Google Friends Connect

As some of you may know, I am currently redesigning this little blog of mine.

The eventual goal is to migrate over to WordPress sometime before the turn of the next century. You see, because I am ambitious (crazy), economical (tight) and incredibly clever (ridiculously stupid) I am attempting to do all the work myself (with some techo help from a very patient and much valued friend - thanks Richard!). This means so far it has taken me the better part of a year and approximately half my sanity. Though the end is now in sight!

I can't wait to finally go live. There will be new features, a better aesthetic and easier navigation. Plus, once it's all finalised, I will actually have some spare time to sit down and write posts - imagine that!

Anyhoo, the main reason I am writing this post now is to reach out to those of you who follow me using Google Friends Connect.

Due to changes Google made regarding Friends Connect earlier this year I wont be able to re-direct or migrate Friends Connect over to WordPress. So if you do follow my blog via Friends Connect once I go live with my new site you will no longer receive post updates.

(You may have read previous posts or articles regarding this already.

Google announced that as of March 1 2012 Friends Connect would no longer be supporting non-Blogger hosted blogs. However, I found that non-Blogger hosted blogs which were already using Friends Connect before the March 1 retirement were not effected - in terms of post notifications. I still receive their post updates through my Blogger dash and via Google reader.

Though please note, as I am migrating after Google Friends Connect suspended their support, there is no way for me to redirect followers to my new site. You will need to subscribe via a different means).

The best way to stay connected is to subscribe to my blog in a reader or via email. You can do this now - see my sidebar for the links (under 'SUBSCRIBE').

Subscribing to my blog before I migrate over to WordPress wont cause any problems as, unlike with Friends Connect, I will be able to redirect subscribers at a later date.

Please, please, please don't lose touch with me when I move.

Subscribe in a reader or via email now and I'll love you forever.

My First Giveaway!

HAND-CRAFTED BURLAP DRAWSTRING POUCH

I'm sooo excited about this!

To thank and celebrate all of my wonderful readers as a small token of my gratitude I'm offering this gorgeous little hand-crafted (with love!) tote embellished with a sweet vintage bunting bird.

Fully lined with black cotton and featuring a rustic jute drawstring this charming pouch, amongst other things, could be used; to store your little silk nightie, to perfume a drawer if filled with sweet cedar chips etc, as a make-up purse, on an outing in place of your usual bag, to stow away your sewing or craft paraphernalia etc, as a cute gift bag, as decor hung on a bed post, door knob or chair back....and the list goes on and on!

To be in the running to win, simply leave a comment on this post - easy peasy!

Multiple entries are also available. Do one or more of the following then leave an additional comment each time specifying what you've done:

- Become a follower or let me know if you already are

- Refer a friend and have them mention you in their comment

- Mention this giveaway (with a link) in a post on your blog

- Add this giveaway (with a link) to your blogs sidebar

- Mention this giveaway and include a link on an external social network (such as Twitter, Facebook etc)

* remember that each separate comment forms one entry *

 

Entries close midnight on Monday 7 June AEST. The winner will be drawn (via random number generator) and announced on Tuesday 8 June.

Please ensure there is some way to contact you should you win!

Good luck!

* THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED *
Closed midnight on Monday 7 June (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

buddha love continues...

Here are some pictures of buddha arrangement on our window sill...

A lot of you lovely readers have been sending me some of your buddha corners, please do send, will try and feature a few.

Have a great weekend.

A Little Weekend Away...

Given we're lucky enough to be heading down to the beach for a couple of days I thought I'd share these gorgeous coastal inspired spaces.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who follows along, comments on or visits my little slice of blogland. The support and encouragement of this amazing community is nothing short of overwhelming. It truly makes me smile each time I see a new follower or notice a new comment, so....

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Have a lovely weekend.

Coastal Living

Phoebe Howard

Better Homes and Gardens

Unknown

Molly Frey

Unknown

Coastal Living

Cabbages and Roses

Coastal Living

Decorpad

Ideal Home

Unknown

Unknown

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Southern Living

Coastal Living

Typographic Cushions

Unknown

Alright, I'll admit it, I'm in love with typography and would marry it if I could....

Apartment Therapy

....you know what they say though - too much of a good thing is never a good thing....

Pottery Barn

....though does it really have to be so?....

Unknown

....I mean, surely a letter here and a number there can't really hurt...can it?

Real Simple

It's lucky for me and my temporary obsession then that these duck-egg blue babies are destined for my parent's beach house. One for each of the single beds in the twin guest room - so cute!

They were a sinch to make. I just designed some artwork in Paint.Net (if you don't have an editing program and haven't heard of Paint.Net I highly recommend checking it out. It's free to download) then printed it onto iron-on transfer paper, cut closely around each separate component (using a craft knife), positioned them where I wanted on some fabric then ironed away. The fabric was then made into cushions.

If you'd like to try creating something similar I've attached my artwork above. Feel free to use it. Just click on the template to enlarge it then save it to your computer.

I'm keeping this newly embellished ampersand cushion though. I made it using the same method (already had the cushion though). Here it is in my living room.

Have a great day everyone!

Sweets from my Sweet

No, not of the eating kind, more the gesture variety.

Yesterday was my birthday. Hubby and I had already agreed on no gifts cause we just bought a new SLR camera (yay, finally a decent camera - I've been borrowing my brother's every five minutes lately or making do with my old digital one) so I got a lovely warm-and-fuzzy surprise when I arrived home from work to see a beautiful bouquet of orchids sitting on the kitchen counter.

I had to giggle when I opened the card and read "to my wife". I still look around when I see or hear that - definitely not used to it yet!

"Well", says Luke, "getting married has opened my eyes to a whole new section in the gift card department!".

We just had a quiet night in with some family and a truck load of sushi. It was a nice little way to begin a 'new' year.

Now I'm stalking the letterbox waiting for this camera to show up....any day now!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone.

Jew Town, Cochin.

Jew Town in Cochin has a lovely old world charm, brightly painted walls with interesting Hebrew inscriptions, narrow lanes leading to one of the oldest Synagogues and streets dotted with spice and antique shops.
It is one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the world dating back to 700 B.C. when Jewish traders came to the shores of Cochin seeking spices. Now only a handful Jews remain. You can read more about their history here.
Intricately carved spice boxes over-flowing with aromatic spices displayed on the streets.
The antique shops got us excited, but we were also a bit wary considering it is one of the prime tourist spots.
It was wonderful walking and exploring the lanes of Jew Town. An old shop selling hand embroidery and textiles.Some of the pieces we picked up from Jew Town, Wooden Padukas ( slippers)Seasoned wooden kitchen utensil.

Useful tip: Look around many shops and bargain hard;-)

buddha at home...

I don't have many idols of Buddha, but I just love the serenity that permeates the space that has the face of peace. Today I am sharing with you a few arrangements of Buddha that I have managed to photograph at home over a period of time. Hope you like them.

The post on decor inspired by love for Buddha is on it's way, so stay tuned:-)

The Beginning of a New Room Redo

Suffice to say it was a fair exchange, though for us, gaining Charlotte meant losing our "computer room".

I know calling it a "home office" or "study" would sound more official, though with the majority of time spent in there going toward online shopping, e-stalking and maybe shooting the occasional virtual bad guy (hubby, not me) a title implicit of actual 'work' just seemed like blatant glorification.

So once Charlotte moved in we had two re-location candidates for our new "computer room"; the tiny guest bedroom or the little weird nothing space off our kitchen.

Here's a deceptively spacious looking floor plan which illustrates our options - trust me, this plan looks misleadingly generous, all our rooms are actually really incy.

The guest room seemed like an obvious choice though the little weird nothing space was being used for, well nothing. You see, it's a through-way due to the external sliding door (which is suppose to be a side entrance though is more often used as the main one) and two hallway openings. There is also a large vertical heater on one wall which, at this stage, has to stay. So, although looking at the floor plan many configurations seem possible, in reality, flow-wise, nothing much really worked. The only functional space is the narrow area spanning the guest room's divisional wall which didn't seem good for much....though, I thought, might be just perfect for a thoughtfully considered computer area.

So, here's the room before:

Nice enough, though nothing special and lacking functionality.

And here it is after Charlotte displaced our computer cabinet:

If I'm honest, pretty darn crappy looking. Though that's okay, it's only 'make-do'.

As I suspected, our hideaway computer cabinet didn't work in its new home.
If I was going to make this computer room gel I needed a fresh concept.
So I gathered my thoughts....
....we needed something to use as a desk, something to house our books (because there was no where else for them too live) and something to hide all the ugly hulking technological thingamabobs plus it needed to be pretty and practical, perfectly proportioned and penny-wise. Easy, right?
Ah, apparently not.
I spent hours searching for something that just didn't exist. Even with my open-minded, out-of-the-box, creative-vision hat on I couldn't find anything adaptable to fit my criteria.
The main issues were the ridiculous depth of our ginormous computer tower and the modest width of the wall.
I wanted something built-in-esque without the permanence, work or cost.
Was I going to have to build this thing myself?
In all honesty, I did seriously consider it, and I know I could have done it though at my current rate of productivity it would have been finished just in time to present Charlotte for her own house warming so instead I did something that I've never done before....I walked into a furniture store (a cheapo, budget one, mind you) and asked the nice man behind the counter how much it would cost to have something custom built.
Now, I'm not certain exactly what happened next, though the first thing I remember was a hazy salesman coming slowly into focus. "Oh", I said, "I'm sorry, I thought you said $2,000".
"I did", came the reply.
I promptly passed out again.

'Course I didn't really pass out though I definitely did pass (on the custom build offer that is).

I'm well aware that to many, okay most, people, paying $2,000 for a piece of furniture (let alone a custom built one) isn't particularly outlandish, though to me it's simply a no-no.

So now, enter plan B....

Oh, and THANK YOU for bearing with me through this period of sporadic posting!

At the moment I'm mum and wife first, though I have a tonne of exciting projects and room makeovers on the go (and in my head!) which I can't wait to share once my new superwoman pills arrive (seriously, I don't know how other bloggers do it!).

In the meantime, my intention is, as it has always been, to blog whenever I can so please know that your readership is truly cherished.