Delightful bookshelf

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Yes, after the organisational spree of this past weekend, we got a call from our real estate agent. The owner of our apartment wants to sell it so we're moving out! After all that arranging and re-arranging... So I'll keep you up to date with where we go - and will promise to post pics of current place soon!

Blog Anniversary Giveaway Winner

Time to announce my giveaway: it's Jen!

Jen said:

"Happy Bloggy-versary and all that. You've inspired me to get back into it!"

Jen, leave me your email and I'll get in touch and send you out your bag of goodies!

Three Year Blog Anniverary Giveaway!

Three years ago, I posted my very first post on this ol' blog. I never knew if blogging was for me, and figured I should just give it a try. Lo and behold, I blogged through the end of my thesis, through getting engaged, married and now working full-time. It really is a little time capsule of my life - things I love and get excited about.

Wanted to say a big thank you - I've been so touched and delighted by every comment you've made over the years. You're just wonderful.

If you leave a comment on this post, I'm giving away a pack of stationery (everything comes in three, you'll see) - you can see sneak peek above. Notebooks, pens, erasers - everything you need. I'll draw the winner next Tuesday 31st May, 2011. (And to my friends who get embarrassed about entering my competitions: please enter! You're wonderful and I love that you still read!)

Maps on Walls

Design Sponge has put together a magnificent collection of maps on walls. If you like maps and walls, have a look at the stunning collection Grace curated - inspirational and beautiful.

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One of my favourite things in the world?

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Couldn't have said it better myself!

Afternoon Tea

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My incredibly talented friend Al has started her own blog! Her illustrations and recipes are so charming - trust me, blogland: this woman is not only just delightful, but immensely clever with art and design. Follow her immediately for lots of afternoon tea love!

Christmas giveaway winners!

Congratulations to Thrifted Treasure, Taichi Fox and Bec Clarke!

Endorsements Dec 2010

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Every month, my book club follows the Slate Culture Gabfest model, and endorses a cultural recommendation. We thought it would be fun to share them on the blog, so here goes!

The recommedations this month are:

The AV Club for excellent TV reviews.

Using Picasa for uploading photos.

The new TV series Sherlock, from the BBC.

The book, The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell.

Neil Perry's flourless and almond-meal-free chocolate cake.

D. H. Lawrence's novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover.

The TV series Rake on ABC iView.

The Chrome Web Store (especially the Grooveshark and New York Times apps which let you stream music and see the newspaper).

The new Kanye album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Henry James's Portrait of a Lady.

Christmas Giveaway!

Given that it's Christmas, I thought a little giveaway wouldn't go astray. I'm giving away 5 little packs of papers, beads, cards, and stickers - each is small, but comes with fun trinkets for decorating presents, making cards and turning into new projects.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, saying why you'd like to win. I'm only accepting Australian entries this time - and I'll post the winners on Friday, 17th December, 2010.

Library Desk

This library desk, sent to me by the lovely JT, is super, super cool. Love it - tres meta!

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Bookshelf Swoon

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Back from a restful weekend. Actually, back from a weekend back-to-back with wedding planning. Honestly, I'm very excited to be getting married, but really looking forward to having my weekends back!

White on White

Yes, I know, I have far too many colourful things to consider having an all white house, but it's images like this that make me long for clear, plain white goodness. We'll see.

Beautiful Book Covers

The lovely Thrifted Treasure recommended I check out this lovely blog, and what a pleasant surprise! These F. Scott Fitzgerald book covers are so stunning - the shiny, deco design is just perfect.

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Big in Japan

Found this beautiful new-to-me blog and was absolutely hooked. What an extraordinary set of photographs, ideas and art works. Love, love, love!

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Paper Pencils

Have you seen these beautiful paper pencils over at Upon a Fold? That Justine really knows what she's doing! Just lovely.

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Read More Books

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I know, I know. It's a bit rich that I'm telling you to read books on a blog. But I do love the printed word, and I try to get offline as much as I can to read. And now you have a pretty incentive, complete with mug of coffee for the full-stop.

Goodies in the Mail

Last week I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Kylie's blog. In fact, I won it on the very same day of my own giveaway - that's quick acting karma, for you!

It arrived this morning wrapped in red and aqua pretties. I'm so excited to sit down with this beautiful book Handmade Hellos and its presence alone is hugely inspiring. Thanks so much, Kylie! (You can have a peek in Kylie's shop, too, for some deliciously cute brooches. Also, I confess the soundtrack to Kylie's blog is so good you might just keep it open in your browser a little bit longer!).

Collections: Amassblog

Repetition, simplicity and order: this is what collections say to me. As an avid (yet admittedly much less stylish!) collector, these images from Amassblog spoke to me.
Book labels, cigar labels, comics, postcards, letterheads and more - this is a collection of collections - a veritable eye-feast.Everyone remembers the collections in Amelie - the charming books of photobooth photos, and of wet footprints in concrete. For some, that might seem bizarre, but to me it feels oh so right.
What, if anything, do you collect? What do you love about collecting?

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Papercraft Friday 9: Julene Harrison

I am absolutely smitten with the work of Julene Harrison - these are some exceptional papercuts! The best thing? She takes commissions and makes pretty things just for you. Subscribing to her blog and has made me so happy - do pop over and say hello! (You can also see her at her new etsy store).

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Honest Scrap Award

The lovely LPC has given me the 'Honest Scrap Award' for my "initiative in starting new things and following through on what I began." This is such a delicious award - I feel really happy to have received it. Thank you.

Initiative can be a tricksy beast. Sometimes I despair at all the projects I have started, letters I have to write, things to learn, chapters to finish. But on the other hand, I know that in the event I finished all my current to-dos, I'd immediately start on the next one! So for now, I'm concentrating on being ok with uncertainty and unfinished-ness: works in progress have to be like that in order to get finished, n'est-ce pas?

So, the award has certain 'requests', as LPC notes, which are as follows:

-Each blogger to whom the award is given must post these rules.
-Each blogger to whom the award is given must list ten random facts/habits about themselves and pass the award on to other recipients.
-The award recipients then need to do the same.
-Don't forget to leave a comment telling the recipients about the award!

In the spirit of not boring you to tears, I'm only going to tell you 4 random things about me - all of which have to do with taking initiative in some way or another:

1. I love stumbling upon furniture in op shops or by the side of the road, and working out how to fit them into my house. Same, of course, goes for clothes in cute op shops.
2. I am finishing my PhD, which is equal parts amazing and gut-wrenching. So it's fair to say that I am more looking forward to having it done than actually doing it at the moment.
3. I like to make things. Anything, really. New things are especially exciting.
4. I have always wanted to write a novel, and I started one this year. It's not very long so far, but I hope to get it written after I hand in my thesis. For now, it's a really fun distraction.

I'd like to pass the award onto Alice, for turning her blog world into "real" writing for various mags and even being interviewed for a podcast! (Edited to say: technological 'isyoos' have gotten in the way of the podcast this time, but I'm sure she'll be there soon.) Her initiative too (and just plain loveliness) is most definitely deserving of such an award.