nooshloves

Frankie Summer 2012/13 - SNEAK PEEK!

Well well well! Do I have something special to show you today or what?!!!!

This is a HUUUUGE part of the reason I've been a little bit MIA lately. Between curating the new season collection of Frankie fabrics (which we are beyond excited about), getting them made, shooting them, getting them up onto the website for our 2nd birthday celebrations next week... Phew! It's been a busy time! But I'm so proud to say it's nearly all done. And we couldn't be happier with the outcome! We absolutely love our new range. It's a totally new look for Frankie and we hope you will all love it as much as we do!

Take a look and see what you think. This is a snapshot of every piece available in the new collection. Don't you just want one of everything?

4 Ace Spaces - That's a full house!

In light of the break we've been having from normal programming here at NooshLoves in recent weeks, here are four spectacular Ace Spaces (to make up for the ones we missed along the way...).

They are all from a gorgeous site I just found this week called Room To Bloom.

A beautiful vintage...

Images via Pinterest & Dekolor

My "big kahuna" project...

Isn't it lovely? I've been pining for one of these for an age. You can get them on eBay in auctions starting at 1c. Yup. A cent my friends! Though they rarely go much shy of a grand in the end. Which is a smidge out of my league for a gratuitous piece of furniture that I don't really need at this stage... Which is what led me and my trusty paintbrush to pursue other options...

Much to my friends' and family's horror, I snapped this baby up for a meagre $90! It's 2m wide and even taller than that! And as big as it is - it's even uglier than it is large. Yes, I admit it. It's beyond unattractive. Worse still, it's not even timber. And even worse than that - it had LED strip lighting inside the top half of it.... Enough said. It was sold to me as timber but that little eBayer needs a short lesson in construction materials because when a surface is cold and hard like that, all the fake grain in the world isn't going to change the fact that that puppy is some kind of plastic/laminate. My dear friend lovingly named this project "the big kahuna" - and that is no understatement.

After the panic subsided, I hit the hardware and picked up a supersized tin of White Knight Grip Lock. Awesome stuff. It should be called "The Primer That Sticks To Anything!"

Two weekends later....

It's not exactly what my wee heart desires, but it's better than no storage at all. And for a $90 outlay plus the paint it's not too bad at all! I just need to put some nicer handles on it and touch up all the scrapes my lovely husband added when he was putting the doors back on...

Isn't it just amazing what a difference a coat of paint can do?

Incidently, I did remove the LED lights...;) x

Magical Watercolours

Ever since I had my boys and the nesting hormones kicked in I've become more and more obsessed with art in my home. A framed piece on the wall can add so much personality to a room. And don't be fooled into thinking an artwork has to be a painting in a frame behind glass either - it can be anything you want it to be.

I love the look of collections mounted in box frames. My husbands grandmother passed onto us some gorgeous treasures she collected throughout her life including these beautiful bone handled knives - they're way too pretty to use these days (plus I'd be terrified they'd end up in the dishwasher!) and make such a lovely reminder of her in our home.

Even ceiling roses look fantastic painted in gelato hues and hung on the wall...

Via

Something though that my interest in and love for has never waned is watercolours. Aside from being very on-trend right now, it can be a spectacular medium when used well and always provides a sense of calm. Take a look at these little lovelies I found. I'm wishing for one of them to turn up in my stocking this christmas...

Via

Wicked whites

So I'm discovering that there are one or two bad things about not blogging for a while. The first and worst thing is that now I have come back to it, I've found a gazillion pictures on my desktop that all have a vaguely familiar feeling about them. Now I'm not quite sure if they look familiar to me because I saw them somewhere, liked them and saved them to show you... or if they look familiar because I've already shown you... So with that little secret disclosed, please excuse me if you've seen these before. I thought about just deleting them all but they're just too pretty for you to miss out on simply because I'm disorganised! So here they are - possibly for the second time - a lovely little collection of kids white rooms...

Via

Art outdoors

Isn't this a clever idea? Even on the sunniest of days I sometimes struggle to get the boys engaged in an activity outdoors. It's a constant tug of war between me and the TV and on occassion it's come to removing the plug from the wall to get them off the sofa to enjoy a spring weekend in the garden.

The thing I like most about this is you can clean it with a quick spray of the hose when you're watering and it provides a lovely backdrop to the vibrant greens of the garden in the warmer months.

There's only one thing you need to keep in mind - and that's what material you choose to create your blackboard from. The usual suspects we'd go to for an indoor blackboard solution simply aren't going to cut it in an outdoor environment - any water near MDF, masonite or ply will spell a very premature end to your lovely new art spot.

But there is a solution. It's called villaboard (also known as blueboard or cement sheeting) and it's perfect for outdoors. People often use it for garden features (like screens etc) and it'll work a treat with a coat of blackboard paint for the kiddos. Look for Blueboard on eBay for a good deal and you can just buy one - or most good hardware stores will have it too....

Don't forget too that you don't have to have a black blackboard.... Sibella Court has done a whole range of gorgeous blackboard paint colours for Society Inc through Murobond which you can get here.

Wouldn't some of those look great out the back? And if you're feeling creative, mix up your own! Imagine that Cherry Nose with a little extra Farrier mixed in to give it more depth... Or if you're feeling really creative, there are loads of chalkboard paint recipes all over pinterest, why not have a go at mixing one up from scratch?

How yummy is this!????

I neeeeed one of these in my life! Doesn't it make you want to do a class in glass blowing? (maybe that's just me - I'm a bit odd that way...). It seems to me there's a mini trend emerging in decorative glass art. I noticed a post on Design Sponge this week about Crystal Bulbs.

Aren't they lovely? Each one is handmade from English Lead Crystal and has a price tag to match the loveliness... 175 clams a piece! Oh but imagine the patterns the light would throw on your walls... They'd be stunning hung in a room with walls painted in deep velvety tones so they could cast their maximum twinkle effect.

Before & After: My Stunning Sage Sideboard

The transformation I'm about to show you is a Relov'd number that has just been sold. She took a long time to complete and with her goes a little piece of my heart....

I bought this piece on eBay what seems like ages ago now. She sat on my verandah for a while before I gathered the motivation to tackle her. I love taking on these 70s style orange disasters. They give such a sense of gratification when they're finished as the transformation is always dramatic and positive.

I sanded and then painted every square inch of her in a delicious shade of sage green called Globe Artichoke by Taubmans. Dulux also do a similar shade called Robinhood but I prefer the Taubmans tint. Her drawer fronts and interiors were covered in a Porters Wallpaper designed by Catherine Martin called Lace in Champagne and the whole lot was finished in a satin clear polyeurathane from Cabots. In hindsight, I wish I'd used a water-based varnish as this one has had an impact on the colour giving it a slightly yellowed hue - not so noticeable on the paintwork but a bit of a disappointing result for the gorgeous wallpaper. Tabitha and I have been using a water-based varnish on our recent pieces and it's so much nicer to use. It has virtually no odour, is much thinner and easier to apply and doesn't leave any yellow cast on your piece - and of course, it's a lot kinder to the environment! Though not as sympathetic to your budget at around 3 times the price of an oil based....

What do you think? Would you like her at yours?

Hopefully I'll have some new pictures arriving in my inbox tonight from our Noosh shoot last week - yup, new Frankie covers are in and they are DI-VINE!!! Can't wait to show you!

Gahhhh! And some party plans...

So turns out I'm not a woman of my word, and back to regular posts hasn't made it into a reality. Well, that's not 100% accurate - I have tried to post... it' just hasn't actually happened. All it took though to make me get my rear into gear was one completely sweet message from Vanessa on Facebook - thanks for the love Vanessa! It's worked!

Now, if you've been around on NooshLoves for a year, you'll know that October brings the birthday of Mr Hugh, my eldest bundle of trouble. He always but always has the most detailed of requirements for his party plans. In the past it's been a Rainbow Theme, a Circus (we even had circus party invites for this which you could download and print for your own party, and we made our own pinata), and this year is no different - this year he's requested a world of SuperHeroes. *sigh*

First port of call is always going to be Pinterest for inspiration... This is my Superhero Party board, and here are a few pins that I'm thinking will be handy...

...but there's so many more great ideas...

I found this great FREE PRINTABLE via Down That Little Lane which Hugh helped cut out and put together...

And these are the invites we made and laminated for his school friends. I'll convert the design to a generic one that you can download for your own SuperHero party too.

As usual, it's all got to match! If you know any other good ideas for a SuperHero party, be it a game, food or outfit idea, I'd love to see them! Send me links in the comments.

See you tomorrow (really, I will), with a couple of the befores and afters I've been working on...

Ciao! x