Sweetie Pies...

Happy Nearly New Year!  May 2012 be a CORKER for you. 2011 was quite impolite to many of us! But onward we go. This is going to be OUR year, right?!

Thank you for reading, you cute-faces.  See you tomorrow when it's a whole new kettle of fish!

xx Pip

Some Fave Ladies :: Part Three

1. Gemma Jones : Gemma is one of my bestie best friends.  She's also the curator at Outre Gallery and an artist in her own right.  This year she had her FIFTH! solo show at No Vacancy Gallery and I scraped all our pennies together to buy a painting from her (above).  It was totally worth those pennies, I am telling YOU!  Gemma is a lovely, smart, feisty, sweet, adorable, kind, thoughtful lady.  Her smarts come in handy when I'm in a spot of bother and her thoughtfulness is second to none. She has taught me stuff that I did not know I needed to know.  Phew!  AND she has stood by me through thick and thin.  Gemma Jones... LOVE YOUR WORK!

Bronte

2. Michelle Mackintosh : MM is an illustrator and graphic designer.  She co-parents the amazing Bronte with her fella and they live in a lovely house in inner city Melbourne with their fish, The Sister Wives and The Prophet.  I met  Michelle through Hardie Grant books (my publisher) and I think that she's dead level in the VERY IMPORTANT things I got from Hardie Grant (right alongside the books I made with them.)  In fact, she's a titch ahead.  If I had to choose between the books and Michelle, I would choose Michelle, because she's really the best kind of person you could EVER meet.  I can make more books, but I SO can't make a Michelle. I'm not that crafty.  MM is a limited edition. 1 of 1.  Michelle Mackintosh... LOVE YOUR WORK!

3. Mirka Mora :: I love Mirka. I saw her in the street the day before yesterday, pushing her green pram, when we took a drive to the bike shop in Richmond. Once she came to my shop and asked to use the toilet. She peed with the door open and chatted about children and parenting and was VERY interested in talking about my BOYFRIEND, for some reason.  She's like that. She's a bit of a flirty tearaway, isn't she?! I really do LOVE people who just live their lives they way they want to.  I am quite POLITE and live my life in ways that seem fun but correct.  Perhaps that is what Mirka does too, but her life seems to involve a lot more boob flashing and naughtiness than mine.  I do quite LOVE finding out about Mirka. If we all had a teesy bit of Mirka cheekiness the world would be a much nicer place, I think.  Mirka Mora... LOVE YOUR WORK!

4. Cathy Hope :: Curly, quilty, hip lady Cathy Hope is a complete trailblazer in the indie boutique department. She was the first person to combine old school craft and independent fashion into one amazing mini emporium, tweaking it all in her own contemporary way.  She blurred the lines between fashion and handmade and paved the way for a LOT of smaller stores to make their own retail cocktail and eschew the traditional model.  Her shop on Brunswick Street was a lush, cool, pretty beacon for interesting girls from all over town (and indeed Australia, the World, the UNIVERSE!)  She showed us that you could pluck the things you most loved, merchandise them carefully, host your customers beautifully and develop the kinds of products that no one else was making.  Ms Hope gave us all hope that you could do things your OWN way and it would be okay. She took the first punt. I am so pleased that she has now escaped from her shop to do the things she wants to do. But we will all miss D&H and its florally aceness!  Cathy Hope... LOVE YOUR WORK!

5. Sia Furler :: I mean COME ON. What is NOT to love!  I love Sia. Do you love her too? I particularly love following her on Twitter and reading her cute blurts.  I love knowing that she's from Radelaide and feel smug to have been watching her 15 or so year journey from a sleepy Australian city to... THE WORLD! OMG.  I love her interestingness, her cute hair, her great costumes and the theatrical touch she brings to all she does.  I love it that we once chatted about crochet on the aforementioned Le Twit (she doesn't know how to crochet, btw!)  Sia Furler... LOVE YOUR WORK!

Some Fave Ladies :: Part One
Some Fave Ladies :: Part Two

More Fave Ladies coming over the next week or so!  Who are YOUR faves?!

xx Pip

:: Some Fave Ladies : Part Two

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1. Lisa Congdon :: The Crown Princess of collecting, illustration, photography and all 'round good stuff, every thing that Lisa touches turns to awesome. I love her drawings. I love her patterns. I love her penchant for bundling together like things in clever ways. I am guessing she was the type of gal that sifted through the junk drawer at her grandma's or great aunty's house, turning over objects and seeing their special powers. Lisa also has a super cute super-hero mini dog (for sure he has super powers too!)  Lisa... LOVE YOUR WORK!

2. Kate Ulman :: Do you know Kate, like I know Kate? Yes. It is THAT Kate from Foxs Lane. She of the florally, caravanny, yarny ways.  She of the bakey, makey ways.  She of the (road) trippy, drink (sippy), beach (dippy) ways.  Kate Ulman and her partner run Daylesford Organics.  Earlier this year they ran away from home with their super clever, creative girls and hit the highway for a VERY LONG road trip, with a vintage caravan in tow.  We were lucky enough to follow their trip via Kate's blog.  Did you tag along too?  Kate is one of those bloggers who writes true life beautifully.  Things are florally and pretty, but they are also real and sometimes there is the odd crease or bump that needs to be ironed out.  I like that.  Kate... LOVE YOUR WORK!

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3. Victoria Mason :: You might know that Victoria and I shared a studio for 12 months or so.  I was very lucky to be able to hang with Victoria. She has a super dooper, amazing, microscopically keen eye. She has a  perma-crush on the nostalgic, but she can break it down from its goofy cuteness into the teensy clever details which matter most.  She can distill the good in things and make them great.  Not only that, but she has the cutest sweet-smelling dog you ever did see and a partner who I have been crushing on since 1999. Or something like that.  Victoria Mason... LOVE YOUR WORK!

image stolen from Lucy

4. Beci Orpin :: Beci Orpin is an adorable, smart lady. Do you know her? She turns out the most beautiful work from her home studio, surrounded by cute kidlets, delicious food, lovely family and heaps of rad mid-century goodness. She has worked with lots of big companies. She has worked with little people too.  And she has done her own stuff just the way she wants to.  She's nice to people and talented too.  I love the way she melds colour, shapes and vintage styling into things that are modern and totally wantable.  I love the way she is just a super rad lady, too.  Beci Orpin... LOVE YOUR WORK!

5. Zooey Deschanel :: You can't fault her, really.  Not only does she have a lovely voice, great comic timing, nice hair and cute indie attitude... she wears CUTE OUTFITS. I love Zooey.  I love it that she sings just the way she talks. I love her geeky geeshness. I love her huger than huge peepers.  I just love her full stop.  End of paragraph. Turn the page.  That kind of love. I hope she writes a book soon, because I think I need to turn those pages too.  ZD... LOVE YOUR WORK!

Part THREE of Fave Ladies is coming SOOON!  Here is Part One.  Who are your fave ladies?

xx Pip

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

I love her.
I do.

xx Pip

:: Remember These?!

We're chatting Teen Fiction over on JustB today! Come see!  I also wrote a post about Hate Blogs (a la Marieke Hardy's) : you can find that here.  Or perhaps you might like to add to our list of Happy 2011 Moments?! See you here and see you there too!

xx Pip

:: Some Fave Ladies :: Part One

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Okay. Let me just day that any Faves List of mine is NOT definitive. I am totally in love with lots of things and people, so my faves are more plentiful than any list could contain. But I'm going to have a little try.  Here I go. Watch me!



1. Thomasina Miers : I love Tommi Miers.  Not only did she win Masterchef, but she went on to carve out a little bit of a restaurant empire and make three excellent TV Series (The Wild Gourmets, A Cook's Tour of Spain and Mexican Food Made Simple) and write a few books too.  I bought her latest book 'Mexican Food Made Simple' from Casa Iberica and I can not wait to get started on some of her olive oil enriched tortillas or a Bloody Maria.  She filmed the accompanying series for this book whilst pregnant and I think anyone that can do a foodie tour of Mexico and deliver not only a baby, but a book and a TV Show is totally amazing.  LOVE HER WORK.



2. Clare Bowditch : I love Clare Bowditch. Do you know what?  Apart from having a beautiful voice, great comic timing, a lovely family and clever clogs smarts, she's got grace. I would say poise, even, but the word has been commandeered by a product I do not care to talk about. CB is a super adorable lady. She's talented and funny and just a real pleasure to behold, methinks.  She works hard, speaks beautifully and can put pen to paper with mucho aplomb.  Yay for Clare. LOVE HER WORK.

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3. Lucy Feagins : Lucy F is a super sweet, super smart, hard working lady. She's been blogging for QUITE a long time, at first juggling her regular job with burning the bloggy midnight oil, and now blogging full time with an editorial assistant, at The Design Files. Lucy has not only elevated blogging to its highest form, she's kept her own voice, set the industry standard in terms of aesthetics, supported the Australian design and craft community and taken her first non-virtual steps off her blog (via The Design Files Calendar in 2010 and The Design Files Open House in 2011.) She's super great and an example to us all.  Wooh to Lucy! LOVE HER WORK.

4. Ruth Bruten : Do you know Ruth? She's a wonderful lady blogger and whirlwind, passionate cook. She writes at Gourmet Girlfriend, whilst juggling delicious times with her spunky husband and their adorable bundle of creative, interesting boys (they have five!)  Ruth knows about food, life, love and family and she writes about that stuff FROM THE HEART. She's going to be big, I tell you. She's big with me already, because a determined irreverence DRIPS from the pages of her blog.  (This could even be why my 'S' key is sticking at the moment.)  I love her Real Houselives of Melbourne City vibe. I think you will like her too. And your dinner table will, in fact, love her.  Big ups to Ruth! LOVE HER WORK.

5. Sunday Ganim : My next door neighbour and super adorable blanket nut.  I love blankets. I love them a lot. I also love people who are full of life and see through the usual day to day fuzz, into a world of cheeky, joyous, good time, fun-ness. Sunday is the blankets mixed up with the cheeky joy. What's not to love about that?  Cosy-cute, yet fun!  You can find Sunday on her blog here, or at her Mum's next door to Mike's. She's a total cute-face and JUST the kind of neighbour you would want to borrow a cup of sugar from.. or a cup of confetti.. or a cup of pompoms, even.  Yippee for Sunday G!  LOVE HER WORK!

More fave ladies coming over the next few days. Who are YOUR fave ladies? Let's celebrate each other's awesomeness, shall we?!

xx Pip

:: Tea Please

Do you need tea?  I do! Geesh.  That was  a BIG week!  Tea is in order, fo schizz.

I like my tea like this (please note that I am a dag!)

One large mug
1 chai teabag
1 regular english breakfast teabag
1/2 teaspoon of honey
pour in boiling water
jiggle teabags for 20 seconds or so
remove teabags
add a large slosh of soy milk
drink it up!

Happy Boxing Day to you!  May the tea be bountiful!

xx Pip

Tea Print via

:: Merry Merry!

6am presents! (good stuff!)
8am breakfast! (brioche, cold cuts, bagels, tea...!)
1pm lunch! (lots of things!)
4pm rain!
5pm swim! (at Sandringham with Pilot Bean!)
6pm STORM!
8pm dinner! (home style Peking Duck!)

NICE!

I hope your day was nice, too. Was it nice?

xx Pip

Merry Christmas Poppets!

Holy cow. It's Christmas Eve!  I can't quite believe it.  At our house, we try and have the full turkey disaster on Christmas Eve... and then something less traditional on the Big Day.  So turkey we did this afternoon... Y to the UM it was, too!  Now we are all primed for a lovely day tomorrow.

We're having cold cuts and bagels and chocolate brioche for breakfast.  And lots of tea, too.  Then a lovely lunch and a quieter evening!

What are you doing? Whatever it is, I hope that you have the very best time and everyone treats you SUPER nicely!

Happy Christmas Eve!

xx Pip

:: Snoozy Pilot Bean...

I am so glad my Cheery Wave ripple blanket was waiting for Pilot Bean when he arrived! Phew!

xx Pip

:: Holy Aga!

We're talking about THIS over here!  Come over and chat too!

xx Pip

Life Now...

Mexican food :: gelati walks :: puppy dogs :: gifts :: crochet :: blogging :: tidying :: messing :: casa iberica :: readings books :: pinot grigio :: Kardashians :: saltwater sandals :: dresses :: friends :: kids :: fancy nails :: 3RRR :: photos :: nice

How's YOUR life?  What's happening with YOU?

xx pip