Creative Space - Photo Wall

So this is the photo/collage wall I created above my work desk.

I felt it was important that the area that I was using to create things made with love needed to be loving and inspiring.  I wanted to fill the area with photos and items that were special to me and made me smile.

I collected a number of decorative photo frames, and painted them all white.  I filled all the frames with photos of my family at the beach.  I love beach holidays.  They are so much fun.

In the middle I filled a wire heart frame with more photos.  I love the photo of my daughter doing a handstand in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I have already posted about the clay tags and the vanilla vase.

This paper heart garland was a gift from my mother.  She made it using pages from an old dictionary and sewing the hearts together with red cotton.

Creative Space - Work Table

Everybody needs a creative workspace.  Somewhere where you can lay out something you are working on and not have to pack it up at dinnertime.  I have an area upstairs that I have claimed as my creative space, I just needed to set it up.

Firstly I needed a desk or work table.  I searched eBay and finally found this.

It's a soid pine table, with large turned legs.  It's not an antique but it is old, not just a modern reproduction.  I picked it up for about $100.

It had a few scratches on the top, so I gave the top a light sand and varnished it with some cedar stain/varnish.  Then I painted the underside of the table and legs in Dulux Whisper White.

I love having the big wide surface of a table rather than a slim desk.  It means I can easily wrap presents and set up my sewing machine with plenty of room.  The old blue chair is the roadkill piece my husband found in the street.

After painting the table, I then created a collage wall and some stylish storage to hold all the crafty pieces. I'll share some more on that next.


Sharing at French Country Cottage
My Romantic Home
The Shabby Nest

Kikki K Retail Therapy

Nothing beats a little retail therapy does it?  With the week I've had I thought a little retail therapy would help ... and my dear daughter informed me that she needed black knee high socks for her dance Eisteddfod concert by 2 pm, so at 10am Sunday we headed to Carindale.  Kikki K has opened at Carindale, so no more hiking into the city.

I love sticky notes, and these love heart ones are perfect.

This was the reason I went into Kikki K.  It was recommended to me that I keep a journal of how I'm feeling and what sort of day I had.  This is Kikki K's 365 Diary.  The tag says - Your year begins today.  365, a diary to commence at any point in the year for a new job, a new semester or a new lease on life.  That's me - the last one! 

As a Mother's Day promotion it came packaged with a silver pen, and a To Do sticky note pad.  I like that the pages are blank, and the colour red is appropriate too.

I also bought a book of Inspire stickers to use in the journal.

The pad is filled with lovely inspirational stickers.

Here's the To Do list - good for keeping me focussed and on track.

We also finally found the dance socks in Target after going to nearly every shop in Carindale.  The joys of being a Mum!

An Update

Thank you for all your well wishes last week.  I survived my MRI.  It is non-invasive just very, very loud.  Imagine the sound of a truck reversing and multiply that by 100 and then add some sirens and you get the picture.  I wish I could tell you what it looked like inside but once they put the cage over my head and locked it down I decided that keeping my eyes shut the whole time was the best option.  Ignorance is bliss!

Every cloud has a silver lining

The good news is I do have a brain and a spine, unfortunately they are not 100% healthy.  My neurologist has given me his opinion, but the condition is hard to diagnose and it will take more time and tests.  I'm okay with it.  The condition won't kill me, I just have to learn to live with it the same way people live with diabeties or epilepsy.

Anyway I won't bore you with the rest.  The good news is I definately have a renewed outlook on life.  To keep myself busy when I was waiting for the results I pinned a lot of pictures on pinterest, and I wanted to share some photos I pinned to a board called Make Life Better.

Meditate

Enjoy the outdoors

Listen to music

Enjoy good food and wine with friends

Travel - Lake Como is one of my favourite places in the world.

Cuddle my husband.

Spend time with the ones you love

This is my favourite!

Enjoy life.

Photo credits are at Pinterest here

Time for Some Love

My daughter found this on the beach at Easter and gave it to me.  "It looks like a heart Mum" she said "I love you".  I really needed to hear that at this moment in my life.

I haven't been so well this year, and I've let it get to me. 

I think it's time for me to share some love again. 

This weekend I have to spend an hour in one of these.

It's a little daunting.  Maybe I can pretend I'm lying on the beach and have a little sleep like this lady?

The hole looks so much smaller when there's a person in it, doesn't it? 
Has anybody else had an MRI?

Anyway, regardless of the outcome, I'm now even more determined to enjoy all the little things in life and be grateful for what I have.

Love to you all.  Hug your family.  Be grateful.  Enjoy life.

Interesting Shop Displays

I love visual merchandising and wonderfully creative window displays.  All the shop keepers in our local high street in London would regularly change their window displays with the seasons.  Christmas windows are the best.  Some of them were truly amazing.  Anyway during a recent day out in Brisbane I noticed a couple of interesting displays that I thought I'd share with you and snapped them with my phone.

This is a little clothing alterations place in Tattersals Mall.

The front window is lined with vintage sewing machines.

and vintage advertising signs

I love this old timber counter with the drawers. 

See the vintage irons on the right side by the door.

A dressmakers dummy and a chalkboard sign pointing to the fitting room.

Then I went into Asop to buy my sister some hand cream, and I loved their display of brown bottles.

A mass display of brown bottles.

All the bottles of lotions and creams with a large industrial sink.

This is how they wrapped the hand cream.

And I had to go to The Shingle Inn for a coffee and passionfruit cup cake.

I am always looking to find other shops that have interesting displays. 

Anybody seen some good ones lately?

House Name or Number?

Does your house have a name or just a number?  Some houses have the most pretty names, like Rose Cottage,  Honeysuckle Cottage, or The Old Coach House.  I have always just had a number.

When we first moved into this house 11 years ago, I bought a set of tiles in a wrought iron frame and proudly hung it at the front door.

Sadly, late last year the adhesive tape holding the left tile failed and it smahed to the ground.  My husband glued it back together, but I really felt it was time for a change.

I tried to think of a nice name for our house, I really did, but I just couldn't find one that sounded right.  So in the end, we are just number 2.

To make the sign I just cut a piece of plywood to size, painted it 'Paperbark' and then painted No 2 on it.  I also resprayed the wrought iron holder black just too freshen it up.

We still need to pave the front entrance.  I found the perfect match for our bricks.  See the sample next to the door mat?  They don't make them anymore do they?  I'll have to keep looking.