!! Crocheting, cleaning, and probably a little beering with friends... Woohooo!

Have a good weekend!!!

xo

And again... GO ALL BLACKS! 

New Zealand Green Treasury

How appropriate!

Thanks to oceanstreet!

Halloweeny Etsy Lovin'

Thanks to watersofmarch for including my print!

I especially love this print that is part of this treasury...

The Endless of Leaving

For my Mother...

Everytime I hear this song, I think of my Mom. 

Lip syncing in the living room.

Dancing around the house. 

Everytime. 

Love you!

It's all happening!

Like. Fo' real. Yes! It's totally official now. No going back now! The Wellington Move is upon us!!!

• Our one-way flights are booked.
• The removalists are booked.
• The boys have their flights and vets and all sorted. 
• The tenants at our house have their notice. 
• Some of the utilities are booked to be turned on at the new house.
• I've put in my notice at work.
• Parties, drinks and farewell dinners are filling up our final weekends...

Full on! I love the fact that we will be without pretty much EVERYTHING for a week here in Melbourne. No furniture, no TV, not much of anything! Once we get to Wellington, that won't bother me too much, as we'll have a lot of painting to do. 

So yeah. It'll be a few really busy weeks coming in. And I'll be counting down the days!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1. My current obsession is besides planning for moving? More fancy Granny Squares, Pinterest, Rugby.

2. Counting down until we move and making some massive progress on it daily make me happy.

3. My greatest strength is MULTI TASKING!

4. Doubt in myself is my greatest weakness.

5. My life is a bit chaotic at the moment.

6. In high school I was a little misguided. Easily thrown off course. Never quite focused enough.

7. When I'm super tired I crash and burn. I'm an old lady and it hits 11pm and I'm useless!!

Week One in Wellington.

Back in New Zealand.

Early for the Rugby. South Africa vs. Wales RWC 2011.

Slightly cold and damp before the match.

Wellington from the dog park.

Lucy Dog.

Our soon to be 'hood.

Kia Ora. 

Soooooooon! Not that I am stalking our house or anything...

After the hail storm...

We've had a good first week here in Wellington. I've had some time to get myself a little more acquainted with a great city. So far - some place that I love ...

• Wellington City Library - This is an amazing library. Everyone, including the staff of the Citizen's Advice Bureau, is so helpful and nice. There is an immense amount of resources, books, periodicals, videos, and music. Of course having a view of the harbour while looking up some great craft books or some fiction is always inspiring. And access to the CBD's free wi-fi connections is always helpful for emailing your mother from far, far away whilst sipping your soy flat white... (Did you get the email Mom??)
• Minerva (Cuba Street) - THE Textile Bookshop that everyone should stop if they are in Wellington. They have the largest and best selection of craft, fabric, knitting, textile, fashion... the list goes on... that I have seen in this hemisphere! And of course, seeing the Meet Me at Mike's book there will make everyone's day back in Melbourne!
• Knit World (Cuba Street) - So many choices! So many colours! So many ideas! While they have a lot of imported wools, they have a lot of New Zealand made wools that may be pure merinos, or a mix - check out the merino-possum-silk blends! Fascinating! 
• SaveMart - As a seasoned thrifter, I cannot recommend this shop enough! We were able to hit up the Porirua store and I was quite impressed. Think Savers on Sydney Road, but about 50% larger and just as cheap! I was able to pick up a couple vintage dresses (from the costume section of all places) and a pair of jeans for about $35.00 NZ. Brilliant! I think I'll be making the drive out to Porirua on a regular basis!
• Vincent's Art Workshop - Now THIS is a great place! Vincent's is an open studio where you can use their space and have access to their art supplies during most business hours. Every Thursday is a Women's Only Day, this is when I was able to pop in to check it out. There is such a huge sense of community that is just astounding. They do have certain classes and workshops that you can attend for a small fee, and there is also at least two tutors on hand to help. I was very excited to see they have a woodworking shop, clay and pottery and their own kiln, mosaics, painting, drawing and a whole heap of other things to get your hands dirty. I'm going to try and attend a couple of their life drawing classes in the next couple weeks. 
• The French Art Shop - The best way to describe this art shop is stated on their website... "A cross between a chemist shop and a lollie shop for artists." How true is that statement? Oh so very! After just popping into Gordon Harris's up the road, I came across the French Art Shop and  found myself in love. 

And on a silly note - yesterday while on our way to an appointment, we saw the Springbok Prop, Tendai Mtawarira aka BEAST hanging out on the streets of Lampton Quay! Very cool to see some international Rugby players around town! Loving this city right now!

One more sleep...

...until we see our favourite little city again.

Upcycling a set of Chairs

Jacob found these four amazing chairs on the street a couple months back. Since then, he has stripped them clean of any upholstery (which there were layers of), tacks, nails stuffing, springs, webbing... not to mention dust and  more mouse poo then most people can handle. 

He has done such a nice job so far! We're finally giving them a good sand, and just last weekend we were able to replace some of the supports that were missing. 

The sanding will keep us going for a while, not to mention filling in all of those holes from the gazillions of nails taken out. Not to mention, staining and varnishing. Then - yes - then I get to find the perfect fabric. Can't wait to have them around a big table (that we haven't built yet) in our new house in Welly!!!

New Addictions - Pinterest

Ok. I love Social Media, well, most Social Media. Linkedin does my head in, even though I know I should get on it. I've recently signed up on Google+, which is fine but I always forget I did sign up in the first place.

But then - there was Pinterest.

I'm really loving the sharing and the ideas and the make believe feeling of being creative when only you're borrowing other people's ideas... either way. Lovin' it.

Come visit and share some ideas!

Lovely Sunny Weekends... and Father's Day!

according to my iPhone.

A good morning cuddle & Father's Day with the boys.

Little Bruce on the Prairie & making new supports for the chairs.

Still Granny Squaring away & a Sunday Osso Bucce in prep.

We hope everyone had a good weekend!

And everyone has a good Monday!!!!

Fill in the Blank Friday...

1. My most prized possession is, besides are handsome dog-boys, probably the photos I have of my father. There are a few painting and photographs around the house that I would grab in a fire, but the photographs of my Dad and my family are probably the most important. 

2. If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be 35. Yeah silly I know. But I'm loving my age right now. I love the way my life is finally panning out. The plans for the

3. The best way to spend a weekend is as relaxed as possible, maybe getting a few things done around the house, a little drawing, a little crafting, a little homemade cooking, and joining some lovely peeps for a drink or two...

4. My outlook on life is so positive right now. I'm counting down days until we leave for NZ for the Rugby and then only more days to count until we are over for good! Life is defiantly filled with heaps of positivity at the moment. Bring it!

5. If you want to annoy me just look down at your iPhone while crossing the bike-path or the street, walking or even just getting in my way while not paying attention to the fact that, YES, there are other people in this world around you. (rant done. for now)

6. I am completely defenseless when it comes to wine. Seriously. It sounds bad, but I love love love a really good wine, with a tiny bit of very dark chocolate. But honestly, well designed books, good fonts, and gorgeous simple design. My world stops for a few minutes when out of the corner of my eye I see something that I would like to buy, but never will.

7. When dressing for the day one should check the weather?