Latest Nails

Pink and green geo nail art I'm trying to practice my free-hand skills on my nails. My hand is still a bit shaky, but overall I'm pretty pleased with my latest designs! I used Australis Bombshell and L'oreal Colour Riche Blue Reef for the main colours, and a white Sally Hansen Nail Art pen to draw the designs. I used a few different pictures from my Nails! Pinterest board for inspiration.

Australia Day

Pavlova


Hope you had a lovely Australia Day!

I made a pavlova, listened to Triple J's Hottest 100, ate a yummy BBQ, sorted through paperwork, and cleaned out my fishtank! A great combination of relaxing and doing some things that needed to be done.

This Weekend...

lotus

This weekend I:
I had a great weekend. The perfect mix of quiet time reading and listening to music, socialising with my family and friends, and eating yummy food.

We've been meaning to make Vietnamese style iced coffee for ages, well actually for 6 years, ever since we visited Vietnam and had it nearly every day! Basically, you just mix fresh brewed coffee with lots of ice and sweetened condensed milk. It's really sweet, but lovely as a treat on a hot day.

I finished Elijah's Mermaid, I couldn't put it down until I had discovered all the secrets! I did guess a couple of the twists, but nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

Life of Pi was amazing, I was a little apprehensive about seeing it as I loved the book, but the movie was so visually stunning, I'm really glad they made it!

Did you have a good weekend?

TBR - books I'm reading

TBR Books

I'm working my way through this pile of books.

The Handmade Marketplace  - Kari Chapin
I got this book a few years ago for Christmas. I've read through it so many times, I have parts memorised! But this year is the year that I definitely will put it into practice!

Happier at Home - Gretchen Rubin
I've been reading through this for a few months, a chapter at a time. Although it is interesting, I feel like I am a very different personality type to the author, so many of her ideas don't really apply to me. Her main point, that making small changes in your life, can increase your happiness, is a useful one though.

Elijah's Mermaid - Essie Fox 
I actually finished this last night! I love these kind of Victorian 'sensation' novels, it's my favourite genre at the moment. Elijah's Mermaid had plot twists and turns, gothic themes, and was a fun read. I also love all Essie Fox's notes at the end on her inspirations and research, it's fascinating.
 
The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton I bought this a few moths ago when I saw Kate Morton speak at my local library. She signed this copy for me (Kate Morton, by the way was absolutely lovely and a fantastic speaker) and I've been waiting for the right time to read this. I'm really looking forward to it as I have loved Kate Morton's other books.

Books to Die for  - Edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke
This is a great book to flip through, with essays about great mystery/crime novels.

Find and Keep - Beci Orpin
I got this book for Christmas and love flicking through the pages. I'm not sure whether I would ever do any of the projects, but to be honest, it's rare I do projects out of books anyway! Beci Orpin's style is fun, colourful and cute. Also, STICKERS!

A New Year, A New Start



Saturday afternoon picnic Starting 2013 with a lot of motivation and inspiration! I've spent the past few days scribbling in notebooks, and planning my next big step.

My main goal this year is to start an Etsy business with handmade craft items.

I'm really excited and can't wait to start. I've been thinking about it for over five years, but have finally decided on my products, and now just need to create some samples to test my ideas.

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day here in Sydney, so I went out with a picnic blanket, some notebooks, my new Kikki.K planner and the latest Frankie magazine. One of my favourite ways to spend an afternoon!