Elizabeth February 28th, 2010

We seem to have run out of Fionas for the time being, so this week’s Smiley Sunday is brought to you by the girl half of JarodandLiz.com!

Liz and Jarod met in Sydney, after discovering each others work on Flickr. Now they’re engaged, and blogging daily about snippets of their lives in the inner west. Liz has another project at friendly miaows, taking beautiful photographs of the street cats she comes across.

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH LIZ, FROM JARODANDLIZ.COM

Seven things that make me smile;

1. Jarod.
2. Cats and their associated parts. Especially paws and whiskers.
3. Successfully baking something.
4. Lazy weekend mornings.
5. Lion masks.
6. Cuddles.
7. Hearing the neighbours cat run around the front of our place. (The ‘jingle jingle jingle’ of her bell makes our cat go crazy, but still).

A memory I keep on file;

My first year attending the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2006. Discovering my independence, seeing so many shows and wandering around at night in a city I totally fell in love with. There’s something about the atmosphere at comedy festival time in Melbourne (especially around the town hall) that I’ve not seen elsewhere.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/
http://www.mythreeringcircus.com/
http://foreverfoster.blogspot.com/

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

Never be afraid to change your mind.

Thanks for sending in your answers Liz. It’s been nice to spend some time today reading about you both, and catching up on your archives! This Smiley Sunday thing has been very good for my Google Reader, and I’m glad to have you on it.

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
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Elizabeth February 27th, 2010

Beautiful photograph discovered via weheartit.com

I’m feeling incredibly inspired after signing up for Polkadot Robot’s Quiet Nights Art Journal class, and it hasn’t even started yet! I’ve organised all of my scrapbooking supplies (which are plentiful, despite not being a scrapbooker) and scoured the web for pretty images like the one above that will get the creative juices flowing. It’s been fun.

Other members of the class have begun to discuss their tools-of-the-trade, and after hearing so much praise about washi tape I decided to find out what all the buzz was about. A Melbourne-based online store called Notemaker had lots of different tapes in stock, so I placed an order a few days ago.

There were some lovely little touches in the package that arrived, including a cloth drawstring bag with a pretty pear tree design. Most importantly, the tapes are gorgeous and delivery was swift (and free!).

If you’re reading this from the Northern Hemisphere, you might like to check out Happy Tape for a huge selection. I recognise some of my own designs in there too, so they must be sourced from the same place.

People seem to be using this Japanese tape for all sorts of projects – everything from floristry to cardmaking and wedding table settings. I love the way that this Dallas cupcake bakery (Citizen Sweet) uses it for its distinctive packaging.

In the past 24 hours I have accidentally come across heaps of references to washi tape, but my favourite was a link to this tape dispenser from Tinted Mint, made from reclaimed wood.

Isn’t it beautiful?

I’m looking forward to putting pen to paper in March, with the help of some journal prompts and like-minded people. Tomorrow’s project is to clean up my study a little so that my desk is clear enough for me to work at – we’re still very much in unpacking mode here!

Do you write in a paper journal? Have some tips about using Japanese tape? I want to hear all about it…

• Art , Cool stuff
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Elizabeth February 24th, 2010

Dear Harry,

Today is your 8th birthday. I can’t believe we’ve managed to keep you out of trouble for all this time!

We love you, little fella.

Good dog!

xxx

• Harry
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Elizabeth February 24th, 2010

Uh oh!

I’ve just realised that I have a little more than seven months in which to complete my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. Time to get serious.

Here are the things that I will cross off in March:

005: Learn 15 new vegetarian recipes (12/15)
- only three to go! I am so slack.

008: Learn to cook a recipe from 30 different countries (12/30)
- I’m going to learn 5 recipes next month.

011: Walk my dog 5 days/week for 1 month (0/20)
- I need to do this before the days get shorter again, so March it is!

012: Go for three 2-hour bike rides (2/3)
- one to go!

016: Write a budget; and
017: Set a savings target, meet it, and maintain it for 6 months.
- I was making progress, but then moving house came along and ruined everything…

020: See 25 movies of Tim’s choosing (18/25)
- NOTE TO TIM: March is Boy Movie Month. I need to see at least 4 of his movies in March.

023: Build a time capsule
- Another task that is almost done, just need to throw in the last few things

024: Read the dictionary from beginning to end (Now Reading: “M”)
- I’ll read up to “U” next month

038: Visit 10 local art galleries (4/10)
- Rather than just going to the same galleries, I’m going to 2 new ones next month.

040: Read 10 novels by Melbourne authors (7/10)
- March is the month that I will finish the crappy novel I’ve been stuck on for weeks on end. The final 2 books are sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for me!

043: Go on a ghost tour
- Tiiiiiii-iiiiiiim, c’moooon. For me?

084: Participate in 100 Snapshots (62/100)
I’m sort of loving this task. I have a bunch more photos to take, but I love it.

In reality, I think I have accepted that I won’t finish all 101 Things on my list by September 28. In fact, there are two items on my list that I can’t possibly complete in the time that I have left, if I am to be faithful to the criteria that I set for myself. I’m reluctant to re-write the requirements just to get that magical “101″, when I haven’t truly achieved it.

So instead I am looking at it this way: by the time September rolls around I’ll have definitely done 80+ things on my list. 90+ is extremely possible. I might even reach 99 Things! That’s not too bad, right? I consider each of those tasks as things that I may not have gotten around to doing without my trusty list, so there’s still plenty to be proud of.

Even if I stopped today with 60 items complete I’ve achieved so much. I love my little so much that I’ve already jotted down some ideas for my next one.

Can I have some volunteers to kick my butt through March and make all this happen?

• 101 in 1001
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Elizabeth February 22nd, 2010

W class tram cushions by Mrs Beckinsale. How amazing is this? I think I’ll be in touch with her next pay-day for a custom order that features my tram line. She also has a blog with lots of other Melbourne and London-inspired goodies at www.mrsbeckinsale.com

I’m completely in lust with this cute coffee cup cozy from Polkadot Robot. Pictures like this have started to make me really excited for the beginning of Winter. It’s definitely my season, and I’m sorry that it seems to make everybody else miserable!

I was lucky enough to sign up for Polkadot Robot’s Quiet Nights online art journal class before it sold out. It begins at the beginning of March, and I’m itching to get started. My poor journals haven’t seen daylight in some time, and I think a little prodding is all I needed to get drawing again.

Lifehacker has all the info you need to create your own string lamp shade. It’s easy and looks like fun to make! Does anyone know where I can buy those beautiful big, round balloons?

• Cool stuff
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Elizabeth February 21st, 2010

The month of February is brought to you by the number 2 and the letter “F”! Our second Fiona of the month has answered the call, and left us with an extra-specially Smiley Sunday.

Fiona lives in Cairns in Far North Queensland, which is where I grew up as a teenager. Last year she took a photo of herself every day of the year, which made for a very impressive flickr archive!

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH FIONA, FROM FIFIKINS

Seven things that make me smile;

1. Fresh linen on my bed
2. Catching Cane Toads
3. Sitting on the deck in the pouring rain
4. Cooking a yummy meal or baking a cake
5. Seeing my kids achieve, no matter how small or large an achievement
6. Our two beautiful ragdoll kittens, Leo and Max
7. The gorgeous Man In My Life (MIML™!)

A memory I keep on file;

I have been looking through photos and there are so many that evoke times past. The photos that evoke memories for me though are my memories and relate to situations that were meaningful, sometimes at the time, often still now! Let me just say that photos of the kids as newborns, and growing up and smiles and places and pets and things that didn’t turn out the way they would have liked make me the person I am. This reflection has also emphasised that I need to get all my old photos scanned asap!

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://vipantrywedonthaveablogblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.mediamum.net/
http://zucchinibikini.blogspot.com/

Can I give honourary mentions though to http://notitallatall.blogspot.com/ and of course http://magnetoboldtoo.com/ please???

Sure can!

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

Even along the darkest path one can find the most beautiful flowers.

Thanks for playing! For the record, I liked your email signature just as much: “The bubbling brook would lose its song if you removed the rocks.”

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

And hey – spread the word, ok? The internet doesn’t need yet another “nobody loves me” post!

• Smiley Sunday
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Elizabeth February 19th, 2010

I’ve been loving the submissions for Smiley Sunday so far, and I hope you have too! I’m looking for some new people to feature, so if you’d like to join in the fun just answer the following 4 questions and send them to elizabeth@thisdomain

Seven things that make me smile;

A memory I keep on file;

Three blogs that never go out of style;

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

All are welcome, and you don’t need to be a blogger to play along. Please spread the word by tweet, blog or skywriter!

• Smiley Sunday
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Elizabeth February 16th, 2010

мека мебел

• Life
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Elizabeth February 14th, 2010

How cute are these little shortbreads? I found them at my local cafe today and had to have them.

I don’t really need an annual occasion to remind me that I’m the luckiest girl in the world, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Valentines Day is pretty special to us, so much so that we once celebrated it in April because we were on opposite sides of the world in February! If we count that one (and we do), this is our 5th Valentines Day together.

We don’t go overboard on February 14, we just try to spend time together. This year I put together a photo frame full of childhood photos of both of us, and he cooked up a beautiful breakfast of sausages, eggs and mushrooms cups with brie cheese. I’m banned from the kitchen because he has something big planned for dinner too.

He makes me laugh, he gives me butterflies and loves me at my worst. I think I’d better keep this one.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Tim.
You can stay
xxx

• Life
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Elizabeth February 14th, 2010

My internet connection is back, and so is Smiley Sunday!

This week’s Smiley Sunday comes from Fiona, who has been blogging since 2002 at Little Lioness. She is a Speech Pathologist living in Canberra and studying for her Masters.

SMILEY SUNDAY WITH FIONA, FROM LITTLE LIONESS

Seven things that make me smile;

1. teeny tiny flowers
2. bubbles
3. the smell of fresh cut grass. or rain. or both at once.
4. kittens
5. toddlers
6. when kids just ‘get’ something for the first time in our therapy sessions.
7. early morning walks

A memory I keep on file;

Aside from my whole flickr back catalogue? http://www.flickr.com/photos/phonakins/

From when my hair was long, the first summer in Canberra, living at the college.

Three blogs that never go out of style;

http://rainbowofchaos.wordpress.com/
http://friendlyatheist.com/
http://the-riotact.com/

A piece of advice I’ve found worthwhile.

It’s like the slogan Just Do It. It’s true.

Thanks for sending in your answers Fiona!

If you would like to be featured in the next installment of Smiley Sunday, send me an email (elizabeth@this domain) with your name, URL and the answers to the questions above. Each Sunday I’ll post a new set of answers.

• Smiley Sunday
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Elizabeth February 12th, 2010

I’m coming out of my moving-house haze to post this lovely thought from the aptly-named Perfect Sentiment. Thanks to pois rouge for pointing me in the direction of this lovely blog!

I’ll be updating here again soon. Moving and working has sucked everything out of the tank over the past fortnight, but we’re nearly on top of things. Can’t wait to show you our pretty new abode!

• Art , Cool stuff
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