Tuesday, March 23, 2010

nowhere close to being too cool for school

Much excitement around the tranquil townhouse... not that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (aka the truly horrible cat) seemed to care much. She just carried on whining to be fed as usual, not sensing my exhilaration one little bit.
Oh yes she looks harmless here, but you don't live with her! Just ask my friends who she's taken a swipe at...they'll tell you.
You see, yesterday I picked up the phone, gave over my credit card details and signed up to do a Certificate IV in Design at the International School of Colour and Design. 
The school's in Sydney and alas I'm not, so I'll be doing it by distance...and there is that little matter of my real job to worry about, so heading off to Sydney is not an option (and I doubt the first born would want to put me up on the couch for that long!)
But distance learning is how I did my Masters so I know it can work...just need to be disciplined Kerry...you can do it...remember your Army training.
image from here
OK, maybe not that...it brings me out in a very nasty rash!
The materials should arrive in a few weeks and I can't wait.
But to tide me over, I did this great little quiz thingy they have on their website...it tells you what your decorating style is...and my oh my...it was accurate in my case.
Here's my result...
...and here is what it tells me a magazine cover designed by me would look like...not so sure about that one

It's such a cool thing to play with...go on, have a go...you know you want to!
first image by me; second from google; others from the ISCD website

Monday, March 22, 2010

secrets of domestic bliss giveaway

Ashlina from Secrets of Domestic Bliss was the first person I didn't know to follow my blog...she is such a generous blogger...and for that reason alone...as well as the fact this gives me an extra entry in her giveaway (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)...there's not much I wouldn't do for that girl!
Remember Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? You couldn't get me away from the TV when that was on. Australians took to it like we take to a cold beer on a hot day...really easily!
She has a fabulous prize on offer...a copy of Thom Filicia's book Style...a signed copy, thank you very muchly!
Here she is with Thom...what a really nice pic that is...
image by secrets of domestic bliss

So...off you go now...over to her blog and give it a go.
I've promised to pay the postage if I win!!

my weekend project ~ Simone's fairy light inspiration

It started like this...I saw Simone's Beach Vintage post about making skirts for the fairy lights for her lucky daughter's bedroom...here they are...v.pretty
pic from Beach Vintage
...and I thought, there's an idea (must 
stop doing that...I'm sure it's just a way to procrastinate even further about finishing painting the pergola!)...anyway, just what I need to jazz up my fairy light basket 'lamp' I said to myself (no-one else being around). Here it is unplugged...a bit of a shamozzle I'm sure you'd agree!
And here it is lit up...quite pretty in a thrown together, diy, budget light fixture kind of way.

But (there's almost always a 'but' isn't there) I was worried about how naked it looked during the day and concerned for its modesty (ok, not really...I'm not quite that mad)
So I thought I would take Simone's idea and give my fairy lights some of their own little tu-tu's. But I wasn't content with white...my living room is kind of colourful, so I made some out of red, purple, and yellow...as well as white.
Over the top? Me? Course not.
It took quite a bit longer than I thought! Here they are unlit...

I'm not 100% sure about them like this to be honest...I don't think they look anywhere near as good as Simone's...perhaps because of the plain edges...perhaps because tulle twirling is not a skill I've mastered...perhaps because it wasn't a good idea to start with! But here is my 'lamp' lit up at night. And that, I do quite like.

What do you think?  Should I leave my lights to their multi-coloured madness or should I just forget about it altogether and pack it away in a cupboard!?!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

warning ~ there is kitsch in this post!

Yesterday, I blogged about a beautiful house in West Sussex in the UK. One of the things I loved in that house was this...
I thought that parrot was so fabulous...and it is...I love it to bits and I would really like to own it, but alas I don't!
Now lovely people, I spend a lot of time at the desk in my study

(note to self, get better lighting or a better camera and paint those walls white...but which white??)...where was I? Oh yes, I'm here either working on my real work when I can manage to work from home, or blogging, or devouring other people's blogs (which I'm afraid to say is bordering on the obsessive!)...so when I saw these babies in the Canberra Centre's version of the two dollar shop yesterday...I'm sorry...they had to come home with me.
So call the design police (although I'd rather you called a lighting specialist)...I don't care. I love them, and you know what...they make me smile...and when you're working, what could be better than that!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

gorgeous houses ~ west sussex

Could I just say, that in my next life, I'm putting up my hand to be born in the northern hemisphere. Lest I be struck down by some antipodean curse or something-or-other, it's not that I don't love being Australian...I do, oh yes I do. But we're so far away! I lived in the UK for a while, but 18 months (living in an Army married quarter I might add...not that I wasn't grateful) was just not long enough!  And while I'm wishing...in that next life...this house will do me just fine, thank you very much!
Sigh...I seem to spend a great deal of my time in blogland sighing!
images from here

Friday, March 19, 2010

thxthxthx to the first born

Thank you to my lovely daughter for pointing me in the direction of Leah Dieterich's amazing website. Leah posts a thank you note every day to an extraordinary array of things, people, concepts...you name it she's got a really clever thank you for it. Leah has made me smile every day since the first born sent me the link. Thx Leah! Here's today's...


soul food friday ~ an angel


soul food friday without words this week, except one...sublime
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