*

With a little free time recently I've been sorting my stash and organising my ribbon. Mmmm organised ribbon. Sexy non?
I also added to my stash from the local oppy. How great is this fun 80's fabric? It's like school jumper material, smooth on the outside and soft and fleecy inside, but what to make with it?! Ideas?


PS. Happy Halloween to those that do that!

Flea Market Finds...

Look at this baby we got from the oppy this week! I'm pretty sure its been lovingly home made by some one judging by the wood work. We gave it a clean up and now husbando has an actual bedside table.


Linking up here.

Things To Be Thankful For*

I'm a little world weary today. What do you like to do when you're feeling blue for no reason? I guess a thankful list is a good place to start.

* The anticipation of when a really good bit is coming up in an awesome song.
* The smell of newborn babies.
* That the bird in our back garden has stopped swooping us.
* Clever people, who write books, that teach you how to do stuff.
* That my husband helps me have perspective.
* Our little blue house.
* Tea. In bed. (I think I've said this one before... whatevs!)

{image}

More thankfulness here.

Link Love For Friday

* Look at this house!
* Design your own shoes!
* Too cute for words.
* Best fish bowl ever?
* A really, really beautiful wedding.
* Yay 3 Sheets has a shop!
* This little shop has sweet things too.
* Oh and so does this one...


There's a bit of a purchasing theme this week...

My Creative Space...

Last weeks creations! The cloud for baby E and the fabric became a cushion for a lovely friends birthday. With left over felt this week I've made a little circle garland. And on the boil for today? New pillowcases. Yup. Will let you know how I go with that! Stay tuned!
Ps. Live in Sydney? Get to here for drool-a-licious fabric.

Linking up to here...

Teeth, Magazines & Money

Yesterday I went to the dentist. It was all good. Thank goodness. But man, the old clean hurts SO MUCH! Luckily my new Tigers had turned up when I got home to cheer me up, huzzah for aqua laces! And I may have bought myself a magazine because I felt like I, err... deserved it, and I can't stand the thought of eating chocolate right now on my hurty, shiny, clean teeth (the usual reward). Do you reward yourself for unpleasant things you have to do too? "Well I've just done the washing... time for a tim tam and a cup of tea..." That's how I justify all my magazines pretty much.
We've just started a "puppy fund jar" for a potential new family member. Luckily for our relationship we are both big proponents of the save before you spend method. Jars make saving feel more real I find. Couple that with there being nothing like your imaginary puppy's eyes looking at you disappointedly when you only put 2 bucks in the jar (of left over spending money) at the end of the week. "Don't you love me, potential mummy?"
When we got our mortgage I had to view the whole thing as a giant backwards savings account where you want the numbers to go down instead of up, in order to cope with the idea of being in so much debt!
I was trying to find out which generation is in the most debt and, if you ask google, it turns out we all are. I guess this proves that a) you can get the internet to tell anything you want it to and b) many (most?) folks are happy to buy on credit. The way I see it is you've got to pay for it at some point and the less extra money I'm giving bank executives, the better. Plus, y'know, practising patience is good for the soul. Doesn't stop me buying magazines I don't really need though! Ha!

Zucchini & cherry tomato summer pasta

This is a meal I throw together from time to time when we want something quick and low fuss. It's great for summer as its fine hot or cold. All the flavours in it are easily adjustable to your taste, and quantities variable depending on how many you are feeding too. The recipe below made 2 massive bowls of pasta.

Peonies.

I got the last bunch of peonies! Aren't they happiness in flower form?
I had a lovely weekend which included a picnic in Vaucluse and a bush walk from Waterfall to Heathcote. How was yours?
ps. It's 30degrees in Sydney today! What happened to Spring?!

Things to be Thankful for*

* My old fashioned sewing machine that can't break.
* Cheap but delicious dinners. (No Name Italian, I'm talking about you)
* How good it feels after a run, the before is just so awful!
* Blogs. The hours and hours of lovely blogs.
* That husband brushes my hair.
* The sweet kiss of summer sun. (& sunscreen for my pale pale skin)
* Picnics.
* The colour of Sydney's sky! The bluest sky in the world methinks.
* Melon season!
* Nurses with painless blood taking skills.

{Some views from around these parts: trips to the seaside, homegrown strawberries and picnics with friends & cider}

More thankfulness over at Maxabella.

Link Love for Friday...

* The people in THAT painting.
* Do you give to charity?
* Dig this art.
* AND... Dig this art too!
* Do you like to shop alone or be assisted?
* Great climate change rant.
* Are you easily distracted? (via PMM)
* Check out these beautiful ceramics. (via creative spaces)
* Amazing yarn bombing.

{Andrew B. Myers}

My Creative Space

More cloud mobiles are under way for lovely babies of lovely friends. Plus I have some other projects on the boil which are mostly just making our bedroom a mess at the moment (but how cute is that fabric!). I'll show more when they are nearer completion!

PS. I now have a recipe tab up the top there. See?! Click through! Enjoy!

More Creative Spaces over here.

Freelance...

Ways to kill time when you suddenly have it:

* Read the entire newspaper (get slightly depressed)
* Do the crossword
* Finish the crossword by cheating and using a dictionary (ahem)
* Look through old magazines
* Plan meals
* Drink tea
* Make a dentist appointment
* Refind all those long lost sewing projects...
* Clean up after frustrating and messy attempts at long lost sewing projects
* Get distracted by a box of letters you had forgotten about
* Catch up with friends
* Drink tea
* Bake
* Make lists.

Sweet Pegs
Beautiful Mobile.

Eggplant Stack

This is yum. Heaps yum.

You Need:
* 2 red capsicum (pepper/bell pepper)
* 1 large eggplant (aubergine)
* 1 can diced tomatoes
* 100gs black pitted olives chopped small
* 4 large cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
* 1/2 cup red wine (and one large glass for yourself)
* 1 tsp vege stock powder
* Parmesan (fresh is best but the powdered stuff works!)
* Rocket leaves to serve

Then:
* Chop up your capsicum into nice large slices. I sugget cutting off the bottom and then trying to evenly cut off the sides, discard the middle. Slice your eggplant into disks. I guess keep it about the same thickness as the capsicum is; half a centimetre or so.
* Put these all flat on a tray (its okay if they overlap) and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Put it under the griller on a medium heat and shut the door (to speed things along). After about 10 minutes you are going to want to flip them over. You want it to just start blackening on its sides.
* In a saucepan, fry up the crushed garlic for a minute then pour in the canned toms. Sprinkle in a big pinch of your Italian herb mix, and your stock. Splosh in the wine and add the olives, give it a stir and let it simmer away for about half an hour or until it has reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.
* When your eggplant and capsicum are done take them out of the griller, seperate them and set them aside. When your sauce is done, you start stacking. I stacked mine on the griller tray so that I could give it all one last blast with the grill before serving. I managed to make three stacks but you may wanna make 2 big ones.
* On the tray put a slice of eggplant, then a slice of capsicum and then just a little sauce and sprinkle with parmesan. Repeat once.
* Top with a final piece of eggplant and capsicum (if you had some smaller bits these are good on top), sprinkle with parmesan (skip the sauce on top) and pop it back in the griller for 5 minutes so it's nice and hot and the cheese goes a touch melty (mmm melty).
* With the left over sauce pop a circle onto the middle of each persons plate and then pop the stack on top of it. Serve with the rocket, it all tastes great together. Huzzah!

Brought to you by the colour red

Is Melbourne! I didn't take many pictures as I was working most of the time (on this), but hubby and I had a day to spend together (yes he came down to slob around my free hotel room hang out with me). We went to St Kilda, Luna Park (we played pinball and ate strawberry ice-cream!), the botanic gardens and then watched a movie (it's really sad). 

Funny how colour themes just pop up sometimes. (Note the awesome red jeans up the top there!)

Flea market finds

Decent Sydney op shops can be hard to come by. But I found a beauty in Drummoyne the other day when visiting my bro.

I scored a wicker laundry basket. I always wanted one of these but they can be pricey new. plus I'm all up for romanticising something as mundane as hanging out laundry.

And a sweet little toy for a kidlet. No kidlet in particular... but I just liked it. Its rainbow. It's wooden and I can't wait to get my hands on some marbles and watch them twirl down, down, down.


More flea market finds over at Her Library Adventures...

Things to be thankful for*

* Being at home.
* A fridge full of fresh fruit and veg.
* Coloured pens (for list making)
* A full day hanging out with my bro.
* Hard decisions being made and agreed upon.
* Mince pies are in the supermarket (yes I know it's waaay to early but how good are mince pies! Heaps. That's how.)
* Charity shops. Saving waste, saving money and supporting a cause. Sa-weet.
* No more flights for a whole 2 months at least!
* Roses. These roses are from the botanic gardens in St Kilda, I spent a good hour wandering around sniffing every single one! 


More thankfulness over here...

Link Love for Friday...

* The most useful kitchen tip EVER.
* A splash of light!
* Melbournites - There's a button-fest on!
* The fight over Keep Calm and Carry On.
* Awesome placards from Occupy WallStreet.
* Comedy gold.
* A sweet way to make a difference.
* Nice place.

{Images from 1, 2, 3 Via Pinterest}