Jikana Damaru

Beauty in the rust

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you a palette of mushroom, pale aqua and gold, with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

The colour in Gas storage bottles by Sue McLoughlin
The beautiful Encyclopedia in counting again, 7 by Moonstitches
The gorgeous colour and texture in new stash! by semiplume
The pretty beaded necklace in Chloe - adorable, sweet, chic and fun by PastelPetals

Have a great day!

live like this

It's not often that I come across a boutique that has so many wonderful treasures but live like this is a little slice of heaven: From the pretty pastel blue of the exterior to the exquisite merchandise inside, all wonderfully displayed, to the friendly staff!

They stock Anna Lou's jewelery in a dark, wintry palette of black, plum and teals. They have a pretty selection of silicone bakeware, the cutest of cupcake wrappers and delightful rolls of oilcloth fabric. There is a selection of items from Cath Kidston, Rice and Orla Kiely. There is also a baby & kids section full of great gift ideas. I could have spent hours in there!

The shop is situated in the heart of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. But, they do have an online shop: live like this (link).

Have a sweet day!

~ Thunderbolts and Lightning ~

Drama in The Cove this afternoon when a big electrical storm hit! The house across the road had a direct hit and up in flames it went in a mater of minutes.

The poor man who lives there was home at the time and unable to get a thing out as it took over so fast - he has lived there for 50 years.

Certainly gave me a fright as it felt like it hit us - thankfully nobody was injured.

Hope the weekend is a little less eventful.

My Handmade Picnic Blanket

Last night was sort of momentous in the Cleary household... Fern, bless her, chose this night from any other over the last 3 months to sleep. All night. For 12 hours. Which meant we slept all night too. Well, at least until 5am until I could stand the suspense no longer and got up. Today I feel so awake, so invigorated, so ALIVE dammit that I can only imagine what a malfunctioning zombie I must have appeared over the last few months. It's all been a bit of a blur to be honest and I'm hoping this marks the start of a new chapter in this, our never-to-be-a-dull-moment first attempt at parenthood.

To celebrate my night of zzzz's, I decided to finish work on a picnic blanket I started ~~last Christmas~~ a little while ago. The idea was to create something a little more aesthetically pleasing than those hideous plastic-backed tartan numbers we seem to have accumulated (though I do not recall ever actually playing money for one.)

ta-daaaa:

(do you like the picnic basket prop? Jonah my Lab in background with one half of my black Havaiana flip-flops)

Close up of patchwork.

I'm so proud of myself! Ok, so none of squares quite match up and the stitching is as dodgy as all buggery but I sewed it ALL BY MYSELF. And now Fern and I can lie out the back on sunny afternoons on our new blanket and maybe, just maybe this might deter my daughter from eating grass.... one can only hope.

~ Picture Perfect Day ~

Today was one of those picture perfect days in Sydney. I know that some parts of Sydney and the rest of Australia were suffering in the heat but our location is one of those lovely spots that gets a bit of a breeze keeping the temperature down.

I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the pool and backyard while it was looking so inviting.

New Stockist

Lulu Froufrou has a fabulous new stockist called My Brood. My Brood is lovely online boutique that is all about being a stylish woman and a stylish mother. My Brood focuses on quality, uniqueness and exemplary design and in addition to a beautiful clothing and product range they also offer a unique Interior Design Service and Baby Shower Service.

I have been lucky enough to work with Lucy from My Brood to design an exclusive hair accessory range for the toddler category. We went with very special Liberty of London prints as they are the ultimate in prettiness and femininity. Here is a sneak peek - but you have to check out the full range at My Brood.

Have a lovely weekend .

Countdown

to Christmas is on!

My girls love their advent calender that magically appears on Dec 1st. Instead of unveiling a chocolate or treat our advent calender is all about making a nativity scene. Each day they pick out a piece of the picture & on Christmas day place baby Jesus in the manger - well that's the plan! you never know where each angel or shepherd ends up each year.

You can make an advent calender just like the one pictured from Notebook magazine