In My Life 'Pot Plants on Bicycles'

I'm going to be doing a lot of this in New York

What a gorgeous  day, I just wanted to drop by and remind you about the Rowantree  give away in celebration of Rowantree going to the big apple see here.  And I have my travel journal open at the address page waiting to scribble down you address so I can send you a postcard from New York......
Photo shoot happening at my house today, so I have to run.  Have a beautiful day and enjoy the sunshine.

In My Life 'Postcards from New York'

I can now officially say I have less than a week before I head over to the big apple.  Have you ever wondered why New York City is referred to as the 'Big Apple, well it's not that earth shattering but just incase you happen to be at a trivia night and they ask the question, you'd  kick yourself if you didn't read why over here.
I have ironed, folded and wrapped my gorgeous Rowantree pieces in tissue paper and packed them in a  suitcase, Rowantree is ready to go.  I am still throwing things around my bedroom, must have pieces  on the couch (yes, a couch, I have a really big bedroom), maybe's  on the ottoman and a pile of shoes under the ottoman, gifts for my friends on the dining room table, (we have been eating on our laps for over a week now).  There is a little bit of New York packing going on in every room in this house, I'd say by Tuesday night the bags will be zipped and locked.  The last thing I pack is my travel bag, passport, small makeup purse, pawpaw ointment, phone, ipad and most importantly my travel journal.  I have many journals and they are labelled as volume one, two, three etc.( boring)..... What do I write in them? (more boring)   I write funny anecdotes, and conversations  I have engaged in through out  the day, I write interesting peoples names, I staple bus tickets, show tickets, and all sorts of paper and fabric bits and pieces I collect along the way.  I like to draw, people sanding in line waiting for a hot dog, street people, people walking dogs, just quick little sketches, and of course I love to sketch children's outfits......
In the back of my journal, I have a list of my friends addresses, I really love stalking them with  postcards. I love choosing them, matching postcards to personalities.  The best part is writing something completely corny and cheesy on the back, finding room for the stamps, kissing them goodbye as I pop hem into the post box.
I remember when I was young how very excited my family was when we received a postcard, we had family just about everywhere and all over the globe, and we had a wall in the sunroom covered in faded postcards and thumb tacks.  The postman would actually come right into our house and give it to my mother, he would then stand there and wait for my mother to read it aloud, nosey bugger!

Any ways enough of me and my packing and nosey postman stuff.......This post was all about  me wanting to send a postcard to you from New York.  Soooooooo, would you like me too?
If so, send me an email with your address on it and in a couple of weeks time you'll have a shiny postcard sitting in your letter box with something corny and cheesy hand written on the back with kisses from me in New York and for one lucky person I'll bring you home a snow cone!

Have a lovely weekend, I'll be scribbling your addresses in my travel journal.  Tonight we are playing at home, eating something really scrummy, and playing Pictionary. What a hoot!  Tomorrow I am making a cushion for a beautiful 1930's cane chair I bought for the beach house at an auction his week. Pictures next week!

If you've got a spare minute or two pop on over to  'Rita has a blog' I can' believe the talent and inspiration, Rita is only fifteen years of age.  And in the news Margherita Missoni's gypsy-inspired wedding, I heart the wedding cake big time.

Rowantree Designs 'New York city and a Giveaway'

Yes!  I am packing up my Rowantree collection and taking it on a trip to a gorgeous shop in Soho to feature in their vintage affair.  Am I excited?  Gosh Yes!  I am so excitied that I wanted to share it with you and host a giveaway.  The catch is you only have until next Tuesday the 3rd of July to enter and tell all your blogger friends to come on over, follow Rowantree and enter to win!  The prize is your pick!
All you have to do is make a comment on this blog as to what you would love to win, then you could do a post about Rowantree or mention my giveaway and insist that your followers pop on over and say hello...Simple

Last year I showed the Rowantree collection at a vintage fair held in Brooklyn, it was such a success, they have asked me back and not only that, I have a little styling gig over here.

Random picture selection from last year......Did you read this post or this one.

So, do get excited as I will be adding a mystery prize to the prize.............

Rowantree Designs 'Three Amigos'

I couldn't wait to show you these three little shirts, I made for Rowan last week.  I was channelling   'Cowboys and Indians' moments, thinking of my 'Let's Play' collection I designed back in 2010 which was featured here.   I have always loved the reds and navy colour palettes, whether it be  nautical inspired, or have that elegant European flavour, children always look so stylish wearing clothes which are strong in colour and style.  Shirts are my fave on little boys.....if you havn't already noticed.

Rowan the model....

Upcrafted Samsonite suitcase, Etsy

Tipi bed, Babyology

Vintage cowboy and indian fabric, from my stash

Wow, who would have thought, tee pee cup cakes they look so good, you don't need a party to make these, recipe over here

Amazing cowboy themed party.  You may decide to omit the guns! 

The Fibro Beach Shack 'Orange Crush'

Heading up to the beach shack today.......I'm not planning a Margarita fest this weekend, instead I am meeting up with a a few friends in the park for morning tea and a game of tennis. Think thermos of steaming coffee, rugs and I will be packing a poncho to throw on between sets.   I have just baked these delicious cookies and they are going to delight the pants of everybody.  Perhaps somebody will pop a bottle of bubbles! 

By the way I did hang the mid century 'Robert Lyons' calypso wall art last weekend at the fibro beach shack .  I promise photographs next week.  This week I found brilliant examples of 60's wall art over here.  And if you like a little bit of vintage for the modern world, pop on over here.

Grannie-oatie-chockie cookies
Makes 20

Ingredients
125g softened butter
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed into cup
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Equipment
2 baking trays, greased or lined
small, medium & large bowls
kitchen scales
measuring cups & spoons
wooden spoon or electric beaters
fork
sifter
dessertspoon
egg lifter
oven mitts
2 heat mats
wire cooling rack

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In the large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with the wooden spoon or electric beaters.
3. In the small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the fork. Gradually add the beaten egg to the butter and sugar mixture, stirring or beating gently between each addition.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together into the medium-sized bowl.
5. Add the oats, cranberries, chocolate chips and sifted flour and baking powder to the butter and sugar mixture, and fold these in with the wooden spoon.
6. Scoop up the mixture with the dessertspoon, and place blobs of mixture onto the baking trays, flattening each cookie slightly.
7. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Using the oven mitts, remove the trays from the oven.
8. Because the cookies will still be soft, leave them on the trays for 5 minutes before using the egg lifter to lift them onto the wire cooling rack. Leave to cool (if you can wait that long!).
9. If you can't eat them all in one sitting put a piece of bread in the storage container and they will keep fresh until you do finish them.

Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

In My Life 'Two Tunics'

Well hello, how is your week going, I'm loving the sunshine, taking every opportunity to pop outside to enjoy a cup of tea and a play with Rowan in my back garden.  I hope the weather over in your hood is being kind to you.

Today I actually talked myself into taking some pics of me wearing the tunics I made using the 

'School House Tunic' pattern, here.  I rated the pattern easy with very clear instructions to follow.   

The only element I changed, is the deep open neck line, I added a panel, so I don't have to wear a singlet top under the tunic.  I'm not one for clothes fitting snug on my body, I like to feel comfortable with loose style clothing, especially the days I have Rowan, all that bending, sitting and crawling around on the floor.  Man I just want to be dressed for success, ah! I mean for playing around. So here is me and Rowan in my dining room, you can see I have had blogging business to do as Rowan is still running around in his baggy underwear mid dress!  

This is the dress version I made to wear with tights and boots.  Rowan wearing a baggy Bonds onsie, loves straws, we keep a box of them in the bottom drawer and he happily takes them out one at a time and does what ever he does with them.  

This is the long top version looks great with tight jeans.....I had to do a quick change.  Luckily Rowan was still content playing the straw game whilst I continued trying to get flattering shots of myself.

.......and this is one I prepared earlier (Instagram version), not ironed.

 I don't really know how I looked in the tunic to be perfectly honest, as nobody in my family is ever really going to tell me the truth about looking fat in an outfit!  Though I wish for once somebody would say to me "Oh you look really thin in that" and that would be nice.   

Tunics are easy to wear and can be styled for different looks.   The bodice is quite structured which gives you a nice bust profile, the two tucks from the bodice fall nicely to cover any little naughty snacks you've been tucking away.   If you are thinking of making yourself a tunic I  recommend you give this pattern a try and hey, if you get stuck you can always bundle it up in a post bag and send it on over to me and I'll finish it for you.  

 I can't get enough of these beautifully illustrated Japanese pattern books, this one I recently purchased for a girl friend who I am helping to navigate around the sewing machine, she loved it, and her wardrobe is expanding by the week.  If you are a coffee table book lover like me I am now a member of Fishpond and online book, toy and music store with extremely good prices and FREE delivery!  

Happy sewing!

In My Life 'A Dognapping Terror and Somebody Did a Bad, Bad, Thing''

When I left home Friday to drive up to the fibro beach shack. it was all party, fiesta, forever, I was going to rock the shack with a few margaritas, and an orange stuffed with toothpicks laden with cheese and cocktail onions, red ones being my favourite.  Well we did all that, I ate far too many red cocktail onions with cheese and drank one too many margaritas (gosh they were gooouuudddd).........

Saturday......  a friend called to tell me about 'Tau' the cutest ever dachshund who was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time, read about him here.  Me and thousands of other dog lovers around Australia worried about this little guy's fate all weekend.  Me with my margarita head on Saturday, I just kept thinking the worst for Tau, checking my facebook for updates every other minute.

With Tau's fate in the hands of his dognappers, no more tears could help this canine, with a heavy heart I returned to Sydney to sail on Sunday.............But what next?  I look to the clouds for a wind shift and  see a skywriter in action and so do most of the fleet on the harbour and everybody else who is enjoying the Sunday sunshine................ 'Maya........I.....'m.......sorry!  WTF!  What does somebody do so wrong that they have to publicly (in a huge and expensive way) apologise in air space of the whole of  Sydney's Eastern Suburb's.  I go back to thinking about Tau.................

 and then...................................

we came third..........................

Today Tau was found, I am so happy. read here.  I gave my poodles the biggest hug ever and a lovely bone.  I still can't find any news of 'Maya, I'm sorry' and I'll keep wondering what the bad person did.  I promise my crew I will not loose concentration again whilst winning a race and end up coming third.......

How did your weekend go?  Did you see the apology in the sky?

PS. Tau is a personal friend and I'm sending him a bone.

The Fibro Beach Shack 'Mid Centurio Calypso Wall Art'

Happy Friday.  I'm more than excited today, I'm be taking a booty of great  retro finds up to the fibro beach shack today...Yahooooooo!  I'm going to party, Karamu, Fiesta Forever.  Come on and sing along.................

..............I'll be doing my Calypso moves whilst hanging these amazing prints I found whilst I was in Queensland, I was blown away when I saw them.  I remember these prints from when I was a child, they were hugely popular when my hip happening mother  was going through her West German pottery phase.  What I like most about them is the graphic shapes, almost like block or lino prints.  Once I got started looking for more examples of this style, I couldn't believe how popular the Calypso print movement was.

 The artist here is 'Robert Lyons', I searched the Internet and couldn't find anything substantial about this artist, I found a blog here asking the very same.  Who is this 'Robert Lyons'?  What I did find was a great blog post here that gives a blurb about mid century' Calypso Wall Art'.   Pop onto Pinterest  I'm following this one.

 The Wallpaper

I managed to track down two rolls of faux sea grass wallpaper, and the colour was perfect. 

What do you think?  You can compare here.

It's been a busy week over here in my hood, the cars packed with all my new bits with just enought space for the poodles, I'm turning off the computer and congoing myself out the door.  Have a great weekend.  Tomorrow morning I'm having a lazy morning, with a pot of tea and my ipad, catching up  on all your lovely blogs.........

PARTY, KARAMU, FIESTA, FOREVER...COME ON AND SING ALONG..........

In My Life ' Long Weekend Catchup'

Long weekend bought to you by Pic Monkey

Sunset Strip Motel , Coolangatta, one of he last remaining 60's motels on the Gold Coast.  Rainbow Holiday Flats, 50's fibro block of holiday flats.  Me and the Valiant, my ride for the weekend.

Retro weekender caravan, (a bit spec). Ferris wheel, clown and the tidiest retro laundry still exists in Coolantta.......

If you have a lovin for retro vibes in the means of a humble place to rest your travelling head, I recently purchased this fabulous picture book that my still your beating heart here.  

And lucky for me I had the pleasure of trying out this unique American Airstream Trailer on the weekend.....'Bliss O'  Hop on over and take a look, this could be our next romantic getaway. 

This week I promise you a Fibro Beach Shack update and putting spring/summer together at Rowantree.www.rowantree.com.au

In My Life 'Wintersun'

Hi lovely ladies.  How are you all enjoying your weekend!  Some of us are lucky to be enjoying a long one.  Just a short post.  I'm on the Gold Coast enjoying 'Wintersun' which  is Australia’s longest running Retro Nostalgia Festival featuring the cars, music and lifestyle mainly of the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s.  I'm here to interview some of the people who make this event so fabulous.  I get to walk around with some very talented photographers and chat to the dancer's singer's and car enthusiasts.  It's chilly, over cast and drizzling with rain but nothing has dampened the spirits of these die hard rockerbillies.  The costumes are colourful, the music is swinging, I've manged to snap a few shots of my own and will share them with you next week...

I My Life "It's a Poncho Day"

If you live in Sydney, you are probably already making plans to hunker down this afternoon. This beautiful city is going to be lashed by some pretty big winds, so pull out your poncho's and do everything you need to do this morning and cozy up this afternoon.   Last week I got so excited about the idea of a poncho to top up my winter wardrobe, I didn't find my perfect my poncho, but found a couple of cozy alternatives. 

 Country Road over sized cardi, J Brand jeans, cashmere scarf, Robyn Mathison merino black tee

Vintage crochet cardi from' Reuze Vintage' in Paddington.

Rowan wearing his Burberry jacket, present from Poppa.

On the weekend I watched Bill Grainger make this.  Delicious and perfect for a day like today!

So would these!

If you haven't already heard me rave on about this fun loving and extremely savvy lady, well click on over here and you could win a fabulous gift voucher from no other than......... 

TA DA! Rowantree Designs!  

Have a cozy day!

In My Life "Weekendy Things"

Hello lovely gals, a peek at my weekend........

Coffee at my new fave cafe. 'PS' at Dulwich Hill, next to the station.  Great coffee, homemade everything, jam, muffins, cakes galore and food made with love! 

Ha ha.......

Lily and me,  (younges of the seven girls)

I have styling in mind

Vintage child's deck chair.  Perfect piece for a corner position in a children's room. 

Chinese ceramic shoes.......Cute!

 Fabric arrived on Saturday from Japan.  Gorgeous cotton.  I just can't wait to work with this!

Mum, how does his look?  Alexandra wearing Sass and Bide.

Sailing in the rain, not my best look on he helm!   Wish I was wearing these 'Chic Girls's Socks'

I can't wait to catch up with all your posts this week.  X

In My Life "Rowan's Room, The Wardrobe And The Sampler"

Rooms are always evolving in my house.  Objects move from room to room, walls change colour, furniture comes and goes, new and old, loved and betrayed.  Every piece destined for a wall, corner, nook or cranny to sit comfortably in the audience of a house that is home.  A home that is loud of laughter and music, bulging with love, passion, thoughts and emotions. It's exciting, it's creative, it's the centre of my world..........

This is Rowan's room it used to look like this and this.

One day  I was reading Jody's cheery 'Lemon Rhodes' blog about her 'Little Yellow Wardrobe' project, here and immediately I felt enthused, filing the 'yellow wardrobe project' under 'Y' in the right side of my brain.  As spontaneous as I am, it's no like I immediately ran out and started scouring the second hand furniture shops for an old wardrobe......A week later I found one, sitting on the footpath outside my neighbours house, it couldn't be 'free please take me', no way.  How could I be that lucky?.........

Then I found this...Sooooo excited,  just as excited as the day I found my Tahitian beauty

This beautiful Sampler (and example for a good life) was embroidered back in the forties.  I love it unconditionally.  And this beautifully dressed couple look so happy, I think they are in love..

Hi me taking the picture.  Retro globes and a cheeky Eames children's poster.

I made a gingham curtain which covers the back of the mirror.

A collection of handmade cover rugs.

Bits and pieces 

Rowan's Moss Stitch cardigan, from the Rowantree Collection

Hi little cheeky man, the world is yours!

Seems like I have lost the before's and middle's of my wardrobe renovation, but you can see the side of it here.

Happy weekend, stay warm.  I'll be cuddled up in my sort of poncho! And I'll be listening to a bit of this and loads of this legend