*e*

sponsor giveaway day!

oh i do love a giveaway day! if you'd like to be the proud new owner of one of these things - leave a comment below and i'll be randomly drawing six names over the weekend!

up for grabs:

*this happy sunshiney kit from Get It Scrapped!

Get It Scrapped! is taking it easy in August and not offering any new classes. In lieu of the usual class pass giveaway, teacher Tami Taylor is giving away this July kit (featuring the Basic Grey June Bug line) from her new kit club, Scrap This Kit! Scrap This Kit offers a monthly selection of beautiful papers and a fun mix of embellishments that you can customize with add-ons that fit your style. Whether you are a journaler, embellisher, or flat-out paper addict, Scrap This Kit makes it possible for you to build the kit that’s right for you. The “Page Starters” newsletter offers tips, techniques, challenges, and ideas, for scrapping this kit!

*this pretty pretty brooch from Georgia Mars

 

This is a small ceramic brooch with a little blue bird in a tree. The brooch is hand drawn, underglazed and glazed and finished with touches of gold leaf to give it that special jewellery look. It has a brooch pin on the back.

*and FOUR spots up for grabs in the online class Much Ado About Fabric by Kim Archer workshops @ home

Kim and the @Home Support Team  join forces to bring you this packed to the rafters online workshop loaded with wonderous fabric goodness. Learn how to add fabric to your scrapbooks and projects, how to create your own unique fabric embellishments and how to add fabric design, texture and colour to your work. Lots of step by step projects, tips, samples and ideas.

and fyi Kim is also holding a very delicious sounding retreat in NSW - check it out...

(i'd like to be in that chair beside that pool right now)

GOOD LUCK MY LOVES! happy commenting and happy weekend (it's only thursday but i'm in weekend mode already with mick home!)

because i know you REALLY want to see my toilet

here she is folks!

(you can see it's not really that far from the house. 3 gigantic leaps and i'm there!)

 
yes, it flushes!
yes, we have running water IN the house!
(i do have some standards you know)
and i honestly never once saw a spider in there in 5 years before. lets hope i'm just as lucky this time round.

once - roughly 6 hours before a party was to begin at our house, i spontaneously decided to mosaic the floor for the nights festivities. there are flattened forks, spoons and bits of mirror in there to amuse yourself while you go about your business (also helps in checking ceiling for spiders).

i think it adds a special something to the outdoor experience.

i may also need to search etsy for knitted toilet seat covers/warmers. chilly is an understatement...but it is quite nice to sit on the loo late at night and gaze at the stars in the clear dark sky :)

tara said "it's not as scary as i was expecting!"

(but i bet she makes me come out there with her when she comes to visit!)

52Q - 30

Q - who do you need to thank?

(pic from almost 3 years ago by tara)

my dad has helped us out so much with this move - letting us use his car, he bought ivy a bike, and being a very lenient landlord!! we love him. and all our family who have fed us, repainted our house, given us their spare bedding and kitchen stuff and all the offers to babysit! it's awesome :)

it's always good to think about who you are thankful for! share your creation with us pretty please, and have a happy sunny week!

almost all unpacked!

settling into our house
making things cosy
snuggling
hanging colourful things
finding our groove

i'll have pictures to share soon - happy weekend!

bff necklaces

when you were young, did you and your best friend save up and get one of those heart shaped charms that broke in half and each promise to wear them forever and ever (it did say 'best friends forever' after all!)...oh they were the coolest!

well - sentimental ol me wanted to get an updated version of such for tara and i as a parting gift...and after meeting heather i knew she could make me the perfect 'tara & em' necklaces - and she did!


vintage fabric soldered pendants - green for her, wooden beads for me...with a picture of us (captured by denise) on the backside. i've worn mine every day since i left (it helps me feel not quite so far away) and yindi loves to turn it over and nod her head saying "mumma. ra-ra!"

i've never loved a necklace more :)

how living in america spoiled me

oh it's so interesting how we adjust to different things, isn't it? these have been my culture shocks this week as we get back into life in western australia - the luxuries i got used to in the states!

*having a dishwasher
*pay at the pump petrol (now i have to get my lazy self out of the car with 2 kids and go and line up inside to pay. UGH)
*garbage disposal (um, how do you live without these??)
*paying with atm/debit cards ANYWHERE YOU GO
*speedy internet connections
*affordable organic produce
*central heating
*drive through banks!
*abc.com free tv shows (my evenings seem so empty)
*toilets that are inside your house. yes, you read that correctly - my toilet is outside! i repeat, I HAVE AN OUTHOUSE AND I AM EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT. i want to die!

on the other hand - i do have my family, the sound of birds chirping outside, fish and chips, and the best tasting milk, bread, cheese, yoghurt and all other foods making me happy!

i still want to pay for my petrol at the pump though...

52Q - 29

Q - do you have a recurring dream?

i made a few weeks cards ahead of time before i left san diego and i'm so glad i did as all my creative energy is being sucked into setting up house right now!

please share your card in the flickr group or the comments here when you are finished! there are currently 469 members of the group and there is some yummy yummies to look at so check it out for some inspiration and join in anytime :)

all kinds of feelings

last night i fell asleep in my old bedroom to the sound of frogs croaking outside the window. it felt strange to be back in that room - the one with the glow-in-the-dark stickers i put on the ceiling over 15 years ago, and the clean walls that once held many, many posters of nkotb and keanu reeves! it feels so comforting to come home, and mum's house is so full of homely things - walking into her kitchen was an instant calm to the stress, tiredness and general twisty-ness i had been feeling over the last week or so...

it definitely feels strange to be back here. driving around our little town on our first night back (to get fish and chips of course!) - everything seemed so small and funny - nothing has changed! it's a weird place to be when you feel stuck between two worlds, i know that it's only a matter of days before this all seems 'normal' again but it has been bizarre! i'm going to write down all the funny stuff to remember - like when i saw my oven yesterday, it looked like a toy! and then i remembered how shocked i was when we first moved to LA and the oven in our apartment was so HUGE (i realized why when i saw the pizzas at costco!).

it's good to be back though - so beautiful to see my children with all the family, to have grandparents to love on, to sit around the fire eating pizza with mick's huge family. i do miss our friends back home and the warm weather - we haven't been this cold for 4 years! 

thanks for all the love and wishes left for me here - i love you all :)

and...this morning i found my true-blue (ish!) aussie little ones eating vegemite out of the jar with SPOONS! 

love from my so-cal tribe

on the weekend i was given the most beautiful ceremony of love and friendship and farewell by my local loves. tara planned this magical evening which could not have been more special...candles and blankets and yummies on the beach, my closest and dearest friends who have all made my time here so very wonderful because they love me.


i really love these girls...

(tara, morgs, maren, moi, denise, amy, lisa)

it was truly one of the lovliest nights i have ever had - as the sun set we gathered around on the blankets surrounded by the pretty candles, listening to the waves...soaking it all up, enjoying. each one of them had brought a special bead for my hair - and took turns chosing the perfect dread for the bead while sharing words and wishes and love for me and this baby and our new journey...

i feel incredibly blessed to have these women in my life, and to carry their strength with me. i wouldn't be the same without them - we said "see-ya's", not goodbyes, for i know we will all be back on the beach together again soon, loving on my new little beansprout baby and sharing our stories.

my next post will be from the rainy bushlands of western australia - big love to you all! xx

52Q - 28

Q - what are your favourite days of summer/winter filled with?

i have been extra-appreciative of what summer has to offer as it has been short and sweet and we head into rainy-wet winter this week...
*juicy nectarines (many of them, and juicy chubby sticky kids that go with it!)
*the beach - watching the joy from my comfy spot in the sand
*corn on the cob
*swimming, smelling like chlorine
*cute hats
*a shower after the beach/pool and colourful cool pajamas for outside story-reading

have a happy week!