RamsdenDesigns

My Awesome Friends

Sometimes people do things that just smack you in the face with how terrific they are.

My dear friend Peta sent me a basket of chocolates yesterday. I was so floored by her sweet gesture I almost burst into tears reading out the message to Big B. We don’t really live in a society where people send you yummy goodies because they’re super nice people. These days people reach out with Facebook posts and text messages so gifts like Peta’s are extra special and mean much more.

There were more chocolates than pictured above but seriously, as if it’s all going to last till morning.

Her generosity has reminded me that I haven’t done a giveaway yet this year so stay tuned peeps. I’ll start working on one asap.

I was also the grateful recipient of a bundle of Frankie magazines. It’s sad when someone from our little crafting community decides to up and leave us for the big wide world (as has happened far too much these last few months) but getting a pile of their prized magazines sure helps ease the lose.

Thanks heaps Sarah.

How To Destroy Something

“’If you want to destroy a barn,’ a farmer once told me, ‘cut an eighteen-inch-square hole in the roof.

Then stand back.’”

-architect Chris Riddle

Amherst, Massachusetts

How easy it is to ruin something. I have a dozen such holes in my roof right now. They were put there ages ago and I didn’t realise the impact they’d have.

It’s not long now before the roof caves in.

I know i should be doing something crafty right now. Or even a bit of cleaning would be proper but today I am distracted by my Christmas tree. I was so inspired I photographed a few favourites…not all mind you, some ended up a bit blurry. I really really need a tripod. Mmmm, possible gift from Santa?

Look at this girl, she totally rocks. We bought her because she reminds me of Little J.

This awesome little fella was aquired from a Christmas swap I did on the internet. Nothing compares to his fab-ness and I’m afraid my offerings were not nearly as good as this.

This ornament I made myself for another Christmas ornament swap with 10 other people. She’s cute, I love her. Hopefully there are still 10 others of her hanging from peoples Christmas trees all over the world.

Oh IKEA, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is most seriously displeased.

Because Elizabeth Bennet has joined Facebook.

I am excessively diverted.

I’ve Got The Perfect Cure For Holiday Boredom

Go shopping and buy things. Boredom? What boredom? Trust me, it works every time.

Granted (and this is purely to put Big B at ease) a $17 haircut and earrings and hair clip from Big W are hardly major shopping blowouts. But it was still a lot of fun.

Little J got a new haircut and earrings today. She’d been wanting shorter hair for a while now and we decided to just go for it.

She loves it, I love it. I’m sure she’s already planning her world domination now that she looks da bomb.

I love her little non existent eyebrows. She’ll probably hate them when she’s grown up but I think they’re fab. They give her an otherworldly appearance.

Other activities in the house include dragging the kids into the bedroom to braid and plait their hair. Recently discovered is the website Adopt a ‘Do which is a series of YouTube videos showing how to do lots of different types of hairstyles for girls.

If braids are too boring for you then why not try the almost sculptural styles from Shaunells Hair. My girls don’t have the right hair for these styles but I plan on forcing Little C to grow her hair so I can play.

Halloween preparation is going great guns in the house, although I noticed on Nienie’s blog that she’s already decorated for Halloween so we’d better get a move on.

We’re Making A List, Checking It Twice

Wanna find out who’s naughty, not nice.

That’s because we’re already planning our Halloween decorating. Little J has a very long list of decorating ideas in order to create her ideal Halloween. It turns out ‘ideal’ Halloween includes a Goth costume with the full eye makeup and black clothes.

I’ve put a restriction of decorating only one room and a little bit outside, otherwise we’ll have to remortgage the house to pay for it all.

I’ve also put my ‘no-fun’ foot down and am only letting her have one friend over for a sleep over. Decisions like this are purely self interested of course, I’ve got an incredibly busy day planned for October 31st and will not be in the mood for screaming little girls who will no doubt be out of their minds on sugar and spooky movies.

When I want to be, “super organised” is my middle name and I’ve already started up a Halloween folder in my Pictures file where I can collect (and steal) any great ideas I find on the internet.

Some of my favourites include:

Oh how divine are they! How spookily perfect. How monstrously cute!

With only 36 days to go before our toned down Halloween extravaganza I’ve got as lot of work ahead of me.

Party Inspiration Board: Pink Girls Night In

Since having kids I’ve fallen in love with parties. Organising them isn’t a whole lot of fun but when they look pretty the whole world seems to fall into place.

I’ve started doing a few inspiration boards to fuel my imagination, and of course have added my own products in there. We all need a bit of Delight in our lives :)

Now I just need some excuses to have them.

Careers I Could Have Chosen

Sometimes in life there are way too many choices. There are just so many cool careers out there that I feel like I want to pursue them all, as if I could have a second career on the sideline and it wouldn’t be too much work.

So what would I do if I magically had the time to have a second, third, even fourth career?

Children's Clothing Designer

Baker of Yummy Things

Like Bakerella, who seems to spend her day making cookies and taking cool photos of them.

Hair Adornment Designer

Like Twigs & Honey.

Artist

Especially art like Rebecca Rebouche, who creates the most divine paintings.

Fabric Designer

Like Australian designer Mel Bomba.

Photographer

Just like Kiss the Grooms Elizabeth Messina.

House Renovator

It ‘sounds’ like a great idea, gutting old ugly houses and redecorating them into something beautiful.

Illustrator

Like the very talented Elise Hurst who wrote and illustrated one of our favourite books, The Night Garden.

Book Shop Owner

I could just read all day long. Bliss.

Shoe Designer

Like The Shoe Girl who spends her day dressing up and designing fab shoes for top fashion labels.

Invitation Designer

You design pretty things like Rifle Paper Co, people love them and use them a wedding invitations. Perfect.

Party Planner

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day.

It Girl

With my own reality show of course.

Stay at Home Mum

Where the only thing I do is what I want, when I want…and then I blog about it of course.

Chocolate Shop Owner

No explanation necessary.

Not Happy About The Wait?

Don’t worry, I’ll be announcing who won one of our fab body butters tomorrow.

That’s me on the left by the way…with my mum and sister wondering what's wrong with me…again.

Let Them Eat Cake…All Day Long

We do a lot of cake and chocolate eating in this house.

Well, why not? It’s perhaps one of the great loves in our household.

And in honour of that delicious substance, just yesterday I saw these online:

Oh how divine, how delicious, how scrumptious. Details here.

And while we’re still on the subject of chocolate I also came across this beautifully designed chocolate milk collection:

How amazing. Designed by Mark Johnson a recent graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah. I would buy chocolate milk everyday if it looked like this.

To add to my blissful morning I’m listening (and forcing the kids…one’s home sick) to the 2005 Pride and Prejudice soundtrack. It’s really lovely and I’m definitely getting old :)

Home, Sweet, Home

We’re just back today after spending almost a week on a mini break. Big B took us down to Pemberton to stay at a farm chalet and we had a terrific time.

Of course holidays are so exhausting, I feel I need a holiday to recover.

As I can’t put into words the wonderful time that was had, I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

Life just isn’t complete until you’ve spun around in a yellow egg thing and almost thrown up.

On the farm every morning we were able to feed the animals. Little C now knows eggs don’t grow in the supermarket (I feel my work as a parent is done).

The little animals were hugely popular with a lot of “I wanna hold one” whining. But I swear I only did it once.

At Pemberton you can climb these enormous trees, up to 70 metres tall. If you look closely at the picture you can see little dots moving up diagonally on the tree. These, are metal poles stuck into the tree that you are then given the opportunity to climb. There’s nothing to stop you slipping and therefore plummeting to earth and so only the very brave attempt a climb…

…or the exceptionally stupid, or foolhardy. Little J felt her fear but climbed about 40 metres up this particular tree. There she is at the halfway point on a small rest platform. Look carefully, she’s there, at the end of my arrow.

She went even higher than that but I was having heart palpitations by then and couldn’t take a picture.

The scenery really is breathtaking.

One of the small towns along the way were littered with these cuties. The annual Medieval Fair is on next week.