Deck Complete!

We finished! Our humble little deck is now complete :) Next step is seeding our lawn and then getting out the brushes to paint the house! Love it!

Sunset

This is the view from our balcony. I wish I was better at taking photos of sunsets. Every weekend when we're at Normy and the sun is just sitting above the horizon we race to the fridge to get a cider and trip over ourselves up the stairs in a flurry to catch the sunset. It really was much more impressive than this photo shows, but jeez its a brilliant way to end the day, puts all that little stuff into perspective.

Hello, Deck!

 

 

As some of you might be know, Graham and I have been busy renovating for the past year. Next month we actually celebrate our one year house anniversary! It feels like we've been at this since forever, but on the other hand the time and flown by so fast. It's been really nice sharing some of this renovation journey with you, I just find it lovely to be able to document these special little moments and kind of amplify them as well as keep them safe here in a little time capsule. I get like 4 hits a post so sometimes I really do wonder why I bother ;)

The next big completed milestone for us has been our deck. My Dad built it for us, I tell you what, he's a deck (and balcony) building master, it's an art piece! The wood is all reclaimed, the posts and cross beams are from the same cowrie our fence is made of and the decking is a mix of hard-wood. We just love it!! Not only because it's so beautiful but because it now opens up the space and one can walk around the outside table without feeling like they're going to fall off the concrete slab. 

When I'm down at Normy I especially enjoy day dreaming about te future. It's like a switch goes off in me and all I can do is imagine the green lawn and bigger palms and more painting and what else we can achieve and so on and so on. I am such a planner and list maker and perfectionist and having such a big real project has been great for me I think. It kind of puts all the small piddly stuff I worry about into perspective. With gorgeous weather just around the corner this deck came at just the perfect time. Its a lovely place for reflection, it's the perfect link between the house and the the garden. It's also a great place to entertain; Graham and I really enjoy hosting and having our families together and I think this deck will be the perfect excuse to put the tools down and just take it all in. Hurry up Summer!

Here are some progress photos, some quick phone snaps. As you can see it's not quite finished yet. The sides and step and going to be boxed in and we'll oil the wood aswell. Looking forward to sharing the finished piece.

Adelaide Tea Towels

I am so excited to share with you my most recent project! I've been dreaming of printing onto fabric for about a year now but was never really able to focus on one single idea. After coming runner up in the SaWeekend Youth Cover Competition I received such positive feedback about my illustration I decided to extend its application. I took some of the colours out so as to see more of the lovely fabric colour within the illustration. It's a 75% linen, 25% cotton blend so it feels beautiful. I couldn't be happier with the final outcome. 


If you would like one hanging in your kitchen then head on over to my etsy shop :) 
If you are interested in becoming a stockist please don't hesitate to contact me.

SA Weekend Magazine

This is my entry into the SA Weekend Magazine Youth Cover competition that I entered last month. This illustration was so super fun to put together. The big reveal was last Friday night at the Advertiser building, my entry didn't win, but I was very proud to be runner up.

"Adelaide reminds me of a big kids’ playground; its safe, clean, its accessible and its fun. I love that I can easily walk to and from any of the five squares and along the way be sure to find find fantastic food, architecture, art, coffee and of course a beloved frog cake."

Building a Fence

I want to share with you our new and beautiful fence along the front of our block.We were so lucky to have the other three sides of our block already fenced in when we bought it, but with little Molly and little chickens running around we really needed the front fenced in too. I definately didn't want a packet type fence along the front; i wanted something we could make ourselves and most preferably from recycled materials. We were so lucky to source 16 thick cowrie posts and plenty of second-hand corrugated sheets from which we built it. Yes!

The view from the balcony.

 Haha, happy Graham in Bunnings with the farm gate and cement.

  So much achieved in one day! ;)

Once the first post hole was measured out, the rest came together easily.

Graham just loves digging holes...

   The gate sits in a bit from the road.

 This cute neighbourhood hen comes by to visit the block from time to time.

Lining the drive-way with aggies.

And there you have it! I've since started scattering various succulents like hardy aloe vera along the council strip, and we'll finally get rid of that awful concrete stump next weekend..its just so damn heavy! Just look at the gorgeous colour of the wood, we love it :)

Winter Drinks Mini Series

I've been having lots of fun lately working on a series of Winter drinks illustrations. It's a personal project that I began at the start of winter; an illustrative breakdown of various drink ingredients. I love playing with the colour and composition of all the little fiddly bits required to make the perfect cuppa, stuff we don't really think about as being beautiful or significant in the process. I've got many more ideas on my list that I want to draw, but in the mean time I had these two printed and they look pretty damn cute hanging in my kitchen.

Lemon-honey Tea

Glühwein