New art in the house

This is Bingo, by Erk.

This is Sexy black hamburger, by Maya Hayuk.

And if you're wondering where the Hawaiian postcards went to, they're now in the bedroom.

New sewing project: apple print dress

So rather than addressing the fact that I haven't shown my face around here in quite a while, I'll just get straight into showing you my latest completed sewing project.

A little while ago, my friend Kass (who I've known since I was eight, but not seen since I was twelve) contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in joining her to work on a sewing project. She had an original 1950s dress pattern that she wanted to try out, and I couldn't say no!

We both decided to tackle the view on the left. Kass is also adding the embellishments, but I decided to leave it plain given that I chose a bold fabric. We both made some minor alterations to the bodice, and I also omitted the piped waistband and decided to the bodice directly to the skirt. Here is the bodice in progress.

The bodice was by far the most complicated bit, so I was glad to have that out of the way. However, while the skirt was easy since I've worked with gathers before, it was very time consuming due to the ridiculous volume of fabric. Here is the unfinished dress (no zip or hem) right after I attached the skirt to the bodice.

Finally, once the zip was added and the skirt was hemmed (also very time consuming due to the volume of fabric), it was done! I decided to photograph it with a pop art filter to enhance its brightness.

I've purchased this patent red skinny belt online, as I think it will finish it all off nicely.

This was by far the biggest sewing project I've embarked on, and overall it went very smoothly. It did take me about 12 hours (including cutting the pattern), but I have to say it was well worth it. If I was to make this dress again, I'd definitely remove a lot of the skirt fabric; it's quite heavy (partly due to the canvas-like fabric), so not really suited to Brisbane summer days. That said, I LOVE this dress and will be wearing it every chance I get!

Dinosaur Designs platter

Wow, would you look at those tumbleweeds rolling on through the land of Flying Ducks? It seems that yet again I have been absent, due to a whole range of things happening in my life (a family wedding, sickness, study, work). Thankfully I only have to contend with study for a couple more weeks, so I should be around a lot more!

My best friend recently moved house, and decided to rid herself of her 'red things' in the process. Lucky for me, I love red things! Even luckier still is that I love Dinosaur Designs, and I am now the proud owner of this incredible (and HUGE) platter. I haven't quite worked out a place worthy of its presence just yet, but here is a little peek at its amazingness.

Greetings...

Hello my dear (neglected) readers. I haven't disappeared off the face of the planet. I have been settling in nicely at my new job, so much so that I am no longer asleep on the couch at 8.00 on a Friday night! Therefore, rather than sitting on the nerd box all weekend, I took the opportunity to spend some time catching up with some wonderful old friends and colleagues, many of whom I hadn't seen in a long time. This little furry friend was also there...

This coming long weekend will also be one of relaxation, when I head with my family (sans husband) to Coffs Harbour to pop in and visit my grandparents. I intend to spend my time sitting in the sun catching up on my growing pile of unread magazines.

Until my return, here's a little taster of what's been going on in the Flying Ducks house lately. The office pinboard is still updated on a regular basis (except for a few things that seem to remain there every time I change it!). This is its current incarnation.

 

Farewell gifts

On my last day at my job, I was treated like a princess! It's no secret that I love my cakes, and I was certainly indulged in that department. This is just a small selection of what was provided for morning tea...

Lovely Laura also baked me this platter of amazing brownies!

My colleagues all chipped in to buy me some truly wonderful goodbye gifts. My love of both books and design must be really obvious!

By far the BEST (and most thoughtful) present was this vintage milk glass vase, complete with a red bird print! Followers of this blog will no doubt recognise just how many boxes are ticked by this gift. Apparently this lovely item was hurriedly shipped over from the US. How lucky am I to have worked with such thoughtful people?! 

Magazine storage

I have the day off work today to run some errands and write some of an essay for my second-last university subject (yuck). I popped into the discount store when I was out and about, and found this pretty red spotty box that looked like it needed to come home with me. It's perfect for hiding some of the many magazines I have laying around.

Storage is very important in the Flying Ducks house, as we both accumulate a lot of 'stuff'. Click here for a peek at some of the other storage we use.

 

Thrift store treasure

For the third trip to Toowoomba in a row, I didn't make it to the St Vinnies store that I desperately wanted to visit. I've had some amazing success there in the past, but it closes at 11.30 on a Saturday morning! We left early enough, but didn't account for all the traffic backed up to get onto the range (which currently has a lane closed after the floods). Consequently, we took the Murphy's Creek detour instead, which added 40 minutes to our journey. (But, it did give us the opportunity to see how well the army and emergency services are progressing with the clean-up.)

However, I did manage to stop off at the Lifeline around the corner, which I've had limited success with in the past (such as getting my hands on the ceramic pie dish I used to bake my pavlova). This time, I had one lucky find: this pretty little carafe for $1.50.

I decided to put away the brown bowl that had been sitting on the bench holding pens and rubber bands and other bits and pieces, and it's been replaced with spotty cups and saucers that have been hiding away. My little display sits under the microwave in the right side of the kitchen, which means it's visible from the living area. It's nice to finally have an arrangement there that I'm happy with!

Favourite Things Project: Storage

This week for the Being Tazim Favourite Things Project, the topic is creative organised spaces. As both John and I have a tendency to leave lots of stuff laying around (mostly bits of paper, bills and magazines), we've had to make sure that we have plenty of storage places available to hide it all. I wouldn't say any of them are creative as such; they're just what I consider a necessity!

In the living areas, we have magazine storage boxes under the television cabinet...

...a lockable cabinet to hide all of my study mess in the dining alcove...

...a giant plastic apple to hide little bits and pieces...

...and a vintage Kartell magazine rack which I love dearly.

In the bedroom, we have a couple of old suitcases (the top one holds the drawings and paintings I did as a child, and the bottom one holds yet more magazines)... 

... and a red Pantone canister that holds all of my button badges.

In the office, we have some plastice drawers which I covered with textured wrapping paper (they hide all kinds of random things, most of which probably should be thrown out)... 

...and a Kartell Componbilli unit for all of John's sculpting materials.

And, finally, in the kitchen, I have an assortment of red canisters on the windowsill to keep tea bags and sugar.

 As I currently have a big pile of magazines sitting on one of the side tables, some on the floor and others in piles elsewhere, I should probably invest in more storage boxes sooner rather than later!