My Friday Giveaway

For your chance to win a selection from my small range of handmade soap, all you have to do is:

#leave a comment on this post

and

#be a follower,

#if you aren't a follower, please become one and let me know. 

 The winner will be chosen at random next Friday

 6th August.

This giveaway is open worldwide.

About my soap: I make this cold pressed soap from scratch in my kitchen in Brisbane using the highest quality vegetable and essential oils I can source. I do not use fragrances only essential oils and there are no artificial additives in my soap. Each small batch is hand stirred and hand cut by me and no two pieces will be alike. Each slice is natural and unique and if they are too big, simply cut in half!

In addition to the soaps is a handbook called 'essentially clean' produced by Toni Oliver from Sydney, Australia.

It's an easy guide to cleaning naturally.

 A wonderful and easy read how to replace toxic commercial products with your own effective, sweet smelling recipes.

Good luck!

Thea and Sami's cottage garden print makes an excellent fabric choice today for my small vintage side table. I love this little glass top table from a previous post as I can change the fabric to suit my obsessive whims!

Have a wonderful weekend!

You better tell them...

Image source unknown

...that's exactly what my husband said after he read my previous post AND your comments about cameras and wedding presents. Here you go, my husband bought me a new camera as a wedding present! He is away at the moment so he doesn't actually know what I bought. Speaking on the phone to him last night I did mention it was a 'bigger' camera. The response was 'why did you buy a bigger camera?' My reply was 'oh, it's not that much bigger!!' I suppose by now you are getting the drift?

After downloading software, flipping through the manual, watching online tutorials until my eyes are popping out of my head, I still have not taken a photo!  This scenario reminds me of 'are we there yet?'

Graduating from a 'point and shoot' to a 'SLR' digital camera is fascinating really as I want to make the best use of it's features. I realise I will not learn everything before I begin shooting but I am getting impatient now. I will have time in the weekend to get on top if it - so I will be making up for my lack of posting this week for sure. I love posting my own photos to keep my blog as original as I can.

Image source unknown

If anyone else has a CANON EOS 500D, any feedback would be appreciated, or if you have a camera story please share.

Thank You and My Vintage Garden Finds

First of all I would like to say thankyou to all of you for your lovely comments on my recent 'simple wedding' post. It was lovely to hear from you all. I am back now so I hope to catch up and get to all of your blogs very soon. Thanks also to my new followers -nearly 50 now so exciting!

I also wanted to share some recent finds with you. I was the lucky winner of these gorgeous outdoor chairs from the ever so delightful Katherine at the theoldboathouse. I love Katherine's vintage items and the service with a smile is second to none! 

I can't wait to paint these chairs as they will then match my other iron outdoor furniture that I have already acquired and placed in the garden.

The scrolly hanging came from a demolition yard, the unpainted cement planter box was left here by the previous owners so I had to paint it white and attach an applique didn't I? The table and chair setting was a thrift store find.

The garden seat came from the local recycle store at the tip -I paid $10! The scrolly planter was also a thrift store find.

I have a bit of a European and a 1950's thing going on in my garden which blends in with the garden makeover which I will leave for another post. You will be surprised!

My camera was soaked by a huge wave on our HM (we were too by the way...don't laugh) so it is now in camera heaven. These photos are not the best but will give you an indication of my vintage garden finds. What's a girl to do with a blog and without a camera?

Have a wonderful Monday!

Shhhhhh we just got married...

...the Rose and the Sailor Boy tied the knot this morning (Monday) after 10 years together. It was a very simple ceremony with the children and in our back garden.

We both wore white shirts and blue jeans , that's how casual it was - just what we wanted, no stress, no overblown budget. We are now off to the Whitsundays for a week of sailing and hoping the weather will be good to us.

France at Southbank today..

An absolutely gorgeous day in Southbank today, just the right type of weather for mingling at festivals. The French Festival was very packed with an amazing number of people - I am sure the organisers and the stall holders would have been extremely happy.

We had to walk through the arbours to get to the festival, something I can never tire of. The stunning bougainvillea is out in full bloom and against the background of the clear blue sky - well you can see for yourself. Love to know how many photos have been taken here!

Here are a few pics as we strolled, or rather pushed our way through the crowds.

This lovely fellow was posing as a French Doctor from the 1800's. He had the instruments on the table and a sign up to say that he would help with piles and fallen women..what can I say!

For overseas readers, you can see the Brisbane River in the background.

There was plenty of entertainment.

There was a lovely atmosphere here today, fine food, fine wine and other french goodies to buy.  People signing up to rent french houses while on holidays there...it was hugely popular and I would definately go again.

French Festival in Brisbane

The Brisbane French Festival  is on tomorrow ( Saturday, July 17) from 10am - 10pm at the Southbank Parklands for any Brisbane bloggers who may be interested in all things French.

If you want to find out about French Culture, Products and Business in Brisbane check it out...I am, along with my camera of course, oh and Mr P.

These photos were taken in France by me.

70's Vintage Heart Tiles...

Slowly getting  my 'creating' space organised. Don't you just love these 70's vintage heart tiles? I picked them up from the Chandler markets on the weekend. They are gorgeous and have never been used.  I am hoping to co-ordinate them with my hand made soaps when I get my act together.

There a comes a time....

...when you just have to move into the guest room! That is what I am doing so that I can create my own studio and creative space that I have wanted for a long time. Don't really know what we will do when friends and family want to stay...

So I am madly trying to organise my space. I want it to be inspiring with a mixture of vintage...

...and blue and white and roses...

...and very colourful...

Either the kids will have to move out or we will have to move, extend or build to accommodate our guests...mmmm...

Has anyone else had give up their guest room to claim their creative space?

Have a fab day today.

Welcome to my home.

We live in a 70's brick highset house we bought a couple of years ago. Looking back I think we initially bought it for the established gardens, the double block and the pool area. The fact that we could not find our dream home and settled on something not quite what we wanted has nothing to do with the fact we kinda like it now!

Over-capitalising on these homes would be very easy and I am not quite sure how far we will go. However, when we first moved in the colours on the walls were very bright. A strong blue in the dining and kitchen area and what I call a 'bali' purple on the back deck railings and in the lounge room! Yuk!

This is the before photo:

There was also a mish-mash of window coverings, brown wooden venetians and roll up matchstick blinds. One of the first things I did was install white plantation shutters throughout the whole house. I love what the new dimension they have added to our home.

This is what it looks like today in our tiny dining area. The bright and sunny afternoon was not conducive for stunning photography today!

I love my dining table as it is a rich recycled pine. I am thinking of painting the dining chairs white and perhaps some of the table apart from the top. What do you think?

Oh...and bi-fold doors will be installed and I cannot wait to get rid of these ugly brown ones.

(The spot on the plate is embedded on my gorgeous vintage flow blue plate by the way... as they are so old.)

I hope you have enjoyed a little peek into my home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Je t'aime...

 Just wanted to share some pics of the Royal Limoges Factory and Shop that I escaped to while in France this year. Just being there was enough for me as I love Limoges porcelain and to see it in this setting was amazing. There are so many places like this to visit in Limoges it's rather gleefully overwhelming.

This was the quite dramatic 'plate' front entrance.

Inside the shop was all forms of exquisite china in all patterns, shapes and sizes...

...and found some roses!!!..

The old kiln has been kept intact and now houses a museum. The cobbled floors were so old and worn that they were beautifully uneven and bumpy. Not the best for heels! The place just oozes history and charm to say the least.  Gorgeous brickwork don't you agree?...and it is all made by hand even the bricks!

There was something about this beautiful old jug. If it could tell a story...

...and yes if you are wondering, I did purchase two very small pieces of china knowing full well the restricted baggage allowances on Ryanair.

Oh for a Birthday Cake...

I cannot believe my youngest turns eighteen at the end of the week. Anyway, as I was searching for ideas for a birthday cake I came across these images. What a shame, I think I have run out of time to make one. When you see these amazing creations you will know what I mean! 

I know she would love the colours on this one....

She is definately a shopper with expensive taste so I know she would love this....

Her social networking and research skills have been aided by a laptop for some time now so she would probably think this cake was awesome!

I doubt very much if she would appreciate a sewing machine cake. Isn't it amazing and it is all edible, as is the laptop cake.

Images from  here and here

Thrifty Vintage Finds Around The House

Thrift store and market finds in the house. Magazine holder from Chandler market, table from thrift store - I added the fabric which I bought from remnant shop in UK. (Oops, sorry for the reflections in the photo)

Royal Albert orphan cup from Chandler Markets, blue and white vases from a local garage sale.

Blue and White willow pattern preserves jar from strange old collectable store on the Bruce highway going north, in the middle of absolutely nowhere!

The beauty of this vintage table is that the fabric can be changed as it just sits under a glass top. I am one to change things around the house so this will suit me fine!

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Elegant Vintage & Elegant Soap

Well I think it's time I let you into a little secret.....when I was in the UK last time I completed a soap-making course with Jenny Elesmore at Odds and Suds in Ashburton. Apart from her adorable soaps and her fabulous shops Jenny's television debut was on the BBC's Homemade Home show. For those of you who haven't seen the show Kirsty Allsop received expert guidance from local craftspeople to get her started on making her home homemade. Making handmade soaps was one of the featured crafts.

I am now hooked on making soap and I love it. I make it from scratch in my kitchen in Brisbane, and focusing making it as natural as I can. I have taken a lot of time to perfect my recipe and believe me it takes a lot of hand stirring to make it just how I want it! My family and friends will tell you I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to handmade. Probably more of a pain if the truth be known!

Then....

...I was playing with my vintage china, my grandmother's bling and the soap thinking this could work together. How good does this look? .

The combination of my passions - vintage and handmade (and roses of course) - have come together really well. I think so - what do you think? I would really love to know your thoughts.

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Watch this space...elegant vintage and elegant soap here we come! That's when I work out how to configure my new online store...