Mail & Swaps!

Incoming...

A package from Laura including English Bubblegum and some yummy receipes that I need to make. Trying to decide what to send back...

My happy mail package from Amanda, I love the personalised stationery she made me.

A postcard from Portugal

This wonderful letter and package from Gracie, it made my day. Her letter was so enjoyable and the stationery she included beautiful, i cant wait to write back.

Outgoing...

My happymail package to Amanda, I sent her the button bracelet i made.

To Tiffany

To Melody

There are soooo many great swaps at the moment, why dont you check them out and join one? I am resisting the urge to sign up to all of them my bank account would not be happy but my mailbox would be.

Tiffanys Mixed CD Swap

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Closes: April 12th 2010

Adventure's in love and happiness: Brown paper package swap

Closes: 1st April 2010

Rice Babies: love vintage package exchange

Closes: April 16th 2010

Pipalachics Accessery swap

Closes: 11th April 2010

Thanks to everyone who has been linking up their stationery package, I am really enjoying seeing what everyone has sent! Has everyone sent out their packages? Any problems please email me.
I am really resisting the urge to got opshopping today instead of working on my essays.....

You could always paint the roses red

On Friday night I finally headed down the rabbit hole and saw Alice in Wonderland. I didnt go with high expectations as alot of the reviews friends had given me didnt exactly rave about the movie and I am usually not a fan of Tim Burton. Overall though I really enjoyed the movie, if nothing more it reminded me of my younger more carefree days where I could watch Alice in Wonderland as many times in a day as I liked. Highlights for me were Mia Wasikowska as Alice - go Canberra girls! Then the Cheshire cat and Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. Now I am a bit scared to say this but I actually didnt love Johnny Depp as the mad hatter. Usually i LOVE him regardless of the character but I just dont feel this was his best work, maybe it was just too hyped up? What did you think of the movie?

Saturday afternoon I headed to my friends house and we sat out in the sun (that is nowhere to be seen today) and drank wine, ate cheese and dip and listened to old ninties music. The most fun I have had in ages, until I realised that I had locked my keys in the house. I called a locksmith which was going to be $180 why I didnt become a locksmith I am not sure! So I decided to climb the backwall to see if I could get in through the back. I managed to get to the top of the wall, lost my footing and slided down again, losing the top of my second toe, bruised the whole right side of my thigh, my stomach is purple and it hurts too laugh not to mention my elbows. Yes, I know woe is me! I ended up waiting 5 hours till Brendan got home. Now I can laugh about it but at the time it was extremely frustrating.

Sunday was one of those fantastic lazy days where we slept in got up and cleaned the house (is there anything better than a clean house?) and than Brendan went off to cricket and I went to the handmade markets. I didnt end up buying anything which was disappointing as I had saved some money to spend so instead I might get some stuff off etsy that i have been eyeing. Finally last night we went to the easter egg raffle at the local club. I didnt win anything but my friend won a hamper of easter eggs so all in all it was worth it.

How was your weekend? What did you get up too?

By the way check out Pip's Accessory swap, I am so excited for this one!

Flashback

Want to have a fun afternoon? Grab some great friends, good wine and play these tunes.

Celine Dion - When you touch me like this

5ive - When the lights go out

Faith Hill - This Kiss

Men at work - Aint nothin going to break my stride

The Corrs - Breathless

Enrique Iglesis - Escape

Ricky Martin - The Cup of Life

Bwitched - C'est Lae Vie

Backstreet Boys - Backstreets Back

Chyna Phillips - I live for you

Nothing better than some good old ninties music to brighten the soul.

What are your favourite ninties song?

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Blogging around the world: Australia Part Two

Blogging around the world

Australia: Part Two

Fellow Canberra Bloggers

- Canberra's got style: Ninaribena always keeps her readers up to date with whats happening in Canberra and what local designers are producing. She has a gorgeous etsy store and I am looking forward to seeing her work at the handmade markets on Sunday!

- Velveteen Loves: this girl has serious style. I lust over some of the pieces in her outfit posts and often live vicariously through her gorgeous purchases.

-Always Chasing: gorgeous fashion posts and updates on the latest happenings in the designer/fashion world.

- Lady Smaggle: this girls posts make me laugh till my sides hurt. Check out her Lady's loves and loathes posts as well as Can I get a consensus? I honestly look forward to reading them each week.

Design and Craft
- The Lark: this blog is a refelction not only on the owners life but the store she runs in the country town of Daylesford. Always featuring gorgeous new designers, the shop is fortunately online as well.

- The Likkle girl who wurves pwetty things: this is one of the first blogs I ever read. I love reading about the designers adventures and mishaps as well as her cooking posts, I am honestly left in a pool of my own drool (gross i know) after reading them. Her products are all available here.

- Much Love: Anna's blog is as beautiful as I think a blog can possibly be. I love her fashion posts and her Much Love Monday project. She also has a great etsy store, where i buy alot of my postcards.

- Meet me at Mikes: I am pretty sure this blog needs no introduction! Havent heard of it? Quick check it out for lots of craft goodness.

Media
- Girl with a satchel - when I was younger I really, really wanted to be a magazine editor hence my unused journalism degree. Even though that dream fizzled I love reading Erica's blog on all thats happening in the mag industry.

Life
Under Lock and Key: this is another one of the first blogs that I followed. It is a whimsical blog showcasing gorgeous fashion and design pieces as well as updates in Trishie's own life adventures.

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive of this project and all the wonderful comments you left and sharing your own blogs that I have happily been visiting. Next week were off to the UK and Europe...

There's a bear in there

So today I woke up to 100 followers! Whilst I dont think that the worth of a blog should be based on the number of followers it has I do want to say thankyou to everyone for supporting my little old blog. Reading your comments honestly brightens up my day. I never thought when I started this blog I would make so many wonderful friends and I am so happy that I have, so thankyou once again. Hopefully there will be a giveaway soon!
Also another reason to celebrate today is because I paid off my credit card! I always feel such a sense of relief when I get out of debt again.
I missed out on Two things Tuesday yesterday but am still going to do it now because I love it.....

This receipe book that my mum gave me. I am hoping to fill it with delicious receipes that I can than give to my children. When I first saw it I asked Brendan to buy it for me but he said that he would never spend $40 on a receipe book with no receipes in it, luckily mum was easier to persuade.

The second object is my letter holder, where i keep all the letters that I need to reply to.

Also I have been given some wonderful blog awards...

From the lovely Gracie of Gracie Bella Butterfly

Rules: Post on blog - Link to the other bloggers within your post. - Let them know you have shared this award with them by commenting on their blogs -Share the Love by linking to the person from whom you received this Sweetalicious Blog Award.

So I am sending this out to: Jenni, Micaela, Tiffany and Jennifer.

I also received this award from Jennifer

I pass this one on to: Rhianne, Meghan and Iris.

Oh I also saw this photo awhile ago and now I cant find the link but this is definately my justification for the current messy state of my household...

(If you know where this comes from let me know and I will link it)

Postman pat and his black and white cat

I havent done a mailbag for awhile and I have to admit I havent got much outgoing as I have been busy with uni but I will hopefully catch up soon.

Outgoing...
Postcards for postcrossing.

I love the Melbourne trams one.

More Canberra snaps (sorry for the poor quality i will go back to scanning next week)

To MaryGrace my penpal from the penpal project.

To Amanda my happymail partner.

Incoming...

Vintage postcard from China

Another Audrey postcard, i have three now and i love them all.

From the gorgeous Micaela from her time at home in Texas, i was so excited to receive this. Micaela has a great mail post up today as well.

This one cracks me up, its from a postcrosser in Austria and apparently lots of people go there expecting to see kangaroos.

A letter from Passion.

And finally a really dorky photo of me with all my mail...

Like my bow? I bought it today... I know I have a shopping problem, but in my defence it was only $3 and I had a giftcard.

My address stickers that I ordered from etsy arrived today. I am so happy with them, if you want some too click here

Oh and I have twitter now, something I never thought I would get but hey whats one more distraction. Let me know if you have it too so I can follow you!

A little weekend

How has everyone's weekend been?

Mine has been pretty quiet which has been nice after lots of busy weekends. Friday night we went out for dinner with some of Brendans friends to an Irish pub which was nice. It was good to hang out with some new people and I learnt about  improveverywhere. I am probably the only person who hasnt heard of them but I spent the rest of the night on youtube laughing hysterically at some of their projects.

I spent Saturday doing assignments but slipped out to some church markets and bought these vintage earrings. I am keeping one pair, sending one to my sister and putting another towards a possible blog giveaway wink wink.

I woke up this morning and needed some "me time". I shouted myself to breakfast and did some shopping. I bought some buttons and made this bracelet...

I also bought these new boots too, i saw a pair really similar in Myer for $200 and found these in BigW for $36 Yay! So much for putting away the credit card though.

I finally found my camera charger too so will be able to put up proper photos again.

We than had drinks and cheese with our neighbours and caught up with one of our friends who moved to Melbourne. Than Brendan made a delicious pastabake. I am now settling in to watch The Good Wife one of my new favourite tv shows.

I hope everyone has had a wondeful weekend or are making the most of whats left of it!

Blogging around the world

Welcome to my new little project, "blogging around the world". I want to introduce you to some of my favourite blogs and I thought it would be fun to do it by country. This week I am starting in Australia, of course, which will be a two part series and than next I will be moving along to the UK. The categories I have based the blogs in are quite loose and I tried to place them in the best fitting category. I hope you enjoy the blogs featured and maybe find something new and fun to read or make a new friend.

Blogging around the world: Australia Part One

Fashion

A Flair to remember - this is the first fashion blog that I started reading. I absolutely adore the way Nikki manages to mix vintage pieces with on trend clothing. Plus she also does daily inspirational quotes.

Fashion Hayley - Hayley has lived in Japan and draws alot of her inspiration from there. I love her ecclectic dressing and her ability to wear daring outfits. No one can get away with mouse ears like Hayley.

Lady Melbourne - i think this fashionista has won my heart. She has a passion for vintage pieces and manages to find such wonderful pieces at op shops. I love seeing what she wears everyday and how she mixes different pieces of her wardrobe in different ways.

Pip a la chic - Pip is such a gorgeous, fun loving girl and I love to see her fashion posts. She is a dress and skirt girl and always manages to pull together fabulous outfits for the events happening in her life.

Mail Art

Goodnight Little Spoon - of course I had to mention Bianca's wonderful blog. As a fellow letter writer I am constantly in awe of the designs Bianca comes up with and her ability to keep up with so many loyal penpals. I always look forward to reading Bianca's posts and usually leave feeling refreshed and inspired.

Life (a category for blogs that are based on many different interests)

Gracie Bella Butterfly - Gracie was one of my first blogger friends and has a gorgeous blog. Whether she is sharing her musings on life, talking about amazing books she's read or discussing her wedding and honeymoon ideas there is something for everyone to take away from this blog. She also has a really wonderful giveaway on at the moment, so check it out!

Make tea not war - this is a new blog i have just started reading. Jennifer shares all kinds of different things about her life with her readers. From her latest shopping trip to hanging with her boyfriend as well as thoughts on her impending move from Perth to Melbourne and as an added bonus she is also a mail lover too.

Ebony & Ivory - Ebony does great fashion posts and also interviews with other fashion bloggers. She also shares moments with her little family, her boyfriend and cats as well as sharing great shopping finds and books and movies she has seen and recent travels.

Butterfly, cupcakes and Daffodils - Chloe is an art student who shares her work and inspiration through her blog. She also shares little peaks into her lives as well as outfit posts of herself and friends.

Its all make believe isnt it? - Belle writes about her love for fashion, shopping and travelling! Three of my favourite things which makes for delightful reading.

Make sure to come back next week for Part Two! Please feel free to let me know any other great blogs you think I should take a look at, whether it be yours or someone elses, I love reading new blogs.

Two things Tuesday

Today is one of my favourite blogging days as I get to share two things I love around my home and get a sneak peek into other bloggers homes....

My first thing today is an antique jewellery box my mum got me from a sale. Its not actually in my home yet as mum wants to sand it back and restain it but soon enough it should be here.

Secondly is my voodoo knife set that I got for my 21st. It is definately an item in my house that people either love or hate but makes a great talking point.

What are you loving in your home today? Link up at BacWoods Fern.

Small whinge session feel free to skip...
I checked my email this morning and had a message from postcrossing from a very angry postcrosser who decided to have a rant at me about accidently putting the wrong id number on her postcard and what an inconvinence it was for her. Fair enough I made a mistake which I am completely willing to accept but a simple thankyou for the postcard accompanying her rant would have been much appreciated. I thought about giving up on postcrossing as this is the second "unhappy customer" I have encountered. One guy didnt like the postcard I sent which I dont even think is a legitamate concern as thats the whole point of the project to get an unexpected postcard. So at the moment I am wondering why I even bother, has anyone else had these problems with postcrossing? I really love postcrossing so i think i just need to forget about these people and appreciate the lovely thankyous that I do get and the wonderful postcards I receive from all over the world. Thanks for reading if you made it this far, just something that I had to get off my chest.

mail&swap

So today is the 16th of March which is the deadline for you to send out your package for the stationery swap! Please make sure you send out your package as I would hate for anyone to miss out. If your going to be late sending out your package please let me know so i can let your partner know.
This is my package I am sending out to my partner, she doesnt know I have her so I thought it would be ok to post a photo...

What I included: envelopes, stationery, cards, postcards, ribbon, paper, pencil, decorative tape plus some tea.

Once again thanks so much for participating, we had over 40 participants! Dont forget to link up your package here so other people can see what you sent and received.

This weeks mail...
Incoming...

This gorgeous Marilyn Monroe postcard from Lauren. Lauren made them herself from a calendar from last year.

These two letters arrived on the same day which was such a coincidence because they were nearly identical in terms of the stationery and envelope but different colours. The first is from Mary Grace who is my partner from Nicole's Pen Pal Swap. The one at the front is from Emily who is such a delightful character and I love getting her letters.

The top letter is from the Sophie in Melbourne. And the other is from Patty.

 

And this one from the Melody who writes a really fun letter. She always sets the scene before she begins writing which I really enjoy.

Outgoing...

This one is off to Garci in Arizona.

The last of my vintage envelopes going off to Lauren.

This letter is a reply to Emily, however I can not take credit for the cute as a button envelope as it was a gift from Bianca.

Than finally this one is off to Zoe, a new penpal. She has a really great blog too!

Have you received anything fantastic in the mail lately? x

Bookclub

Today was our second bookclub and I am surprised at how well it is going. I have to admit when i first heard about the bookclub i was worried we would only be able to talk about the books for 5 minutes or so but we seem to be managing hour long conversations which is fantastic and the scones and the tea make it even more enjoyable.
This month we read "Mao's Last Dancer" by Li Cunxin and is based on his life from being a poor peasant boy in communist China, to being a world class dancer. This book was a real eye opener for me you hear about poverty and harsh living conditions that people endure but this book descibes that lifestyle in intimate detail from having to share one piece of pork between 8 people to than having to share 2 beds between the 8 of them. It also shows the effect that the chinese government propaganda was having on the people at the time.
I really enjoyed the book it was easy to read and interesting. My only critisicm would be that it was 500 pages which in itself isnt a problem but i definately think there was parts of the book that could have been left out.
Our next book is 'Have a little faith' by Mitch Albom. Has anyone read it?
I just wanted to say thankyou to everyone for your well wishes in the previous post, my friend is doing well and is surrounded by lots of love. And to new followers, a big HELLO, and thanks for joining!

Handmade markets wishlist

On the 28th March the Handmade markets are on in Canberra. They hold the markets every 3 months and i have only been once before. Lots of etsy sellers attend and it is just pure handmade bliss. These are a few of the designers and their products that i will be scouting around for..

Zines from  "Bird in the hand Zine shop"

Golden Book Journal from Born again books

Black Cuff from Sinead Buckney

Necklace from Tango and james

 

Brooch from Begurple

Ipod puches from Posie Patchwork

Even if you cant make it to the markets, check out some of these great sellers internet stores.

In other news i will be away from the blogging world for a few days as I am unfortunately heading interstate to go to a funeral but will be back on Saturday.