Home alone on a Saturday night

What a busy week! Mat's sister and her family came to stay on Thursday and Friday night - so we had an extra 6 bodies in the house. It was great to catch up, have a chat and to see the little ones.

On Friday Mat took his nephew and his nephew's mate to the Big Day Out here in Adelaide (a massive musical festival in 42 degrees celsius weather!). The lucky man got to see a few of my favourite bands including Arctic Monkeys, Dropkick Murphys and Fantomas. Meanwhile, I got to chill out at home in the air conditioning with Zoe, my mum, my nephew and my niece. We had fun playing the x-box, watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and eating coloured popcorn. It was great to hang out with the little ones, it made me excited to think that Zoe will be talking, laughing and running around one day too.

Fast forward to today we saw Mat's sister's family off, I did the grocery shopping, Mat slept on the couch and Zoe spent a good part of the day trying to roll over. Now Zoe is asleep and Mat is out seeing Jackson Firebird play (the band he manages).

If you haven't heard of Jackson Firebird they are an awesome 2 piece aussie rock band. Check out their myspace page. to have a listen to their songs and see their video clip. Ha! That was some shameless promotion if ever I have seen it.

Jackson Firebird Live

Flickr Friday - Breakfast

1. Breakfast is sliced, 2. good morning, schnookums, 3. Whole wheat pancakes, 4. egg still (2/2), 5. donut, 6. Someday, 7. A Bowl of Goodness, 8. new brekky fave!, 9. coffee & the city

Hot, hot, hot

Hot Tap by *Tom*

To say it is hot here would be an understatement. Yesterday we reached 45.7 degrees celsius (114 fahrenheit) and today is 44 degrees. So far the weather bureau has reported that it won't be dipping below 38 degrees in the next week! Poor little Zoe has to sleep in the lounge room during the day because it is so hot.

I am really looking forward to a cool change (whenever that might be), this weather is just plain nasty!

Wednesday Etsy Picks - Red

1. Bloody Monster Mary Jane Shoes by Em & Sprout
2. Dangerously Red T-Rex Dinosaur Print Canvas Tote Bag by Happy Family
3. such a little ladybug by Goose Grease
4. 4-inch Red, Yellow and Paisley Hair Flower by Little Lilies
5. If You Love Something, Set it Free by 3LambsGraphics
6. Sky Scrapers - Miniature Clay Buildings - Set of 2 by the little red door
7. Walking the dog - Set of 4 Hand Printed Napkins by Yunny
8. Red and gray No.2 - Everyday bag by Walking Wardrobe
9. Bernie Dexter Italian Starlet Top in Red Hots by Bernie Dexter's Rockabilly Girl Shop
10. Pet Rock Valentine by Magic Yam
11. Scent Soy Candle - Red Jar by Sweet Surrender Candle
12. pin-tucked primrose by haysie-doodle

Plush Toy - Mission Accomplished

Today I finally finished a plush toy that I started a long, long time ago. I got the pattern out of the Softies book, which I also purchased a long, long time ago. It was quite easy to put together, rather enjoyable really.


As soon as I was finished making the plushie Zoe decided she wanted to have a play with it - so I guess it is hers now. Currently it is sitting in her cot keeping her company. She really likes looking at the face and always tries to put the ears, arms and legs into her mouth. So it is a big hit with the little one.


So far it seems that this year I am actually finishing what I start, it feels great to finally stop procrastinating. Perhaps having a bubba has helped me to get more done in the little free time that I have. Every time she goes down for a nap I race around the house like mad in a cleaning frenzy, then once the house is clean I move onto crafting and creating. I am finally making the most out of my time and it feels great!

Baking Mondays - Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've decided to add one more weekly regular to my blog - Baking Mondays! I'll choose something different to bake each Monday and post up what I baked, a photo of it and what I and others thought of the baked goods.

So this week I baked these little devils...

I used the recipe from exclusively food - but made 1.5 times the mixture and made cupcakes instead of one big cake. The mix made 18 cupcakes. I also made double the frosting mixture, but used about 2/3 of the icing sugar suggested and added more lemon juice instead.

The result? Very yummy! These cakes were nice, moist, and not too sweet. The frosting was very nice also, very light and tangy. In fact Mat tried one and loved it, my mum thought they were great, and both Zoe and Harry the cat were giving the cupcakes a good stare up. I would say these cupcakes were a definite success.

Before I sign off - Happy Australia Day to all! Hope everyone had a fantastic day.

First Etsy Purchase

I did it!! My first ever etsy purchase! 


I got this wonderfully cute embroidery pattern from loopsies. Now I just need to get myself some DMC thread and some linen and get started! I might even get it framed for Zoe's room once I have finished, you can never have enough art work.

Yay!!

Shopping in the city

Today Zoe and I ventured into the city for a day of shopping with my mum. I discovered whilst looking for some new clothes for myself that it is damn hard to find shirts that are suitable for breastfeeding. There are many things you have to take into consideration - easy to pull up for a feed, patterns to hide the leaky boob stains, wide enough straps to hide the ugly maternity bra straps - it is almost impossible to find something that meets all of the requirements. I was lucky enough to find 3 tops, also two pairs of shoes, a skirt and a pair of shorts. A pretty successful shop if I don't say so myself - and to top it all off it was all purchased with a gift voucher that my mum gave me for christmas - thanks mum!!

After a hard day of shopping we sat down for a nice iced chocolate - pity there wasn't actually much chocolate in it :( - oh well the yummy cream on top almost made up for it.

Another thing to report - I am very proud of myself. I said I was going to move on from the planning phase of my craft business and get going on designing my first products, and I actually did start last night. Normally I would procrastinate for a long time before getting to this stage, so yay for me.

Flickr Friday - Organize

Another new regular feature for my blog - a selection of photos from flickr following a certain theme. This weeks theme is ORGANISE, because I love organising and then re-organising everything in my life.

1. red "I AM A SEWING MACHINE" apron, 2. eco address wheel file, 3. Spicy, 4. desk, 5. 19/365 - getting organized, 6. Project, 7. Idea Binder Temporary Index, 8. drawer3, 9. STRIKE!

Business planning and other news

The past few weeks I have been a very busy girl planning my new crafting venture. I can't give away all of the secrets yet, but I think it is safe to say that Clive - the red deer will feature prominently throughout my products. So far I have been doing a bit of research and some forward planning - to make sure that I am not running into this blind.

Here is a list of the planning I have done so far:

• Looked into registering a business name
  
• Looked into registering an ABN
  
• Looked into what tax liabilities I will have
  
• Considered my goals for the business
  
• Worked out what products I want to create
  
• Found suppliers online and in brick and mortar stores
  
• Begun a marketing plan
  
• Worked out a timeline, with goals and objectives for the first 6 months

I think the research and planning phase is officially over now - so I have to actually get into working gear and design some of my products to sell. I'm working off a 5 month plan to get my shop up on Etsy - so I have a lot of work ahead of me. I will keep you posted as I go along with this endeavour.

In other news Zoe is going really well - she will be 14 weeks old tomorrow, so time is really flying by now. She is gooing and gaaing, smiling, almost laughing and she really badly wants to roll over but can't quite get there yet. One of the best gifts that we have been given for her so far has been her bouncinet - she absolutely loves it!!! (Thanks Dad and Liz). I also bought 18 new baby beehinds nappies for her - so that we can almost completely phase out the use of disposables, which I think are a bit ewww!



Also I got my hair cut and it is ultra short!

Wednesday Etsy Picks - Deer

I thought I would start doing some themed weekly posts - and what a better way to start than 'Wednesday Etsy Picks'.

This week I have selected the picks by paying respect to Clive, the red deer himself. So here are 12 etsy picks all themed around deers...

1. 2009 Calendar - mini deers series by Ali Design

2. Bambi hair clip by Siiri Made

3. Stag ring by Dillon Designs

4. Spotted deer standard tote by The Craft Pantry

5. Small deer vinyl decal sticker by Tasty Suite

6. My deer set of 4 jumbo fabric magnets by Paper Pumpkin

7. Baby deer 7 x 8 art print by Sharon Montrose Photographs

8. Oh deer v neck sweater by Designs by Amber

9. A happy gathering by Creative Thursday

10. Ladies are complicated by Alfalfa Love Me

11. Gold antler earrings by Brookadelphia

12. Doe a deer zip pouch - Ity-bity Bags

99 more things about me....

Another fun activity from Elsie Marley's blog...

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band - I am not the most musically gifted.
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis - nope they are creepy.
10. sang a solo - no way!!! I would get major stage fright!!
11. bungee jumped - hell no, way too much of a scaredy cat.
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child - I've already got my family.
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked - nope too dangerous.
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb - I'm really not that interested in lambs.
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon - hehe sounds like torture.
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise - nope I get motion sickness.
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing - I'll let someone else do that for me.
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant - probably not something I would do.
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance - I would rather not.
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling - nope fish scare me, I am such a wussy.
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies - hmmm no.
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving - again way too wussy.
66. visited a nazi concentration camp - ummm no.
67. bounced a cheque - why would anyone want to do that?
68. flown in a helicopter - not overly fussed on this one.
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job - and I would rather not be.
76. seen the changing of the guard in london - don't think that would interest me.
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle - again the wussy in me.
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican - not fussed on this one.
82. bought a brand new car - nothing wrong with second hand cars.
83. walked in jerusalem - not fussed.
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible - couldn't be bothered.
86. visited the white house - not fussed.
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating - I think I would rather not.
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life - I would if I could, but I would prefer not to be in that situation.
90. sat on a jury - I would prefer not to.
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one - do my cats count?
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person - not interested.
96. swum in the great salt lake - nah.
97. been involved in a law suit - I would prefer not to.
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

34 things I have done

32 things I haven't done and don't want to do

33 things I still want to do

Pretty even really :)

12 things about me...

I found this little concept on Elsie Marley's blog, the rules are as follows...

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into big huge labs mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Alicia
2. What is your favorite food? Cheesecake
3. What high school did you go to? Unley High School
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Liev Schreiber
6. Favorite drink? Fire Engine (lemonade and red cordial)
7. Dream vacation? Paris
8. Favorite dessert? Trifle
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Self Employed
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One Word to describe you. Moody
12. Your flickr name. Scary Girl Album