Project 365: Week 9

This weeks photos for my project 365. Click the button at the top to see all 9 weeks worth!!!

Saturday Link ♥ Love

Sweet Saturday Wishes to you all :) I hope you've a weekend full of fun ahead of yous! I'm spending my Saturday morning doing the housework - strangely these days I find cleaning (and the results) quite theraputic - must be getting old ;-)

I'm excited that my brithday celebrations here on Pixie Mama have started. There are more guest posts to come next week as well as a giveaway!!!

I also managed to get some more stock into my Etsy Shop this week - check it out if you haven't already (and you can save 10% with the coupon code 'BIRTHDAY' through all of March)

Here's some Link ♥ Love for you this week:

• This free goddesfesto from Goddess Leonie - loving it!
• This beautiful playlist guestpost on Violet Bella
• This amazing giveaway from Pamplemousse (including a painting by moi!!)
• Some super cute printables at Eat Drink Chic
• More printables and DIY's at iDiY
• The start of my birthday celebrations on the blog, check out the first week!!

I've been awarded....

Two more blog awards :)

Stylish Blogger Award from Kelly at LoveArtChild

 and

The Sweet Blog Award from Lauren at Ladaisi

Oh my - thank you sooo very much :) I've had the Stylish Blogger Award twice before - (see here), but not the Sweet Blog Award. Those who win it have to share four guilty pleasures and pass the award along:

1. I like to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar
2. Treating myself to a giant starbucks caramel macchiato
3. Reading trashy chic lit
4. Eating the cake mix/cookie dough before I've baked it

and now I tag:

 

Pamplemousse1983

Lovers In A Dangerous Time

Deer Little Fawn

Violet Bella

 

List 33: Birthday Wishlist (courtsey of Etsy)

A little dreaming... my wishlist on Etsy is HUGE... so I thought I'd share 10 of my favourites seeing as my birthday is coming up ;-)

1. Love this blouse

 

2. These super cute slippers

 

3. This adorable vintage reindeer

 

 4. This retro inspired print

 

 5. This rug

 

 6. Little Nesting Doll Necklace

 

7. Cute Earrings

8.  This beautiful folk dress

 

 9.Cute Doe Brooch

 

10. This beautiful necklace

 

A little shameless self promotion

woo hoo! It's friday... even though I'm home all week.. so the weekend isn't really any different for me...I still get a little kick of excitement on a Friday...years of looking forward to the weekend I guess :)

anyways, I managed to get some new stuff listed in my Etsy Shop yesterday. A few new tops, some mini owl plush's I made and a couple of paintings. More to list, but not today! Here's a few pics of what's just gone in:

p.s for all you blog readers - you can get 25% off everything in my Etsy Shop all March by using coupon code 'PARTYTIME' !!!

Birthday (Party) Guest Post: Miss Beck from VaaVoom.com

1.      Design Files 2. Mon Petit Poppet 3. MoonMum 4. Handmade Romance 5. Her Library Adventures 6. Shabby Vintage Junk 7. Paperklip Design 8. Five Boroughs 9. Lark 10. Little Jane Street

Hello there!

Miss Beck from VaaVoom.com here! I wanted to share some fabulous blogs that I follow and sites I’m always visiting!

VaaVoom.com is based here in Melbourne, Australia and we do our best to bring the very best of indie craft, design and makers to the world each day whether they’re from ‘downunder’ or from other exotic locales! Being a passionate crafter, maker and photographer I’m equally as passionate about other Aussie creatives who do the same and I think it just fair that I share some of my loves with you!

Now, I don’t know how much you know about Australian blogs, design or indie craft, but we have some truly rocking creatives out there! Our talented designers, makers and crafters share their projects, ideas and musings on some fabulous blogs I can’t get enough of and I’ve linked them above for you so that you can get your own little hit of Aussie Creative goodness.

We’ve also got some awesome little indie stores that stock the wonderful creations from these crafters, makers & artists from Australia and all around the world (and they ship around the world too!).

This is just a little snippet of the creative love that we have here in Australia, so don’t be shy, check out the links above and drop on by to say hello!

Love Miss Beck xx

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Miss Beck runs VaaVoom, an indie craft & design blog featuring creativity from around the world on a daily basis! Thanks for joining in my celebration month!

Thursday Thursday.....

Thursday already and 3 days into March!!! I feel like I should be doing something exciting to mark the last few weeks of being a twenty-something!! Not sure what though.....

As it is, I seem to have an ever increasing To-Do List, and not enough hours to do everything I need to/want to. I feel like I'm battling to do everything all at once. I need to ease off but that's easier said than done! I also feel like I'm fighting to keep my head above water, I can feel the niggles of 'the blues' coming, and I'm trying hard to keep them away. Trying to keep smiling, trying to keep the positive attitude. Feeling like I'm supposed to pretend that everything is fantastic even if I don't feel that way. I'm stressed out trying to do everything/be everything - mum, homeschooler, wife, housekeeper, blogger, crafter etc etc. I'm reluctant to stop and do nothing though because those are the times when the blues can worm there way back in... too much time to think is not good for me!!! So I keep pushing and pushing myself...

In a bid to stay organised and keep track of everything, I made myself a new organiser last night for blog stuff/etsy stuff. Covered a plain hardback notebook and made some tabs to put inside (idea from Campfire Chic)

We're having a lazy day...girls are watching a movie this morning, while I blog and do some Etsy listings. I need to put the finishing touches to my giveaway that will be up at the beginning of next week. Then we're going to bake some cakes before my friend and her baby visit this afternoon!!!

family of mini owls I made yesterday - one is up for grabs in my giveaway, the rest are flying of to my etsy shop!!!

I'll be back later on with another birthday guest post!

What I Wore Wednesday

Acutally, this is what I wore yesterday, but didn't have a chance to blog!!! I'm digging the coloured tights - I bought a whole pile after finding them cheap (the cashier gave me a very funny look!!!) My hair really needs re-dying but doesn't look too bad in the photos! I'm feeling lazy and trying to get away with not doing it until just before my birthday party!!!

Dress: thrifted

Cardigan: New Look

Tights: QD

(and please excuse the dead looking plant behind me!!!)

Wednesday Wisdom

A few things about yourself

So excited that 30 Days of Lists has begun!!! The first prompt was 'A few things about yourself! - this only took me about 10 minutes first thing this morning to complete. I'm not making it too complicated or time consuming, esle I'll end up getting behind! It's not to late to join in the (free) fun!

Birthday (Party) Guest Post: Kristina from Tina's Tree

source

Hi PixieMama People. Let’s throw a huge happy birthday celebration cheer to Polly!

I’m honoured to be here today with some reflection on my last 10 years and hope to inspire you to think about what has moved you over the same time.

To jump back, let’s start by looking at right now. 28 years old and feeling time whiz by faster than my proverbial pen can write, I think back.

10 years ago, I was 18 and just about to finish my first year at university. Time didn’t move as quick. Days were split into four sections, class/study, work, party and sleep. By Canadian standards, I was officially an adult. With this, I obtained my political right to vote. Naturally, this also led the rebel in me to believe I knew enough to always shape the right answer. It was this very thinking that brought me to dropping out of school after year 1 and not-so-glamorously moving out of my parents’ home and in with the boy who would, sometime later, become the man I would marry.

20 came next and things got rocky. Life started rumbling around and the routine I had grown to know challenged me. My relationship was sketchy. Waitressing certainly was not my chosen profession. Money didn’t stretch as far as it needed to. Along came the storm that refused to settle. The strong winds within shook my relationship, flipped my career, and left me with the big bad wolf to blow my house down. As often happens, the winds did settle but in their wake left a wet haze.

22 then. My relationship with Mr. Right spun itself back together and we were happily (perhaps more correctly terrified) awaiting an arrival from the stork. Few shared in our joy. We had a roof over us but it certainly was not our own. My #1 son came and blessed me with a new life. One which would forever brand me with the hard earned title of Mamma. A few months of couches and borrowed rooms and we would find ourselves on a doorstep of our own picking out furnishings and appliances. Seeing as responsibility was making itself pronounced I returned to studies part time anticipating they would lead me to better overall options down the road.

24 was most momentous for our official engagement and very quickly followed by a move into a bigger house painted into our home. Wedding bells rang in the fall of year 25. My dreams were painting themselves into the picture I’d envisioned so many years before.

Knowing things for me usually work better in even numbers, 26 graced me with Baby #2. A beauty she is.  The title of Princess was earned the moment she arrived.

So, here I am - time flying by faster than I will acknowledge or admit and 28 seems too ready to bid me farewell. 29 I’m sure will race away. There will be me, knocking on the door of my next decade. I’m excited. Seeing the wonderful people in this virtually connected world sharing their stories and supporting and encouraging mine, I am the calmest I’ve ever been to welcome and embrace change. 10 years have bestowed upon me the wisdom to know that I do not know it all, to ask when I need help and to offer what I can.

Polly, as you cross the threshold to 30, I wish for you fullness, challenge, growth, entertainment, and enough sparkle to paint a night’s sky.

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Kristina blogs over at Tina's Tree and is a contributer at The Inspiration Studio. Thanks for kicking off the birthday celebrations!!!

Birthday Foodie Post: Lollipop Cookies

 I thought I'd kick off my birthday month with a recipe for some scrummy cookies - perfect for any party!!

225g/8oz butter

240g/12oz sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg and 1 egg yolk

425g/15oz self-raising flour

100g chocolate chips (we used white)

smarties to decorate

Preheat oven to 190C/375F/ Gas 5. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

  Stir in the flour and chocolate chip, mix until it forms a soft dough.

 Take a golf ball sized amount of the dough and roll into a ball. Push a lollipop stick into the middle of the ball

 place on a greased baking tray, 2" apart and flatten slightly.

Push a few smarties onto each cookie. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. They'll still be soft when you take them out. Leave to cool completyl on the tray before removing them (else they'll just fall off the sticks!)

And you're invited!!! I'm having a month of guest posts, DIY's and a giveaway too!

Click here to enter the giveaway

and

Click here to see all of the guest posts