Christmas Wish

This is my elf

My sunny, chatty, cheeky little cherub

Merry Christmas everyone... may the world be filled with love and happiness

x

Photo by Angela Steyn

Friday Blessing

Have I mentioned lately how crazy our lives have become now that both my husband and I work from home with a very vocal toddler beneath our feet?  Yes, you're right... I have... repeatedly!  Sorry.  Some days I feel like my brain might actually burn out, that it will start billowing smoke and simply shut down.  I'm developing a Jeckyl & Hyde personality disorder - Mama for two minutes, Designer for one.  But every day I discover new things about myself... like I can simultaneously blog and mash banana, all while playing peek-a-boo with a stuffed rhino!  It is a crazy, chaotic and wonderful life filled with precious moments tucked into the folds of the mayhem.  I am so blessed to spend my days sitting across the studio from the man I love with our beautiful boy quietly chewing carpet samples in the corner.  Life doesn't get much better than this... except maybe when my boys bring me flowers!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone x

Photos by me

An Angel At My Table

Some images from our house... this is how we spend our weekends x

Photography by Andre & Angela Steyn

Vintage Hunter: Comic Books

While ambling through Vinnies the other day, searching for a 'new' desk for my husband ("must be old,  must not be a desk, must be oak, must be an orphan, must be precisely 1500x750mm, must have character"... I could go on with his list of criteria...) I came across a pile of old comic books lurking in the shadows.  Hiding in there was this 1968 Superman Annual for $1!  I couldn't resist it... literally... I walked away but then went running back like a filthy addict.  My poor little boy is in danger of growing up thinking his bedroom is a portal to 1971!  

Pretty cool though, don't you think?  I love the colours, the smell of the pages, the use of fonts, the brilliance of comic strip formation.  Maybe all the vintage paraphernalia that crowds Leo every night as he goes to sleep, will be an antidote to the hideous techno-worship I'm terrified he'll contract upon his 3rd birthday?  Fingers crossed!

P.S. I found the perfect table (cough, "desk").  Photos to follow x

Images by me

My Love Affair with Africa

I'm back... from a land so beautiful it almost defies description.  My journey through South Africa was filled with so much wonder and colour it will remain etched in my memory as a place where the heartbeat of the country is audible in the sky and the landscape and the vast razor-wire jungle of Johannesburg.  It is a place of contradictions, where fear sits comfortably with pride, where anxiety is soothed by smiles so blinding you remain desolate in their wake.

I loved it.  From the radiant light of the Waterberg, to the crude, yet stunningly beautiful architecture that is so raw and authentic.  I adored the people and the way they turn every child into royalty.  The harsh, imposing landscape of the Cape made me feel insignificant and powerful all at once.  The animals... my God, the animals!  To see an elephant flap his ears and mock charge at twenty paces is a chilling thrill everyone should experience at least once.

Here are just a few photos... a little teaser of things to come.  I was so inspired by the architecture (particularly my husband's!) that I'll post in more detail as soon as I get organised.  I'm warning you that I'm now obsessed with stone... their use of natural materials is so superior to anything I've seen here in Australia it definitely warrants further exploration!

My African Love

When I first met my husband, he was living in South Africa and I was here in Sydney.  Our romance quickly escalated into a full-blown 18th Century style, cross-continental love affair, complete with treasured letters and swooning hearts.  To be together meant taking a leap of faith... but our love proved far bigger than the ocean that divided us.

Tomorrow, we are taking our 9 month old baby boy back to visit the country of his ancestors.  We leave for South Africa in the morning... I'm so excited (and busy) I can barely think straight!  I thought I would share with you two photos I sent Andre in the early days of our romance....

ME

YOU

I will try and blog a little from the road but please forgive me if there is a lapse in the posts... I'll be busy spotting giraffe and elephant!

x

Children's Vintage Art Idea

I was so smitten with the beautiful vintage-inspired artworks created by Sarah Barnett of Twice Designs that I decided to have a go myself (if you missed my Creative Little Soul interview with her, check it out here) .  I found some quirky vintage playing cards on ebay and then turned them into an artwork for my little boy's room.  The cards cost about $6 (AUS) and the white Ikea frame cost $39.95 (AUS).  It's not quite as good as Sarah's but I love the idea.

I'm not sure about the white backing board... I'm considering making it navy blue.  Any thoughts?

Photos by me

Instagram Tragic

Now you know how technologically challenged I am?  You know how incapable my brain is of processing anything remotely connected to computers?  You know how much I loathe internet jargon and techy speak and people who are obsessed with their gadgets?  Well, finally, after months and months of deliberating (to the point of ad nauseum), I am the proud owner of a brand spanking new WHITE iPhone 4 (hip hip hooray, clap, clap, clap!).  And. I. LOVE. it!

I must say, that it does seem to be taking me an inordinate amount of time to figure out how to use it (unfortunately, it didn't come with a 14 y.o that I could conveniently carry around in my pocket to give me instructions!).  Yesterday I installed some cool rock'n apps including Instagram.... look, look, LOOK what I can do:

Please share your apps secrets with me!

Photos by me

Hippity Hoppity Easter Wishes

Hope the Easter Bunny finds you.

x

(Did you know the Easter Bunny is chubby, blonde and has dimples?  Click here to see)

Photos by me

Vintage Show & Tell

One of the most endearing things about my husband, is that he came into my life complete with vintage trunks full of old family heirlooms... its kind of like having an antique store hidden in my lounge room!

Today I opened a trunk and this is what I found...

1. SCISSORS

2. NAUGHTY PLAYING CARDS

3. LOVELY TRINKETS FROM ANDRE'S MOTHER'S LIFE

Do you have a favourite?

Photos by me

Just My Type

My vintage typewriter sits on a shelf in the kitchen for all the world to see (...because where else in the house would you keep a typewriter?!) but rarely moves except on the odd occasion when I decide to clean it... a job that I will gladly give to Leo as punishment one of these days when he's old enough!  I see it so often as I walk in and out of the kitchen, that I have almost forgotten how much I adore it.  

So I have decided that today is 'Appreciate Your Forgotten Favourite Possessions Day' and I encourage you all to unearth your treasured keepsakes, hold them, stroke them and recapture the joy you felt when you first bought them home.

x

P.S.  My apologies for the bombardment of my own photos lately but I have excruciatingly slow internet this week and can't browse the web for yummy content :(

Photos by me

Thieving Missy

The Flower Thief strikes again!

For weeks I have been pushing the pram past two particularly beautiful rose bushes, my palms just itching to pinch a couple of buds to photograph... but these bushes are on somebody else's property and I've always drawn the line at nicking flowers from private gardens (I prefer to pilfer from the local government instead - it makes me feel better about paying taxes!).  Today, would you believe it, the ground was littered with fallen flowers like a blanket laid out for the pixies!  I walked home with a smile on my face and a pram full of petals... happy days!

Photos my me

Monday Mystery Collection

Except, it isn't lavender at all... I found these beautiful 'ropes' lying on the pavement but have absolutely no idea what they are!  The white vines are covered with little purple buds... does anybody have a clue what they might be?

Photos by me

Spring Loveliness

O.K, so its not Spring time here (its autumn) but it is the most gloriously sunny, sparkling, fresh day - I was just hanging out the washing on the line and as I looked around at the dewy grass and felt the breeze lift my hair,  I thought to myself... 'today is a perfect day'.  Wherever you are in the world, take a moment to immerse yourself in the guiltless pleasure of nature's beauty.

Photos by me

Photo Challenge

Buttons & Ribbon

It's rainy here today... but I like the light, it defines the folds of the ribbon beautifully.

Photos by me

A Little Note...

I am blessedly and blissfully IN LOVE!

*** X ***

Photo by me

...more from the thief... An Essay in Pink

Arghhhh... somebody stop me, I can't stop taking photos today!

COLOUR STORY - Coral Pink, Latte & Yellow

Photos by me

A Natural Pickpocket

I "found" these gorgeous gumnuts on a tree in our street... as I stood there, brazenly breaking off branches in the broad daylight, it occurred to me that God might strike me down for thieving from nature (let alone the fact that the local council would probably arrest me!).  I blame it on the sublime shade of pink... something that beautiful needs to be documented for posterity don't you think?

We also have an unbelievable collection of hydrangea bushes opposite our block that I have been known to raid with a pair of kitchen scissors in the dead of night... please tell me I'm not alone in my clandestine floral escapades - anybody else a flower thief?

Photos by me