r's adventure

20 x 20

 

aren't mini books the best? especially surprise ones! i created this little book for a friend's birthday and filled it with 20 suggestions of things she could do with the $20 i had stashed in a wee envelope in the back!

 

i used heather bailey papers + gesso + my typewriter + bound it together with embroidery thread

 

 

i was really pleased with how cute + easy the stitched binding was - i simply made two holes, and tied the two ends together in a bow on the outside of the book. i then cut the ends short and covered them with ribbon {if you look really closely in the top picture you can see a little of the thread if you needed more of a visual to try this at home}. 

if you did happen to create a mini book inspired by this one, i'd love to see it! link it up in the comments.x

happy mail

this post comes to you a little belatedly... but is just so cool i had to share!

a couple of weeks ago i received a sweet little present in the mail all the way from san francisco! 

here's some clues on who it was from... 

    she has a shop filled with lovely paper goodies

    and is a fan of diana cameras... 

 

that's right! the lovely katrina of pugly pixel who sent me some beautiful goodies including the diana keychain you see above. love it! thanks katrina!x

june love what you do

lately my to do lists have been full of boring-if i-had-any-intention-of-doing-they-would-have-been-done chores. yuck. so my friends i present to you: the amazing june love what you do list

i know! doesn't that sound like the best list ever? it's thanks in part to inspiration from this mini book, these quotes and this make-under {more on both those below}.

i've given myself a deadline of 1st july, but part of the rules, so to speak, is that everything on this list is for fun {sadly, i seem to get caught up in the frustrating and demoralising perfection spiral} so if anything doesn't turn out quite right it's no biggie.

so without further ado, here's a few things i'm loving doing in june:

+ sewing a dress

+ sorting out my crafty nook - which is perfect timing for jess' summer slim down challenge

   

 just a wee snapshot of my box city!

+ eating 5+ fruit and vegetables every day  

+ making some gift cards {currently inspired by these cards, and again, these necklaces}

+ buying some watercolour paints

+ keeping the following close to my heart: 

find joy in what brings you joy. if you love blogging, keep it up. make whatever you're passionate about fit within the frame of your life. you may have to cut out a few activities to fit in the important things (don't forget to prioritize who you love too). remember that you're unique, you have a story to tell. the best blogs are the genuine ones full of personality and originality. don't be afraid to share who you are. do what you love. love what you do.

via the always inspiring marta

panda-monium

sorry for the unexplained disappearance... i've been tucked up in bed with a rather nasty bout of the flu. i'm hoping i'm over the worst of it now but in the meantime, i'm keeping my spirits high with a dose of panda-modium pink...

panda-monium pink is from the hong kong collection by opi and while usually i am reluctant to spend $25 on a polish this colour was too sweet to pass by. a combination of lilac and pastel pink, it is a perfect all rounder and adds a splash of colour to my outfits which tend to be black or grey! it went on a little streaky, but improved immensely after a carefully applied second coat.

i'll be back soon with a couple of the finished pages from a mini-book i put together after my wellington adventure, more new-to-me blogs i think you'll like, a little diana goodness and a sneak of some baby shower invitations i'm designing...

puppy!

no... sadly not ours. but it was fun to watch ernie while everyone worked {i spent 3 hours transfixed by google reader and a decent broadband connection}. he is totally full of life! 

 

 but as with all things what goes up... must come down!

 

ballerina flats

 

i think these lovelies are the reason i've avoided delving too deep into net-a-porter.

they say: Concealed heel measures approximately 20mm/ 1 inch.Lanvin's gray leather ballerina flats with a blushraw-edged pom-pom embellishment are the perfect feminine accent for a casual day look. Wear these beautiful shoes with a sweater dress or to add a girlish touch to denim. Each pair of Lanvin shoes comes in a signature designer-stamped blue box

i say: le swoon. and check out the box below...

 

is it wrong i'm just as taken with the box as with the shoes?? :)

a lovely list: summer

sadly my christmas holiday has drawn to a close... here's a lovely list of all the things that has made our summer so sweet

{yup it's gone by this fast...}

summer is...

steak eaten straight off the bbq with fork

towels drying on the deck

cars dusted with red pohutakawa flowers

the acceptability for icecream for any meal of the day

brightly painted toenails

becoming totally addicted to stacking rocks and sneeking back to the beach to check on the seas grogression towards your serious art installation piece

time to sleep

dream

write lists

make collections/friends/freckles

xx

drunk on dub dub dub

ala the world wide web at lightning fast speed; therefore i have been on quite a journey over the past couple of days and thought i would share some of the highlights > > >

a gorgeous colour combo of kraft, white & aqua over at snippet & ink

+

looking foward to checking the latest daily collection here

+

finding clarity... via nubby twiglet

+

getting an excellent 'how to' on layering patterns

+

and last but not least, being incredibly inspired {like when you stomach does a little roll and your fingers get all tingly} by the images captured by leah of oh, hey great and ashley of one blue wren {found via sfgirlbybay}

i'm off to capture life... with this ringing in my ears...

 

christmas creations

just a quick post {i'm meant to be packing for our trip up to tauranga!} to wish you all a very merry christmas and a wonderful new year!

here's just a few pics of some of the festive fun i've created over the past week..

 

presents! the boy is notoriously hard to buy for so this year i decided a stocking of all his favourite things would make the perfect christmas present :)

 

 excuse the terrible photo 

at work we had a 'door decorating' competition and what better way to celebrate the festive season than with a kraft christmas tree?!

 

 a close up of all the curls... we ended up being joint winners, so it was worth all those paper cuts!

 

another present for my brother & his wife. i wish i had more time to make festive garlands :)

merry christmas!

birthday book

 

i love birthdays... and when it came time for me to think of a present for the boy's mum, a custom mini was top of the list. i was initially inspired for the format of this book by ali's december daily album {she used a canvas book made by prima}. i created mine with chipboard and covered the covers with a very cool fabric i picked up in spotlight. the most complicated part of this book was placement of the spine holes. luckily my partner in crime is an engineer so he handled all the measurements and the rings just fit! {email me if you would like exact measurements or dimensions to make your own}. once the cover was finished i created dividers with my stampin' up scallop punch for

a space for everyone to write their birthday wishes

photos from the dinner party

and a space to store birthday cards