is it too early?

Ummm... I've been TRYING to hold back on nursery purchases... is week 24 too early?! I'm very excited about my first official nursery purchase - this RAD little cushion cover that I found in the Etsy shop of the wonderfully talented Jane Foster. I know it's not everybody's taste but these are exactly the colours and retro awesomeness that I love! I also plan to purchase this replica Eames rocking chair (above) from Matt Blatt, I think the cushion will look perfect sitting on the chair :) Now... just gotta finish clearing the junk outta the room so I can start decorating hehe! Hope you all have super weekends xxoo

feelin the love

Oh... Monday again! Howdy everyone, did you have nice weekends? I hope so! I had a top weekend, I spent Saturday out in the yard with Marty and his dad - we're building a chicken coop and it's coming along nicely! Will post some pics soon, can't wait to get my chooks :) Yesterday my awesome buddy Liz came around and we had a good catch-up and managed to chat non-stop for 3 1/2 hours. Gee time flies when you're having fun!! Then I spent the rest of the day clearing-out the study/office/stock storage area in order to make it into a nursery for bub. What a task! Our house is fairly small and storage space is minimal, so I found myself cleaning out my wardrobe in order to create space for my stock of cards and invitations and art prints. But, I'm making good progress... isn't it lovely when you feel organised?!
Anyway - here are a couple of really quick Valentine's concepts I did for my agent last week. Hope you all have a lovely Monday! xo

bit late, but....

...I forgot to mention that over at out group blog, We Love To Illustrate, we have some FREE downloadable desktop wallpaper calendars! Oopsies - sorry I forgot to tell you at the start of the month! But hey - if your desktop needs brightening up for the last week of Jan, why not head on over and check out the fun desktops from Julissa, Cally, Nina, Jennifer, Shirley and myself here. I've also included the months of February and March in my design, so my little owlies can keep you company for the next couple of months if you wish!

flood relief auction - CUTE STUFF UP FOR GRABS!

I'm sure many of you are aware of the absolute devastation that's happening up in Queensland and New South Wales here in Australia. Massive flooding has wiped out thousands of homes and businesses and taken lives. But in true Aussie fashion, people are banding together all over the country to raise money to help flood victims. 'Handmade Kids' and 'Rudy & The Dodo' have teamed up to get an auction of handmade goods happening in order to raise money for the cause! They are conducting the auction via Facebook, and you can check it out right here. I've donated two packs of invites to the winning bidder! The bidding is open to Aussie residents only. So if you're an Aussie resident why not check out all the GORGEOUS stuff up for grabs, all generously donated by crafters and makers from across the country! I'm gonna put a few bids on some lovely things I think... it's all in the name of helping out our fellow mates :) Auction commences this Fri 14th Jan, happy bidding!

a couple more fabrics...

Ello! I have more fabrics for sale over at Spoonflower wwhhheeeee! I managed to squeeze in a couple more designs just before Christmas. You can purchase them here. I'll be working on a big stack more over the coming weeks so stay tuned. I'm planning a bit of a variety of cute, fun, whimsical, graphic and floral designs (if time permits!). Hope your weekends are going great :D
And thanks so much everyone for your congrats on the bub! xo

new year news

Happy New Year everyone! Did you all have a lovely festive season? I really enjoyed time spent with family at Christmas, and Marty and I had a SUPER FAB week at the beach with our friends. I'm totally relaxed and ready to start 2011. And, as you can see, this year is gearing up to be a BIG one! Marty and I are expecting our first bub this May - yippee!! We're very excited. The pic above was taken during our 20-wk ultrasound this week. Bub is doing great so far! And I'm really enjoying being pregnant, it's a very special time :) So the start of this year is looking to be a busy one for me, with new products to get underway, an art exhibition to prepare for, and all that ice cream that just has to be eaten (because, you know, I'm eating for two haha!). Hope you are all well and ready for a great year ahead! xxoo

super happy christmas!

Thanks to you ALL for making my first year of blogging so much fun! I really do appreciate every single one of you who stops by to have a read or leave a comment. Hope you all have a Super Happy Christmas and a fab New Year! And I hope you all get some time to relax over the festive season :)
I'm looking forward to a WHOLE WEEK away at the beach with Marty and some good mates, so I'll see you all sometime after Jan 4th. Woohoo beach holiday - it's been a few years since I had one of those hehe! Lotsa Love, Bee xxoo

Happy Spaces!

 

Howdy everyone, how you doing? I have some super exciting news to share today yay! I am now a contributing artist over at Happy Spaces, a really fab company over in the UK that produce beautiful canvas wall-art for kids. They represent some artists whom I greatly admire, so I'm THRILLED to be jumping on board with them! You can check out my first three canvases here. I hope to start work on some more new designs over the Summer. Hooray! xo

sauce recipe

Hello again! I've had a request or two for my sauce recipe from the below post - so here it is. It's from a FANTASTIC book called 'A Year In A Bottle' by Sally Wise. I'd highly recommend this book if you are into preserving, pickling or jamming fruits and veg.

6kg (13lb 8oz) tomatoes, roughly chopped
1kg (2lb 4oz) onions, roughly chopped
750g (1lb 10oz) sugar
2 cups white or cider vinegar
120g ( 4 1/2oz) cooking salt
1 1/2 tbsp whole cloves
1 1/2 tbsp allspice berries
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a LARGE saucepan (I use a massive stock pot). Bring to boil and cook, stirring regularly for 4 hours (careful it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn). Strain mixture through a seive, colander or food mill and return to clean saucepan. Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately. Invert bottles briefly.
Consume at once or store in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 2 years.
I usually get about 11 or 12 x 300ml bottles out of this recipe.

** I sterilise my jars and bottles in the oven. First, wash your bottles with HOT soapy water, rinse and leave to dry. Place on a tray in cold oven. Turn oven to 110C (225F). When the oven has reached temperature, turn off the heat and leave bottles for 10 minutes. I also chuck the lids in the oven, otherwise you can simmer them in boiling water for 2 minutes and make sure they are dry before sealing.

Happy sauce making!

gettin saucy

 Here it is at the start...

 Here it is 4 hours later...

Voila! Ready to give :)

For as long as I can remember, my family have always given each other home-made gifts at Christmas. We've never much cared for extravagant gifts, preferring to have something that's been made with love! This year, I've made a couple of batches of tomato sauce (ketchup) for all my relatives. Summer is barbecue season, and you can't have a barbecue without sauce, right?! So here's the result of my efforts, and I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out! Do you get busy in your kitchen at Christmas time? What yummy things do you like to make?

art prints now available

Hello all! How is your week going? Can't believe there's only one weekend left between now and Christmas... where has December gone?! Anyway, I'm here to let you all know you can now get your little mits on some of my art prints if you wish! I've just listed 'Mister Fox's New Hat' and 'Odette' in my Etsy store, they are limited editions of 20 each, hand signed and numbered and they come mounted in a nice white matte board.
You can also get my 'Field Trip Kids' series (six designs in all) via the lovely Lark shop. These are open-edition prints and do not come mounted. I do plan to add these to my Etsy store once I have more in stock. I'm planning to have some more prints happening in the new year - huzzah!
I hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely, isn't it a mad time of year?! xoxoxo

nelly's friend

Yay I received these samples in the post last week! A greeting card I designed for Papyrus a while ago... I love how they've put the glittery flitter on the yellow bits! And it's been printed on very lovely matte cardstock. I don't think it's available for purchase online yet but I'll let you know when :) Have an awesome Friday xo

harvesting garlic

Whoo it's hot and humid today! I've just pulled all my garlic out of the ground, ready to be hung and cured so it stores nicely all year. I had to pull it up a little early this year, as you can see, the bulbs aren't quite as big as they should be. All the torrential rain we've had recently has bent the garlic foliage right over, and they've started dying off already... so unfortunately we have small-medium bulbs this year, but it's still enough garlic to last us the whole year through, and some left over for xmas presents yay! Hope your Monday is going ace :)

FREE printable xmas tags

Hey there friends! Just a quick stop today to let you know about some FREE printable holiday gift tags you can download over at our group blog, We Love To Illustrate. Pictured above are mine, but please swing by We Love To Illustrate and check out the other GORGEOUS designs by Nina, Julissa, Jennifer, Cally and Shirley... these girls create the most unreal illustrations, and I can guarantee you'll find some free gift tags that you'll fall in love with! Happy Friday, and happy downloading! xoxo