My Creative Space: coaster love

I seem to have a thing for making coasters; they're some of the first things I ever made and since they get ratty fairly quickly I've ended up making replacements a few times. I just love how quickly they come together, and how cute you can make them with tiny scraps of leftover fabric.

These are from a pattern in Meet me at Mike's, but they're really easy to improvise as well.

They also look pretty darn cute tied up with a bow and given to a friend as a gift...

You can see another set of embroidered coasters that I made here.

For other people's creative spaces, go here.

Missing Colombia

I came across these photos on my computer the other day, and I've been dreaming about Colombia ever since. The last time I was there was about 4 years ago, and I must say that I've been missing it. There's just so much to miss: my crazy but loveable family, the fresh food, the music, the passion, the crazy big nights out, the architecture, and the people, of course.

Today I'm posting the photos from my trip up the coast. I hadn't been there since I was a child and I totally fell in love. Cartagena is an amazingly beautiful and oh so romantic city, and the small towns up the coast are lovely and relaxing. And I should mention that these photos are best perused while listening to this song:

Cartagena - how cool is this church??

For other posts about Colombia check out this post of vintage family photos and this post of my baby photos :)

Olive oil granola

homemade olive oil granola + passionfruit + homemade yoghurt =

This week my breakfast of choice has been my homemade yoghurt mixed with passionfruit and topped with olive oil granola made with this recipe. I'm usually so grumpy in the morning that this is about all I can manage, and I also seem to go through breakfast ruts where I'll just eat the same thing for a month and then swap the next month.

This one's definitely a winner though! But next time I make this granola I'll leave out the brown sugar completely; it's a bit too sweet for me. What have you been eating for breakfast this week?

Especially grateful for, 2nd edition

Once again inspired by Whitney, I thought I'd share a list of 10 things I'm especially grateful for right now...

1. Brown paper packages tied up with string (see above photo). Otherwise known as the 2012 Frankie calender and diary, so excited about these!
2. My new bike!
3. Husband coming to yoga with me. And liking it.
4. Sweet compliments from friends :)
5. Scoring 3 new summer dresses from Vinnie's for less than $30.
6. Funny French movies.
7. Pretty craft books (right now I'm perusing Scandinavian Stitches).
8. This song by Winter People, which you can download for free here.
9. Passionfruit and mandarins, yum.
10. A rainy Sunday, perfect excuse to be lazy all day :)

* Giveaway - The Yoga of Birth *

I'm so excited today to share this giveaway with you all and talk a little bit about my dear friend, Katie. She has been my boss since I started working at the studio, my teacher since she led my teacher training and my friend since we've had our unofficial two person sewing club. Katie constantly inspires me with her wisdom, playfulness, dedication to her family and the way she manages to live a yogic life in a busy city while being a business owner, freelance journalist, author, yoga teacher and mother to two small children!

I was delighted when she asked me to help her out with her latest book, 'The Yoga of Birth,' and I took over the job of editing and now helping her get it out there in the big, wide world. I've read it a couple of times now, and it is a truly wonderful book. I don't even have kids yet and yet I've found so many bits and pieces in this book that have inspired me and made me think about what I want my own pregnancy, labour and early days of parenting to look like.

This is not a yoga asana (poses) book; rather, it details how the practices of yoga and ayurveda can help women throughout conception, pregnancy, birth and all the way through to toddlerhood. Even if you're not into yoga, I'm sure you'll learn something from this book.

The book is available to buy on lulu, and you can find more info about upcoming events here. The book website isn't live yet, but it will be soon and you can find it here.

Finally, the official book launch is tomorrow at Jivamukti Yoga Sydney at 10 am. It's a family friendly event with gifts galore, games, snacks, and copies of the book will only be $15! Katie will, of course, be there signing books and talking a bit about The Yoga of Birth.

To enter to win a copy of the book, just leave a comment on this post. I'll leave comments open for 1 week. Good luck to you all!

My Creative Space: A prints charming apron

We're taking a trip down memory lane today for my creative space. A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to know how to sew. I'm not sure why I decided this, but I was pretty determined.

So I did a class at Prints Charming (which I must've found online) where we learned some very basic skills (i.e. "this is a sewing machine" says the teacher, "wow" responded the 4 students) and made an apron. This apron. After my triumphant apron making, I came home, bought a heap of sewing books and fabric and went crazy. But this is where it all started: this apron, that old house where we used to live and this country which I now call home. ♥

My life in iphone photos: round 6

girls night out

Baby Lucas and I

Teaching at Milsons Point one night, husband at a cafe

can you smell summer? I can

new buddha from Thailand and blooms

Rosemary, Lola!

Cockatoos (cheeky birds), my new favourite teacher and I

tea party, book signing (more on this later...)

Happy hump day!

Meet Lola/I need your name advice

Sunday afternoon my husband called me and asked me to come outside to meet him. I started walking when I heard frantic bell ringing and turned around to see husband riding up to me on this brand new pink bicycle. "How do you like my new bike?" he asked before admitting that it was, of course, for me.

I couldn't have been more delighted. I've been pining away for a cute bike for some time now, and this one fits the bill perfectly. Now I just need to strengthen my legs so I can usually use it (I have the weakest legs ever)! Thanks husband, I love it!

One last thing... I was thinking of a name for her and I'm thinking Lola? Thoughts?? She's definitely female, and quite girly.

Laughing Lotus Yoga

This weekend I was blessed to do three 3 hour workshops with Jasmine Tarkeshi, co-founder of Laughing Lotus Yoga. It was, in every way, extraordinary. Jasmine is such a wealth of knowledge, but more than that, she's funny and down to earth. Qualities I value very much in yoga teachers. I learned SO much from her and got to try lots of asanas (poses) that I've never done before.

I can't wait for her to come back, and next time I'm in North America, I'm definitely going to drive down to San Francisco to check out her studio. And if you happen to live in San Francisco or New York, I'm jealous. But what I'm really trying to say is that if you live in either of those cities, you should get yourself to a Laughing Lotus studio as fast as you can!

Noticing

Some of the things I'm noticing as I work from home today...

my create sign, handmade treat from a friend

a lonely stack of fabric sitting next to my machine and waiting to be made into something, if only there was more time!

my favourite tea from T2: orange pekoe

inspiration in the form of yoga books

What are you noticing today?