flow magazine ...

... recently discovered a new Dutch magazine called FLOW ... especially for 'paper lovers' !!!  {that's me - i'm a paper freak ...!}

It's filled with wonderful stories... craft ideas and beautiful images ... i LOVE it!

~  just look at some of the covers of this mag ... you HAVE to grab a copy ... no regrets  ~

enjoy ...

~  happy reading  ~

the Casual Vacancy ...

... finally ... i have finished reading The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling.  hmmm, not sure if it's the best book i've ever read, but i guess it was an interesting peek into lives of everyday people and all their troubles...  in a nutshell, it was basically about all the drama that followed after one man (who had a position on the local council) died unexpectedly ... therefore creating a 'Casual Vacancy'.

i'm giving it about a 7 out of ten...  anyone out there read it ??? what did you think?


... and now i'm starting on 'The Time Traveller's Wife'  ... will report back in about 3 months!  i'm pretty slack... usually only get about 5 pages read by the time i get to bed these days... art and officework seems to have taken over.  {which is also totally ok by me }.

~  happy reading  ~

Susana Ferrand - Tenderblue - my featured artist

Susana first popped into my life via Etsy ... I found her beautiful baby clothes online and have admired her work ever since ... I'm so happy she has agreed to let me blog about her tonight!

 

enjoy ...

I´m from Portugal, I live in Matosinhos (Porto), right in front of the beach, with my two sons. Portugal is going through a hard time and my husband had to go work in Ghana. 

My work is being a mom and Tenderblue.   After I finished school, I went to a fashion design course in Porto and I specialized in knitwear. I've always been known for my knitted sweaters, first for adults and when I became a mom I fell in love with baby clothes. 

I'm mother, wife ( a Skype wife ), woman. I love to create, love the sun, the beach, music, good food, I love life. My house is in front of the beach, my sons play guitar, bass, piano and sing, I love to cook. I'm happy and I work because I like it, and I love what I do.

 

all items are available now at Susana's online store - Tenderblue

My style is modern but with a touch of the days of old. I love blogs and blogging. My head is always full of new ideas but the time... you know: "So many ideas so little time"

I try to transmit tenderness in all I do, originality, quality and comfort are very important too. I love the feedback of my clients and I feel very happy when they send me photos. All of my creations are made you much love.

~  find all these beautiful items here ...
Susana's Etsy Store  ~

Join Susana's facebook page

Follow Susana's blog

... happy shopping :-)

sunday is a good day to grout

... so today i managed to grout 4 of my signs (4 to go) and 2 more pendants ... soon to be for sale in my Etsy Store !

My aplogies for the poor colour in the pictures ... had to photograph them tonight as I ran out of daylight and it started raining!!! eek!  Well, the rain is great, but would be nice to get better pics ... maybe tomorrow !

lovely green and pink Welcome with Myott and Staffordshire tiles

aqua 'Guestroom' sign with shabby cottage tiles ...

... so lovely ... pretty blue Scottish tiles with a splattering of Royal Albert in there ...

... lovely Royal Albert 'enchantment' tiles with aqua Guestroom ... still have to fix the grout on this one

... aqua and rose pendant ...

... my current FAVE tiles ... Myott and STaffordshire ...

 ~  love what you do  ~

Valentines Day ... the report from my end ...

... so ... who scored today ???   anyone ??? get anything like this ???

... or this ???

... well don't worry if you didn't ... me either ...

... BUT ... I did manage to score a 'bush bouquet' ... which basically consists of eucalyptus leaves and 'almost blooming Bloodwood tree flowers ... so it's an 'all green' bouquet, but still ... the thought was there.

tonight our kids treated me to a nice massage - actually more like I got a massive amount of karate chopping from 7,8,9 and 10 yr olds!  fun fun ...

... so all in all it's been a pretty good day ... even managed to make a few sales in my Etsy store !!!

 

 

 ... so to finish the day i'm just sharing a couple of my favourite photographs from Etsy ...

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

~  happy Valentines Day  ~

the mummy diaries ...

i read the 'nanny diaries' a while ago and it made me smile ... so often the 'employer' is portrayed as the 'bad guy'

... so readers ... whoever you are ... i need to ask you ... Have you EVER had to hire help before ???  wouldn't it be just 'great' to have your own 'nanny' to 'help out' around your home ???   hmmm ?  Sounds delightful doesn't it ?  Just like having you own private Mary Poppins ...

... tends to conjure up warm fuzzy pictures like this ...

or this ...

... now the reality is ... most of the time you will NEVER get someone like this ...

trying to keep your 'sense of humor' is also important, because if you hire someone quite young ... it's almost like having another child to look after ...  {been there done that}...

we live in a pretty remote place and since i've got housework, garden, officework, homeschooling and occasional outside work to do i definitely need to hire help ... we've had some beauties and some not so great experiences with nannies and now governesses ...

just in case you're still thinking it's all 'roses' for people who hire help ... have a little read of my list below and maybe you'll realise how lucky you are to be able to drop your kids at school and clean your own house from now on...


here are just a  few things I've been told over the years ... and they are all true!!!

"I find reading stories to children emotionally exhausting" - she lasted about 6 days ...

"Ooh ... I love rose gold and diamonds" ...  this one was looking for a husband, and not so interested in our kids development ...

"Oh, I didn't see that cobweb up there the size of Texas ... 'code red' " ... at this point my blood was boiling ...

"Where's the closest gym? "  {we live on a remote cattle property} ... she lasted about 2 months ...

"No I don't have any issues with food, but I don't eat any RED meat" ... {we live on a  CATTLE property and red meat is on the menu every other night ...}

"Sorry I can't play outside with the kids, my skin is sensitive to mosquitoes" ...  Jesus  - eye rolling moment ...

"Who is Rod Stewart? and does he sing or something? "  ... Oh My God ... I felt like a granny that day ...

the fantastic Mr Rod Stewart ...

... then there were the babysitters we hired for a 'day job ' if we were away at a meeting ... one day, this girl turned up with her iphone and continued to text her friends all day and clean out the fridge while getting over her hangover ... 'not happy Jan' ...

... thankfully we don't need to hire nannies anymore and my sincere thanks to those wonderful girls we did have working here ... they all know who they are because we keep in touch...

so there's the 'mummy' spin on the whole nanny hiring business ...  love to hear if you have ever had any interesting experiences ...

 ... footnote:  currently have a lovely English girl helping in the schoolroom and around the house - what a breath of fresh air she is and the kids love her  ...    happy days are here again ...

~  stay positive ~









"

things i love ...

... mosaic tiles ... postcard fabric ... royal albert plates ... shabby chic lock ...

~ discovering on Etsy ~