Happy Birthday little man

My adorable boy turns 1 today! He is as scrumptious as he looks :-)



Such a happy camper is our Josiah Steele, he loves to smile, clap, share his slobber with me.... constantly, puts up with a lot of 'loving' from the big sister (which is not always gentle), loves to investigate, climb, play in the dirt, has discovered how fun chalk is! He is not particularly interested in walking just yet - all in good time. We are blessed to have him in our lives, it is a gift and responsibility we don't take lightly. Happy Birthday J-boy x

My Creative Space - Party Cakes

As I mentioned yesterday my handsome little guy is almost 1! We had a little family party for him last Saturday on the rare occasion all 4 my siblings were in town and it was my brother Jeremy's actual birthday that day!

My first 'boy' cake! From the "Women's Weekly More Cakes for Kids" book. It was very easy and if you have the book, I just doubled the butter cake mix and used a square tin instead of a loaf tin but I forgot to double my icing so I only just made it! Those flat icing knives really are worth having for this sort of icing!







Best dad ever! Another rare shot, Anya smiling for the camera, she is such a 'contrary Mary'.


The birthday boy a little unsure about the singing (pictured with my sister and niece).



The two birthday boys, Jeremy and Josiah. More creative spaces for your viewing pleasure, at Kirsty's.

Happy Australia Day and 1 Year Older

Australia Day is celebrated with mixed emotions around the country but is generally a time where I know I am grateful to be living in a country like this - free from war and oppression. Despite the devastation the weather has been creating in some states, we are still so rich in resources, we have a Government that actually help us and an overall desire to help each other. What is not to love about that!



Strange photos to match the content you might be thinking? It is also my birthday on Australia Day and if my 3 year old has anything to do with it we might just be playing pin the tail on her baby brother?!?! I saw these gorgeous photos today and they said Celebration to me! I suddenly don't like the age I am creeping towards but know I better embrace it - I have no other choice :-)

Photos by Confetti System as seen on Decor8.

#1 - Poufs - New series

I had fun finding a really diverse range of Chandeliers to feature last year so I wondered what I could find to amuse myself this year.... then I stumbled upon my answer... Flora Pouf by Modern Dose. On an entirely different note, my lovely hubby and I have been married 8 years today! I have been blessed with an incredibly good man. He still makes me smile and laugh :-) H.A GG x

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl

Anya is 3 today! She is a determined little girl who knows just what she wants (like someone else I know :) My daughter can push my buttons and make me laugh in equal measure! She is a creative and smart little bunny who is well-read and has a fabulous vocabulary. We love her to death and thank God for the blessing she is to us - Happy Birthday gorgeous girl.

Melting moments... kind-of edible

How much do you want to kiss and munch on that smiley face - he is such a joy this boy of mine. He is dominating in the photo stakes at the moment as Anya doesn't want her photo taken much! She is however enjoying plenty of time in front of my bedroom mirror and watching her reflection in all the glass sliding doors though! ha ha Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my new house??? Maybe once or twice! The light is fabulous.

Kids rooms - ideas?

I am looking for inspiration to some kids rooms where boys and girls share!!! Our new place only has 2 bedrooms, so Anya and Josiah will be sharing - just like the good old days!



I don't want the colours to be completely neutral but want to incorporate something that suits both sexes?!

If anyone knows the source of these top two images please let me know... I was a naughty girl and didn't save the name! oops!


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This is where I have been.....

So this is where I have been.... busy playing Mum to two kids (Josiah is 10 weeks on Monday) - even though I have had my mother-in-law visiting for the past week I didn't seem to get to my blog much but I did deliver a box of goodies to Shop Handmade! They included some of my new designs and some old favourites. And this latest addition below taken at the shop!



We also had the pre-settlement inspection on our new place - so we should settle in 28 days or less. We have decided to see our lease out and move at the end of August! Soooooooooo exciting!!

Lovely Gifts

I have been sooooo spoilt this past fortnight with both Mothers Day and having another baby! I love to bake and spotted this cookbook a few weeks ago, after flicking through it and drooling for a while, I decided it had to go on the must haves list! I love a good cook book and actually do use all of them frequently. I also love to pull something off the shelf that has been neglected for a while and discover something new all over again.



My hubby coined the term "push present" after we had Anya and I received a lovely white gold eternity ring!!! So on Friday when he said he wanted to get out on his own for the afternoon I must admit I wasn't overly enthusiastic but that soon changed when he came home with some lovely presents for me :-) I received these divine blossom studs from Kidson Jewellery via Shop Handmade, which I had cheekily written on the new shop chalkboard aka - 'wish-list'! And that wasn't all!!! I also got some gorgeous Peter Alexander flannelette's PJ's which are brilliant for night feeds with Josiah! Comfortable, well made and toasty and warm.

Can't get enough of this handsome boy

Josiah - 11 days old



Getting better acquainted with the big sister :-)



There is no shortage of love in our house at the moment!!

Thanks too for everyone's well wishes and lovely comments :-) It is much appreciated.

It's a BOY!

Josiah Steele Grace finally arrived Monday 3rd May at 9pm. Weighing 3.615g (8pound) and 54.5cm long! Mum and bub doing fine! He made a quick, spectacular entry into the world :-) His big sister is doing a great job and keeps telling me how 'cute' he is! Anya was doing a digit check on her first meeting (above) :-) Thanks for all the well wishes

Oh & we changed the spelling of his name slightly! Just for the record... I scheduled all my posts his week!!! Then things will be a little quiet around here!

Family Photos - by the amazing Amanda Keeys

Last weekend we trekked to Sydney to hang with my family and have a few photos taken with the brilliant Amanda Keeys! I love all these photos - particularly that first shot of Anya and this black and white. Anya barely sat still - Amanda did a fabulous job capturing her. {images - Amanda Keeys}

The most romantic thing ever done for me...

In light of all the lovey dovey stuff that we have endured over the last few weeks for Valentines, I thought I would share my favourite romantic story - the best part is - it actually happened to ME! In 2002 Gordon & I went with a few friends to Thailand to help out at the Agape Orphanage build in Chang Mai. I celebrated my birthday while we were there and after a lovely day off we went out for dinner with the group then Gordon and I went off for a wander through the night markets on our own.



Little did I know the rest of the team had strict instructions to carry out a secret squirrel operation in my honour from the gorgeous Gordon (then 'boyfriend'). To cut a long story short - the team purchased an entire truck of flowers from one seller and the seller was so overjoyed he drove them all back to our hotel in his truck, flowers and all!! They then set about decorating my bedroom with 1000 roses, fairy lights and other lovely flowers :-)



You can imagine my delight and surprise when I walked into my room - I burst into happy tears - it truly was such a grand romantic gesture... I felt like a movie star going to bed that night and couldn't sleep. Everyone thought a proposal was at the fore but we weren't ready for that yet! Needless to say the rest of the boys on the trip weren't happy with Gordon and the girls romantic expectations had just gone up a notch. I was one giddy girl :-) (Gordon thinks it is worth a trip to thailand to do this fella's as you could never afford to do it in Oz!) {my images - from Christchurch Botanical gardens - I couldn't find my actual photos of the day - that is why this post is sooo late ;}

Monday Musings - A day in Bowral

I had a lovely girls day in Bowral over the weekend with my cousin, Melanie (left) and my sister-in-law Kate (right). We kicked the morning off with a coffee and cake at the Elephant Boy Cafe - my favourite... It has a great ambience, old books lining the walls and a lovely, hard-working hostess with quirky glasses, braids and great calves :-) She is there every time I go and is always BUSY!

We pottered around the shops and spent quite some time in Seed and another favourite, My Place. Seed is divided into two sides, childrens clothing and lovely stuff for Mum (pictured). They had sensational props, old hat boxes, hat blocks and a massive glass jar full to the brim with letter press letters! I wanted to tuck that under my arm and bring it home! All in all it was a lovely day out.

I unfortunately blew my back tyre on the way home in the middle of nowhere on the highway :-( I have been a paying member of NRMA for 7 years and the one time I need them I get told it will be 2 hrs minimum wait - sorry. I couldn't even lift the spare tyre out of the boot - I sat on the back of the car and cried! That lasted all of 5 minutes, pulled myself together, prayed for some divine intervention and no later than 5 minutes a tow truck heading in the opposite direction crossed the split highway and came to my rescue - changing my tyre in all of 5 minutes. *sigh* Thank you God! I was extremely grateful (as was Gordon) and got home in one piece. A great ending, for a great day.

Birthday goodness

My delicious birthday cake - nothing good in it, oh maybe the 5 eggs :-) Muddy Chocolate Cake by Donna Hay, cooked by moi. I had a lovely day, thanks for the well wishes. My daughter enjoyed blowing out the candles so much we did it twice. I finally started on my honeycomb smocked cushion cover too! It is very time consuming but hope it will be worth all the effort! I am just using a cream linen/cotton blend from my stash. I also received the most gorgeous Japanese sewing pattern from my cousin Gret. I can't wait to try it out - it's for a children's top two ways and converts to a dress. Fortunately there are a lot of blogs that help out with the translation/instructions but I think it will be a lot of guess work and possibly trying it out in a muslin first!

Chandeliers

I could do a whole series on Chandeliers - oh I love them so. When I was 10yrs old we moved from the Snowy Mountains to Sydney on Christmas Eve to a house that was over 100 years old. My sister and I had a chandelier a little like this one in our bedroom! Sooo extravagant and glamorous for a young girl. I loved lying in bed at night staring at the chandelier pretending they were my beautiful jewells - we also had an elaborate pattern on the roof which I memorized and could trace in the air - it felt like a castle. Mum, Dad and my youngest brother still live there. Speaking of 'little brothers' - the surprise baby of the family starts as a senior in high school this week - eek. {image - Mahine on Flickr}

Happy Birthday to me :-)

My 30's are fast disappearing as I edge towards that other 'age bracket' - eek... I don't have much to tell today as I am about to disappear into a lovely day spent with my hubby and daughter - It's Australia Day here in Oz and the nation celebrates with a public holiday and fireworks among other things :-) I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. {image}

Behind the scenes - photoshoot

The cutest thing was Anya bringing out one of those story book view-finders to 'take some photos' of Auntie Liz - just like Mum was! I am wishing my sister-in-law lived in Canberra not New Zealand - I much preferred taking product shots on her head than mine.

Back to reality!

Well tonight our holidays are official over! Hubby goes back to work tomorrow and it's back to just me and Anya (and the baby bump who lets his/her presence be known!) It's also our 7th wedding anniversary today hence Gordon starting back at work tomorrow. We had such a lovely time away, both over Christmas with family, then some time at home in Canberra then 5 nights at Jervis Bay at the beach which was superb! Jervis Bay has some of the whitest sand in the world (according to the Guiness book of records). Such a beautiful part of NSW. It was hard getting used to 38 degrees in Canberra today with no sea breeze or beach views to ease the pain! ughh. Thrilled to make some new flowers while on a break too! More about that tomorrow!

All he wants for Christmas

How I would dearly love to send my gorgeous husband to Italy for this course (with me, pregnant belly and 2yr old in tow of course). My husband loves design and typography and we have lots of lovely old books on the subject, some belonging to my grandfather who was a commercial artist. I was fortunate enough to go to Europe in 2000 but didn't make it to Italy. Gordon has never been - so there is plenty of Europe left for both of us to explore... one day.
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