keen as mustard.

one of the best colours around. my english rose tinted complexion means i cannot always pull off yellow. (read: never pull off yellow)...but this warmer tone seems to fit perfectly. just like the skirt i bought at rummage on sunday. it appears to be handmade, have lace embedded down the front and fits...like a glove (read: i won't be eating carbs before wearing it.) in other news, i have decided to head over to the UK to see my nan (kit) in may next year. this means saving has begun, my next rummage will have lots of my lovely treats for sale (due to a HUGE decluttering at flower st), and i have decided i will be leaving brisbane for more textiley horizons. there's a textile course in melbourne i fancy returning to after eating croissants in paris with my girls, photographing and dreaming of living in a houseboat in amsterdam and drinking copious amounts of milky tea with my nan. life is definately too short not to go on an adventure. nothing is set in stone but i've written to my nan to tell her to pop the kettle on..can't back out now! have a great wednesday.

the skirt and complementary mustard florals from le collection.

sorry for the non-ironed pics of this beautifully crafted skirt. look at the pleating at the back!

one of my butterscotch cuppies and floral placemats.

one of my staffordshire potteries mug and ashley g's mustard moustache.

mustard doily and more butterscotch cuppies. (pink and butterscotch are fabulous together)

my life without you...

i could never comprehend. you inspire and support me to be the person i strive to be. your beauty takes my breath away. i will forever be grateful for your friendship and look forward to where our lives will take us...never too far away from each other. this kind of love is the travelling kind.

i'm too excited to sleep. i am bursting with love. i've run out of words to describe how i feel about these women. i do hope however, that you too, are lucky enough to share this kind of love.

photography: my wonderfully talented sister. kate, you are incredible

props and fantastic vintage fabric: kit & nancy collection

beautiful girls: my own

scones: lemonade. recipe here

teacups: nanna's

rummaging sunday.

what a glorious sunday. started a little overcast but the cool breeze soon cleared the grey clouds to reveal a big blue sky. we snagged a super spot and my gorgeous rummage pals made for a beautiful and relaxing afternoon full of europe chats and chai. i had lots of lovely people stop-by for a catchup, buy my treats and discuss the urban myth of sad boy paintings. i felt two sad boys in my house was a little much, so i decided to let this guy go. he went to a lovely lady who knew about the myth and totally embraced it. i do love the rummage crowd. i had chats with the gorgeous kellie and although i behaved myself too well for my liking at her stall, i did manage to grab a few treats during the day (see pillowcases, a paint by number and mustard skirt.) with a few swaps done, i only ended up paying out $7! (for the skirt that my personal shopper found for me.) there was a huge crowd (see photo below) and many bargains were found. thank you to those that made my afternoon wonderful and very fruitful! have a lovely week!

my stall.

the super spot and louise's gorgeous tapestry.


people listened...


the lovely renae and kellie. their fabrics were incredible.


the gorgeous treasury sky and my 2 new floral pillowcases. yum!


a little mountain paint by numbers (i'm in love) and the mustard pencil skirt complete with divine detail.

painting pictures.

some pretty pictures i've taken over the last week. it's been one of those hectic weeks, lots of overtime at the gallery in the lead up to the new surrealism exhibition but i've managed to balance it out with plenty of bike riding to work (my new love), lots of cups of tea, gf date loaf, enjoying the incredible winter clouds and getting ready to rummage. simple but lovely things. it's late so i won't say much more but i hope you all have a beautiful sunday. if you can, pop by rummage for some bargain treats and a chat...would love to see you.

the tea enjoyed this week and my favourite teacup of nanna's.

teacups used in last week's photoshoot.

baby shower cuppies.

my gorgeous gallery from the kurilpa bridge. isn't it stunning?

sneak peek...

spent a beautiful afternoon with my gorgeous girls. eating scones, drinking tea, playing dress-ups, laughing, hanging vintage sheets, posing with props and enjoying time together. my uber talented sister was the photographer. we asked her to snap a few shots of us 4, before we all shoot off overseas and live our dreams. we won't be apart for too long, but spending time with my girls makes me love them even more. i will be posting many more pics when they're done..you're in for a giggle! was a truly special afternoon. have a great monday!

stu...stu...studio!

Ever since I moved into my little house, my poor little studio has got the rough end of the stick. Because my craft wares, art materials and knick knacks outweigh any other thing I own (I’m the girl will the full studio and empty fridge) I have naively believed that everything will fit nicely in the studio. Realistically it has become a storage room. A very pretty one at that, but there were times when I thought I was never ever going to make art again, and that was just not going to do. Then the floods came and I was mighty quick to get things packed away and ship shape. Then a few months passed and my things were popped back into any available space. So you’ll understand my excitement at how wonderful it’s looking RIGHT NOW. A trip to ikea, some new storage, a garbage bin full of crap (less than beautiful things) and a couple of suitcases full for rummage…means one pretty flower has emerged. I still have a lot of stuff, but I know where it is and where I can find it. I have two tables, one for painting and messy work and another for paper work and collage. I am also waiting on some retro coffee lace curtains from ebay for 99c, I think they’ll work, we’ll soon see. I dreamt of a room that I wanted to spend time in and I think I’ve achieved that. Finally. I want to make the most of this gorgeous little house before I head off. But that’s for another post. I’ll leave you with some pretty pictures. Happy Sunday all! (ps. I know I said I wouldn’t be back till Tuesday, but I couldn’t wait to show you! Pps. Not sure I’m ‘getting’ this whole scone thing…thank goodness for raspberry jam and cream!)

why hello..come on in!

the paper and collage desk...complete with inspiration wall.


pretty things on the wall and in jars.


fabrics and love stamps...what else is needed?


more lovely stuff and my beautiful wallpapered walls.

sorry for the bad language but i am in love with this card..will be framed soon. some of my wallpaper collection.

this rummage is going to be a big one!

must dash...

good morning (just!) lovelies! i will be taking a bit of a blogging break until tuesday for a little productive r&r but i can assure you that tuesday's post will be full of teaparty behaviour, lemonade scone baking, studio redecorating, cloud magnet making, fabric sorting for rummage and many, and then many more...cups of tea. i hope this finds you all well and enjoying this beautiful saturday. your comments are getting more and more beautiful, how is that possible? just know i love and appreciate every single one. have a lovely weekend!

moustache love via love made me do it.

life lately.

hello tuesday. it's been a lovely 3 day weekend dabbling in some opshopping, baby snuggling, road tripping and chai drinking amidst girly chats and ikea furniture-putting-together. i delivered and setup wedding brownie on saturday to the most beautiful bride and groom which was followed by some roadtripping down south on sunday and some ikea behaviour. i don't go there often, which was obvious when i decided to ignore the directive arrows. people noticed, it made me giggle. have been attempting to get my studio in order as i want to get my artmaking on for the exhibition, so decluttering and sorting has been flower street's hot topic. i've been spending some time with my beautiful friends and their gorgeous little ones. i'm definately not ready to have any of my own, buy my oh my...i'm in love. from playing with glitter pens and running races with a cheeky 2 year old to having a handsome 4 month old snuggle into me whilst chatting with his gorgeous mama about boys and travels...is just blissful. back to reality today and the fact my ikea tables are still in pieces. but the teacosies are up!...all is well. i hope you've had a wonderful start to the week. i'm terribly in awe of my beautiful girlfriends right now...from soy chai's over boy talk to planning a life overseas. much love to my inspiring ladies.

floral tablecloths were the flavour of the day on saturday.

more floral love and a cheeky pink lady. (check the shoes please)


cute cookie tin (perfect for clouds) and wooden leaf bowls..awaiting a coat of paint.


brownie with bunting and pretty clouds. (for mama)

one of the many flannelette pillowcases i unearthed at stevo's saturday morning!

a hawaii mug (on it's way to a special lady) and some plastic white & gold coasters.

been playing with lounge room displays.

a tea 'cosy' corner of my studio and another flannelette gem.

his and hers pillowcases. a little stained but oh so cute.

embarrassment can kill.

today started early. with that, i was promised an early mark. my wish was granted so i left work just after 3 to head home and get some wedding brownie baked. not before stopping off at lifeline (to pick up some glassware and pink melmac!) and then coles for ingredients. driving home, i had a run in with an angry man who swore he had right of way in a cramped corner at the top of a crazy steep street. it's one of those tricky situations (lack of road markings and tight corners don't help) that left me feeling a little sad and silly. he followed me to my parking spot just outside the opshop where he began yelling at me. being the lover not a fighter (boxing hasn't helped i guess) i just shrugged with confusion about why he was that angry. after a few minutes i got out of my parked car, crossed the street towards the supermarket, stopping just shy of the entrance to admire date scones in the bakery cabinet. can you tell my eating habits mirror my emotions? a little old lady sitting at a card table nearby caught my attention. she was a bowel cancer advocate and as i handed over a small $5 (i'd spent the rest of my change at the oppy, of course) her face brightened, which instantly lifted my mood. as i walked away, she called out to me that my skin was beautiful and asked what skin care regime i followed. i knew she really didn't care about my regime, she just wanted a chat. she picked the right girl. we chatted for several minutes, mostly about oil of olay and staying out of the sun, but she definately left an impression on me. i'm wearing the orange bangle that states 'embarrassment can kill', which i believe can be related to many types of cancer. not only did she enlighten me about the issues that come with early cancer detection, she gave me hope that there are some truly beautiful people out there. to the guy who almost killed my spirit, try a little kindness....i really didn't mean to cut you off. thank you for listening. have a wonderful weekend full of inspiring conversations and time with loved ones. ps. i wish i was wandering tate modern and eating hummingbird bakery cupcakes with my mama..she's in london right now. x

a few things i'm loving and doing....

dreaming of one day buying that lazybones quilt..in duck egg blue.

visiting wallpaper heaven in copenhagen. the story of how she came across thousands of rolls of vintage loveliness is enough to get me saving all of my dollars.

baking raspberry spiked brownie for a beautiful couple getting hitched tomorrow.

loving this pink house found via elsie's pinterest.

inspired.

i'm still here, promise. have been a busy little bee...working at both galleries, visiting a new mum and her beautiful baby (there was a baby photoshoot with kate and an afternoon of tea and scones), drinking lots and lots of tea, riding my bike to work, organising exhibition ideas, reworking my art displays at home (with a little help from lisa congdon) and sorting out lots of treats for the june rummage. with a sad little camera that won't turn on, i don't have any sweetness to offer in the way of pretty pictures. but do not fear, that is soon to change. i have a busy little weekend full of morning teas, wedding brownie orders, road trips to northern nsw, a hopefully fast tracked visit to ikea for studio furniture and some paint pot shopping at bunnings. photos to follow! picking up a copy of my heart wanders has also been the icing on this wednesday cake. you must know about pia, right? if not, head on over and have a peek, she is simply amazing and besties with the beautiful kylie johnson...who i also find to be just divine! my beautiful friend trudy introduced me to her work, thank you darling! i'll be popping the kettle on soon and heading to my vintage flannelette covered bed to soak up some of that loveliness. i want to spread the pia love already...being inspired is contagious! happy wednesday evening lovelies.

totally inspired by my favourite san francisco artist, lisa congdon, this week.

oh...i nearly forgot...i really want to build one of these!

love in the mail.

i do love writing letters and cards, especially to my mum who lives across the other side of the world. sometimes it's just to tell her i love her, or to recite a beautiful kylie johnson poem, even to discuss my life plans which change every day. the most beautiful thing about this, is that i receive just as much love in the mail from her. i get my love for handwritten mail from my mum, she always taught us the importance of receiving love notes in the mail and this is something i regret not doing enough of as a child. well i'm definately making up for it now. this also leads me to show you a few gifts that have arrived from mr ebay this week. even though it's me parting with my own moolah, it still feels exciting to open a package addressed to you. especially when it has the goodies below inside. all of these treats are part of my upcoming exhibition, and although i can be known for my frivolous ebay behaviour, there is a meaning and point to these purchases. a few weeks ago i purchased a charming book called 'handwritten letters to my mother', which i fell in love with at first glance. i sent it on it's merry way to america and it had the desired effect, she loves it. i love that we share such a beautiful sentiment like writing letters. i'm sure my mum doesn't know exactly how much she inspires me everyday. hanging out the washing will take me 15 minutes rather than 5, as i get distracted by the beautiful clouds....i often stop whilst bike riding to admire beautiful flowers and shadows...i'm guilty of waving hello to puppy dogs and my neighbours cat. this is all from her and i will forever be thankful for noticing the smaller, more beautiful things in life. pop over to hannah's blog, her latest post is just so enchanting and really hits a soft spot with me, boy that girl can photograph beauty. have a lovely week of enjoying the little things. x

my lovely old telephone. just like the one that hung in my childhood home. the showpiece of my display.

some gorgeous melmac platters. small and perfect in colour. anyone for a picnic?


some lovely flannelette pillowcases (a gift from my best friend's nan) and a dalmation s&p shaker set. they're tall and sleek and gorgeous. the dog version of these. and yes, my childhood dog was a dalmation called duke. love.

cake and love.

mother's day afternoon tea. a delicious gf date cake that myself and the girls had a good go at demolishing. sunday afternoons are made of moments like these.

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.