The domino effect

If you're looking for a little bit of help in styling your home, then look no further than Domino - the book of decorating.

This amazing book is 'a room-by-room guide to creating a home that makes you happy'.

Inside, you will find tips and ideas to help you get started, determine your style and create wonderful looks in every room of your home (even the entry way!).

Towards the end of the book you will also find a 'decorators handbook', which focusses on window treatments and upholstery as well as a 'big black book' which guides you to wonderful deocrating resources.

You weren't planning on re-decorating your house were you? You've already bought this book on Amazon haven't you?

Have fun!

Crochet for a Cause

Everytime I pop round to visit my folks, my dear Mum eagerly greets me with a bundle of clippings or pamphlets she's picked up from shops and cafes around Perth. Little snippets for up-and-coming events or fundraisers she hopes I will share with my fellow granddaughters. The one that really caught my eye a few weeks back was a postcard detailing a Crochet Project raising funds for Christchurch, which was rocked so devastatingly by quakes earlier in the year.

After jumping onto their site As far as eye can see I learnt about the two ladies (colleagues & both devoted 'crafternooners') Stephanie Morison and Lorinda Curnow, who originally came up with a little idea to create crochet art. In the wake of the Earthquake disaster their 'little idea' quickly grew into an extraordinary community project that is continuing to raise funds to support a broken city. Twenty two women of different ages and backgrounds lovingly crocheted 500 squares which inevitably came together to form a massive blanket, doubling as a gallery sized art piece. Online viewers are able to pick and donate a virtual crochet square and also bid on the original finished artwork. Funds raised will go to GapFiller, a NZ charity group responsible for the creative urban renewal initiative, which gives artistic-minded people the opportunity to use vacant sites awaiting restoration to bring colour, life and creativity back into Christchurch. The piece in on display at Rodeo (the workplace of this talented duo), 162-168 Gilbert Street Adelaide until October 28th 2011

I'm yet to get my hands on the latest edition of Frankie (#44) , but apparently this clever crochet managed to score a feature article!

The finished artwork

Love + Marriage

I stumbled across this beautiful article and just had to share it with you...

Long-Married Couple Gordon Yeager And Norma Yeager Die Holding Hands        

For one Iowa couple, true love lasted until the very end.

Married 72 years, Norma, 90, and Gordon Yeager, 94, died in the hospital holding hands last week, one hour apart.

The couple was hospitalized after a car accident just outside of Marshalltown, Iowa. They were given a shared room in the ICU where they held hands in adjacent beds.

At 3:38 pm last Wednesday, Gordon's breathing stopped. Though he was no longer alive, his heart monitor continued to register a beat.

The nurse told Gordon and Norma's son, Dennis Yeager, that the monitor was beeping "because they're holding hands, and [Norma's heart beat] is going through them," Dennis recalled in an interview with Des Moines' KCCI news station. "Her heart was beating through him."

Norma died at 4:38 pm, exactly one hour later.

Gordon and Norma's children say they're glad the couple passed this way. "They just loved being together," says Dennis. "He always said, 'I can't go until she does because I gotta stay here for her.' And she would say the same thing."

Beautiful Books

I wish I could bottle the feeling you get when you carefully open the hard leather cover of an old book. You hold your breath as you prepare for the beautiful smell of years gone by and the love of previous owners. If you're lucky enough, you may even open the book to a precious message written inside...

A stack of beautiful books, gifted from a friend

For Pamela Piesse, From John Marefield. Dec 3rd 1934

To my friend Aubrey, who upon attaining his fourteenth
birthday, Hath now reached "Man's Estate".
From Miss Showell 23-9-23

Mandi, with best wishes, 10th March 1905

Great Expectations

These lovely – home made lanterns, which I promised you all I would attempt have been the topic of today’s crafty project.

So, after I set myself up good and proper, like any crafts-lady would, I happily began my lanterns:

The essentials:

- Newspaper to line my outside work area
- A bowl of water and equal parts craft glue
- 5 balloons, all blown up to different sizes
- 2 balls of string
- Rubber gloves
- Crafting playlist
- A head full of high expectations

Step 1 – Set up your balloon

After the epic fail I am about to explain, I have figured that the best way to do this is hang your balloon from something (I chose a ceiling fan).

Step 2 – Cover the string in glue

A fellow crafty blogger explained that the easiest way to do this was to put glue in between your fingers and run the string through it as you go. I decided I could come up with a much faster and much messier way; Plop the whole ball of string into the bowl of gluey water and pull it out as you wrap.

Step 3 – Start wrapping & keep wrapping

Start from the top of the balloon and turn it slowly whilst wrapping the string. This is the trickiest part. It may sound easy, but you need to keep the string tight or you will end up with sagging string and an odd shaped lantern.

So that’s it! Easy? WRONG!

My issues began when I got lazy (surprise surprise).

I placed my half covered balloon on the side of the bowl of gluey water, to enable me to re position my hands. Of course the bowl tipped, covered the newspaper, the table, my pants, the floor and the cushion cover of the chair I was sitting on.

Frozen, yet knowing I must act quickly, I hesitantly placed the balloon on the table, while I ripped my pants off and ran to the laundry room to grab a mop. When I returned to the gluey alfresco, my balloon had fallen to its death and the glue had taken over the majority of the floor.

“Go on without me!” the balloon shrieked, so in all my beige knickered glory, I ran down the stairs to the only hose I thought would reach; politely waved to the neighbour hanging his washing out and attempted to pull the hose around the corner, up the stairs and to the top of the alfresco area. As I pulled the hose from upstairs and wondered why it was SO difficult, I shortly realised the hose had become caught on the side of the garden fountain and I had managed to re-create the ‘Leaning tower of Pisa’ on a slightly smaller scale.

I finally realised that pulling the hose through the balustrading would perhaps have been the more logical idea and managed to start hosing down the floor, which of course lead to me flooding the entire alfresco, leaving Mums lovely floor mat floating off into the gluey corner.

With a sigh of relief as I finished the hosing, I let go of the hose, which flung back down through the balustrading, onto the bricks and smashed the hose knozzle to smitharines, leaving myself, my dog and the entire backyard basking in the lovely fountain that was, the broken hose.

So, 75 metres of string, 500 mls of craft glue, a pair of pants, 2 cushion covers, 1 popped balloon, 1 wet dog, 2 snotty remarks to Geordie after he told me that it really didn’t sound that difficult and a pretty lousy looking lantern later, I still have great expectations for my second attempt…

The lantern in question - in drying mode

LOL

Stuck for something to do this Saturday night? Why not head to the Comedy Lounge at the Loft Fremantle (next to Little Creatures) for a serious hoot. The line ups are always original and big name national or international acts often make an appearance.

Laughs are best served with the Loft's famous sausage rolls, a bottle of Nipple Hill Pinot Noir (yes, a very sexy wine) and a bunch of besties. After the show, get comfy in one of the many vintage lounges overlooking the iconic fishing harbour and enjoy another vino (or two) from the impressive wine list. Although you may feel like you've had an awesome ab workout post your comedy infusion, trust me... do NOT be tempted by a late night kebab from Nick's Place. You will definitely regret it in the morning. Remember, laughter really is life's cheapest medicine. Kebabs are not.

I spy with my little Lomo

If I was lucky enough to be allowed a second alter-ego, she'd be something like Angelina Jolie in Mr and Mrs Smith. A super mysterious, highly paid, incredibly efficient...super spy. But unlike old Ange, my alter-ego would also be carrying one of these uber cool Lomo cameras.

The Lomo camera was originally developed during the Cold War to be used for spy games and international espionage. However, the camera failed it's Russian inventor when it was too heavy, too cumbersome and not quite precise enough. 

But when two Austrian art students - Wolfgang Stranzinger and Matthias Fiegl, stumbled across a second-hand Lomo in a Prague junk shop, the 'Lomographic Revolution' was born.

Capitalising on the camera's origins, the pair took shots in true spy style; shooting from the hip, in haphazard directions, to capture their surroundings in a manner that rebelled against the logic of traditional camera composition. The seemingly humble camera captured moody shots, obscure light effects against vibrant colour and movement.

Pigeonhole's 10 Golden Rules:

1. Take your LOMO with you wherever you go
2. Use it all the time, at any time - day or night
3. Lomography does not interfere with your life, it's a part of it
4. Get as close as possible to the objects of your lomographic desire
5. Don't think (William Firebrace)
6. Be fast
7. You don't have to know what's going to be captured on your film
8. You don't have to know what's on the film afterwards either
9. Shoot from the hip
10. Don't worry about rules

If this is possibly the coolest thing you've ever heard then it will now become the second coolest; because Pigeonhole are currently promoting 'Lomovember' - an annual fundraiser showcasing the best of Perth's lomographic talent, held at a secret location on the 11-13th of November.

This year’s exhibition will feature 100 photographs to be block mounted, displayed, and sold at a silent auction with all profits going to Movember. Lomo workshops will also be held over the weekend for both budding and seasoned Lomographers alike.

Here are a couple of amazing photos from previous years Lomovember events:

Hannah McGrath
"Secret Garden", WA
Lomovember 2009

Rikki Burns
"Above Manhattan", NY
Lomovember 2009

If, like me - you must become a Lomographer, visit the Lomography website for everything you need to know to get started.

* Distracted - Merchants of Fancy also stock Lomo Camera's

Essie Nail Polish

You can tell a lot about a lady by the state of her nails...

But let's face it, being a lady is pretty darn time consuming and sometimes, said lady simply can't go past PJ's, a sumo bun, no makeup, un-painted nails and some chocolate when spare time presents itself.

But when the urge to preen pops up (usually once you've looked in the mirror), urgent attention must be paid to returning yourself to your usual 'pristine and lady like' condition.

Now - unless you can be bothered with gel nail polish and the effort that comes with application and removal, or have a spare half an hour every day to touch up normal nail polish, it is extremely difficult to maintain 'polished' nails...pun intended.

With a beauty case full of at least a gazillion polish brands and colours, my sister and I have been through them all and to be quite frank, even the most expensive of brands chip within a day or so of painting them.

But thanks to the parentals recent trip to New York and the pinning of fellow Pinterest pinners, I stumbled across the brand Essie. At $8 per bottle (in the US) I didn't hold much hope, but the colours were too cute to pass up - so I requested a bunch.

As you can imagine, I was most excited to try it and when I did, my colour of choice was:

Peach Daiquiri

Timeline:

Sunday 9th October at 12.00pm - The Painting (consisting of base coat, two coats of colour and a top coat, of course)

Tuesday 11th October at 10.00pm - Unfortunate chipping incident - suffice to say, do not try to remove the lid of a paint tin if experimenting with the longevity of your nail polish. The chip was touched up...

Wednesday 12th October 7.00pm - End of day four and they are still looking perfect - even after a boxing session!!

Friday 14th of October 5.00pm- Final day and the polish must come off as a Hens Night outfit calls for 'fire engine red' rather than peach! However, I am so impressed with how they are looking! The photo is pretty terrible, but there are literally no chips - just a tiny bit of wear and tear on the tips and cuticles where my nails have grown!

So, in conclusion..... BEST NAIL POLISH EVER!

Check out their website for their gorgeous range of colours.

Myer is currently the only stockist in Perth, however I have heard on the grapevine that Lotus Beauty in Kardinya are considering stocking.

You'll find me in the shed...

Transform your gardening shed into a beautiful potting barn and you'll be pot pot potting all day long!

Heather Bullard

Steal this look

Robo Junker

Sew Easy

My fetish for beards lead me to this latest DIY number. What the Jesus do bearded men and pretty summer dresses have in common I hear you say? Loads! Joaquin Phoenix, the usually clean cut oscar award winning actor -> has a moment of disheveled crazy genius when deciding to produce and star in the mockumentary 'I'm Still Here' -> grows rather impressive beard -> Joaquin is the brother of Summer Phoneix -> co-owner of 'Some Odd Rubies' a vintage store in New York -> appeared on the Martha Stewart Show when promoting her store and in the process decided to share her simple shift dress pattern to the masses. And there you have it!

Now to the dress...what you'll need:

• Long secondhand skirt with elastic waist
• Ruler
• Disappearing fabric marker or pencil
• Scissors (quality fabric scissors)
  
• Seam ripper or small, sharp scissors
• Sewing machine threaded with coordinating thread
• 3 feet of coordinating ribbon
• Safety pin

How you do it (I promise it is actually pretty easy):

1. Cut elastic waist from skirt. Lay skirt flat, and cut top edge with scissors or a rotary cutter to make even.

2. Measure 1 1/2 inches from top raw edge and draw a line across skirt.

3. With a seam ripper or small pair of sharp scissors, open side seams 10 inches down from drawn line (this will create a 9-inch armhole).

4. Finish opened seam edges with a machine-sewn baby hem.

5. On one side of skirt, fold top raw edge down one half inch, then another half inch. Pin in place. Machine-sew across skirt, along bottom edge of folded "tunnel." Repeat on other side of skirt.

6. Attach a safety pin to lengths of ribbon and thread through the tunnels you have created on both sides of top of dress.

7. If desired, tie a length of the same ribbon around middle of dress to create a belt.

The Finished Product:

'Frankie' my dear...I DO give a damn

2012 frankie diary

2012 frankie calendar

 Click here to order your copy

Who said Monday-itis?

Sucked in

I'm a sucker for succulents. They are the perfect kill proof plant for a non-gardener like myself. Low maintenance, bold foliage and pastel shades of green, blue and lavender make for carefree ground cover or cutesy potted indoor ornaments. Their popularity revival is obvious in current wedding trends. Somehow the contradiction between hardy succulents and pretty petals seems to just work. Absolutely L.O.V.E

Pretty as a picture

Love the idea of creating candleholders and using old teacups instead of pots


Earthy tones


Beautiful bouquet

Fun favours doubled as place tags

Rustic red

Pictures courtesy of Pinterest

Recyclart

Recyclers make great lovers - everybody knows it.

So here's some arty DIY ideas brought to you by Recyclart.

Flower Boots

Pallet Shelves

Flower teapots

Adirondack chairs

LARK!! Who goes there?

I cannot contain my excitement or credit card when *browsing Lark. From baking goods, to books to home decor - here are just a few of the delights you can pick up online (it was very hard to choose just a few, so make sure you check them out for yourself!):

Giant Crotchet Doily Rug $420

Utterly Scrumptious Bunting $16.95

'Love Unlimited' Letterpress Signed Print $79


'Oh Happy Day' Letterpress Signed Print $79

'Boat of Life' Letterpress Signed $59

*Spending copious amounts, well beyond my means.

Visit Lark NOW they are amazing, they also have a cute little shop and beautifully decorated house (yes you can rent it out!) in Daylesford. I will put up a post about them at a later date - definitely worth waiting for.

Music to my ears...

Fellow music lovers - hold onto your hats, for today is a very very special day...

Triple J have officially launched a new digital radio station - Triple J Unearthed! 

This new station is solely dedicated to playing brand new, independent and unsigned Australian Music on digital radio and online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from now until forever! Ohhhhh my gosh!!!!

Some gorgeous bands like Boy & Bear, Little Red and Gypsy + the Cat started as 'unearthed' artists, so I am so very excited about the amazing music that will be popping up now there is a whole new station dedicated to promoting them!

Boy + Bear

Gypsy + the Cat

Jammin'

If you 'like' us on Facebook, you may have seen the 'fruits' of my labour over the weekend.

 

Strawberry + Apple Jam

 

This was my first jam making endeavour and I'm not going to lie, I was pretty damned impressed with my efforts!

Here is the very simple recipe (thanks to 'Through my kitchen window' for sharing this and allowing me to hold my position as favourite granddaughter)

You will need:

500 grams of fresh (not too ripe) strawberries
3 green apples
1 kg castor sugar
1 and 1/4 cup of lemon juice
Pips from the lemons
A small cut of muslin


The process:

1. Hull and halve the strawberries. Cut out bruised spots and do not use any that are too ripe. Set aside in a clean bowl.

2.  If you're fortunate enough to have a lemon tree, pick your lemons straight from the tree as the pectin content will be at it's highest. Select lemons that are slightly under ripe as you will get the best possible jelling results.

3. Squeeze a whole lemon into a big bowl of water; peel and quarter the green apples; remove seeds and core; slice thinly. Place the apple slices straight into the lemon water.

4. Take some muslin fabric ($2 per metre at Spotlight) and cut out a small square. You only need enough to hold the pips from a couple of lemons.

5. Take a clean bowl; pour in some boiling hot water and place your muslin square into the water. This is the next best step to sterilising the cloth.

6. Squeeze a couple of lemons and reserve the juice.

7. Line a small bowl with the well rinsed muslin square and place all the lemon pips you can extract from the lemons. Secure the pips well and tie a knot with some string to create a small muslin bag. Lets hope your lemons are a bit 'pippier' than mine!
 
8. In a big saucepan place the strawberries, drained apples, muslin bag, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and three cups of water. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer covered for about 15 minutes or until the apples have softened.

9. Take out muslin bag; pour the sugar into the centre of the pot; stir gently till the sugar has dissolved then simmer steadily for about 30-40 minutes or till the jam has set. Remember it will get the real 'jelly' look onces it cools.

10. Keep a close eye on your jam at this point or you might end up in a bit of a pickle like I did... 3 boil overs of a pickle! It was not pretty. I get distracted easily.

11. Allow the jam to sit for about 10 minutes before pouring into sterilized jars. You risk the fruit sinking to the bottom if you pour it in right away. Make sure that any foam has been removed before pouring into the jars.. You will find foam always rises to the top and moves to the sides of the pot so it is easy to spoon off. 

12. Your jars MUST be sterilized to ensure your jam keeps well. I found the easiest way to do this is to wash the jars as you would any other dishes, then while they are still wet, pop them one at a time in the microwave for 1 minute each (no longer or they may explode!). Using oven mits, remove the jar and pour the jam straight in,  sealing right away.

I filled about 4 small jars (which I found at a nearby $2 shop).

No jam is complete without a scone.....and some cream....and a cuppa tea.

A helpful tip from Nanna Norma herself - If you make your jam on the stove, it doesn't need to be refrigerated before opening. However if you make it in the microwave - it does. So keep this jam in the cupboard if you’re not planning to enjoy it for a while.

Stimulatte

I feel it my duty to inform others when I am able to source decent coffee in Perth (no mean feat). So if I am driving past my office, double parking and lining up, you know it's going to be worth it.

Stimulatte boasts great staff, great prices and great coffee. I don't know what beans they use, and quite frankly I don't care when their coffee is consistently good. God knows I rely on them to get through the day!

Top Shelf

Living in a shack has it's downfalls, not least of which are the temperature extremes, and the inability to hang anything hefty from the walls. Being a collector (not hoarder) I am rapidly running out of nooks and surfaces upon which to display my treasured knick knacks....until now that is!This stunning fella is made from the humble pallet, and virtually free (if you can pick one up on the side of the road). Perfect for my records, books, photos and the like. Pig in mud!

Crafternoon: Things to make and love using hessian

For the lovers of all things rustic, this one is for you... 10 things to make using hessian.

For comfort

For organisation

For dining

For love

For love

For Christmas spirit

For those who don't particularly like the feel of hessian, but love the look, try calico + brown string for the same effect.

"She'd look good in a potato sack..." - Well apparently everything does.