Royal Wedding Fever.

As it's only a couple of days to the Royal Wedding, I thought I should celebrate with a little bit of Britain. For those loyal blog followers, it's no secret that I am a huge fan of British things, and my Son has a passion for The Union Jack.

There are several pieces around my home, including the original vintage London Bus Destination Blind in the family room:



...and the cheap art ($7 sheet of wrapping paper in a $70 IKEA frame) on the wall opposite of the London Underground:



Then there is my gorgeous Union Jack paper weight on my desk on the study nook:





You may remember the set of 4 flag canvases I created for him for his bedroom:






For his Birthday last year, my Sister in Law from Lululollylegs created the most amazing Union Jack quilted cushion for him, which sits proudly on his bed. He loves it....and so do I!









...and then there's the Union Jack case which sits on his bedside table!




So, will you be watching the Wedding? I certainly will. I have fond memories of watching HRH Prince Charles marry the beautiful Lady Diana Spencer back in 1981 when I was 9 years old, the age of my Daughter now! Secretly, I can't wait!!! I love all the pomp and ceremony associated with the Royal Family, and it will take me back to all those wonderful places in London that I just adore.

And Then There Was Light.

We've finally had a chance to install 2 of the planned 4 exterior lights on the front facade. I've had the lights since October, having looked and looked trying to find the right ones! Each weekend, it was either raining, or we were busy! So with the sun shining, school holidays and no Ballet or Parties to go to, the lights were installed!

The weather proof wiring covers (spider homes!) were removed and the position of the lights was marked:



It was a little tricky trying to hold the large lights up while wiring them in place, and then trying to attach them to the wall.

So after about 4 hours, both were up and they work!







...please excuse the 2 odd agave's, they both need repotting and 'straightning'!

Time For A Change Part 2.

Following on from my last post, I've been trying a few different things for the empty birdcage, including putting old books in it, but you really couldn't tell there was anything in there. Instead I left it empty and put the old books (some lovely ones I picked up for 50c each at Op Shops) on the table with a bird sitting on top. I also bought a small bird metal picture and lent it up against the birdcage.





I also finally redesigned the birds nest in the apothecary jar. I found some decorative 'bramble vine' on sale at a nursery and twisted that into a nest shape instead of the raffia. I think it looks a bit more realistic now!



I will probably still move things around a bit further...can't seem to make up my mind!

Time for a Change.

We've now been in the house for about 18 months. It's actually gone very quickly, but we settled in easily, and thankfully, so did our elderly cat! We are far from finished or organised, but life kinda got in the way!

I felt I needed to change a few things around, so I started with the entrance hall. This is how it has been since we first moved in:





And this is how it looks now, but still needs a little more 'tweaking':







I moved my birds nest from the powder room to go with the bird cage and birds:




I still need to add a bit more green perhaps, and think about putting something 'birdie' in the cage. I also need to play around with the weeping willow, and I literally threw it all the vase and plonked it down! I'd love a couple of vintage suitcases or chests to put under the table, but that won't be happening unless I find them on the side of the road! ;-)

I must thank Miss Mustard Seed for all of her inspiration! She groups things together so perfectly, and every time it works! I still have a lot of learning to do, but that's part of the fun of it!

Suggestions for the birdcage welcome! Balls of green moss? Another nest? A bird? Vintage books?

New Zealand Earthquake.

My thoughts and prayers are with our Kiwi Neighbours after a 6.3 quake hit just south of Christchurch on New Zealand's south island today.

May the 65 people who have perished (at the time of publishing) rest in peace.

Ensuite.

As promised last post I thought it was time to show a bit more of my house, so here is the ensuite! There is still a little bit to do, such as finding the perfect and not too expensive lights for above the mirrors and change the hideous taps I never wanted in the first place. Both of which could take years! I also keep changing the contents of the apothecary jars too, and move them around the house. The larger one was filled with red baubles and used as a centre piece for the Christmas table last year.



















...and closer look at the butterflies on the wall, made from an old atlas!

Green Butterflies.

Christmas and holidays seem like a distant memory now! It's back into the swing of things at home and at school.

The last few weeks I have been busy 'weather watching'. I had a few late nights while tracking the position of Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, and keeping my fingers crossed for family and friends in Townsville and Cairns. Thankfully, they are all OK, but my thoughts are with those closer to where Yasi made landfall as a Cat 5 at Mission Beach, Tully and Dunk Island.

Melbourne certainly did not escape the effects of Cyclones Anthony and Yasi. Part of the remnants of the cyclones were brought into Victoria by a trough. Melbourne (as you would expect) is not used to having tropical deluges, and therefore its storm water systems are not designed for it! I received 155mm in 24hrs, which really, roughly equates to 3 months worth of rainfall in one night!

Luckily, everything was fine at the house, and we had filled the porch area with 20mm screenings prior to Christmas, so the problem with our 'moat' now doesn't exist. BUT, there was flash flooding in many streets around Melbourne, and whole suburbs were left underwater, and many homes inundated with water. Due to the quick nature of the flash flooding, and happening during peak hour in the evening, many cars were left stranded as they were caught in roads which quickly turned to rivers.

The next day, I ventured out to a few local parks and creeks, and was astounded at the damage. Bridges along bicycle paths were smashed due to debris caught up in the flowing water, trees were down (some on houses), plants were flattened, top soil completely washed away and silt and debris left along fences, on footpaths and roads. Incredible.









Mother Nature can be cruel, though. It was 2 years yesterday since the tragic events of the Black Saturday bushfires, and here we are nearly drowning with many other places in Victoria and Queensland, while it's Perth's turn to fight bushfires. Talk about extremes....La Nina has a lot to answer for!

On to other things...I completed a customer order for a butterfly frame in green a few weeks ago.







I also made another style of musical butterflies with 'vintaged' edges, but I forgot to take a photo of it before I gave it to the shop. I will be making one for the Master Bedroom, so I'll take some photos when that's finished!

..and I treated myself to a new camera! I haven't had much of a chance to go and have a 'play' with it, but hope to soon!

In amongst all that I 'finally' took down all the Christmas decorations (I was away for 4 weeks after Christmas, so that's my excuse!!), and am still going over "how to's" in my head regarding making a padded ottoman!

More house reveal photos soon...it's been a while!

Latest Creations.

In amongst all the terrible flooding news, I have been busy with butterfly frames and vintage tags.

This one was a special order I received before Christmas, and in amongst all that I had to do I managed to finish it about a week ago:



The customer was very happy when she picked it up this week!

I also made another black and white butterfly frame to sell:



A smaller version of the vintage keys:



Some more vintage tags, but this time out of a book of vintage sheet music from an Antique shop:



...and lucky last, some more tags with a hot air balloon theme and organza ribbon:




More butterflies in the making, and perhaps a few other 'different' things...time permitting. Then I think I might attempt to start the blue tufted ottoman I've been wanting to make for several months....

...Of Droughts And Flooding Rains.

For the past 3 days, I have sat glued to the laptop with the television going for over 14 hours a day. I've kept track of all the horrid events unfolding in SE QLD via the Weatherzone Forums and the Queensland Police Facebook Fan Page. I've had friends evacuate from Caboulture, friends scramble to the airport cutting their holiday short to come back to Melbourne, and I read the distressing news that A-M has lost everything in the floods.

As I write this, the tragic death toll stands at 12 confirmed, with 43 still missing. Brisbane River is expected to reach a peak level of 5.2m at 4am tomorrow morning (13th January). There are expected to be up to 40,000 homes affected by the floods over 50 suburbs in Brisbane, and surpassing the devastation caused by the 1974 floods. The whole situation, to think that so many Australians in the 3rd largest city have lost everything, is incomprehensible.

While the events are still unfolding in QLD, please also spare a thought for those in SW Western Australia who have lost homes due to a deliberately lit bushfire and those in NE NSW also suffering flood damage from the same system which affected QLD.

There has also been record rainfall in parts of VIC, with Jeparit receiving an all time daily record of 161.2mm. There has been flooding in Natimuk, where 12 homes along the tiny towns river, were evacuated. Flash flooding has occurred in Kyneton, part of the Great Ocean Road has been cut due to landslides...and there is much more rain expected in VIC, Western NSW, Eastern SA and TAS over the next 2 days.

Just to add to everything else, Cyclone Vince has made an appearance in the Indian Ocean, and could possibly hit the Pilbara Coast as a Cat 3 Cyclone, and early weather model predictions are hinting at a Coral Sea Cyclone eventually making landfall as a rain depression on the border of QLD and NSW late January.

After 13 years of devastating drought over much of the Country, we now have this.


Please give what ever you can.

Merry Christmas!

Although it's a few days late, I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! Time disappeared again and I didn't finish all the decorating that I had planned for the house in amongst everything else I had to do in the last 3 weeks! I didn't even get to send out (or write any) Christmas cards, despite buying them LAST YEAR in the Boxing Day sales! Next year I will endeavour to start Christmas in October! I actually didn't anticipate such a busy end to the school year...and that was what completely threw me. Apart from organising school uniforms for the new Prep's (I run the shop by myself), three teachers left at the end of the year, so there was butterfly frame making, parties to organise and a cake to make. There was also a Christmas raffle to help organise and a school Christmas picnic to help set up for.

...then I had to clean and organise the house ready for 18 people on Christmas day!

Thankfully now I am relaxing and catching up on blogging!

I decided to 'wrap' my front doors again this year, as it seemed to go down really well last year. I used the same pieces of ribbon and the same bow as last year, and it does look a little faded, so here is the photo of last year! It didn't look as fresh this year...



My colour theme was red and white, and I wanted to stick to a more vintage and natural feel to my wrapping (I like to do something different every year...). I had 3 different wrapping papers (white, brown craft paper and red with white Christmas words on it), and tied up with either red organza ribbon, jute string or red and white twine. Combined with my vintage inspired gift tags I think it came up OK!







The Christmas tree:





The stair banister creation (which I didn't get time to finish...):



My table decorations:









...and finally, my take on Christmas Bon bons! I refused to spend $50 on something that ends up in the bin, so I took inspiration from Sharnel's Blog and made some gorgeous chocolate candy cane hearts, found here. They were so easy and fun to make...and yummy to eat!! I put them in cellophane bags, tied up with my vintage tags, doubled as name tags, and added a rolled up 'bad' Christmas joke!





A fabulous day, but I'm glad it's over and I can now completely relax!

Happy New Year!!!!