i love coffee and ben.......and george

My Benny knows I love coffee and today he gave me this. A Delonghi Nespresso Essenza machine with a Aeroccino milk machine.

We had two espressos and a latte and I think we might be up all night!

Honey - I love you.

Thank you.

amysphere

LaTur

always ordinary

Firenzesca

alba

mary and max

my favourite type of animation - clay models.

todays inspiration.......

the bicycle!

hollywood past

John Bendtsen
Alicia Bock

m-louis

MorBCN

Andreas C

Madsen Cycles

finished!

Here are the final motley crew - the roadside chair gang.

I finished painting the last two chairs we found sitting unloved on the side of the road. The hot pink is gone now replaced with a blue and mint green.

I love our assorted chairs and colours and it looks very friendly to me. I also like how these chairs were nearly garbage, but after a few new pieces of wood here and there and some paint, they will last for years.

The heart Ben gave to me from a beautiful shop in Olinda that sells plates, bowls, lights and these hearts from Turkey. When I find the name of the shop, I will link back.

i love a good garland

not just Judy......I'm talking about anything hanging in a repetitive manner from a string.

You could have the ugliest corner, piece of furniture, even a relative, that needs some help to make it more festive or pretty.

My suggestion is to throw a garland over it or them.

Garlands don't have to be in the flag shape. You can make them from paper, or threading beads onto wire, chinese lanterns hung all in a row.

If you want to make a flag garland, start off by making one from felt. The material won't fray and you don't have to make two sides. Just cut and sew to lengths of ribbon and you have made your first garland.

Now track down your grumpy relative and throw it over them. See - much better already.

flag garland from craftzine

sweet hearts garland by bella dia

her free tutorial on this project here

hanky garland by moananui 2000

crochet flower garland by bella dia

simple paper heart threaded with string by me

ode to lulu by creative breathing

vintage garland by sparkle candace

happy bed by jek in the box

text message

I found these fantastic embroidered text messages on ginger anyhow blog and sadly the whole blog has been retired. Shame.

I love this idea.

Somewhere along the lines a special message touches you - good or bad. It could be a stinging word that leaves a mark on you, a message that your man is on his way home bringing takeaway, or just a word of love.

If you are hunting around for ideas on what to craft, take a look through you emails and embroider or cross-stitch one that means something to you and hang it on the wall. It's better up on the wall for you to look at, then hidden away on your computer or phone.

My husband just sent me this email attachment of Marilyn with the words - "this girl reminds me of you".........

I think I'll go an embroider that.

no.8

I was tagged by Margot - a lovely, happy and fun New Yorker....so here I go!

Eight Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. winter.

2. finishing the quilt for our bed.

3. visitors.

4. tobogganing at lake mountain.

5. mailing the first a little me parcels.

6. the weekend.

7. the next harry potter movie.

8. the rachel denbow art journal class.

Eight Things I Did Yesterday

1. sneezed alot. darn flu.

2. cuddled elton and audrey.

3. wiped benches and bottoms.

4. read books.

5. sung songs.

6. ran a bath.

7. fixed meals.

8. cleaned.

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do

1. sit down.

2. watch a movie all the way through without jumping up to do something.

3. sew in a zipper.

4. not take things to heart.

5. not worry so much.

6. not be so shy.

7. ease my anxiety.

8. trust that the meals I cook are not bad.

Eight Shows I Watch

1. project runway

2. move to the country

3. true blood

4. will and grace

5. sex and the city

6. the office

7. kath and kim

8. little britain

Eight Bloggers I am Tagging:

1. andie

2. sam's mum

3. bec

4. steph

5. dani

6. carlotta

7. heidi

8. you

rice

Rice is a truly global company - started in Italy by an Italian/French/Thai collaboration.

Manufactured in Thailand with items from Madagascar and based in Denmark.

Rice was named after the basic food that people in 3rd world countries use for their survival.
This appealed to the owners who employ 70 people in Thailand alone, and Madagascar where a bag of rice is included in their salary package.

The crochet items they sell assure the survival of 300 families in Madagascar and all employees of both countries are covered by the SA8000 certificate which assures that the company are morally and socially responsible for their workers and will not take part in child labour.

A great concept and beautiful things for your home.

129, 130, 131.....

image from frankie

I currently have 131 people sitting on my a little me list which is fantastic!

I am waiting on my postcard order which should arrive any day, so the first mailouts will be this weekend.

The beauty of this little idea is that you will forget you are on the list and then get your suprise out of the blue.

a little me thanks you!

I have 75 people currently sitting on my a little me list.

If you come here and see the list, please email me to add yourself. I WILL get to you eventually. It's a promise! My email address is in the profile information section on this blog.

Just a few FAQ's -

- No I have not won the lotto. I am a stay at home mum with a lovely husband. If I am the machine, Ben is the electricity that keeps it running. :)

- Yes you can blog about this project. The more people that find out about this little idea the better.

- We don't have kangaroos at our house. Just possums. We have two that we feed - Captain and Tenille.

- We will post worldwide.

Thank you so much to Melissa from the very meaningful and lovely Operation Nice who did a post on her blog from the email I sent her about the idea. Thank you!

Also to Heidi, Astrid, Aimee, Lydia and Kelly who also posted about the project - thank you so much!

free for all

I love to craft.

The only problem is that I am quick and am slowly running out of walls to hang things on and shelves to place things upon.

I also love to give things away. To make someones day.

So I am starting a little me.

All you have to do is email me your name and your address (and your blog so I can link you) and I will send you something free.

It could be home made jam, lemon candies, an embroidery, a tea towel, vegemite, tim tams.....just a little me to give to you.

a little me button will be on the side of my blog with your name so you can check back to see where you are on the list and how soon you can look out for the postie with your prize.

Depending on how many people I get, I will just work though the list one by one, so you won't get a present straight away but it will be some day. If you are the only name on my list, then you won't have to wait very long! Once I have sent your prize, your name is removed from the list and I move to the next person and so on.

There isn't a catch and your details will be kept private. It's just a way to do something nice because we need more nice in the world.

Tell your friends.

:)

Dear Anyone.......

who reads my blog and doesn't know what flickr is, I want to tell you about something I added on the weekend.

If you scroll down a little and look to the left you will see 10 photos in a vertical line with my name on the side - this is a link to my flickr account.

Just click on the photos and it will take you to flickr where you can see all my public photos....the photos of Ben re-enacting the scene from Silence of The Lambs are still private, as well as the time I caught him in my heels when I came home from the shops......

You don't need a password to view my public photos.

...and if you do know what flickr is and run a blog, you can compose and upload photos and your entry to your blog from flickr and it doesn't use up any blogger space.

I think that is very clever.

Enjoy!

bathroom makeover

We have a lovely white and mocha coloured bathroom but I felt it was a bit too bare.

This morning I decided to add some character to it on a small budget.

We went up to our favourite places today - Olinda and Sassafras in the Dandenongs and I found this old cheese storage box from the Wool Shed secondhand store. I had an idea to stand it on it's end and use it as a mini shelf for soaps.

When we went to the Camberwell Markets a few Sundays ago, I found this pears print with the frame and Ben hung it for me.

Added with the beautiful tea light holders that Jules gave me.....now we have a bathroom that isn't so stark and boring.

autumn leaves...

a beautiful autumn day at our favourite place - the dandenongs.

inspiration for janel

I love these so much - papier mache dolls created by Paula Zakimi found here.

This beautiful book Pass Me A Smile by Toyoko Sugiwaka is filled with felt and crochet patterns and projects. It will make you smile for days on end.

Grocery shopping bag from Makool Loves You

Kate Savage feltidermy here

Zoe Brand bubble brooch from http://www.zoebrand.com.au/ or here.

Brown Bear Box from Ruck Rover

Shutterbug T from Ruck Rover

Owl pillow from Ruck Rover