make me a bon bon

So Christmas season is the busiest time of year right? You hardly have enough time to finish your Christmas shopping let along make your own decorations? But, when you find something as cute as this, you can't help but make time for cutting and glueing (even if it is at 2am in the morning, totally worth it!)

I found this D.I.Y article for bon-bons (aka crackers) designed by Kate Petty of Mini-Eco, an easy & modern remake.

Materials

• templates for large and small crackers
• printer
• pretty paper or cardstock
• ruler
• utility knife and cutting mat
• glue stick or double-sided tape
• treats for inside
• tissue paper
• twine

Instructions
1. Download the pdf and print onto thin cardstock. There is a large template and a small template. Full-size crackers are 25cm (about 10 inches) long, and miniature crackers are 16cm (about 6 inches long).
2. Cut around the outside with a pair of scissors.

3. Score along all the dotted lines. Compass points are great for scoring cards.

4. Using a craft knife, cut out all the diamond shapes.

5. Fold along all the vertical lines.

6. Fold along the horizontal lines as shown. If you like, you can insert a cracker bang and tape it into place at each end using sticky tape.

7. Bring the ends together and join using a glue stick or double-sided tape

8. Tie one end with a length of cotton/ribbon/string.

9. Wrap a gift/sweets/confetti in some tissue paper.

10. Pop inside the cracker and tie the other end with cotton/ribbon/string.

DONE!

of christmas tree

Our christmas season officially began yesterday when we brought our Christmas tree. We were inspired by Simon's sister Michelle and her family's real tree, so on the way home from their house yesterday we called by a Christmas tree-farm. In true "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" style, we stomped through the paddock to find the perfect tree, with measuring pole & saw in hand. Our tree is currently sitting in a bucket of water on the back porch waiting to be decorated...

Now to find some inspiration for christmas tree decorations...!

a city bloke in the bush

When I'm working at home I always have something playing on the television. Mostly to have some background noise more than anything, it can get fairly quiet (and lonely, well apart from my kitten Evie who I treat as my collegue every now and then with witty office-banter!).

I popped "The Shiralee" on today. I think from being overseas for so long, I needed a big Aussie movie fix, and this is by far the most Australian movie I have seen! My parents always used to play it when we were younger, I think my Mum even has a claim to fame that her Aunty has a small role in it (I'm still to find this part in the movie). I also love to watch it because the main character Macauley (played by Bryan Brown) reminds me of my Dad.  Macauley is regularly titled as "the city bloke in the bush" throughout the story, and in one scene someone asks him why he left the city to be outbush, he replied "it's where I'm meant to be". Just like him, my Dad grew up in the city (Eastern suburbs of Adelaide, in the upmarket suburb of Beaumont), but at age 16 he decided he wanted to try his luck in the outback and worked on a station in Northern South Aus. From then, he never turned back. If you met my Dad these days you would think he grew up in the country, it's in his heart and soul, it's "where he was meant to be" as Macauley would say!

A quick low-down of the story to "The Shiralee".... It follows the character Macauley from his arrival into the outback country town of Macmillan, his loves, his rivalries, his "life on the road", when he discovers he has a young daughter which her mother leaves with him. A beautiful relationship between the two unfold, although at first he finds her a nuisance, she eventually becomes his whole world.

Ahh, it's just so refreshingly Australian!!

My amazing Dad (with my nephew Alec)

welcome back

Welcome back me, and welcome back blogging.
It's been a little quiet here at Rain or Shine, so where have I been? America. Land of the free. My husband and I took probably one of our last big trips for a while. We had an amazing time, part of it shared with some great friends, and part of it just the two of us. We ventured from Newport (Rhode Island), to Boston, to New York, to LA, to San Francisco, to Vegas, and then a quick detour to Canada on the way home. Not only was it a great travelling experience, but I also discovered some inspiring american design and art. And in true American style, every piece of art was inspired from another part of the world. I tried to capture as much inspiration on camera as possible, and soon I will post my favourites of "American-design". For now, here's a snippet of our travels, captured in one photo for each amazing place:

Newport (in front of the Newport Bridge with the girls!):

Cape Cod (the beautiful scenery of Provincetown):

Boston (the architecture of old and new):

New York (fifth ave):

LA (dining on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills):

Venice Beach (the most colourful of places, Ocean Front Walk markets):

San Francisco (colourful homes of Haight Ashbury):

Vegas (the Excalibur Casino at sunset):

Grand Canyon (lunch with a view):

Sun Peaks, Canada (with our best friends D & J @ Lake Louise)

inside envy grand opening

There is nothing like seeing your work in real life (not just on the computer screen). Simon & I headed to the city for a day out last Saturday, starting off with a visit to the Grand Opening of "Inside Envy" - logo and business cards designed by Rammikin.

Sadly my camera was forgotten, and so my new favourite App program Instagram was used instead. Here are some pics...

Big congrats to my gorgeous friend Mel on her new adventure, the shop looks amazing & it is going to be a HUGE success. All your hard work has finally paid off :)

Visit the shop on Facebook: Inside Envy

1. some welcoming banners & the window display (wish I got more of the images that were displayed all over the front windows, it looked amazing.
2. "Inside Envy" owner and new Unley It-Girl i'm sure - Mel. Me & some swing tags designed by Rammikin.
3. The LilyMoo Makings display. My amazing purchase.

a new york moment

I'm no good at surprises - keeping them secret that is! Especially when I'm so excited about the surprise. Well thankfully I don't think my hubby Lurch reads my blog that often (perhaps something I should be encouraging!) so I am going to spill....

This December is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary, and it's my turn to organise something (we take turns ever year). We only arrive home from our overseas trip a week before our anniversary date, so we'll be too poor and probably too tired to worry about anything extravagant. But of course I want to make sure it's something memorable!

Then yesterday the greatest idea came to me (well after reading a celeb gossip mag where Jen Annisten had just done the same thing with her beau)... I'm going to book a on-location photo shoot for me and Simon in New York City!! Just think - the backdrop of Central Park, then in front of a NYC Taxi, then on a rooftop overlooking the city, then the Brooklyn Bridge! It will be like having a personal photographer capture a once in a lifetime experience. Now the only challenge is getting Simon to like the idea of having his photo taken for the whole session (let's just say he HATES being in photos).

The whole idea has got me looking into couple photography, not just weddings and engagements, but shoots that just capture the personality of the couple. I don't want the standard "pose & shoot", I want natural happy & really just being stupid photos. Here are some that I love (mixture of amazing NYC locations, and photo style...):

(& if you are reading this, don't tell Simon!)

handy tip for the easily distracted

This is by far one of the greatest idea's for any easily distracted worker!