some more Italian goodness

Today we got out of the house with Ethan to check out the beautiful cars at the Italian Car Show. The logo is from a 1925 vintage Fiat. I love the Art Deco design...



And some adorable Fiat 500's of varying ages. I'll have the lemon yellow please!!

Our baby boy!!

Meet our new addition to the family, our little man was born on the 30th of January. Ethan will be a week old tomorrow morning. He is a healthy little boy who demands a whole lot of my time. I think he is the most precious thing in the world...



Illustration Friday - Plain


Mixed media (black ink, watercolours, tea and acrylic inks).

"The Crow and the Peacock"

[EDIT] I didn't realise that there was a fable about the Crow and the Peacock until Stephanie mentioned the fable in her comment. Or maybe I had heard the story before and it was somewhere in the corners of my mind.

I started out wanting to paint a crow in ink and then I thought I should put it next to something bright and colourful in comparison.

Banner for baby's room




How to make this banner
Cut out your triangles of fabric with even edges of 23cm. I made a pattern with paper to cut around. Cut two triangles for each flag. Sew on two sides and press seams flat. Turn right side out and press again. Sew as many flags as you need to span your room. To attach the flags together to form a banner I used white webbing (you could also use bias binding). Fold in half and press down the centre. Push the rough side of your flags inside the fold of webbing and pin. Leave about 15cm of webbing on either side of your banner ends. I then tacked all the flags into the webbing and machine sewed along the webbing about 1.5mm in from the flag edge. Unpick all your tacking. Sew a loop on each end to attach to hooks in your room.

Let me know if you make a banner using this pattern. I would love to hear about it!

25 things...

that make me happy

1. laughing with my husband
2. family and friends
3. baklava sweets
4. Chai tea
5. making collages
6. a sea breeze
7. taking photos of insects
8. project runway
9. gardening
10. picnics
11. wildflowers
12. finding new artists
13. creating art journals
14. travel
15. cooking Thai food
16. pumpkin recipes
17. lovely paper
18. beads
19. nice bedlinen
20. bushwalking
21. orchids
22. sound of church bells
23. scarves
24. creating things
25. art nouveau

37 weeks

Someone requested a photo of me in my late stage of pregnancy so here we go. I'm still doing pretty well. The baby is a healthy weight of over 3.5 kgs.


My feet and ankles are now about 3 sizes larger than they used to be. My hands are all swollen with carpel tunnel syndrome and I get super sore finger and knee joints. I find it difficult to nap/sleep during the day, it has never been something I'm good at. At night I get between 5 - 8 hours sleep.

The weather has been really hot. On Boxing Day it was 44 degrees celcius (which is 111.2 degrees Fahrenheit), since then it has swung between 30C (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and 42C (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Yesterday we had a power fail for several hours. I drove to hospital to see my Obstetrition through about 6 large intersections without working traffic lights - So scary!

Heart Decorations

I began making these felt decorations after Christmas, as Christmas snuck up on me again this year and I got inspired a little late. I made them with dark grey and red wool felt and silver seed beads. I sewed them using thick silver thread which I had left over from a previous project.



I have decided to do a little tree for Valentine's Day this year.