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.

 

Merry (early) Christmas!

Tomorrow morning we're off to Toowoomba for Christmas with John's family, followed by Coffs Harbour next week with my grandparents. I doubt there will be much blogging taking place during that time, and I'm certainly not organised enough to have scheduled posts in advance.

So, instead of my posts, how about reading some of these Christmassy blogs instead?!

Tracey at Quiet Paws has been posting a few Christmas-related treats this week (including an adorable washi tape bow tutorial and pictures of her handmade cards).

Images: Quiet Paws

Charlotte over at Lottie Loves has been profiling very pretty gift wrap and cards as well as other Christmas goodies.

Image: Country Living via Lottie Loves

Image: Nice Package Gift Tags via Lottie Loves

And, finally, Julie from Olive & Joy has just launched her online pop-up store in preparation for the 'real' thing coming soon! It might be a little late to buy something in time for Christmas, but there are some fabulous gift ideas nevertheless. I am hiding my credit card from myself... now.

Image: Olive & Joy

Happy Christmas to all my lovely Flying Ducks readers!

Melbourne wrap up - and farewell for now!

John and I arrived back in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon after spending the previous five days in Melbourne. We spent the weekend hanging out with our friends from Studio Pounce in Fitzroy, Collingwood and Northcote, and even managed to squeeze in a half-day visit to Melbourne Zoo (yay! giraffes!) before the party at Walsh Street House on Saturday night. On Sunday we enjoyed roast night, pool and ping-pong to celebrate our friend’s birthday at the Panama Dining Room.

Image: Panama Dining Room

On Monday morning I woke up with a terrible cold that it still with me, but nevertheless we made our way to the city for a couple more days of Melbourne fun. We spent a lot of time wandering through the streets and laneways, and ate many a meal in Centre Place and Degraves Street. We had MANY recommendations from locals, so it was very easy to find excellent food and coffee.

Images: The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

We also spent quite a bit of time looking at art, and visited the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI for most of Tuesday (our main reason for delaying our honeymoon). We also had a brief visit to the Städel exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, and, of course, we checked out the full Shag exhibition at Outré Gallery. We also popped in to check out the State Library of Victoria. Check our their reading room!

Image: Black Holes and White Walls

I also managed to fit in a little bit of shopping before heading home. I managed to find The Cat’s Meow in Cathedral Arcade, which sells really lovely locally designed clothing. I treated myself to a Berserk top, although I could have bought so much more. I also found a cute little accessories store called Little Salon where I bought myself this little Love necklace (in red). I already have a couple of Love pieces, so another one doesn’t hurt! John also bought me a brooch with a computer on it — somehow I think he might have been having a dig at me. :)

Image: Love

Now is the time for me to sign off for a week. I’ve managed to raise almost $800 for Plan Australia to help the flood victims in Pakistan, so I’m honouring my commitment and logging off for a week starting tomorrow morning. The appeal is still open for those who still wish to help out (I’ve also updated the information and included a new video from Plan about their work). Bye for now!

Back from Walsh Street House

As mentioned a little while ago, John and I managed to score tickets to an exclusive cocktail party at Robin Boyd's Walsh Street House, hosted by Outré Gallery to celebrate Shag's latest Australian exhibition. On Saturday night in Melbourne we attended said party, and it was fabulous! In addition to finally meeting Jenny Butler from Apartment Therapy, we also got to meet the artist himself and plaster our behinds all over the Featherston furniture. Here I am pondering what book I might choose to read on my Featherston chairs.

Guests were permitted to drink their mojitos whilst sitting on this furniture. Crazy, I know. Here are a couple of pieces other I admired during my three hours in the house.

Tony from the Robin Boyd Foundation took the time to explain the history of the house. It was apparently intended to be used as a party house, which means all the lovely guests dressed in their mid-century attire were indeed permitted to enjoy our surroundings (although drinks were not permitted in the upstairs living room, presumably due to the fact that the floor disappears at the room's edges and could result in some nasty drunken accidents).

Thank you to Gemma and Martin from Outré Gallery (and also Shag) for allowing us the rare opportunity to enjoy this wonderful house. Check out Shag's Dickie bird work inspired by the house. I'm strongly considering making a purchase. 

Image: Outré Gallery

For more images of the party, visit Gemma's Flickr page.

Inside Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street House

I am VERY excited to report that when John and I visit Melbourne at the end of next week, we’ll be attending a very exclusive party at Robin Boyd’s fabulous Walsh Street House. The party, organised by Outré Gallery is hailed as a ‘mid-century soiree’ and will include none other than American artist Shag.

So, in honour of this party and Shag’s latest visit to Australia, here are some pictures inside the glorious Walsh Street House in South Yarra. Boyd designed this home for his family to reside in back in 1958, and it’s now considered to be one of the architectural icons of Australia. It goes without saying that I’m very excited to be able to attend a party in this house (not to mention the fact that I’ll be meeting the lovely Jenny Butler from Apartment Therapy there!). For more information about Robin Boyd’s work, visit the Robin Boyd Foundation website.

Images: Robin Boyd Flickr

Back in the real world!

Well, now I’m back at work after eight lovely weeks off. And, while I did my fair share of lazing around the house not achieving much (ahem, three seasons of 30 Rock), I also managed to achieve some constructive stuff (including some things on my 2010 to do list!).

Aside from the big event of getting married to my lovely husband, the painting of our bathroom is now all but complete, aside from a few edges. I’ll expand on that hopefully this weekend once I’ve managed to take some decent photos. And, of course, our stunning planation shutters were installed in the living room and bedroom. That’s two things struck off the to-do list!

I also decided that my more formal ongoing studies (a Bachelor of Arts with a triple major in Literary and Cultural Studies, Film Studies and Australian History) were not enough, so I enrolled myself in an interior decoration course. I’m not really looking at following this as a career path, but simply looking to improve my skills in this area. I decided to go with the Brisbane-based Beaumont School of Interior Design and Decoration, run by Tracie Dunne. Even though I am enrolled as an external student, Tracie was kind enough to let me sit in on one of her classes during my time off.

If anything, my studies will certainly help my blogging activities, I hope! And, who knows? Maybe one day I’ll marry my newly acquired skills with my years of editing and publishing expertise and land a prestigious position with Inside Out or Real Living!

Crafty minx...

Just when I was starting to feel like I was well and truly wasting my last week of freedom before returning to work next week after two whole months off, I discovered my crafty side. I'm not the craftiest person in the world; in fact, I don't even come close. I have grandiose plans of learning how to sew (once I learn how to thread the machine properly), and I've dabbled in some very basic knitting and crochet, but that's where it ends.

In my first week of leave I purchased ten canvas tote bags and attempted, unsuccessfully, to use the Sukie iron-on transfers I got for Christmas. The failure wasn't entirely my fault - the fabric browned (i.e. started to burn) under the iron, and the canvas was not very good at bringing out the colours of the graphics. Fail.

So, with eight tote bags left, I decided to do something else within my limited cabability. I rummaged through John's art supplies and found some leftover acrylic and a brayer, and then wandered around the yard looking for some patterned leaves. And, behold, here is my leaf tote bag protoype!

It worked! The next step was to get some more paint and buttons, so I ventured off to Toombul to find some. The Lincraft there was a huge disappointment, but I found what I needed at the newsagent and the discount store (including some coloured waxed cord). I collected some more leaves on the walk home, and then made some more!

This next one is a little bit smudgy...

And this one is probably my favourite. It's not quite centred, but the detail transferred perfectly!

What do you think? Amateur? Or can I officially (finally) call myself a crafty minx?

New purchases from last weekend

Although our trip to the Gold Coast didn't go entirely as planned (with one of the ladies unable to come due to a dental emergency), it was still fabulous, with another friend filling in for a day.

In addition to the great food, bluebottle stings and creepy apartment manager, there was our visit to Found Furniture at Palm Beach. This place is amazing, and I wanted to buy every piece of furniture in the place. The Arco lamp. The red Eames rockers. The sideboards. Everything was stunning, and everything was to my taste. Alas, I knew what kind of discussion would ensue if I brought ANY furniture home, so I decided to compromise with some cushions. Big, fat white and red ones.

They are incredibly beautiful, and incredibly comfortable. I love them to death.

Our trip is going to be rescheduled hopefully for sometime in late April or early May - after I get this wedding business out of the way! I will definitely be returning to Found, and maybe I'll just find the courage to check the price tag on that Arco lamp. How I'll get it home I have now idea...

Gold Coast... NAKED

This weekend I'm heading to the Gold Coast with two very special ladies. All three of us are in the process of undergoing significant change in our lives which, in short, means we all need a weekend tropical vacation. It looks like we may be in for a rainy weekend, but that will sure as hell not stop me from swimming in the heated pool just so I can wear my new bathing suit.

Yesterday this amazing little booklet was brought to my attention: Naked City Guide. It is all about the COOL side of the Gold Coast, not the tacky, Ugg boot, gambling, dark-roots-with-white-hair side of the Gold Coast. Check it out. I think I might track down a copy of this $10 beast and see what low-cost and fun adventures we can find.

Images: Naked City Guide

Oh, and Naked was designed by the talented Bec Worth - a Gold Coast resident and former colleague of mine. Check out her portfolio at You Would Love This.