Yet another project on the to do list...

A friend of mine sent me this photo to see if I could make it for her. I don't know where she got it from but its very cute and I cant wait to have a go. I think it is a caterpillar?

I will use jelly roll strips to make it and Im thinking I will some sort of crunchy crackly celephane in the feet to make it a little bit more interesting for the little ones...will keep you posted.

You say Peach, I say Coral

I have realised that aside from duck egg blue, my other colour obsession is coral/peachy orange. This is why....

Martha Stewart Living

Tea for Twenty Two

I collect china tea cup trios and I have come across a picture of a beautiful way to display them.

In the excitement of finding this picture I forgot where I found it...oops

Organising Tip of the Day

This is just too much.... I am in OCD heaven reading these....

Martha Stewart - Organising Tip of the Day

More inspiration... I love everything about this picture - the colours, the white china, the way the cups are hung, the design on the back of the cabinet, the colour of the cabinet (I'm loving grey in interiors at the moment - but not in a depressing way, in a calming, fresh way) and the green wall panels. Gotta love Martha Stewart

Lea is...................... going to crack open the sewing machine again today - its been too long - and my mind is racing with things to make with the stash of beautiful fabric in a box under my bed. This will be my next project.

Courtest of Sew4Home

I have ordered the pom pom trim and Tula Pink's 'Hushabye' fabric charm squares from ebay USA (as usual, to buy it here in Australia was ridiculously expensive)

Here are the charm squares:

I love her designs..... (insert dreamy music here)

Timeless Vixen

These have to be some of the most beautiful dresses, or works of art, I have seen. They are original vintage dresses from the 50s. I would love to own one, and if I did I would display it in my house so I could admire it all the time. Wow... Visit the Timeless Vixen Etsy store to see these and more.

I want to have a party just so I can use these...

I found these at Alfreso Emporium here

I love ebay...

Inspired by this picture from the portfolio of Black and Spiro, here



I bought the lounge suite, pictured below, from ebay today. The suite comes with a 2 and a 3 seater and is filled with foam and feathers! I have always wanted a soft comfy lounge filled with feathers but they were always too expensive. I got these lounges at the bargain price of $175 for both. Im so excited... now I just need to find a white coffee table and a white-ish wing back chair to go with the lounges, which I think will go perfectly in the lounge room with the white plantation blinds. ooh and maybe a blue and white ginger jar too...

Somewhere under the window...

I have been looking for ideas for a window seat underneath the bay window in the master bedroom and love the colour in this one (I dont know if it is actually an under window seat but it could be). I found this and the other picture in the portfolio on the Black and Spiro website here

How good is this for a child's room. This is a definate inspiration shot.

Lea's Space

You will notice when you look at the floorplan of our house, which you can find here, that there is a room labelled "Office" just near the main bedroom. Well the plan is that this will be my little space where I can let the creative juices flow. I have been on the lookout for some inspiration for this and thought I would share a couple of ideas from fellow bloggers:-

This studio belongs to Viv, author of blog Ish and Chi. I went to high school with Viv and haven't seen her since 1994 but have been following her blog for a while now and absolutely love what she does. Can you imagine having a space like this -

I love the wallpaper panel behind the desk. Most of the pictures in the frames were created by Viv herself.

Look at these beautiful fabrics.....

You can see more pictures of her studio and her blog here at Ish and Chi

Also, this craft closet decorated by Livy of the blog A Field Journal is equally as beautiful. I've decided I have an obsession with duck egg blue.

Beat It

I was lucky enough to inherit these vintage hand beaters from my great grandmother. I have actually been using them and they work so well. Definately a treasure.

Bathroom Vanity and Cupboard

I am loving this Aosta French Provincial bathroom furniture. I would not use the wooden mirror in the picture though - I am looking for something like this which I think would go perfectly:-

Kitchen Splashback

This is the pressed tin panelling we will be using as a splashback in the kitchen - how pretty is it!

We are undecided whether to powdercoat it or leave it in the original silver colour...

Hallway Inspiration

This is my hallway inspriation picture - I think it is from Homemaker magazine. I have labelled some of the features we will replicate. We will be also doing the wooden floors and extra wide architraves.

The World's Biggest Doily

I have this relatively unattractive lounge off my kitchen and when I saw this gorgeous vintage linen tablecloth in the Father O'Riley's op shop I thought I would look nice draped over the back of the lounge. What do you think?

I also found the 2 little birds perched on top of the picture frame at the op shop too for 50c. Cute!

'After' photos of Cabinets

I forgot to take before photos. The first cabinet we already owned and used to have that typical early 00's 'bali' look in a teak coloured wood. The second cabinet I picked up for $10 at a garage sale. It was painted white with transfers of pictures of puppies all over it. The lady I bought it off said it used to belong to her great-grandmother. Its plain but I love it, particularly how the top has come up.

An incentive to bake...

These are measuring cups!

also measuring cups...

Measuring spoons

Can you believe this lamp...

I want this wallpaper for my kitchen - the design is like a collection of beautiful plates mounted on a wall...

as if I need extra incentive to bake but how beautiful are these pieces of Kitchenware from Anthropologie (why cant I live in the US?????). They don't post to Australia (yet) but I will be calling them this week to see if they will.

They also sell the most beautiful clothes, furniture and homewares. Woe is me that I can't buy any of it...

Our House - Floorplan and Front Elevation

Click on picture to enlarge

Here is our floorplan and front elevation picture of the house we will be building in Tamworth.

After many hours spent looking at floorplans from many builders we just couldn't find a floorplan that met our needs perfectly. We decided then to design our own and this is the result.

My favourite feature about the design is that I am not a fan of open plan homes and this design has allowed for the rooms to be divided nicely. I have always wanted a kitchen to be a room of its own - not just something floating in the middle of the house. Because the rear of the block faces north, we will get beautiful morning sun in the bay style breakfast/dining room off the kitchen. I also wanted french doors off this room and this design has allowed for one either side. I particularly love that one of the doors opens onto a little patio area designed specifically for a spot to sit and have a coffee in the morning sun.

We have decided to go with Dunst Bros builders in Tamworth. After many recommendations for Dunst Bros (and against other builders) we couldn't be more happy with the service and support we have received so far. One huge bonus is that the builder is also a draftman so did our proper drafted drawing for free (therefore saving us many thousands of dollars paying an independant draftsman to do it for us).

The builder, Bob, called us on Friday and said that our plans have now been council approved and that he is ready to start building.

One problem with that though- the bank is lagging behind and although we received conditional approval, the plans now have to be sent to a valuer for final approval. This is taking longer than we would have hoped - the reason given to us by our mortgage broker is that there is a big back log at the bank because of the first home buyers grant extension. Fingers crossed for an answer soon.

ABCs

Well as a mother I guess I spend a little too much time looking at things for my children than I do for myself. I LOVE these alphabet cards by Ida Pearle. They are prints which come from her original work which is handmade with cutpaper.I need to buy these and display them pegged on string just like in this picture.She also does custom made prints with your child's name, skin tone and hair colour. You can find these and more info here Ida Pearle