One for you, one for me.

Picture Treasures from some past Melbourne weekends

2012-02-14T22:24:00.000+11:00

Australia Day Picnic: I have the most beautiful friends

2012-02-10T20:34:00.003+11:00

The Australia Day picnic was just a meant to be a few of us girls to begin with, but, hey we were counting down the Hottest 100 and with all that good music and the amazing weather we sent the call out and our beautiful friends came and had a picnic drink with us. It was ultra relaxing and beautiful in the Fitzroy Gardens (that's one of my favourite things about Melbourne, when you're sitting in a park the city doesn't exist, they are a beautiful sanctuary 5mins from the CBD). It was a perfect picnic, too much good food, just enough wine, a ball to kick around, sunshine, bikes, a pinata(!) and the most beautiful friends you could ever imagine.

xx jess.

My Husband Makes the Best Pesto.

2012-02-09T13:36:00.000+11:00

No joke. It's his beautiful garden I'm always photographing and it's his beautiful produce I get to eat every night. Last year he started making basil pesto and while there was a *slight* mishap with the wooden spoon and the blender, his pesto was amazing. Fresh, chunky and aromatic. We ate it with pasta, on sourdough with eggs, in sandwiches, on chicken and roasted veggies. He made it again this year and this year he picked all the little leaves off the stalks all by himself (that was my painful job last year!). He didn't make as much this year which means every time I eat it I feel a bit greedy and special. To make up for the limited run of precious pesto he also made a Thai curry and mango paste from our Thai curry leaves. This little beauty is going to be a White House staple, it has a very unexpected flavour with chilli, lime, curry leaves and mango.

I've decided that we're only going to give these away to the lovelies who come and visit us up here in the country; it can be a rural treat. And maybe our mums. Maybe...

I would give you the recipe but, to be honest, he just makes it up as he goes along all the while tasting and adding.

xx jess.

Pinata Picinic Preparations

2012-02-06T21:08:00.001+11:00

I organised a little picnic in the park to celebrate Australia Day a few weekends and I set about making an invite and, even though not on "Aussie" theme, I just couldn't go past Love Vs Designs cute little fiesta free invites with the adorable little pinata horse on it. Then I thought, hey, why not make a pinata? So I checked out Oh Happy Day! for some inspiration and decided that every picnic needed one. But what so smash? I couldn't convince myself to make an animal not least because I was sure that whatever I tried to draw would end up looking like a mangled mess of green and gold. So a capital A it was. You know, for Australia!

xx jess.

Welcome - New Friends!

2012-02-01T11:40:00.000+11:00

You may have noticed Lucy's contribution to the blog last week with her amazing review of Ira Glass's show in Melbourne. If you haven't read it, you should read it, it truly felt like I was there (which I wish I was, but wasn't. Boo.) Anywho, my friends are going to get their creative on this year and they will be posting about their skillz and experiences so I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Welcome to the world of blogging Lulu, Em and Ash!

Em asked me for a few links to get her excited about blogging and this is what I sent her - got any others that we should not be missing? I find a new blog every day that I am excited about!

http://www.pinterest.com/

http://www.etsy.com/

http://www.designsponge.com/

http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/

http://veronicadarling.blogspot.com.au/

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/

http://www.mintlovesocialclub.com/

http://runwaydiy.com/

www.lovevsdesign.com/_blog/Love_vs_Design

http://www.wherethelovelythingsare.com/

http://petticoatsandpeplums.blogspot.com.au/

To new adventures and new friends! (Oh, and, this photo was taken when I was in the Whitsundays which I will have to show you soon because it was beautiful.)

xx Jess.

A Mad Weekend

2012-01-28T12:43:00.000+11:00

I have been totally loving seeing the capes that people have been making in the last 12 months. I have secretly really, really wanted one and I last week I had the perfect reason to make one; a Mad Men themed party. Everyone looked classic and glamorous and there was a life size cut out of Don and Betty that everyone got a little silly with. Good times.

Jess xx

Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass

2012-01-18T14:12:00.003+11:00

So, I went and saw Ira Glass on Monday night and as Jess couldn't come, I decided to write her a fairly detailed review.

The first thing is pretty much this it ‘RT @LawLOLZ: The audience to see @iraglass was of the narrowest demographic I have ever seen.’ I saw one older guy and he left before the end.

Ira did the first few minutes in the dark and talked about the power of radio and how it can be a really visual media which was really cute. He ran the whole thing from an ipad, bringing the music up and playing sound clips as he wanted which was good; made it seem less scripted. I had been a bit worried that it would feel like he was just saying the same things he had said in Brisbane and Sydney but it was much more fluid and unstructured than that.

He talked about how they put the stories together and hook people in. Their listener retain rate is about 95% and the average listening time is 48 out of the 59 minutes; so people don’t turn off after they tune in. It was kind of a master class in storytelling, about how they pace their stories as action, action, action, larger reflective point to tie it all together. He talked about how they interview; he especially prompts people with ‘and what did he say’ and ‘then what did you say’ which gives the stories a much more real time pace.

He played a couple of stories and talked about how they were specifically put together. He kept saying things like ‘and we had to be real journalism about it’ as a point that a lot of what they do isn’t ‘news’ as it is usually reported but that they are still journalists who fact check and want to get the best representation of the story out there.

There was a question section at the end and apart from one idiot who did the whole ‘thank you so much for coming here, we are all so grateful’ thing, all the questions were from people who were massive fans and had obviously thought about them a lot. Some people were even taking notes. The best answer, from probably the stupidest question, was from someone who asked about the theory that if there is something in your personal life that your aren’t good at, it can be reflected in your professional life as something you excel at. Ira, and the audience, didn’t know what he was talking about, but he answered by saying that in his personal life, he isn’t a good storyteller, or even good at talking in relationships and so he does apply himself and focus on that in his professional life and that’s why he can do what he does on the radio. Someone also asked about how they get stories for the show. He said the producers all individually research, by trawling the internet and they get heaps from people emailing them about things. They go to air at 7pm on Fridays so up until Friday afternoon, they have about 60-75 minutes of tape that they then either drop a story from or shorten them all. It was really good to hear him talk about that because listening through the podcast, I always forget they work to a live deadline every week that has to be hit with 59 minutes of content. They work on stories for months and months, but if something can’t be confirmed or things change, it can still be dropped at the last minute.

The last question was about the original pitch for the show. Ira said originally they pitched it as taking theme and getting writers and artists and then journalists to report on it. I like this idea and you can see how the show has evolved from that into what it is now.

He was a really good speaker, really relaxed and humble and engaged with a large audience, over 2 balconies that you can’t see from the stage really well, probably because most of the time he is talking to an audience he can’t see.

So, now it was like you were there too.

Got Milk - NYE2011

2012-01-16T18:49:00.000+11:00

I took a bajillion photos at Got Milk 2011. It was seriously the best New Year celebrations I've ever been too. A far away second goes to the year Jeremy's car broke down and we drank a slab of Coroners in his backyard in 40+ degree heat. That one was totally different though. Got Milk 2011 had an amazing selection of my friends and their friends, and a conversation with someone nice and on the same page was not very far away. Boy, oh boy did I talk. Thinking back now 16 days later I really doubly appreciate how organised Tom and Emma were; things were simple but well set up and it really ran itself most of the time, I guess that's what 3 years of experience does! So here are the highlights from my Got Milk 2011 Festival.

Bright Frames

2012-01-11T20:50:00.000+11:00

For my first week of making more things, doing more projects I finished off one that I have been thinking about for ages. For my wedding last year I collected a whole stack of frames and spay-painted them black to act as table numbers. Now I'm going to print out a bunch of photos and use them as a gallery wall in my bedroom, you know, so I can wake up looking at the good times! The dining room also has a rather white wall so this time around I decided I'd add some colour to the frames.

This was a pretty easy project; source op shop frames, clean and spray-paint. I did learn that the wooden frames like the spray-paint better than then plastic ones, the edges need attention to not be 'drippy', the hardest part of this project will be printing the photos. But for now, the frames are done and I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

Baking paper is my friend, it protected my concrete from attack.

Plastic frames, not so paint hungry as the wooden ones.

Now to add photos!

I feel good about making things and being inspired by all the wonderful projects floating around blog land.

j. xx

Making the Got Milk sign.

2012-01-10T22:21:00.000+11:00

Wonderful good friends of ours invited a bunch of friends and friends of friends to a paddock on their dairy farm to ring in the new year. They went to a lot of effort building a stage by the river, flood lighting the trees, setting up generators, hiring toilets and roasting a whole pig. And they were the most relaxed hosts I have ever seen, we even had a lovely relaxed morning banging out some salads and I think the 140 people who had had a few at 6pm-ish were quite impressed with our culinary skillz.

Anywho, photos of the actual event in a later post. For now I want to show you the backdrop banner I made after we had spent a drunken night with them in the winter, planning and scheming. It all really came about because we were talking about the Meredith flag and Tom walked in half way through the conversation and said "yeah, but make it like 6 meters long!". Challenge accepted.

The thing I like most about sewing is getting an idea in your head, having no way of really knowing whether it will work or or suit you or you'll like it at the end and investing the time and the fantasy in it anyway. I must admit that I initially chose some pretty crappy fabrics for this project, um-ed and ah-ed about it for a while and then, like magic walking through the fabric store the sheer black with gold sequins literally screamed out at me. Begged and screamed, had a slight hissy fit when I picked up it's purple friend. But I knew; what says New Years Eve we are her to P-A-R-T-Y more than gold sequins?

More Got Milk 2011 fun to come xx

j xx

Best presents

2012-01-04T20:22:00.001+11:00

I have the best mother and mother in law, they know me too well. Look at their thoughtful gifts:

Thanks you!!!

Xx j

First post of 2012

2012-01-03T15:07:00.001+11:00

What would the first post of 2012 be if it didn't contain a wildly whimsical and potentially unachievable list? I love making up little 'challenges' and list for myself so while I'm not going to call them resolutions, I think they might be resolutions. Here's my 12 in 2012 list
1. Wear lipstick more often than not.
2. Make something every week. Not necessarily sewing but something to show and tell about.
3. Keep experimenting with taking photos, master the art of the 'people talking in a group but still a lovely photo' shot.
4. Do the 365 photo project on my phone. A photo for every day.
5. Be snowboard fit for our Feb trip to Canada.
6. Make sourdough, curry paste and macaroons from scratch.
7. Save my little booty off.
8. Blog more, comment more. Get amongst it.
9. Appreciate my parents and siblings more.
10. Call instead of texting. Reconnect.
11. Go on more dates with my lovely Jeremy.
12. Put on an excellent dinner party for Jeremy's birthday.

That was pretty easy. They don't look too tough! What's your 12 in 2012 list?

Xx j

So this week I... went swimming with my underwater camera

2011-12-29T10:52:00.000+11:00

Photojojo is one of my fav online places to go and dream about spending my imaginary lotto winnings. I would buy one of everything for everyone I know and then pre-purchase everything for the next 100 years from them. But I digress, I bought an underwater digital camera for our trip to the Whitsundays (which I will have to show you) earlier in the year, but it didn't arrive in time. So until fun-Christmas-pool-times I haven't had a chance to use it. I like it's randomness; in the pool the light and the colours are breathtaking. Plus there are some strange poses and moments captured. For the most part I took photos of my gorgeous niece swimming, she has the sweetest red hair. Merry Summer Christmas Southern Hemisphere friends!

Christmas freebies and inspiration.

2011-12-23T16:01:00.001+11:00

Thank you Eat Drink Chic (www.eatdrinkchic)! Thank you Love vs Design (www. Lovevsdesign.com)! And thank you Frolic (elseachelsea.typepad.com) for your amazing Christmas freebies, ideas and inspiration!

Xx j

Things I've learnt (or relearnt) this week

2011-12-20T12:26:00.000+11:00

In the spirit of learning something new everyday...

- budgeting is hard
- hours can be wasted on twitter and pinterest
- I'm going to have to buy some photo editing software if I want to edit more than 5 photos and hour. Any suggestions for the good and cheap?
- tacos and beans are awesome.
- there are some amazing DIY projects around christmas.
- my Internet at work is really slow and makes procrastinating really hard.

Xx j

Meredith Music Festival 2011

2011-12-18T14:48:00.000+11:00

It took 91 group emails to arrange a marquee because the weather was threatening to be horrible. It took 1 weekend to make the flag. It was another great year with all the great and amazing friends and brothers. We had fun, lots of fun. Not least because the rain was perfectly timed: when we were dancing and sweating to Cut Copy. Grinderman were amazing, we made sure we went up the front for Mr Nick Cave and Co. What a band, what an atmosphere.

We go every year, this is the first one in 8 that my sister hasn't been there (she's overseas, so pretty good excuse) and every year they add a little something to the festival without taking anything away and I think that's what I love the most. I remember the year they put in the first compost loos in, it doesn't sound like a big deal but now, years later they are the only type of loos they have. This year they had a new bar Eric's where you could sit and see the stage, I hope they keep it because it was really nice to have somewhere to chill and meet people. They always have great food, a weird and ecclectic line up, no advertising, BYO, secret-not-so-secret parties in the bush camp, places to chill, places to party and most importantly it feels like everyone is on the same level. Thanks Aunty Meredith for another awesome festival.

(I didn't take that many photos, still getting used to carrying the camera around. I love to take photos by sometimes feel a bit, I dunno, wanky? I know it's just something I have to get over!)

Meredith, will be seeing you next year.
xxj.

oh how the garden grows: November 2011

2011-12-17T20:01:00.000+11:00

So this week I ... Broke the power cord to my computer.

2011-12-05T20:24:00.001+11:00

Well I didn't break it really, it just stopped working mid-final episode of Boardwalk Empire. A happy chappy I am not. Another errand to add to the list. On the bright side this weekend is Meredith music festival for another year, wooooop! I *was* going to show you the flag I made but that may need to wait until the power cord starts playing ball. A teaser:

Xx j

I made a skirt, I dub it the Rural Outfitters Skirt.

2011-12-01T09:23:00.000+11:00

I'm forever finding clothes that I love but can't bring myself to pay the big bucks for. So I cut them out and keep them (or pinterest them!) and dream of making them one day, maybe. When I found this Urban Outfitters skirt and relised I pretty much had the exact fabric collected from op shops around the way I got a little excited. I made it by sewing the three pieces together, gathering the sides and sewing back to front - easy! Stretchy fabric is my friend.

What do you think?

So this week I ... went to the driving range.

2011-11-30T19:10:00.000+11:00

Golf: my mum would have loved me to have played golf (read $); my Granny is a champion at golf, you can't find a glass in her kitchen that isn't a trophy for a golf tournament; Jeremy, he loves to hit a ball around a nicely manicured park. I, I don't mind hitting the thing, but I couldn't care for 9 holes! So we went to the driving range and had the most wonderful time hitting the balls into oblivion despite where the flag was. The most fun for me was on the practice sand bunkers - you really have to bash it out of there. Maybe I'll try a few holes one day...

Stratego Monster: I created one.

2011-11-29T11:08:00.000+11:00

So I was at the op shop not long ago and found a board game that I just knew Jeremy would lose his bananas over. Perfect condition, the family on the front of the box having a great time, all the pieces, 2 bucks. Stratego is a capture the flag game with an army and little bomb pieces, a cross between battle ships and chess I guess. What a great Friday night in with the boy, I thought, wine and board games; perfect. And it was for the first 6 games. And then I got over playing and talked to much and kept loosing which, if I'm perfectly honest, is not my style - I'm a white line fever kinda girl, I always thought it was about 'playing the game/competiting', but no no, I do like to win. And I wasn't. And I didn't. And he kept begging me to play again and again. So all in all we played it so intensly that I lost all enthusiasm for the game (read: wanted to stop that loosing feeling) that I slightly shudder when I think about Stratego. But I know he enjoys it so whoever comes to stay is lured into his Stratego trap and he qucikly gets his I-love-this-freaking-board-game face on (it's super cute). I sit back and watch his opponents decend into Loserville where I am the mayor. In Loserville there are no bombs, no bananas and 'Stratego' is a dirty, dirty word.

A Garden Update

2011-11-21T20:23:00.000+11:00

My wonderful Jeremy has developed a lovely veggie patch tucked away in the back of our garden. There is a nectarine tree given to us by my father to welcome you and inside the gate is a long bed and 3 smaller beds for veggies. There is an entire bed dedicated to strawberries and at the moment they are non-stop. I had to freeze 2 sandwich bags this morning because by tomorrow there will be another 2 bags. If anyone knows a great recipe involving strawberries, please, please let me know! This year he has planted: pumpkins, corn, basil, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, radishes, spinach, coriander, parsley, spring onions, avocado, capsicums, chillies, blueberries, rosemary, chives, oregano and we have a lime tree, orange tree, lemon tree and an double grafted apple tree from mum and dad. I love taking photos of all his veggies and testing out my camera, so this is the first of my garden updates.

More soon, it's growing so fast!

So this week I ... learnt how to make sourdough starter

2011-11-20T21:27:00.000+11:00

Frankie Magazine has a new 'brother' mag called the Smith Journal. It's for boys, it has pretty pictures and articles on manly stuff. Jeremy initially was sceptical about it cos he thought it was a girls view of boys stuff. But then he had a read. And then we followed the article on how to make the Sourdough Mother - or the Starter or Chef or whatever you wish to call it - and we decided to give it a try. It was all good (although, we're still not entirely sure it will work out) until we got to a phrase: "You will feed your chef 3 times, every 24 hours, before it's ready to use". Is that 9 times over 3 days or 3 times over 3 days? A deep discussion on punctuation and instruction writing ensued. We settled on once every 24 hours for 3 days after some not very thorough googling. Now, it's fingers crossed.

I have been sewin' just not bloggin', but I'm BACK BABY!!!

2011-11-17T22:19:00.000+11:00

One success and one not so successful...

I loved the dress I made for the races - scoop back, sleeves, high front neckline and I made a little white satin bow belt to go with it and a bit of a slapdash headpiece! I cut the size according to the packet but it was waaaay to big around my waist. I am really getting sick of altering patterns after I have made them, I really need to be less lazy and start planning better. Mantra from now on - Plan Better.

The day at the races was excellent. My parents and my gorgeous sister came up for the weekend and my grandparents had some hot tips for the races and to top it off I totally won my money back for the day. Booo yah. (I also got very sunburnt - first sunny day I'd seen in a long time!). I am utterly in love with this fabric too I bought about 6 meters, so expect to see it more.

Anywho - the dress (Awkward Photo Alert):

The second dress I have to show you is not my finest, I mean I love the dress itself (sorry for photo quality) and it was all going so well, until I tried it on lined and all and I realised the bust darts were pointy. Madonna pointy. Not appropriate for a corporate dinner. So I agonised, have you ever had one of those nights where you do everything in your power to avoid unpicking a bodice and resewing and in the end that would have been easier and more effective? Well, imagine me doing that. For hours. I did wear it in the end, but felt a bit self conscious about it the whole night. I will make it again, and really focus (PLAN!) on the darts.

I have a blue maxi dress that I made for a presentation dinner but, I didn't get a photo somehow so I'll have to dig one up.

Next project: Meredith Flag and something foodie!

xx j.

So this week I ... went camping with dogs.

2011-11-16T21:24:00.000+11:00

I won a book!

2011-09-06T21:44:00.001+10:00

The most beautiful book called A Potted History of Fruit by Mike Darton

Xx j

Dress almost done

2011-08-02T23:13:00.001+10:00

This is me in sewing mode, I try everything on a thousand times and listen to all kinds of stuff on my headphones but especially This American Life, and I think in this photo I was rocking to Husky or Papa vs Pretty, gotta get your emo on sometimes!

Xx j

Sewing again!

2011-07-22T14:37:00.001+10:00

I'm off on holidays at the end of august so I have some holidays clothes to sew it's going to be on a boat somewhere hot so I've set myself 3 things to make: maxi dress, shorts and a kaftan. Here's the beginnings of my maxi dress hopefully I get to finish it on the weekend.

Xx j

Dear Mrs,

2011-07-12T18:24:00.001+10:00

More visitors can you believe it? Three lovely young lads en route to Alice Springs in their friend's grandmother's blue 1989 Mazda. Oh yes and there were the cutest crocheted pillows in the back seat. I hope they make it, I'm also uber jealous of their exciting little road trip so we sent them off with a bang; lots of food and drink to celebrate them dropping in. I've developed a real urge to turn the hospitality on when we have friends all I want to do is cook for them, get them drunk and make them comfortable. I guess it's my little way of saying "we might live 4 hours away and not get to see you as often as we like but no matter where we are we'll look after you and have good times, promise!".

Xx j

Wineo Wednesday and Winter Blues

2011-07-12T18:23:00.001+10:00

Ninth Island
2010 Pinot Noir
Tasmania

Fruity to begin with, dry and sweet to end, I feel like I can taste the barrel which makes it taste fresh from the cellar door. I brought it because of the cool paintings of the ships on the front and because even though it was $15 it is normally $21, or so the savings sticker tells me. I'm drinking it because I've got the winter blues and I can't shake them. I feel glum, invisible and sorry for myself and no matter how many times I tell myself this weather, this mood will pass I want nothing more than to climb into a hole with a dozen cases of red wine and emerge in the spring when the weather is nice and I can go to the beach again. My gorgeous boy and our ever attentive puppy can come with me to hibernate. Aaarrrgh! What do you do to get through the winter blues?
Xx j

My weekend was lovely

2011-07-12T17:51:00.001+10:00

Gallery visit, coffee and pecan pie, fetch, Stratego, baking and eating muffins, and a romantic dinner for two.

How was yours?
Xx j

Dear Mrs,

2011-07-04T21:32:00.001+10:00

Weekends are never long enough, the weekend was Friday night dinner; mum and dad came and stayed and we cooked up a birthday dinner for mummy with lemons as the theme because they're always bringing up bags of lemons!

It was a lemon cake with lemon curd and meringue on top which was lucky because the cake turned out pancake thin which gave it a good density in the end. It was lovely having mum and dad visit they watched me play netball in the pouring rain! Not a good day for outdoor sports but being dad's stomping ground in his younger years he had a ball and granny made the best sandwiches and afternoon tea. These country traditions are funny.

Speaking of country traditions I spent Sunday helping Jeremy shovel sheep poo from under a shearing shed and then off to gran and pops for a Sunday lunch, it was very relaxing.
Today I dropped my sewing machine in for a service and got my Burdastyle mag in the post, of course I feel the urge to sew when I can't! I also found some sweet patterns and material at the op shop.

Compared to Sundays, Mondays are a bit of a struggle, nothing a little mushroom risotto and white wine can't fix.
On another note you'll be happy to know the boys who dropped in last week made it to territory day in NT in time to let some fire works off

Xx j

Dear Mrs,

2011-07-01T11:38:00.001+10:00

I wanted to show you Jeremy's garden even though he's been working 12+hour days he still manages to produce little delights from the veggie patch.

They're so pretty too, I'm a sucker for edible plants, currently I'm trying to find a good perennial one that i can plant in the front garden, pretty but edible is my mantra.

On another note what's with us girls? When I moved to the country about 2 years ago I joined a netball club because that's the done thing up here; spend all day Saturday and Saturday night playing and hanging out at the netball and footy. I was actually gobsmacked that shops close at 12noon and don't open on a Sunday up here, but I digress, girls and netball is meant to be the rant. We seem to make up rules that no one knows about and then revel in the drama that follows, there are so many territorial girls playing and quite frankly I thought the idea was to get out there and have fun not get all catty over if someone might "steal" a position. I don't get it and all last year I was the horrible new girl that was"stealing" someones position and as a result spent a lot of time on the bench while coaches tried to look after the players that had been there for a while. Anywho I don't know what my point is, I don't know how to combat the love-suckers and I don't know why it seems to be a girl thing.

Xx j

Dear Mrs,

2011-06-29T17:36:00.001+10:00

My adventures with Triple Berry Oat Bread

2011-06-27T18:32:00.002+10:00

From the blog You Made That (www.you-made-that.com/triple-berry-oat-bread/) I made the delish Triple Berry Oat Bread. A very easy recipe but hardly a bread, really a cake baked in a loaf pan. Would be perfect for an afternoon or morning tea and took me like 10mins to mix together. I did learn something about the difference between bicarbonate soda and baking powder, so they're both for raising recipes (does that make sense?) but one of them needs something like butter milk to work. Oh wow I'm crappy at explaining cooking things. Ha!

Xx j

Dear Mrs,

2011-06-26T19:10:00.001+10:00

Visitors make for such a lovely weekend, we were lucky to get three! And what lovely guests they were, we got a little carried away with wine but it certainly made for long and very engaging conversations, there really is nothing like old friends. We did the country footy netball thing (my team lost) and went out to the Dooen pub to meet the locals and play some big buck hunter and talked the night away over some lovely reds.

Today I have really enjoyed doing nothing but hanging out and watching True Blood with my man which is nice because normally I feel so overwhelmed to be 'productive' or 'achieve' something for the day, it was lovely not to worry for one day. Don't ask me why there was no anxiety today but it must have something to do with the lovely company over the weekend.

How did you spend your Sunday?

Xx j

My darling Diary, I shall name you

2011-06-24T20:38:00.001+10:00

DD,
True. Blood. Series. Freakin. Three. Yeeeeeessssss.

I hate chain stores with one exception: jb hi fi. JB has to be one of the greatest places on earth. It stocks all the cds I want/need/don't have time to listen to and today while on work in Ballarat I was there and like a kid in a candy store. When I'm there normally I suddenly can't make a cohesive or informed decision, my knees go shaky at all the options and I lurch towards the counter with handfuls of indie alternative cds, sweating. But of late I've taken steps to counter this primal urge that takes me over in JB by keeping a handy list on my phone. Damn I'm clever, and out I walked with 3 cds directly from my list; I heart Hiroshima, does it offend you yeah? and the darwin dees. And True Blood S3, we love Sookie Stackhouse and her crazy friends. I was going to have a point about chain stores how they make you choose between quality and price and suck you in with temporary bargains which you regret later but that only applies if you let them do that and I won't hear a bad word about JB.

While in the regional city of B-rat, I stumbled across this tiny little shop with my new married name proudly helping them to sell flowers. Cool typeface.

Now, I promised a name for you DD how about Mrs? I feel like it's a new era that needs to be acknowledged somehow. Corny? Maybe, we'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.

Xx j

Dear diary

2011-06-23T21:37:00.001+10:00

Dear diary,
I came across your former self in the form of my travel diary when I was 15 and living in a small town in northern Denmark for a year. I'm now 26 and living in a rural town in western Victoria. You embarrass me now but I guess it's really my 15year old self that did all the embarrassing stuff, who knew I wouldn't find plastering everything with stickers and cut outs of male models from mags cool 11 years later? Anywho, diary, I'm reinventing you now so for at least a week dear diary I'll let you know what I've been up to. Here goes...

I'm getting over a flu that I picked up from my snotty faced adorable nephew, it's not his fault I'm sure he didn't mean it but the reality is he infected me, my brother and my dad and they barely even held him. I on the other had took every opportunity to cuddle the little monster and in another sign from the universe that kids are not on the radar am now paying the consequences. I did however have a lovely sick day on Monday that involved my book, a bath and a long late breakfast so I guess there is always a silver lining.

It's funny that today I decide to write a diary and today Jeremy decides to take me out for a cozy dinner at the capital hotel in horsham.

The steak was awesome, the chicken not so awesome but the bottle of pinot and the company were the highlights

I also got a haircut from my most fav hairdresser Trav at D'Coco in Horsham. He's just so good and so chatty and I've never liked a hairdresser as much.

Tomorrow I start early and head 2 hours down the highway for work
Xx j

A little project for a little cutie.

2011-05-27T14:07:00.001+10:00

Boston now has a little scarf to wear to the footy and support the demons! And what's more it doesn't seem to bother her. I learnt how to cast off and cast on mid row so I feel very proud of myself, tick to improving skills! The only thing I need your advice on is what to do with the little bits of wool where I changed colours I cut it so that I could tuck them in but that's not working so great, any ideas? Cut them shorter?

And you can see her little red scar there too which cost her 3 weeks with a bucket on her head.

My projects are a bit all over at the mo, my new camera is ace and I've got a tonne of stuff to show you but computer problems are getting me down. More soon I promise!

Xx j

Lovely links

2011-05-20T12:06:00.001+10:00

I love seeing what people have been browsing through the week here are some of my lovely links

Sister Style: http://www.sayyestohoboken.com/search/label/sister%20style%20series

Sweet Embroidery: http://dananddianahulme.blogspot.com/2011/04/constellation-embroidery.html

Superhero Party!: http://onecharmingparty.com/category/superhero-party/

Style: http://portialawrie.blogspot.com/

Yummy: http://www.tarteletteblog.com/

World of 100: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2009/03/13/the-world-of-100/

Ace Camps - wish I knew of skill building craft camps in Australia! http://www.ritchieacecamps.com/blog/

Xx j

Autumn

2011-05-16T14:40:00.001+10:00

I know I'm slow on the Autumn bandwagon, but yay for pretty leaves.

Xx j

Photojojo - Go there

2011-05-06T16:59:00.000+10:00

I love this website, especially as I just got a new DSLR and am slowly figuring it all out. These guys have great accessories - that I will buy one day when I'm feeling adventures - and some great ideas. One I stumbled across was making colouring books from photos - what a great idea! Now all I need is photoshop and I'll have the best presents for kids!

http://content.photojojo.com/diy/how-to-create-coloring-book-using-photos/

Photo from Photojojo (link above)

xx j

Desk calendars!

2011-05-05T10:53:00.000+10:00

Whist hurtling through blog world the other day I stumbled across this super cute website that has a desk calendar for you to make each month. I made mine (with only a few rips in the wrong place).

Doesn't he suit the chaos of my desk? And yep, I looooooove post-it notes.

Get your calendar from here:
http://curiositygroup.com/calendarofthemonth/

Xx j

Wineo Wednesday

2011-05-04T20:24:00.001+10:00

So my computer has cracked it at me, totally! But Wineo Wednesday is back!

Yalumba
Pinot grigio 2010
South eastern Australia
$13

A great dinner wine really light in flavour, not sweet with a very even taste a few glasses won't be enough! This one is a bit of a winner, I'm writing thank you notes and Jeremy is checking work emails so it's a nice addition to the often put off tasks.

Jess 4 out of 5

Jeremy reckons "I've drank mine already! So I can't evaluate but it was very tasty" 4 out of 5, "and for 13 bucks?!"

Hopefully I can get the computer to see things my way and I'll be able to show you what I've been up to.

Xx j

Bugging me!

2011-04-29T18:06:00.001+10:00

You know when something just bugs you but it takes ages to do anything about it? Our 'bills' folder (yes we're organized!) is a simpsons folder cos it was the cheapest they had and, yes, if I were a tween this would be awesome but being a Mrs these days it just won't do! So I've covered it. Ahhhh, that's better, don't you think?
Before:

After:

Xx j

Granny and Popsie's Garden in Autum

2011-04-17T18:36:00.000+10:00

A Wet White Wedding Wrap Up

2011-04-10T18:54:00.001+10:00

Boy oh boy am I happy that I made my dress and that in the end it really only cost me $100 (or there abouts) because almost on cue at 3pm, the time of our ceremony, the heavens opened up and the rain came down. It rained from 3pm-6pm and stopped just in time for everyone to be seated at the reception venue. At 2:30pm on the day I was looking out from our 6th for apartment and thinking that the weather predictions couldn't be right and the blue, cloud-less sky was going to stick around. But no. In a way it made the whole thing a little more "us" and it also really grounded me, all my family and friends stood on the muddy grass huddled under umbrellas waiting for me to arrive, they all smiled and waved and were just as excited as I was. The garden games after the ceremony that I had planned didn't go ahead but everyone quickly found shelter in the same bar and the communal atmosphere that I was hoping for between the ceremony and reception was still all there. What amazingly wonderful family and friends we have! In the end all the little details didn't matter and it was all about them for me.

Our photographer, James Boddington of Xiss Photography was a trooper and totally sopping wet by the time we got to the bar for a drink before the reception. My bestie Ash arranged for her sister to do our makeup and it survived the whole wet day, her mother-in-law-to-be did the most amazing job on our flowers and a friend of mine from work did our hair which again lasted the whole wild weather. I must tell you I felt a million bucks, utterly gorgeous. I especially adored a real flower hair piece that my amazing friend Renae made for me from orchids and mint it really topped off the whole outfit.

My besties chose all their own dresses in blue and looked amazing, I sewed them silk robes to get ready in (one for each of us!), gave them some elk jewelry for good luck and couldn't have had a better wedding build up. Not to mention all the support on the day. Liv was especially helpful when she whisked me away to iron the bottom of my sopping wet dress with a scotch on the rocks at the ready.

The boys scrubbed up excellently and stood in the rain without umbrellas for the whole ceremony, not one of them complained and they all still looked super hot and treated my ladies like princesses.

Our celebrant was Lauren Kelly from the Bendigo region who was unfazed by the rain and spoke the most amazing and thoughtful words about us. Lauren was wonderful, attentive, thoughtful and I can recommend her to anyone as someone who truly believes in the power of love. A friend of ours Benji Mui played acoustic guitar for our ceremony which really made the whole thing quite intimate.

There is so much that I could tell you and so many people to gush about. Our MCs were hilarious, my dad made a thoughtful and powerful speech that brought tears to my eyes and hand squeezes from Mr White. Our band was great and our venue, The Pavilion in Fitzroy Gardens served great food, kept the drinks flowing and was set up beautifully. Mr White and his uni band, the Jacket Sundays, stole the mic for a while and relived the glory days of the band!

By far the best part of the night was when everyone went to the Barber Bar for an after party the place was pumping, the drinks were flowing, the dance moves got crazier and more creative as people started dancing on the tables. Wicked way to end a crazy day.

It all turned out excellently, the plans all changed with the rain and some of the details were lost. Some things worked out better than I could have imagined (flowers, hair) somethings didn't work out to what I had in mind (RAIN! Decoration on the cakes) but in the end it was about spending a great day/night/early morning with all the amazing people in our lives and that's what made it so special.

Now for some photos! All photo credits are James Boddington of Xiss Photography

Now that I've had a little time to reflect I have 3 pieces of advice:
1. Pick indoors or somewhere with shelter!
2. Pick someone (not groom or wedding party) to be your wedding coordinator on the day so you can include details without having to worry about them and they can boss family/friends/photographer around.
3. Don't stress, do your thing, your way.

Such a wonderful experience if you're planning your own wedding, enjoy it!

xx j.

Wedding Blog Reviews

2011-04-01T18:45:00.000+11:00

I really, really enjoyed planning my wedding and being over 3 hours from my family and friends and my venue of choice and in a rather small country town I used the internet for researching and buying a lot of my supplies. I am now officially addicted to wedding blogs, those photographers are good at selling the romantic dream! So I thought I'd give others a starting point on what sites I got addicted too.

Firstly and this addiction is not purely wedding related: Etsy. My whole outfit started with a necklace from Etsy and then I went and bought thank you gifts and got some really great ideas for hair pieces and veils. I spent a lot of time looking at dresses and sending pictures of dresses from Etsy to my ladies for them to look at. It's a wonderful resource for inspiration and handmade, unique objects.

MimiJewels: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MimiJewels?ref=pr_shop

For Australian Brides it's hard to go past the recently re-vamped Polka Dot Bride, it's hard to find a decent website or blog about weddings in general (as opposed to someones wedding) and this one is pretty awesome. It has all the essentials - pretty photos, inspiration photo boards based on colour themes, links to other interesting things in the bridal world, DIY projects, free templates and links to Australian wedding vendors like photographers. I actually found my photographer James Boddington on this site! Xiss Photography. The best thing about Polka Dot Bride is that, like the awesome US and overseas sites it's updated almost everyday and that means that I can live my obsession!

There are four overseas websites that I visit everyday, Ruffled, Once Wed, Wedding Chicks, Rock n Roll Bride.

Rock n Roll Bride really came at the right time for me when everyone was crappy on about traditions and that things "had" to be done a certain way, this website showed me that weddings are more fun when they have personality and it's a bit of a no brainer really. It's a UK site and so the links are not as useful but they have very original ideas and beautiful photos too. One thing that kinda annoyed me was that you have to click on the "more" button on each post to get to the extra photos and I'm a bit of a scroller of a girl, but that's just a preference thing.

Wedding Chicks it all started here for me, I don't remember how I got onto it but once it found me I visited daily. Wedding Chicks has it all and the best part is the Real Weddings pages where you can drool over beautiful romantic wedding after cute dyi-ed wedding. The bummer for us Aussie ladies is that it is US based. I did consider at one stage flying over a photographer I found on this site, but reality kicked in at the right time. There are lots of other options on this site but I didn't use any so I can't tell you if they're good or bad (soz).

Once Wed is very similar to Wedding Chicks and Polka Dot Bride, it is again from the US and therefore the links are pretty useless (unless money is no object) but it's blog set up is mainly real weddings which I found the most useful when trying to come up with ideas. It also has a fashion focus and an extensive DIY section that is deffo worth checking out.

Ruffled towards the end of the planning process became my fav, I dunno why, it's US based so none of the links again apply to me, it's set up much the same as the last couple but I felt like it had a bit more of a DIY-to-make-it-unique focus and it used peoples tried and tested DIY ides, more design focused.

Snippet & Ink was a dark horse. But who can go past daily wedding inspiration? Daily, girls! Plus the beautiful photograph (again!).

In the end my wedding was not as dreamy as a lot of these weddings, not as detailed and designed. I would have loved to have but a) we did what we could with our cash b) it rained and a lot of the details were in the "outside garden party" between the ceremony and reception and c) I'm not a designer! But I made the most of all these websites to inspire me to think of the details and the things that I could use. I directly used the poster instead of a guestbook idea, garden games, the ribbon flags for each guest, and the colourful shoes idea and I was forever emailing my ladies photos that I found on the sites it really kept us all excited about the process.

Well next post will be wedding photos! And then I may introduce you to some of the photographers that I still stalk a little!

xx j.

I've been sewing but..

2011-03-10T11:09:00.001+11:00

I just can't show you yet in case my besties check my blog before I can surprise them. Because I love them dearly and want them to be surprised but here's a sneak peak

And check out who's not happy about getting a bow around her neck

Ah, my little sewing helper! (and by 'helper' I mean 'sleeper' cos she doesn't actually provide much help!)

Xx j

Wino Wednesday... Is back!

2011-03-05T21:34:00.001+11:00

Ok so Feb was a dry month but march is wedding celebration month and defiantly not dry, so Wineo Wednesday is back!

Goundrey
Unwooded Chardonnay
Western Australia
$12

Jeremy spent all day making pasta sauce from 17kg of tomatoes we picked from the garden so we had spaghetti bol and this wine was a delish addition. Creamy, rich and fruity, a wonderful bright yellow colour. I don't like Chardonnay normally but this one was a lovely glass and a half. Drink cold.

Jess 3.5 out of 5

Jeremy says 4.5 out of 5 stars "bright and light"

Xx j

Details!

2011-02-25T21:36:00.001+11:00

So saw this great idea off photo jojo and thought I could make them instead of buying them! They're not quite as cool but pretty cool...

Xx j

2011: the year of raffles.

2011-02-24T18:16:00.001+11:00

So my boss at work told me that at Christmas time his dad came around with 5 frozen chooks, 3 meat trays and a plum pudding all won from raffles. Wow, I said, I never win raffles - people next to or in front of me win them. He replied, dad's just one of those lucky ones who wins every time, you can't beat that kind of luck.
I haven't stopped thinking about it I even discussed my "issue" of being unlucky in raffles with Jeremy he's take on the whole thing was that I don't enter enough. Well, bring on 2011: the year of the raffle. I'm going to enter every competition I can and tally the odds at the end, so far I've:
- collected 10 coupons and sent away for a holiday. Result: Loser (some old guy who's retired and doesn't need a holiday won)
- uploaded photos to win a camera. Result: Loser ( even know we had some kick ass travel scenic shots)
- collected and sent in 3 book tokens to the paper. No result yet cross your fingers for me!
And
My first raffle tickets supporting relay for life purchased today at the supermarket for $2. C'mon I really want that grocery hamper the taste of being a winner would be so sweet.

Tally:
Entered: 4
Won: 0
Lost: 2
Undecided: 2

Bring on the winning!

Xx j

Details...

2011-02-24T12:40:00.001+11:00

Xx j

The little bits and pieces

2011-02-23T18:13:00.001+11:00

Xx j

Is this dress cute enough

2011-02-16T21:25:00.001+11:00

... To finish tomorrow and wear to a wedding on the weekend?

Xx j

Wedding Dress: Finished

2011-02-16T11:36:00.000+11:00

So the big day is 13 March 2011 and the dress is done. What a relief! It all came together very easily, I just had to plug away a little bit at a time, stop and think about what I was doing and modify as I went along. I was going to make a mock-up but in the end it was working out pretty nicely so I decided to turn it into the real thing. Yes, there are things that could have been a little neater, but they're all on the inside so no one will know except me. And yes, I could have used more expensive fabric, but I just fell in love with the shinny fabric in the end. I guess I was lucky in that I didn't have a "perfect-dress-i-must-have/copy" in my head, I knew I wanted something fitted and formal but I wasn't on a quest to copy a "perfect" dress. When I did go dress shopping the myth that there is one perfect dress was shattered when I walked out in one and my girls oohed and aaahed and then the girl next to me walked out in the same one and got the same reaction!

Dress shopping helped me figure out the shape and style I wanted: a strapless fitted to the knees dress with a flairy lower skirt and little bit of a train, but not so much that I couldn't turn around. To make the dress I altered 2 patterns together for the body and hand sewed and designed the bodice. I used two patterns from Burda Style Magazine Edition 3/2010 (which came out at exactly the right time for me):
Dress 108 and Dress 112.

In the end I bought a bustier and fitted and sewed the dress to that so that:
a) the dress would never fall down and reveal my bra (if it falls down, it's nothing but boob for everyone!)
b) all the nicest wedding dresses (read: most expensive) have bustiers built into them so they fit snugly and comfortably.
This was also a really easy way for me to get a perfect fit for the bodice and allowed me to make up the bodice of my own design and hand sew it in place.

My friend Brooke made me a body cast out of gaffa tape that really helped with the fitting and now I can use it for everything!

I feel like I started with a pattern and ended up with my own design and this is going to sound corny but I know my grandmother who has passed away but was a brilliant sewer and sewed everything we wore as kids was helping me along, she would've sewed it if she were here and she would be so proud that I did it for myself.

Here's a sneak peak for you I promise I'll post more after the big day:

Until 13 March that's all I can give you! Now I can get really excited about the whole wedding process!

xx j.

From this to this

2011-02-13T20:09:00.001+11:00

A blackboard from an old photo frame.

To this:

Xx j

Making a dress

2011-02-09T19:55:00.001+11:00

So this two toned fabric will be cool but me oh my I'm freaking out about cutting out the pieces!

Xx j

Blinky bill fabric!!

2011-02-09T19:38:00.001+11:00

Bright Knights- Drawing THIS Love

2011-02-02T18:46:00.001+11:00

So I found on a tweet somewhere, I think it was from Veronica Darling, that the band Bright Knights is asking people to help with their Drawing THIS Love project - I decided I hadn't colored in anything for ages so I should get involved and it's so much fun I think I might sign my self up for some more pictures to colour in. Here's my first "drawing":

For more info or to get involved go to www.drawingthislove.com.

Thanks Miss V Darling who can be found at veronicadarling.blogspot.com

Xx j

I love our garden...

2011-02-02T18:45:00.001+11:00

...but it's full of mozzies right now. Ouch. The cucumbers are going off their tits, even over the fence! Yum, yum.

Xx j

Wineo Wednesday

2011-01-27T18:51:00.001+11:00

Wolfblass
Eaglehawke Riesling 2010
About $10

So to help me fold my wedding invites I had a little riesling. Nice yellow colour, strong smell, easy drinking with a little tang but no bad after taste. Lovely for a warm afternoon of doing tasks.

7/10

Xx j

I sewed and listened to the J's

2011-01-27T10:16:00.001+11:00

Australia days a bit of a big thing for Aussies, we forget all the bad stuff white people did to get us to this point and we count down the previous years hottest 100 songs and it's always an awesome day. This year is the first year in many that I've been sober past midday but like I said it's always good listening to the hottest 100 . Oh, and everyone always hates what comes in at #1 - this year was no exception. If you're not from Aus and want to hear some excellent music check out www.triplej.abc.net.au after all my travels I can truly say we are lucky to have a commercial free, independent youth broadcaster.

Anywho, I spent my day sewing and was helped by the lovely Brookie who just did what I said and, "overlocked the shit out of it" - her words not mine! We drank beer and ate pizza to celebrate our productiveness!

Bunting:

Wedding table centers:

And we made a dress form so I can fit my wedding dress, next time I'm doing this in winter I think I lost 10kgs just standing there wrapped in tape!

Xxjess

Melbourne weekend...

2011-01-24T16:35:00.001+11:00

Family Lunch, dad style

Moonlight cinemas

And running around doing crappy little jobs that are no fun but must be done when one ventures to the big smoke.

Xx

Book Review: Eating Animals

2011-01-21T18:40:00.001+11:00

Eating Animals
Jonathan Safran Foer

I knew when I picked up this book that it was designed to change the way people look at meat, I knew this. What Foer does in the beginning is tell you that it's ok he's not trying to be a preachy veggo he just wants you know what you're getting yourself in for if you do decide to eat meat. He tells you "it's ok I understand all the reasons for eating meat, I get it". And for a good while there I believed that he was on my side- a meat eater that doesn't want to ruin the world and hurt the defenseless.

So we spend the first half with this agreement going on and we explore why westerns don't eat dog and whale and the like and we explore how overfishing is ruining the ocean and years of breeding animals have irreversibly changed their DNA - huh? Wait! He gets to the extreme about half way- exactly after I had decided that he was right, if you can't afford to eat ethically raised meat you can't afford to eat meat. But that was where he turned cultish hard core and basically gave a PETA reason for not eating any meat. Ok, so he wasn't that bad but after getting to that point where I'm the wanker buying a chicken schnitzel sandwich asking "is that free range schnitzel, do you know if it was happy in life?" I kinda felt set up. Personally he changed my consuming, I think about it more, if I don't know how the animal was raised I'll choose vegetarian but I love meat and want to keep eating it and the only reason I have for that is because I like it. So I figure surely choosing free range or sourcing directly from the farmers is ok?

Foer's book is well written, well argued and a good read. For a middle class educated person like me a lot of the shocks I'd heard before. He writes from a deeply personal place and I respect that he wants to set an example for his kids, who knows maybe I'll go vegetarian one day but for now I feel a little more aware and responsible so I will try to make decisions accordingly.

Would I recommend to friends? Yes.
Will I read more of Foer's work? Yes.

Xx j.

Photo test: check out my melon

2011-01-19T17:17:00.001+11:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photo test 3 my sunflowers

2011-01-19T14:30:00.001+11:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photo test 2 my desk

2011-01-19T14:29:00.001+11:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photo quality

2011-01-14T16:58:00.001+11:00

I'm sorry for the photo quality of late I don't know why they've gone pixilated! Sozzz. This is a test post to get back on track

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wineo Wednesday

2011-01-13T20:22:00.001+11:00

Evens and Tate
Classic White
About $20

Too expensive for a go to really but a lovely dry wine, the taste sits on your tongue and fizzes a little. The sweetness lingers. Very little smell. I drank my glass with a roast chicken dinner and enjoyed every drop. Yum yum.

Jeremy says perfect dry palette with passionfruit overtones.

C Palmer says just awesome

Xx j.

Lake Weekends

2011-01-09T15:10:00.001+11:00

Beautiful sunsets, glassy water, rocking the one piece, wakeboarding and getting stuck and caught out in a cool change.

Xx j.

Wednesday Wineo

2011-01-06T17:41:00.001+11:00

Penfolds Koonunga Hill, Semillon Savignon Blanc 2010, South Australia. $15.

Seeing how this blog is more about my life than sewing and crafting now, and we're all ok with that, I was thinking of a little while ago when friends of ours came to stay and we were late for dinner and still needed to pick up some drinks. So we pulled into a drive through bottle-o and the boys go "I'll have X beer thanks. Girls?" I'm a white wine drinker and I was like "Ummmmmm, Ummmmm, UMMMMM!?" when our mate leans over my shoulder and says "we'll have the Jacob Creek Chardonnay Bin 49, thanks. You'll like this it's our go to white wine."

A 'go-to' white wine? What a great idea, one you know you can trust to enjoy! So now, this year I hope to figure out a 'go-to' and you my friends will be told all about it. And cos I'm an amateur I'd love your suggestions and thoughts.

Review:
It's hot today and I just rode home in 30 degree heat, oh yes I am looking forward to this bad boy. It's nice but taste like it has to be super chilled, like by the time you get to the bottom of your glass it may be a bit yuk. It's got that savignon burnt toast smell and is a wonderful light yellow, sweet without being sickly lots of berries maybe? Kinda sticks in the back of your throat a little.

Out of 10: 7

Jeremy says too much tang! 6.

Xx jess

Location:Margaret St,Horsham,Australia

Wedding dress-ing

2011-01-05T13:06:00.001+11:00

So I bought myself a new sewing desk and got myself organized and motivated to get to the wedding dress-ing. And it worked, I have a neat little space and got through the zip and resizing of my dress.

I don't have a good photo of it yet so that'll have to be another post. Never realized how getting organized really does motivate!

Oh and we got blue banana lounges for the summer... So comfy...

And I got mail today from divine twine I'm gonna use this for my wedding. Fun!

Xx jess.

Lunch

2011-01-05T13:05:00.001+11:00

Homemade basil pesto, home grown rocket and cherry tomatoes, ham, pine nuts, mozzarella. Yum. And so pretty

And that's Boston wanting some xx

My new years dress

2011-01-03T10:52:00.001+11:00

I whipped up a dress for a wedding we went to on new years eve. It is from the bursa mag edition 12/2009. I made it a little big so I could slip it over my head and didn't have to put a zip in. It was really easy working with the sequins and I just loved the way it turned out.

The wedding was gorgeous at the Wyche race course and at 42 degrees we had the perfect summer night under the stars.

What did you get up to for new years?

Xx jess

Op shop haul

2010-12-31T11:00:00.001+11:00

I went to buy a desk for my sewing room, I came out with a whole-lotta other stuff.

I think I'll dye the shirt and I need to take in the second dress slightly and I was going to make the skirt short but when I put it on I started to like it long. Picnic basket was $4, bargain.

Xx jess

Going forward, come with me!

2010-12-30T10:35:00.000+11:00

So the old purge and reflect that happens around this time has struck. I feel the need to get on track with my blog. I started this over 2 years ago when I was in Canada and dreaming of all the things I would sew when I got back to my machine and really it has evolved into a rolling blog about my life. And who doesn't love peeking into someone elses life? So I've decided to clean and lay it all out for you.

Things you should know about me:

1. I'm phase-y. I go through spurts of motivation to do things, especially sewing, exercise, reading, eating, cooking, gardening and riding my bike to work.

2. I look for quick wins. I look for things I can complete quickly to give me a boost of motivation.

3. I'm a short-cutter. Not all the time, but I like to work with stretchy material so I don't have to sew zips.

4. I'm a proud iPhone owner. Most of my post will be from my phone and a lot of my photos it means I can update more.

5. I'm a lurker. I read tonnes of blogs but rarely comment, we have slow internet and I can't always think of something witty to say, but I love blogs and I definitely attribute any ideas/project that I've seen/stolen from the blog world.

6. I'm a list maker and list breaker. I rarely tick everything off my list and sometimes I put things down on my list that I know I will never do.

7. I live about 3.5 hours from most of my best friends. I love the lifestyle we have up here in country Victoria but miss Melbourne dearly, if only we were that little bit closer...

Things I will blog about:

1. Sewing

2. Op-shop finds

3. Our puppy Boston

4. Our garden and house

5. Our wedding in March

6. My weekends to Melbourne

7. Cooking

8. Other Blogs

9. Books

10. Silly photos I take

Things I want to do in 2011:

1. Blog once a week

2. Read 12 books and review them for you

3. Make something from each Burdastyle edition

4. Only buy 2nd hand clothes (nikkishell style)

5. Finish my wedding dress by the end of January

6. Sent lovely comments to you all on your blogs

There. Feels good. Safe new years to all.

Xx jess

Op shop Haul. Oh yeah

2010-12-01T16:34:00.001+11:00

The Horsham Red Cross came up trumps I went in to find some oversized momos - again inspired by A New Dress A Day - but I walked out with a lotta stuff that just fit me, which doesn't normally happen. The highlights:

Only a few of the items do I even have to alter. You can call me miss satisfied if you like!

Xx j.

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Before, after

2010-12-01T08:04:00.001+11:00

Inspired by A New Dress A Day who has just finished making 365 dresses with $365 in a year I refashioned an op shop dress.
Before

After:

Wearable now and a little bit cute.

Xx j.

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Location:Horsham

Meredith Flag 2010

2010-11-30T09:05:00.001+11:00

This is what I spent my Sunday doing: The Official (non-official) Meredith Music Festival Flag 2010.

Mr JPB liked cutting out and designing but he didn't like the sewing party, Boston tried to help but really just sat on to be the centre of attention...

(almost) Finished!!!

It's huge this year! I'm excited. I hope it doesn't rain all weekend though.
Xxxj

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Mojo back I've been busy!

2010-11-29T11:22:00.001+11:00

On Friday I finished a brooch that I saw Grosgrain - grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com - make as one of her knit challenges, day 4 and hers was a cute grey and mustard one. I honestly didn't think it would work out so pretty for me but thanks to the DIY mothers day corsage: felt Delilah brooch tutorial - http://news.holidash.com//2010/04/23/mothers-day-corsage/ -it was a fun and effective process. I sewed all the petals into shape and together because I didnt trust myself being careful with the glue!

Totally brightens up my crappy cardi! I will defiantly be making this little guy again.

I should have another update for you tonight about my other sewing adventures this weekend!

Yay for mojo!

Xx j.

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Yabbie Races

2010-11-27T12:02:00.001+11:00

Aaaah the country

Xx j

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Update and new dress

2010-11-24T14:18:00.001+11:00

So I have added the boning to the wedding dress and I am pleasantly surprised by how much it improves the structure of the dress. Next up is sewing some bra cups in.

The boning I bought came with a casing so it was just a matter of sewing the casing on and sliding the plastic back in, I honestly thought it was going to be harder than that!

On another note I have a knit dress to show you that I was going to wear to the races, nothing fancy just a fun frilly number with raw edges, so dang comfy!

(Sorry about the messy room and just got out of the shower hair)

One step at a time and we'll get there!

Oh and check out the cute present lovely miss Lu gave me

Very motivating little ring made from a measuring tape x love x.

Xx j
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Funniest Blog

2010-11-11T09:33:00.001+11:00

My friend sent me a link to this blog this morning and it totally made my day, in fact I think that I may be visiting it every day. Awesomeness: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

xxx j.

P.s. go there.

Does my wedding dress have to be white?

2010-11-08T17:46:00.001+11:00

So I have this beautiful fabric that just makes me feel happy and summery inside and today I had a thought that maybe it could be apart of my wedding dress, the question is should I keep my dress all white? I need your thoughts:

(sorry about the dodgy draping!)
What do you think???

Xx j.

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Weekend highlights

2010-11-08T17:38:00.001+11:00

Giant egg! Go chicken!

Bushwalking Mt Arapiles

Hedges cut into words. Love.

Useless street signs... Hehehe

Xx j.

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Friday dribble because I feel like sharing.

2010-11-05T18:14:00.001+11:00

Friday

And Mr JPB got vox popped on the local paper!

And this is Saturday night's plan (with a little dash of Friday's enthusiasm for wine)

All! You! Can! Eat! Seafood! - 3 hours from the closest ocean, should be interesting.

Xx j.

Wyche races... The rain can't stop us!

2010-11-02T08:09:00.001+11:00

I was making a dress for the races but quite frankly it was too cold so I went the trusty black dress and jacket. One of my fab things about the races is the snacks that people bring but jealous I was not this year, check out me snacks:

Mmmmmm picnic loaf!
You'll also be happy to know I laid some bets and came out even... Wooo!

Xx j

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Location:Tucker St,Horsham,Australia

Mail

2010-10-28T17:12:00.001+11:00

Check out the cute mail we got:

Aaaah kids!

Xx j
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Date night

2010-10-26T13:43:00.000+11:00

Mr JPB took me on a date the other night, a picnic by the river which is about 10 mins walk from our place. I love the daylight savings and the river...

Of course the stinky little puppy came too and she was wonderfully behaved (this is her really wanting some prawns)

xx j.

iPhone 4 - blogging on the go!

2010-10-22T10:12:00.001+11:00

I've no excuse not to update now I got an app for it!

Wedding Dress Mock 1

2010-09-27T19:26:00.000+10:00

I was soooooooooooo productive on Friday night (you guys wudda been so proud of me!!) except I didn't touch the green dress (oops!!) I did, however, sew together the first mock up of my wedding dress, I didn't however, take very good photos I had to get fifi to take them on the fly but I think you get the picture, so to speak... (hehe!!)

(Sorry about the crinkles.) This is just a shell at the moment and I kinda like it but I'm not sure whether the style is for me, it's a bit... grown up and bride-y. Thoughts please!

I also made a stretch jersey dress - photos to come - and I fixed 2 cardigans. See productive! - but no green dress (and to tell you the truth I don't know if I will finish it...)

And even though the footy was a draw fifi gave me these great little guys:

So happy! So fun! So Productive!

xx j,

Step "this is gonna take me ages" TWO!

2010-09-15T12:14:00.000+10:00

Step 2 in my "take it slowly and you will enjoy the process" Green Dress is cutting out the material. TICK! Evidence:I like this approach, I'll do about an hour each night and hopefully it won't take me eons to complete a simple dress and hopefully can avoid burn out!

Friday will be the next instalment as I'm out to dinner tonight with my lovely work ladies who I will be saying goodbye to on Friday. Tear. Hopefully I'll have something to show you!

xx j.

A New Dress - Step 1

2010-09-14T15:16:00.000+10:00

I've started sewing the cover dress from the latest burda mag as I got some very nice semi-stretchy aqua material for $4 from the oppy. I'm adopting my sis's approach - one step at a time - so i don't loose momentum. Step 1 is deciding what dress, what material and deciphering the burda patterns. TICK! I didn't get any good photos of the floods up this way because I work pretty far from my house but Boston and I got this shot of the Wimmera River on our morning walk when it was at it's peak last week... it just kinda looks like water though!

And I had to show you why you never should wear white shoes - Boston gets green feet every time J mows the lawn (and do you think she would pose for me?!)

Hopefully I'll have step 2 to show you tomorrow.

xx j.

robo clocko etsy love.

2010-09-07T09:51:00.000+10:00

Look at the little guy who was in my mail yesterday - thanks Love Spell Jewels! http://www.etsy.com/shop/lovespelljewels

xx j.

I've been a lazy blogger but I'm back!

2010-09-06T18:46:00.000+10:00

I've been stuck on 99 posts. Here comes the ol' 1-0-0 and it's only an update sorry! some awesome op shop fabric I found and there's like 4 meters of the stuff!

Part-time house mates dress in an evening style.

Part-time housemates dress in a casual summer style. She seriously whipped these bad boys up.

Hanging out with mumsey in melbourne

spoils from our garden (all the stuff J hasn't killed... hahahahah.)

The wedding dress stage 1.

Bad dress ups #1. Never miss a work meeting where they are allocating character dress ups.

Bad dress ups #2. And he got into the pub wearing that too, there were some interesting dance moves.

More on the wedding dress soon. I have cut out one mock up and will give it a go over the next few weeks.

xx j.

2010-07-14T14:20:00.001+10:00

The wedding dress pattern I am using from Buda Mag 3/2010 revied by Miss Celie's Pants: http://missceliespants.com/2010/04/14/photos-of-the-creamsicle-dress/#comment-7949

She looks ace.

j xx

A big update

2010-07-12T13:39:00.000+10:00

I'm ridiculously proud that I made No-Knead Bread on the weekend because I thought I was going to stuff it up the whole time and I've always wanted to try. It was delicious and to prove that point I have 3 pictures for you. Yum, yum and yum.

In other news I got 30m of fabric to try and mock up my wedding dress, and oh how I love fabric markdowns at spotlight, they were all only $3 a meter. Let the mocking begin! I was going to show you the burda style strapless dress from their 2/2010 edition that I'm going to try to tweek, but I can't be bothered tracking down the pic online so you'll just have to wait!

In other news we went snowboarding at Mt Hotham with lovely sis and Nems and had tonnes of fun and lovely warm (9 degrees!) weather.

And visiting the only kids I know and by far the cutest little things ever.

Recipient of my first quilt, a little grumpy at 3 weeks old but I'm sure once he snuggles into the quilt his worries will wash away (hehehe...)

And that is my big update.

I will be starting my wedding dress mock up tonight. My plan of attack is to start with the basic strapless dress and work it from there and as I brought so much fabric for so cheap I'm not going to be scared or shy, any hints or tips or words of encouragement are welcome.

Here's a sneaky photo the lovely Ash took when we were at Mariana Hardwick, they yelled at her and they don't put on the web any of their current dresses so it's hard to copy them. This one had a great back, I'll mock one up like this too I think.

I'll be better at updating now! xx

My first Quilt

2010-06-15T12:29:00.000+10:00

I made a quilt for a new little bundle of joy that Mr JPB's sister assisted into the world last Thursday his name is Darcy (I know, so cute) and I made him a quilt with dinosaurs on it. I can't wait to meet him, I hope he likes it.

Front:

Back:Folded: It was my first ever quilt and was pretty easy, I used all flannel because it was softer than the regular 100% cotton and they lady told me I had to make it out of 100% cotton. I was very careful to cut the squares out the right size and to sew them together all the same so that my lines wouldn't be too wonky. I stitched in the ditch for the "quilting" part because I didn't want to ruin it by stitching crazy patterns. After cutting the squares and sewing them together I sewed it to the wadding and the backing material and then sewed on the ribbon edging. All in all it didn't take me that long no more than a couple of hours and the material wasn't that expensive but the wadding that is in the middle layer - that thing that makes it a quilt and not just 2 pieces of material sewn together - cost $20/m which made the project a little costly especially considering it's only about 100cm x 80cm.

I think the next one will be for my bed and bigger - it's cold down here in Victoria! As a note, I did feel about 100 years old making a quilt, so something I never thought I would do!

Coffee Date Dress with a collar

2010-06-06T17:40:00.000+10:00

So I made The Selfish Seamstress's Coffee Date dress but added a collar instead of the frill she uses. It's an easy pattern and it was a confidence project because I've been screwing up a lot of my projects lately - don't ask what happened to the red stripy project, it will never be mentioned again. I'm trying to make these projects skill builders and I've realised that I have serious zip issues - why can I never get time to match? I even refrained from sewing the back seam until I had sewed the zip so that I could line it up and it was perfect... but then BAM! not perfect and I don't know why!!! Frustrating to say the least, but something else I need to work on. Anyway here was the result:

I fixed that old necklace too which has been one of those things I've been meaning to do for ages.

And I was very happy that I didn't stuff up because I was running out of thread quickly.

Thanks Selfish Seamstress for the great and easy pattern and the inspiration!

xx j.