Beautiful!

I've walked past this street art so many times and today, I've managed to take a photo:

Pottering around...

Sometimes, you find inspiration right under your nose...a vintage vase (thrifted for $2 by my mum/mom) inspired me to come up with this owl print.

It's about time...

...I've posted an update. Sorry I've been in some sort of mini-hibernation but here I am just wanting to let you know about a secret project I've been working on. Holly (decor8) and Ez (creaturecomforts) kindly invited me to design a wallpaper (the downloadable desktop kind, that is.) for Kindred. The theme was "Summer - The Five Senses" which was quite a challenge to work on in the middle of winter! It's such an honour to rub shoulders with artists I've always admired - I feel so humbled by it all. Anyway, along with each wallpaper design, there is a short interview with each artist. Mmmm...okay so I sounded like a wide-eyed tourist guide but it just showed how enamoured I was with my inspiration. Enjoy!

myspace

I'm such a big fan of Holly's decor8 blog and so it was indeed such an honour to take part in her "How Much For This Room?" series. I took the opportunity as an incentive to decorate our balcony...moving the outside in, so to speak. I'm a big fan of "multi-use" objects so here you'll find a bed table and stool doubling as outdoor tables! I also dusted off my sewing machine and made an outdoor screen/curtain to add privacy, shade and a bit of colour. Handprinted cushions on the seats reflected its yellow hue. To add texture and comfort, I pulled out a once-forgotten flokati rug and laid it out picnic-rug like amongst it all. I really wanted to prove that you don't need a big budget to refresh a space (and make it usable!)

see more here...

By the way, we moved into this house almost a year ago. Prior to that, we owned (and renovated) a wee old cottage...

I spy, she spy...

I truly can't decide which is more exciting:

...spotting your work in a magazine
or
...someone from afar spotting your work in a magazine, letting you know about it and then, graciously giving up her own copy to send to you (I can't thank you enough, Marianne ;-)

Australian Home Beautiful, March 2009 (click on the images to zoom):

What's on my inspiration board?

Citrus Bird and leaf branch motifs on white cardstock and Kraft paper. The stamps were hand carved by me. I'm hoping to find the time to experiment a bit more - maybe even come up with a collage of some sort. Well, we'll see...

Happy Weekend to you all!

Red and Green (Thumb)

It was touch and go for a while...we didn't think our two tomato plants would survive (they had to contend with: getting too much sun, hot weather with 100% humidity (yikes!) and the usual bugs!)...but lo' and behold, our first tomato harvest (sure it's nearly fall ...but hey!):