christchurch

My thoughts have been with those in Christchurch for the past six days and all that they have been going through. Watching the images on the news every night has been heartbreaking, and with the death toll currently at 148 confirmed deaths and the vast amount of damage left behind it is hard to fathom how the city will be able to get back on its feet. However seeing the resilience and strength of the quake survivors and witnessing the way the New Zealanders throughout the country have pulled in to offer help and support in innumerable ways has been amazing and touching and makes me proud to be living in this country.

Image by Shazster found on flickr.

live simply

I'm inspired by this pretty illustration by dazeychic on etsy. Seems apt as I am trying to keep that sentiment at the forefront of my mind this year as it is turning out to be rather an expensive one for us...what with purchasing flights to the other side of the world, and a new family member on the way amongst other things. Things like our car costing us a staggering amount in the last couple of weeks due to everything on it/in it needing replacing at once. Bleurgh.

But after all it's true that some of the best things in life are the small things or even the free things. Who needs a new pair of shoes or a meal out in a fancy restaurant when you have the amazing smell of baking biscuits wafting from your oven, right! Or a vase of freshly picked flowers, or curling up in a corner with a good book, the perfect cup of coffee to start the day, or a tasty simple meal cooked with fresh ingredients or a long soak in a bath of fragrant oils. (One thing I am so looking forward to when I return for my sojourn in the UK- our apartment here in Auckland only has a shower!) I know it's all a bit twee but I am seeking comfort in all the small things right now and finding that its actually pretty good for the soul.

P.S... But if we were by any small chance to win the lottery- which is unlikely to happen seeing as we don't even play it, I'm not saying there wouldn't be a massive spending spree on the cards too :)

Other cute artwork from dazeychic that caught my eye...

my sister's wedding

My little sister is getting married in June and here is a peek at her beautiful wedding invitations. She designed and made all by herself. Pretty impressive right?! Her wedding has a vintage, travel theme and I think they capture this mood perfectly. She is British, her fiancee is from New Zealand, they live in Australia together and the wedding is taking place in England so this is where the travel aspect comes in. For the Save the Dates, pictured above, she went with a simple but striking luggage tag inspired design.

She sourced all the beautiful vintage stamps for the invitation envelopes from an antiques market in Melbourne and to create the invitations she went through our late Grandmothers postcard collection and also postcards from her fiancees ancestors to select a range that represented their respective home regions and countries. She scanned in the five chosen images and then designed the layout of the information to go on the back of each postcard- e.g. one is the actual invitation, one is the RSVP card, one is a map, another is a little story of how they met.

The back of the envelopes are embellished with a stamp she designed and had made up which is a combination of their first name initials. Nice finishing touch! I'm so proud of her efforts and to happy to be involved in the wedding which is going to be visually stunning if these are any indication. I have more images of some beautiful props she has sourced for the day which I'll share in another post soon.

buying at mini boden

You have to admit that even if you wouldn't necessarily buy your own clothes from Boden, they do make some pretty darn cute clothes for kids. Right now the bright colours, bold prints and that quintessential Englishness of them are really appealing to me. It can be tricky to find covetable childrens clothes here in New Zealand and that coupled with the fact that Lila has spent the past few months of Summer here mainly racing around naked or in her swimming costume has led to a realisation that the poor child is definitely in need of a few new threads. Especially as we will be heading back to the UK for a couple of months in April and the temperature there will definitely require that she is clothed!



Let's be honest, dressing your child is one of the more fun apects of parenting which offsets the more trying times- right now tantrums and potty training, and I know it won't be long until she insists on choosing her own outfits and who knows what we will be in for then! So I got myself over to the Boden website and spent a happy hour choosing and ordering her the items pictured above which will be ready and waiting for us at my parents place when we land in England. The jeans, boots and cardigan were all in the sale so great bargains, and will be also be perfect for setting her up for winter when we get back to NZ.

Loving the Parisian chic of the little striped tops and I am seriously considering the blue and yellow spotted dress for her Christening, which will also be taking place when we are back in the homeland. Considering she will be almost three, and not exactly a babe in arms, I thought that it might be acceptable to steer away from the traditional white.



And I also spotted these little numbers for the newest member who will soon be joining the family...haven't bought them yet but sorely tempted.

thoughts of home

The green fields and red bricks will always be home to me. The fact I am returning in 9 weeks is a great feeling. Big thanks to my sister and her wedding for giving me a chance to come back for a while!

My thoughts are of home and what it means as I just finished reading a book I really enjoyed, particularly this extract below.

"David will return to Mosel years later, with his wife and children. I will show them the estate, and then he and I will walk the grounds at dusk and he will ask me why I never left. Home is the place where you've felt the most, I will tell him. And that can be any place. Or anyone. It doesn't matter how long you lived there. It's what you'll always want to come back to."

Excerpt from The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys.

I love to travel and have lived in, experienced and enjoyed my fair share of places but this is always the one I look forward to returning to. Wherever I am, this is still always what I mean when I refer to home. Some of my happiest times and best memories have been created here. The only downside is that while I am here I will have to spend many days away from he who is my other home until he comes to join us for the wedding and the arrival of the new little one.

But I always carry both my homes in my heart, wherever they or I may be.

stationery heaven

If as I do, you have a borderline obsession with stationery then your heart is going to start beating very, very fast as soon as you click on over to the Olive Manna online store. Seriously, there are no words. The product photography is stunning and each and every thing in this shop is beautiful and amazing and I need it all. Curt, if you are reading....Valentine's Day... hint, hint!

Found via Renne Anne

interior inspiration

Loving these images I found on the website of a Swedish interiors magazine, Skona Hem. Unfortunately due to the language barrier, I can't share much information other than it is the home of a photographer and a stylist called and Andreas and Amelia. The clean white walls are a perfect backdrop for all the eclectic decorative details. The grouping of the pictures, antlers and other gorgeous objects on the wall below is perfect. I would move in here in a heartbeat!