tropical...

This stunning, vibrant hibiscus design reminds us of hot, tropical days growing up in Papua New Guniea. The combination of citrus-y greens and hot, fushia pinks are not for the faint hearted! While we are not sure that we could live with a pattern this bold dominating a room, with a neutral/white base, pops of colour like this really add a really summery feel - certainly a reflection of the hot summer weather here in Melbourne.

a little zhushing...

I just spent a couple of days away, leaving my wonderful husband to look after our six kids. They were well fed, adequately dressed, and all had a wonderful time. But the house was apparently looking a little worse for wear when Joy dropped in on the afternoon of the second day to give my hubby an hour off. So, she did what only the best sisters do, and whizzed round the house making it look respectable. Joy even managed to zhush up the table in the entrance hall by adding a whole lot of colour. She unearthed this pretty vase that I had bought at an op shop years ago, and found some of our butterfly tags to complement the cheery colour scheme. Thanks for brightening up my arrival home, Joy!

soft and muted...

Often we work with bright, saturated colours, so it was lovely to enjoy playing around with softer muted shades today. The vintage paper butterflies, taken from a damaged 1966 botanical book, look ever so pretty and delicate - just like the beautiful roses picked from Clare's new garden. Wish you could smell how delicious they are!

the good, the bad and the ugly...

The last month has just whizzed by. There has been the excitement of Christmas, the busy-ness of the last few weeks of school, the challenge of moving interstate, the chaos of packing and then unpacking, and the challenge of shuffling furniture and stuff around the new house trying to make it all fit! Things are settling down a bit now - we have found all the essentials (except the camera charger which has disappeared into thin air, or more possibly into a box, yet to be unpacked, marked something like keepsake clothes or laundry storage!) and the house is beginning to feel like home.

We are renting down here in Melbourne and my husband did a great job of choosing a house for us. It has plenty of space, a beautiful garden and a lot of history. It also has some bits which I don't love as much and I am trying to get back into the rental mindset of not being able to change those thing... frustrating!!! Here are a few photos to show you some of the features that I love about the house, and some that I love just a little less...

The house has a lot of leadlight windows and doors. I love the way the light changes as it shines through...

Bits of the garden are very pretty and there are lots of roses and other beautiful cutting flowers - hooray!...

Lots of architectural details - cornices, ceiling roses, etc - that are very pretty. A few sparkly chandeliers too...

We have already been feasting on the apricots that ripened just as we arrived. These peaches are coming along beautifully...

I wouldn't have choosen these heart cut-outs on the stairs if it were my house, but they have made me smile...

Hmmmm. Not so sure about this light feature! There are two...

Now we are getting to the ugly... The bathrooms are colourful (this one has a peach suite, there is also a mauve and a green!) and the tiling is eclectic. The wallpaper in this one is so old it is almost trendy again and is actually quite cute, but...

...it should never have been teamed with these tiles!!

back together and loving it...

Happy New Year! Clare has managed to set up our new mondocherry studio room in her new house, and so this morning Joy dropped round for an hour to have a look. 8 hours later we have made a huge mess, thought up some new ideas, and have lots of new artworks on the go. It is so good to be back together - we totally inspire each other and work so well bouncing ideas around and feeding off each other's creativity. With Sue arriving from Dubai in a couple of days, the mondocherry trio will be complete once more and we are looking forward to being very productive and just getting to spend time together again!

One of the new projects we have on the go is a totally transformed online shop which we hope to launch sooner rather than later! These Liberty of London fabric buttons will become part of our new collection of artworks and we are loving the gorgeous colours and prints. We are also working on new fabric designs, as well as a fresh new paper artwork range. Our heads are so full of ideas that we can't get our fingers working hard enough!

teacher presents and gingerbread houses...

Although our mondocherrry work has slowed down considerably as we prepare for Christmas, it hasn't stopped me from stitching, beading, cutting and wrapping as I prepare some little Christmas thank you gifts for the wonderful kindergarten teachers that have taught my children this year. I created the packaging by folding baking paper and stitching up the sides to make a little envelope. I love wrapping with baking paper as I adore the sort of semi-see-through effect it creates. The little birds tags, created from recycled vintage illustrations, also look great hung from a twiggy branch in a vase. You can purchase these from our website if you are interested!

Feeling well and truly in the holiday spirit I decided to attempt my first ever gingerbread house yesterday from scratch, after lots of pleading from my son. An epic fail!!! The gingerbread was too soft, the icing wasn't sticky enough and the walls caved in....those things are tricky! I would love to hear any tips you have on gingerbread houses for if I am feeling brave enough to attempt one next year!

Off to the Christmas carols tonight to take time with my family to stop and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

Joy

my Christmas table...

With my Christmas shopping done and dusted, I thought it was time to give some thought to the food and table setting for Christmas lunch. This year, I am extremely happy to be sharing Christmas day with my parents-in-law, and maybe even Clare and her family if I can drag them away from their unpacking! I wanted to keep things really simple so I can enjoy spending time with my family - some pretty napkins, a neutral tablecloth and a bit of greenery I can gather on the day from my back garden. I am really happy with how it is coming together.

Tablecloth from Dandi (love this as it can be used all year round.

Beautiful napkins from Bungalow (I may be one of their best customers!)

Cute little tags from Capital Kitchen

Drinking glasses from Country Road

Joy

a very different Christmas...

Joy's house is looking very festive now. Her tree is decorated in soft pastel colours which tie in so beautifully with her existing artworks (mondocherry of course!), cushions and decor.

Joy's two children have been busy 'crafting up a storm'. How cute is this little Rudolf?..

"Santa and Tree" by Harvey aged 5...

My home, on the other hand, is decidedly un-festive. There is one little Christmas touch on the shelves in the dining room...

But most of my house looks like the photo below except worse! The removalists arrive this morning to pack up the contents of our house for our move down to Melbourne and I have been scurrying around doing all those last minute jobs that seem to take so long. All my good intentions of being completely organised (so unpacking the other end would be a breeze) went out the window long ago!!

Even my poor Kitchen Aid (usually given the workout of its life at this time of year) has sat alone and ignored in the corner of the kitchen...

We get the keys to our new rental home in Melbourne on Wednesday the 21st and my kids are insistent that the first thing that must be unpacked is the Christmas tree. Even if we are still surrounded by boxes, we will still be celebrating. Santa does have his work cut out for him though as I have heard through a very reliable source that he hasn't started the Christmas shopping for my crew of 6 yet!

relaxing by candlelight...

I love to light a few candles once the kids have gone to bed, and sit down with glass of wine or cup of tea (depending how the day has gone!) for a few moments of complete relaxation. My collection of Moroccan glasses make beautiful candle holders for little tea-lights - the pretty colours and delicate patterns cast such beautiful shadows.

They look just as beautiful by day too!

as close as I'll get this year...

These gorgeous snowflake decorations are as close as I'm going to get this year.... to seeing snow in this hot Southern Hemisphere December and to seeing my ever-growing collection of snowflakes displayed on my Christmas tree.

We are moving to Melbourne for a couple of years and are packing our bags and heading off mid-December. It is very exciting to be on the move again - we have been in Brisbane now for 5 years and that is the longest time we have stayed in one place. My husband has a place on a project down in Melbourne for a couple of years, and while I'd possibly prefer Switzerland, the south of France or Mauritius (unfortunately they weren't options!!), Melbourne is a great place to live. It will also be fantastic to be close to Joy and our other family members who live down there. So, as you can imagine, with all the boxes to pack, end of school concerts to attend and trying to keep the house tidy for rental inspections, putting up the Christmas tree is the last thing on my mind.

I thought I would include these photos of my Christmas tree from last year, so you can see what an obsession with snowflakes looks like! At last count, I had over 600 different snowflakes, collected from all around the world. I stick to white and silver snowflakes, but am not fussy on the material they are made from so have plastic, glass, pewter, paper, wood and beaded snowflakes. In case you are wondering what I do with all the precious decorations the children have made over the years, we also have two other, smaller trees (one for the boys and one for the girls), which the kids get to decorate (and redecorate!) themselves with all our colourful and handmade ornaments. This keeps all of us happy!

Before we head off to Melbourne, I will be setting up our mondocherry stall at the Boutique Markets on Friday 9th December (special Twilight Market 5pm - 9pm) and Sunday 11th December (Christmas Market, 8am - 3pm). It will probably be our last market in Brisbane for a while so make sure you come down if you want to see our designs in person.

muffin tray advent calendar...

I've decided to re-do an idea we had for an advent calendar a few years ago as my way of counting down the days until Christmas - who says the kids should have all the fun?! Created from a mini-muffin tray (which just happens to have 24 holes), number stickers and my favourite Lindt Ball chocolates, it is going to be a way to give myself a little treat every day in what is often referred to as the "silly season". You could, of course, replace the Lindt with other chocolates or little gifts.

My aim this year is to make the run up to Christmas as fuss-free and stress-free as possible so I have more time to enjoy making crafts with my children, eating all the yummy food and enjoying time spent with family and friends. Roll on December...!

...the Christmas version...

Not long after I posted my cupcake case garland this morning, the postman knocked on my door to deliver the candy-striped cases I had ordered. I ignored the rest of my ironing (any excuse!) in my eagerness to see how this Christmas version would turn out. Displayed with a red vintage chair, a new artwork, cute red boots and a smattering of green, I'm loving this little festive corner of my house.

our new small 3d paper heart blossom artwork...