Linen Cupboard Overhaul

I've been a bit distracted lately, and my new routines have flown out the window a bit. But I did give my linen cupboard a makeover and wanted to share it with you. (By the way, this is really the wardrobe in our guest bedroom, not your standard linen cupboard.)

I bought 2 lots of linen storage bags from Avon (they often have good storage ideas) to pack all my spare pillows, cushions, blankets, and linen into. I packed all my winter clothes into one suitcase, and all Jonathon's winter clothes into another suitcase, packed another suitcase full of sleeping bags, and then rested the linen bags on top. It is packed in pretty tight, but at least it doesn't all fall out when you open the door like it used to when it looked like this:

Hilarious! And scary.  I managed to send on 4 blankets, a woollen underlay, and 4 pillows to different pastures, and found proper homes for all the extraneous clutter. I'm glad that's done!

For more inspiring makeover ideas, pop over to mousehouse!

My little work room

I'd love to say that I have a massive room for my desk and all my crafty stuff, but alas, it is all squashed into one of our little bedrooms! However, after adding some more Ikea shelves to the ones we got last year, I can now say that I'm getting things organised - finally! And I'm loving the floor-nearly-to-ceiling bookcase.
The desk attaches to the bookshelf, which I think is genius!

This is also where I blog and do computery things. One day, when I get the opposite side of the room looking fab I'll show you that too! Hee, hee.

Check out Megan's organised linen cupboard ideas here.
Join in her Organised Home Challenge here.

xx

30 Day Blog Journal Day 4,5,6 and 7!

I'm playing catch up again!

Day 4: MY FAVOURITE BOOKS

I've read so, so many beautiful books, but these ones had a huge affect on me:

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Narnia Chronicles were recommended to me by my teacher in Year 5 when I was looking for a good book to read. What a thrill! Genius narration, and my first experience of a fantasy world. (Who has looked into a wardrobe and hoped it lead to Narnia??) I also read the whole set to my best friend when I was fifteen, and we cried and cried during the final scenes of the Last Battle. Brilliant!

Robin Hobb's Books

My Mum picked up the first one of these Liveship Traders books by Robin Hobb at our local newsagency. What a lucky find! I was completely blown away by the writing, the characters, and especially the idea of a ship quickening into a live ship that talks to people! Serpents, dragons, ships, pirates, ballgowns, islands, and tree top living. Love, love, love this series and all of Robin Hobb's other books. Best fantasy book writer of ALL TIME!

The Time-Traveller's Wife

This year's favourite read has been this one. I was so totally drawn into the story and its characters. I love anything to do with time-travel, parallel worlds, fantasy worlds, and this was just beautiful and awful at he same time. Gorgeous love story, and the movie was the perfect visual match. I treasure them both!

DAY 5: FAVOURITE QUOTE

There are many, but I keep coming back to this one:

image by pippiphooray

Day 6: 20 FAVOURITE THINGS

Family

Books
Films

Blogging

TV

Magazines

Paper

Drawing

Crafting

Colours

Rainbows

Balloons

Flowers

Notebooks

Children

Photos

Clothes

Cats

Decorating

Sleeping

Day 7: A PHOTO THAT MAKES ME HAPPY

Cherry Blossoms - I can never have enough of looking at them!

30 Day Blog Journal - Day 3

Oh, I'm running a day behind, but anyway, here are my

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS:

To give me ideas for food, and how to make people happy,

because she has such a powerful way of overhauling failing hairdressing salons,

because you can see the way people live, find out what works well and what does not,

and then apply the good things to your own life

because she has the perfect strategies for helping parents to control their children's behaviour,

because I love photography, makeup, and clothes!

I know, I'm a total reality show junkie, but hey, I enjoy seeing people have their fifteen minutes of fame!

30 Day Blog Journal Challenge - Day 1

I've been MIA lately, because I've been madly crafting away, with the intention of reopening my etsy shop again very soon. Not ready to show any sneak peaks yet...

So, to keep me in the loop, without having to think about taking photos and such, I'm going to play along with the 30 Day Challenge I found over at Life of an Artsy Mom. As it's the first day of August I thought I'd start today, and see if I can keep up with it all month!   Here's the Link if you want to play along, or see other people's journals:



So here goes: Day 1's challenge is to share your Favourite Song. I have shared favourite songs before and you will find them at the music link on my blog. But as for what I've been listening to lately, here are my two favourites:
Lily Allen - The Fear: LOVE her sweet voice, and the pretty things in this video, like the retro caravan, the wrapped up Georgian mansion, balloons, presents, dressing table, English garden, autumn leaves. The song has a sweet, catchy tune, and although she might swear a bit, I admire her honest lyrics. Her Fear CD is on high rotation in my car.

The Fear video

Lily Allen

MySpace Music Videos
 
Another girl I just adore is Demi Lovato. She has a huge vocal range, and is only about 16! Love this song, Don't Forget, and constantly play her CDs.
 


Now it's your turn!

Blog awards all round

A little while ago, Jessica from JessicaLeighLaLou gave me this award on the condition that I tell you 10 things that make me happy, so here they are:

1. Books, books and more books

2. Blogs

3. Magazines

4. Movies

5. Peppermint Tea

6. Cake

7. Colours

8. Pretty papers

9. Funny children

10. Good times with family and friends

There are heaps more of course, but these were the first ones to come to mind!

You, too, can add this award to your sidebar if you name your own ten things that make you happy!

Tagged

Trish, from Under Lock and Key, tagged me with some questions, from three different blogs, and I've FINALLY found a moment to answer them!!

1. What books are on your favourite shelf?
Some are:
You Can Heal Your Life by Lousie L. Hay
The Passion Test by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood
A Creative Companion by SARK
The Leader in Me by Stephen R. Covey
An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
The Ripple Effect by Tony Ryan

2. What DVDs are on your favourite shelf?
Some are:
Phantom of the Opera
Moulin Rouge
Mulan
Chocolat
Wizard of Oz
The Golden Compass
The Holiday
Twilight
Life as a house
Lord of the Rings series
Harry Potter series
The Notebook
Sommersby
Miss Potter

3. What are your two favourite cookbooks?
Marie Claire Breakfast
Cupcakes

4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests.
Roast lamb and veg
Chicken Pesto
Barbecued meat and salad

5. What will we be drinking that's available?
Iced water, soft drink, apple juice, sparkling apple juice.

10 Random Things
I love chocolate.
I prefer quiet to noise.
I rarely buy CDs.
Magazines inspire me.
I used to do scrapbooking until I found blogging and cardmaking.
Pink is my favourite colour.
I've only recently bought my first hair straightener.
Cooking is not my thing.
I cannot leave the house without makeup and ear-rings.
Foxtel is my friend.

10 Things That Are True

I read a lot.

I stay up late.

I procrastinate.

I am a homebody.

I love hearing my husband and son laugh.

I spend HOURS on the computer.

I suffer with hay fever.

I am a hoarder.

We have a black and white cat.

I nap a lot.

Maybe you knew, or guessed most of that already!

Now I pass this blogging challenge onto my 20 VERY favourite bloggers, who inspire me every day AND have acknowledged me by being a follower of my blog, commenting on my blog, or responding to my comments on their blogs! Thank you - you are lovely, kind people.

Annette at Nettie Nostalgia

Georgia at Verbosity

Chelsea at Parsons Happenings

Kirsteen at Kirsteen's Blogspot

Josephine at Tale Peddlar,

Tania at Myrtle and Eunice,

Sweetpea at It's a Whimsical Life

Teresa Sheeley,

Erin at Rare and Beautiful Treasures,

Rachel at the Shop Bug,

Kate at Our Red House,

K at Blog Goggles

Isabelle at Isabelle Kessedjian

Caroline at Patchwork Harmony

Crystal at Plush Palate

Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist

Gaia at Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Whitney at A Cheery Disposition

Nicole at GardenMama

and Tina at The English Muse.

I'm not real sure if there is an award attached to this tag....(Trish?), but, if you make a post about this I will put your name in the draw for a lovely prize, to be revealed at a later date...hee, hee.

Meanwhile, to the other people who pop in for a visit on a regular basis, but don't want to leave comments, become a follower, and I will love you forever!

Wendy xxx

Pretend Album Cover

Now that I've added a heap more fave blogs to my blog roll, it took me an hour tonight to read all the new posts! But, I'm having a ball!

There was a laugh of an idea on the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland blog, that was just so tempting that I had to try it: Make a pretend album cover for a pretend band, following this criteria.

1. Google 'wikipedia.com' and select 'random article' from 'the sidebar. The title of the first article is the name of your band or artist.

2. Google 'random quotations' and select the first entry. The last four or five words of the last quotation on the page is the name of the album.

3. Google 'Flickr'and explore the Last 7 days. The third picture is the album cover art.

4. Use photoshop to put it all together. ( I now have this so, woohoo!)

5. You are meant to tag friends in this last step, but hey, everyone gets their kicks in different ways, so if you want to do it, do it!

(The picture is from Tom Raven's photostream On the Road).

The only other instruction is NO CHEATING! You'll be tempted to, but go with what you get first time. (For example, mentum is another name for chin, and I would have loved to change this to Momentum, which would have meant more to me, but, it's only a bit of fun!)

The picture and quote were serendipitously appropriate. I love bright coloured images, and the saying, 'It is not so much to live long as to live well,' suits me fine too.

This reminds me of the game where you find out what name you would have if you were a moviestar (or prostitute, as some people play it!). You take the name of your first pet and the name of the first street you lived in. Mine is Soxy Ogden. Love it! What's yours?