The Reveal

... and I say 'the reveal' because I cannot find my before pictures! You'll have to use your imagination, but when we purchased our two butterfly chairs (from ebay of coarse) they were covered in white chippy paint, and not in a good way in a bad way, they also had a lot of rust.

They had no covers and I immediately knew I wanted to use them inside so, after having them rust proofed and painted, we opted to cover them in cowhide. We used Adam's Allstyle Upholstery - the team were really professional and new exactly what I wanted.

As you may guess, we love cowhide - it's really really child friendly as all spills just run off. There was enough cowhide left over to have four floor cushions made up too ..... now I just need to figure out where I'm going to put all this new furniture! Eventually I want both the chairs to sit side by side, but for now they are apart in separate rooms.

We are thrilled with the results, and just love our new chairs! What do you think?
Hope you all have a great weekend lined up. Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

As you all know I love bringing you a new designer every week. I get so excited to find a new Australian talent, and am often amazed at their creativity. This weeks designer is no exception.

Quail & Co are also fellow BrisStylers who love to mix vintage and new to create a unique upstyled look.

I just love their super cute shoes .....

And their jewellery ....

A complete range of their designs can be viewed via their Etsy store.
Enjoy.
Michelle

Fallen out of love?

I was just flicking through the latest issue of Ikea Family Live, and besides all the lovely homes they feature (and every time I say to myself "that can't be ikea") they had this hilarious article about falling out of love with your home. Here is an exert from the article:-

"You've been together a long time. A long, long time. But suddenly, you've realised there's no spark, and you feel like the fire's gone out. After all, when you're not actually lighting a fire in your fireplace, you're obviously not enjoying time spent around it. As you walk around the void you deludedly call home, you might notice some signs that scream "hey, where is the love?".
taken from Ikea Family Live winter 2011

The article goes on to talk about preferring to be apart from your home as the relationship starts to die ..... it got me wondering, what do you do to bring back the spark in your home? For me it's new cushions (I have cupboards full of them), and perhaps a visit to ebay or the local second hand shop for a bit of an added eclectic injection. Lets face it we can't love everything about our home all the time - can we?

Michelle

Racecourse Raod Carnival

Just wanted to do a little advertising for the Racecourse Road Carnival that is coming up on 5th June. Those of you who live in Brisbane will know that Racecourse Road is a beautiful little coffee strip located in Ascot. What you may not know is that the carnival, formally known as the Racecourse Road Street Party (started in 1993), is back after a two year break!

The Carnival will block off Racecourse Road, run from Beatrice Terrace to Lancaster Road, then through the gates of historic Eagle Farm Racecourse … and into the Eagle Farm Fresh Food Markets. There will be over 120 stalls (of which I am happy to say I will be one), street entertainers, live music, children's entertainment, and of coarse all the gorgeous stores, cafes and bars along the strip will be open too.

What: The Racecoarse Road Carnival
When: 5th June 2011
Where: Racecoarse Road, Ascot
Time: From 9am to 5pm
Entry: Free

I'm really looking forward to participating in the Carnival with the lovely team at BrisStyle. It should be a really fun day out for the whole family ..... so mark it in your diary, I'd love to see you there!
Michelle

p.s. I think I have a lot of work to do between now and 5th June in preparation!

Wednesday Wicked Design

Hi everyone. Today I thought I would share my wonderful friend Michelle's designs with you. Some of you may already know Michelle as she has a business and blog under the name Sprout Gallery. What you may not know is that a few weeks ago she launched her beautiful artwork in her madeit store.

Some of my favourites are ....

anything but lonely

blue and white ming vase

little red and pink circle tree

three little soldier boys

Michelle has been designing for a number of years, whether it be under her own graphic design label, or designing her gorgeous artworks.

Some designs are sold as prints and others are originals. I love the way she designs for boys, girls and grown-ups too! I have been lucky enough to collect a few of Michelle's designs over the years for my girls' bedrooms and my home.

Michelle's blog is a wonderful account of her life journey, art and inspirations. She is really really friendly too, so if you haven't visited Sprout Gallery before I know she would love to hear from you!

Hope you are all having a great week. Michelle
p.s. Michelle has a giveaway on where you can win one of her gorgeous prints - enter here

from here

Finally the kids are asleep and I can do a little post for the day.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day yesterday. I spent the day with a couple of friends enjoying a few (too many) glasses of bubbly whilst munching on divine rocky road.

Thought I would share the recipe with you as I made this for Easter too instead of buying myself any eggs.

250g marshmellows
200g raspberry lollies
250g salted roasted peanuts
375g dark chocolate melts (you could also use milk or white if you wish)

Roughly chop marshmellows (or buy the small ones like I do) and raspberries and combine with peanuts. Melt chocolate as per instructions on the pack and mix through thoroughly. Spread straight into a foil lined tray (shape of your choice). Refrigerate.

Oh, and the 'secret ingredient' is the salt on the peanuts! The salt and the chocolate make this quite different to a lot of over the counter rocky road.

Thanks Lou for passing on this simply scrumptious recipe!

The only problem is now that Easter is definitely over ..... I can't stop making it!!

Enjoy.
Michelle

In The Studio

Hi everyone, hope you are having a wonderful week and are getting ready for a great weekend!
Unfortunately my oldest is home sick today, I'm just hoping that she is better for the weekend.

Thought I would share with you some artwork I have put in to my madeit store this week ....

hearts a flutter


a famous ballerina

snow white flutterbies

Cinderella

I am busy getting ready for the next market, and hope to have more artwork along with my usual items for sale.
I have lots of new ideas ..... it's just finding the time to do anything with them ... I'm sure you know what I mean!

Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

screen printed shoulder bag

This weeks Wednesday Wicked Design features fellow Bris-Style designer Helen of Paluma Print. From her studio in Redcliffe, Helen produces hand screen printed designs inspired by Australian Flora and Fauna. Each design is screen printed onto fabric and turned into beautiful handbags, purses, tea towels, place mats and aprons.

Some of my favourites from her etsy store are ...

screen printed linen place mats

screen printed cafe apron

screen printed linen place mats

screen printed purse

Each of her designs are accompanied by a description of the plant or animal that inspired the design which I think is such a lovely touch. And the name ... Helen says that Paluma is the name of a small village set in the tropical rainforest near Townsville, north Queensland, which is where she began screen-printing in the Eighties.

Helen also has a blog where she records the progress of her business, and her life of craft and creativity. It shows her latest creations and is a wonderful read.

Hope you are having a fantastic week.
Michelle