Life lately according to instagram

Wow I've been neglectful of late on here! being crazy busy doesn't help blogging whatsoever. this is what i have been up to of late according to my instagram stream

a sophie from the block inspired string art piece, the DIY instructions are in the block magazine

I spent a friday night baking, baking, baking, for my beautiful friend Peta's farewell... the lucky duck is headed around the world.... currently in south america

This was the dessert bar at the party, isn't it dreamy...

I've spent a few hours playing with these little monkeys, they actually just left my house

I actually went for a run last week (shock I know) and came across this girl on the way... it was a good excuse to stop and say hello



My little sister turned 20 on saturday and since she lives away, i celebrated by eating a red velvet cupcke for her

I finally made a beautiful mess's fox plush DIY toy and taught a whole class how to make it too, I've wanted to make it forever!!! Instructions here



Last weekend mum and i went on a road trip to canberra to this beautiful little girl's baptism! isn't she gorgeous. I picked up my wedding dress in Sydney on the way :)

Wedding Wednesday

One of my gorgeous Best friends Stacey (and bridesmaids) got engaged nearly 2 months ago to her BF of many many years Jesse! It was a lovely surprise (for me) she had known for a few weeks before. I am so so happy for them both and they have decided to have a short engagement and are getting married in March.

2 weeks ago before heading to a hen show Stacey handed me an envelope and this is what was inside....

She had made a beautiful card with "will you be my bridesmaid" inside... of course i instantly said yes! I was and am so excited!!!

Thats me of course and the beautiful bride to be! Im so excited to be a part of stacey and Jesse's big day, and it got me even more excited about mine too! Any cool suggestions for good hen shows?

Wedding Wednesday

Way back when I was newly engaged (Just), Megan from McKean Studio posted some lovely pics for inspiration for her wedding bouquet. At the time I thought they were amazing since I really love billy button flowers. I didn't think too much more about it until i started to think about what sort of wedding we were going to have. Since we set the date I decided to go down to the Sydney flower markets to see what was in season in June. My MIL and SIL to be, plus little Willow went on a Tuesday at the crack of dawn (we left home at 4am). Little did we know that Tuesday was a quiet day at the markets, but they still had a great Variety.

I purchased around $100 worth and got so many flowers to play with (some are still alive and I bought them 3 weeks ago) I had a go at making around 4 Bouquets. They weren't too difficult although I didn't wire them like alot of DIY's say to do. I basically followed Elsie's tutorial on A beautiful mess as she made her own Bouquets and got her bridesmaids to make theirs too the night before the wedding. i think this is a great idea and hope my bridesmaids want to do it too.

 I even had a go at making a flower crown off a tutorial on youtube. I just used florist wire and tape to make this one, maybe for the flower girls.......

(I have no makeup on)

Today

Today was pretty special, I took (along with another teacher) 53 great kids to Sydney Biennale. It was the first excursion I've organised, and none of the kids had been to the Biennale before so it was pretty special. We left school at 7am to catch the first ferry at 10am over to Cockatoo Island were we were all blown away by the amazing artworks. some of the highlights just to name a few include...(I apologise for the poor quality of the pics... all taken on my iphone)

Tiffany Singh
Knock On The Sky Listen To The Sound, 2011
bamboo wind chimes and mixed media

These wind chimes were located in an outdoor room with a half size door that you had to duck to get into. We nearly walked straight past but were fascinated by the sound that was coming from inside.

Li Hongbo
Ocean of Flowers, 2012
paper

These paper sculptures were one of my favourites the whole day they were beautiful! so so many in the one room. All the kids commented on these when I asked them what they enjoyed the most. little did we know that when they are folded up, they fold into the shapes of guns and bullets. Here is a closer image

Adam Cvijanovic The River, 2012
Flashe on tyvek, dimensions variable

A very large scale painting on not your typical canvas....

Philip Beesley
Hylozoic Series: Sibyl, 2012
laser-cut acrylic, Mylar, aluminium, copolyester, silicon, glass, shape-memory alloy, custom PCBs, LEDs, thin gauge electrical wire, 2000 x 740 x 400 cm

This artwork was AMAZING!!!! no other word to describe it! to be able to touch and interact with this artwork made the whole day. It felt like we were under the sea playing with jelly fish! I loved it!

We headed to the MCA after that which also had some great artworks as a part of the Biennale. I highly recommend you all to go and see it! We had a great day!

Cabinet Restoration

During the Easter break Toby and I picked up this Cabinet from one of my favourite shops "The things i Love" (she just got facebook like her page, Sandra updates pictures of new stock) for a steal of $80. This is what it looked like when we got it.... in pretty good condition

I liked the idea of painting it and after alot of thought we went for a pale blue colour. We had to sand it back, undercoat it (we used spray paint to undercoat that was fun). And then give it a few coats of paint. I ordered the handles from Anthropologie (they nearly cost as much as the cabinet with postage but i think they finish it nicely) 

What do you think? 

Wedding Wednesday

Yes its Thursday but yesterday (Wednesday) I went out and paid a deposit for our wedding venue! so its all really happening now here's a picture that I took from the car (yes i did pull over)

It's at a hall out in the Vineyards! We've set a date, the 29th June, 2013 so less than a year now! (It feels like its 100 years away though) Now I need to start booking all the other stuff.... photographer, celebrant... and I dunno what ever else you need for a wedding haha! I'm welcome to suggestions please. Dress shopping with all my bridesmaids and mum Saturday too!

Blair's Birthday Cake

I mentioned back here that June is crazy busy for Birthdays it ends with Little Blair's birthday on the 30th. This year she turned 2. She had a lovely party at her house with lots of deliscious food, a jumping castle and heaps of little kiddies! My contribution to her party was her birthday cake, some cupcakes and cake pops (her favourite). I was inspired by my engagement cake made by my dear friend casey you can see it here. But i didnt want it to be exactly the same soI decided to do different shades of pink. I found a recipe on "Call me cupcake" and followed it (except for the icing). I made two batches, so 8 layers in total.

And here's the gorgeous birthday girl

Vanilla cakefour 20 cm layers

•1/2 cup (113 grams) butter
•2 cups white sugar
•3 1/2 cups flour
•1 teaspoon salt
•3 teaspoons baking powder
•1 1/2 cups ice water
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•4 egg whites beaten stiff


Add sugar to the butter and beat until light. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with ice water and flavourings, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into greased layer pans and bake at 175 degrees C for about 30 minutes. (it was a bit less for me) I weighed out each layer and they were approx 340grams