A new dawn and a new dress!

I have finally lifted my head out of the world of Twilight in time to see a week fly by! Breaking Dawn the fourth book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers was everything I expected and everything I had imagined would never happen! Although I think I was a little shocked when it all ended after letting it sink in for a few days and rereading some of my favourite bits from the series I am totally loving it! Now we start the wait for Midnight Sun...

Speaking of all things Twilight my very cute tote bag from Cafepress arrived and I just love it!

It's just so true!

So besides reading and marking essays i had a chance last night to start a crocheted cotton scarf, I'm really liking the colours as they seem to work much better for this than for a beret. And with spring on the way (soon I hope) I think some sweet little scarves will be fab!


I've also finally got around to adding some cute vintage buttons to the mustard beanie I made so it will be going up on Etsy in the next few days as well as the the secret garden beret from last post.

Mustard beanie with vintage buttons..

So this week I'm loving..

My new Louche dress that I've bought especially for my fab friend Tara's wedding in September. It's made from a beautiful jersey fabric and it just feels so lovely on. Now I can't wait to find some lovely colourful shoes and hit the dance floor!


I'm also loving the new Real Living magazine..

How hot are the roses!

And the beautiful and haunting artwork of Kareena Zerefos...

Another few big weeks ahead! I'm off to Melbourne on the 18th for a professional development seminar and then on the 23rd I'm taking my Tournament of the Minds team to Bendigo. I'm also really excited about being a judge at Tournament of Minds, will be a really amazing experience. Look out for cute hats in our shop this week!

Much love xxx

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Beauty in the garden...

What a lovely weekend it has been. It is the first time in months that it's been over 15 degrees during the day so we made the most of it and had a great weekend in the garden. I love a beautiful garden although my one flaw is that I am very impatient and want all the flowers to come out straight away. Failing that I often use inspiration from the garden in my creation as I have done with my latest beret.

First off I must show you the lovely strawberry plants we bought today. I was really inspired last week after seeing amazing strawberries growing at Pleasantrees. I felt I had to have some of my own. We bought a really lovely variety that have pretty pink flowers. Now I just have to wait patiently until spring.

I also spent some time working on extending my hat range to include berets with detachable fabric flowers. I have been wanting to try it for a while and after my gardening was very inspired to create a little secret garden beret. I like so much I want to keep it, but it will most likely go in the shop and find a lovely new home. There will be more to come and I would also like to work on some little headbands for Spring.

The wool is a beautiful rich pale green and reminds me of the colour of rose bush leaves.

As modeled by Molly it can be worn as a beanie or a beret.

Close up of the detachable fabric flower with vintage button

Other than gardening, crocheting and making cute flowers I have spent much of the week writing. I have just become involved with a local writers organisation Poetic Justice Publishing and we met on Saturday to talk all things writing and make journals of poetry and prose. It was a lovely afternoon and inspired me a great deal to put pen to paper. Can't wait for our meeting on Tuesday night where everyone reads their work. Just have to decide what to read. Speaking of all things writing, after a year of scribbling ideas down for a novel I have finally taken a leap of faith and dedicated a moleskine to my very exciting project.

Now that all my ideas have a home they seem to be flowing very freely and I am finally beginning to write my very first novel. Will keep you updated and may even post little sections every now and then. I am really beginning to like the characters and the tale of love, sisterhood and secrets is slowly coming together.

The rest of my ramblings find their way into my moleskine and it to is taking on a life of its own. Here are some of my most recent favourite pages...

A collage inspired by Florence Broadhurst and Amy Butler

I am really loving this mix of black and white for a bookshelf

One of my most loved pages.. I collect film quotes (often as I am watching the film) and this is my little collection.

So here are my favourite things for the week...

My new lovelinks bead I got with from my grandmother Mary for my birthday. Finally my bracelet has some colour!

The cupcakes I made this afternoon (gluten free orange and poppyseed) YUM!

I finally saw Paris Jet' Aime! It is one of the most beautiful films I have seen this year. A must!

And finally this little droplet of water I found when I was weeding the garden today. It reminded my to watch out for the beautiful little things in life.

I'm so excited about the release of Breaking Dawn tomorrow! If you need me this week, you will find me somewhere in Forks with Bella and Edward...

Happy Sunday and much love to everyone

xxx

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The writer and her writing desk....

And as I sit here with my glass of red wine by the fire listening to David Gray I realise just how much love quite Saturday nights, particularly after fabulous eventful Saturdays. Today was certainly one of those... We spent a beautiful winter's afternoon sipping hot chocolate at Pleasantrees Frechwares and I also discovered and purchased a fabulous 1940's writing desk from Rose Harvest. A delightful day was had by all..

Image courtesy of Pleasantrees Frenchwares
The beautiful gazebo we spent the afternoon in...

Real French hot chocolate, what a delight!

Looking back to the shop.. I just love the bare trees..

Our favourite friend joined us for afternoon tea..

And now for the writing desk, my husband and I have been searching for a desk for a long time an often pop into Rose Harvest antiques. Today was just my lucky day as the owner had just recently found some lovely furniture including my very sweet little desk. It was quite a bargain and needs a little work to get it fully restored and I'm delighted that my lovely husband is looking forward to the challenge. Here are a few before pictures, there will be more once it is looking all lovely.

With the desk open and closed. I just love the simplicity of it, just can't wait to find the perfect chair for it and fill it with beautiful stationary and my quill and ink well.

Well during the week it was been freezing and I'm not kidding... just in case you didn't believe me I took a photo of the temperature on my computer on Thursday morning, see for yourself...

Now I realise what the locals were talking about!

So because it was so cold my hubby wanted me to crochet him a beanie, so I set to work and whipped one up. Problem was when I finished I loved it so much I wanted to keep it. So I recreate it a little smaller and with some more girly colours and created my signature beret. Its so versatile and soft I just love it. Will be creating some lovely different colour versions over the weeks and can't wait to use my new mannequin 'Molly' to display them in the Jade and Isobel shop. Here they are..

The boys version..

The girls version

I really hope people love them as much as I do, I just love a really great beanie/beret that you is soft and you can throw on to walk out the door on a cold winter morning.

Well that is it for me for this Saturday evening, I'm going to curl up with 'Wuthering Heights' and my now half empty glass of red and enjoy the evening. I will leave you tonight with my favourite photo of the day... the glorious winter sky in Mildura. Much love xxx

The view from the Pleasantrees Gazebo, just beautiful...

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Treasures found...

And the week went so quickly but that's alright because I have really been looking forward to a quite weekend. After receiving a spotlight voucher for my birthday on Wednesday I couldn't wait to get down there on Saturday and was on the search for a mannequin head to display my hats on. Lucky me I found one! I also found some other lovely bits and pieces and had a great time searching the isles.

Here is my lovely mannequin 'Molly'. I also got a great sewing companion for my work bench, some very cute buttons and some beautiful cotton yarn.

I was so excited to see what the yarn would look like I have got straight into a beret pattern to sell in the shop.

I'm loving the colour blend and can't wait to see how it will turn out.

So other than my spotlight adventure we had a lovely quite weekend and I spent some time catching up on some writing and some exams I had to mark for Monday. Here is the lovely big mess I made by the fire on Saturday night.

Thank goodness I've got a big lounge room.

Well back to work tomorrow and I'm counting down the days until Breaking Dawn comes out, its all getting very exciting just need to keep myself occupied for another two weeks.

I will leave you with a photo of my sister and I on the City Cat in Brisbane showing off our new sunglasses. Missing everyone lots, also missing the warm weather! Bring on Spring..

Much love xx

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And some days I journal..

As my little moleskine journal creeps closer to its eight month celebration I thought I would share some photos with you of some of my favourite pages. My journal is such an important part of my life, it travels with me everywhere, even to work. So when the kids are working in class I secretly pull it out and get my daily fix.

Slowly filling the pages...

Some beautiful images from Design for Mankind

Ticket for the Picasso exhibition and an ACEO card I made inspired by the roof tops of Paris.

Some lovely cut outs from Vogue Living and a little article about notebooks and journals..

And finally my little homage to the Twilight Saga, with a great photograph from Entertainment Weekly and words from an 18th century poem that I thought was quite fitting..


Here's to all the journal and diary keepers of the world,may we continue to create intimate beauty.. x

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Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! How cute is my little cake..

Thank you to everyone who sent me lovely birthday wishes and pressies. I am another year older and as yet I don't feel a whole lot wiser, perhaps that comes in a few days. So I just thought I would share some photos with you of the beautiful bits and pieces I received from my lovely family and friends.

What lovely presents... a hair straightener and book from my grandparents, some beautiful bits from my dear friend Tara including the gorgeous dragonfly tote and amazing piece of glass art (back left). Also the beautiful owl print from my sis and spotlight voucher and yummy book from my favourite auntie Dizey! In the middle is an incredible bracelet and and earring from my mum and stepdad, aren't I spoiled!

Here is a close up of my beautiful bracelet and earrings, onyx and pearls just amazing! Also in the background is the Hello Kitty card my 6 year old sis got me, so cute.

Much love to everyone, its nice to be back home, although ever since I got home I have been so busy! Back to school already, plenty of fun. The week is nearly over already and I can't wait to spend some time in my little sewing room and uploading some more holiday snaps.

Happy Thursday x

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I heart shopping!

I wish I could be on permanent holidays all the time. Having a wonderful time visiting my family in Brisbane, already been to the GoMA (gallery of modern art) and shopped till I dropped at DFO (direct factory outlet). I even got to meet my gorgeous nephew Declan. Well I've got plenty of photos of my adventures so here they are...

Me with Declan

Very cute! (Go the Maroons!)

My sister and I playing DJ's @ GoMA

Writing a silly story on the walls @ GoMA in the I heart Art History exhibition

Mum and I outside GoMA


My shopping spree at DFO, I had so much fun (loving my new shoes and handbag!)

With many busy days ahead there will be plenty more photos soon. We are having my early birthday celebration on Friday night and I can't wait. We are going to an amazing Persian restaurant Zafron, which I'm sure will be wonderful.

Before I go I must post the very cute and a little kitsch hook case I made for my crochet hooks. I am so happy with the results that I will be whipping up quite a few for the shop when I get back home next week. I think the kookier the fabric the better!

The front with cute mushroom fabric and vintage button

Inside with contrast polka dots and room for all your hooks, scissors and a measuring tape

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. Happy Thursday!

xxx

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