play room

The cot is finally gone and the girls have a dedicated play room! It still has Olives changing table to one side but that's going to a friend in November so we're working hard to get her out of nappies, she's getting there! Now I'm on the look out for a vintage dressing table and some pretty curtains to complete the room...

quick tip - new table surface

The play table has seen better days, the girls use it daily for eating snacks, drawing and playing so it's getting really worn on top. I've been thinking about painting it but I can't decide on a colour, so I had this idea to give it a quick re-vamp just until I decide... I used some self adhesive book covering which took no time at all to stick on (I used double-sided-tape along the edges to give some extra stick,) hey presto... new table and chair surface which looks so cute!

spring

Branches fulled with beautiful little white blooms, I love seeing all the spring flowers emerging!

art and ghosts

I got these gorgeous art and ghosts prints in Sydney, I normally go for vintage prints but I couldn't resist these, they're so different and only $10 each! I love how they look in the frames (thanks to my friend Amy for the where to buy tip off!) I was thinking of getting some new frame mat(card) and cutting a square to fit the prints perfectly, or do they look ok? 

my favourite

This is my favourite dress so far, I love the colour and the feel of the fabric. I made binding for around the neck and finished the sleeves by folding twice (which looks a lot nicer than seeing over locking.) Plus added a little bow on the neck which (in Isla's words) "looks adorable!"

pretty in blue

I think I'm all sewn out! Well at least for a few days, I definitely go through bursts of sewing, I have to be in the mood. I read this paragraph recently that made me laugh...

Advice from a singer sewing machine manual from 1949

Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to to... Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good result are difficult when indifference predominates.

Never try to sew with a sink full on dirty dishes or beds unmade, when there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bad full of french chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home, and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing.

vintage florals

I have been busy making more dresses for Isla and Olive, now I have my base pattern I can start adding little extras (like the sleeves on orange dress.) I love the floral material, now bring on summer so they can be worn without merino's underneath!

trial & error

So I've been modifying a cute vintage dress pattern, I want a simple style dress that is quick and easy. The original pattern is gorgeous but time consuming, well not that time consuming, just over an hour (but I don't have much time to sew, so I have to find ways to save on time!) 

It was meant to be a dress, once I had finished it and tried it on Olive I realised it's more like a top! But over all it fits really well and it's still very cute. I'll make sure to add some length to the next one, but that's what sewing is all about, experimenting finding what works for you and having fun!

the best little kids shop in Sydney

I've just been to Sydney, it was my first time there and first time leaving the girls for more than one night! I had such a wonderful time, beautiful scenery, fantastic food and the shopping was amazing! Six nights was just enough, I had a great time but I did miss Neal and the girls lots!

I was really looking forward to my vintage fix and had been told Newtown was the place to go, unfortunately we went on the wrong day (the vintage shops close on Mondays and Tuesdays!) Still, it's such a cool area, a bit eccentric, really laid back and lots of gorgeous old buildings.  The best part of Newtown was finding Shorties, I love this shop, it would have to be my favourite kids shop in Sydney! It has a such a beautiful range of clothing, shoes and gifts. It has cute vintage prints on the walls, some beautiful vintage inspired girls dresses and it was great to see some 'Nature baby' clothing from home (New Zealand.) 

I brought these cute little 'Munster' shorts for Isla and two pairs of matching leather sandals 'The Polygon Look' for the girls and some gorgeous counting cards to hang in their room. So if you ever in Newtown make sure you visit Shorties!

ticket/passport holder

I needed something to put my huge A4 size ticket into (it's crazy how you just print them off, it doesn't seem very official!) So I made this ticket/passport holder. I used my favorite floral linen and lined it with calico, I also added a piece of hard card in the inside so it's not so flimsy. I'm happy with how it turned out, very me!

happenings this week

Just a few things from the week that have made me happy, the girls playing nicely together, cute little (almost matching) vintage shoes, the baby dress my nana crocheted (for Isla), magnolia flowers, banana cake (for obvious reasons), Isla (three and a half) writing her name all by herself, and lastly clean folded washing (it's been raining for weeks!)

Vintage jars

I found these great jars at the Salvation Army yesterday, perfect for tea, coffee and sugar! $3 each, I love the lids, random colours but they work in my house!

So I said I'd talk more about photography, well my understanding of it. I'm getting more confident setting the aperture, ISO and shutter speed to get a good exposure. So in these photo's I've used ISO 1600 (because I'm inside and it's a dark day,) shutter speed 1/50, and aperture f/4.5 (because I wanted my main focus to be the jars and the background to be out of focus.) In the second photo I've used the same settings but notice only the first jar is in focus and the rest are blurred (if I'd wanted all the jars to be focus I would have tried an aperture of say f/8.)