A new bunch of ranunculus for my desk this week in pale oranges, peaches and light yellows. I adore these pretty flowers, they make me smile every time I look at them and the best thing about them is that they always last for a full week! Gotta love that!


We had an appointment with Miss O's pediatrician yesterday to update her asthma medication as she has had 64 days off school just this year. As soon as she catches a cold {which is like every few weeks with the weather we have been having} or a virus, her asthma seems to flare up. Late last month I had to sit up most of the nights watching her breath and listening to her chest as she coughed in her sleep every 30-40 seconds. I had to wake her up every 20-30 minutes to give her some ventolin. {If you know quite a bit about asthma then you know I was totally pushing the boundaries with 20-30 minute intervals and she should have been in hospital} I just hate the way the nurses scold you and look at you when you bring your child in for asthma related problems, they are always nit picking and judging you even when you produce a slip of paper with meticulous records of how much ventolin has been administered and at what times. {I find it easier to write every thing down so I am ready for any question the doctors or nurses ask}


This year I have noticed that her asthma has worsened and thought it was time to head back to her pediatrician for an asthma plan update. Miss O's pediatrician has been treating her since she was transferred from hospital in Sydney, down to Shoalhaven Hospital here in Nowra, {Miss O was born premi at 24 weeks and 1 day, read more about that here} so he has watched her grow since she was a wee little baby.
He has added prednisolone and replaced her qvar with a new preventer flixotide to her plan. I am very hopefull this this will be a change for the better! Fingers crossed!


Had some extra time today as things start to settle down with doctor appointments, teacher, school counselor and AEO meetings, and opened up photoshop and some gorgeous designs from Vinnie Pearce's Journey Back Collection.



This collection is massive as well as being such an inspirational kit to work with. I look forward to creating something more with it in the next week or two but here are two digital pages I have created for now...




I love the photo I used on the above page, I found it by accident when I was looking for a different photo and as soon as I saw this one I knew it was perfect. I love the way Miss O is lowering her head down to meet Miss J and the cheeking looks they have on their faces.




I found this photo in an old folder transferred from my old pc. I had to laugh when I saw it because it is so like Miss J to be chewing on a bit of wood at this age! She would chew, suck or eat anything just to see what it tasted like, even dirt! Miss J was only 2 when this photo was taken, gosh time flies doesn't it. She starts kindergarten next year {sniff sniff}




I hear the bus rounding the corner.....time for Miss O to arrive home so I had better get off the puter and get snacks and cut up the vegies for a baked pork dinner with loads of apple sauce....mmmmmm!!

 ♥  via Handmade Charlotte: I am totally diggin' these utensils for the little ones

 ♥  via Bella Dia: I must make one of these little pocket stitch books, very handy to have

 ♥  via Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone: love this tutorial making a sunburst mirror project

 ♥  via Giveaway @ Heidi Swapp: how cool are these camera bags

 ♥  via Pugly Pixel: check out the new freebie Katrina has on her blog {photo overlay used above}

 ♥  via One Lucky Day: Paula and Deb are two awesome ladies who create the most amazing creations using 7 Gypsies products and this years {2010} junk drawer advent calendar kit looks AMAZING!

 ♥  via Designboom: what an amazing creation these leaf shaped post-it notes are

 ♥  via Smashing Magazine: this is my chosen desktop background for this month

 ♥  via The Gilded Bee: love this handmade paper/foil flower

 ♥  via Oh, Hello Friend: thinking about making these for Christmas this year

 ♥  via Decor 8: I find these little hearts so inspirational



 That's it for today! Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday ;)

Being an iphone owner, I am always on the look out for new fun apps and this one is simply amazing!! I can't believe that all these little animals and their clothes are made with paper, how cool is that!

  There is a choice of six little characters to choose from including a kitty, a frog, a monkey, a baby, a duck and a dinosaur.


Can you imagine sitting there and cutting out piece by piece, I am so glad she had the patience to do it as my girls love playing with this app!

Mix and match over 180 different items of clothing, shoes and accessories on your chosen character and save it to show it off to your friends. You can even save it as your screen saver for your iphone or print it out from your computer for so many different idea's. Why not print out a whole bunch of them for a unique game of snap! Guaranteed to keep the little one's busy for at least half an hour....lol!


The oh so creative Robin Rosenthal, who is a graphic designer and illustrator who specializes in designing and developing products for babies and children, is the artist behind this super fun application. 

I finally upgraded my Canon 400d for a 50d a few weeks ago so I managed to find some time to grab a few shots of a bunch of ranunculus I purchased for myself to cheer my mood, it worked too! I sold my old camera and its kit lenses so I could purchase a few lenses I actually wanted like this one and this one which is due on my doorstep next week. Still waiting on that camera strap to arrive as well!
Ok, on with some goodies I am loving right now:

♥  via The Curious Pug: Alycia interviews Anna and Naomi from The House of Mouse; these little mice are so cute and full of attitude!

♥  via Whatever Dee Dee Wants: these oh-so cute mini houses on wheels!

♥  via Our.City.Lights: anything vintage camera related is a must have for me, these are fun and funky!

♥  speaking of vintage: how trendy are these flapper girls Eloise and Ramona. I especially love this and these two for sure!

♥  via Kasia Designs: I am loving the style of the digi kits that Kasia designs especially this new one for bookworms!

♥  via Paislee Press: as always Liz has released a gorgeous kit at the Digi Chick this month where she is a guest designer.

♥  via Frankie Magazine: each year I always buy or create a calendar/journal and this one will be mine for 2011.

♥  via Eat Drink Chic: pretty, pretty 'hanky' love letter freebie.

♥  via Heart Handmade: Claire is one crafty girl and her latest memo board is a must-make!

♥  via Pugly Pixel: Katrina has a new freebie, vintage fabric deco tape, can't get enough of this stuff!

♥  via Vinnie Pearce Design: Vinnie has some gorgeous wood grain labels {see photo in last post} for download on her blog.

♥  via Eclectic Me: I am loving this cute crochet pattern that Gillian followed from here, I must give this a try!

That's it for today! Have fun link clickin'!!

You may have noticed on my layouts I created for Tarisota this month {scroll down to an earlier post if you didn't}, I used a few ttv frames as well as some overlays/textures on my photos. Everything I used on my photos I found mainly in various flickr groups. I love experimenting with textures, overlays and ttv frames in photoshop, the results can turn out amazing and give any every day photo just what it needs to SHINE ♡.  

The photo above was taken by accident when my family and I were on holidays in Coffs Harbour at a carnival just as the sun was about to set. I loved the silhouettes at the bottom of the photo and the look of the sky scattered with clouds as the sun was going down. I love photos that have large quantities of sky in them....with balloons.....and with water....and with birds......and carnivals...lol!! What was an average photo, is now dreamy! I went through loads of my photos looking for average looking ones that I thought could do with a little LOVE ♡, here are some of the results....
In all of these photos, I used the same ttv frame and the same overlays/textures so that the photos all had a similar look and hue. There are loads of photos circulating at the moment with soft hues which use gorgeous textures and photoshop actions. HERE is an example. {I recently purchased the Luxe, Vintage, B&W and Color & Haze.....AMAZING!} However......we can make soft ttv photos using what is available {without spending any money} from around the net. Have a look at how I constructed my little ttv photos...

Here is the list of what I used, in reverse order from photo {bottom} to ttv frame {top} and what settings I used in photoshop:

•  natural stock bokeh by stock-feele HERE  > Layer Style: overlay Opacity: 100%
•  heart bokeh by mifti-stock found HERE > Layer Style: screen Opacity: 78%
•  autumn gold bokeh by virtually supine HERE > Layer Style: overlay Opacity 51%
•  ttv frame by DLSDesigns found HERE > Layer Style: multiply Opacity 100%

Depending on the photo you use, you shouldn't need to edit it at all before you place the overlays/textures over the top of it. The overlays/textures should lighten any poorly lit or under-exposed photos. Have a play with the layer styles and the opacities to suit your own needs and likes! Even add some more layers such as a layer of texture to turn the above PRETTY ♡ flower photo to a slightly grungy one like this:

 Here is a link to the texture I used in the above photo. I placed the texture in between the ttv frame and the autumn gold bokeh:

• autumn gold bokeh by virtually supine HERE > Layer Style: overlay Opacity 51%
• INSERT TEXTURE HERE WITH THESE SETTINGS:  > Layer Style: multiply Opacity 48%   <<<<<<<<<<<<
•  ttv frame by DLSDesigns found HERE > Layer Style: multiply Opacity 100%

 I have put together a little list of some of my favorite flickr groups that have wonderful textures and overlays that you can use to experiment with. The possibilities are truly endless and so much fun to play around with. There are no wrong or rights with the amount of layers you use or how little, just as long as YOU like the end result! ENJOY ♡!!

• SophieG: HERE & HERE
• Nasos3: HERE
• Valerie Everrett: HERE
• Quality Textures & TTV's: HERE
• Textures by Cosima: HERE
• Bumblebee: HERE
• Birgit Engelhardt: HERE
• Brenda Star: HERE

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment or send me an email! I'd be happy to help ;) Happy hump day ♡!!

After being offline for nearly 2 months, the amount of feeds I have had to go through has been staggering!! So far I have managed to get them down to 810. Still a little way to go but I wanted to share some linkage with you all that I thought was worth mentioning AND that caught my eye AND so I don't forget about them just yet.....

They are in no particular order either:

 ♥  via The Creative Mama: they are on blogcation {cute word} at the moment but they are posting some oldies but goodies from the last year and I found this one on A Daily Routine printout to come in handy.

 ♥  via Life Through the Lens: Kristi posted this one in her annual blog hunt post of photographer Mandy Lynne. I just fell in love with one of her prints in her etsy store called Shades of Yellow.....so dreamy!

 ♥  via 74 Lime Lane: Kellie posted some how to links and I found this one really interesting!!

 ♥  via Frankie Magazine: loving these wallpapers right now, makes me feel like the weather is about to warm up here......bbbrrrrrrr

 ♥  via vol.25: how sweet are these little cupcakes! And you can download them and make your own little sweetnesses, just don't eat them!

 ♥  via Kenner Road: the last sale for kenner road {sniff} 28th July 2010 @ 10am pacific on etsy. So sad :(

 ♥  via My Four Hens Photography: M4H's is about to have it's first birthday party and there's always something awesome going on over at Sarah's.

 ♥  via Art as Life: I am so excited about getting my kit and taking this class hosted by the amazingly talented Debee! If there's no kits left at least you can still take her class.

 ♥  via the Art House Co-op: I am seriously thinking about this.....

 ♥  via A Thing For: I have a thing for this blog.

Enjoy the weekend!!

Firstly........Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful Mothers of the world.....without you, we wouldn't be here today......lol!!

On with a few ♥'s for today.....

First ♥ goes to Maile of Epiphanie Camera bags!! I know these gorgeous bags have been around for some time now but since they opened up shop I have had one of these bags on my wish list and it still remains there to this day.....oh please can I have one!!


A ♥ goes to this fun fabric flower garland tutorial written by Ashley from Dolci Odille via Once Wed:


A ♥ goes to Kristen of Domestifluff for this oh so cute tutorial on making a felt rosette wreath:


A ♥ goes to Promise Tangeman.....her whole blog is full of inspiration, great reading and gorgeous photography!! Have a look at these funky glass she sells at RVA....I so need these!!!

With the weather getting cooler here I am loving sitting in the sun and soaking up some rays to help wash away the icky sick feeling I have at the moment. The girls are still home from school and little Miss J's spreading her germs all over me. You can't NOT snuggle with your little one's when they are sick so now I have a cold.....woopy!!

I finally got around to posting a new digital page using some of Vinnie Pearce's gorgeous goodies.......wanna see...

Here is a little link list of the items I used on this page:

• Poised Full Kit
• Poised Solid Papers
• Art on Wings 01
• Grunge Script Masks
• Bucket Full of Sunshine

The photo was taken just after Christmas when we went up to Dorrigo Mountain where one of my 5 uncles live......such a beautiful place, remember this post about the clouds coming in the door....lol!! So very pretty. The photo was taken as we were driving down the mountain....the views were amazing! Here is the full photo:


I edited the photo using one of my favorite Photoshop action Urban Acid.......if any of my photos have blue sky in them I almost always use this action! The vintagey frame is by Rhonna Farrer @ 2 Pea's and the tape on 3 sides of the photo is the NEW Clip Art Tape Strips: The Solid Sequel freebie from PUGLY PIXEL! After I applied the tapes strips to the frame I added a small shadow to them and change the layer mode to MULTIPLY in Photoshop so they became a little transparent.....how cute are they....thanks Katrina!!

Some happy link lovin' on a rainy/overcast Sunday afternoon with my yummy hot latte, my fluffy slippers { yes it's getting cool here in Australia so just go with me } listening to Kyle and Jackie O { fav. radio hosts 2dayfm }

I want to start today's ♥ links off with an awesome store I recently discovered thru my mindless blog hoppin' called Emersonmade. The flowers that Emerson make are so beautiful and delicately made I could hardly believe my eyes when I was browsing thru the store. Here are just a few of my fav's:

Make sure you check out Emerson's blog which is filled with the most beautiful photos of her stunningly, sweet, soft and oh so pretty flowers.  I want to cover my whole house with these pretty, pretties!! I think they deserve two little ♥ ♥'s today!!

- A ♥ goes to Ann from Ann Wood Handmade for her wonderful tutorial on making these paper mache boats:



- A ♥ goes to the two talented ladies from Kitty Robot HERE and HERE. They make the cutest little clay goodies and the sweetest little buttons you will ever see! Find out more about them on their blog HERE. Have a look at this cute little ring: