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Thursday, October 27, 2011

weekend baking?

I am hosting a playgroup this weekend for the westbay mothers and am looking
 for baking inspirations. All the mums take turns at hosting and in spite of their busy
schedules always serve up mouthwatering treats. We have had chocolate cakes, cherry pies, 
lemon green tea cupcakes ( my fav- L's)  and more. So I want to try baking something
too. 

Joy the Baker gave me this idea. 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread.
Need I say more?


I have some experience making banana bread, so am very excited to try this version. 

But I bumped into this blog- Shove it in your face ( scream ). She's a tough cookie this one, 
baking while hobbling about with a leg brace. A true die hard baking adddict made this gem
banana bread donuts.


Not real donuts just donut shaped bread but who cares.

Happy Thursday everyone. Smell something delicious this weekend!





Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Home Improvements

Right after days of organizing and decluttering, we have finally satisfied with the end result. The home is complete and I have the photos to prove it.

We got rid of the compound furniture and replaced it with our own massive pillowy couch.


Upstairs in the common area, I laid our oversize persian rug and hung up the Charley Harper prints. On the left of the picture you can peek into Zaggy's room which has gone through a major makeover.

This was the before.


And the after.


I bought the decals about 3 years ago back in KL but never used them. The walls were painted Forest Green and they look superb!

This is our room, the before...


And now after.

We don't have a headboard but an extra king mattress propped up against the wall, is now the makeshift headboard. I covered it with a fabric from Paradise Road in sri lanka but it doesn't cover the whole mattress unfortunately.


The other two Charlie Harper prints are on the shelf alongside my jewellery. A designer I met recently, gave me a jewellery stand in exchange for baby stuff. It is extremely hand for all my earrings and necklaces.


During the last trip to the UK, I went to one of my fav shops Skandium and bought these glass cases from iittala.


They are so tiny but so precious.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

From me to you

A post for my little baby boy who will be turning 1 in a month's time.

I bought this book for you about 5 years ago, when you were just in my imagination. This book by Shel Silverstein still makes me tearful and to me, depicts a parent's love for their child in the most precious way.

The Giving Tree.


I had forgotten about the book until I saw this video from The Kid Should See This.
A moving picture circa 1973, narrated by the author who also played the harmonica.





Bad Teacher Good Style

Has anyone watched Bad Teacher? Starred Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, it was a fun girlie night-in movie. I thought it was pretty hilarious but Diaz's outfits were too sexy to ignore. She's got the perfect figure for the pencil skirt and the skinny pants. I loved the ensembles but unfortunately could not find photos online.

On Etsy, a clothes designer from Romania - Lauragalic, had these super tailed jackets that I crave for. What do you think?








Pretty hot stuff.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Project Ombre


Sooooo, I know I have been missing for months and yes I have some excuses but not good enough. It has been crazy busy with house hunting, then house moving, then house nesting etc etc. Since the last post, there was some travelling done as well. We were in London for 12 days and spent it mostly at home with family showing off the young boy.

Anyway, I am now armed with a new computer and things are settling to a sane speed so I am back with my first post in months.

The new house is looking great but still, finishing touches required. Pictures and shelves need hanging but that will be done quickly enough. We shipped in our own from KL because we were tired of living in rented furniture. Besides, they were bile. I was convinced the couch had lice and felt itchy each time I got close.

So now, with that stuff out, and my plush cream couch in place, I went in search of decorating projects. The first on the list, is a cheap armchair with a cream cotton cover. The cover was looking ragged and I had some dyes in my box. A packet of Ocean Blue and Bahama Blue. Perfect for my first experiment with ombre, a technique of creating graduation of colours on dye jobs.

Here are some stunning examples.


Ombre curtains from Anthro.


What about these dresses!



I watched a few youtube tutorials and was ready to have a go.


The ends were dunked in the different colours but for the middle portion, I shuffled between the two dyes to achieve a gradient. Well I tried.



 

I must have left the cover in for too long or perhaps the buckets were too tall as you can see the line across the mid section. 


The end result was splotchy but I can live with it. Might try it again but with a lighter fabric this time.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Welcoming M's Number Two

This week, M in Brisbane, my old friend and fantastic ex-housemate welcomed number two into the family. Congratulations M and you still haven't told us her name yet.

No pressure, names are really tough. We didn't have a name til days before the event and even then after deciding on Z, we were unsure for at least a week.

So congrats to you and take care of yourself.

Your days ahead will be Cloudy with a chance of rainbows. Cloudy only for a couple of weeks anyway, it gets easier once you hit 10 weeks, that's my experience anyway.


 via here

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Things I heart

Been meaning to blog about some amazing things I came across but had no time. We are shopping for a new place to move to and have seen more than 10 houses but each has something niggling about it so the final decision has yet to be made.

In the meantime, here are some of the creative innovations I was talking about.

Like this shower octopus caddy from swedish design from Formverket. Forget rubbish suction cup- shelves that never stay on.



And this definitely has the wow factor. A swing necklace. Sigh divine.


What about this fantastical cafe for moms and bubs ?


The underside of tables even has pictures for toddlers to enjoy during their crawling adventures. This Tokyo cafe thought of it all.


( via handmade charlotte)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Write Stuff Designs

Got a nice email this morning, about Write Stuff being featured on a Catch My Party. R's party design for a farewell party made it to their website and with it, she gave me credit to, with a link to my website on the bottom right of the page. Very exciting, first time for me.

The party was for a little girl Rachel and I drew out some cute luggage and planes in a browns, pinks and blues and the overall effect was quite adorable.


Here are some of the photos.



If you want to see the rest of the pics, go here.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Serendip Road Trip

We just got back from our roadtrip to Srilanka and it was the first real family holiday just the 3 of us. The trip was short, only 6 but packed with activities and new firsts for the little boy.

First elephant at a temple in Colombo;
First picnic
First picnic at sunset on the Galle Fort ramparts;
First time sleeping in his travel cot and soundly too (Thanks to Aunty Z);
First visit to the site of Lanka Project yay !

Looking back, I haven't actually been back to SL for more than a year now and noticed plenty of change. Since the war ended, the military presence on the streets of Colombo has diminished almost entirely. The city is undergoing a major makeover and new roads have sprung up. The highway that cuts through the island will be completed in a few months which will reduce our driving time by 50%.

An air taxi service has started to the highlands and down south and J who tried it for the first time said it was definitely worth it. He flew from Colombo to Dickwella lake which would normally take 5 hours on the road but only took 45 minutes.

Here are his photos.




J was the only guy on the flight and when he tried to sit in the front row, he was told to sit in the middle of the plane to even the weight distribution. Hmmmm. The plane is only little, and will take no more than 15 passengers at any go.



Here's the plane approaching Tangalle and it landed about 5 minutes after he took this pic.

We spent the first couple of nights at a house nearby called Kurumba and it was very sweet. We had a Srilankan mother and daughter team who made delicious meals and made our stay very comfortable.






We spent most of our time at the site, surveying the work and talking to the contractors. T and J had plenty of questions while I took Z around for a stroll.



I don't have the photo but there was a local farmer who brought his herd of water buffalos to graze on the land every Monday. Quite wonderful.

Anyway, the brick walls are only 30% done and we are another 6 months away from completion which is much longer than we anticipated. Still, we are hoping it will be done before Christmas. Fingers crossed.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

For a smile

I saw this today on Design Fetish and need to repost it. Made me smile.



The originals came from a blog called Little Things and was created just for that purpose. Nice eh?