valentine etsy

♥ Valentine's Day gift ideas from Etsy ~ a collection ♥

1. love between the covers but should I be reading into this? ♥ pride and prejudice heart brooch    

2. dressed to impress ♥ coral pink stripe men's bow tie
3. a delivery from cupid ♥ silver and gold arrow rings
4. a rose with no thorns ♥ vintage rose brooch
5.warm & spicy ginger and juicy blood orange ♥ Pink Clay handmade soap
6.you got to know when to hold em ♥ Ace of Hearts Print
7. for your foxy lady ♥ fox print purse
8. everything's rosy with ♥ vintage pink sunglasses 
9. for all those salad days and romantic picnics ♥ mid century pink salad set   
10. nothing declares your love more soundly than a mixed tape ♥ cassette tape brooch
11. this product just makes me think of the term "carnal knowledge". Kissable lips... mmm bacon... don't worry it's vegan ♥ bacon lip balm for manly men
12. vintage portable radio player ♥ for that picnic you were going on

13. he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me! ♥ daisy pewter cuff 
14. from here to eternity or maybe just a nice place to have a picnic ♥ Oregon Beach Photography         

         

     

sunshine on the window makes me happy

sunshine on my window by liza lukatova via 500px, via hanna niemenmaa

just a little line from a spiderbait song...
Brisbane is so sunny and gorgeous this weekend and after having some really rotten weather for a week or so you really appreciate a bit of sun.

Here's some sunshine on the window via pinterest...

by Matilda Viegas on flickr via Michal Rosen Bar

via erica wyant

katy lhulier via rosa grueso

via esteva vazquez

             

via solitaire - solidaire via kirstine kragballe

                           

from suburbansider {that's me}

              

                                                                                      

DIY Printable Valentine Cupid's Arrow Card

Shot through the heart and you're to blame...

I made these for my young men last year and ended up making a heap for my friends and family too, they were such a hit I wanted to share the link with you again.

These were created by Sweet Muffin Suite - they are super cool and very easy to make.

Here's a link to my original post which also includes a sweet recipe for a spicy black pepper chocolate valentine brownie, perfect for gifts too!

Perfect, if slightly damp, Sunday

Poor old Brisbane and in fact much of Queensland has been drenched! It continued to be torrential all day and the wind has thrown it's two cents in as well. I have never heard it actually whistle and howl so loudly before! Every window and door in my house is rattling and the branches of the trees next to the house are rapping on the windows in a very agitated way.
We've got sideways rain and the water-catchments and nearby creeks are looking scarily full. The house is damp, my pile of laundry grows unrelentingly larger but from the sounds of things I could be a lot worse off, other people have lost power and are watching waters rise across their backyards. People in northern cities of Queensland are facing hurricanes. Hopefully it will be nothing like the floods of this time two years ago...

Little "Bow Tie Killer" is keeping watch for me

We barricaded ourselves in and admittedly it was good to have the excuse to relax and catch up on some reading {of the blog and books-from-the-library variety}. Of course I did have a pile of back to school books to cover awaiting me on the dinning table but I just gave those an occasional cold stare and otherwise ignored them for today. Tomorrow!

a couple of the new collection of zakka books from the library - I love them!

I did lots of other things to prep us all for the back to school performance that will begin on
Tuesday morning - or may not... I have heard a rumor school may not open because of the weather
{I don't believe it though}. Either way I have clean socks, ironed uniforms, frozen sandwiches
{thanks Michelle and Ben for the hot tip} and bags and lunchboxes ready to go!

It was so dark inside the house today. The lamp light cast some pretty shadows.

And in much happier news... "The Jungle Giants" came in at number 83 with their song "She's A Riot" in the Triple J Hottest 100 2012!! And no wonder, they have been working their butts off, playing heaps of gigs and festivals, making radio appearances,  touring with some amazing bands and just being so brilliant and fun to watch live. I love their music!

I was super happy and have never been so tensely awaiting the countdown. My friend Cesira who is their amazing and beautiful guitarist was so excited. They have produced two Eps and are now recording their first album which I can't wait for. Here are some links to two of their latest filmclips if you'd like to hear and see more. 

"She's A Riot" and one of my absolute faves "You've Got Something"

coming to you from dampened circumstances but not spirits, Ains xx

It's Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day!
It's a bit of an outrage the rain is coming down in buckets on our barbecues across Brisbane today but I'm just happy to have a precious day off work to spend time with my boys.
Obviously we're going to be celebrating that Australia is the best country in the world, I should know, I've been to cities that never close down...
We'll still be having that barbecue with my fam, I'll be listening to Triple J's Hottest 100, I'll be very excited if my favourite Brisbane band, The Jungle Giants make an appearance with this song.
We won't be going to the cockroach races or meat pie eating contests at our local pub {although I do think it's important to occasionally embrace your inner bogan}.

What will you be doing??

Photos from our trip to the Brisbane bayside suburb of Wynnum last weekend - one of the boys and my favourite places.

Have a great day!

Owl be downloading you again this year!

Have you got your calendar for 2013 yet? If not you will have to swoop down on this one. I've downloaded these for the last two years and am very happy to be able to do it again this year.
My Owl Barn has compiled, once again, a gorgeous collection of owl illustrations for you to download as a calendar. You get to pick your favourite for each month - so hard to choose!! Here are just a few examples below.

Thank you, thank you, I will treasure it all year long... you can never have too many owls, seriously.

So either click on my link button to the side or go here to get yours!

Happy New Year! Thirteen, lucky for some

2012 has been immense. I moved house, began a completely brand spanking, career changing new job as a library assistant and then shortly after, interviewed again and went from a part timer to a full timer. So whilst still unpacking the house I have been trekking up the very steep learning curve that has come with working in a new job and trying to manage my fulltimerness with being a solo parent. Thank goodness my littlest one loves after school care and that my parents are on standby for at least once a week baby sitting. I have considered this a very fortunate year for me. I LOVE my new job and whilst it's sometimes tricky to juggle everything it's not half as stressful as when I was studying full time and working part time a couple of years ago. I am working with some very encouraging and supportive people at my new work who have helped me settle in and held my hand when necessary. Obviously my blog has fallen by the wayside and like my garden, although I love gardening so much, lack of time and energy has seen it become a bit weedy and neglected looking. So time to put some love back in. I hope you will stay tuned and thank you to all of the people who's blogs I have visited in 2012. You inspire and cheer me, no matter what, any time of the day or night, whatever I need, you are there.
Happy 2013!

Brisbane Shines!

The sparkling finale to the 2012 Brisbane Festival lit up the sky over the river and the Spiegel Tent and Lantern Garden at south bank. We were lucky enough to get front row views from the windows of one of the city buildings on George Street. I loved having such a wonderful view and to be apart from the seething mass of the crowd below, however there was that element of being a bit removed and missing the sounds and heat and the smell, the crush, getting spattered with rain, feeling the wave of the explosions beat through you. You know, like watching the mosh pit on T.V instead of being in it - not quite the same effect. Happily, Liam as able to set up his tripod and get some beautiful photos and I wasn't stressing the whole entire time about losing Lukey. Bless him, he turned to me during the fireworks and said in my ear "I love you Mummy". Ain't it the truth, there's something about fireworks that brings us to our knees. If he, in 10 or 15 or 30 years time and whilst watching fireworks says the same thing to someone he loves I will consider my efforts in parenting a job well done. He feels the magic the same as me - thank goodness. And so did everybody else, there were thousands and  tens of thousands of people there. Ahh lovely Brisbane! I will miss all the pink!

Santos City Of Lights - 2012 - wonderful!

the Lantern Garden at Southbank

Riverfire 2012

All of the gorgeous photos were taken by Liam with the guidance of his Grandad. My parents gave him a camera and lens for this 15th birthday recently and Dad has been giving him lessons ever since. I 'm so happy he has really been interested in photography. He found his tripod on the side of the road during council clean-up - that's my boy!

And finally - there were some very special people working on this festival, turning the wheels and pressing the buttons behind the green curtain, it was wonderful! Thank you!

enjoy the present

I just finished this piece for a friend who is giving it to her husband.
It is a favourite quote of theirs set against an image created from a photo taken at their beach house where they have been taking their family for many years. We blew it up to a big 8 x 12 inch print and my friend framed it in a box frame with the addition of a little heart shaped rock. They have a little collection of heart shaped rocks, found on holidays together and placed in a silver dish.
If I could dive into this picture and be right there, with time standing still, I would.