Peaceful spaces

These photographs both make me breathe out and relax. There's something about the colour scheme which seems really peaceful. Happy Monday!

Bacash's Emporium

I've been meaning to show these photos for ages. Over the New Year, I went to visit a good friend's house down in country Victoria, and visited her favourite local vintage shop, Bacash's Emporium. It used to be a haberdashery store, but upstairs is now a large selection of furniture, bric-a-brac and crockery -it's delicious.

I could have bought lots and lots in there: these bottles were amazing, and only a few dollars each.

What I did buy was the trunk below (apologies for the bad light: it's in an awkward-to-photograph spot.) I'm using it as a side table - you can see it's a sort of duck egg blue colour, with lots of scratches, which I like. Oh, and it is made of lead or steel: it is the heaviest piece I've ever lifted and the Pal cursed me as we lifted it up flights of stairs.

Now questions for you, dear Internet. What do you think it was used for? There are no holes inside and it has about three layers of insulation. It is steel (or whatever it's made from) on the inside, too. Any suggestions would be most welcome!

All photos by me

Hedgehog

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Lately I have been thinking a lot about having a pet hedgehog. There are a lot of reasons why that is not a viable idea (not least I am rarely at home these days and it seems mean to neglect anything, let alone a hedeghog as cute as this one). Also you have to feed them live worms, which is a bit icky. But LOOK at the cuteness of this hedgehog. SERIOUSLY.

Spacey Silver

Could this be the perfect nail polish for summer? It's so metallic-y and shiny, I wonder whether I would just look at my nails all day. Which would be weird. And kind of awesome.

New study idea

Sometimes this blog becomes a visual 'thinking out loud' activity for me. For a long time, I've been wanting to streamline our study/spare bedroom. I'm thinking that I'd love to get rid of the spare bed, and just focus on a cleaner, more tidy room. But I also like the idea of a spare room for friends to come and stay... These studies make me want to start again from a white piece of paper!

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Back again!

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Dear Internets,

I'm sorry I haven't been around much. It turns out that wedding planning and starting a new job is a somewhat lethal recipe for your blog. No complaints - life is good, but things are certainly falling through the cracks a bit. Recently I forgot three friends' birthdays (and I pride myself on remembering things like that!) which was a bit mortifying. Anyway, I'm back, and I'm trying to get back on the blog wagon, but things might be a little slow for now.

Love Kate

Gallery Walls

More and more gallery walls seem to be taunting me. We're not allowed to put any hooks or sticky 3M hooks on our walls (except, ahem, the three that I've already put up), so a gallery wall would seem an excessive violation of the silly, silly rules. Gah. So pretty and delicious.

Images from here and here.

New Glasses

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So, these are my new glasses! I was a bit trepidatious about buying them (and now wearing them) but am really enjoying them so far. Glasses say so much about your face that I struggle to find ones I can be happy with for a whole year or, let's be honest, three! I now have a few pairs on the run together, so the more choices, the better.

Once Upon a Time...

... I gave this tile by Rob Ryan to the Pal. At the time, it seemed to sum up so many changes in our lives and the excitement of moving forward. It has moved from his house, to our house and (unbeknownst to me) became inspiration for a very sneaky plan.

Last Friday morning, I awoke to a cryptic phone text message from a 'Wise Old Owl' which set me off on hours of treasure hunting. First, I found some balloons with a key attached at my front door and these led me to lots more puzzles in our apartment. Find-a-words and a CD where I had to use the titles and artists to break a code (I love a good puzzle!) had me searching high and low for more clues throughout our apartment (one was even in the freezer!). The last clue told me to pack a bag for somewhere cold - this becomes important later - to leave it in the apartment and to catch the 9:22am ferry into the city.

What greeted me on the walk to the ferry were countless signs, chalk arrows and red helium balloons tied to fence posts from my house all the way down to the wharf - it was like I was in a dream. I kept searching around to see if any friends were hidden around, but it was just me.

I was crying as I took these photos - and people walking up from the ferry kept saying, "Who's Kate? What adventure?!" When I finally got down to the wharf, the outside and inside were covered with pages spelling out quotes from my favourite books. By now, I was really, really crying...

When I got inside the ferry, I received another message from the Wise Old Owl, telling me that there was another clue attached to a helium balloon inside. Inside this clue were more polaroids of city landmarks - places I had to search for further! Here are the photos:

Just as I was beginning to doubt my directional capabilities, I got off the ferry and to my astonishment saw more green signs - they were everywhere!! Happily guided along by my green friends, I wandered through the city, utterly speechless (although still crying at this stage).

The arrows led me to The Vault, a fancy safety deposit box facility where I thought the Pal might meet me... Instead, I used my key which was delivered to my door that morning to open a box to uncover an ipod shuffle loaded with some songs by one of my favourite artists, and a boarding pass to Hobart. Alongside these was the instruction to walk to the InterContinental Hotel and pick up my bag in order to go to the airport!

I walked to the hotel, (wondering how my bag had even got there in the first place!) crying even more, if possible, and asked for my bag, which emerged attached to more helium balloons and another envelope clue. It said to tear up my previous boarding pass, and use another one to fly to Hamilton Island!

By this stage, I was certain that the adventure would end there. But when I arrived at Hamilton Island, I saw a woman holding a green Kate's Adventure sign, and the Pal wasn't in sight! She took me on a bus to a helipad where, no joke, I got on a helicopter, despite the pilot giving me no clues as to our destination. (That's me in the attractive life jacket below in the top left). We left Hamilton Island and flew low over the Whitsundays, pulling in at a tiny beach with huts, and (you can see it in the middle below) a MASSIVE sign in the sand reading 'Adventure' with a huge arrow.

As I got off the helicopter (felt a little like I was in Tropic Thunder for a minute, then remembered I was in a tropical version of Amelie), the lovely staff buzzed around me, grabbed my luggage, gave me another envelope with a clue and told me to keep following the signs. I went down to the beach where I saw a boat come towards me. Just as I thought that this couldn't possibly be real, the captain said, 'Hi Kate!' and told me to get on board.

We zoomed out away from the resort, and even though we were in pristine bushland, large 'Kate's Adventure' signs were roped around rocks and trees all along the way! We pulled into a small beach, and the captain of the boat told me to stand up at the bow as we pulled into the beach.

The Pal was waiting there with champagne on ice, a cheese plate and, on the beach in the middle of nowhere, asked me to marry him.

And I said yes!

One of our dearest friends who was integral to the whole plan stuck this on our door for our arrival home, and planted chocolates and champagne in our apartment, too.

Thank you to everyone who helped in this intricate Amelie-style proposal - it was so incredibly extraordinary - and I am so excited!

-FIN- (or 'beginning'?)

Mossy Greens and Whites

Really enjoying this picture. I love the texture of the white porcelain, the moss and the colour combination. And yes, it's from a wedding blog: I've been helping a friend with some ideas for her table decorations and came across these. Pretties!

Regina Spektor: Laughing With

This Regina Spektor video clip is breathtaking! I love the allusions to Escher and Dali and so many more. And her voice is just incredible.

(I've pre-posted this: Happy New Year's from Oman and I hope to be checking in soon!)

Singer Sewing Table Restoration: Part III

I'm sure you've been hanging out to see these, dear readers?! Well after a few more hours of backbreaking work over the past few weekends, I have got rid of more green in favour of some lovely looking wood.
In the photo above you can see how much rust is on the treadle. I have been scrubbing it off with a wire brush, but it is stubborn. Think at this stage I'll definitely have to paint it glossy black to get it back to its former glory.
Basically this is all I have left to do: the back and the insides, and a bit of detailing all over. At this stage, my thoughts are this: paint stripping needs a lot of effort and time. For me, it's been worth it, as I'll have a piece of heirloom furniture that I love. But I can see how this could never be a viable business model - it just takes too much time.
And this is what it looked like before remember?! Why green, Dad, why green?!

*Again, please excuse the photo quality. These were taken in a garage, and the light is really bad.

Singer Sewing Table Restoration: Part II

Remember this? Well, I've got a start on it with some seriously good paint stripper and a lot of elbow grease. And I'd say after a good couple of hours, I'm about 10% of the way there... This green stuff likes to stay on! (A most excellent stress reliever, though. My grandma sits by me with a cup of hot water and lemon and we chat while I scrub.)
So far, one side looks pretty great, although there are heaps of green flecks on the decorative part. And the top (below) is also looking a lot less green, too.

On closer inspection, the wrought iron base and treadle is also very rusty - I think I'm going to have to get some rust remover and/or some glossy black spray paint for it, but I'll see what it looks like post-greenness.

Etsy Anniversary and Giveaway!

Today marks two years since I opened my little etsy shop - and it has been such an adventure. I count myself lucky to have met so many lovely customers and such interesting, crafty folk.

I also have many more plans (post-thesis!) to revamp and add new goodies, so stay tuned. And I have some more exciting news to share about the shop in the coming weeks, too...

In the meantime, leave a comment on this post, and I'll enter your names in a draw to win a $20 (USD) voucher to the shop! (I'll draw it next Friday 9th October at 9am Sydney-time).

Blue Waves

There is a beautful new column on Decor8 called 'Color me Pretty' and these blue images are the first in the series. Aren't they perfect?
I've been lusting over blues trying to think of new quilt ideas for our lounge room. And this is the best inspiration fodder I've seen in ages!

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Hurumph

Hello friendly blog audience,
As many of you know, I am trying to complete my thesis at the moment. While I thought the end of August was an immovable deadline, it looks like I shall (yes, oh yes, again) be working into September and maybe beyond that.

So I wanted you to know that I won't be posting as much for the next short while. It seems hard to think of much else, and feels a bit disingenuous to sound excited about things when I'm really just exhausted and nervous.

Thanks (as always) for your lovely comments. See you soon xx

I've been feeling like this lately...

Every Day in May: 31st May

Well, I've finally reached the end of this month long challenge. It has been so much fun, and I think these are the things I have learned:

-It is not naughty to take time out and craft things. In fact, it can be really good for my general happiness. (This guy has a doctorate and decided to be a mechanic full-time.)

-Even a small amount of time, like 15 minutes, can be used for creating things. Stop re-checking my email etc and just get to work!

-Being afraid of new things is just silly. Try them more often and don't be afraid of the outcome.

Thanks again for watching me play along. Now I can get into a happy pattern of crafty things in June!

Simplifying Things

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A thought that seems to be on high-rotation in my head is, "I wish I had time to do + [cool thing]" and it's been driving me crazy! Obviously it is only up to me to 'make' time (whatever that means) so I have taken drastic-ish measures. This is all inspired by my 'Every Day in May' challenge, which has made me very determined to make every second count.

So in order to do more things for me and other people, I have:

-deleted my Twitter account. I did enjoy it but it became way. Too. Distracting.

-cut the list of blogs I read from 124 to 63. This has made a HUGE difference to how much time I have - and I feel as though I have kept the good ones. (I'm sure I've cut good ones, too, but sometimes you've just got to be brutal).

-made lists of all the things I want to make, write and do over the next little while. It is fun to think that they are real and tangible.

-made myself choose one thing from a list and start on it each day. Sometimes I can only give it a fifteen minute window, but you'd be amazed what you can get done.

Do you have any tips on simplifying or happifying your life? Are there things you'd like to do but haven't? Plans you have? Dreams? I'd love to hear them - post me a comment!

Help please!

Taken in Nikko, Japan 2009.

Can I ask your opinions please, lovely blog readers? I have noticed that JetStar have some insane types of airfares on right now, and I was thinking of taking advantage of them with my Mum once I've finished my thesis. (September, if you're curious).

Bizarrely, I am trying to decide whether to go to the Sunshine Coast in Oz, or to Tokyo! (Yes, a hefty price differential). But the background is this: I've never been away with just Mum - as the eldest of three girls, it was always all or nothing. And Mum's had a pretty rough run with a lot of health issues over the years, so hasn't always been well enough to go away. So we'd really like to do something with just the two of us.

So I sat down to make a list: where would I want to spend a week after my thesis?

Sunshine Coast

Pros
-relaxing/refreshing. Good opportunity for quiet, close times.
-cheap (at $69 for 2 people, it almost seems impossible).

Cons
-not as interesting as Tokyo!
-can go to the beach in Sydney.

Tokyo
Pros
-Amazing opportunity to have together: imagine the stories to tell!
-Interesting/cool/fun/crazy*

Cons
-Expensive (a bigger, but not impossible airfare).
-Might be tiring and exhausting post-thesis?

Every time I keep thinking "Ok, let's go to Sunshine Beach", then I think, "But we could do that any time in our future - it's going to be harder and harder to get to Japan". (I might, for example, get a 'real' job one day where it's hard to take holidays...)

So what do you think? Would it be madness to fly to Japan for a week? Better to have a beach holiday? Any thoughts/advice you have would be greatly appreciated! (Any lurkers: this is your time to shine! De-lurk and tell me what to do!!)

I will make a decision by Monday and let you know. Thanks!

*It's impossible to describe my love for Tokyo/Japan.