Spring, Come On In!!!

I am so excited, in an hour and a half it will officially be Springtime!!! It is my favourite time of the year. Blossoms are everywhere, bulbs are popping their heads up, grasses are still green, clothes get dry on the washing line and I start to wear cute shoes again!!! It's also FOOTBALL FINALS time, think NFL Play-Offs, just huge! And my team is in it this year, YEAH!!! Go Kangas!!! It is also when we in Australia celebrate Father's Day, the first Sunday of September. Happy Father's Day dear Greg! And then it is my birthday a week later. Plus about 7 other friends of mine, something very fertile about September that's for sure!

You have to love these blossoms, greeting us outside Leroy's kindergarten. There's nothing quite like blossoms covering a tree.


My shabby lady at the front entrance is even starting to smile with the sunnier weather!
My front entrance is brighter, I just love my blue door!
Even things inside my house glow happily! Here's my favourite (and only!) Vintage Murano mirror. I hang some vintage rhinestone jewellery from it.
Love these earrings!

Now for a thank you angel. She was sent to me by Amelia, the lovely lady who made the albums that many of you so kindly bought to help support the Invisible Children of Uganda. Thank you Amelia and this Thank You Angel is for all of you!!!!

Spring just gives everything a new brightness and happiness!!! Some hangers I did for a special order recently
And this milk can is going to go on my shop one day soon. Don't you love the feathers I placed in them for the pics??!!
Some new cards and tags also will get on my site soon!!!
These however will not, as they are a custom order I have been working on for sweet Wendy up in Queensland. Here's a big album for her precious memories using vintage wallpaper, vintage lace, millinery flowers, and cute trims.
You can see the scallop edge of the lace at this side view. It's very pretty and very girly!

A journal for Wendy's PLANS. I used some of my new beautiful fabrics shown to you in earlier posts. Love this range!!! I added sheet music onto which I hand painted pink roses and there's some cute German foil butterflies, German glass glitter, crepe paper ruffle and cuter than cute pink pom pom trim!
My dear friend Heather sells this trim in her boutique, it's the cutest stuff!!! (by the way, she has stock of the pure silver glitter now... I can't wait until mine arrives!!!)
Beautiful German Scrap foil butterflies, you can get these from another Heather!
A THOUGHTS journal for Wendy. Using beautiful old wallpapers from Dede and some pretty trims, German scrap bird, huge paper rose, some flocked spotty tulle and of course vintage seam binding.
Back view

A large journal using more of that divine fabric I bought recently. The whole range coordinates beautifully....
Back view
How cute is the trim!!!

And some more sweet fabric I got a while ago. Love this stuff, I made three albums from it and they have all sold before making it onto the website, one to Wendy, LOL! If anyone wants one of these I can go get more albums and make some, just email me and I'll give you some details.

So now it is onto the Round Robin that Heather and Ginny have posted pics on already. Holly and I haven't yet shared pics ~ myself, because I didn't have anything to show properly but today I got a start. So you'll get peeks every now and then as I go along.

Happy Spring!!!!!

Natasha xo

beaut

Welcome to Leroy's World

Thought I'd share a bit of Leroy's world with you today. I went around testing out my new camera to see how it went indoors without a flash. Not too bad at all!!!

When I was pregnant with Leroy I got nesting big time. We knew we were having a boy and knew we would call him Leroy. It was the only name we could agree on! So he got to hear "Bad bad Leroy Brown" every time I got in the car, just to get him used to it, LOL! He loves the song now and sings it so well. Hilarious hearing a 3 year old singing such a song!

Where was I? Oh yes the nesting. I decided to take up hand embroidery for something fun! This name is all hand embroidered by moi in satin stitch, framed on his bedroom door.

I love Leroy's room. It's the one room in the house that is just how I want it to be. The right paint colour, the right shelving, curtains etc. Now where is that fairy to come wave her magic wand on the rest of the house???

I designed the shelving and toy box seats and drew pictures after pictures until I was happy with it, and my incredibly handy Dad built it all for me! I covered the chair pads and made all except two of the cushions there. His shelves have fun things like vintage children's books, old children's shoe lasts from my grandfather, vintage wooden toys mixed in with new stuff.

The lovely quilt on his bed was made by my mother, all hand sewn piece by piece, no machines in her quilt work. It is amazing!!! By his bed is a huge bag full of books, I read about 3 or 4 of them every night to him.

Oh and the little perfectionist.... LOL... he lines his trucks/cars up on the chair every night, all straight and always facing forward... hmmmmm wonder where he gets the OCD from!!!
Here are the rest of the hand embroideries I mentioned.... a series of five framed farm scenes. They were so much fun! I didn't design them, they came from a book but I did draw them in myself, so I altered bits and pieces to suit.

And I found this little guy today in the cupboard, he was my lamp when I was a baby!!! Still works. It's the cutest thing!!!

Have a great day today!!!

Natasha xo

Hey I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right!

The title of this post will make sense when you click on PLAY. Turn up your speakers and bop away! Listen to it while you read. It is guaranteed to make you bounce in your chair. Or maybe it is too early in the morning for you!! Isn't this the most FUN song!!! This is how I felt today, and funnily enough the song starts with "Woke up cold one Tuesday..." and that is today! I love how new shoes can make you feel good. Well they make me feel good!!!

Now these are the kind of shoes that would make everything suddenly seem right!!! My kinda shoes I used to buy pre-Leroy. I really had a shoe thing back then. Still do a little but I'm a bit cheaper in my taste now that I'm at home! No top designer ones any more!!!

(shoes)

And a NEW CAMERA will always put a smile on my face, especially this cute pink one!! I got it today! Couldn't wait for it to charge properly before taking a few pics here and there.

How gorgeous is this faerie-go-round! I love it to pieces, seriously I keep staring at it! Lori made it for me in our little swap. The baby is her mother!!!!! So sweet. The exquisite detail is just amazing. The precision.... oh you must go buy some of her work, you will NOT be disappointed. That word won't even enter your thoughts!!! I love it so much we are doing ANOTHER swap!!! LOL! But this time I am going to make it up to her for my lack of extras. My package hasn't arrived yet with her. But she didn't stop there. She went and spoiled me rotten!!!! She made this fab collage from an old book cover. How gorgeous is this??? LOVE the crepe paper rosette, it's so beautiful!!! And she didn't stop there!!! Also sent me a sweet bundle of embroidered hanky, millinery flowers, brooch and lace doilies... AND she sent Leroy a gift too!!!! He adores his little Jack in the Box collage, I'll post pics tomorrow. He was sleeping when I took the photos today and it is already up in his room. (Update 29th Aug, here are the pics of the lovely Jack in the Box Lori made for Leroy!)Here's my other "baby" boy. Ernie the 8 year old cavalier king charles spaniel. This is what he does when Leroy is sleeping in the day. He finally rests after worrying about the next time Leroy will jump on him for more cuddles! Have a great day today!!! I'm going to watch Marie Antoinette now, with sketchbook in hand to start getting inspired for the round robin I'm in. Go check out what Heather has made so far.... wonderful stuff!! Must get my act together!!!

Natasha xo

My camera died! (but you would never know it with all these photos!)

Firstly thank you everyone for your kind words about Amelia's albums and thanks to those who purchased! We sold out which is great!!!!

I mentioned a few weeks ago we were sick with the flu. Then Leroy got well and I was getting there but just when I was kicking it, the dreaded flu came back!!! So I've been gargling, drinking cough syrup and throat lozenging for a while, and today is the best I have felt in weeks. My poor mum didn't fare so well. Her flu developed into pneumonia on her left lung.... scary stuff! She is doing better now though, up and about again. They give you medication for it and she didn't need to be hospitalised thankfully!

So many things going on, so many photos to share. And they were all taken last week, before my camera died. Yes, it is on its way to camera heaven... after I dropped it at the zoo after a lion scared the living daylights out of me... the screen is ruined and while it still takes photos I can't see what I am taking or any of the settings so out with the old and in with the new! Tomorrow I am getting this fabulous camera and yes you are seeing right, it is PINK!!! How utterly perfect is it? Don't worry, I didn't choose this one because it is pink, I chose the best one for my needs first. The fact that I could choose between silver, black, white or pink was a bonus. How could I possibly choose one of those other boring shades!!!

Ok so this post is a lot of random stuff from the last week.

Leroy got his first train ride with his little buddies. They loved it. See the anticipation waiting for the train!!!

We went to the city to see the Pixar Exhibition (it was good). Here's some of Melbourne's wonderful architecture, the Forum Theatre is one of my favourites. Oh boy you should see the inside too. Detailed and stunning!

A real contrast here, old and new architecture in Melbourne. The background is the most famous train station in Melbourne (Flinders St) and in front, the jagged glass modern structure is Federation Square. Most people hate it but I love it. I do prefer the older architecture but this is pretty cool!!!
This is a shot taken on the platform at Flinders St Station, I just really liked this photo!
Aha, there's the Pixar emblem, Luxo the lamp. Or as Leroy calls it "Boinga Boinga Boinga"
How cute are these two little buttons in their Cars clothes!!! My little guy is the giant on the right, he's only a month older than his buddy. Afraid we're going to have to get custom made huge water ski sized shoes for him by the time he is 9!!!

Leroy is becoming quite the photographer! There's me with my new fringe (it's already annoying me, why did I do it???) and my friend with her youngest.

And we managed another Mummy & Little Guy shot!!!
Now for some mail... the rest of those gorgeous fabrics arrived.... how beautiful are these???
And Heather's package that I mentioned a while back. FULL of wonderful trims and goodies!!! She even spoiled me with some of her beautiful wallpapers. You simply must go check out her shop and buy some, you won't be disappointed!
More goodies!
And this spectacular hat in my favourite colour Green!!! Going to cut the flowers off and use them. But won't start cutting until I am ready to use them. I made that mistake cutting up a whole antique quilt once into 72 lavender strawberry shapes. What was I thinking? As if I would make 72 of the same fabric strawberries?????

More goodies in the package, love the Dresden foil trims
Of course, more vintage seam binding!
And what package would be complete without The Foof-A-Life?!!! I'm a bit behind the 8-ball in getting a copy of this but I have it now. AND I love it!!! Fabulous ideas and tips.
Ok onto some work I have been doing for custom orders. It might look like I haven't done any work judging by how few new products have been going onto my shop but it's because I am getting through my orders. Almost there now. Here's a Private sign for a lovely lady in Maryland who had two of these from me already.
And a custom sign for a sweet Mother & Daughter duo ~ trimmed with vintage flowers, the daughter loves white peacocks and saw that I had painted one in the past on my website gallery. They love how this turned out.

All shimmery and glittered!
And on the back I used some fabulous wallpaper Heather ordered for me! It really finishes it off!
This is on its way to lovely Lori. We did a one-on-one swap. Her beautiful goodies arrived today and she spoiled me rotten! But I can't show you as the camera died... later this week!
And have I mentioned it's beginning to look like SPRING!!!! I am so excited!!! Today it was 25 degrees Celsius (which is 77 F for my US friends!). Imagine that temperature for you guys in February. How wonderful!!! It was so nice it really kicked a bit of the winter blues out of me. I got out of my jeans and track pants and jumpers and scarves and actually had to shave my legs so I could wear a skirt and strappy heels (I have a shoe thing in good weather!) and even a sleeveless top!!! Amazing how the weather can really pick up your mood. And these lovely violets greet me near my front door and smell lovely. Leroy picked some for me. The orchids are my mother's. I just love flowers!

Loving this next photo. It looks like I did some cool special editing but I didn't touch it! My camera (the dead one) freaked out with reds and blacks. It didn't focus properly and reds always came out weird. But I love what it did here, don't you?

Sweet Dede and I did a one-on-one swap when I saw her party hat she made for Teresa. My birthday is coming up and I really wanted one so Dede suggested we swapped! I made her a garland of my paper dresses and she made this gorgeous hat for me!!! I love it!!!
Ok so excuse the horrid yellow walls. They are a remnant of my past, when we first painted the house 9 years ago, all different colours everywhere with bright blue skirting boards. What was I thinking? The lounge is now cream but the rest of the house still needs painting. After we fix the plaster cracks. And that will be a little while away... anyway.... I have this little corner and decided to make it my 'Swap Space' where I put all my lovely swap goodies!!!! Pretty cool spot huh? Except for the yellow I know...
More orders I have been working on. I did a tiara/crown painting I sold on eBay last year, with Princess written on it. So I got a custom order from the lovely lady who made all the albums and here is her Ellie crown painting and her hanging heart. Hope she will like them, they are on their way!

A cute fun card I made for a baby shower using some of the lovelies I got in that big box of stuff Heather organised for me!

I offered to make cupcakes for the shower. The friend of the pregnant friend thought I meant regular cupcakes. Little did she know. I walked in with this big tray and they were all a bit shocked! Most of them didn't know me and don't know when I say I will make cupcakes that they will never ever ever come plain.... They really were a hit! I tried also to make pink and blue chocolate cherubs. But a chocolate maker I am not. How do you get it to melt in a double boiler without it solidifying before you can pour it? The chocolates went into the Too Hard Basket! Oh and that 'cake' in the back was inspired by The Foof-A-Life, I made a diaper cake. But put it together my own way, attaching all the layers to each other with string. Some people thought there was a real cake inside, it really doesn't look real, LOL!

Lastly... my very talented friend and ex-workmate Sophie did this. She is talented in so many areas. As well as pattern making full time, she is the best dress designer (has her own label of fancy girls wear), and an awesome jeweller too! We did a jewellery making course ~ needless to say I didn't go further than the first 10 week part, she kept going with it. She is partly responsible for my love of beautiful shoes... Some people are just talented in whatever they do and Sophie is one of those people. Not just 'good' at everything but 'awesome' at everything she does. And this is a mosaic of a Medusa head she has in her front entrance. How artistic is she!!!! She hasn't filled in the tiles around it yet. But she will one day!

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!!!

Natasha xo