Tea Degustation Party

For a long time I've been picturing a tea degustation. I wanted to create morsels to go with different teas.

First you had to choose your cup.

Here was the menu:

Vegan Goodie balls went with Chai

Blueberry Friands went with Seduction Tea

Everyone had to wear a hat...

My felt number

Prize for the most effort went to Tami!

Sean wore the hat he never thought he would have the occasion for...

I was glad to see Cindy with a mad-hatter!

Even Oscar donned a 'hat'.

[current mood] Ange Takats Music & Bulmers Cider

Invitation with Song

The first version of song-communication arose with Solua Middleton sending me youtube video clips that expressed how she was feeling during conference calls with our bosses.

It became a bit of a continued conversation through song. Solua is a legend.

Most recently she emailed me a song to expressing how irreplaceable I am. She used the iphone ap 'Songify'.

I decided to one-up the use of song as communication by creating a Songify party invitation.

Tea party invitation by Natalija Brunovs

It's atrociously good!

[current mood] Leftover Juicer Bits Muffins & Quietening the Mind to Hear the Birds

Nanna Knuckle Dusters

You know how you get funny ideas... have a laugh at them and then let them stay as a concept because the momentum isn't there to follow through?

Well I'm thrilled to say - I created a little idea/joke yesterday! It was due to needing to devise a gift for a very lovely someone - the perfect opportunity to just do it.

I was talking to Lenni, an artist, surfer and sprouter who used to live in my room. She said she wanted some fingerless gloves but I misunderstood her and thought she said 'finger gloves' - I was picturing a glove of just fingers and wondering how that could be... so we had a laugh about it.

Then I was invited to her 30th and thought I would make those finger gloves I imagined for her! So I set about knitting with various wool colours and tiny needles, the night before.

They looked so cute! I wasn't able to knit for all eight fingers before bedtime so I settled with 4 fingers and 1 thumb glove/cosy/warmer. I also wasn't sure how she would choose to wear them - All at once? Maybe even with a fingerless glove, to complete the look?

or just like rings, one at a time?

When she opened up her present last night and excitedly put four on her fingers and the thumb one on her nose, someone said 'hey they are like knuckle dusters!' and Lenni got around all night with her new spunky finger warmers.

I've since decided to call them Nanna Knuckle Dusters and if they took far less time, I'd sell them!

[current mood] Soup of all variaties & Making up Tunes with New Friends.

Moving Home

Everytime I tell my mother I'm moving she says "Oh what a good opportunity to get rid of all your junk!" to which I reply "I don't HAVE any junk mum! Stop bugging me."

Now the first box is packed. With all the really important things.

See mum!

[current mood] Breakfast for Every Meal & Passion Pit (Packing Music!)

That feeling you get at 10am on a Sunday

After another party...

And your throat serves you well...

 

[current mood] Porridge & Ugboots footsteps

Film Noir Photo Booth

I like a black wedding...

Where the cheek and the raunch comes out to play.

For Caz & Nick I set up a photo booth as a silent film set with DIY subtitles.
It ended up being a lot more cabaret than class and the guests had a mini-riot grabbing at boas, top hats and rope.
I see it as a creative installation that adds another entertainment experience to the reception for those to enjoy between drinks and dances. I like how some people won't go near it and others come back with a different guest six times.
Hoorah for the Nat-ness I can inject into my wedding photography!

The groom and his mother - my favourite shot.

In-jokes may not translate, but this one is about how he once (drunkenly) climbed a pole as the best man and yet the groom who berated him used hand puppets in his speech.... so he considers his crime far less worse.

It really helps when the guests are sexy,

playful (per chance gay)...

and prepared to go where others might not.

It was even a family affair (PG rated)

The bride and groom getting in on the action.

It still cracks me up that I raided my folks' cupboards for props and discovered this baby doll (wtf are they doing with this?) and threw it in the bag of tricks. 

The bride's idea to provide Movember Moustaches (chocolate on a stick) also proved very wise for role reversals.

And others just laid on as much of the goodies as they could.

I wonder how they'll feel about these shots now....

I can't stare at my 'test shot' too long without cringing, but it's fun to throw yourself into the album!

Thanks goes to my gorgeous Narelle for being a stylist on hand (and for above shot).

[current mood] Gifted Herbal Tea & Dedicated Country Radio Stations

Create your own Colour Fun at Home!

It can be a bit boring waiting for someone to take their turn in Scrabble.

So I started finding all the green things I could to place around Fabian until he made his word.
I liked how his red jumper was the perfect juxtaposition to green!

Here are some other colours of fun around my house.

Using the red seive for the tomatoes

Never is mint greener than when you pick it.

Little red lady bug walks the green teapot.

Wool for pompoms - coming soon to this blog!

[current mood] Pecha Kucha & Pineapple Juice

Being with an Arabian Knight

The one thing I never seem to have is a band-aid.

But the upside is that I have an opportunity to create my own Arabian knight.

I've been reading David Deida's 'Way of the Superior Man'. It's for blokes, but I'm told I possess a lot of masculine energy (this is a step in my attempt to do away with it.. or at least to understand the other species better and know what the ultimate man could/should be like! but I digress...). Deida talks about man's obsession with do do doing, going from task to task, filling up his life with getting things done.
So what if you were suddenly to die? Are you living right at that moment? Full of life and able to gracefully go out? As opposed to woh, wait, I'm not ready! I forgot to live!

Deida suggests that even in the doing of things (which we can't avoid) we can hold ourselves in a being-ness, with our hearts open and really seeing our task in the bigger picture of life and love. Simply, we can 'do' with love.

It just takes a breath to bring you back to being in your doing.

From the number of times I slice my finger with knives, I'm clearly a mindless do-er. So my little Arabian Knight can remind me today to be be be.

[current mood] Ice Coffee & My Text Message Tone

The Look of Love

...is in your eyes.

You've heard of rose coloured glasses right? The idea being that if adorned, a person would look at things in a rosy kinda way. Well, I'm taking that one step further. Heart glasses. I'm seeing everything WITH LOVE.

It actually works!!

Not only am I constantly reminded to see 'with love' as around my vision I can see the frame(work) of hearts. But in addition to that, people send the love right back, because they just know that I'm looking with love. And bam I fire it back again. Exponential love!

I have received and given more smiles in the past 48 hours than I have in weeks. It's also been a catalyst for delightful random conversations.

I think topping it off with a very cute dress and a wonder dog is the icing on the love-cake.

I shall travel this way, always. x

[current mood] Juicy Fat Pancakes & David Bowie