will and kate's wedding

i wasn't that interested in the lead up to the big day - but last night i could not move away from the tv.
we all sat glued - watching the spectacle unfold before our eyes.
the royals / the outfits / the hats (!?!) / the trees in the chapel / the dress (and bridesmaid dress!) / that amazing smile / the natural chemistry between will and kate / the crowd / the wow
i was the same age as my miss e. when diana and charles wed. 
i'm glad we took the time to take it all in. (tissues firmly placed by my side.)
it was an event that we'll remember for a lifetime.

just amazing.
huge congrats to will and kate - you did it with amazing style and grace.

(Photo: Reuters / Toby Melville)

happy easter - happy holidays !!

we're heading away tomorrow for a 7 night holiday - so this place won't get updated for a wee while.
we're going on our (what has become) yearly easter trip - this year with another 8 (yes 8) families.
it's camping - in style!!
almost all of us have invested in pop-up caravans.....after years of doing it tent-style.
we're heading to the high country (nsw snowy mountains) - where it's very very cold at night - but lovely clear days.
we're hoping to spot some more brumbies (wild horses) - and generally have some more really good times.
great friends, super conversations, lots of kids of many ages, loads of chocolate - good good times!!
i'll post some pics when we get back.
meanwhile - when i went out in the backyard earlier to take the above photo - this little shadow was following close behind...........

and the reason...........is not for the chocolate eggs...........but for..............

.......that tennis ball on the right........and miss molly waiting patiently for it to be thrown!!!

oh moo - you are far too cute!!!

i'm off to pack loads of warm clothes - and head out for some supplies.

have a safe and happy easter everyone.
see you when i return.

mrs c. xox

yay - i've had my hair done!!!

 it's been so long - i'm sure it was before christmas that i last had my hair 'done'.
today was finally the day.
i feel so so so so so good after half a day at the salon.
so tonight i decided to capture the after effect on film.
but here's the issue - i hate having my photo taken - so getting the above was super hard for me.
but we got it - with goob holding my hand - mr w. behind the camera - and with the help of photo software to blur it some - i got through it!!
i'm also trying to grow out my fringe (bangs for those in the u.s. - i think that's what you call them?!?!).
i've had hair to hide behind like forever - and somedays i feel naked without the hair all there!!
i'm getting more and more used to it every day.
and this year is a new year - with a new blog - with a new outlook - and an upgraded me!!!!
here's to trying to love to be photographed - or at the very least - not totally hate it!!!
(i told you goob was now taller than me - and i'm not short!!! she's getting close to 6 foot i'm thinking - oh my!!)

hope you all had a great day!!
mrs c. xox

study makeover - a work in progress

we've been finally fixing up the room that i seem to be spending so much time in - what with uni study and blogging and all!!

i don't have any before shots - the room was always such a frightful mess.
close to both the front door and garage door - it became the dumping ground for almost everything.

imagine though - yellow walls - blue carpet - dark walnut coloured furniture - black wall shelves in the darkest corner - and mess - mess - and more mess.........

changes include crisp white walls; pulling up the carpet and painting the concrete floors; painting the wall shelves (including all the brackets) and all it's contents white; roadtripping to sydney for some ikea love (6 hour return drive - now that's dedication to a product line!!);  moving the desk to the largest wall which will eventually allow three peoples to sit and work at once.....and more.

things still to complete - install a desk top (currently getting quotes - it's a 3300 x 700 mm white laminate benchtop that mr w. will then make into our desk); once desk is in - hook up all the wiring so it's out of sight; finish painting all the boxes from the shelves; find a mirror for above the sofa bed. (this room also doubles as a guest room - hence the hooks installed near the clock to hang coats etc); and probably move that picture up!!

so - it's still a work in progress - but we're loving the changes. so bright and airy. a really great place to study and create. my girls and i have already begun to study along side one another - which i find is really neat!!

here's more pics -

sofa bed, cushions and clock all from ikea (we've had these awhile - now they all just 'fit' better!!)

 

wall hooks = chrome kitchen door handles from the hardware store !!

magnetic canisters from ikea on galvanized metal strip (used for strapping together house frames!)  from hardware store attached with double sided tape.

one of my inspiration boards.

the painted concrete floor - rugs from freedom.

and this is my current make-shift desk - a place to blog - to write assignments for uni - to ponder life!!!! i get to gaze out the window at the pool when i feel the need & i can see the front street and the path to our front door in the reflection of the glass in the picture above my head!!

so - that's where we are at.
those that i've allowed to peek at this room beforehand in real life will attest to the huge changes that have occured. it's an amazing change from what it was.

i'm loving my new space.

mrs c. xox

house gnome - a.k.a. tomte

when i lived in sweden many many moons ago - my host family gave me a 'tomte' to take back to australia to protect my home.
(you can read up on the tomte - pronounced 'tom-te' with a short vowel 'e' sound at the end - here)
that particular loved tomte is packed away in the roof - and comes out at christmas.
last week i found this gorgeous guy at freedom of all places!!(in the outdoor furniture section - just under $20 if i remember correctly)
i couldn't resist re-homing the little fella to my place!!
so today i wanted to play around taking photos (with our very basic camera) & twig the pics a little using photoshop software - and decided to use him as my #1 model today !!!
he's going to stay around to protect our house i'm thinking.
here's some more of the 'big' boy in action !!!!

 

*sigh* - i miss my swedish family & friends muchly today.
sending them loads of love & cyber hugz through the airways.
mrs c. xox

busted !!

 

miss molly snapped through the lounge room window!!

yes moo - we can see you!!

 mrs c. xox

industrial look - 1

after completing the bones of our lounge room (apart from removing the carpet) - i now wish to jazz up the room a bit - give it some feel.
i love the industrial look - have for ages - just haven't had the space to make it work until now.
(well - i'm hoping i can make it work in my little world - kind of awkward showing my feeble attempts here - but - well - we'll see how i go!!! eek!!)
i really love letters and/or numbers on walls and/or on furniture/cushions/accessories - large & small.
in fact just love typography in general.
haven't got a whole heap to spend - so looking at grabbing ideas where i can and trying to make it work here at home.

here's some yum interior shots that  i love -

 the first two photos found at homelife.com.au

 

this one from v25 the blog 

 

this from loving.living.small

this from Room Remix

and do check out these and more gorgeous pics at  
The Essence of the Good Life blog -     

 

so.......i've started to collect me some numbers........more on that in my next post........

night!

mrs c. xox

travel pillow case

miss e. has been sewing up a storm during textile classes at school this term.
this is a beginner class for 1st year highschool students.
this was the first real project of the term (after learning the basics of sewing and the workings of a sewing machine).
project outline given = sew a pillow case - must include some 'embellishments'.
she finally brought it home last night - top marks!!!
miss e. has called it her 'travel pillow case' due to the theme of the fabric and it's intended use.
here are some pics of the completed product.....

yay - it's friday.
just saying!!
have a great weekend all!
mrs c. xox

easter card craft / a tracing exercise !

miss j. is on school holidays this week - miss g. and miss e. don't start until next week (the joy of living on the border of two states - ugh!).
so once again miss j. has been crafting!!
she decided to make an easter card for a good friend - i love what she comes up with every single time she creates! - here's the original -

(she tells me the line on the head was a mistake that didn't rub out!!!)
so i then suggest she make some more - as i'm sure some family members would love a miss j. original of their own!!!
now miss j. would be happy to draw free-hand any day. it's how she rolls!!!
instead though - i thought i'd show her how to do something different - to make duplication of a design easier to repeat.

normally in this techno age - one could use a scanner perhaps - but mine's not working *sad*.
so - instead we went old school and i showed miss j. the finer points of tracing to get a mirror image.
we grabbed some baking paper and a 2B pencil - and away we went.
i traced the basic outline for her - to show her what to do (as she was looking at me a little nervous by now - worrying that i'd ruin the original!! no faith in her own mother, i'm telling you!!).
once traced - i turned the baking paper over, grabbed a fresh card, then aligned the image and scribbled away -

 here's the duplicated image.......

very happy with the result - away miss j. went to colour!!
here's the final product - original on the left - copy on the right.

so - now miss j. knows how to trace.
do you remember doing this stuff??
hope you're having a great day.
mrs c. xox

lounge room makeover - before & after photos

i blogged about our lounge room makeover yesterday - in perhaps too much detail for most (?!?!) - so these are just quick and simple visuals showing the changes.
no fancy software - just used word and paint!! simple yet effective - i am a visual girl after all!!
hope you like.
mrs c. xox

lounge room makeover

i can finally reveal our new lounge room - i'm so so so so excited with the upgrades, and i'm just LOVING our new room.

firstly - here's a pic from the previous owners of our house - pre 2003......

yellow paint (used throughout the ENTIRE house - ugh!) and blue carpet (used almost through the entire house - and it's that type of carpet that shows which way you vacuum - again ugh!!).

here's a series of photos of how the room has looked since we've been living here 2003-present.....

sadly - I was a fan of the 'feature wall' - i don't know why - i plead insanity - but it worked at the time.
the lounge we bought soon after we were married. very 'aztec' in design - king furniture - awesome steel 'bones'.
we figured we'd upgrade the covers one day - but that was going to cost $2000 per lounge for leather - so decided it was easier just to wait and buy a new lounge when we had enough money.

so.......drum roll......here's the reveal.......(wall painted last weekend - photos taken today).......and molly managed to sneek into the mix!!......

 

 

so - remember that large cabinet in the first few photos (before the makeover) - it was purchased from freedom furniture way back when we first were married. it originally had a pull down desk and it stored our 'home office' including computer etc when we lived in our first smaller home. it later served as our tv cabinet and general storage thingy.

the clever part of the cabinet - it came in two parts for easier moving!!

so one night, i came up with the idea of splitting it (as i felt the high dark cabinet was too much for the room visually) -  and painting it white to blend in more with the room.

i LOVE it. so so so so so pleased with the outcome.

and - we now don't have to buy something to replace it - as we need the storage around here.

we have to add a top to each of the units (they'll be painted white also) - as the smaller unit was the bottom of the big cabinet - and the larger unit was the top (I've turned it upside down!!)

here's some close-up pics of how it turned out.........

there is still some things i want to do. the carpet really has to go (really really really). however - as i've recently gone back to studying full-time, and we've lost all that precious income - we can't afford some fancy new floor.
we recently pulled up the carpet in our study makeover (a post will come on that one shortly) - and we painted the concrete floor.
it looks amazing. thinking we'll do the same thing here.

also i want to put some things on the main wall (again - i have some ideas i'll blog about another time) and i definately need some more cushions and a large white fluffy rug!!

but for now i'm absolutely loving the changes. what do you think?? does it all look o.k. so far????

here's a few details in case anyone is slightly interested......

new lounge - king furniture 'delta' in dark brown leather. i lusted after this lounge for many years - now we've finally got one!! it comes in peices and is so so changeable - which is great for people like me who love to move the room around - and often!! (it even turns into a bed if needed!)
wall paint - dulux 'antique white u.s.a.' i was worried it wouldn't look 'white enough' for the look i wanted (it's what we painted the non-feature walls previously). however, with the white cabinets etc - i'm liking how it's looking.
trim paint - haven't done this yet....it's on the ever increasing 'to do'list.
cupboard paint prep - zinsser 'bulls-eye 1-2-3' - this stuff is amazing - i put it straight on without sanding. i know - i probably should sand - but i'm a busy mother and that's just how it is!! i've used it before on other stained and varnished furniture and it's worked a treat.
cupboard paint top-coat - dulux lexicon quarter strength - semi gloss. loving how white this paint comes up.
white quilt on lounge - ikea
large photo canvas of bondi beach - matt lauder photography - mr w. and i met and fell in love in bondi - even moved in together in an apartment looking straight over the beach. simply amazing part of the world.
piano - yamaha mid grand - mum bought this when i was 2!! it needs some major upgrades as it's getting very old and has travelled extensively in many moves - but for now we don't have the extra money for the fixes and it still sounds ok to me!!!
coffee table (under the tv) - solid american walnut - specially hand made by friend - i just love the grain. we're hoping to put the tv up on a braket on the wall so the table can be pulled out when needed.
blinds - freedom  - off white - stocked standard item - luckily they are standard sized windows. we are hoping to have a builder take out the windows and the middle wall section, and place in a beam (as it's a load bearing wall) and put in some stacker sliding doors. this will then lead straight out onto our new pool. but - again with the lack of funds - it's something that will have to wait......keep watching this space!!!!

if you want details of anything else - just let me know.

oh - and i can't show you how the dining room looks all upgraded - because it's not just yet!!
it has become our storage area (together with our poor garage) while we upgrade various rooms - so it's currently holding masses of stuff from the office - and new bedroom furniture. but here's a peak of the mess.........(cringe).......

mrs c. xox