365 Grateful

Hello, how is your day going?
Mine has been really good so far - enhanced by a sweet treat (see pic below!) :-)

I have a lovely Irish friend called Biddy, and being such a lovely person, she likes to focus on the positive.
I like to do that too. Biddy has this great album on Facebook - called 365 Grateful. She was inspired by a friend also, I believe, and she has since discovered (and shared with me) the origins of the project at http://365grateful.com/

I was so inspired by Biddy's lovely album that I decided to create my own. But mine is here on my blog rather than on FB, that way I can share it with YOU! :)
My "365 Grateful" has it's own page - just have a look at the page tabs at the top of my blog and there you will find my list!!

Here is today's entry: yummy macarons { Kaffir lime & Ginger and Salted Butter Caramel flavours}.

Artist Love - Karen Fields

Fauvism Flowers

Hello,

it's a wet Sunday afternoon here, so what could be better than delighting in a little bit of summer?!

I adore the colourful work of artist  Karen Fields - the energy, the colour, the beautiful stylised imagery.... 

take at look at these lovely examples.

Early Risers

Watching Over the Garden

Fauve Garden

Pink Eiffel

The Pink Boutique

Oh, they are just all SO delicious, don't you think?!

Karen's background is in graphic design and fine art. She is a graduate of Ringling College of Art in the USA and she lives in Orlando, Florida. Her colorful, bold flowers, landscapes, and abstract paintings are collected internationally. 

Karen has a lovely Etsy shop where art prints start at just $18 USD. here's one of the ones available:

She also has a lovely blog - you can visit it here: karenfieldsgallery.blogspot.com

Here's a sneaky peak at Karen's art studio:

Okay, for me now, it's time to go off and make towers and things out of 'Duplo' with Mr.4 !!

Hope you enjoyed this colourful interlude and introduction to Karen Fields.

Take care,

Sally xox

Giveaway alert!

Would you like to win something?
Yeah, it's always fun to win a prize isn't it?!

Check out this giveaway on Pip Lincolne's blog - you just have to donate $2 (or more if you like)
to sponsor Pip and her team for Dry July. The proceeds go to help cancer patients.

These are the prizes she has up for grabs this week... (for details see Pip's blog - click on GIVEAWAY: HOLY HOORAY).

I would love to win the cushion (no. 2 above) - it's an 'Antarctica Cushion', handmade by 
My Bearded Pigeon who not only makes Antarctica cushions, but also other fabbo map cushions too!!   { value $55 }

Just look at all these lovely My Bearded Pigeon Mappy cushions - ooh covet, covet!!......

If you enter Good Luck (but please don't win the cushion! lol),
or if you are DOING Dry July - Good Luck and Good on You!!

Love,
Sally xox

Fab Finds #11 - time for organising...!

Lacquer nesting bowls from The Best Things

I made a " Let's get Organised " Etsy treasury recently (I haven't really been finding any time to make any for a while, and so when I found I actually had a little spare time, I enjoyed spending it making this),

... these finds are inspired by this treasury  :o)

French tin from get smitten

Vintage Hand Painted Basket by Vintage Zen

 

I don't knit or crochet, but if I did I would SO want one of these!

Lovebird Yarn Bowl from Darielle's Clay Art 

vintage-extra-large-japanese-tea-crate from Haven Vintage

'Christmas In July' came early with the ABCD goodie bags!!!

Ditty, Bec & Sophie

some of the girls including the fabulous Anni (in swanky red boots on the left)

arrivals adding their treats to the goodie bags!

 I mentioned in my last post, that I was about to attend the Sydney, ABCD Winter meet-up. Well, it's now been and gone, {in fact it's over a week ago already - oh WHERE oh where does the time go??!}.

...The first one for Sydney, (which I went along to), was late last year.
I was so nervous and not sure I could actually BE brave enough to go out to a pub on my own to meet strangers - no matter how much we were deemed to have in common!
It was such a lovely experience though, that this time I didn't need any 'Rescue Remedy', or "I WILL be brave!!"type mantras!!

It was a really lovely evening and I enjoyed chatting with some lovely, talented and creative ladies (and briefly to a very nice artist called Geoffrey, who loves to imbue his paintings with positive energy!).

I especially enjoyed chatting to Steph, Ditty, Bec, Roberta and Anni, and as always was thrilled to see Anastasia, whom I now count amongst my good friends, having met her through the Australian Etsy team DUST. {They all have great blogs / businesses, so do go ahead & check out the links to see for yourself}.

Anastasia and me!! :)

We were invited to bring along something for a goodie bag to help others remember us. I opted in, as it's a lovely idea. Now, I have to be honest here, one of the highlights was getting to bring home said goodie bag - bursting at the seams with lovely, fabbo things to remember the others by by!!

photo by Lisa of The Red Thread of some of her bag contents.
{my contribution is top right!}

In Australia, because Christmas is HOT, and doesn't feel like Christmas 'should' (that's kind of how I feel anyway, having grown up in the Northern hemisphere!), we sometimes kind of celebrate "Christmas in July"!
Hence my title to this post! I don't think we'll be making snowmen, cooking roast turkey, singing carols and pulling crackers, but my son's school is having a fete, and there wil be a temporary ice rink in the local park. Of course I am digressing now....

.... back to the goodies.
Take a peep here at the lovely loot I came home with!!

Please forgive me if I don't caption and link to the giver of each item, I'll NEVER get this post published if I do that.... instead for more details & pics of who gave what see Steph's post here.

THANK YOU to all the girls, and especially to Steph and Lisa for organising / hosting.
Three cheers to them, HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
                                   HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
                                   HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

Lovely ladies Lisa (left) and Steph (right).

What a great night!


Take care Lovlies, I'm off to watch a little TV with hubby before bed,


Sally x 0 x

It's that time again... the ABCD (Winter) meet-up is coming soon...VERY soon!

This Thursday the SYDNEY ABCD meet-up will take place...........

ABCD (Artists + Bloggers + Crafters + Designers) which was co-founded by Steph Bond  from Bondville and Kim Wallace from Udessi, hold quarterly meetups as a chance for art, design and craft bloggers to get out from behind their computers and meet face-to-face at a casual get-together. 
Steph says "The meet-ups have no set structure, and are designed to be an informal gathering at a bar or cafe on a Thursday evening. ABCD Meetups have resulted in new friendships and some great design collaborations!"

If you want to come along to any meet-ups, you simply need to RSVP before the event date, and are given a name badge at the meet-up. Attendees are also given the opportunity to share something with the other participants in an ABCD goodie bag. This a more effective, and more funway to help others remember you! 


Last time I made some paper embellishments, and put them in a bag, with a postcard, my card and a sweetie! :)

As I said above, the next ABCD Meetup will be in Sydney, THIS Thursday { 30th June }, hosted by Steph Bond Hutkin from Bondville and Lisa Tilse from the red thread. 

I'm looking forward to having a catch-up with creative people, some I met last time, and some new faces - it doesn't happen for me very often these days. I miss it. (In fact with two small kids, and my family 12,000 miles or so away, I don't even get out that much at all!!!)


I'll let you know how it goes, and give you a peek in the goodie bag!!


In the meantime, I'd better decide what I shall be contributing to the goodie bags! hmmm......??!


Sally xox