All Things Lovely

Friday Office Style

I've finally reached the end of the week, and I'm hoping there's casual Friday! I thought I'd go for a lovely summery dress with my casual look for this week.

A light summery maxi dress, the little black shrug from Wednesday to hide those pesky arms, another gorgeous bag from Spencer & Rutherford, and some wedges from Wittner. I also found some cute little earrings from Risky Beads.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing some ideas for work outfits, I've had so much fun putting them all together.

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay tuned for a fabulous giveaway starting Monday.

Pillow Crush

I recently found these absolutely gorgeous pillows through one of my favourite blogs, Design*Sponge. If you've been living on another planet, and don't know about this blog, do yourself a favour and have a peek. I love it.

What I didn't know about were Thomas Paul Pillows, aren't they just beautiful? They make me want to change the entire colour scheme of my loungeroom around. My favourite is Perch of course! Wouldn't you know it though, no shipping to Australia. :(

In my hunting around, I also found out there is far more to Thomas Paul than just cushions. Stationery, lovely fabric, cute totes, items for you tabletop and more! Gosh, I could get very carried away.

Etsy Late Night Shopping

Welcome to another Etsy Late Night Shopping. Given that we're getting closer to Christmas, I thought I'd start checking out Etsy for Christmas cards. Usually I make my own, but this year I thought perhaps I would buy some really beautiful cards for my close friends and family.

I'm developing quite an obsession with letterpress cards, so these Christmas cards from Smock Paper just made me smile... a lot! As well as lovely cards, there is also great wrapping paper.

Aren't these gorgeous from Le Papier Sudio? Beautiful cards, calendars, prints, gift tags - the list goes on! And, there are birds!

I really love the simplicity of the designs from Apple Blossom. Fresh, cute and just lovely.

Thursday Office Style

Moving right along, by now it's past hump day and the weekend is in sight!

I actually really like this outfit, I think it's the grey tones. Not a colour I'd normally wear, but I like it here. I'm wearing the same black pants as earlier in the week, teamed with a little black cami and pretty cardigan. Some heels, another bag from Spencer & Rutherford and some Diva earrings is enough for today.

Wednesday Office Style

Following on from Monday and Tuesday's outfits, I thought it was high time to pull out a skirt.

Sometimes I find it an effort to wear a skirt to work because of the whole high heel thing. The work skirts I own really look silly with flats so I feel like I have to wear heels, and then I just feel like I'm tottering all day. But, maybe it's time to deal with it?

Keeping the same shoes and bag from Tuesday, I'm heading off in a black skirt and simple red camisole. The black shrug is certainly a staple in my wardrobe to cover arms that I detest. I also found some cute little earrings from Etsy seller, Shannon's Room.

Tuesday Office Style

Following on from my post about new office outfits, here is Tuesday's outfit.

Again, I've stuck with the staple black pants, but added a coloured top, bright red patent bag and fabulous red heels. Not that I'd really be able to walk in them as heels are not my thing! Just to pretty up the hair, I've added a little flower hair clip from Diva.

Monday Office Style

I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks, which I am beyond thrilled about. I was getting bored in my old job, and could see myself stuck there forever, so it was definitely time to go.

So, a new job to me means new clothes! I thought I would do a little search around, and when my payout comes, I'll be ready for a massive shopping spree. I thought I'd share with you some outfits that I've put together, that might be OK for work. It's a fairly casual office where I'm going, so I'm looking forward to wearing some comfier clothes. Now, I'm definitely on the larger side of life, so these are mainly outfits from plus size stores, with lots of fun accessories thrown in.

The clothing is from City Chic. I am a big fan of black, so you'll see a lot of it. I figure some nice black pants can be quite a work wardrobe staple, so much can go with them. I plan to dress it up with a gorgeous pink brooch from Etsy seller Yamira and some heels from Mathers. I adore handbags and one of my favourite brands is Spencer & Rutherford. I probably can't quite afford to splurge on many handbags, but this one is lovely.

My Backyard Got A Haircut

After only about 7 months, I've finally been able to mow my new lawn! I returfed over the Easter weekend, and since we then went through winter, it's only now that it's really needed to be mown. I was terribly excited (can you tell I've not done this before?) As you can, it was getting a bit desperate.

Given that it's such a small patch of grass, I just bought a little push manual mower, which then had to be put together. Fortunately Dad was able to help with that, or I would be screwed.

Indiana of course was a huge help.

So, we finally got it together and got the lawn mowed. I'm telling you, it was harder than it looks. I'm hoping next time with less grass it's heaps easier.

And after. The edges still need doing, but I need to borrow an edger and then it will be beautiful. Cricket fans will know what I mean when I say I want to make it look like the MCG for the Boxing Day test.... just once!

Pop In My Shop

I recently received a big pile of fabric from Heather Bailey's new Pop Garden range. At first when it was released I was a bit ho hum about it, but now that I've actually seen it in person, and paired with other fabrics, I really love it. I used it to make some new food carriers, and baby bibs for my shop.

Etsy Late Night Shopping

Here in Australia, Thursday is late night shopping where everything is open until the terribly late hour of 9pm. Wow. I'm not sure if other countries do the same thing? Anyway, in honour of that, I thought I would start a weekly feature, Etsy Late Night Shopping every Thursday.

This week, brooches and pretty things for my hair are on my mind. I love accessorising with brooches, pretty little flowers etc so I went looking. Here's what I found.

 
The Brooch Boutique - well the name says it all! Some really cute fabric and crocheted brooches here, as well as cute little bobby pins.

 

I'm sure I've seen Foundling around on many blogs, but I love these upcycled designs. Just fantastic.

 

Yamira is a beautiful little shop, and one thing that makes it fabulous is her photography. I just wish I could get perfect white backgrounds like that! The beautiful flower brooches are also so lovely, I'm planning to buy that little pink one.

Beyond Excitement

Remember the roses I planted recently? Well, I was unable to find one of them as a bare rooted rose, so I was given a 2 year old version of it. It's a David Austin rose named Grace. This is a really special rose to me, as I wanted to plant it to remember someone who I loved and isn't with me anymore.

I only planted it 10 days ago, and yesterday I went and had a look and this is what I was blessed with.

 

Isn't it just exquisite? The fragrance is delightful as well. I am so excited that I'm actually managing to grow something!

A Few Little Changes

I've made a few little changes to the blog - which I think is why it broke yesterday! Oops. I think it's all back under control now.

Anyway, I decided to move my blogroll, it was getting so long so I've moved it off to another page. There's a little button over on the top of the left sidebar for you to find it. If you'd like to swap links, send me a little 120x70 button and I can add you.

I also thought I'd add some tutorials, nothing too exciting, just the links to the chair makeover I did, and my lampshade that I covered.