Silver at the Royal Show

One of the reasons I love the Royal Show is finding all sorts of new innovations and freebies. This year's find was a four pack of the magazine Silver for $5! Silver is a relatively new Perth magazine with fashion, interviews, reviews, recipes, home decor and a very cool section on crafts. Beautiful photos throughout! If you live in Perth and you are going to the show this week, pop by the Robinson Pavilion for this great offer! At the same stall there are two stunning cookbooks for $50 that usually retail for $50 each! If you're a food buff you will love these! Wendy xxx

Recovering well

My back is feeling much better after my bend and snap moment last week. And, thankfully, it is school holiday time for two weeks. Yay! Hours and hours of blogging time, house preening and arty stuff. The kitchen has been looking bright and happy with the flowers (and vase) I received from the second year education student who worked with me for the last three weeks (well, two really). Thanks Rhonda!!!

Today, I spent some time arranging pictures and objects on three shelves we recently added to our living room. I got the frames from Target at 40% off, and a new treasure box, candle and a round thing on a mosaiced plate from a shop called "All Things Special". Some more black apple pics snuck their way in too! And, finally, I was able to display my Georgia Mars art!

I also got a new lamp from Target, for the loungeroom, and I LOVE it!

(Okay, I had a shopaholic moment, but I needed retail therapy!)

Later today I fiddled about creating a new blog called "a choc-top and me" which is a place for me to blab on about the films I see. I thought I'd try out a background from itkupilli, and it looks fabbo. Go visit!

You might have realised that I also have a blog called "Wise Owl Books", in which I rave on about the books I've read. I added a background from shabbyblogs.com, which has made my little review space look completely bookish! Come on over, tell me about some of your favourite reads.

So that was my day! Blog stuff and decorating. Tomorrow, the Perth Royal Show!

Wendy xxx

New Shop Items!

Have you been thinking of buying one of the boxed card sets from my etsy shop, but can't decide which one? Well now, I'm offering the cards for sale individually! The boxes will also be available for sale individually, and for a short time, the boxed sets will be listed at reduced prices. Shipping is more affordable now too! I will be listing more cards throughout the coming week, so keep an eye out for your favourites!

Wendy xxx

I love mail!

I couldn't resist recently buying the sketchbook/notebook two pack from the black apple, AND the Springtime Girls Postcard set. I love the way they always throw in some extras like a bookmark and collector's card. Just love their ideas and artwork. Inspirational, in a how-am-I ever-gonna-reach-those-heights kind of way. Wendy xxx

The Eiffel Tower

We read Madeline to the Pre-Primary children a few weeks ago, and they were asked to draw Madeline, Miss Clavell and the Eiffel Tower. Here are some cuter than cute pics (the students are 5 and 6 years old):

I love children's art!

Would you believe?

It was my best friend's wedding on Sunday 20th September. It had been planned for months, right down to the finest details, and what did I do on Saturday to stuff it all up? Bent down to pick up some washing and came up with excruciating back pain! Jonathon was with me at the time, and he saw me fall onto the bed, crying and crying in agony. Part of me was crying too, because the moment my back went, I knew I would not be able to attend the wedding.

Well I have spent all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday in pyjamas, in bed or on the couch, completely uncomfortable most of the time, but not as bad as the first hour or so after I had my injury. Thankfully, our chiropractor was close by at the time and he came straight away to give me an adjustment. He visited again on Sunday, and now I just keep resting, hoping for the pain and discomfort to go away soon. I can't sit for long anywhere, but I wanted to share some of the photos taken by my hubby of the beautiful wedding.

Luckily, Emma's sister-in-law, Bec, (the middle bridesmaid) was able to take my spot in the bridal party and it all went along as usual. Of course, I was devastated that I wasn't there, but having the photos and a video (taken by Jack) made me feel as though I didn't miss it.

Two weeks of beauty

I get very excited about my cherry blossom tree and so have taken a couple more photos, in case you want to share my joy!

Last week's progress.

How it was today. At it's fullest point. Such a lovely thing to come home to. Some of the petals are going brown now, and it will be all over by next week. But I have loved seeing it in all its splendour!

The daisies have been a pleasure too. These are the ones in front of our master bedroom.

Flowers make a house smile!

Project Runway Australia Final

I'm not a sewer, but I do love fashion, and in this show, you get to watch it being created! Wednesday 16th, 8.30 pm on Arena is the final show, and it is down to William, Lauren and Anthony. Here are the party dresses they created in 8 hours (I think it was??).

William's:

Lauren's:

And Anthony's:

That's just a taste of what they have been doing. Anthony has got some killer designs for his final collection, but I hope Lauren gets it together and wins! (William's designs are a bit frumpy, I think!)

An awesome gift in the mail

Today, I got the most awesome gift in the mail from Auntie Anne. When I unwrapped the parcel I saw this, and my heart swelled. The infamous Alice in Wonderland quilt, tied up with a red ribbon bow. Oh!



Not being a quilter myself, I wasn't sure what this little bow was for and then I realised it revealed a pocket holding the quilt's story.



I hadn't even unfolded the quilt yet, and already I felt like I was being wrapped in a hug!

And then there it was - glorious!



The photos don't even do it justice. I can't begin to describe the richness of colours, the cuteness of the drawings, the adorable red and white dotted fabric. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of warmth, that Auntie Anne would feel inspired to do this for me, all the choosing of fabrics, cutting, sewing and organising that she did to create this masterpiece.

I wanted to hug it, kiss it, I was choked up, and I could hear my heart singing!

And, to ice the cake, there was a beautiful quilt card, with a loving message inside.

I could hang the quilt up at school, but there is not much wall and a lot of windows. So I will hang it above my computer in the study. There, I will be able to stare at it day after day after day and it will make the room brighter and sunnier!

Thank you sooo much Auntie Anne, you are absolutely amazingly talented and I will treasure this quilt forever!! (By the way, Jonathon's face completely lit up when he saw it. He said, "You've GOT to be happy with that!" Jack was beaming too.)

Love ya, Wendy xxx

Who will win Hell's Kitchen this time?

I don't know why I keep watching this show. There's a lot of yelling and carrying on, and I would never train someone using this style, but....I guess I just like to see people persevere through trials and tribulations and succeed in the end.

So who will win this series, I wonder (if you've seen the final, don't tell me!)

Danny only really stuffed up for the first time last week.

But Paula has barely done a thing wrong all series.

Paula is the one, I'm sure.

I will be there in the last minutes, I know. Anyone else have this addiction?

Wendy xx

Spring is here!

I love the first two weeks of September, when, like clockwork, our cherry blossom tree wakes up and smiles at the world. Here are the first blossoms:



The rest of the garden joins in on the fun too.

I have a theory that a house with flowers in the front yard, has friendly people inside. Do you find this to be true?

Wendy xx

Colour and light

And now for something completely different.... When I was young and ambitious, I wanted to be the singer in a band, and one idea I had for a band name was The Julia Set. I love the way it sounds, I think Julia is a pretty name, and I am intrigued by what a julia set is. It is a type of fractal, which mathematically (although the jargon is a bit beyond me, so I'll leave it out), is a repeating pattern. They occur naturally in the environment in flowers, shells, waves and clouds, and in manmade items such as doileys, fireworks, architecture, and staircases, but mostly they are generated in computer graphics programmes. They look amazing as scrapbooking paper.

Here is a selection of julia sets from Google images. I think they are beautiful!