i think i might have a thing for rust..

While enjoying my mug of hot chocolate this morning, I couldn't help admire the rosy glow a pot of my succulents had taken on and how lovely they looked against some rusted hurricanes..

Then I began to notice all the other warm rusty hued things that had crept into our home over the years. I'm surrounded..

Outside

and in

to snuggle up on..

under our feet..

in my wardrobe..

decorating the walls and tables..

I also (and perhaps subconsciously) picked out a rust knit skirt for myself and a pair of oxblood pants for Thom while shopping the other day.

It appears I musty really have a thing for rusty hues... Or maybe they just make everything feel a little toastier, when it's cold and grey outside?  What cool weather colours are you drawn to??

three thrifty finds..

Inspired by all the beautiful brights I saw on the Anthropologie site, I snapped up a couple of cheerful items this week to chase away the rainy day (or should I say rainy month) blues!

All on the cheap though, I'm trying to be good..

One soft cotton boyfriend cardi in rasberry red, for keeping the bump cosy this Autumn,  $19 from MIX at Coles (yes, as in the Supermarket).

A set of vintage billiard balls  just for a bit of fun,

$2 from the Aid for the Blind Store, Wynnum 

A luxe new cushion cover in jaffa orange velvet, perfect for story time or a little 

r & r with a couple of new mags. $16 from Ikea.

Feeling brighter already, a wee bit of retail therapy always does the trick. Hey and the rain has stopped too! Hurray!!

Have a great weekend! xx

I heart Anthropologie!!

It's officially Autumn here but the weather doesn't seem to know that... Today it's bright blue skies and 31 degrees!

Our mailbox is stuffed full of catalogues advertising black and grey winter coats, scarves and flannel sheets and yet here I am sipping an ice tea and drooling over Anthropologie's Spring Collection..  

Sooo much colour, sooo much gorgeousness!! Maybe we can just skip Autumn/Winter this year..

Hope your weekend is bright and breezy too!! xx

happy Halloween, Etsy style...

My new found appreciation for all things orange probably came about with the masses of Halloween paraphernalia about.
Up until a few years ago, Halloween remained an almost exclusively North American or at the very least a northern hemisphere thing... Not now it seems.., Jack o Lanterns, fake cobwebs and pint size broomsticks are everywhere you look! We even had a local Halloween festival with fireworks, rides, a costume parade and pumpkin carving comp!!

And yes it looks like I've caught the bug too... I've stocked up on treats (just in case, we were quite unprepared last year) and have been so inspired by all the super creative Etsy folk, I'm ready to turn my world orange...

Here are favourite Halloween inspired goodies -

Spoooky typography from The Cupcake Kid

Shock orange baroque from Shabby Mcfabby

Cute dotty decor at My Adobe Cottage

This is my kind of treat... from Made by Nanna

Super sweet bunting from The Old Pink Porch 

What a hooot this little guy is from Karma Collections

This retro original from MADsLucky13

home and made not lately..

Ummm hello it's me, your absentee blogger...

A polite tap on the shoulder from a blogger friend (thanks Alicia) has brought me back into the bloggersphere after an embarrassingly long absence.

Where have I been?! What have I been doing?! A little bit, but nothing (other than having a very active 1 year old) that excuses such blogging slackness.. So I won't try and redeem myself with more lame excuses..

Instead I spent a very nice hour this morning reconnecting with all my favourite blogs, oohing & aahing at all the truly fabulous, inspired and often hilariously written stuff I've missed out on!!

In attempt to bring you up to date with my goings on and without resorting to a rambling essay,  here's a little scrapbook of what life has looked like here in my world lately...

1. Spring began with gorgeous pink peach blossoms, a gift from Cloudlake.

2. Yum! Rhubarb crumble muffins, my best yet (muffins that is, they're all I really bake).

3. This beautiful book is a typophiles dream, originally a gift for a like minded friend, who turned out     had it already and now is a worthy addition to our fledgling library.

4. Another gorgeous springtime gift.., these Queensland grown proteas & banksias are still gracing our dining table.

5. The garden's flourishing after early spring showers, especially my growing collection of spiky things...

6. A fun retro find at Woolloongabba Antiques was perfect for husband's first Father's day! I'm a really bad shot though, see E's score...

7 & 8. On a recent escape to Byron, we fell in love with this beautiful Robyn Sweeney piece at the very charming  Art Piece Gallery in Mullumbimby and picked up this colourful (and very forgiving) recycled leather rag rug at the super deluxe "Island Luxe" in Bangalow..

9. ""South of The Border", the cute beach shack with loads of personality, we called home in Byron.

10. My precious wee boag... Determined for this one to grow into a magnificent cloud of shocking pink, or at least survive this time...

11,12 & 14. Our Mexican flavour Byron lodgings also inspired Thom's 1st Birthday celebrations, maracas & all..!!

13. Sunny yellow lilies left over from the party. It's so nice having flowers in Thom's room (out of reach of course).

15 & 16. I Found these two retro treasures in my trusty local opshops, both for under a fiva too!!
17. My new (a wee bit Mad Men) Summer frock. I've got a bit of thing for orange at the moment.
18. More orange, an olde but a goode.. This bag was a gift from a friend many years (perhaps even decades ago) and it's probably my favourite Summer Bag..

Now to steal another 15 mins pouring over your blogs (before Thom wakes up).

Have a lovely weekend! xx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

holiday inspiration part 2 - street graffiti, bill posters & murals

As I was flicking through my photos in search of flowers for Tuesday's post, I came across quite a collection of street art pics, I thought I'd share too.

In fact there was a whole bunch of recurring themes, eg. shopfronts & market stalls; doorways & windows; old bicycles and interesting pattern & textures.

I love the graphic poster design against the blue graffiti - Vientiane, Laos

a wall of the bike taxi ads - Hanoi, Vietnam

striking black and white - The Marais, Paris

the infamous 'space invader' - Montmartre, Paris

under gothic ironwork - Lipscani, Bucharest

peeling back the layers, Prague

a small section of the 'Lennon Wall', Prague

a riot of clashing colour - Istanbul

sky scraper high - can't quite remember where in New York

a section of a beautiful waterfront mural - Kas, Turkey 

cute forget me not - Bozcaada marina, Turkey

Don't worry, I won't bore you with an endless slide show of my holiday snaps. But doing this has reminded me what a great source of reference your photos can be, especially for colour...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

holiday inspiration part 1 - flowers en masse

If you're like me, you take about a million photographs on holidays, only to file them away on the hard drive to be forgotten...

It's a shame, because when I do revisit my holiday snaps, not only do they transport me back to that far flung adventure, but they're a wonderful source of inspiration.

Like this past weekend, I spent a couple of hours soaking up the Winter Sun in the garden, weeding and planning some pre Spring planting. It reminded me of our last Northern Hemisphere Summer holiday and the gorgeous array of flowering colour we saw...

Here's a couple of the photos that have me itching to plant lots of pretty colour this spring...

sunflowers, sunflowers & more sunflowers - Marie Antoinette's farm, Versailles

yellow in the shade of an apple tree - Cappadocia, Turkey

gorgeous colour  by the roadside - Cappadocia, Turkey

 

growing wild in amongst a temple ruin - Hanoi, Vietnam 

hanging orchids for sale - Hue,Vietnam

potted hot pink bougainvillea - Hoi An, Vietnam

unbelievably pretty, if only I knew what it was..? - on the street in Budapest

hundreds upon hundreds of festive red planter boxes - Hirmer Department Store, Munich

rows of bright red cockscomb - Hanoi, Vietnam

sort of related.. a masse of vintage floral still life paintings - window installation, Munich

What will you be planting this spring..?

rose tinted afternoon...

Maybe it was just the way the afternoon sun lit the lilies on our sideboard.., but when I sat down with my afternoon cuppa, I seemed to be surrounded by lovely soft pink. It was a nice feeling, considering I still have my little grey cloud of a cold hanging around...

Wishing you all a rosy weekend! xx