Jikana Damaru

packed & unpacked

it's always good to get away. time off from the daily routine, chores & home life. we try to have a holiday every year & often end up at a holiday spot that has a beach! {just so we have a little piece of home close by} for the past two weeks we have been holidaying & enjoying new sights, early morning walks, less cooking, more reading & time together as a family. I am looking forward to sharing some of our holiday snaps with you all. But for now it's time for me to go & get the school gear ready & pack a lunch box &.......get back to reality!

Christmas at Next

So here is the sneak peak at what you can expect from Next this Christmas! At the press event they showed us four stories for Christmas; a contemporary red and white themed story that included applique deer head cushions and red berry topiary trees, a rich decadent purple theme, a glitzy gold story with glittered birds and bird cages, and my favourite, the ice palace with contemporary snowflake motifs and twinkly twiggy trees.

In a colour palette of opal, pearlescent and frosty tones of white mixed with the brilliance of silver, soft focus floral and leaf motifs with cute polar animals sit alongside shiny silver deer heads and snowy white pinecones. Etched heart and twinkly snowflake decorations were hung and feathered birds perched from snowy paper mache trees.

All of this got me thinking about Christmas and how I can update last years theme of a "Winter Woodand" Christmas. To kick start my ideas I have created a new Pinterest board, Christmas 2011. I just love Christmas and can't wait to start crafting and making some new decorations.

What are you thinking for Christmas, or am I just a tad too early!?!

Have a sweet day!

these three jars

..are kinda lovely, don't you think? I'm optimistic about squeezing in a series of jar shots before the next baby arrives. bubs is now so strong and active at night that I've been missing my usual bedtime. so my new favourite late night time-waster is trawling through etsy's photography talent - there's plenty here to inspire. three magical jar images...

mason jar blooms

jar full of dandelion wishes
morning light

happy weekend, friends!

Grateful spends a Day in the Life

Kymmie at A Day In the Life of Us is hosting us this week.

There she is up there in all her fancy-pants gorgeousness, say hi, Kymmie!

Pop on over to link up your grateful post and remember to say good morning to at least one perfect stranger.

Cute desserts and great company

After our tour around the Next store we bundled back into the coach that took us to Hotel du Vin in Brighton where we were treated to a delicious three course lunch. The desserts were especially good and I loved how they served the Eton Mess in small glass jars.

Over lunch I had the pleasurable company of gals who founded the blogs Design Trend, Pink Bow, Mary Middleton, Style Made Simple, Dear Designer and Domestic Sluttery.

Between the lunch courses we were shown how the New Shoreham Next store came together from initial design concepts to how they achieved the final look. Then, as cheese and crackers were served we were given a sneak peak at their stylish mood boards which inspired this year's Christmas collections. My favourite was the Ice Palace collection with sparkly snowflakes, silver deer heads and twiggy candelabras, all of which would match my last year's Christmas theme, Winter Woodland Christmas.

More on Christmas@Next tomorrow!

Click here to see more photos from the Next Press Show

Have a sweet day!

Roxy is 4!

My puppy is four years old today!

This calls for picture overload of ~~some~~ a ton of mommy's favorite photos :)

She has had a major hair cut since this photo!

can't say I didn't warn you, i just couldn't narrow my favorites down.

Happy 4th Birthday Roxy girl!

White is the new black?!

Folks, check this out! We all love chalkboards, right? But you have to admit, they = dust throughout your house, crumbly sticks of spent chalk pieces that end up in your kids mouths, and the boards never look quite as shiny and black as the day you painted it once its drawn on....

well, how is this for a fun alternative:

its...... whiteboard paint!!

I know, right. Just THINK of the possibilities! And - granted - you might need a bravery medal to let the kids loose with whiteboard markers, but imagine the look on their little faces when you actually gave them permission to draw on the wall with textas!

I saw that this paint is available through our local Colour Inspirations (Dulux) store. No idea how much it is, but I think I need some. Immediately, if not sooner! Im not brave enough to put it in the kids' room, but I definitely see it working in my new creative space which is currently brewing inside my head and about to be put to paper. Working from the kitchen table is no longer feasible as Bubby Makes Three grows and my horrible space downstairs is screaming to be turned into a creative studio/ kids playroom. I see a little feature wall of whiteboard paint would come in handy for a calendar/ to-do list and work schedule... Stay tuned, folks!

Have a lovely weekend... x