my creative space

I finished the quilt top!  Hooray!




Now to baste and quilt and bind...oh my!

Check out some other creative spaces here

busy busy busy

...and yet not at all.

Do you know that feeling?  The feeling of doing a million things, thinking a million things and running around like crazy...only to have the days slowly drag by?  All I have been thinking today is, we fly out on Friday night and it is only Tuesday.

I shouldn't be wishing away time like this!

Quick!  Distract me!

when the sun comes marching in

This weekend Melbourne produced an entire day of sunshine.  Can you believe it?!  So I, of course, spent a bit of time soaking it up.  It was glorious.  Today it is raining.  Thanks so much Melbourne!

This weekend was also the much celebrated AFL grand final (Australian Football).  Everyone in Melbourne goes a bit crazy for the grand final, and what would you know?  It ended up being a draw!  This means that the teams have to play again next week.  Eek!  I will be on a plane though so I won't get to watch it.

This weeks brings lots of packing, organising, google mapping, stressing and hoping that everything works out somewhat according to plan.  I just want to get there safe, happy-ish and relatively on time.  That is all.  Fingers crossed.

my creative space

Still finishing off that quilt top (only a few rows to go!)

Still cross-stitching a Christmas present

Thinking about getting starting on some other Christmas presents

Organising the last few things for our trip to Italy

Thinking about making a dress

You?

playing tourist

The weekend is over yet again!  It's hard to believe how quickly it goes.

We spent Saturday playing tourist in Melbourne and practicing taking shots with our new camera (my fave is above).  We spent our time wandering around the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens.  We definitely learnt alot about the camera and got to experiment with all of its wonderful settings.  It was obvious right from the start that it takes great shots - even on the automatic function.  Plus having such a great camera does encourage us to be a bit more creative with our shots, which is always fun.

We finished up our day with a bit of shopping at Tokuya (fab!), some bubbles at Chloe's Bar and dinner at Pacific House.  I really started to feel like I was on holidays!

Anyway, I am quite confident that the camera will fulfill its travelling duty.  I really can't wait to snap around Italy with it.

Hope your weekend was splendid, and your week is even more so.

some things i love

Today I thought I might share a couple of eco products that I absolutely adore.  I have become incredibly passionate about finding sustainable and environmentally friendly options for my life.  Sometimes this is very difficult.  Sometimes (as is the case with these two products) I just happen upon them. *insert joy here*

image from Burt's Bees

First up is this gorgeous lip shimmer by Burt's Bees.  I must admit to not being a very big fan of the Bees Wax lip balm, but the lip shimmer is AWESOME!  There is a whole range of shades to choose from, it is very moisturising, it is not at all sticky and it tastes a little minty.  It gives your lips a lovely lipstick shade without having to apply lipstick and then a lip balm as well.  Plus the tubes are quite thin and small so they easily fit into pocket/purse/handbag for easy use.  I adore adore adore these!  I have 2 different shades on the go at the moment.  And, for the record, my favourite shade is peony :) Get them here.

image from Keep Cup

Next is the super awesome Keep Cup.  I have had my cup for a few years now but it's nice to see the concept is catching on.  If you're like me and have a take away coffee every day, you really do need one of these beauties.  They come in an amazing range of colours and come in universally accepted standard sizes - so they won't upset your barista  :)  They are a great way to replace disposable cups and are really nice to drink out of.  Get one here.  

Do you have some favourite eco products too?  Please share them with me.

A very happy weekend to you all!

my creative space

This week I got myself a new baby.  One of these:


By amanda.taylor_us via Flickr


Isn't she lovely?

I am very much looking forward to taking her for a spin er click on the weekend.  There's only so many pictures I can take of my cats before I am commonly referred to as the cat lady.

Other than that...I have almost finished my cross-stitched Christmas present.  I should be able to finish off my quilt top in the near future.  I am hoping to have some serious sewing machine time on the weekend.

What about you?  What have you been up to?  I'm heading over to kootoyoo to find out!

Simon's Cat

I have just discovered Simon's Cat cartoons this week, and I love them!  They are very clever and funny, and very very true to life.  This one reminds me a lot of Jasper who has a real penchant for fly catching.

In between watching these videos (and working of course), I haven't been doing much at all this week.  And that makes me sad :(  I am still recovering from a head cold that is steadily approaching it's 2nd week of life.  My doctor delightfully informed me to expect 10 days from this little beauty.  And whilst its symptoms are not so terrible, they are just plain annoying.  And energy sapping.  I miss my energy, dammit!

So please enjoy this video whilst I continue to take it easy and (hopefully) recover.

Hope you're all well and happy and bouncing off the walls.

i have a new camera

A glamour shot of Alex

On the weekend I finally got myself a DLSR and it is wonderful!  I ended up with a Canon EOS 500D and I am nowhere near knowing how to use it properly yet.  However, even with my limited knowledge it has already proven that it takes amazing photos (mostly of my cats so far).

I cannot wait to give it a real go when we get to Italy in a few weeks time.


Jasper eating cat grass

No more flash-induced red-eye pictures for me!

No more blurry low-light shots!

Hooray!

finals fever

The AFL finals are here!  How fast the season goes!

Now I'm not generally a big sports fan but I do very much like AFL, and the Sydney Swans in particular.  After a season of ups and downs, my beloved team is taking on the Western Bulldogs in the semi-finals this weekend.

We will be there.  Draped from head to foot in red and white.

I will be the one biting my nails and hiding behind my scarf (and blowing my nose and struggling to hear - but that's because I have a cold, ick!)

My husband will be the one yelling.  A lot.

Do you like AFL too?  Which team do you follow?  If your team hasn't made it to the finals this year, would you mind cheering on the Swans for me?  I would do it for you :)

my creative space

I'm finally making some progress with my quilt - yay!  It's looking pretty good so far.  Hopefully I'l have the top done soon.



I spent a big chuck of time making these shirts for my Dad's birthday last week.  They went down a treat and Dad had an excellent time, so it was all worth it.



Now it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents I think.  Eeek!

Check out some more creative spaces over with Kootoyoo

the weekend that was

We had the most wonderful long weekend (and then some) in sunny Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast with our friends and family.  It was so great to see the amazing Brisbane crew again, and to see some sun!  I swear I looked like a drunk person for the first few days as I happily lapped up the sun and exclaimed, "look, I'm not wearing a jacket!" at every chance I got.  It was glorious!  

After our short stint in Brisvegas we headed up to the coast to spend a long weekend with my whole family to celebrate my Dad's birthday.  We stayed in a stunning house and had an incredible time.  The weekend was filled with swimming, drinking, eating, laughing, card games, golf and happiness.  Dad definitely had a great birthday, and we all enjoyed getting to celebrate it with him.

So now we're back in Melbourne town.  Back to work.  Back to the not-so-warm days.  The countdown for Italy now begins in earnest.

happy birthday dad

Happy birthday Dad!

I hope you're having the most amazing day (and weekend) imaginable.

we are family

By Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography via Flickr

Friends and family are so important aren't they?  I mean, obviously they are important but I mean they are really super important, right?  Well that becomes more and more obvious when you live so far away from them!

As you are reading this, I will be soaking up some sun in Brisbane.  I will be hanging out with my wonderful friends and getting ready for a long weekend with my family on the coast.  That on it's own is probably not that great of a deal to most people but to me, it is like heaven!  A rare opportunity to be surrounded by the people that mean the most to me in this world.

My very good friends (including my best friend of some 20 odd years) live in Brisbane and we only get to see them a couple of times a year since we moved down to Melbourne.  I miss them alot.  

My whole immediate family (just my sisters and their partners and our parents) haven't all been together since Todd and I's wedding about 18 months ago.  I miss them too.  

So (sun aside) this week is really important to me and I am sure to be soaking up every last bit of it.  Do you get to see your friends and family all of the time, or just occasionally like me?  Who do you miss right now? 

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you are getting some quality time with your loved ones too!