The Winners of the February Giveaway are....

Loving....

Oh yellow and black, I am so obsessed with you at the moment. Why is there not more of you in my house making my wardrobe beautiful? In the past I was never a big fan of yellow in clothing, but more and more I keep finding myself gravitating towards it. The double combo of yellow and black = love!

01 Top Shop - Paw print roll tee

02 ASOS - Matthew Williamson Black and Neon Aviator Sunglasses

03 ASOS - Neoprene Shopper

04 Mod Cloth -Process of Lemon-ation Skirt

05 ASOS - Adidas Originals Watch

06 Anthropologie - Early Tides Pullover

07 Old Navy - Cap Toe Canvas Ballet Flats

I completely adore the Old Navy ballet flats and at $22 they seem so completely affordable, but as I am all the way over in Australia, they are going to cost me closer to $60 once you add postage charges! Ouch! What do you think? Are Old Navy shoes are of decent quality? Is it worth me tripling the price for them (and not just because I think they are so very very pretty).

On a related note, I need to block ASOS from my browser. Damn free shipping. Gets me every time.

SS26.02.12

LINE ONE: My Goodness! Could He She it They I's Burger Zines BE any cuter?! Each page is an ingredient cut out individually by hand and is no larger than a 10¢ piece! Adorable!
LINE TWO: Loving the photos by Kirf Bolotin in Liebling's Summer 2011 catalog. They make me feel like life would be so fun and whimsical if only I had a pair of these lovely shoes!
LINE THREE: The quirky and clever A Face a Day tell a whole story in just a portrait and a single line.  
LINE FOUR: According to the website, Maddie the Coonhound is 'A super serious projects about dogs and physics'. I have never had a pet as well balanced as Maddie and she obviously is the most patient and obedient puppy ever.

DIY Decorated Porcelain

One of those so-simple-why-didn't-I-think-of-that DIY's that I always see going around is decorated porcelain. Such a simple and effective way to improve or revamp old crockery around your home, I always wanted to try it myself, but I was never sure where i could get the tools necessary. On a recent trip to my local craft store, I spotted these Porcelaine 150 pens for a measly $9! There was a whole selection of colours, but as this was my first try I decided to stick with simple black to test it out. And guess what; It was SUPER easy! Hooray!

To do this at home, you will need:

For my first attempt, I chose an old mug I had laying around, a sugar pot I picked up from the craft store for $2 and Loki's food bowls that I thrifted for 50 cents each.

Decorating your items is as simple as pie... no, even easier! (What? Sometimes pies are hard to make...)
1. Give the pen a good shake before use, you may need to press down on the tip repeatedly to get the ink flowing.
2. Make sure your item to decorate is clean and dry - if it is wet the pen will not draw well on the china. 
3. Now, I am notoriously impatient, so I didn't use pesky things like stencils or guides. I'm all about the free-hand baby! But if you would like neater prettier designs than me, this would be the time to measure out and stick them on.  4. Because the pen is basically a marker you can just draw on your porcelain as you wish, I found that the pen would start to run out of ink after a few lines, so keep a small piece of paper or cardboard close by to re-load the tip and test the flow. (To do this press down on the tip a couple of times until the ink starts to come out again - Be careful you dont get too much!)
5. If you make a mistake, a touch of nail polish is perfect to wipe away your design. I believe a damp cloth would also work, but I chose nail polish because as an alcohol it dries very quickly, so you don't have to worry about getting the China too wet to draw on. 
6. Let the paint set - this will depend on the pen/paint you're using: some can just air dry and some you will need to bake in the oven - check the directions on the product. 
7. Voila! Proudly use your new and totally unique cup/bowl/plate/tattooed china doll!

My test subjects turned out even better than I had expected! I already have plans to try this again, next time with more colours and patterns! My dinner sets wont know what hit them!

A Sunday Stroll....

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I had nothing to do, but rather than stick to my usual boredom buster (read: pinterest and trawling for new blogs) I decided to get out and about and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Something that I don't do enough is go exploring.  I took my camera with me and snapped a few photos so you could see where my feet had been...

There's something nice about aimlessly wandering around with no other goal than to simply see what I could see. Do you ever go exploring around your urban jungle?

I Like Stuff (3)

Over the last week I have found a whole bunch of new things to love (including how to make animated GIF's in photoshop!) I've probably ruined the whole simple effect I was going for by animating this picture, but I am ever so proud of myself! 

While it makes me feel ever so important to have my own office at work, it can be a little quiet and lonely. I've been on the hunt for an affordable radio to pop on my desk and I came across this little cutie. Not only is it small enough to fit in my hand, it lights up when you turn it on! How could I not share the adorableness with you guys?! 

Hilariously, this teeny tiny radio is actually a little too loud for my office, even on the lowest setting!

Moving on from animations and radios, Valentines day brought me two beautiful gifts from my boy; the first was this Apothecary Bottle. A short 5 minute walk from my house, there is the loveliest gift store full to the brim of stylish homewares. The boy chose this bottle for me (he knows me so well) and gave it to me complete with a white rose. He also surprised me with this adorable Message in a Bottle, complete with three hand written notes on little scrolls.  Aw :)

The last thing I wanted to share was my old-new mug. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker so when I bought this mug (Purely because it reminded me of the huge mugs they had at Central Perk in Friends), I never really had a plan for it and it ended up collecting dust in my cupboard. However last weekend I gave it a mini makeover and wouldn't you know; our love has been rekindled! I've been using it for everything ever since! (Stay tuned for the full DIY Later this week!)

SS 18.02.12

 

It's all about brilliant use of colour this week....
LINE ONE: If you do one thing today, make sure you check out Zander Olsen's 'Tree Lines'! Zander wraps trees with white material lining up the tree and the horizon to create this amazing effect. I can only image the time and care it would have taken to set these photos up! WOW! 

LINE TWO: My love for Japanese washi masking tape is no secret to anyone, so I'm sure you can appreciate my excitement when I found out MT tape has brought out giant wallpaper MT 'tape' for your home! Imagine the possibilities!

LINE THREE: These Ally Capellino Bags are two parts perfectly simple designs coupled with one part pop of colour; in short, everything you could want in a bag!

LINE FOUR: Well if colourful walls weren't enough, how do you like these amazing floors by Swedish geniuses Carl Larsson and Josef Frank! The apartment that plays home to these floors overlooks Humlegården park, the seasonal changes in the park have inspired the amazing floors!

Breathtaking

I love it when watching an artist work is equally as mesmerizing as their finished product. (Bonus points for his amazing portable work station!)

http://www.philcuttance.com/

In my Bag:

I just bought a new wallet to replace my old tatty one that was falling to bits. So today when I was swapping over all my cards, I started cleaning out my bag. Well, everything was laying out on my bed already, so what better time to do a 'what's in my bag' post? 

Normally I'm one of those girls who carry around a GIANT bag full of junk. No really. Even when I'm heading out for a night on the town I wills till lug my huge bag with me. My friends like to make fun of me when I'm the only one with a big heavy bag and they all have dainty little purses and clutches, but I just love being able to have everything I could possibly need. I got a new bag just before Christmas and it is half the size of my normal bags, so I no longer can carry around anything I want. It feels a bit weird but at least I had managed to fit in the following items:

• Camera Lens - I always seem to have a spare lens floating around my bag- even if I don't have my camera with me! It's actually a really bag habit. I am so lucky that I haven't broken one yet.
• Notebook - I got this notebook from the Melbourne Art Gallery & Museum and I bought it simply because I loved the title on the cover 'Another Day Cloudy Memory - At this moment I am drawing to remember or to erase' Beautiful!
• Keys - Boooooooorrrrriiiiiinnnnggg. Everybody has keys. 
• iPod with Society9 skin - I love my owl skin for my iPod touch. I take my tunes everywhere, even though I constantly forget to charge the battery...
• Phone - You know. For talkin' n stuff.
• Oroton Wallet - I love my new wallet! Normally I choose wallets that are in more vibrant colours, but this Oroton wallet was such a steal I couldn't resist. Makes me feel rich and fancy to have it heehee. My favourite thing about it is that my mini instax photos fit perfectly in the photo pocket :)
• Lipstick - This is a new lipstick I have started wearing. I'm constantly on the hunt for the perfect nude lipstick, and I'm kind of digging this ChiChi Viva La Diva in Centerfold. It's not bad for a fairly inexpensive product. 
• Necklace - I always seem to have random items of jewelery floating around my bag. I'm notoriously bad for grabbing a necklace or earrings when running out the door with the intention of putting on on my way to work. Then I forget. And then said item lives in my bag for months on end.
• Nail file - I lose nail files so often it's not funny. Honestly, I'm impressed this one is still in my bag! 
• Compact Mirror - My nana bought this for me years ago and I think it's one of the most useful items I carry around with me. You never know when you might need a mirror!
• Perfume - I like to have a perfume that is 'me', so I tend to stick with one sent for a couple of years until I move onto a new one. I like the idea that people can associate a particular smell with me personally. Currently my smell of choice is David Beckham Signature 'Story for Her'. I don't normally like celebrity perfumes, but I picked this one up on sale and really liked it!
• Umbrella - I found this compact umbrella from a supermarket one day when it was pouring with rain. I love it because it has this lovely sky print on it. It is definitely a necessity at this time of year, rain seems to come out of nowhere!
• NOT PICTURED: Countless receipts, rubbish and bobby pins.  

OE 14.02.12

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! If today is a day you choose to celebrate, (and even if it isn't) I hope your day is filled with love! With the overload of pink and red everywhere at the moment, I thought I'd share some blue valentines...

1. Red Hearts in Clouds Washi Tape
2. Mint Heart Earrings
3. Nesting Bowls
4. Doctor Who Valentines Day Card
5. Blue Valentine Heart sculpture in concrete
6. Handpainted Heart Decorations

Words of Love

(1, 2, 3, 4)

A multitude of cute Valentines day cards have been whizzing around the blogosphere as of late. I do love a bit of adorable stationary and for me, nothing beats simple statements.

SS 12.02.12

 

LINE ONE: This has been around for a while, but I love this collaboration between Carl Kleiner and Ikea - Homemade is Best is graphically sublime. 

LINE TWO: The second Ikea project Carl Kleiner did can be found on his website, it certainly doesn't disappoint. 

LINE THREE: Eeee! Such adorable sleeping logs on Rabbit portal's flickr stream (1, 2, 3, 4)

LINE FOUR: Elisa Mazzone's fashion illustrations are beautifully subtle in her choices of colour, shape, lines and the finer details. I can't stop looking at them...

Don't forget there's still time to enter this month's giveaway...

Chocolate Bark Recipe

Now, I don't really know how, but chocolate bark is something I had never heard of. I recently came across a recipe for dark chocolate bark and I couldn't wait to try it! I don't think there is a recipe better suited to me in the whole world. I've seen home made chocolate recipes around but this is such a simple concept and it only takes about 10 minutes to make! That's my kind of recipe!

You will need:

Melting Chocolate/chocolate pieces (I used milk chocolate and white chocolate)
Baking Paper
A large flat tray
Toppings of your choice

Step 1: Put each type of chocolate in a bowl to melt. You can do this properly over the stove, but I found it just as easy to melt in the microwave. I don't have a glass or metal mixing bowl, plus I'm notoriously impatient, so I chose the microwave option. It will differ for each machine, but in mine it took one minute of heat and then the bowl and chocolate was warm enough to stir until smooth.  Be careful the bowl will be hot!
Step 2: Line tray with baking paper to prevent it from sticking. Pour the chocolate onto the paper and using the back of a spoon spread the chocolate into an even layer. The thickness of your layer will depend on how chunky you want your bark. Just remember it needs to be able to hold up your toppings.

Step 3: Prepare your toppings prior to melting so that they are ready for this step. I used: Sprinkles, Chopped Hazelnuts, Honeycomb (crushed Crunchie bar) and left over white chocolate; both chopped pieces and drizzled over the top. 

Step 4: Evenly spread your toppings over the chocolate (while still warm). I found that drizzling extra chocolate over the chunkier toppings helped to keep it all together. 

Step 5: Repeat for each type of bark. Try not to make yourself sick by licking the bowls....

Step 6: Refrigerate for around 30 minutes or until the chocolate has set. (Make sure to keep the trays flat.)  

Step 7: Cut/Break into pieces and serve! Show some restraint and don't eat too many at once because you will feel sick afterwards.

You can do this with whatever flavour/toppings you like. I'm so excited to try some more exciting combinations next time. I'm already planning to make individually designed packets of bark to give out to my friends as Easter presents. Much more personal that store bought eggs!

Enjoy :)

I like Stuff (2)

More lovelies from Japan. 

a. I have yet to use this adorable neko mug I snagged in Tokyo. I found him while shopping for gifts to bring back for the girls at work and fell instantly in love. I don't know which part of him I love more, the fact that his ears and tail are what holds him up when he's upside down (y'know, doing mug stuff) or that he is so darn cute when he's off duty.

b. We came across the most beautiful stationary store while late night shopping in Ginza. I managed to scoop up a few goodies before the store closed, these were just a couple of the striking and simple postcards they had. There were SO many. The two yellow/cat themed postcards weren't a set or anything. They actually were no where near each other, but they compliment each other so well I bought them with the specific goal to frame them as a set rather than send them anywhere!

SS 05.02.12

 

LINE ONE: Chacho Pubela's Grandmother Tips provide some much needed online advice for the next generation with the tagline "Just a few tips that my grandmother should have given me, but unfortunately never did." Some of the fantastic advice includes;

"Never play World of Warcraft. It's really really really addictive"

"Son, don't just tweet for the sake of tweeting"

"I don't think you're a photographer because you use instagram"

"Don't Buy an App that has an Ugly Logo" and 

"Don't trust what you read and see on Wikipedia."

LINE TWO: Looking at 15 examples of how cereal boxes have changed over time it's amazing to see just how much designs have changed. I know its because they are kind of 'retro' and 'vintage' but I kind of love the older designs better than the current ones. 

LINE THREE: Oh my gosh! I totally cannot wait for Little Printer to be released! He is just pure perfection!

LINE FOUR: I am head over heels in love with these terarrium domes from Score and Soldier. They are totally out of my price range, but they are so beautifully designed, I wish I could have them hanging up in my house!

Decisions Decisions

(1, 2, 3, 4)

Oh how I love a simple design, and these beautiful leather and felt iPad sleeves are pure perfection. Now if I could just decide on which style and which colour I love the most. My little iPad needs somewhere to keep it safe (I am notoriously clumsy with things that can be scratched and marked) and I am being ridiculously indecisive when it comes to what kind of case I want for my new baby. Do you have an iPad? Did you find a great case or cover for it?

February Giveaway

One day, whist we were holiday in Japan last year, we were in central station in Tokyo, trying to navigate our way to the correct platform before we missed our train. We had finally located the correct area and were about to make a dash through the turnstiles when I spotted the most adorable little tiny gift store tucked away in a corner. What had grabbed my attention the most about this store, was the shelf of adorable mini calendars in various animal shapes. Naturally, and to the dismay of my (all male) traveling companions, I could not go on without stopping to scoop up a whole set of these little beauties. Despite my love for them, I don't really need more than one mini calendar to adorn my house with, so I thought I should share them around. 

I had intended to give these away earlier in the year, but I had tucked them away for safe keeping and forgotten about them until I came across the storage box over the weekend (I love finding things you had forgotten you had!)Now that I have rediscovered them it's time for 2012's first giveaway!

Each month has a different colour animal with the days of the month on their adorable little bellies! If you would like to have one of these little guys on your desk at home all you have to do is follow kittenbear and leave a comment on this post with your name, contact email and let me know which little critter you would like to add to your family.

You can choose from:

- Panda

- Miniature dachshund

- Cat

- Yorkshire terrier

- Chihuahua

Entries close Friday the 17th of February 2012. Best of luck!

What I wore...

Okay, so this isn't the most exciting outfit ever, but I'm super excited about my new pants! Ever since I was in Europe in 2010 and these slouchy pleated pants had just come into fashion over there, I lusted over getting some myself. Oh how I wanted to be as effortlessly cool as the sales girls in pretty much every store in Barcelona. I am however, a kind of curvy girl which generally means these kinds of pants do not sit well on me, at least not in a flattering way, so I have been searching in vain for a pair that fit 'just right'.

I think these babies are the ticket. I'm a little self conscious in them, I still think they make me look a little rounder than usual, but they are sooo comfy and I simply adore the colour! I got the on sale for just $30, how's a girl supposed to say no....?