A Royal Renovation

It’s been a week of tiles, cupboards, basins and bench tops, after a  plan to remove some overhead kitchen cupboards and install a new rangehood, turned into a plan for a complete kitchen renovation…PLUS a minor renovation of the bathroom!

Idea gathering at Home Base

IKEA

 Both of these ‘big’ jobs had been on the to-do list for a couple of years…but suddenly the inspiration struck and the timing was right.

My husband is a man of action, and just as soon as the decision was made to tackle these big jobs, a bathroom vanity, basin and tiles had been purchased, and the renovations were underway, with the bathroom being first off the block.

Even with all of the dust and debris, bashing and clanging, we couldn’t help but pop the telly on for a glimpse of the Royal Wedding…which led to a lot less bashing and clanging and a lot more reminiscing about past UK visits, talk of places we’d love to visit again, and promises to our little ones that we will take them to England and show them where Daddy was born. We also had to answer a continuous stream of questions from our five year old such as “Who is that lady?” when the Queen arrived, which then led to “is Prince William marrying his Nana?” Precious :)

Image credit: Tom Curtis

Chocolate Bunnies Abound

After wearing themselves out with an early morning Easter hunt my children were more than happy to have eggs for breakfast...chocolate eggs that is!

Image credit: Simon Howden

My little ones are at a lovely age where Easter is all about magic and the Easter Bunny...and as a grown-up it was really nice to get swept up in the magic with them too!

Happy Easter :)

Things To Make and Do...

A few important things I really should do:

1. Learn to take better photos...

Image credit: Graeme Weatherston

2. Brush up on my photo editing and design skills...it has been a while

3. Learn to focus on one project at a time

4. Read more blogs

5. Post more comments on more blogs

6. Find more time for crochet

7. Bake more

8. Exercise

9. Have a massage

10. Make my daughter a library bag

11. Make myself a wrap skirt.

Creative Spaces

Interiors magazines are my weakness. I read them, hoard them and re-read them. I have a couple of favourites delivered to my door every month (well, to my mailbox at least) and the sense of excitement I get never waivers.

You can imagine my delight then, when I recently discovered two new creative/interiors type magazines, when they were mentioned by the very peachy Dottie Angel. The first was frankie magazine, an Australian publication, with a bit of everything from art and craft to interiors, music and fashion. But even better than frankie, was the discovery of Spaces, a 'mook' (part magazine, part book) that was recently published by frankie magazine.

Spaces is a collection of interviews and photographs exploring the spaces where creative people live, work and play. I have not been able to put this magazine down since it arrived on my doorstep (yes this one really was delivered to my door!) There is so much creative goodness to be discovered in just the photos alone, and after a week I have barely scratched the surface.

Not all of the spaces featured are quite my cup of tea, but there is definitely inspiration to be found in them all. The 'Creatives' featured are from all corners of the world and it is fascinating to get a little bit of insight into the way their minds tick, and what gets their creative juices flowing.

The little corner that is Cotton And Card

My own creative space is really just that...a space. It isn't a studio, or even a whole room, but a little corner set aside, within a room, in my home. It is a newly created space, and a work in progress, just like Cotton And Card. Not all of my creating happens in this corner. Sometimes it moves to the dining table, or the lounge room, or often wherever my children are playing. But no matter where I choose to create, having this little space set aside helps to keep me focused and organised.

A couple of weeks ago I set myself the challenge of learning crochet. I am happy to report that I have made some progress, and you may now occasionally (when a rare spare moment presents itself) find me happily (if not rather awkwardly) working a double crochet. 

But until my skills improve, my mum is my supplier of pretty crochet flowers, which I have been stitching onto hair elastics and glittery hair bands. I will be listing these accessories in the shop over the next couple of days. 

And now for a good interiors magazine and a cup of green tea...

A Little Less "Girly"

My son has been complaining lately that my hand crafted items are mostly for girls. With my daughter often trying out new hair accessories, brooches etc as I am working on them, my son, bless him, has been feeling a little left out.

So together we set out to create something a little less less girly. I had some inexpensive children's t-shirts set aside that I had picked up on sale. They were plain and I had intended to use a bit of creative flair to spruce them up.

Being a little short on time this particular day, I needed to keep my project fairly simple. I had some fabric leftover from making my son's library bag earlier in the year (see I do make things for him) which had on it some great little monsters, perfect for a quick appliqué project.

My son also created his own t.shirt design, which I must admit, took a lot more time to make than mine, and did turn out rather splendidly. It is certainly a wearable design, however I'm not quite sure how it will hold up in the wash, as most of his fabric was attached with double sided craft tape!

Modelling his masterpiece

When I showed my finished project to my son, he looked at it rather blankly and then commented on the amount of space still left on the shirt! I guess I like my designs to be a little more minimal than he does. (Oh, and I did manage to squeeze in a simple 'girly' shirt too).

 

On the shop front...the first of my fold up shopping bags are available, plus an adorable new set of hair elastics made from upcycled fabric.

So handy!