The Birdcage and beads

On Friday I took a trip to one of my favorite little towns, Stellenbosch and found this cute shop there, I took these photo's with my cellphone, so bear in mind the quality isn't great!
This gorgeous Family frame

Loved the bird napkins and love heartscute little bottles and a beautiful candle holder
pretty fake flowers
gorgeous chandelier
love the color combination, so soft and pretty
love the cupboards-the color and wash effect
boudoir!
paintings on the wall


Later on we went back again, but as a family, in the evening to eat a meal at Beads. It was our first time there, the atmosphere and location was nice, a lovely courtyard under the trees and lights and even a play area for the kids but the food wasn't brilliant. For the price we paid, it definitely wasn't worth it. I hate that when it happens. We hardly ever go out to eat as a family because it is just so costly, and then to have to fork out money on something you didn't enjoy...such a waste. Anyway I enjoyed taking photographs.
Love the time of day when the sun is setting and everything gets that hazy, golden light.
Stellenbosch has a lot of French influence and style and having been to Paris, France myself, I can see the similarities. Stellenbosch has the cobbled streets, the side walk cafe's and bistro's, the expensive food (ha ha), the arty vibe and is chock a block full of art galleries, gift shops, Bistro's, cafe's, restaurants, and beautiful buildings with some dating back as far as the 1700's. The French Huguenots were the result of the French influence in the town as well as Franschhoek , another cute town, which means "French corner". So whenever I miss Paris too much, I take a stroll through Stellenbosch!






Hope you enjoyed the photo's!

A sad day....

above photo not mine
The digital collage below i made in polyvore

12 March 2010..
A sad day for me. My brother passed away this day very suddenly from a brain aneurysm. He was 45. He left behind his 6 year old daughter and wife , married for 18 years.
I miss him every day....STILL and I suppose I always will. So I will use the day to take photographs, go to the beach which was his favorite place and just think about his life and what he meant to me and smile at the good memories I have. I can't believe it's been a whole year...the time has flown by. I still remember feeling like I would never recover from the massive blow, I still remember feeling this huge suffocating blanket on me, that never seemed to lift. But it did... things did get better, I did stop crying every day, I did stop having bad dreams, I did learn to laugh and smile and be happy again. It took the better part of the year but things are a lot better. I will always miss him, I will always feel that loss, that part of me that is missing.

This photo was taken December 2009, just 3 months before. He was looking so healthy and so well and he was so happy....That's me on the left and my sister Jen on the right...

Alice in Wonderland...

So I went to see the movie "alice in wonderland" Fantastic!

Have you seen it? I didn't take my kids as I think there are a few scenes they would of been a bit scared in, but otherwise it was such a good movie, although I do think Johnny Depp could of played a bit of a more "madder" role. He was a bit too normal apart from the way he was dressed for his role.

But that's just my opinion. And I thought Anne Hathaway looked terrible with her white hair and dark make up. It did her no justice at all!


I loved the Queen of hearts, she was totally cool with her massive head and small body! I thought her clothes were so awesome too! I love the dress she had made for Alice out of the "curtains" the one with the red cord and black frill sticking out, it was gorgeous!

Important notice and my big adventure kit

My computer is crashing constantly every 15minutes it gets blue screen and shuts down, so on Monday I will be sending it in to see what is wrong with it. So if I am quite for a while, you know why. Also if you make a purchase and I don't respond with your links, please be patient, I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. I can still send email's via the email address i have given out on this blogs sidebar.

Jen has a gorgeous new kit out called "My big adventure"


I did this page with it.And turned it into a Quick page for you guys to download here. thanks to Jen too.

That pivotal moment

Okay so I went and got a tumblr account! I didn't even know what it was until yesterday. But i really like the simplicity of it. I am using it for photography, quotes, inspiration, writing, poetry, and ramblings. (will still post my photography here too).
You can have a look-see here.

I am also in love.....with Florabella actions and textures! I have been saving and finally I bought some of her vintage actions this weekend...I am so glad I did! They make such a lovely difference to photographs!
Take a look


Hope you're having a good weekend!

Oh I forgot to mention...one of my best friends Emma has started a crafting blog. Em's Happy Handiworks. She is so talented! I did her blog design for her. pop on over, she makes gorgeous cards, bags, drift wood sail boats etc.

Autumn is around the corner...

Monday is officially the first day of Autumn for us. But so far, the days are still HOT.
In fact as I sit and type this, I am sitting in my bikini with my towel wrapped around me, my hair still wet because I've just had a swim at 5 in the afternoon! {for the second time today} This week was pretty strange..Monday was hot. Tuesday it rained. Wednesday was hot again. Thursday it rained in the morning and then got hot by the afternoon so we swam and today has been hot again. Been a very strange week weather wise!

I have had spring green accessories in my lounge for a few months now, to go with the cooler months. We haven't got the colder, wetter weather, darker weather yet, but I know before we know it, it will be here... I LOVE spring and summer, the long days and nights, the feel of the warm sun, being able to swim every day with my kids in the pool, going to the beach, eating ice-creams, sitting outside at 9 in the evening with a cool breeze.... I am not a winter person at all. I don't like being cold, I don't like to shiver, I don't like winter because it rains.....constantly, so it means you are stuck indoors,getting up while it's still dark-to get the kids to school is just SO WRONG! I miss the sunshine and walks and the beach, I miss swimming and just being outdoors. I tend to eat more and drink more coffee too....But it has it's good sides too....lot's of cuddle time with the kids and hubby :) watching movies huddled under warm, cozy blankets, soups, casseroles and curries, plenty of time for arts, crafts and scrap booking and doing things indoors with the kids like baking, play dough, making things, board and card games.

So I decided this year to try and look forward to it...to be positive and welcome the change of season. I went and bought new accessories for my lounge to give it that autumn feeling. I think I achieved it and it feels warm and cozy with all the different textures I brought in..

I kept some of the green just to break the whole red and orange feel, and cos i love green and summer... can't let go completely!
Warm red throws....
pine cones...
string, hessian and wood....


warm mats
wicker lampshades and soft lighting.

textured magazine baskets.
cozy blankets....


And you can see I changed my blog too....already miss the old one though....
What's your WORST thing and BEST thing about autumn and winter?
Have a great weekend!

A request for my neice....

A little message for my neice Cherye....
photo taken by me.
{Read her blog-from the beginning, which isn't all that long ago, as she only recently started it} She is 16 and going through a pretty tough time (not your average teenage stuff). If you can offer her any encouragement or advice, please do so...she needs support and she needs to know there are others out there maybe who have gone or are going through a similar thing. It's hard enough being a teenager, having to cope with mood swings, confusion, raging hormones, without added issues that only make what should be an exciting time in your life, more complex and confusing. so please hop on over...

I Just wanted to show this card i made on the weekend for a friend who requested it, someone she knew was moving away...
I can't take credit for the lovely design, I got the idea from Cindy Lee, a blog I recently discovered. I love her card designs.

I also recently did this paper scrap page of my daughter.

I used a plain card stock over and tore the edges and stuck some lace behind as well as some gorgeous rose paper i had for ages. I tried to stick to the colors in the photo's-the teal and pink tones.
And made this ribbon flower and circular swirl.


And yesterday I went and bought a piece of cork and a backing board and made my own cork inspiration board, Sooooo much cheaper than buying it already made. Will take photo's when my board is more full as the moment I only have 3 things on it!

New Commercial use items

Hey Everyone
A few weeks ago we visited a lovely wine estate and I got the chance to take some photo's of flowers, something I love to do! You don't need to say "just turn that way...a little bit more attitude please"-they come with their own attitude and beauty!
So here are some of the photos I took..which as you can guess I extracted and turned into commercial use flowers.












I also made this fish bowl for my new kit, "wonderful" which I decided to turn into a commercial use item too. It is a png file and all you do is put your fish and bubbles behind it on a new layer and then merge. I included some bonus bubbles too!

I hope you have a great week!
Don't forget my CT call which ends on Sunday! (see posts below!)