the REASON for the trip to the country..

I've never been a huge reader of books.. Why? Not entirely sure but reding a book that's not either a computer manual or a book on parenting or a book that teaches me something has always seemed like a waste of time. I wish that wasn't so, but for some reason that's just me..

Since having kids I've done a heap of reading of kids books to the kiddos.. The books don't often teach me anything but the kids love them and I guess I fulfill my reason above by justifying reading the books, with teaching the kids something.. I so hate being practical sometimes..

I've been somewhat obsessed with Dr Seuss since Ella was born.. I've bought every Dr Seuss book I've come across.. So getting to the point.. If you have ever read Hunches in Bunches, you might get a good perspective of how I've been feeling lately.. in a nutshell.. all over the shop and chasing my tail!!

Last week a number of things happened which I looked at as signs just to stop and throw in the towel with my little business and go back out into the real world and get a job. Then I've questioned which direction to take kasiabear designs.. I've got so many ideas and started projects that it's hard to focus. My little kamikaze's are changing and evolving every second.. which also makes me question whether they are in child care too much and I should be soaking up every possible second with them before they start school or whether to up child care a day a week so I can focus a little more on my work. Then I've questioned whether or not I am taking good enough care of myself and the household and focusing too much on the business..

I then look at people like Claire from Scissors Paper Rock and think.. how on earth do you manage to be a teacher, run your own business, take time away to spend with your family, be an awesome mum and write such a gorgeous blog.. or Naomi from Seven Cherubs.. yes seven.. OMG.. I can barely keep up with two.. or Shan from Missy Melly, a nurse and an acupuncturist, who is a mumma of twin girls who she looks after full time while running Missy Melly.

It makes you question yourself, whether you are doing enough, it brings on all those funny belly feelings...

I am super crap at taking time out, at chilling out. Seriously crap!! I don't watch TV cause its a waste of time and I don't read books unless they give me information or teach me something. Baths... eh.. too long!! My chill out time is sitting on the computer and fiddling with photos or reading blogs.. but my body doesn't relax, it would much rather sleep or at least lie down.

The only way I truly relax is by physically removing myself away from the house and far enough with enough distractions so I cannot think about work or what needs to be done around the house.. So.. thats what I did..

We made a date with auntie G to visit her mumma in the gorgeous Adelaide Hills and spend the day on her little farm with the kiddos and auntie G's fury kids.. And all I can say is that it worked.. I chilled!! I had no other option than to chill.. and it all makes so much more sense..

More on the trip soon..

{a little bit of me} where do i blog..

Since reading one of my fave blogs, Fat Mum Slim today, the question of "where's your blog spot" has been floating around.. well.. its kind of funny at the moment.. but here it is..

Up until last week, my blogging spot was here, there and everywhere, including the couch, outside while the kids played and on the kitchen table and my laptop just followed along.. The old-boy however had a few issues last week and from overuse/abuse on my behalf, and decided he would overheat, blow up his battery and became a desktop computer as mumma has refused to buy a replacement battery..

So until the old boy gets replaced with a nice new macbook-pro for playing on and blogging and a desktop computer, he lives at the end of the kitchen counter, plugged IN. My blogging therefore is done either in the kitchen in between washing up dishes, making snacks for the kiddos or on my iPhone.

It's kind of cool and handy as I can look onto the kiddos, but my feet are feeling the load.. my load that is :o)

Pop past fat mum slim and have a look at other blog spots around the place..

{wordless wednesday} a trip to the country..

9:19am > follow the truck...

9:24am > to the tunnels.. 

9:24am > in the tunnel..

9:47am > we're here..

5:12pm > on the way home.. 

{more on this trip later... }

joining in with faith hope and a whole lotta love's

wordless wednesday

{quick three..} cars i love..

When it comes to cars I think I should have been a boy.. but I'm not. What I am is, a practical gal but most certainly not a girly girl, if that makes any sense at all.

My biggest regret when it comes to cars is that when I got a new car a few years ago and had a choice of any colour I went for a boring charcoal grey.. I like it, but it really should have been red. I got talked out of it by a mate of ours who is a panel beater as its supposedly the worst colour as far as fading and colour matching goes.. booooo!! I should have listened to my gut. Ah well.. too late!! Maybe Definitely next time!!

For my quick three this week though its not about reality and practicality.. in-fact far from it. My list in order of size not preference is..

VW beetle... oh the memories... the memories. A friend of mine had one when I was in high school and we spent a lot of time cruising the main street of Adelaide's most popular beach 'Glenelg' in it. Me a passenger of course but hey.. passengers can have just as much fun. I got my first ever fine in the convertible VW for sitting on top of the roll cage bar thingie.. ooops!! The funniest thing was that the fine said it was for a protruding limb.. seriously.. more of me was out of the car than in.. I think I still have it stashed somewhere.

So the reason I love them and always will is the memories, the fun of punch a bug I used to play with my hubby as travelled around the states and just cause they are just a cuuuuute car. I would never buy one cause its not really me.. I did test drive a few of the old model when I was searching for my first car but it just didn't do it for me.. I think I liked just being a passenger.

jeep wrangler... one day, I will have a jeep wrangler. Now this is me!! I don't care about the model but it has got to be red. Its just not quite practical at this time and chews up too much petrol and sadly its not going to be on the priority list on the budget anywhere near the top for quite a while.. but one day.

the hummer... just a big version of the wrangler really.. well, now here is the plan. I have a big boy who is happily staying in the 90+ percentile, so with a little luck, he will be huge. So huge in fact that he won't fit into any car other than a hummer. Hmmm that's it.. got it sorted.. I wont have to buy one, but mummas boy can drive her around in one. No seriously, I love these guys but its just so so big and unrealistic. Where would I park it??

images from here: vw beetle | jeep wrangler | hummer

What cars do you love?

What cars bring back memories?

What are your dream cars?

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

{countries i'd love to visit}

{week-a-boo} point + shoot..

This weekend was a bit of an ordinary one in many different ways.. good and bad. Funnily enough I started this blog in August of 2009 as a place to write positive things about motherhood whilst going through PND.. it was even called 'the love of motherhood' for a while. Things calmed down and when I launched kasiabear I felt that this should be my little space to write things for me (hence 'kasiabear.. a little bit of me') and also something for my kids to have a little look at when they grow up.. Strange thing is that I don't think I have ever mentioned or written about PND on this blog.

I'm still not quite up for the challenge to write about it, but in short it was a crappy weekend as far as PND.. the floods in QLD got me down so I just sank into my family. The big boy was home for the whole weekend which was nice, meaning I got to do a bit of fun stuff in the kitchen for us and the kiddos, like making heart shaped toast, jelly, banana ice-cream and potato fritters.

We hung out... I got massages from the kids.. we watched telly.. we did a bit of gardening and started planning out our back yard as far as veggie patch, chook shed, plants, trees etc...

Feeling much more refreshed now.. so here's to a nice week ahead..

Joining in with a couple of my favourite blogs.. Scissors Paper Rock and Fat Mum Slim..

happy monday..

seth godin

{shadow shoot sunday} shell..

joining in with hey harriet's shadow shot sunday..

{this week i'm grateful for..} my family..

What a horrible week all round really.. so much tragedy, loss and sadness. The floods in QLD have given a little shock to the system and reading Lori's blog this week has put a lot in perspective yet again. I write this with an awful knot in my stomach but also with such thankfulness to the bloke upstairs for what I have.

This week I'm grateful and thankful for:

{1} having my family all under one roof, safe, happy and dry
{2} my husband and my rock,who i would be totally lost without
{3} the community spirit all around australia in helping out those whose lives have been affected by the floods in qld

here are a few links to how you can help.. 

join mon petit poppet in making a softie 

to put a smile on a child's face

i'm joining in with this one..

anything you can think of that 

helps you feel like a woman and take care of yourself to 

Project Shine or QLD

goods can be posted to: 

PROJECT SHINE 

via Sunny Mummy  

PO BOX 488  

Burleigh Heads QLD 4220

Things to remember: 

all items, with the exception of books, must be brand new and sealed or with tags,  for hygiene and transportation purposes. No donation is too small, so if you can pick up a little something extra for a Flood Mummy in your groceries this week, it would be GREATLY appreciated! 

i've sent my little care package on friday.. 

Premier's Flood Relief Appeal

donate funds directly to the appeal

follow the above link for full details

thank you maxabella for hosting this amazing blog hop!!

keep safe everyone!!

{kasiabear designs} new birth announcement card designs..

A new set of birth announcement cards has just been uploaded to my etsy shop.. I'm loving doing some layouts and playing with some colour on screen again..

..{stripes}..

These are listings for an electronic file which will arrive in your email inbox fully customised as far as:

 ❤ name
 ❤ birth date
 ❤ birth weight
 ❤ birth height
 ❤ parents names
 ❤ your child's photograph
 ❤ colour scheme
 ❤ font

Once you receive your file you can print it on either your home printer, at a photo shop or at a professional printer. The choice is yours, the style of paper you have it printed is completely in your control and the quantity is up to you as well. You can also use the file to email to distant friends and relatives, co-workers and business clients.

Its simple, effective and timeless.

I had these cards professionally printed on firm postcard style paper for both my children when they were born. I printed a fair few more than I thought I needed and have found uses for them for a number of years after their birth.

I've used them as a introduction to the kids personal photo albums, I've used the cards to place on the front of their child care communication book and I've used them as thank you cards for all the wonderful gifts my little bundles received just by writing on the back.

You can also use these designs as invitations for birthday parties, christenings and such by changing the wording.. ie.. emily is turning one.. and then add the party details to the side in smaller font. Party invitation designs will be arriving soon..

Have a beautiful day..

{wordless wednesday..} ice-cream..

joining in with faith hope and a whole lotta love.. 

{quick three..} fruit i love..

Being summer and all it's rather easy to write my list.. or hard as there are so many wonderful fruit to choose from. I'm a fruit bat, if the fruit is there I binge on it.. and I am quite happy (and think its quite fine) that I substitute 3 of the 5 serves of vegetables you should have in a day for fruit..

berries... this includes every berry under the sun and blueberries in particular!! I love them to the moon and back again, just wish they were a little bit cheaper on this continent. I could quite easily substitute each meal with berries and there are so many ways to eat them, to cook with them, to use them as decoration and to make jam with them. The just rock my world!! Any donations of berries would be greatly appreciated!!

cherries... not sure whether they fit in the berry category.. I think they're a stone fruit so I'll just stick with that thought. Yes.. these little guys are my very close runner up to berries. Again so many ways you can use these guys and they freeze so well!!

mangoes.. quite seriously these guys rock! So incredibly delicious! I hate peeling them and getting the flesh out but its worth it. They make the most delightful sorbet!! Just freeze the suckers and blend them while still frozen. I use my thermomix and they come up a treat!!

What fruit do you love??

What fruit could you eat all day or at least half the day?

Grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below. Please add a link back to me in your post so others can join in the fun. This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry.. 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 week's theme will be 

{cars i love}

this can be the make or model of a car and it can be because you love the look of it, or love the sound of it or would love to have one but.. hmm that's a pipe dream or cars that you owned but are now retired to the scrap heap. 

this is your list so interpret it your way.. 

{kasiabear designs} birth announcements & invitations..

It only seems appropriate that I start kasiabear's birth announcement cards and invitation range off with my first baby's birth announcement card design.. in 4 different colour-ways.. These designs are now available to order through kasiabear's etsy store.  

..{spots}.. birth announcement card
All birth announcement cards will be customised with your child's name, date of birth, weight, height, and photograph, once complete and you have approved the proof a high resolution file will be emailed to you. You can then print this file at home, at a photo shop or the printers, giving you full control of the final look of your cards, and better still.. if you run out of cards or decide you want to invite more people, you can print more or use the file to email to distant family and friends.

{spots} red/orange

{spots} blue/green

{spots} pink/purple

{spots} red/blue

i'd love to know what you think..

{kasiabear designs..} new print design..

i will always love you

The first kasiabear print design is now loaded and available to purchase through redbubble just in time for valentines day.

This design is available as:
a framed print
a matted print
a laminated print
a mounted print
a canvas print
a postcard
a greeting card

More prints to come soon.. including custom birth announcement cards and custom party invitations.

{week-a-boo} point + shoot..

Minor heart attack started off the weekend for me.. I popped my computer on to link up my {grateful saturday} post as I tend to write a few of my posts on the iPhone these days and my good old trusty mac was doing some weird shite.. as it was possessed or something. It took a little bit but the culprit was the mouse pad. Some little cherub had placed something large on my electronic baby and squished it.. Nothing a husband with a butter knife can't fix. Sometimes I think I have waaay too much trust in my hubby's 'mr fix-it' abilities, but I was willing to give anything a try.. and thank my lucky starts it's all good and well in the world of the macbook yet again.

A bit of a ho-hum Saturday really. The weather was odd and it rained a little and our little princess doesn't love the rain so the verandah got boring pretty quickly. Zaccy learned how to open the back door so going in and out of the house was his #1 game for the day.. and oh my, the amount of flies he let in.. oh my.. I just don't want to go there. Highlight of the day for me would have to be the three monkeys (1xBIG + 2xSML) doing star jumps together.. too funny and big belly laughs for me.

The house was filled with sounds of American football on telly, kids playing with the chuggington set Zaccy got for christmas, then animal sounds made by the kids whilst playing with the enormous schleich animal set that resides in our house and then happy sounds from the kids laptops as mummy did some work on her computer.

We had a little peek into Ellas baby box where I stash her special little treasures for her to have when she grows up like her first nappy.. Christening gown.. First shoes.. First Christmas decoration and so on.. She loves looking through it and it's a real treat for both of us. Each time we look through it everything seems so much smaller..



My big bro is back from the UK so it's a real bonus to have him pop in.. He's a full on novelty to the kids too at the moment.. Zac adores his new little buzz box car and could stay in there pretending to drive it for hours.. Perhaps not the best pass-time during hot weather but hey.. He loves it!!

Dragging any visitor into our 14ft tramp is always a laugh for all involved.. Ella loves showing off her new tricks and her jumps are getting higher and higher each day.






I think Christmas is finally packed away... I love Christmas, the lead up to it, shopping for pressies, holiday crafts, the joy on the kids faces when they receive pressies, the whole Christmas day and the few days that follow as we visit our friends to celebrate but one thing that I hate is the mess and clutter that lingers for a few weeks after. Just when you think you have packed it all away, pulled down the christmas tree out comes a bauble from the kids rooms or a decoration that was pulled off and stashed or a dish that you only use on special occasions that needs you to empty half a cupboard so it can be put away.. But it's done and dusted.. Yippee!!
And last but not least.. Both mumma and daddy snuck in a short nanna nap!! Oh how I love a sleep too up!!

joining in with scissors paper rock's {week-a-boo}.. 
and fat mum slims point+shoot

pop over for a sneak peak into some other weekends..

happy monday..

seth godin's blog

{shadow shoot sunday..}

joining in with hey harriet's shadow shoot sunday..

{this week i'm grateful for..} paint..

Those that know me would know my slight obsession with painting.. and although I use paint in my screen printing and lino printing, this week it's about the good old household paint..
The painting isles in bunnings are my buddies.. I rarely have to ask for assistance to find what i need.. I've painted on almost any surface possible. I just love how a couple coats of paint refresh and revive..

This week I took a stance.. After donating our office to our little man so he could have a room of his own a couple of years ago.. as far as paperwork goes we have been lost and all over the place. We needed a spot and needed it now!!


I decided that until both hubby's and my workspaces are complete, we would dedicate a corner of our bedroom to an office area.. So out came the paint..


I didn't want to purchase any furniture for a temporary space but I am somewhat anal about things matching.. So I attacked an old wood desk with white paint to match our bedroom furniture and TaDa!! We HAVE an office!!!


Oh paint how I love you!!
PS.. A bunnings visit was not necessary as I have a good amount of paint stock for various projects already premixed in my all time favourite paint colour.. Dulux - Whisper White


Check out some other grateful saturday's here..

once upon a time..

Once upon a time I had no kids. I worked at a winery as a designer and got paid to take short holidays to photograph vineyards in another state. It was nice, kinda fun really. I got to fly in a vintage plane. I got to drink ridiculously expensive wines.. and I mean those ones that you generally only read or hear about and I met a lot of wine buffs (wankers). Being absorbed in my work and working within the wine industry never made me into a connoisseur of fine wine, in fact far from it.

Photography.. hmm.. I exhibited my work in a number of venues, was featured in a heap of print media, had my photo greeting cards in a number of little shops and was heading towards that.. "when i grow up, i wanna be..." moment. Then I stumbled into the wine industry. I was offered a job when I asked for a donation of wine for an exhibition opening... I liked it at first as I got to use both my photography and design skills but eventually I got suffocated. Design no longer had that wow factor, as each time I designed something which I thought was pretty damn sweet, it got picked apart by each member of our little team.. even the accountant seemed to know more about which font should have been used or what thickness a line should have been.

Eight years on, I resigned from my job rather than taking maternity leave when I was pregnant with my second child.. who is now almost two. I needed a change, I wanted to focus on my kids and I wanted to get re-inspired about design again.

Sadly the full time mum thing didn't work that well for me.. I needed to do something that was still me, I needed to be creative in some way and kasiabear started. It started off with just screen printed tees of my designs then moved into sewing. It pulled me out of a rutt, it cheered me up, it got me inspired. I started taking photos again and recently pulled out some of my old photos.. It got me thinking.. then the holiday season creeped up and I had even more time to think...

After all this thinking, I have decided to take kasiabear in a new direction and include my photography and some print design in the mix. The transition will happen slowly, as my kids are still my number one focus and this is my little girls last year before she starts school.

I'm very excited about this new direction and feel a whole new enthusiasm deep down. As far as kasiabear clothing goes.. my little etsy shop will stay right where it is. I will focus mainly on printed tees and will upload OOAK clothing here and there. I've started uploading some photos onto my little corner of red bubble too.. you can purchase the images in various forms directly from there.. or just pop in every-now-and then to have a look at my past adventures and some that haven't happened yet.. There is a little {photography} tab along the top of my blog which takes you straight to red bubble.

Thank you all for your amazing support during the beginnings of kasiabear.. its been a ride..
 xx
  kasia

wordless wednesday.. friendship..

more wordless wednesday here.. 

{quick three..} colours i love..

red... I really could be categorised as being somewhat obsessed with the colour.. really I could!! I love it as far as decor, clothing, wall colours, furniture.. I have a selection of red and white polkadot mugs which gets added to each time I come across a red and white polkadot mug, I have red cushions, my daughters room is red and white. I picked up a trike from hard rubbish because it was red (thank goodness it was fixable), all accents in our master bedroom are red, we have a red (shagpile) rug in each room of the house, I am on a hunt for red towels for the bathroom.. omg.. I love red!!


white... from above you probably guessed a white and red colour combo is quite my favourite. I know that white is not classified as a colour technically.. but technicalities are just that. I love it! I love the simplicity, the cleanliness, the non-intrusiveness of it. It works perfectly as a base to everything for me, I love it as a backdrop in photographs. I have a white dinner set, all of the furniture in the kids bedrooms is white and white bed linen.. do I need to say any more??


blue... I love black too, but I guess I really should pick another colour as such.. No really, I do love blue. All shades of blue really, which is kind of nice, as when it comes to red it has to be Pantone 186C. I love the sky and I look up there on a regular basis. I love baby blue for babies regardless of the sex, I love blue eyes and am lucky enough to have a family full of them. I love metallic blue cars, I love blue kitchen accessories. My little man's room is blue, well a feature wall with accents of red. Maybe that's why I love blue so much as it goes so well with red and white. Maybe thats why I married an American boy.. 

What colours do you love?? 

What colours make you smile?? 

What colours dominate your household??

This is the first {quick three..} of hopefully many more to come.. Grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below. Please add a link back to me in your post so others can join in the fun. This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry.. 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 week's theme will be {fruit i love} so start thinking and each time you take a bite into a piece of fruit and you get that Aaaahhh.. yummmo! type feeling, remember it and jot it down.. See you next week. xx