barter-system

Today I had an exchange with a friend. "I will teach you Illustrator CS2 if you let me photograph your house".







Good exchange I think! She is the talented lady behind this special fashion, label. Her house was very reminiscent of this shop, introduced to me by this creative lady when discovering Copenhagen.

Admittedly, I'm keenly aware that I owe a 'photographic journal' from my trip, which is yet to be siphoned my 'Holiday Photos' folder! Hope to get onto that shortly!

yellow

This one is for you Brooke.

Photo credits: 1. simply yellow., 2. 3D Rainbow, 3. follow the yellow brick road meets modernism, 4. yellow

this is...

This is my very late attempt at 'This is...my favourite kitchen tool'. Unfortunately my 'one person only' kitchen doesn't allow me the luxury to obtain many kitchen appliances, truth be told I struggle to share bench space with a toaster and a kitchen sink.

So in a daring, never been done before 'This is' twist I'm sharing what I would love to be my favourite kitchen tool!

Yes, this here (pictured above) coffee machine. I'll put it on my wish list up there with a bigger kitchen.

I owe Sharon from Handmaiden a BIG THANK YOU for hosting while I've been away. I am very grateful!

For this weeks theme I would like to ask My Champagne Dreams for her suggestion.

I have alot of new players to add to the blog roll, hopefully I will have the list updated by Sunday.

the nap hotel

During the stop over at Hong Kong airport, I paid $37 for a two hour sleep at an airport nap hotel. Best money ever spent!

However, you know that feeling when you have to get up really early for something important and you spend most of the night restless because your constantly telling yourself "sleep because you have to get up early in the morning".

Try sleeping with the meter running... "sleep, sleep, great you've just wasted $5, sleep already!" It's hard work.

Photo credit: 1. polaroid-heart. Thank you Liss for letting me use your photo, I wish the nap hotel room was as pretty but then I guess I would never sleep because I'd be thinking 'this room is sooo good'.

copenhagen

Where even the pets are well dressed


and the street litter looks good

I could move to there in an instant!

the flight about flight of the conchords

Boarding the plane from Copenhagen to London, Allison and I met a Danish man named Ep - (phonetically spelt)(!)

Ep, was kind enough to offer to hold two available seats for us on our easy jet flight as a) there are no allocated seats on the flights and b) he possessed a magical 'A' class boarding pass that gave him the privilege to board first.

In return to his generosity I introduced him to the Flight of the Conchords via the magical video iPod and after watching a couple of episodes 'Ep' questioned me about the comical duo.

As it turned out 'Ep' shared a house with a top executive from the BBC and was eager to convince his housemate to give them some air time.

Smooth pick up line or was there an element of truth (?) I'll be watching the BBC tv guide to confirm. Watch this space.

pink

Photo credits: 1. crazy cupcake., 2. light love empty

paper work

on this particular day - pt 2

On this particular day after contemplating that Madonna would probably use a side entrance to attend a fashion event and that I don't actually know what the guy from the Sartorialist looks like, I continued on my journey to South Kensington's French quarter.

After excepting my fate that I would not be making it to Paris on this trip due to a fire in the channel tunnel three days earlier, I had figured London's French quarter would be the next best thing.



So I took a seat in one of the many authentic French cafes, indulged in some wine and cheese and said Bonjour to all the French Waiters ; )

on my desk

Card designed by Isak.
Business card by Public Beware - Shop 7, 91 Brick Lane, London.
Sneek peak of sticker made by Lily and Agathe.

You can visit Kirsty for more On My Desk players or if you would like to join in too!

my suitcase reads my blog...

and decided to come home! YAY!!!!! : )

on this particular day

On this particular day, Allison headed off to Cambridge and I stayed on to explore London. With no particular plan in place I wandered around South Kensington where I had spotted an interesting trio. Quite fashionably dressed and with an air of fame and purpose, I was compelled to follow. Within two minutes of walking behind the well dressed trio I was led to a London Fashion Week event.

With paparazzi and fashionistas milling I began to wonder if a) Madonna could show up and b) is the guy from the Sartorialist here?

To be continued...

minor travel hiccups

I'm home! My luggage isn't... it's somewhere. Maybe somewhere between Denmark and London. Suitcase if your reading this, please come home.

Photo Credit: pillows and suitcase

london calling

It's been a whirlwind since we arrived over a week ago and I've been feeling terribly guilty about neglecting my little three buttons blog. Here is a brief summary so far!

Likes
Red double decker buses
Beautiful buildings and streetscapes
Friendly people
Hearing English accents
East End
Black cabs
Travelling with Allison
Indian curry
Marks & Spencer
English breakfast

Dislikes
Pollution
The long flight from Australia
The lack of free wi-fi connections
Jet lag
Cancelled services to Paris via Eurostar

Astounded By
The carefree way cyclists get around on the narrow and busy streets

On Sunday we are off to Copenhagen and hopefully a short trip to Sweden, then it's back home. I can't wait to show all the photos and stories I have to share. More to come!

Photo Credit: 1. St. Paul's Cathedral front with double decker bus, London

on my desk

Go-go gadget traveller!

iPhone - check
iPod with video downloads of Flight of the Conchords - check
Digital SLR camera - check
Reading material - check
Travel adapter to plug in all my go-go gadgets - check

Thank you Kirsty for hosting On My Desk goodness!

this is... my favourite fabric/craft shop

We are very lucky here in Melbourne as we have some very full-to-the-brim yummy fabric shops. My fabric shop list includes

Patchwork on Central Park
Amitie
Flashback Fabrics
Kimono House
Ziguzagu

Thank you Sharon from Handmaiden for your theme and a big thank you for agreeing to host 'This Is' whilst I'm away for three weeks. Handmaiden will be keeping us updated with upcoming themes and nominated weekly 'This Is' players!

european vacation

It's only a week before I head off to my first ever overseas adventure! I have never traveled outside of Australia before (please note I am 37) and my view of the world has the potential to change considerably upon my return. I'm excited by the prospects of how it could change my creative outlook and how it could spark a new inspirational avenue that I have never discovered before.

I am feeling this because being a FNQ girl (far north queensland girl) I was tempted to the bright lights of Brisbane, which changed my life in a new direction. It was in Brisbane that I was tempted by the bright creative lights of Melbourne in which I now reside in such a beautifully creatively entrenched city. (mind you brisbane has changed alot since I last resided there)!

And although my 'European Adventure' is short but oooh so sweet, I can't help but feel it will feed me with all those daydreamed fantasies of what a creatively drenched world would look like.

For my own self development I'm going with a photographic challenge of 'something' (I won't give away the details just yet). But I hope to return with a little something to share with these 'never been overseas eyes'.

I'm so excited and scared at the same time!

Photo credits: 1. Até à próxima, Paris! - Until the next, Paris!

secret squirrel

Bookends & Pillows.

when folk meets cute

Folk Patchwork Fabric & Vintage Trim spied on Superbuzzy!

dress ups

Follow Johanni's Wardrobe Project here. It's pretty amazing!

Photo credits: 1. Yellow dress, 2. At San francisco Zoo

this is... my favourite children's book

From as far back as I can remember I had a copy of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll on my bookshelf. I remember losing myself in the stories and thinking how out of this world they were. It was certainly great for the imagination!! Alice in Wonderland is by far one of my favourite children's book.

Thank you Potty Mouth Mama for your theme this week! For next week I would like to ask Handmaiden for her suggestion : )

Photo credits: Alice in Wonderland Print Set - Inside A Black Apple, The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.

1. Olive green skirt, 2. 18Mar

yellow

1. Untitled

daschund bag

Dutch By Design : )

lastest flickr viewing

Typing in the search words: sausage dog and paris.



While it's raining outside, I'm snug and warm inside sewing some display dolls with the movie Amelie playing in the background.

1. Sunday Morning, 2. Amelie lookalike - Paris, France
1. cafe de amelie, 2. le fabuleux destin d'amélie poulain, 3. Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

next stop - london

Phew! What a busy time I've been having lately. Lots of work has been keeping me in doors with my house resembling a factory/warehouse more and more everyday. And while I have had my head buried deep in work a trip to London with Allison has been drawing nearer! So near in fact that I thought it was another 5 weeks away... but it turns out it's 3 weeks away!

To be honest I haven't even had a chance to look at any travel books or plan an itinerary. But I must! And as of tomorrow it will become my number one priority!

What I do know is that I want to go to Paris for 5 days. And Copenhagen!

I feel so lucky that Allison has asked me to come with her to London to help on the Lark tradeshow stand. And in other exciting news... our stand will be directly opposite Belle & Boo!

this is... how I like to spend my weekend

I love to spend my weekend mornings at a local cafe with good food and good coffee. A date preferably spent with friends or with the weekend papers and a selection of magazines on hand. Sundays are reserved for relaxation and leisure and some ABC art show telly viewing. Sunday is my most favoured day of the week!

Well, what a busy week it has been with so much going on and lots of catching up to be done. Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of things soon.

Thank you Bird Bath for your suggestion this week : )
For next weeks theme I would like to ask Potty Mouth Mamma!

this is... a work in progress

Sew Your Own is a work in progress, growing my kit collection and releasing new patterns is what is keeping me busy in creative crafty hub. I love it!

Sew Your Own received a great response at trade show I recently attended, which was very exciting and encouraging.

Thank you Debbie for your theme this week. For next Sunday theme I would like to ask The Bird Bath for her suggestion.

P.S. (If your suffering from a little meme fatigue just to let you know there are no rules to This Is, so if you want to post one week and not the other or have a meme rest that is all OK and quite understandable, you can join in the fun at anytime) : )

trade secret i forgot to mention

Thank you for all my 'speedy recovery' well wishes, I'm feeling much better today already!

Today when I was doing some sewing I remembered a trade secret that I wanted to share. Being the true bargain hunter that I am, ages ago I bought myself a packet of 10 white cotton rolls of thread for a bargain basement price. I thought I was a winner!

Well, since using up all my white reels I went and spoiled myself with an expensive reel of Gutermann thread. It is so beautiful to sew with! All the problems and frustration I was having with the other cheap cotton makes sense now. Trade secret - spend the money and buy good quality thread! : )

Tonight I updated the This Is blog roll! Hurrah! And I need to quickly invite a This Is player to suggest our theme for Sunday... I would like to ask Kept in a Jar for her suggestion.

how odd

Yesterday I sprained my neck, which is odd as I was asleep at the time. And not just any old sprain, it was a rating of 7 by the osteopath with 10 being the worst. After some big spine and neck readjustments I walked out of his office feeling like I was walking all wonky and in the wrong direction but then it occurred to me maybe I was walking wonky in the wrong direction before and now I'm walking straight because I'm all aligned and good!

So today the heat bag and a packet of voltaren have become my best friends, I've been warned it's going to be a long recovery which well frankly is a bit of a pain in the neck!

I must apologies to all our new comers to 'This Is' who have asked to join our ever growing blog roll list. I'm still to add some new comers from weeks ago and I promise I will have the blog roll updated tomorrow as well as an invite from one of our players to suggest our theme for this week!

I'm looking forward to posting a little more regularly again too!

Photo Credit: 1. giraffe

this is...

Thank you Amelia for today's 'This is my trade secret' theme! I'm determined to quickly post my trade secrets before I run out the door to starting working on our Lark & Friends trade fair stand. Here are three trade secrets I think I abide by.

1. Stay inspired - very easy to ignore when your swamped with work. I think it's important to always make the time to feed your senses with creative inspiration, even if for a couple of hours on the weekend.

2. Work hard - but enjoyable hard work!

3. Always carry a small camera in your bag. You never know when you will need it. Here is an example. Pip crocheting at the Flemington Tabaret. She's hooking where ever she can.



I hope to blogging more frequently soon!!