All Things Lovely

Pretty Little Kitchen Things

I made the mistake of checking out the Anthropolgie website tonight. Big mistake since they don't ship to Australia, and our dollar is woeful so everything is quite pricey now. But, oh goodness, how cute are these?!

Measuring Spoons

Matryoshka Measuring Cups

Salt & Pepper Shakers

Happy Birthday Invitations!

My birthday is coming up, and I always think birthdays should be celebrated, so every year I get all my favourite people together to celebrate. It really is just an excuse to see everyone! These are my invitations for this year, I was very time poor so they were not what I originally wanted. However, I love mixing sewing and paper together, so I think these are cute.

Artwork By Jillian Ditner

I received a lovely email recently from Jillian Ditner inviting me to look at some of her artwork at Painted By Numbers, which also features work by Drew Khan. Since I actually had some time tonight, I took a little squiz and I'm so glad I did!

So, of course I had to share.

Studio Sneak Peak

I really want to show you all my studio that I've been working on for the past 6 months (I still can't believe it's been that long!) but it always seems to not look lovely, because I've always got a project going. And the fact that it's taken me so long to get it done kind of indicates it's amazing - which it's not.

So, I just thought I'd show you something that doesn't need cleaning up. I've put up 3 fantastic Ikea shelves - I have to say I am in love with these. Just perfect and non intrusive. It looks like they're not selling them in Australia any more though which is a bit sad.

I've loved searching for cute pictures to display on them, and I love that it's all able to be changed around when I'm loving something else a little more.

Top to bottom, and left to right; Art from Ola Design 2008 calendar, Can You See Me Print by Tambatoys, I Dig Birds print from Aunty Cookie, ABC tile from Anthropologie, Eiffel Tower card from Made By Girl, art from Ola Design 2008 calendar, God Is Love card from Made By Girl

And So Sweet bunny print by Littlest Flower is sitting on the shelves.

Utter Devastation

I know this isn't normal All Things Lovely blog fodder, but this is such a devastating time in Australia that I had to mention it.

Photo by volunteer firefighter Stephen Henderson

My heart is breaking for all of those people who have been affected by the horrific bushfires that have swept through Victoria over the past few days. Over 1000 homes have been lost, and the death toll continues to rise, at the moment sitting just under 200 precious lives - not to mention all the wildlife.

Australia deals with bushfires almost every summer. As a country we have never seen anything like this, and I pray we never do again. At the moment, these fires are still raging with no real end in sight due to changes in the weather.

If you want to help, donations can be made through the Red Cross, what will help the most is money, blood and daily necessities.

We can only pray that these are out soon, as people then have to deal with saying goodbye to those they loved, and begin to rebuild their lives.

Valentines Day

So, we're coming up to what is potentially one of the most depressing days on the calendar. I thought I'd share some of my favourite cards - maybe I'll summon up the courage to send one.

1. Pink Loves Brown
2. Cuore
3. Made By Girl
4. Sycamore Press
5. Freshly Skweezed
6. Wind Up Bird Studios

It's A Harsh Summer

I want to cry. This is my beautiful lush green grass at the moment. Sydney (most of Australia actually) is going through a massive heatwave at the moment. It's been about 40 degrees out here (over 100 for those in fahrenheit) every day and so my poor little garden is really suffering. Add to that we're on fairly tight water restrictions from the drought so I can only water twice a week.

Some of my camellias have really suffered, this one is not too bad, so you can imagine the sad sight some of the others are. I'm really hoping with as much water as possible, plus hopefully some cooler weather in a week or two they might come back to life. At least my roses are loving it!