{quick three..} breakfast..

Running a little late.. sorry guys!! Madhouse-bears around here with the upcoming website launch and getting everything organised for it. It's looking amazing and I'm so super excited about it..

But jumping straight into the quick three.. This week its breakfast and one thing that I love is going out for brekky. I love the vibe at a cafe in the morning and the smell of freshly brewed coffee while I eat my brekky. So whenever I have the chance.. yep, I try and organise a breakfast catchup with friends rather than lunch or dinner.

My faves when I'm out would have to be:
{1} A full breakfast which includes, poached eggs, bacon, spinach, mushrooms and tomato.. a hash brown on the side is also a bonus.
{2} Eggs Benedict.. oooh, yea!! That's all!!
{3} Pancakes topped with fresh berries and a drizzle of cream and maple syrup.

At home I go for:
{1} Soft boiled eggs
{2} Pancakes
{3} Scrambled eggs with chives

Alright.. now its your turn..

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {favourite lunch food}.. following the brekky theme.. this just seems like a good choice.. 

{image from here}

{oh so grateful..} for the power of me

A couple of years back we had a few quotes done on getting our roof restored, and if you've had a roof restoration done, you'll know its quite a hefty cost. There was one company that we weren't able to get a quote from, simply because my husband was not available to be at the appointment. Their reasoning for not quoting a roof restoration to just me was that they needed the man of the house to be present so a decision could be made. Hmm.. thanks for that!!

Last week that very company knocked on our door, asking if they again could quote on a roof restoration. I was blunt and honest and said "Yes, of-course you can, but my husband will not be present at the appointment. Is that alright?" The salesman stuttered all over the place, made the appointment for me. The morning of the appointment, I received a phonecall to say that a few people have called in sick and there won't be anyone available to come out today. Mind you, I was not offered another appointment time.

I really was amazed at the whole situation, and kind of peeved. I mean, far out!! I am the decision maker when it comes to stuff like this and it wouldn't have mattered if hubby was here or not. Hubby and I had a chat about putting in a solar system a couple of days later and decided that the roof DOES need to get done so we can move on the solar.

Then next day I booked a home consultation from the company that gave us the best quote last time and with the solar people so I could book it all in. I'm happy to say that the sales people came, quoted and I (that ME solo) booked the jobs in and next week, we are getting a new roof.

So, this week I'm grateful for:

{1} a hubby that trusts in my decisions and treats me as an equal..
{2} trust in myself to make the right decision being a woman and all..
{3} companies that are not sexist in who they quote big jobs to..
{4} the opportunity to paint the eaves (I kind of LOVE painting)
{5} my life.. it really is swell!!

Joining in with the ever so wonderful link up of the week over at Maxabella Loves..

{image from here via pinterest}

{quick three..} favourite tv shows

I really could be classified as one of those types that don't watch telly.. perhaps if I had a telly that looked like this, then I'd look at it more. I watch one telly show a week (if allowed) and then it's the kids and dad that use up the rest of the telly time. 

My hubby and I made the decision not to have any adult telly on while the kids are around. So in our house its pretty much dvd's and abc4kids 90% of the time. So jumping right to it.. these are the shows that I like.. 

{1} Better Homes and Gardens

This is mummy's show for the week. The kids know that on Friday mum watches telly and have finally accepted this and no longer fight me on it.. yaaay!!

{2} Tinga Tales

Yes yes.. its a kids show but when it comes on in the mornings, I generally stop and watch it.. it's just cool and Zaccy loves to snuggle up and watch it with me.. as normally it's only me and him that are up. 

{3} Poko

Yep.. another kids show.. I think the main reason I like it is that reminds me to stop and enjoy the moment of a hug with the saying "hug a monkey, hug it tight.. hug it till you feel alright". Since picking up on this line, anytime I'm feeling a bit crappy I grab one of the kiddos and give them a big squeezy hug and say.. 'hug a monkey, hug it tight.. hug it till you feel aright". They have now stopped giving me funny looks when I do it and give me smiles instead.. and usually a pat on the head. 

So that's me.. What are your fave telly shows.. please tell me I'm not the only mum that actually likes the kid's shows!

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {favourite breakfast food}.. I'll see if I can come up with three.. so I'd love to know what three tv shows you love and just cannot bare to miss?

{image from design milk}

{oh so grateful..} for the handmade community..

I've always loved art, craft and making my own things. It's so wonderful to see the handmade community grow so much and handmade becoming a wonderful, original and beautiful option for everything from clothing, toys, jewellery to kitchenware. It's no longer looked as as second best but rather.. better than the standard commercial items.

I love being a part of the handmade community and am amazed each day how encouraging and supportive the people within it are.

So this week, I'm oh so grateful for being a part of this community.. for being able to make and create my own clothing range and being able to turn this love into a business that helps support my family.

Joining in with Maxabella Loves.. you should too!

{image from family fun via pinterest}

{new in my shop..} the vintage collection..

Introducing the {vintage collection}.. 
Although not quite complete, I just had to release this collection. I absolutely loved working on these designs as it bought back a lot of memories for me as far as photography equipment and cars I love.
These designs are all now available in my etsy store..
Available in sizes 0-16 in most styles and in an array of colour options.

Let's ride.. 

vintage girls and boys bike.. 

featuring a large vintage bicycle image centre front of the tee

bicycle cogs on the bottom and a small bike image on the sleeve.

Let's talk.. 

vintage telephone..

featuring a large black telephone image centre front

and small coloured telephones wrapping from front to back.

Let's take photos.. 

vintage cameras..

featuring four large vintage cameras on centre front of the tee.

Let's drive.. 

vintage car & ute..

featuring large vehicle images centre front of the tee.. 

{quick three..} technology..

Funnily enough I found it quite hard to pin point three gatdgets that I love. There really are just two, but the third is quite a big thing in the house purely because of the kids and the big kid.. so my three for this week is:

{1} Computer..  Macbook Pro to be specific..
Running and online business and a blog kind of makes this little gadget somewhat important to me. Most of my designs are also created on the computer so I guess it goes without saying, but this is also my chill out zone. I love playing with family photos, reading blogs and in general just looking at images, photos and hence my love of pinterest..

{2} iPhone..
I seriously have become far too reliant on this little guy. It holds so much information for me I think I would have a mild heart attack if I had to go back to another type of phone. Since upgrading to the 4 I have made a decision not to put any, well only a couple, of kids apps on this phone and keep it as 'mummy's work phone'. In saying this, I do have a heap of apps which would mainly fit into the productivity and photography categories.

The kids have the hand-me-down 3's for their apps, and oh my there are some absolutely awesome educational apps available. The little guy is into bugs, snakes and dinosaurs and the little miss into the fairies, princesses etc, so I've picked out a heap of apps that are educational, but fit into their areas of interest. They don't get onto the phone too much, probably a couple of times a week, but its nice to have the old phone that has only kid appropriate apps to hand to them, and know that they can't call China when you are not looking.

{3} The telly..
I hate the fact that I am listing this as one of my top three, as I'm not a TV watcher by any means. I love a couple shows but rarely get around to watching them. The TV does play a big part in our house and its even a part of our routine. My little man usually gets up super early (I'm talking 5am here) and seeing he is the docco watching type, I pop a docco on for him, he chills in his beanbag and has his milk, while I peal open my eyes and make myself a coffee and get brekky ready for everyone.

The telly stays on for a little while in the morning and then we have a TV free day. About 4pm when I want to get onto the housework and get dinner ready, it comes back on for the afternoon shows on ABC4kids.

So what are your 3 gadgets or pieces of technology that you can't function without?

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {tv shows}.. I'll see if I can come up with three.. so I'd love to know what three tv shows you love and just cannot bare to miss?

{image from here via pinterest}

{quick three..} ice cream

I said today was going to be an easy one.. well, for me it sure is. I love ice cream any time of the year. There is no such thing as calling it a summer food around this place. Although I must say we consume a lot more during the hot months of the year. 

Although nothing beats a nice creamy ice cream, I also love to make sorbets during summer with all sorts of fruit for the kids. They call it ice cream.. and thats just fine with me. I basically cube fruit and freeze and then when the kiddos want ice cream I fill the thermomix with the frozen fruit and a dollop of natural yoghurt and whizz and its ready in less than a few minutes. 

But seeing this is my quick three.. these are my favourite flavours.. 

{1} chocolate.. 

{2} boysenberry..

{3} blueberry..

You may have noticed a few changes.. well there is also a new button on the side bar for quick three... If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {technology}.. what three pieces of technology do you rely on.. or just simply purely love?

{image from here via pinterest}

See you next week..

{new in my shop..} the damask collection..

introducing a new collection of designs for little or big girls..
{the damask collection}
each tee is hand screen printed onto your choice of tee colour and ink..
available now through my etsy store..

all photography by the lovely Koroli from Memorable Moments Photography.. 

{oh so grateful..} for steve irwin..

I never met Steve, nor visited Australia Zoo, or even stepped foot on Queensland soil for that fact, but this guy has brought many belly laughs into my life. Many of them were while I was living in the states and everyone.. and I mean e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e would ask me to say "oh crikey". I never really got into the whole Crocodile Hunter fad when it was big, but recently.. things have changed.

I wrote a few weeks back, about my little man having a slight obsession with documentaries and this by no means has changed. What has changed however is that Steve's little girl's DVD's are now a big hit with both my kids. Zac gets to watch all the animals and Steve interacting with them in such an amazing way and Ella just loves  Bindi and her tree house.

I as a mother love watching the Irwin family and how they interact with each other. We're kind of the flipped version of the Irwins. I'm from Australia and hubby is the one from the States and rather than my hubby being into animals he's into fish and plants.. with as much enthusiasm as Steve was into animal conservation. My heart goes out to little Bindi as I know how much of a part my hubby plays in my daughters life and if she ever lost him, I'm not sure that she'll be able to cope as Bindi has.

So this week I'm grateful for
{1} my hubby and the amazing relationship he has with my little girl..
{2} steve irwin for being himself and following his passion..
{3} the irwin family for being such an amazing example of what family can be..
{4} my kids for taking interest in their dad's passions of gardening and fish..
{5} my awesome family.. each one a little different yet still respectful of eachother..

joining in with maxabella loves.. you should too..

{quick three..} child friendly dinners..

Quite simply.. I'm sooo over cooking fantastic meals, to have my kids pick out what they want and leave 90% on their plate, to then dash to the fridge for a yoghurt. So from this day forward, I pledge to make cool food for them that they will eat and leave the fancy pants dinners for us big kids. When, they're ready, they can be big kids too.

So in saying that, I need to find kid friendly dinner and lunch options that are both easy for me to make, healthy and will be eaten by them. I don't have an issue with getting fruit into them.. its the veggies that let me down. With a bit of searching around, I've came up with my first three that I will try out on them. May the force be with me!!

{1} kid style sushi.. there are lots of variations you can have here.. and with brown bread and good fillings it might just work..
avocado and tuna sushi sandwiches..
sushi style rollups

{2} sneaky muffins.. I once had a theory.. that if you put it in a muffin they will eat it. So out comes the blender and its all going in a muffin. Veggie muffins here we come.
cheesy vegetable and ham muffins

vegetable muffins

{3} sneaky meatballs.. another food that is not rejected so in go more veggies than normal.. 

vegetable meatballs

chicken meatballs with spinach

{image from here}

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {ice cream}.. Easy peasy one next week.. what are your favourite flavours.. or do you make your own?

See you next week..

{oh so grateful..} for blue skies..

We've had another week of sickness in the house this week.. BUT the little guy was tough, took his ventolin without much of a fuss and we didn't have to spend any time in the hospital..

So this week I'm oh so grateful for;
• a brave little guy who is starting to understand about working with us instead of fighting us..
• blue skies and warmer weather..
• our little herb garden which is really taking off with this glorious sun..
• committing to doing what I love.. I have received some amazing news for Kasiabear this week which I can't wait to share..

Joining in with Maxabella Loves..

{quick three..} lists

{snapshot of my pinterest board dedicated to lists..}

Oh how I love lists and Oh how I have too many going at any one point. Seriously though, I couldn't imagine running my life without lists. As I mentioned in a couple of posts I have a few little stations around the house with various lists and they really do need to get moved and organised into one central location, but I operate on lists and on ticking them off.

So to jump straight into it.. these are my 3 major lists that I live by:

{1} the shopping list..
I have a little silver cash-register-roll holder that I stumbled across in a magazine a decade or so ago, and my bro kindly hunted down for me, as back then things weren't as easy to obtain online. It lives stuck to the fridge and is absolutely awesome as its so handy to add items to and then just rip off the section with the list and take to the supermarket.

{2} to do right now..
I have two glass boards, one for home and one for work that I scribble things on with a chalk pen. Super easy to add things to and rub clean so those to-do's seem to always get done as they sort of glare at me if they don't.

{3} ideas book..
To keep all my ideas in one place, I have a gorgeous book that is very compact and travels with me pretty much everywhere. I write everything in there from ideas for my business to ideas for home, craft and jot down websites I love.. seriously everything.

{image source: life's a journal}

Now this little list... I found it a little while back and have started using it, and so far, it seems to be working like a dream. I try and fill it out the night before so I know what's coming up the next day. I tried calendars and diaries but I just forget to look into them, so this might just be my answer. I've actually made my own smaller version that is easy to slip into my bag or pocket, but it has pretty much the same info on it. It even has a water count which is something I always, always, always forget to do.

So what lists to do you live by? Any ideas on what to add to this super list?

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {child friendly dinners}.. This is purely for my sanity. I need to spend the time to have a look and try out some new recipes as I'm getting really, really bored of cooking the same food over and over again... I'd love to hear about what your kids favourite meals are or some links to recipes online.. 

See you next week..

{quick three..} post it notes..

I've written about post-it notes before and I'm sure I'll write about them again.. I love them!! Recently I received an email from sew many ways.. a new blog I'm loving at the moment reminding us that the holidays are coming up, which means presents, which also means the reminder of all those presents you were meaning to make for people but ran out of time. Karen has started Make a Gift on the 25th Club, which is basically a way of getting you to start on all those pressies you want to make now and pledge to make a gift each month.

I found some super cute ideas to do with post-it notes and thought that I might just make some of these for the kids teachers and friends. They can help with the simpler versions too which would be another thing to do with them on these freezing days. This week I'm also heading to a Christmas in July dinner with the girls and need to bring along a small gift.. so one of these is on the agenda for me to make before Friday.

So my quick three this week is ways you can turn the amazing post-it note pad into a little gift..

{1} a pressie for the teachers..

{2} a pressie for my friends..

{3} a pressie for the kid's friends..

{image sources from here, here and here}

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below.  Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three.

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top..  If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {lists}.. I write many and there are many more I would love to write.. what lists do you love, what lists does your household revolve around? See you next week..

{snippets..} goodbye tippy toes..

Today started off like a pretty run-of-the-mill sort of day. My little girl had a craft/dance morning at the fairy shop with her bestie, then we went out to lunch to our favourite cafe.

A couple of years back Ella received a 'Bella Dancerella - Tap is a Snap' DVD from the girls next door. This DVD has had her glued to the TV each time it's on. She has watched it with incredible concentration and has taken in each and every word, dance move and step. So needless to say, when her teacher offered to move her up to the 5+ age group to do tap next term, I jumped at the opportunity.

Next week is the beginning of a new term and also the start of tap dancing lessons. So following lunch we headed to the dance shop to pick out a brand spanking new pair of tap-dancing shoes.

This dance world is a a whole new thing to me. I can vaguely recall a dance lesson when I was young, but it is a vague memory and that's as far as it goes. I never had an inclination to dance nor do I now, but watching my little girl dance is just beautiful, its something else.

As soon as we got home the itty bitty tap shoes were on her feet and stayed on till bath time. I think the DVD went all the way through three times and my little girl danced and tapped away to the music.

So goodbye tippy toes for now and hello tappy toes.



PS.. if you have any idea where to get more tap dvd's aimed at 4-5 year olds.. I'd love to know.

{our creative space..} papier-mache fairy mask..

It's the school holidays here in South Australia so I've been trying to keep the little princess busy while at home for the extra couple of days. Yesterday she was booked in to do fairy crafts with her little buddy but unfortunately the class was cancelled.. so mumma had to have a little sneak peak into spotlight to see what she could come up with.

One item that we've purchased a couple of times now is a little fairy mask so she can dress up like Harmony or Rhapsody.. and each time they fall apart within a couple of wears.. that dancing gig is quite taxing on the masks by the looks of it. So needless to say, when I stumbled upon a papier-mache mask that was nice and sturdy and just waiting to be glitzed up and decorated, I grabbed one for her and one for her little buddy and figured they could still do a little bit of fairy craft while at home.

It really was a simple project and although tired, they both seemed to rush through it and tackled it with ease. The girls painted the mask first and we sprinkled glitter all over it while the paint was still wet. Once dry I punched a couple of holes on the sides, thread through some thin elastic and Ella added a few more sparkles to it. The total cost of the project was less than $5 as we used paint and glitter we already had at home.

Pop past our creative spaces blog for more creative inspiration..

{quick three..} diy..

My name is Kasia and I'm addicted to DIY.. there.. I've said it!! No seriously, I am! It's on the verge of annoying to say the least. I've tackled projects that I really had no business doing, but I managed to fumble my way through them, the end result was great and I saved us a heap of money. Hence I just keep on doing things that I really have no business doing.

I made my dog a kennel, renovated the bathroom, repainted the house, paved, painted the gutters plus an abundance of little things. Every-time I see something in the shops there is a little lightbulb that goes on and a little voice that says "you could do this.. and you could do it for a lot less than that". So another project is added to the list of things to do.

I have my own set of tools which I keep meaning to spray paint pink {and I really hate pink} to stop my hubby taking off with them. I just love the fact that my kids see me doing all these things and don't categorise certain jobs according to gender. They call the shed "mums shed" and if they need something fixed they usually come to me first.

So getting to the quick three.. I've picked my three according to things I want to make in the near future that I've seen around on pinterest that just popped out at me..

{1} the daily system.. from pottery barn

I just looove the look of this little space. I have a few spots around our kitchen with a magnet board, pin board, chalkboard and hanging clip boards, but I think I really need to dedicate a wall and do something like this, so its all in one space and its the place to go to for everything..

{2} a stone alphabet.. from here.. 

I'm always on the lookout for cool things to make with the kiddos. I like LOVE the fact that Ella comes to me when she likes the look of something and says "mummy can we make this" or "mummy can you make me a dress/skirt like this" or "mummy can you print me a fairy t-shirt", instead of just asking for the item itself. It just melts my heart. It is time consuming and somewhat crazy at times, as my kiddos are just over 2 and 4 and I seem to take on projects aimed at a much older age group with them, but they love it!! AND I love the results of handmade items around our home. So this little stone alphabet is on the to do list these school holidays.

{3} utensil holders.. from sewmanyways..

This is simply genius!! I always grab a heap of paint swatches on our visit to bunnings (and we're there quite often). We use them to punch shapes out of and then the kids do collages with the shapes. They are just fantastic but this is just genius!! I don't have a party coming up but when time allows I'll start making up some of these for any occasions where we are having guest over and I use disposable cutlery.. How cute would these look in greens and browns with the new eco friendly bamboo utensils??

So what diy projects have you tackled of late or are on your to tackle list?? 

PS.. if you live in Sydney and would love to attend the Organic Expo.. Go to the post HERE and enter by leaving a comment for your chance to win one of 3 double passes. 

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below. 
Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun and only link up if you are joining in the quick three. 

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. 

For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top.. 

If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be {post it notes}.. I just love these guys and have recently stumbled on so many cool ideas to do with post it notes.. what do you use them for? See you next week..

{new in my shop} personalised name prints..

I've been re-inspired recently with the redecorating of my little man's room and a couple of first birthday celebrations to do a new Name Print design.

These would make a beautiful gift for a little girl who is turning one or for her naming day / christening. Just print the file at your local print shop or on your home printer, pop it into an ikea Ribba frame and you have a one of a kind gift.

If you are a new mumma, you could also use these as name announcement cards.. I'll just adjust the file to be a little smaller.

I offer gift vouchers for my store too if you would love to give one of these prints to someone but are unsure of their colour preferences. Just convo me and I'll arrange an electronic or printed one to be sent out to you.