chai tea

fall is a time of change and i wanted to get my kitchen painted happy colours before it's here...so i painted it pink! the colour scheme is inspired by flower tea which i love dearly.

 pink with cream accents which is also the same colours as my hair right now! my hairdresser said my hair looked like it had been dyed with flowers and tea which is fine by me.

 here is a recipe i've used for chai tea from scratch for quite a few years now. it tastes great, warms you up from the inside and makes your place smell great, i'm a little obsessed...

6 tbs honey
1 tsp ground cardamon
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp mace

pinch ground cayenne

3 tsp vanilla

3 cups water

1 tea ball of favourite tea leaves

combine everything and bring to a boil. turn burner to low and simmer 10 min. let stand and cool. strain spices and tea leaves and store in a glass jar in the fridge. shake well before serving. serve by adding 1/2 cup chai with 1/2 cup milk (i prefer almond) hot or cold. 

~HAPPY FALL~

                                                                                                             ♥

crafting

i've been doing a lot of crafting lately, i made a bird mobile...

and hung it above ayas bed...

 

 i stumbled upon the idea here... http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/2008/05/16/bird-mobile/

and you can download the pattern here...  http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/birdpattern1-1.pdf

i made a doll for alice and a doll for aya. they didn't turn out how i was expecting them to, they're more like little aliens but aya loves hers!

 i've been making more owls...

i decided it was time to start doing more upholstery, it's one of my favourite things to do; taking something old and turning it into something new. i found this beat up old chair at a garage sale and had to have it. i wish i had a before picture, but here it is now post refinishing and recovering...

and these are pillows i made for aya, i had to get this fabric when i saw it!

lots more crafty things to come <3

sanaun islands

we just got back from a yachting trip to sucia island (one of the sanaun islands). 

aya hated her life jacket!

we hiked around half of the island

it took awhile but one of my favourite parts of being a mom is cuddling aya till she falls asleep...aya & her sleepy bunny <3

aya & isabella

here are some photos from this summer in a westend park with aya and isabella...

♥happy summer♥

i ♥ crafts

i've been feeling so inspired this spring & doing lots of crafting. here are some boxes i made, i can always use more boxes for my trinkets...

i would like to note that the lid of this box is a collage of paint, lace and the piece of art is by anahata katkin. i almost bought one of her paintings in hawaii but got a book of her art instead...i am in love with it! you can check out her stuff at http://anahata.typepad.com/my_weblog/

 i drilled some knobs on and the boxes tie shut with lace

every spring i plant new life, this spring i decided i will only plant lavender and lots of it. it loves the sun and i face west with a huge wall of windows so it makes sense and will smell lovely.

 and i made a family of owls for aya. i used cotton prints and linens. she loves them! i think babies love stuffies with big eyes

happy spring!

 

cherry blossoms

spring is finally here and i'm lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood where the streets are covered with cherry blossom trees...when i'm not at home crafting and taking care of aya we're usually out on one of our long walks...when i walk down the streets here i usually walk looking up, it is so beautiful it inspired me to make a short film, it's like a meditation tape but visuals instead, i'll be posting a link soon.

i love when the grass and streets turn pink with cherry petals...

 aya loves cherry blossoms too!

  out on one of our walks

jamie and i discovered a photo booth down the street from where we live so we'll be making family photo booth pictures a tradtion

 

oh yah, someone has started crawling!

enjoy the rest of spring!!! ♥  

art fusion

jamie and i finished our art fusion piece! its acrylic and ink on a 48" x 30" canvas. the sunset was referenced from a sunset on the coast of napoli italy, the tree was inspired by the old trees in sherwood forest england...the trees there all look like they have faces. and the swans..because swans are beautiful..so why not. here's the finished piece and a couple of in progress shots

i've  got a few other large scale paintings in the works right now. solo, so way less challenging. the most challenging part of painting at this point in my life is finding the time, hopefully pictures will be posted soon!