Jikana Damaru

our sunday spot...

Living in Sydney, the car trip to a point-of-interest sometimes feels like it takes forever. So we get pretty excited when we find a spot closer to home that (gasp!) you only have to share with a handful of people.

Yaralla Estate is one of those places. The main gates are closed on weekends which gives the impression that public access is prohibited. Leave the car outside and you're welcome to stroll through one of the little side gates. The house itself is impressive enough, but the surrounding property is Whoa! Before you know it, you're standing on a manicured lawn admiring trimmed hedges, rose bushes, fountains, green arches and white rabbits. OK, made that last bit up... but it wouldn't surprise me :) Our favourite spot is further down the hill - the place where above-ground caves meet mud flats rippling with crabs and oyster-clad rocks. The oysters in these waters are huge and look tasty, but are generally not safe to eat...so good for a dare, perhaps?

Anyhow, here are a couple of photos from today's outing. Do you have a special weekend spot you like to visit?

Weheartit... sometimes

I've lost my word verification amusement (so many have thoughtfully turned the darn thing off). So, I've had to move onto new pastures to get my 'what tha what?' kicks.

My new pasture is where weheartit grazes.

Anyone who reads the comments I often leave by my picture credits (that would be all none of you, but that's okay) will know that I have a love / hate relationship with weheartit. I love that I can quickly find some beautiful images there; I hate that there is virtually no crediting of any of those beautiful images whatsoever. I love that I can bookmark my faves; I hate that I can't search through my faves. I love that it's like a trip down teenage lane as I wade through all the images of gorgeous girls doing fun things that ordinary girls sitting on their beds at home have bookmarked; I hate that I also have to wade through 27,000 Bieber images, especially ones that have added statements like 'Always remember where you came from and always remember to remain humble* - Justin Bieber, 2011'. (And, for an even funnier Bieber moment, do check out 'Enhanced Bieber'.)

But what amuses me about weheartit is that they appear to have the worst Search-Matching in the entire webisphere. 'Search-Matching' is my own technical term, I don't know what it's actually called. It's where a program uses complicated logirhythms to decide what you might like based on preferences you've shown before. It's why iTunes Genius seems to think my sister would be into Jason Donovan.

So, the weheartit Search-Match clearly needs even more complicated logirhythms. When viewing sweet little images that I found by searching for 'Thank you', weheartit thoughtfully added a 'Similar Images' box. It listed an image of a lion devouring a wildebeest, an image of a woman checking out her non-existent butt in a mirror and an image of a note that said 'So Cry Me A Fucking River, Bitch'.

What tha what?

So, weheartit, I'm climbing more and more out of love with you every day. Seriously, dude, you've got to try harder if you want to keep me coming back for more. I'm complicated like that.

Do you use weheartit or similar photo-bookmarking sites? Do you enjoy scrolling aimlessly through pictures like I do? And what kind of music does iTunes recommend for you?

* I may be paraphrasing here. He may have said something else like 'If me and my girlfriend were fighting, and it got to the point where she started crying, I would just shut up and hold her.' - Justin Bieber, 2011.

[Image of gorgeous girls doing fun things via weheartit - you see what I'm dealing with here? No credit. Some random tumblr page as the reference. Sux.]

The Royal Wedding Cake

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you photos of the Royal Wedding cake made by Fiona Cairns using the Joseph Lambeth technique. The photos come courtesy of the official Flickr account of the British Monarchy who have been on Flickr since March 2010!

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

The cake in it's full glory in The Royal Wedding Cake
A close up of the delicate iced flowers in The Royal Wedding Cake
The beautiful iced roses in The Royal Wedding Cake
Setting up The Royal Wedding Cake

The couple also asked McVities to make them a chocolate biscuit cake!

Have a sweet day!

Our Princess Party

Here are a few shots from our Princess Party

~ Princess Ava came dressed as a beautiful princess bride ~

~ We all wore tiaras ~

~ We even had "Kate's" ring ~

~ I think she was so beautiuful - Simple and beautiful ~

~ The most HILARIOUS photo of the night ~

x S.K.K x

Easter Fabric Birds - free pattern

Easter fabric birds for my Easter tree

A couple of years ago I made felt birds for my Easter tree. This year I wanted to make some but in a style to match the birds on my bird trail fabric so I came up with my own pattern for the bird using a cookie cutter as the starting point, and added wings!
I picked up the cute pastel polka dot brushed cotton fabric from a fabulous quilting shop near Hampton Court called Creative Quilting.

Unfortunately I have only been able to finish making a couple, oh well there's always next year !?!

Easter fabric birds
What you will need:
Pattern printed out
Pencil
Pink polka dot brushed cotton
Blue polka dot brushed cotton
Pink thread
Blue thread
Pink beads
Blue beads
Green wooden beads
White sequins
Pale green embroidery thread
Pink embroidery thread
Blue embroidery thread
2mm double face satin ribbon

Instructions

Print out pattern, cut around edge of bird and wings. Place pattern pieces on fabric and draw around two of the birds, four of the wings
Cut around pattern pieces leaving 5mm gap round pencil line, pin right sides of fabric together
Hand stitch around solid pencil line, leaving the dotted line clear
Turn bird and wings inside out.

Push stuffing though hole, use chop stick to get stuffing right into the beak and tail
Turn raw edges in on bottom of bird and hand stitch close, pull needle and thread up though centre of bird at top, coming through the centre of the seam. Thread 20 small wooden beads down needle so they sit at top of bird. Tie end of threads round ribbon and knot to secure. Tie knot in end of ribbon end and knot to secure
Embroider three lines of stitch down tail
Push stuffing through hole in end of wings, turn raw edges in and hand stitch close. Hand stitch underside of wing to body on one side, repeat with other side, angling the wing differently. Stitch sequin with small pink bead through centre for the eyes

Have a sweet day!

Birthday Afternoon Tea

Today I wanted to share with you some photo's of the afternoon tea I put together for my own birthday last week - of course I had to use my milk cake stands and a few other lovely products from the shop.

A lovely afternoon in the backyard with the gorgeous ruffle cake that Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes made for me, followed by macaroons, meringues and cookie pops.

You can get the instructions for the meringues here and the cookie pops here.

Don't forget I will be stocking all these gorgeous cake stands and bowls in my online store which I will be launching any day now - further information can be found here.

Images: Sweet Style

Linking up with Sarah here

and Darcy here

Stories for Boys...

Now that I have a baby boy, I see it as my own personal challenge to find threads that are (a) comfortable, (b) stylish and (c) affordable. Oh, and for Elliott in particular, I add (d) durable! It's not always easy. Those of you with boys will know!

That's why I'm designing some special little pieces especially for our special little men-in-the-making... first off, some little 'lounge suits' for babies 6-12 months. At six months, when boys begin crawling, you need a pair of pants so little knees don't get knocked about! These pants are super comfy, super cute and each features a special little 'extra' detailing to make them unique. I've also made them extra long so they can be rolled up to start with and let down as your baby starts growing longer 'pins'! Of course, a pair of pants is hardly an 'outfit', so I've also designed a matching onesie that can be worn alone or with the pants... bottom snappers ensuring the top stays inside the pants while your baby is getting about!

Each 'set' comprises of a pair of pants and onesie - onesie length is short sleeves and you can pick the size to fit YOUR baby. Just $27 per set!

1. 'Cars n Trucks'
A gorgeously vibrant orange print with little cars, fire engines and street signs! The pants feature a lime green zigzag edging along the bottom, and the top has three little appliques to match the fabric of the pants. I made this print for Elliott, and he wears his everywhere!

2. 'Scottish Dawg'
Who can resist this sweet tartan print, with little faux pocket with button on the back of these pants, and 'scottish dog' applique on the onesie with blue ribbon 'collar'?

3. 'Ocean Creatures'

This little lounge set features an adorable 'creatures of the ocean' print with feux pocket and creature 'keycharm' stitched onto rick rack on the back of the pants. The onesie features a little whale applique with three buttons as 'bubbles'.

Hope you like! I have some very sweet little 'cheeky monkey' onesies on their way to my shop too --visit my little shop to take a look!

Have a great weekend.... x