My beauty routine with Jewell

Tonight I gave myself a much needed mini facial with the Jewell products I love so much. I started with the cleanser, then compressed my face with a washer soaked with a few drops of pure lavender oil in warm water. I then used the facial scrub and mask. I finished off with the toner, moisturiser and eye balm. Yes, I didn't leave anything out! My skin felt so nicely cleansed and soft. While I was applying the mask with the brush, my 4yr old son came into the bathroom. He said 'Mum, what are you doing that for?'. I said, 'well, when you are my age (ok, I agree that makes me sound old), you need to look after your skin and make sure its nicely cleansed'. To which he replied, 'but I'm not old and I am not a girl'. He really had taken the 'YOU' literally... I had to laugh, kids say the funniest things...

Master Chefs!

I had the pleasure of my cousin visiting for a few nights this week. We were talking about how talented the last few contenders of master chef are. So, over a few champaynes we decided to do some master chef cooking of our own. I have never quite mastered the art of getting the timing right between the meat and vegies in a roast. I have been wanting to try a receipe of a roast beef which was cooked in an oven bag with a marinade over it. So, we got that prepared and in the oven just fine. When it came to the vegies, we debated over how long they needed to go into the oven for. So, to make the whole process quicker, we cut the vegies into medium style cubes, mixed them with fresh rosemary and popped them into the oven. Mmm, if we were being judged on the overall result, it would have been 10 points for the roast and 1 point for the vegies. I reckon we were about 45mins out regarding allowing enough cooking time! Agh.. We ended up eating them pretty much raw. (The rosemary smelt good though, another half a point for that?!). Anyone got some good tips on how to get the vegies to cook? Practise makes perfect... Bring on the next visitor...

Talent

My beautiful friend recently posted these photos to me, which I adore, and will be blowing up to wall hanging size. Such talent.....

T-shirts

After nights of sitting up embroidering my goods by hand I am pleased to say I have or had should I say a small range of t-shirts based around my "bird" theme, with a small range of sizes. Unfortunately now I am down to only size 12 as my beautiful children took to some of the shirts with scissors. Oh well, a couple of friends have benefited from this misfortune, as while the shirts are not to my standard to sell, they are still wearable, with only the sleeves missing.

My fault though, who leaves their work out with young kids who like to snip and paste? This idiot. In the end I am still happy with the designs and I like to be generous with my friends so I am happy the shirts will still see the light of day.

This is not the first time this has happened to me though. Years ago when we went through the "21St's" party stage I was making my outfits as the parties came up. I worked all night on a lovely shirt and only had to put in the zip the next day after work in order to make it to the party on time. My lovely (and extremely good sewer) mother offered to help by putting in the zip. I reiterated several times that she needed to sew off the base of the zip so the zipper foot didn't come off all together making the shirt a throw-away disaster. Yes, Yes, Yes I heard. But - you guessed it, she didn't do it....... Needless to say the inevitable happened and I went out to a flash party in my nice new pants and .... a plan white t-shirt.

Perfect Winter Day

What a glorious day it was in sunny Brisvegas today. Cool enough to wear a cardi (one of my great loves) but still lovely and sunny. My day was spent fishing believe it or not and sitting in the sunshine eating fish and chips.

Although I don't love "killing" fish I do find fishing relaxing and quite therapeutic. I think it is more the water rather then the fishing, but me being me I have to actually be doing "something" to feel it is okay for me to relax. I am not one to just sit and contemplate, although I wish I could.

It was a fun day nevertheless and apart from G's pants falling down regularly (she is nearly 5 and still can't keep a size 3 pair of jeans up) we have no incidents. I did want to use today to debut my newest T-shirt design, but though better of it with the mud and whatnot. Although it probably wouldn't have matter as I have decided I now don't LOVE it, and to make and sell you must LOVE. It is cute, but looks messy and not the standard I would sell to the public, although let me tell you it did take some time - not that you could see that!! I opted for a very square shape with embroidery the same colour as the material. All that has eventuated is an out of shape square, with embroidery you can't see. Oh well. I would love your comments, but I can't even bring myself to put a photo of it upl!!!!!

Lanolips - New Lip Gloss

Do you remember Gemma from the first Australian Big Brother? She was known as the Lip Gloss Queen as she spent most of her time applying Lip Gloss. Well, I must admit, I am starting to think I am not far behind her obsession, I don't feel 'complete' without it on! ha.
Just like all women these days, our mornings are very busy - I have a million little things to do before rushing out the door to run errands, kinder drop etc. So, I have found myself the simplest beauty routine imaginable. Tinted moisturiser, mascara and last but not least - Lip Gloss! "Lanolips' Lip Gloss was released into stores a few weeks ago. It is made from Lanolin, a natural oil produced from sheep. It has been used in a number of products over the years for its healing and soothing properties. Check it out, its in priceline and department stores. There are a number of colours available such as Rose, Dark Honey, Sunshine and Apples (I picked that one!). Till next time... sweet lips.

Art work for Children

If you are a regular follower of our blog you will know that I am on the move. I find out today whether I am the proud owner of a new house. Fingers crossed. The possibility of not getting the OK on the house aside, I am getting very excited about decorating. The first thing I am going to do is decorate my children's bedrooms. Living in rentals for the past three years our kids have not had a room that we have made to be quintessentially "theirs".

My daughter being nearly 5 has first dibs as my son couldn't really care less about his room. I have always loved to see art hanging on walls, but keeping in mind that I now have a mortgage to pay, I am DIYing it. This is the first of many wall hangings I have made for my house, and will be making for Shimi. I love beautiful fabric and embroidery, so it is a match made in heaven. Look out for more in the coming months at www.shimi.com.au

Card Holders

I have just come across these great card holders. Very unique, and feminine, I love them. Nice to have something a bit different then the silver cases we normally see, although probably not quite as sturdy, but I think we normally take beauty of practicality.

Kitchen Fever

I think I must have Kitchen Fever, and no, that doesn't mean I am whipping up delicious goodies. I am just currently obsessed with kitchen wear. I have finally discovered (taken me a while) that it is the little things that really make a house - and the kitchen is the perfect place for those little things. I like my kitchen to be totally free from clutter - doesn't mean it is, I would just like it to be that way. My ideal kitchen is clean benches, clear fridge (I am not one for vouchers and bills to be pinned to the front of fridges) with maybe a nice bowl with fresh fruit in it and that is about it.

However I have come across these cute t-towels. Of course I don't think you would want to wipe your dishes with them, but they look great. But they are linen so if you did want to use them for practical purposes the would absorb beautifully, although for $49 I wouldn't be going near a dish with them. Available from http://www.nicolacerini.com/products/t_towels

Bring back the egg and spoon race!

On the weekend, we went to a children's party which reminded me so much of the 'good old days'. There wasn't a Macdonalds burger in site. We were in a fantastic park where games were held such as the egg and spoon race, 3 legged, sack etc.. The kids were loving it! I said to a friend recently that kids parties can be really stressful to organise. Does any other parent think that? What happened to just being able to invite one or two best mates over, singing happy birthday and eating cake. Now its jumping castles, clowns, face painting etc. I also acknowledge though, that we get so many invites to birthday parties, that it would be unfair to invite just one or two! We need to return the favour to a whole stack of kids! ha.. Its all good fun.. Just interesting to see how times (and expectations) have changed! I'm not complaining (I promise), we are very very lucky to have so many wonderful friends!