I have a craft room...

We bought our house 7 years ago. A great location, great bones and a very blank canvas. We had a plan. Live in it for 5 years then renovate. 2 years in the nearly 100 year old roof, in original condition, couldn't take any more patching up and needed replacing. We knew the time had come, albeit earlier than anticipated, to go into design mode and get it all happening. Our plan was to extend out the back and to add a second level. My head went into over drive with all the possibilities.

One thing that was high on my wish list was my very own space, a craft room. And I scored the best room in the house for it, our old bedroom.

Now 18 months down the track, the decorating of the whole house is almost complete and with only a few more jobs to do, we are in love with our gorgeous home and the expense and, at times heartache, was totally worth it. I have a beautiful space that I can call my very own, lots of light, lots of room, a desk, shelving for some of my favourite bits and bobs, a sofa bed for "overflow guests" (we have a spare room with a queen size bed but we often need more sleeping space!) that is really comfy to lie on to read a book, the exercise bike is in here and all my weights as well, so I guess it almost doubles as a home gym ;) - and hugely important for any crafter - lots of storage space! I love it. I am hopeful that 2014 is much quieter than this year has been and that I will be able to get in here to actually enjoy the space and get some crafting/study/fun stuff happening!

Decorating - Ballet Style

So, with the building and fit out almost complete, the time has come to seriously think about the decorating aspect of the renovation. First off the mark are the girls bedrooms.

You may recall the youngest Miss of the house desperately wanted a mermaid room, complete with blue walls "as the mermaids live under the sea Mum!". The older Miss really wanted a ballerina room. "How fun!" thinks the Mum picturing a fun, bright ballet themed room, "but where on earth will I find mermaid fabric?". Turns out that the mermaid themed room was VERY easy, ballet themed room, not so much. You see all the ballet fabric is light pinks, not a lot that screams bright around at all. Older Miss really wanted hot pink walls - we let her have one feature wall only as the colour was REALLY bright. I eventually found quite a funky lamp that was quite literally a hot pink tutu with bright tulle in lime, purple and aqua. We already had a bright coloured chandelier (read about that and the mermaid fabric here) but no fabric. I was resigning myself to a quilt that had all the colours in it but was not ballet themed as such. After all the fun I had picking the mermaid fabric, colours, lamp and even having a painting done for the youngest Miss, I was very disappointed I was not going to be able to do the same for older Miss.

Today was one of those holiday days where we all felt like lazing around and doing a whole lot of not much. The painters and their oil based paints put those plans to rest when the fumes became a little too much for us all.

Right! I think, I need to choose a light for the girls bathroom and I need backing and binding for the current WIP I am focusing on! First up to the village for sushi as a sweetener and then after promising a play in the park with friends at the end of the afternoon we headed off to Calico and Ivy, thinking we would then go to my favourite lighting and hardware shop. Who can go into Calico and Ivy and come out with only what was on the list? And I did have a little list (the backing and binding fabrics, a couple of crochet hooks and perle thread). I thought I might as well choose a few little fabrics that tie in with the colours in Zoe's room and add that to my list of WIP's for this year as it really does need to be done sooner rather than later. 5 or 6 fabulous fabrics sitting on the counter, still looking looking for what I could add and I mention to the lovely lady who works there, Donna, about not being able to find ballet fabrics that will achieve the look I want. General chit chat, a couple more bolts of fabrics on the counter and suddenly Donna spies some new fabric that happened to be absolutely fabulous and totally irresistable, and perfectly ballet. I am in love! Not very bright but I am an adaptable type of person and all I had to do was convince Miss 7 and have a total, and quick, rethink of the ballet themed room. Oh wow, this fabric is divine! Check this bundle of gorgeousness out!

And look at all those yummy co-ordinating fabrics just begging to be made into a quilt for one gorgeous little girl! And with that very excited mummy who recently fell in love with crochet, what little girl can be without a co-ordinating throw rug for the end of her bed?

So...with bags in hand, we jump into the car and we head to the lighting shop. All the while I am thinking how can I make this work with the lamp and light fitting I have. Yikes, it won't! But this fabric is just too divine, the bedroom with the charcoal carpet, hot pink walls and gorgeous antique brass bed will look just amazing with the fabric thrown in. I KNOW! I will sell the lamp and light fitting and choose something new. Knowing full well the man of the house would not be overly impressed with this idea I chose the bathroom light first...and chose the cheaper option of the 2 I liked and decided Zoe had to have a clear glass chandelier with some pink crystals on it. Hmm, a lamp I think to myself as I walk out of the store - across the road from my favourite lighting and hardware store is No Chintz - woo hoo, Brilliant they can make a lamp shade from the gorgoeus new fabric and I will pop it onto the old off white lamp base sitting in the cupboard from Ikea. Successful, brilliant and expensive afternoon...but my won't that Miss 7's room look sensational when it is done. As I sign off to go and start the crochet rug and think about the quilt design I will just push to the back of my head the fact that I now have to put a coloured chandelier and tutu lamp on ebay and that I will probably lose money on it....But won't that bedroom look great!

2012 ? What? So soon? Yikes!

Where on earth did 2011 go?

What happened to my normal life?

What happened to blogging?

Renovation renovation renovation - seemed to be the word of the year for 2011. To say that the renovation consumed me, would probably be an understatement. Real life was put on hold. Reading slowed, craftiness was almost at a standstill, exercise was totally inconsistent, some nights I think the kids only just got fed (well, that could be a slight exaggeration!).

2012 is the year of ME!

Time to get back into routine, back into consistent exercise, lose that blasted 5kgs I have talked about for years, and time to craft! With the internal renovation just about finished (the new section that is) and the smallest one of the family off to school, 2012 will be the year of recovery, re-igniting passions and getting back in the game!!!

As we have started to unpack the garage I have come across tubs and tubs and tubs of fabrics and amongst these many WIP's! The lovely AJ over here at AJ's Antics has kicked off a WIP 12 month challenge which you can read about here. Oh me, oh my!! So perfect for getting back onto the quilting bandwagon and ploughing through some of the WIP's that have been hanging around for years and years. In fact, January's WIP is to put together some hand stitched blocks that were my first ever foray into quilting! See below for more on that! Over the next couple of days I will photograph my WIP's and blog my list! I still have a couple of tubs to look through (hangs head with red face!)

To help me get back into the swing of things I have signed up to round 1 of Michelle Bridges 12wbt. A 12 week body transformation program. And I am going to kick butt. Pre-season starts in 9 days and I can not wait!

I will also start my 2012 book reading challenge up again. I am currently reading Tracey Wickham's autobiography and am really enjoying it. I have also joined a book club. An old high school friend who now lives in London has started it up, there are a few of us and we are spread all over the world - London, Sydney, Munich, Hong Kong, Wagga Wagga. Where else? I am sure there were other places as well. We are going to do it all by email. I am super excited as I have always wanted to join a book club but with Dave's travel and having to rely on sitters when he wasn't around I was always a little nervous about letting people down. This way I can actually do it. We have all ordered our book and will post more about that once we get into it!

I will also blog more frequently than I did last year. So please leave me a comment so I know I am not talking to myself!

For now I am off to keep on hand stitching my January WIP. I went to a quilting class way back in early 2006 when I wanted to learn to quilt. I just picked some pretty fabrics and then realised it was all to be done by hand! So I am going to hand stitch the 4 blocks together, sandwich and hand quilt, machine sew the binding on, stitch it down, pop the label on and then who knows what I will do with it. It matches nothing in my house and I am not sure if I even like it much. BUT as it was my first attempt those few years back I feel I should hang onto it. We will see!!

Successes and Failures

I feel on the reno front we are finally winning. The builder is aiming to have the house finished for Christmas (garage, pool, front and back yard will follow in 2012 and be finished by mid year).

Yesterday was an insanely hectic day. At 7am, my phone pinged with a text message. The builder had the baths sitting on his truck and wanted me to inspect them before they struggled with the weight of them into the upstairs section. And then it didn't stop the entire day. By 3pm I had a splitting headache. I had negotiated with a number of suppliers on prices and ordered taps, toilets, the remaining appliances and basins. I did walk throughs with the electricians and plumbers. I talked with the builder about staircases, balustrading, moving doorways, placements of fittings in bathrooms. I watched the 6.5 metres of sliding doors go in as well as being delighted to see some windows were installed. The kitchen guy came to measure up and finalise everything. At 3.30pm I took beers out to the boys and told them they were not to call me, text me or ask me any more questions as I was over it for the day. I then met up with a neighbour and her kids over at the park to take some time out. I am really loving this process and feel proud of the success I have had with project managing it, and what I have learnt but yesterday was full on...

With all of this going on, my dear husband away for 2 weeks, us being away plus it being school holiday my 12wbt has totally fallen off the radar. I have not exercised in a week, too many treats (the break out on my face is a dead giveaway) and I feel like a hefferlump! I am trying so hard not to beat myself up and be realistic about the situation but I really am a routine girl at the end of the day, and if that routine is thrown out - then all the wheels fall off! I have a 10km run coming up on 6th November that I need to train for , this afternoon I will head out to pound the pavement for a few k's just to get back into the groove and then I need to knuckle down and do some training for it. A couple of weeks ago I went to a run clinic and that was super interesting. I have scheduled an appointment with the running guru Kaz of Mind Body Motion Fitness to delve deeper into my running and how I can improve it to do a ...wait for it.. half marathon next year. I was hoping for May but it looks like we will be in Ireland and Malta for a few weeks around that time so I will be aiming for September ...how can I fail when I have a whole year to plan and train! Next year I am hoping to join a run club somewhere near by to train with others.

So, the plan of attack is tomorrow afternoon to take my few hours to schedule and shop, smash at least 1000 cals, remeasure and weigh myself and to jump right back on the wagon and start again. You see, what would make me a real failure is if I don't start again and just carry on the way I have the past week or so. I am looking forward to my routine and feeling fabulous again! I still have 8 weeks to make a real difference!

Happy weekend everyone x

Fabulous finds

For years there have been a number of "housey" things that I have dreamt of owning.

The Gladstone Bag that recently came to live with us was one of those items. On the way home from my parents place last week I dropped in here. Usually a bad move as I rarely come out empty handed. It is months since I visited. My brother in law lives just around the corner and I have to show considerable restraint when ever we are visiting them as I get the urge to run around the corner to take a peek at this wonderful emporium of antique, old and vintage yumminess!

On this last visit, I was "fortunate" enough to become the proud owner of the following;

1. Gladstone Bag
2. Cast iron and brass Kitchen Scales circa 1900
3. Bakelite phone circa 1940's

Fancy that, all 3 hankered after items in one fell swoop!

As we are very limited with storage space at the moment the store was kind enough to store them for us until we are at lock up stage (hopefully only another couple of weeks) but I did manage to take a happy snap of the phone before they packed it up, I was not quick enough with the scales!

Decisions, decisions!

My head is full of paint colours, tiles, caesar stone, marble, window locks, internal doors, appliances, tap ware, lights, sinks and toilets.

We had a pretty definite idea of what we wanted when we embarked on this renovation, but within that there are SO MANY choices. Phwoar, it makes for a hectic life right now. Busy, but fun!

There are little piles of folders, catalogues and samples on top of our filing cabinet. As things are chosen and ordered, samples are returned to suppliers or filed and then we move onto the next thing. The list at one stage seemed endless and I wondered how on earth would I ever choose anything, but we are getting down to the business end of things and we are happy with what we have chosen so far! This week I will finalise the new appliances, tiles, taps and toots and then all that needs to be done is choose carpet, outdoor pavers, waterline tiles and finish for the pool, a new letterbox and determine floor board stain. The tiles need to go back to the supplier as the builder has all required info. The man of the house is insisting on a new tv and surround sound system, but I am staying well out of that one, he can take care of that!

Thankfully, said man of the house and I are totally on the same page when it comes to finishes and decoration of this house, so he has really only gotten involved if I am unsure of something or it is a budget issue (well to be fair he does have an accountancy background!). We are still sitting within budget 8 months in so I have been able to get all of my first preferences to date....we will see how this goes as we get further along towards the end!

See you tomorrow xxx

Anyone for Pole Dancing?

This is what our living room looks like. When the roof came off, this part of the ceiling dropped. The builders are not concerned as when we move into the new part, they will move into the old part to restore and renovate. Once the upstairs joists have gone in these will be removed as the ceiling will be considered secure again.

Progress

The roof of the original part of the house was due to come off today but it is raining...this is the 2nd time it has been put off. The forecast for next week is fine, so here is hoping....In the mean time we are slowly but surely making progress and whilst we are so far behind due to the bad weather, the builder is still hopeful we can be in for Christmas!

This is standing in the entertaining area looking in...

The staircase the builders made so they have easy access to the 2nd story. My girls were very disappointed that it was not the stair case to their new bedrooms!

Standing in the family room corner looking to the kitchen

Standing in the dining room, looking out

Entertaining area looking to window seat and where pool will be

Amazing What A Trench can do for Excitement Levels!

Finally the weather has been kind to us...and we have progress.

The footings are being dug as I type. I can see where some walls will go! I feel like something is really happening and it is not feeling quite so surreal as it has done until now. We are all coping really well with our makeshift living arrangements, even Zeus is very settled with it all. We are thankful for some wonderful family friends that have him for us when we are not at home though in case he does get stressed.

Some serious dirt has been removed from our backyard. We have really tried to make a sloping block flat and it feels like we will achieve what we set out to do. That high wall still needs to come down about 20cm, and with 4 metre wide steps it will create a really open feel rather than a huge wall hitting you as you walk out of the house. It has taken 30+ truck loads of dirt so far and there is still a load of dirt to be taken from the block.

I am so excited!!!

Mermaid Mania

Miss Ciára is obsessed with Barbies and Mermaids. Talking about their new bedrooms when the reno is finished Ciára announced that she would like a mermaid quilt to match her pink walls and coloured chandelier. You can imagine how thankful I was that it was mermaid and not Barbie taht she requested! Zoe will be having a ballet theme in her room. Anyway, these are the lights that will be in the girls rooms;

and this is the Mermaid fabric I bought online...
and I know this is not good but I can not find the website I bought it from and I deleted all email history after it arrived....Yikes, sorry!

A Room with a View

A day of rain puts an excavation behind about 2-3 days. Our sloped block and the type of dirt we have doesn't do us any favours either.

Digger Ralph tried yesterday, he really did, but neither the bob cat or excavator could get any traction at all. The bobcat fishtailed all the way up the block to the backyard, when after 45 mins he gave up, and took the bob cat and went to another job.

At least now we can see the levels and the space we will have.

The builder tells me that Murphy's Law states that when an excavation is being done or a roof is being taken off then it will rain!!! With the Man of the House being Irish I guess it was definitely bound to happen.

Rain is forecast all next week, we have everything crossed that the weather man has it all wrong!

Even If We Wanted To...

there is no going back now....


I hardly slept a wink last night, had a lot of nervous anticipation going on!!!! So relieved it is finally started and it will be moving forward to being finished! We are sick of our catch phrase of "when the hosue is done" already.

Ex-ca-va-tion - Woohoo!!

Just reminds of that great U2 song - Elevation! Please allow me to indulge in my silliness!

We have about 4-5 times that dirt to come out, just waiting on he engineer. Sigh!
Friends have nicknamed the pile of dirt "Uluru of (our suburb)".

We now have more of a visual of where the house will stop, the retaining wall for the entertaining area as well as how much of a yard we will have left. So far so good, and we are happy with it all.

Now to get a move along please Mr Engineer as we are all willing and able!

Zeus coped quite well though the "digger" man wasn't coping too well with them size of him. Poor Zeus, he is so misunderstood!

Merry Christmas Everyone...

The weather is freakishly cold and snowy in Dublin, and whilst we are looking forward to getting home and soaking up some sun, we are still having a fun time!

There was a visit to Santa's Cottage up in the north - a wonderful experience for us all, but the kids especially loved it!

There has been a few trips into Dublin city to meet up with Zoe's school friend and her family, who is also visiting Ireland. Dave and I also had a couple of nights in town together..and we took the girls to go into the National Leprechaun Museum and to see the Christmas windows and lights.
Of course there was the whole reason we came to Ireland at this time of year. The wedding of my brother in law John to his gorgeous fiance Sinead. A spray tan, central heating and a short one shouldered dress almost lulled me ito a false sense of security that it wasn't actually sub zero temperatures..that was until we went out into the snow for the official family photos....
Of course there have been lots of cups of tea and red wines with friends and family. To keep me sane I have read 5 books, worked on my Pies and Tarts blocks and been going to the gym a few times a week.
I was also delighted to find a Little People Nativity Set, and the girls have had a great time re-enacting Jesus' birth.
I got the best early Christmas present ever - we are the proud owners of a black AGA cooker that is ordered and will be shipped to Sydney. To buy in Sydney it was way out of the budget but with the exchange rate the way it is it was nearly half the price, even paying shipping costs and duties. I can not wait for my new kitchen!!!

Now we have Christmas day to look forward to, and Zoe's 6th birthday on New Years Eve and then a couple of days later we wil fly out to go home.

I'd like to wish you and yours peace and love this Christmas, enjoy your day and may Santa bring all your dreams true. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

One Step at a Time....

Finally we feel we are getting closer to our renovations starting. They feel like baby steps but all these things are important steps to a professional and safe build! The Geotech (dirt) engineer was here yesterday, we have our CC now and today the most obvious move that we are doing a renovation - our kitchen was removed!!! This one made us feel a little excited and a little nervous!! It feels like the first tangible step to anything actually happening! Thank goodness for ebay and that it will be recycled and not become landfill! Stay tuned for more updates....

Reno Update

We are ready to rock and roll....but with only 4 weeks until we go away and the builder saying that they they need a month to Demolish, excavate and build the rear yard retaining walls we have made the desicion to make them wait until we go away to do it!! That way, we don't have to worry about noise and dust for us...or the dog! And then when the builders come back in mid January to start the actual structure we will be over jet lag and ready to deal with it! Stay tuned for more updates....

A Frustrating Process

When we were finally given approval from council we thought it would be a fairly short and easy process to commence the actual build. Turns out I was wrong! We now wonder will we ever go from this...
to this..
At the moment it just doesn't feel like it!

We were hoping to have the demolition and excavation done this month so that the retaining walls in the back garden could be built when we were away in December.

We have a meeting with the builder on Tuesday so hoping for some positive news!

The Grand Entrance..

well...not really as grand as the photo below... but when I was in Adelaide my girlfriend and I did the "Cooks tour" of homes similiar to what she is about to build. I fell in love with this set of doors on one of those homes and although we haven't been able to find EXACTLY the same doors they are very similiar and we love them. So...this is what we have decided on for our new front entrance doors.

Someday there will be a post that has something to do with fabric and quilting or creativity...I promise!

Thinking LOTS!!

My head is full of what else I need to to get the house ready for the renovation - we are about 95% of the way there..just lots of tying up of loose ends, so to speak.

That is the boring part of it - but the fun part is starting to think of what we are going to use for fittings. I have finally gotten my head out of the magazines and started to actually look in shops and online.

We had always thought we would put a 10 year kitchen to make do until we could afford what we REALLY wanted but after seeing the pictured kitchen at the Harvey Norman Renovation Centre and then talking to the builder, we think we will be able to afford it now! He seems to think his kitchen guy can come up with this and stay within our budget. Very excited!

This is the style but going for white cabinetry, either a dark olivey/khaki (it's called Mangrove) or a chocolate colour (called Mink) Caesar Stone benchtop and HOPEFULLY a black AGA. The floors will be timber, finished in Black Japan.

So tell me, what do you think???

I Wish....for one of these in Black...

...but I really don't think the budget will stretch that far...