sweets for my sweet...

Long time between posts. Moving house and starting back up at work= busy busy! Also, the theme of this post is a little late, apologies... but I digress.
With Valentines Day on Monday I was inspired to bake over the weekend, so I tried my hand at some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Hamish has enjoyed nom-ing them, and I have enjoyed eating the leftover icing (I've always preferred icing to the actual cake, naughty).
Here's how they turned out:

Quite happy with them, but I think I can make them fluffier, so I am checking out some cool retro cake mixers:

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day if you celebrate it. Good excuse to be a bit romantic for those of us that get a bit lazy with it sometimes...

x

i (heart) newtown

Well, it's been a while! Life has been super busy with moving house, lots to do at work, and a trip to Australia for a beautiful wedding in the Hunter Valley.

While we were in the Hunter Valley we visited a cute little cafe in the Hunter Valley Gardens, and I just loved their table numbers!

Also, at one of the wineries, I managed to catch this gaggle of geese waddling their way up the hill the the lake, too cute:

Everything was looking so lush and amazing in the Hunter Valley, probably a lot to do with all the rain they had been having! At the wedding the ground was a bit soft, and I knew my stiletto platforms were not ideal, but wedges were jsut not going to cut it with my outfit... then I found these!

They are called Starlettos and you can just pull them on and off your heels, they even come with a little pouch to put them in between uses so you can put them in your bag without getting everything else muddy. Genius!! And they totally work. Website= www.starlettos.com.au

We also visited Sydney. We did all the touristy stuff- Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Zoo, Bondi... but my fave place hands down was Newtown. My god, if I were allowed to take two suitcases on the plane, my bank account would have been in A LOT of trouble!! Second hand shops as far as the eye can see!! Clothes, junk, furniture... a little slice of heaven!! Got a few shots to savour:

Cool little clothing and record shop in the middle of the burbs:

There was even a shop dedicated just to buttons- eeee!!

Also, there was an awesome shop called Monster Threads- rad clothes, cool knick knacks, and a bit of my fave Jim Bob Art too! Website= www.monsterthreads.com.au

On our walk home I came across this street sign, just adored the name and the look if it:

Anyhoo, a good trip all round. Nice way to ease into summer hols! Now roll on Christmas and New Years :)

nana

I have been thinking about my late Nana recently. She was a gem, so witty and funny and had the most comprehensive general knowledge of anyone I have ever met! She loved crosswords and birdwatching and dolls houses. I think that's where I get my miniatures obsession from.
She passed away April 27 2007. I have found that as time goes by, I realise how many similarities we had, and I wish that she was around so that we could share them.
I have found myself getting more and more into the doll house thing. My Poppa made me an elaborate doll house when I was younger. I of course used it as a toy, as you should as a child, but I have still got it sorted in my Gran’s garage. I am going to get it out and restore it back to its full glory. I am really looking forward to this. But I do wish that Nana was still around to share the process with me, because I know that she would be right into it.
Anyway, I have been looking into decor for my doll house, and here are some cool little pieces that I have my eye on:

The last pic reminds me of the kind of toiletry set that Nana would have owned in real life. The rest is stuff that I would actually buy for my own house in full size.
Love, love, love!!

cassette super markets

So, my stuff won me a stall at Cassette Super Markets (every Sat 12 - 5, Vulcan Lane, Auckland). I was informed of the win on Wednesday. I was pleasantly surprised, but I had a wee worry that perhaps I didn't actually have enough stuff for a stall- so Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after work were spent putting together some more pieces! I ran out of black paint, and when I went down to Ikes to buy some more, they had run out of the matte black that I usually use. Frig. But they had some glossy acrylic, so I figured that was better than nothing. The glossy was all good and made a nice change, but I think next time I will go back to the matte simply because I find it more user friendly. Will stock up next time they get it in! Anyhoo, here is what I made:

I also made a Halloween themed canvas, since the markets were Halloween themed:

 And I made a sign, but it turned out there wasn't room for it- will find a place for it next time:

And here are some pics from the market- such a cool place, good vibe, lovely people. Will totally be going back again!

i (heart) wellington

Just got back from not-so-windy Wellington. The wind gods (Tawhiri, Aeolus, Vayu... whoever you believe in!) were kind to me for the flying. Not much turbulence= not too many freak outs!
Such a lovely weekend with the 'in-laws' (since Hamish and I aren't actually married). Oscar, the nephew, 3, is friggin hilarious; and Molly, our niece whose first birthday was the reason for the trip, is just the cutest little baby EVER! So cuddly and smiley, I could just eat her up :)
As mentioned in my last post, I made them a wee canvas each- they were grabbed, dropped and chewed and still stayed together, so a big tick on the durability front too- sweet! Here are piccies of them:

I also made Molly a couple of headbands using the leftover gold buttons I had brought for Oscars canvas:

I found a primo op shop in Strathmore, real proper. Left with a bag of goodies, my favourite buy being this sweet-as-pie Florida themed skirt:

Made a quick visit to Area 51 on Cuba St too- stocked with AWESOME stuff as always- had my eye on an incredible 'axe' ring by Stolen Girlfriends Club (see it here- http://www.stolengirlfriendsclub.com/main.html ), and fell in love with this Lonely Hearts dress, am going to hunt one down in Auckland a.s.a.p!

I just love Wellington. The people watching is so good- everyone’s style seems to be some kind of wicked-cool. I wish I had my camera on me, I saw a girl in a lust-worthy outfit of a matte gold lace bodysuit, black high-waisted velvet skirt, and awesome tan boots and red lippy to finish. She was blonde and had a gold kind of skin tone so you would think the top would just fade away but it just really worked. Sigh. Style crush BIG TIME.
Anyhoo, I trust everyone had a fab long weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Bring on summer xox

how to add photos for dummies

Ok, like I said, going in blind...just figured out how you add photos. So here they are. (I'm keeping the two I made for my niece and nephew secret until after I see them). Enjoy!