Find me a flower...

Not only can I find you one, I can make you one that lasts all year! I learnt how to make these gorgeous flowers from my good friend Lisa using old book pages, some fake flower stem wire, double sided tape and black ink. The best thing about these flowers is that they are extremely easy and inexpensive to make, and look gorgeous. I get comments on mine frequently, and have had several requests from friends and family for me to make them some.

Materials: old book pages, stem wire (available from Spotlight or craft stores), double sided tape, black ink

Equipment: scissors, pliers

Step 1: Cut out several fingernail shaped pieces from the book pages. They should be about 3x5-6cm in size. These form the petals of the roses.

Step 2: Scrunch then unscrunch your petals. This adds to the effect once you put ink on the petals, and also makes the petals easier to work with.

Step 3: Cut and place double  sided take on the bases of your petals.

Step 4: You can, if you want, make a loop at one end of the stem wire so your flower doesn't fall off.

Step 5: Take your petals with the double sided tape, and place them one after the other on your stem wire. Make sure they are well stuck down.

Step 6: When you are happy that you have placed enough petals on your flower aka it looks like a rose, you can put a bit of black ink on the tips of the petals, to add a rustic look to them. Grab your ink pad, and gently brush it over the petals, and on the underside of the flower, if you wish.

Step 7: Make several flowers, put in a pretty jar or vase and give to your friend or grandma. I'm sure they would love some undying flowers made specially for them :)

These are some of the flowers that I am making for table centerpieces for a Women in Surgery Luncheon in a few weeks.
 Sorry about the sub optimal photo quality of late. The lighting in my house is not so good, and the garden isn't so pretty to take photos in just now >_<

Hope you are having a smashing Tuesday!

À plus tard! Pip xx

And a little bit of Darth

This past weekend, despite the storms, Lisa, Bec and I indulged in a fabulous Crafterweekend. It was divine! We ventured down south to Lisa's parents house, supped on lots of tea and consumed half our weight in delicious Lindt chocolate (the latter was so hard...).

Lisa worked on decorations for her Athiestmas tree, and Bec became more and more decidedly frustrated with the Cat in the Hat quilt she was making for her new nephew (who, for the record, is adorable!).

I didn't have anything in mind to make on our weekend, but brought all my craft stock anyway. After being inspired by Lucky Jackson's amazing hoop embroideries and her pledge to make one a day for a year (check out her site here, she is seriously amazing!), I decided to copy a few of her pop culture designs.

The first I embroidered was one of my favourites: Darth Vader on a bike ^_^ The first image is Lucky's, and the second is mine. I am really impressed with how it turned out, despite a few flaws. It is not as refined as Lucky's, but I'm pretty chuffed regardless.

I'm not sure whether to colour my Darth as Lucky has, or to cut it out and place on a contrasting background. At the moment, I'm happy having it as it is, next to me as I study!

The second design I started on our weekend, but finished at home was this one: Darth with a balloon. I just love the comparison of one of pop cultures famous villains portrayed in a different and playful light. It makes me happy.

I came up with the idea to do a Star Wars Home Sweet Home embroidery, and the idea of featuring the Death Star came to mind, so here is the finished product. The design is all my own (I'm proud to say ^_^).

Let me know what you think, and if you are an ashamedly huge Star Wars fan too. I'm contemplating joining Vader's 501 Australian Legion, so I better start planning/making a costume!

Hope you have had an awesome weekend too :)

Pip xx 

DIY Monday !

Here is a wonderful DIY that I found on Pinterest for l'épingles à cheveux (hair clips) from My Little Fabric. As I have just had a haircut, I am eager to make some of these adorable accessories and adorn my hair!

À plus tard. Pip x

Elle me dit danse !

Ecoutez ! C'est magnifique !

À plus tard. Pip x 

Le goût de Paris !

Ahhh the taste of Paris! On Saturday whilst perusing through David Jones, I found myself in the book section, as per usual. I came across this amazing cookbook - The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo. However, having not spent much time in the kitchen ever of late (combined with the sardonic comments from my boyfriend), I decided against the purchase (however, it is only $24 on the UK Book Depository, so I may reconsider this buy, away from mocking eyes...).

As it turns out, Rachel has a new cooking series on the BBC, which shares the same name as her cookbook. Check out the first episode:

She cooks her spin on traditional Boeuf Bourguignon, which I am going to attempt over the weekend (fingers crossed!) It looks so yummy! Check it out on the second episode here.

Do you like French cuisine? Ah, to hell - do you like any food? Which types?


À plus tard. Pip x

As time marches on...

My oh my! It is already two thirds of the way into March! How time flies.

I thought I might share with you an adorable DIY I found on one of my favourite blogs, Studs and Pearls. Kirsten is a DIY jewelery/fashion blogger hailing from NYC who also designs jewelery at Limette.

This is a DIY version of the necklace on the left into the one on the right!


The original necklace is from Anthropologie - The Thread-Wrapped Sentiment Necklace. What I love about Kirsten is that she finds gorgeous jewelery and recreates it for one hundreth of the cost! What a thrifty nifty gal!

Click here for Kirsten's necklace tutorial. I will post pictures of my DIY version when it's finished.

À plus tard. Pip x   

Parce-qu'on vient de loin...

Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'aime vraiment cette chanson ! Je l'ai entendu l'autre jour, dans la classe, et je l'ai  chanté  tout le temps !

It really is a lovely song (here is an English translation). Do you like listening to songs in foreign languages? Even if you don't know what they (fully) mean?


À plus tard. Pip x  

A Magical Occasion

Ok, so you will have to forgive me for a double wedding post, but this Harry Potter wedding was just too cute! I stumbled upon said wedding when browsing Green Wedding Shoes whilst studying procrastinating. Opps. 


What I love about the styling of the occasion is that the Harry Potter design can be extrapolated to any sort of celebration (for my next birthday,  peut-être ?). 


I think the making of any amazing event is in the small details - the Harry Potter font, the design of the program to look like The Daily Prophet, quills for the signing of the registry, gorgeous potion bottles, and of course, who couldn't celebrate in true HP style without Butterbeer, Polyjuice Potion, Felix Felicis (aka liquid luck) and/or Pumpkin Juice. C'est magnifique ! 

How exquisite is the photography? Photographer Abby Grace has outdone herself. The natural setting is wonderful and I love how relaxed the couple are. All I can say is, I want to have my wedding in Washington DC/Virginia!


I also love this Harry Potter Marauder's Map invitation from one little m - just adorable!

What sort of things do you think make or break an event? The details, or maybe something bigger like the venue? I'd love to know :)

À plus tard. Pip x 

Feature blog "A Beautiful Mess"

J'adore les mariages ! Je ne sais pas quoi...

I was chatting over tea and crochet to my dear friend, L of teaandcraft fame, about weddings. I am unmarried; L has been married for just over 2 years. And we both love weddings!

I don't know if it is a girl thing, but whenever there is a wedding nearby, I always stop and have a look (actually nearly rear-ended another car the other day whilst I was gazing at a picturesque bride along the highway). Le sigh.

Whenever I see something wedding related that I like, I put it in my memory bank for the future (or alternatively, just pin it on Pinterest).

So when I stumbled across an Etsy blog article featuring Elsie from abeautifulmess, I couldn't not share.

Elsie's 2011 wedding of the theme Birds of a Feather is simply stunning - from the mismatched coloured stockings gracing the pins of the lovely bridesmaids, their individually made bouquets exploding with colour, 50's beehive hairdos, the urban decay-ness of the wedding venue... What is not for this wedding lover not to love?

Here are a few of my favourite photos from their wedding. Please go and have a look at her website. She is an amazing crafster and shares my obsession love of photography and vintage cameras.

Do you love looking at weddings and wedding related paraphernalia too? Leave me a comment! 


À plus tard. Pip x

salut!

Bienvenue à la première poste de 2012! Je suis en retard, je sais. 


New year, new blog. I decided that I have outgrown my previous blog, and am aiming for something fresh this year (as I say at the beginning of every year), a blog that I am inspired to work on, not one that is a tedious chore. 


Alors. What other way is there to welcome the new university year than to indulge in a decadent High Tea? I am sure there are lots of other things, but whilst contemplating them, I hope you enjoy these photos from our small slice of afternoon decadence a few weeks ago. 


A plus tard, Pip x

our oxfamily...

Last week in Sydney, from the 8th to the 11th, I was privileged enough to spend time with other young uni students doing **AMAZING** work for Oxfam via their Oxfam uni groups, and some fantastic people who are in the process of setting up their own Oxfam uni groups for their campus (yay!!!).

I met with students from the University of Queensland, Uni of Sydney, Uni of NSW, Monash, Uni of Melbourne, Uni of Newcastle (forgive me if I have left anyone out) and over three and a half days, we brainstormed, shared ideas, ate some heaps of awesome food and had a blast. We got the opportunity to speak to around 17 amazing Oxfam staff, from Campaigns Coordinators to Youth Program Coordinators, Advocacy writers, Marketing and Media people, etc.

We formed a National Oxfam Uni Groups Network - Oxfam Unite - which is going to be a fabulous medium for us to share ideas, troubleshoot our problems, support one another and keep in touch :) We have a website, which is going online soon ^_^ so exciting!

I had a remarkable three days, and I think that the others did too :) It's always refreshing to find a group of people that are passionate about the same things that you are, and to connect with them so easily.

Maybe if you have some spare time, you could donate it to Oxfam :) We are always looking for new people, new ideas and inspiration.

Go on... You know you want to :)

|| pip ||

valentine, be mine...

Hi all! Happy Valentines Day! I hope you had as wonderful a day as I had - I got to spend it in Sydney with my boy :)

I have been in an uber paper craft mood for the past two weeks, so I decided to go with it, and based my Valentines day presents for friends and family around paper hearts. I used pages from old books (which I had decimated in the process of making book safes) and cut them into heart shapes, then used red thread to sew them together in a heart garlands :) I hope you like them.

I have also been experimenting with origami for a few weeks, and I made about 30 red flying hearts described in Sok Songs origami book, Crease + Fold. They turned out rather good, once I got the hang of it, and the red-white contrast looked pretty amazing.

On Valentines Day itself, my boy surprised me with six long stem roses, which were simply beautiful. This was quite a feat, as I usually suspect things like this coming, but I didn't realize until Philip was handing me a very large rectangular box :)

We spent the afternoon walking around Sydney. First, we went into and up one of the sandstone pillars that frame the bridge, and had an amazing view from the top:

We walked across the bridge, and across to Luna Park, which unfortunately, was shut :(

After catching a ferry back across the Harbor to Circular Quay, we walked past the Opera House, and through the Sydney Botanical Gardens, spending a fair bit of time in the stunning rose gardens.

Instead of the typical Valentines romantic restaurant dinner, we decided to relax back at the hotel with red wine from Lucy's Run in the Hunter Valley, cheese from the Smelly Cheese Factory, Lindt chocolate and The IT Crowd. Simply divine :)

What did you do this Valentines Day?

|| pip ||

after about four attempts...

This is, sadly enough, my fourth time at writing this blog. Don't get me wrong, it's not because I have writers block, or that it is an incredibly noteworthy or intellectual blog that requires high quantities of brain power. I just keep forgetting, turning my computer off and losing my half completed not yet posted blogs (so I look a little like this... >_< ). Sigh....

So, it's about bedtime, and I thought that if I don't get this blog down now, the thought of its uncompletedness will fester away in some area of my brain til it drives me spare!!! (then i'll try and blog from work on my iPhone, which is just plain tedious!!). So, after all of that!! :

It was Philip's birthday on Australia Day, and I wasn't really sure what to get him. After some thought, seeing how taken he was to Perth's Yum-Cha delights, I decided to make him plushie Yum-Cha, so he can enjoy it all year around :)

Investing in the help of my partner in craft crime, Lisa, we conjured some pretty good plushies in the likeness of sushi (with avocado, as Philip doesn't like the fishy ones), dumplings and prawns. I think they are simply adorable, and I think Philip did too, listening to his reaction as he opened them over the phone ^_^

I don't know about the rest of you, but I thought the bamboo steamer was such a cute touch (and as it turns out, a pretty good way to transport said gifts!).

I'd love to see what delicacies you are crafting up :)

Happy crafting!

|| pip ||

crocheting for a cause....

This week, I found an amazing cause which is aiming to help victims of the horrendous Queensland floods. As I was in Queensland at the time, I was very thankful that the areas in which I was staying - Townsville and Mackay - were spared the torrential downpour. Many other places, however, were not so lucky.

So I have decided to chip in and contribute towards this fabulous idea, the brainchild of Sarah London - Crochet a Rainbow.

The idea behind Crochet a Rainbow is to get lots of people to crochet a few granny sqaures each (or however many they wish!) and to send to Sarah, who will make them into throw rugs for the victims.

I'm sure many of us remember having beautiful crocheted rugs when we were younger (my mum still has mine ^_^ ) and I hope that these gorgeous homemade blankets will provide a bit of comfort to those displaced from their homes.

Please, if you can crochet, pick up your hook and get to it!!! Sign up at http://sarahlondon.wordpress.com/crochet-a-rainbow/ now! And if you don't know how to crochet, now is the perfect time to learn!!!

All the best, and happy crocheting!

|| pip ||

clutching a whole new fiction...

I first saw these book clutches by French designer Olympia Le-Tan heralded down the glamorous red carpet by no other than Natalie Portman, and quite simply, it was love at first sight!

Le-Tan has released a range of these purses, hand-stitched versions of 20th century classic fiction book covers, such as the following:

The new collection "You can't judge a book by it's cover" and other "stuff" can be found at http://www.olympialetan.com/ .

Since I am becoming perhaps maybe half a wizz at book safes, I thought I'd give one of these a try (but don't hold me to the whole hand-stitched perfect French clutch thing... It may well end up being held together by duct tape >_< ). I think Lisa has even set up a Crafternoon in order to have a stab at these babies ^_^ !

On the topic of books, etc, I just finished reading The Desert Spear, the second installment of Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle (I think that is what is called...) series. Anyway, awesome stuff if you're like me, and the classical literature gets a bit heavy and boring, and you like to grab for the nearest fantasy book.... Or let it be recommended to you by a close friend... *cough* Lisa. If you're bored this holidays, or stuck with nothing much to do at work, grab the first book, The Painted Man, and start tearing through it - it's some good stuff! At the least, check out the author's website. Anyway, how cool are these photos I found on there? People who have created stuff with wards (like magical symbols) depicted in the book? I was pretty impressed :)

Lanterns with wards painted on 

Warded charm bracelet  

Warded ring

So cool (and nerdy) I'm tempted to try and recreate ^_^

|| pip ||