Today's photo is one of Angie's, here's a look at the unedited version:


I had fun playing around with this photo, here's what I did to it:

• I ran the action Mademoiselle from the Flora Bella Luxe set with no further editing
• I used a stained paper texture from here and changed the layer style to Soft Light
• Over the top of that I added this texture layer and changed the layer style to Overlay and lowered the opacity to 70%
• I erased some of the texture layers from his face and hair as well as some from his shirt

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! I am gathering my goodies together for December Daily as I am taking part this year. I am really excited to start and finish this project so I am organizing everything ahead of time to hopefully save time.......lol!! We'll see how we go shall we?

listening: to the kids from the neighborhood trashing my house
eating: home made sweet potato chips
drinking: lemonade
wearing: shorts and singlet
feeling: slightly annoyed {see listening}
weather: warm with a few welcoming spring showers
wanting: something really yummy like cake
needing: some peace and quiet
thinking: I may just pull my own hair out today
enjoying: nothing right now
wondering: where I can escape to tomorrow

With Miss J's 5th Birthday on the weekend, I ran out of time getting my Fix-It Friday post done so here it is on a Monday!!

This weeks photo is from Dana Suggs. Here is the original photo:


I was going to crop the photo but I love all the pumpkins scattered around. Here is a run down of what I did to the photo:

• Firstly, I ranstarlet from the Luxe Collection by Flora Bella and flattered the image
• Then over the top I ran Sweet Vintage from Vintage Collection by Flora Bella and flattered the image once again
• I ran Sweet Sunshine from the Extra Actions in the Luxe Collection and lowered the opacity to 30%
• Lastly, I added this texture from Shadow House Creations and changed the layer style to Soft Light and lowered the opacity to 80%.
• I erased the texture from the little black dog {who looks like toto from the wizard of oz.....too cute} and from the face, arms, shirt and shoes.

I would love to get my girls in a field of pumpkins like this. Such a sweet photo too!! Speaking of sweet, check out this deal especially for my blog readers:


BLUE BAZAAR www.bluebazaar.com.au is offering readers of my blog a 10% discount on your next order over $40.00.  To receive the discount include the following code in the coupon field of your order: BB-BLOGDM.    Note: discounts do not apply to items already discounted, on sale or subscriptions.  The code is valid for this month until the 15th November 2010.


That's it from me today. I just wanted to thank all those wonderful people who left sweet comments here on the blog {Amanda, Miss J wants to know if you have ever had a curly fries that long before......lol ;) } and on facebook. As well as the phone calls, e-card {finally got it this morning Judy ;) } and private messages as well as text messages for Miss J's 5th birthday. She was so excited!!! So thank you one and all!!

I have decided to participate in this weeks group blog series hosted on LA's blog {Freckled Nest} as this weeks word is Vintage!! {If you want to read up on how it works, go here for more information} I'm not sure I will participate every week but we will see how it goes. We all know how easily I get bored and distracted with routine when it comes to this blog. Hey, I do what I can.......lol!! Ok, let's give this a go......

One | The Clock

When I was in 4th grade at school I was living with my mother's friend at the time and we were sitting around the dinning room table talking about an old antique clock that her mother had handed down to her. I remember everything about the clock, the shape, the color and even the texture of the old curved wood. It sat on her shelf as a center piece for all to see. She explained to me that it had never worked in all the time she had had it. I remember her looking at it fondly and muttering to herself "I should take it to someone and see if it can be fixed". Just after she had finished talking there was a loud ticking that could be heard coming from that very clock! We both looked over towards the clock and witnessed at the same time, that the second hand had begun to move in time with the loud ticking. It only lasted for about 10-15 seconds until it came to an abrupt stop but neither of us could take our eyes off that clock and neither of us could come up with a plausible explanation that would explain what had just taken place and why! I'll never forget that night.

Two | St Vinnies

Not long after leaving home, one of my very favorite jobs I have ever had was working at a St Vincent de Paul store in Waverly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I loved the idea of working for a company that gave back to the community and helped those who needed it. Every day working at the store was an adventure. Some days you had to sell out the front of the store, other days you were able to sell at the back of the store where all the amazing goodies were kept just waiting to be discovered. The gorgeous antique items and furniture used fly out the doors as fast as it was coming in. This place was massive as it catered to the whole of the eastern suburbs including all the very rich area's. Other days I got to work upstairs where the huge bales used to be pushed around on massive pulley systems hanging down from the roof and little cranes so they could be lifted from the lower level to the upper levels. Inside these bales were items that had been collected from deceased estates and this is where I discovered my love for all things vintage. In just one bale sometimes two {these bales are about the same size as the round bails of hay you see in fields} you could see the whole life of one person. Love letters, photos, war medals, fine china, jewelry, journals, the list goes on and on. Items that had been passed down from generation to generation. It was our job to go through these dear peoples lives and save what we felt was important and that others would hold as a valued, cherished item. You really needed to have a heart to do this job and if you discovered anything that you felt was of great importance but no one would ever buy, then we could take it to our amazing boss and it would be saved and taken to a storage facility to be examined and cataloged for future reference. Working at this place really taught me how to appreciate and respect the little things that others hold dear to their hearts. It also gave me the curiosity to look at any given vintagey item and wonder who, where and what it had seen!

Three | A Steinway Pianola

The last house we lived in was full of charm and history. It still retained most of it's original features as well as an old piano. To be exact it was a Steinway Pianola Piano which dates back to the 1900's. We tried to trace this piano's history and find out just how long it had lived in the house. We were quite close with the owners of the house we were renting and they gave us the information we needed to track down the owner before them who still lived in town. He was able to tell us that he was born in our house and that the piano had been there ever since he could remember and that the house had been passed down through family over it's many, many years. My two girls loved playing with that piano even though it had been neglected over the years. Some of the keys no longer worked but it did bring lots of joy to the dinning room after and sometimes during meals. Since leaving that wonderful house, we do have an electric organ but it's no match for that ole pianola.

Four | Mother of Pearl

My mother saved her First Communion Prayer Book that was given to her by her mother in the early 1950's and she in turn handed it down to when my first child was born. I have kept this precious book in a safe place and hope to one day have the inside cover mended which is missing the mother of pearl crucifix. The outside cover is still in pretty good condition and is covered in mother of pearl. I love the fact that this little book is now 60 years old and considered to be a vintage item so by the time I hand it down to Miss O, it will be an heirloom. Before I do pass it down and before Mum takes to that staircase, I want her to tell the story of how she received it and what fond memories she has to share about it. Then before I pass it down to Miss O, I will tell a similar story and ask that the next owner do the same. Just imagine in a few generations time what they will think. Will we still have book I wonder???


Ok, that was fun!! Now if you would like to write your 4 stories why not join in and group blog with us. I look forward to reading other peoples 4 stories. A wonderful way to exercise those brain cells I say!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ;)

listening: to the radio {online}
eating: nothing
drinking: a can of coke
wearing: sportswear trackies and matching singlet with a billabong hoodie
feeling: productive
weather: coolish
wanting: the spring holidays to last for another week
needing: to do some stretching {sore legs}
thinking: about exciting upcoming projects
enjoying: the funky beats on 2 Day FM tonight
wondering: if I will be pulling my hair out with stress this time next week {Miss O's horrid school}

Don't you just love when snail mail arrives and you didn't expect it to arrive so soon!! I could hardly wait to rip open both of my packages today to find inside pretty, pretty eye candy!!

First off the bat was my do-not-bend package containing a gorgeous photo that I won in a giveaway from Liz over at Paislee Press blog. I was able to choose an 8 x 10 print of my choice from the gorgeous etsy store Life Through the Lens. I adore her photos! It was so hard to choose just one.....lol! I eventually chose this one that caught my eye because of the little red paper heart inside of the jar...........there's one person out there who knows what that little red paper heart means and everyone else will know soon enough {wink : wink}

Look at the sweet thank you note Kristi added to the gorgeous package:


Thank you so much Kristi and to Liz for hosting the giveaway!! xox

My second package was from Frankie Magazine!!! I order one of their Daily Journal's for next year. I couldn't believe my eyes when I skimmed through the pages quickly to see the gorgeous illustrations through out the journal. I love it so much and can't wait for next year to come so I can start using it. Here's a quick look at one of my favorite illustrations inside the journal:


I love the feeling of the cloth bound book and the whimsical illustrations, makes me want doodle in some of the entries! I love that it has two pages for the full month view or two pages for a full week view. The two page full view of the year in the birthday section is perfect and the notes to self section is so freakin' cool!!! I love that it has all of the aussie holidays too, this is a must have for any aussie or illustration lover! Great Christmas gift too ;)


We are starting to wind down from school holiday mode, well I am, not sure about the kids though......lol!! I actually slept in till 10am this morning, how lazy is that! Even the girls slept in {shock : horror} but I did find Miss O awake in bed playing her DS. At least she didn't come in and wake me up like she normally would.


Off to do the dreaded house work........a woman's work is never done!

We are nearly at the end of our Spring school holidays and boy have we had some fun and relaxing times!!

The week before school holidays began, some friends of ours who we lost contact with nearly 20 years ago, found us via facebook! Can you believe that? We were so over the moon to hear from them and we decided to meet up again to chat and find out what we had done with our lives. It was amazing to catch up and have our daughters meet for the first time.

 The next weekend Lisa was back for an overnight stay with her sweet daughter Jess. The girls were over the moon happy and so was Lisa and I.

During the first week of the holidays we managed to go up the coast to Kiama and visit the blow hole to have a look and to grab a yummy ice-cream.


 We took a few photos around the place before going further up the coast to do some shopping. We stopped at one of the girls' favorite parks on the way home to have a climb and a play.  usual the girls meet some kids to play with and proceeded to chase each other all over the park. Loads of fun!!