Jikana Damaru

Postie delivery: Wondering about wonderment

This time I've popped over to Alice Becomes to talk about losing that sense of wonderment that we all had growing up. It's something I've been thinking about for a while now and I think I've made my peace with it... sort of...

I've been a follower of Alice Becomes since... well, since back when they were channeling Blur. Nic and Gil are both talented writers with a unique perspective on life, children, parenting and being organised. Come see...

I absolutely loved Karen's comment on the post and her approach to keeping 'wonder' in her life.
I am going to revisit my attitude to 'doing things' as a result!

Sigh. Have you lost that wonderment feeling?

PS - Speaking of wonder - Wonder Woman (Cate Bolt) needs your support to achieve her SunSuper dream to help homeless children in Indonesia. It's just a little click and takes less than a minute. Please just get in there and help Cate help others.

[Image photographed by Annie Lebovitz for Vogue, December 2003 found here]

Spring Styling Event

Happy Friday everyone!

Today some pictures to share with you from the Spring Styling event I was part of 2 weeks ago. The event was held in my home for 20 lovely ladies who came for an afternoon of food and fun. Penny from Working Mums Masterclass put the event together and my fellow presenters were Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes and Jane from Show Pony

Thank you to all the happy and enthusiastic girls that came along to listen to what we had to say - I hope you found the day to be interesting and useful.

So here are some photos of the tables I put together for the day.

Table one was a kids table. The theme and colouring was based around our event theme of Spring. It would be great for a garden party or even a Little Miss Sunshine party. The ever so pretty cake was made by Jacki as were the cookies and cupcakes.

I used this pretty invitation as a starting point and built everything around it. Flowers and ladybirds featured in most items on the table - there were even little mini lady birds on the cookie pops and marshmallow pops.

The second table was set up as an adults table. It had a vintage theme to it and I used the lovely new Mason jars with the stamped lids (available in the shop) to drink out of. The gorgeous colour combination of aqua and pink made it a pretty table and I included some fresh flowers

Again the cake, cookies and cupcakes were made by Jacki and the pannacotta's were made by me. During the presentation Jacki showed everyone how to whip up little cheesecakes on chinese spoons to add to the table. Macaroons and some sweet treats finished off the table.

We talked about how the centrepiece could change from a cake to a stack of footed vessels with chocolates and flowers to create a completely different look. Pots, bottles, backdrops, cake stands, ribbons, twine and tags were also topics of the day.

Little mini apothecary jars were used as favours and we had a great discussion about many different party favours that make for a stylish party.

The third table was a self serve drinks table - I nice tall centrepiece of spring blossoms on top of a wooden crate set the scene and a flowing sheer piece of fabric was a nice change to the usual white table cloth - of course we sipped our cool drinks through retro paper straws in Mason jars.

So there is a little peak into our afternoon.

Most of the lovely products you see on the tables can be found in the Sweet Style online store but if there is something that you can't find or need to know please feel free to ask away.

Have a lovely weekend - see you all next week.

Time suck

The trouble with a 'past time' is you need to have the time to pass. I'm not entirely sure how I ever fitted daily blogging into my over-burdened life.

I know I am watching a bit more TV - I found myself wanting to slit my wrists at the mundanity of A Current Affair last week and by now I am well and truly addicted to the mundanity of The Renovators.

I know that I went on Twitter last Friday with absolutely disastrous results (I do hope that the only person who knows what I'm talking about right now is Seraphim!)

I have crossed off at least seven impossible things off my Impossible Things To Do list, including sorting through my wardrobe (something that has so alluded me until now that I found myself throwing out maternity clothes) and sewing a drawstring bag to hold Star Wars Lego. As you do.

I've washed my floors once a week for three whole weeks.

Oh, and while I'm here, do tell me*, are you liking or loathing or lukewarm about my new career as a guest postie? Part of me thinks I should just STFU until I'm back here on Maxabella loves... another part is just so happy to still be writing.

What to do?

Because I am an 'all or nothing' sort of person (unfortunately mostly 'all'), I haven't yet worked out how I can balance blogging and lifeing in a way that I like. I know the two are technically each other, but you know what I mean. Sometimes I felt like after I did my thinking about my work and my family, all I could think about was my blog and other people's blogs and things to blog about.

It seems a little psycho and a lot self-indulgent.

I also think it's an issue that many many many many many of us have. Or not.

Do you have this issue?

* Of course, this one's for you, darling Woogsy! I am clearly (and happily) a total comment floozy. We all are, I'm certain.

[Image by Hui+]

setting sail

day one of our holiday meant packing up the car & heading down to the ferry. which we lOVE to travel on especially at the start of a holiday. it helps us feel we are going further away than we really are!

& despite a few drops of rain it was smooth sailing all the way to the other side of the bay. where we found our home away from home, unpacked & started to explore the new surroundings.

Pip Studio's new wallpaper

Today on label love I am sharing with you the gorgeous new wallpapers from Pip Studio. Available in the Netherlands now, the rest of Europe will have to wait until January 2012. I love the new quirky colourful collection filled with all the things we love about Pip Studio, from the bright poppy envelopes to the vintage faded florals. I am especially loving the vintage thread photo print in the first pic, which makes me want to redecorate my craft room with one wallpaper wall.

Have a sweet day!

blossoms make it better

discovered a parting gift from the painters late this afternoon - a recycling bin chock full of anything but recyclables. nice one, guys. then I spotted some fluffy peach clouds and the soft light streaming through our neighbours blossom tree. the mood improved.

Bridal Shower Photo Shoot

I have had a really crazy few weeks with loads of projects happening.

Amidst all this craziness my laptop decided to melt down taking with it a few thousand photos - some I have recovered but others ... gone (thank heavens for my blog which has some of these missing photos). I even had a back-up but it appears the gremlins have made their way into the back-up as well.

Thankfully I managed to recover some images from the article I put together for the new My Little Jedi e-mag.

The theme I created was a vintage style bridal shower.

Pretty and elegant with a beautiful miniature wedding cake, devine vintage jars to sip cool drinks out of and a few sweet treats to enjoy.

I hope you enjoy reading the magazine - you can find a copy of it here.