Quick and easy... hang some flower balls... this Diwali .. :)

String some flowers together and pull them real close ... if they fall off the string...well! string them in again ... as simple as that and ... taadaa ... what do we have cutsey lil' balls of flowers ...

... hang them just about anywhere you can think of something hanging ... under your chandelier ... wall lights ... curtain rods ...

... hope you liked this titsy -bitsy ... do-it-yourself idea for your Diwali decor ... now I do wonder what flowers you plan to pick ... :) Do drop me a line and I love to hear what flowers may fascinate you to make your own flower balls this season ... :)

Blogger Friends Are Amazing....

Today started out to be a day I would rather forget...until our Post Man arrived! He handed me 2 packages (the other you will see in a moment). This one hear smelt wonderful and little Mason our 4 year old even commented that it 'smelt pretty'.

I couldn't wait to get inside.

This package was from one of my wonderful Friends, Maria Carr from DREAMY WHITES. Who is one of the most giving people I have ever met and am so glad to call her my Friend.

The scent from this bag was amazing! The stripe ribbon was the first thing I spied!

isn't it gorgeous?
Maria included this card with a lovely heartfelt message inside which left a huge smile across my face. The card is stunning in itself and is now on my bedside table.
Once I unwrapped the gift, this is what was inside.
Now, I took these images as I opened it...I could hardly wait!
This gorgeous sack is where the gorgeous Lavender scent was coming from, and it is chock full of it. When I came back after picking the boys up from School and Pre School, the house was enveloped in Lavender and it was beautiful!

even the ribbon was lovely and I love the number 6 and the lion image on this chunky linen.

The back of the sack is just as perfect!

...and look there is more!!
Another lovely smelling package, wrapped in linen, twine and a cute button.
Gorgeous Poppy seed soaps! =0)
...and oh, I am in love with this...
A vintage linen runner with beautiful embroidery. It is a 'M' for Marley. Mason thought it was for him...um, NO ;0)And finally this. It is a sweet little pillow cover made with vintage ticking.

A soft white linen is on the back and I will be making a little insert for this. It is so sweet.
Now you see why it made my day better?
What a beautiful gift to send to someone.
Maria, these gifts are gorgeous and you are a gorgeous Woman. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Stop by Maria's blog DREAMY WHITES if you haven't already and look at her other beautiful vintage linen finds.

Now onto the next package...
This one I had to sign for and was wondering what it could be...

...it was presented beautifully...


...and all the way from France!...

As soon as I opened it, I knew who it was from

...Vicki Archer!

You all know this amazingly talented Woman who has graced us with the beautiful books "My French Life" and "French Essence" and the blog of the same name.

IT'S A VINTAGE FRENCH POSTCARD!
Now, I did know this was coming as a while ago the gorgeous Vicki sent me an email letting me know she was sending me this card in the mail, but I had forgot it was coming with all that I have in my head right now with Christmas orders to get through and the like. So it really was a surprise...a beautiful surprise!

Isn't it stunning?

And, it came with a sweet card from Vicki too.

Thank you SO SO much Vicki. I am smitten with it and now have to figure out how to display it so I can see both sides!

You are another Woman who has made my blogging life so wonderful and I thank you for that.

For a peek at Vicki's amazing French Life visit her blog FRENCH ESSENCE

...you will love it.

Now, another package arrived earlier in the week which I had planned on blogging about today
It is from the sweet Tine, who has the gorgeous blog URUGUAY LIFE.

I had commented on one of her posts a little while back about some lovely wooden pegs she had and how they would look great with my embroidered peg bag I recently made

...so Tine sent me some! She is so sweet.

Again, inside was a lovely handwritten note, some gorgeous white embroidered ribbon and this little block type postcard...
...on the other side is this vintage image of a Woman.
Here is a close up of the springs on the pegs. I love them. The ones we have here are drab!

Thank you so much Tine for your sweet gift. It just goes to show that blogging friends are the most thoughtful and caring Women around and I am continually amazed by the power, camaraderie and friendship we all share even though we are miles away.

...I did have a little happy cry surrounded by the thoughts of these lovely Women and I thank each and every one of you out there for making this journey such an enjoyable experience...and for making this get a whole lot better =0)

Have a wonderful weekend, Ness xx

From the Style files ... Oh! for the love of Lanterns ... :)

Call it a laltain or a lantern ... the magic and romance of the flickering light inside  is  ... wooooow ... absolutely undeniable ...

 Indian ... middle eastern or plain simple modern ... they are sure to make you stop in your tracks for a second looky ... Hmmm! I wonder what it is about them  ...

... I had to share some of these pictures from my inspiration files, with all of you  ... original source of most of these are unknown to me ... please feel free if you may know and want to share the original photographer or stylist 's details with me ...
... in the mean while hope you find your Diwali spirits soaring up high with ton loads of ...' things I wanna do this year' ...  ;)

Gearing up for Diwali ... :)

 Its that time of the year ... yeppy ...its Diwali ...Diwali ...Diwali  ... time ... I wanted to start my series about Diwali Decor a month early like last year ... Ah! ... who am I kiddin' ... life does have its own course ... ;) ... and mine has been under fire from ... viral ... Dengue, in the family ... domestic helps being packed off by the local police before the CWG ... leaving me with the broom ... duster and  the spatula all at the same time ... keyboard and camera being a far cry ... :)

 ...well! no harm done ... my Diwali spirits are in top shape and hope yours are too ... :) ... I'm pulling out the brassware ... thinking about the flowers ... candles ... lanterns .. fairy lights ... loads of cleaning ... tons of polishing ...

 ... if you are looking for your Diwali decor inspirations ... hope you'll be stopping by ... pick your color theme ... decide on the flowers ... I love to spread them all around the house in small bunches ... how about one set of glasses for the flowers ... :)

... if you've been all for the traditional Diwali colors all these years ... a slight bend towards a new color might just add that special zing to your decor ...

... talking about colors ... it may be more interesting to note that picking a color as your theme and co-ordinating your complete decor around it ... would bring that clam and classy feel ... which calls for a control on all your urges to buy ... candles and lights and flowers and linen in all shades of the rainbow ... :)

Are you looking forward to creating a special feel in your home this Diwali ... or do you always get stuck with what to do ... mail me and lets share what all there is to explore and go beserk ... having fun doing up the home before Diwali .... ;)

Held Up!

So, this is where I have been held up over the weekend in our bedroom uploading the new Christmas tags to The Shop, catching up on orders, emails, requests etc over the weekend. I can now say that they are on, orders are done and sent and all is dandy!

Here is some of what I have been up to...
No sewing, just tags!
These are brand new. They are little shooting stars and I have used a vintage cutwork piece of linen to make the pattern.

I also made some in the small round tags.

I think they are so sweet...all year rounders really. The detail of the thread from the cutwork linen captured in the clay is my favourite and the fact that each one is different.

Christmas and the Holiday season was definitely high on the agenda and how could I not have a Gingerbread Person to add to the mix?
I am thinking of doing some of these for gifts this year with each persons name stamped down the center instead of the small men. You can personalise these too.

A slightly different variation on my other trees for this year

....can also personalised!!

Another all year rounder is this French Crown tag.
The background is French script and I love that the crown stamp didn't take the script away totally. You can make out the script through the main part of the crown.

Loving the snowflake.

These two tags are in the larger tag range, so they would be awesome tree decorations or even on the table. I could also see them hanging from a chandelier above the festive table in a small group.

My favourite though are the French Doves.
Made with the script they make a lovely finishing touch to a loved ones gift don't you think?
I would love to hear what you think.
You can check them out in Store HERE.
Ness xx

The Finial Touch

Just like a good man, a decent finial is hard to find. (Only teasing.) Seriously, though, don't you agree that there are a lot of ugly finials out there? Fortunately, designer Hillary Thomas has remedied the situation with her new line of chic finials- "The Finial Touch"- that are Chinese and African inspired. Hillary will be debuting the line as part of her OKL Tastemaker Tag Sale tomorrow (Suzanne Tucker is also having a sale tomorrow as well.) I believe that it's time for me to update some of my lamps. Here are a few finials that I'm considering:





















(All images courtesy of Hillary Thomas Designs)