A New Year

Finally, I'm sitting down to write a blog post for the first time in ages! I've taken a little break from blogging as I've been very busy working and planning our wedding, and therefore haven't had a lot of time to do anything fun and creative to share here. However, the new year is now here (it's already a whole month in, where did January go?!) and I'm excited to start blogging again to document what I'm sure is going to be one of my favourite years! I have a few things that I will be sharing with you soon, but for now here is a list of things I have been up to over christmas/new years:

+  Started to plan the wedding - Bought my dress, my shoes, fabric for the bridesmaids dress,                   bridesmaids shoes, and booked in a venue.
+ Went op-shopping once a week to find bits and pieces for the wedding.
+ Went for a road trip to the Raspberry Farm twice.
+ Was asked to be a bridesmaid for one of my very best friends.
+ Tried to do a 7 day juice cleansing diet and failed miserably, have started a paleo diet instead.
+ Started a Harry Potter marathon with friends.
+ Read nearly all of the Harry Potter books.
+ Had a few very relaxing days by the pool.
+ Did a lot of planning for our upcoming engagement party.
+ Worked as a nanny full time for most of January.
+ Sewed 50m of bunting for the engagement party.
+ Took many drives to Rosevears with Matt (one of our all time favourite places, pictured above).

Those are just a few of the things I have been up to over the last few weeks. I hope you've all had a relaxing break and were able to take some time off to do some of your favourite things. xx

Love Eat Make

LOVE | Last week I purchased myself some new Saltwater Sandals (something that has been on my wish list for ages!) I love them so much and already know I will be wearing them all summer long. I think they will make the perfect pair with some of the pretty summer dresses I plan on wearing this season!

EAT | Over the last couple of weeks I have been complaining about being hungry all of the time (I think it might be a side effect of some new medication I've started to take) and I found myself snacking multiple times during the day. I therefore decided to make some healthy coconut and date protein balls as they are full of lots of good things that really help to fill me up! They are actually delicious and taste like they are a bit of a treat even though they are really healthy. I used this thermomix recipe, but I'm sure they would still be easy enough to make without one.

MAKE | Now that uni is finished for the year I'm able to start planing our wedding. At the moment I'm working on an exciting wedding project that involves mint green paint. It has been a dream of mine for a while now to go to a paint shop and buy a pot of mint green paint and this coming Saturday that dream will come true! I don't know yet if I will share many of the wedding projects yet, as I want them to be a bit of a surprise for our wedding guests on the day. But I still like to keep you updated on some of the things that we will be working on and I will be sure to share most things after the wedding next year!

Market Snaps

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of having my very own market stall at the Elizabeth Handmade Market. I really enjoy markets! I loved busily preparing and sewing in the weeks beforehand, and styling my stall on the night (it makes me dream of having a little shop of my own one day!). I also really loved talking to all the different people who stopped by my stall and shared memories that were sparked by the vintage fabrics my dresses are made out of. I was able to debut my new dress design after finally perfecting the pattern and people seemed to really love them! I have also chosen to make my dresses from vintage and pre-loved fabrics only so as to make them sustainable and uniquely one of a kind! I'm planning to have them available in my Etsy shop over the next week or two so if you've got your eye on one keep a look out for that!

Asking My Bridesmaids

I had the pleasure of asking my beautiful best friends to be my bridesmaids over the last week or so and I thought I would share how I ended up asking them here. I knew that I wanted to make my bridesmaids something small and nice to keep as a momento and loved the idea of using vintage hankies when I stumbled across this, however instead of screen printing them, I decided to embroider them. I already had quite a few vintage hankies but I was after some extra pretty ones and so after a lot of op-shopping, visiting antique shops and even looking on Ebay I finally found five of the most pretty handkerchiefs! The embroidery did take a little while, but I really enjoyed it and am very happy with the end result. The girls really appreciated their little gifts and we are now all very excited to start the wedding planning!

A New Favourite

I have been wishing for this beautiful book for a very long time now, and I finally have a copy of my own in my hands. It's a book by the owner of the gorgeous Bluebells Cakery shop in Aukland, New Zealand (somewhere that I'm longing to visit and that looks as though it's straight from my dreams) and I can definitely say that it is now one of my most favourite books! The photography and styling of this book is so beautiful and I am pretty sure I will try at least every recipe once in my lifetime! It has really put me in a baking mood and I'm excited to have a try of  the raspberry and white chocolate lamingtons recipe soon!

New Fabrics

After a months break from sewing and blogging, I'm finally finished uni for the year! I'm very excited about this as now I can get back into the swing of all things 'a mint daydream'. To get inspired, I decided to go op-shopping for the first time in a month and managed to find lots of pretty vintage fabrics for new dresses. I'm getting very busy making lots of dresses in my new design for an upcoming market that I'm going to have a stall at (I'll be sure to share more details about that soon!).

Hopefully now I will be able to start blogging more regularly so be sure to check back soon for some new projects I've been working on and a few sneak previews of some of the dresses that will be available at my market stall!

Wedding Update

I can't believe it has been almost three months since Matt and I got engaged. The weeks are really flying by for me (and I think for everyone else too?) at the moment, as things are starting to get really busy with uni and even though I haven't had much time to do any wedding planning yet, I thought I might give a bit of an update to what I have been working on so far.

We are aiming to have our wedding in November 2015, as it will be spring which is such a gorgeous time of year, it will give us plenty of time to plan and make everything while I'm still at uni, and I will have just finished my degree! I finish uni for the semester at the end of October and hope to use the four months I have off to plan and organise as much of the wedding as I possibly can before I start my last year of uni. I'm hoping to do a lot of things myself, which some people think will become stressful, but it's something I've always wanted to do (I'm still even contemplating making my wedding dress!). I don't really want a fancy, 'traditional' wedding, but instead like the sound of a happy and fun day with good food and the people I love.

Something I've really enjoyed about being engaged is looking through wedding magazines! Two in particular that I really like are Hello May and White (the latest issue is truly beautiful!). I find them so inspiring and have already gotten a few good ideas from flicking through them and even Matt has seen a few things he likes. I definitely recommend them if you're getting married or if you like pretty things.

I haven't made anything for the wedding yet, but I am currently working on a little something for my bridesmaids which is turning out really nicely. I've decided on five bridesmaids and I wanted to make them each something small for them to keep, to make asking them a little bit special. I've had a lot of fun working on their little gifts and I'm looking forward to finally getting to ask them to be my bridesmaids. I will be sure to blog about what it is I've been working on once I've given them all out!

So that's everything that we have been up to so far. We haven't done much at all yet, but I'm really looking forward to the end of semester so that I can start planning a lot more. I hope you enjoyed this kind of post, I think I might do some more wedding updates in the future as they will be really nice to look back on once it's all done!

Love Eat Make

LOVE | Now that spring is here, I realised that I needed some new clothes for the warmer months. So last week, Matt and I did a bit of shopping and I picked up a few spring pieces including these new jeans. Usually, I really don't like wearing jeans because I have quite short legs and I find they don't really suit me but at last I've found a pair that I don't mind! They are high waisted, therefore making my legs seam a little bit longer then they actually are, and they are surprisingly really comfy, which is unlike any other pair of jeans I've ever owned!

EAT | My lovely friend Kristy makes the most delicious cupcakes, and for my birthday she gave me a huge box full of turkish delight cupcakes. They were delicious, and didn't last very long at all, as my family also loved them! It was so nice of her to go through the effort of making them for me.

MAKE | Lately I have been working hard on perfecting my new dress design and this week I made one in my size, and I'm happy to say that it looks exactly how I wanted it to! I used some amazing, retro floral fabric that I found at the op shop months ago and I love it. Now I'll just have to check if all of the other sizes work as well as this one and then I'll be able to make some for my Etsy shop.

August Favourites

Here are a few of my favourite things from August...

1. The new Party Party app by A Beautiful Mess. I love this app so much and even though I haven't used it that much yet, I just really like the whole concept of it and how it is completely different to any other photo editing app that I have seen. It's basically a photo booth on your phone and has lots of cool features to edit your photos to create things like this. Love it!

2. My Essie nail polishes. I've talked about Essie a lot this past month and that's because I really love them and have been wearing them all month long. I only have two in my collection so far but I'm hoping to get some more of the pretty pastel shades for spring soon!

3. My new Peter Alexander pyjamas that the lovely Coby gave to me for my birthday. They are so comfortable and pretty that I actually considered wearing them out! I also love the fact that we have a Peter Alexander store in Launceston now. It is also very pretty!

4. A set of postcards from one of my favourite artists, the Black Apple. Matt gave these to me for my birthday which I think is such a thoughtful gift considering I've probably only mentioned to him once how much I love everything by the Black Apple. I'm going to maybe frame them and hang them up because they are just so adorable.

5. This months Frankie Magazine. It's no secret that I love Frankie, and this one is a real good one full of things that inspire me such as cute crafts, creative stories and, to top it off, a poster of cats!  

What are some things you have really loved in August?

August Moments

Here are a few snaps from my phone of some of the things I've gotten up to in August. Some of the highlights were seeing the signs of spring more and more everyday (in particular the pretty cherry blossoms and the longer days), making daisy chains in the afternoon sun, and celebrating my 22nd birthday! Here are a few more things that I have been up to...

EATING | Turkish delight cupcakes by the lovely Kristy Hooper, Raspberry pancakes from the raspberry farm, sticky pork belly bun by Eats with Beats (my most favourite thing to eat ever!), Vietnamese food from the restaurant Mekong, and Tacos de Pancho's tacos, just to name a few! Let's say I won't be needing to eat much during September!

MAKING | My granny square blanket, a pattern for my new dress design, a new quilt featuring squares of my favourite vintage fabrics to be able to keep a piece of them all forever. 

BUYING | A new pair of jeans that I actually like, top deck chocolate, a new Essie nail polish, and vintage sheets to make into dresses.

LOVING | Being half way through this semester already, getting back into blogging again, that the days are getting warmer and longer, the fact that I have finally convinced Matt to read Harry Potter, and that I have mid-semester break this week!

Hope you've had a lovely month too!

Twenty Two

On Tuesday I turned 22, and to celebrate Matt and I went on a road trip to the raspberry farm for lunch. This trip, of course, included a stop in Deloraine to visit the cute vintage and antique shops and a visit to the famous shop, Reliquaire (sadly, we ran out of time for the chocolate factory and Ashgrove's cheese). It was such a fun day and it was so good just to spend the whole day with Matt, as we have both been really busy lately and haven't been able to see each other as much as we would like! I'm excited to see what the next year brings, and am kind of hoping that this year slows down a little bit, as it didn't feel like I was 21 for very long at all!    

Love Eat Make

LOVE | As you might have gathered from this post, I have really been loving Essie nail polishes lately. Above are the shades Forever Yummy and Mint Candy Apple. I love both! Hoping to add a few more lovely shades to my collection soon. 

EAT | Something I have been eating (well technically drinking) a lot lately is T2 Tea, in particular French earl grey. I love a good earl grey and this one is extra special, as it has a delicious floral flavour with petals even mixed through the tea leaves. Definitely one of my favourites! 

MAKE | Yesterday afternoon I went to the park with the kids I nanny and we sat in the afternoon sun making daisy chains. It was so relaxing, and made me very excited for spring! 

25 Facts About Me

Today I thought I would share 25 random facts about me so that you might be able to get to know me a little better. Hope you find them interesting, and be sure to let me know if you have any similar facts about you! 

1. I live in Tasmania, a small but very beautiful island just below the Australian mainland.
2. I'm currently studying to become an interior designer. I'm in my second year and even though I love what I'm studying, I'm not really enjoying uni at the moment.
3. I love the colour mint green.
4. I'm left handed.
5. I work as a nanny for the two most lovely kids and I love it!
6. Cats are my favourite animal and I have the most adorable cat in the world and his name is Rocky.
7. I use the word 'lovely' a lot.
8. My favourite dessert is creme brûlée.
9. I dream of one day living in a mint green house that has lots of pretty red roses out the front.
10. I'm terrified of spiders.
11. The 1950s is my favourite era. The dresses were so pretty!
12. I'm contemplating making my wedding dress.
13. I love rainy days.
14. I've never dyed my hair, but I would really like to dye it blue.
15. One day I would like to live in southern France.
16. I'm not a big meat eater and could easily be a vegetarian.
17. My middle name is Louise.
18. I don't like artificial light and would much prefer to have a lamp on instead of using the main light.
19. My favourite season is Autumn.
20. I love crocheting, and try to make a new crocheted blanket every winter.
21. I get really nervous before public speaking.
22. I'm an early riser and am usually up before 7am.
23. I have very fair skin and never tan.
24. I love Harry Potter.
25. I wish I could sew and make things all day, everyday.

{Image by Klara Morante}

July Favourites

Here are a few things I have been loving during the month of July...

1. Getting Engaged. Definitely my most favourite thing of the month (or the year!). I can't believe I have been wearing this beautiful ring for a whole month already!

2. One Line A Day. I started this journal at the start of this year but have really loved documenting all of the excitement that this month has brought. The whole idea of the journal is to write down one line about your day, everyday for five years. I'm so glad I started it this year. I think it will be a really nice book to keep and look back on when I'm older. 

3. Wedding Magazines. This month I have added a few wedding magazines to my magazine collection. I have loved reading through all the different wedding stories and finding some ideas and inspiration. They will come in very handy when I begin to really start planning this wedding. 

4. Spaces. A book that I have been really loving is Spaces by Frankie Magazine. It's a nice big book that features lovely, inspiring spaces of creative people. Definitely a good one to read if you are re-doing your work or home space! 

5. Vintage Handkerchiefs. My final favourite that I want to share are these pretty vintage hankies that I have been collecting for an exciting project that I will be sharing sometime very soon! 

I hope you like my favourite things for this month. What's something you've really enjoyed in July? 

Love Eat Make

Today I thought I would share with you a new type of post that I'm thinking of making into a feature for my blog that I like to call 'Love Eat Make'. It's just a small post to share something I'm loving, something I'm eating and something I'm making during my week. I hope you like it! 

LOVE | Since becoming engaged I've been loving the magazine Hello May. It's a bridal magazine that features creative and non-traditional weddings (that I much prefer!). I have bought two copies of this magazine so far, and I love it so much that I'm thinking of ordering all of the past issues so I can add them to my collection. Their blog is also really inspiring! 

EAT | A couple of weeks ago, a group of friends and I went to Melbourne for a weekend and while we were there we visited Adriano Zumbo's patisserie and I bought a box of his delicious macarons. They were amazing, and I will talk about them in more detail in a separate post soon. 

MAKE | At the beginning of winter I started a new granny square blanket using different scrap pieces of wool. I love how it is turning out and really like the fact that I'm using wool that would have otherwise been thrown out. I will also share this project in more detail soon!   

My Ring + Wedding Bits

So here is my first wedding related blog post - one of many I'm sure! So far all I have done in regards to planning is read through a few wedding magazines, buy a wedding journal and started a Pinterest board. I think I'm going to tackle the planning very slowly as I really enjoy planning events and I've always seen my wedding day as the highlight of my 'event organising' and crafting life. I also kind of want to soak it all in and enjoy being newly engaged for a little while. 

I'm really looking forward to making so many different things for my wedding and I've already decided that I would like to make my bridesmaids dresses and as much of the food as I can for the day. I just really enjoy making things a lot, and I can't wait to share some of my wedding projects here! 

I've also including some better close up pictures of my ring. It's such a beautiful and unique ring and what makes it even more special, is that Matt designed it himself and worked with a local jeweller for about five months to get it exactly right! He even included little details, such as the small engravings on the sides that were apparently very popular in the 1950's but haven't really been done much since, which gives it a real antique feel (also I might add that the 1950's is my most favourite era!). I would have never been able to pick a ring anywhere close to as lovely as this one, and I'm so very lucky to have a guy that knows me so well!