All Things Lovely

Introducing.... Avonlea Designs!

My brand spanking new Etsy shop is finally up and running. After being held up week after week by a supplier, I finally was sick of it and just decided to go ahead with it.

First thing first was to design a logo. Who knew this would take me hours, dam my fussiness! I came up with an idea after working on it for literally about 4 hours late last Friday night. I went to bed thinking I was happy, and when I woke up I realised I wasn't. How typical. So I put it aside for a little while and when I came back to it, I made some changes and was finally happy. What do you think?

Once that was done, it was onto designing my banner for my Etsy store, plus stickers and other paraphernalia that I needed for when I actually made a sale. I really love the banner I now have, I love stumbling across beautiful Photoshop brushes and them being precisely what you want.

And then it was onto photographing my initial stock of 25 items. Each one needing at least 3 photos! I was over it, and you can probably tell by the slightly dodgy photo editing efforts. :) Anyway, they get the point across, here are a few samples of what I'll be selling.

Firstly, a knitting bag which you may have seen on here before. I use mine all the time, I find them so handy to carry everything around in, and also keep it clean. (That scarf will feature in an upcoming post when I get it finished!)

This design was inspired by something my Mum has, that she's been using for the past 20 or so years. Hers was a bit daggy, made with older style fabric. I thought I'd jazz the design up with some of my favourite fabric, to make a retro style food carrier! Isn't the cupcake fabric oh so cute?

And then, baby bibs. I think these are so cute and I only wish I had my own baby to deck out in them. Oh well, the babies of my friends will have to do!

So that's it! Now I just have to run it, but I'm so glad to finally see it up and running. I adore sewing, so I'm hoping to come up with some new designs to keep it well stocked. Stop on by if you get the chance.

Tiny Sneak Peek

I'm getting ready to launch my brand spanking new Etsy shop! More details in the coming days, but I thought I'd just give you a sneak peak into one of the items I'll be selling - retro style food carriers. Just what you need when you're off to a pot luck dinner or picnic.

The Beauty Of The Orchid

I adore orchids, and I've wanted one of these phalaenopsis orchids for quite a while. My lovely Mum decided to buy me one for Mother's Day and I've finally gotten around to potting it. Isn't it so elegant and beautiful?

Speaking of Mum, I had to write this post today. She phoned me yesterday 'Kylie, we're not very impressed with your blog.' At 30, I'm still getting in trouble for bad words! So, the main point of this post is to push the brilliant 'You broke my ♥' card below down just a smidge.

Where Was This 8 Months Ago?

I've stumbled upon this card today, man this would have been perfect! From Made By Girl, seriously check out her shop, there are some gorgeous cards, posters and other wonderful things. Oh, I added the little asterix because, well... my Dad reads this blog. :) Love you Dad!

The Bedroom Plan

I think I finally have a plan for my bedroom! Yay for me. Unfortunately I am no good with Photoshop so can't put together a lovely picture with all the elements so bear with me. So, this is currently what my room looks like, very very pink. The bed is staying because I love it.

I've definitely decided on the green, the brown was boring and way too much like the rest of my home. Now my problem is the exact shade of green. I'm planning to change the doona cover, to a gorgeous all white one...white! I must be mad! But I love the look of green and white together, very crisp and fresh. I've fallen in love with this fabric from Amy Butler's Nigella line, I'm planning to make a few throw cushions for the bed with it, so now I'm thinking I will ask my trusty friends at Bunnings to colour match to it.

So, I'm happy with all of that. Which brings me to other furniture in my room. About 10 years ago I found this chair, it was covered in a disgusting lime green velvet and I think I paid $20 for it. A kind friend of my mum's reupholstered it for me, and it is one of my favourite items. I think it will look OK with the green, thoughts?

So they are basically all of the elements. The vertical blinds will be going, I cannot express to you how much I detest vertical blinds! I will replace them with white drapes. Does it all sound OK? I'm looking forward to somehow pulling it all together, and my fingers are crossed that it will look alright.

Paint Samples - How I ♥ Thee

I stopped off at one of my all time favourite shops yesterday, Bunnings. I could spend days in there I think! I wanted to pick up some paint sample pots, as I can feel some repainting coming on.

I want to redesign my bedroom, my now ex-fiance proposed to me there so as you can imagine, memories need to be wiped. And what better way than a spruce up.

I picked up a few brochures, and three tins of paint and late last night got to painting some walls. There's not going back now, my bedroom looks diseased!

This is the green I sampled. I like that it's a strong colour. The master bedroom is a decent size, so this colour wouldn't overwhelm it. There is also a large window for lots of natural light. The colour used is Revere Green by Taubmans.

I also thought about painting it a neutral latte colour, similar to the rest of the house. My theory was that I could easily change the look with a few cushions and accessories. This colour is Clay Pipe by Dulux. I'm also contemplating a suede feature wall in a chocolate but I might save that for the staircase instead.

A New Look

As per normal, I like changing the blog around, and I've decided to do it again. The lovely and talented Renee from Etsy shop Thompson Designs created for me a brand spanking new blog banner. I absolutely love it, so bright, fun and fresh... and of course, it has a bird. I highly recommend them if you need a blog or Etsy shop banner.

I've also changed the sidebar a little bit, I love fonts and plain old Trebuchet was just not cutting it for my headings. So I changed it up a bit with a font I love, Honey Script.

So, what do you think? Is it all too bright or OK?

Today's Ebay Bargain

I'm slowly but surely in the process of creating a studio/workspace/sewing room at home. Although it's a long way off even starting, I'm collecting bargains as I find them.

Today, I managed to grab a chair off eBay for 99cents, can't beat that really. I'm planning to sand it back and paint it white, then cover the lovely green seat in this gorgeous fabric from Anna Maria Horner's new Drawing Room fabric.

What do you think? Will it look OK? Any sanding or painting tips I should know about? Or horror stories!

Making Ironing Fun

I guess like everyone, I hate ironing. To the point that I really don't bother. But when I'm sewing, I do often need to iron things, so a cool ironing board cover would help me out a bit. I really love this one from Hestia Houseworks Etsy store. Very retro, and very cute.

The Laundry Is Finally Finished!

Even though I didn't actually do much at all, this seemed to take weeks! It started here, and then I decided I didn't like any of the fabric choices, so I went with Fresh Poppies by Amy Butler, from the new Midwest Modern range. My first attempt with the curtains turned out far too poofy, so I toned it back and I think I'm happy now. I'm still getting used to walking in there and having something up on the window. So here are the new curtains!

This is the full look of the laundry, including my little fabric covered canvas 'L' that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I think it goes OK, but if anyone has other suggestions I'd love to hear them!

And this is the wall decal from Elephannie that I have next to the door, so you see it as you walk out. I didn't quite get it applied right, it's missing a lot of blossoms off the trees! I'm tossing up whether to take it off and buy another one the same. We'll see...

A 6 Month List Of Resolutions

Inspired by Nicole at Making It Lovely, I thought to encourage myself I would come up with a list of mainly creative goals if you will, for the rest of this year.

I'm not sure how I'll go, but let's see shall we?

• market my new Etsy store and have a steady stream of customers
• increase clients through Little Bird Blue Designs and possibly add a store to that website
• sew some new curtains for the upstairs bathroom
• do a makeover of my room - towards the end of the year including new linen and paint
• design a brand new studio for my spare room, including functional sewing and computer space
• finish planting my back garden with David Austin roses
• find a reasonably priced outdoor setting for the back garden
• get my hands on a copy of Photoshop CS3 and learn much more about it
• take myself away for a long weekend somewhere delicious and overpriced

Well... lets see how I go. This is added to the list of personal goals I also have for this year, which so far aren't going too badly... although my goal to get to the gym 4 times a week has really fallen over!

Just realised this post is a bit boring without a photo... will try and remedy that!