{picnics and play dates}

Tomorrow is the start of school holidays, I'll be back in a couple of weeks. xx

Image via The Paris Apartment

{Megan Park}

There was a fabulous feature on Australian designer, Megan Park in a recent issue of Home Beautiful magazine. I went searching to see if anyone around the blogosphere had posted it and I was in luck - that feature (plus more) were on Megan's website!

A little bit of Megan's background: Australian-born, she completed a degree in fashion before moving to London in 1993 to work for a well-respected agency designing textiles. In 1997 she launched her own range of beautiful hand beaded and embroidered accessories that has since grown to include womenswear, girlswear and a home collection. Each item is a collaboration with skilled Indian artists whose skills have been passed down through the generations.

Megan's Melbourne based home, a renovated warehouse that she shares with her partner and twin babies Marley and Ella is not intricately embellished or colour saturated like her work. Her time spent working in India is such a buzz of colour and chaos, that at home she surrounds herself with calming colours and natural, earthy textures. The space has evolved slowly over time, only bringing home treasures that she has truly fallen in love with. Each room has been painted off white, with the exception of some pretty Florence Broadhurst wallpaper features. A girl after my own heart! I love Florence Broadhurst.

And I absolutely love her cushion designs!

Images via Megan Park

{Stylish Mamma}

The gorgeous Max Kater from Murchison-Hume sent me an email and I'm so glad she did. I've seen this range advertised in the magazines but I kind of had an a ha moment, a la Oprah Winfrey. You know when all the little pieces add up and make clarity of the bigger picture? It was one of those moments.

I was thrilled to discover that the Murchison-Hume range of cleaning products are a) made right here in Australia b) organic and c) the creation of a work at home mum. Impressive. Trading in her role as a fashion editor for the life of a stay at home mum with two young boys, Max was left uninspired by the current market of cleaning products so set forth creating this premium range of lovely packaged (and beautifully scented!) organic housekeeping products. With names like Heirloom Dishwashing and Effortless Floor Splash, it's no wonder she's taking the world by storm. One fabulous household at a time.

{Love: Ruthie Sommers}

I love these spaces created by designer, Ruthie Sommers. She certainly has the knack for mixing gorgeous colours and patterns, and new and loved pieces. And then there's the eclectic office she designed for Drew Barrymore's production company Flower Films (below). I love Drew, and here she looks so cute in her sweet surroundings!

{Blog Love}

Stylist and designer Raina Kattelson has a new blog I've recently started following. She describes her decorating style as "color...i love it, my home has lot's of white but mixed with big hits of chartreuse, hot pink, turquoise and orange". Beautiful! I love white interiors with pops of fabulous colour. These gorgeous images above are corners of her home, I hope she will share more someday as I love what I see!

{Fabulous Friday}

Isn't this a beautiful bedroom? I love the soft, pretty wallpaper. The white linen piled up high. And the matchstick blind. I tend to post alot of pretty bedrooms on a Fridays, perhaps it's my secret desire to spend my entire weekend in bed. That sure would be wonderful.

Today is a special day other than being the end of the week. I'm about to announce the winner of the Dandi giveaway! There was a great response to this giveaway, thank you to everyone who entered and thank you Dandi. You guys rock!

And the winner is:

Mollie and Finn!

Congratulations! You are the new owner of the gorgeous Duckegg Geo printed tablecloth and napkin set. Please email me your details and we'll get your prize out to you. Have a great weekend, friends!

Image via Katy Elliott

{Rosie Flo and Johnny Joe}

I'm a little bit too excited having discovered that Belinda from Tutti Fruiti is now stocking the entire range of Rosie Flo and Johnny Joe colouring books in her shop! Have you seen these books? They are fabulous! Designed by Roz Streeten, the whimsical drawings are partially drawn so your imagination can run wild. The idea evolved after spending endless hours drawing with her own daughters when they were young. You can see the entire range here.

{Shopping for Baby}

I love this print from Studio Mela, based on a favourite quote of mine from author, Amy Tan. I'm a big fan of her work, you might recall this Break the Routine print we have hanging in my daughters room. I've bought this as a special little gift for my friends first baby, due next month. Won't it look sweet hanging in a nursery?

{Blue Love}

I'm loving every little bit of this great beach house. My kids would have a blast here, it makes me smile just thinking about it. I especially love the blue painted ceiling and floor, suited perfectly to the endless white spaces. The dining table and upholstered chairs are fabulous too.

Don't forget to enter the Dandi giveaway to be in the running for a gorgeous duckegg blue dining pack. The winner will be drawn on Friday, so hurry!

Images via Coastal Living

{Eternally decorating}

Click on the image to enlarge.

I've been rearranging the little vignette in our entryway again this morning. I've added our Meredith Gaston painting. Oh, I love it so much. And one of my little papier mache birds that I picked up in the after Christmas sales down in Beechworth, Victoria. The colours are so fresh and inviting, enjoy!

{Paper Paris}

I may have mentioned just how much I love papercuts (and possibly shared my dream to someday visit Paris) so I was on cloud nine when I discovered this gorgeous Paris map papercut posted by Sharnel at My Life My Loves last week. Made by the husband and wife team known as Famille Summerbelle, the map features the famous attractions of Paris and shares the quirky side of Parisian life. I think it would look adorable framed in a girls bedroom but I'd love to display this in my family room, why should kids get all the pretty things!

For any fellow Australian bloggers I thought I'd mentioned a new project started by some friends of mine called Blog This. Each week you're set a new challenge that can be anything from sharing your day in photographs to taking a trip down memory lane, remembering what you dreamed of becoming as a child. It's a great network and good exposure for your blog too. Check it out here!

{I heart stripes}

Oh, how I love black and white stripes!

Images via Apartment Therapy, Olive it blog, Black.White.Yellow, Country Living, and White and Wander.

{Happy Friday}

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. xx

Image via Absolutely Beautiful Things

{Just fine and Dandi} Giveaway!

Good morning, friends. I'm braving the cold morning to bring you a great giveaway today! The gorgeous design team at Dandi have joined forces to give one of my lucky readers a prize from their wonderful range of fabric and tableware.

Didn't I tell you they were gorgeous?

The Sydney based design house is made up by a group of four female industrial designers with a passion for beautiful and functional objects. Specialising in the design of modern Australian products for the home, their range includes unique fabric and bamboo homewares. I just love the lorikeet chopping board - how perfectly Australian!


And now for the really great part. Dandi are giving one reader a fabulous dining pack that includes a Printed Tablecloth in the Duckegg Geo pattern and a set of 8 Duckegg coloured Napkins, perfect for your next dinner party! To be in the running, just pop over to the Dandi website then leave a comment on this post telling me what your favourite product is. For a second chance to win, post about this giveaway on your blog, then come back and and tell me about it here in a second comment. The winner will be drawn randomly next Friday, the 19th June. Good luck!

{Shades of blue}

Winter is well and truly here. Outside in the sunshine it's ok, we are called The Sunshine State after all, but the nights are cold and frosty. With the weather change I'm finding myself drawn to all shades of soft blue: from a pale ice blue, to tiffany blue and duckegg blue. I'll even throw in a hint of aqua for good measure. Do you find your inspiration changes as the seasons do?

Here is a collection of pretty blue images I find inspiring, I hope you do too.

For my fellow blue lovers, be sure to check back for a yummy duckegg blue giveaway I've teamed up with Australian design team Dandi to bring you. Keep your eyes peeled for that one!

Images via Daily Mail, Dress Design Decor, Interior Divine, Nibs Blog, and Vintage Girl.