twas the night before Christmas...

.. and all through the house, not a creature was stirring.... except for my husband and I who are still up wrapping presents. Next year I will start wrapping in November!

Wishing you much love and happiness this Christmas. See you in the New Year.

new love...

We really should have been finishing off our Christmas shopping but, as so often happens when we are all back together, we had a burst of creative inspiration and developed a new range! A variation on our 3d blossoms, we think this heart design is perfect for Valentine's Day or for a wedding or engagement gift. We will be creating these in different colours including white.

a wonderful wedding...

We were so thrilled yesterday to attend the wedding of our son (Sue) and brother (Clare and Joy) to the very beautiful Briohny. The bride looked stunning in her ruffled dress, the groom scrubbed up very well indeed, and we all got a bit teary as they declared their love for each other. The reception was held at the Powerhouse, New Farm - a converted power station that is now a hub for all things creative. The industrial feel, complete with graffiti, contrasted beautifully with the crisp white linen. At intervals along the three long tables were chunky pieces of wood on which groups of collected bottles of various sizes displayed beautiful flowers. More flowers decorated the simple tiered cake which had 'ruffled' icing, echoing the bride's dress. The view of the Brisbane river through the huge windows just got better and better, as the sun set on a wonderfully happy day.

chocolate biscuit puds...

Here is a quick idea we borrowed from a friend for when you need to take a plate of food to a Christmas function, school break up or just for a little gift and don't want to spend all evening in the kitchen. These cute little puddings are made from chocolate marshmallow biscuits (here in Australia they are called Royals), drizzled with melted white chocolate and garnished with a jaffa and some cut up green lollies (spearmint leaves, green snakes etc). We guarantee they will not last long!

a tree with velvet bows...

In the past our Christmas tree has been quite traditional with red, white and silver decorations. I then continued the theme by changing the cushion covers on our chairs and couches to red and white ones. This year I decided to do the opposite, and have decorated the tree around our existing decor - colourful cushions and framed butterfly artworks.

I purchased several metres of velvet ribbon in the various colours from my cushions and art to make bows for the tree, and bought a few extra baubles to add to some I had stashed away.

Other decorations on the tree include some fabric candy canes I made a few years ago and hearts made from one of my favourite Japanese fabrics - all very child friendly!

The garland across the mirror is one I made from cupcake cases last year.

My absolutely favourite thing about decorating our new (rental) home is the mantle pieces. Finally I have a proper place to hang the stockings. Our linen ones are from The Swedish shop in Brisbane, which sadly closed down a couple of years ago.

Clare gave me these pretty tea light houses for my birthday earlier in the year - they look so pretty all lit up on the hall table.

Christmas markets this weekend...

With all the rain chased away from Brisbane for the moment, tonight's twilight market at Portside Wharf should be a great spot to get a little festive With roving entertainment, live acts, and secret santa giveaways there will be lots to see, and you can get on top of that Christmas shopping, with stalls full of of unique and handmade gifts, decorations and yummies! And if you can't make it tonight, there is also the Christmas market on Sunday, also at Portside.

We will have a stall at both, with lots of new artworks, cards and tags, so please come along and say Hello!

pretty pink...

We always get very excited when we are commissioned to make one of our 3d blossom artworks in a new colour. This pretty dusky pink was a special order for the nursery of a new little baby girl, and we love the way it turned out.

115 days until Christmas...

I can clearly remember the excitement of counting down the days until Christmas, which is why we have 5 advent calendars in our house this year. You see, I was feeling sorry for my children as when you are one of six kids, your turn of opening that day's window doesn't come round very often. And in past years it has driven me crazy trying to remember whose turn it was! So, we have five different ways of counting down until the 25th December, and the idea is that the children (excluding little Tilly, who at 13 months is still not too bothered) rotate through all the advent calendars. Yes, there is a spreadsheet to keep things running smoothly!

Love these little stockings I bought years ago from Sia. I keep meaning to pop numbers on them, but the children work it out anyway. Inside is a little note hinting at the location of a little treat - easier than trying to stuff 5 lollies in such tiny stockings.

A very visual calendar that my daughter made in her Prep class. The idea is to cut off one of the paper chain links each day.

Various old bottles, decorated with brown paper and odd bits of ribbon, and numbered. As each day is counted off the kids have to pop that number bottle back in the cupboard. They look really pretty all lined up.

A new little bird is placed on it's perch outside the bird house each day. This one looks much more gorgeous later in the month when you can more of the different varieties of bird..

And lastly a classic paper advent calendar from Phoenix Trading with a beautifully drawn Nativity Scene.

How are you counting the days until Christmas?