A better end to the week & a Proximidade Award!

Well after a pretty rough start to the week, can I say that it ended on a much lovelier note :)Firstly a huge THANKS to LittleDiva for nominating us for a Proximidade Award.
It works like this:

These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!
The rules are: This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.
So now it is our turn to hand out the award. For creating interesting, funny and addictive blogs, we nominate:
13Mimosa

Never Enough Hours

Little Mary Moos Place

Miffys World

Bakerella

Kids Style File

Nest Studio
Just Needs Salt

Secondly Em and I attended the very first Brisbane Brown Owls meet up on Sunday and had a really lovely morning.

I brought along some morning tea (really just an excuse to spend some 'kid free' time in the kitchen and make use of my cupcake courier) and even had fun experimenting making some little owl cupcakes, which was great fun.

Alot of us made some cute little owl brooches from a kit made up by Abbey...and I even go the time to finish some toys that I had started for the toy society drive for the kids affected by the Victorian bush fires.Coming home from such a great morning, I was all inspried to do a bit more baking and being my mum's last night of her visit with us I made a yummy Bacon, Tomato and Asparagus Tart for dinner and also a couple of jars of homemade pesto as the Basil we have in the garden has got a bit wild lately.

I even had the time to sit down to make my little one a brooch of his very own as he keep wanting to wear the EmBelISH owl one I had worn for the day (boys can wear brooches cant they?) Hope this week is just as good :)

Bel x

Shadow Shot Sunday #26

Hi everyone,

Well its that time of the week again, Shadow Shot Sunday! Yayyyyy

My Shot this week is of what we call a "leaf hopper" he was quite happily sitting in the sun on our front verandah. I love these bugs because truly they look like leaves! You have to be careful because they have a bit of a bite on them! See other shadow shots here

Bel & I are off to our very first Brown Owls meetup today too which is pretty exciting too, can't wait to meet all the other like minded crafty owls in the Brisbane area!

Have a great weekend everyone, and enjoy your week.

Look out next week for a giveaway on our blog, we have almost reached our 100th post, how exciting!

xEm

Happier Days...

Well I've had a bit of a stressful week, so it was nice to get back to doing a few things I love this week...

I finally took the cover of my sewing machine (its been ages) and made this little doggy softie to send down to the Victorian Bush fire Appeal (he's not finished yet, but the hand sewing bit is the bit I dislike the most)

Meet me at Mike's is organising a Handmade Help Appeal for the victims of the Victorian Bush fires. There is also a collection being made by The Toy Society for Handmade Softies to be sent down to bring some cheer to the kids who have lost everything.

I also got to do some baking this week and whipped up this yummy Nectarine Upside Cake which, Em, I and the boys all enjoyed for morning tea today :)

If you would like the recipe go here it was super easy :)

Here's to lots more happier days in 2009!

Cheers, Bel x

Shadow Shot Sunday #25

Hi All,

Well I have to admit I am cheating this week as I didint actually take this picture but a good friend of ours Kate did.

I just love the way the little robot is hiding behind the curtain ;)

Dont forget to check out the other great Shadows at Hey Harriets

Hope you all had nice valentines day with your loved ones

Bel x

Love, Love, Love

Well with Valentine's day approaching this weekend (not that my hubby and I make a big deal about it, although we actually got engaged on Valentines Day many years ago) and not having done one for a while I thought I should get organised and share the four favourite ETSY finds I am loving this week...
1. Tu-Whit Reversible Handbag by Beckybean

2. Scrabble Tile Pendant (Russian Doll) by Upinanniesroom

3. Kokeshi Gathering TtV Photo by HeyHarriet

4. PDF knit Owl pattern by Amygaines (one day I will learn how to knit)

Also don't forget there is still time to enter the BrisStyle Blog Giveaway, just visit here and leave a comment

Cheers, Bel xx

Saxon turns 2!

Well it was a very busy weekend for us as our little man turned 2 on Monday and we had a party at home on Sunday afternoon :)

He got lots of cool pressies (Dinosaurs and Robots are a favourite at the moment)

as well as this very cool hat from Aunty Kate (Anouk & Oscars mum)


I was a bit worried there was going to be trouble as the weather had been so hot I was having trouble icing the cake the night before but it all turned out great, and the green 'spots' were a favourite among all the kids

I think Sax's favorite part was singing Happy Birthday (he had been practicing all week) and when everyone gathered around but hadn't started singing yet he was more than happy to start them off :)

Also on a sadder note, please think about all the families suffering from the bush fires in Victoria at the moment. If you have something handmade you would like to donate please go to the Meet me at Mikes Blog or the bug and pop blog for more information on how you can donate goods. You can also donate much need money through the Red Cross Website

Also I know I was super slack this week and didn't do an SSS even though it was my turn (sorry Em) but don't forget to go and check out all the other pics at Hey Harriet's and promise I will contribute next week :)

Cheers, Bel x

BrisStyle Giveaway

Wow! What a year 2009 is turning out to be and to get the ball rolling BrisStyle is hosting its very first giveaway for the year (due to be a monthly event) so make sure you go and check out the BrisStyle Blog for your chance to win this beautiful little Lavender Scented Bird from Edward and Lilly.Talking of Giveaways also make sure you and go check out Ali's blog Charlie and Grace as she is giving away one of her beautiful softies :)

The BrisStyle Committee had its first meet up on the weekend and apart from lots of chatting & eating at the Pando Cafe in Brissy. We also had a lovely surprise from Tracey from Hey Harriet who was unable to make the meeting but left us all a lovely little gift. This beautiful 'Peace' fridge magnet, made using a roll of old piano paper. If you are in the area make sure you pop in to the cafe and check out Tracey's art work or go on line and visit her ETSY store to see some of her amazing photographs.

With all the excitement we still did manage to nut out some great ideas to make BrisStyle bigger and better in 2009. So make you stay tuned for lots of exciting updates and also the dates for our 2009 markets...

Also I just had to share this pic with you, whilst out in the backyard today playing with our dogs our little man went a bit quite. When I went to investigate, this is what I found, going swimming was obviously more fun than running around on the grass...

Take care all, and have a happy week

Bel xx

Shadow Shot Sunday #24

Happy Sunday everyone!!

This weeks shadow shot is another one that I took when we were in Tasmania,

Lucas got a new pair of gumboots and thought it was quite cool running around in them...

I love this photo, he was really skipping about.

Have a great week everyone, try not to melt if you are in the more southern states of Australia, and pls be careful those of you up north near the cyclones

xx Em