Can you catch...

a cold right after another? Well, that's what happened to me. I was on the amend and then caught another bug. not nice at all.

under the weather

So I went to this thing last Friday evening at Central Park after work organised by the Young Designers Group at Hassell Perth. They had organised for a few talks on placemaking but didn't organise for good weather. It was pouring rain and the wind basically blew through the foyer of Central Park. ALL of us who attended tried very hard not to shiver and had to concentrate from keeping our teeth from chattering.

Image taken from Village Well website

It would all have been for nothing really but for the saving grace of the charismatic Gilbert Rochecouste from Village Well. Of all the things he said that night, the thing that stuck to me most was this: support the local and organic. So I have resolved to try to go more organic and support local growers in WA.

Anyone know of a good place for fresh fruit and veg north of the river?

Oh and I hope no one else fell ill after that night other than me. I've got a cough and cold which is making me feel kinda bleh.

Extraordinary Mondays - Char Char Bull review

YUM!

Khoa and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last week by going out for dinner. I've heard so much about Char Char Bull's wonderful steaks, I had to try it. I do like a steak now and then and I know for certain that my dear husband wouldn't turn a good steak down.

So, on that rainy stormy night, we made our way down to Fremantle and parked right outside the door. We walked in and I was impressed by the intimate scale the restaurant was. I had thought it would be this BIG restaurant but no, it was the perfect restaurant size.

The service was friendly and we were even shouted mocktails for our anniversary! They were going to give us a glass of champagne each but since we don't drink alcohol, mocktails instead.

While waiting we started doodling on the paper on the table. Here's the little dragonfly I have been working on.

We had mussels and a round of chips as entrees and for mains, Khoa had the rib eye steak (the best in the house) and I had the surf and turf. For sides, a garden salad. The steaks were PERFECT! I usually like my steaks well done but since Char Char Bull is meant to be the best steakhouse in town, I figured I better go for medium well. I must say, the steak was cooked to perfection. Just the right amount of pinkness.
To top it all off, the service was friendly and the pace of the food was good. I definitey recommend it to anyone who is craving a good steak.

current crafting in our house

Khoa and Zach have been loads of fun with playdoh.

And I have been having fun watching my next painting come together layer by layer.

Look what came for me yesterday?

You know all that hush-hush business lately? Well, I can give you another clue.

This came for me yesterday. All so exciting. Khoa bought it for me for Mother's day!! It embroiders beautifully and I have been working on the design below for a T-shirt for Zach.

copyright owned by Adelyn Siew

Extraordinary Mondays - Wheel of Perth

It's nothing like the London Eye but hey, it was good fun and the kids loved it! Go check out the Wheel of Perth if you have time before the rains (finally) come in this week. It earns a mention as an Extraordinary Monday as I'm surprised it has stayed around for as long as it has.

Craft fair in Perth

I went to the fair yesterday and spent about 1.5 hours browsing and simply just absorbing the craft vibe. I did find stall that I loved and spent much of my time there pouring over the fabrics. It's called Studio Mio. They import fabrics from Japan and boy, did my heart sing when I saw a quilt with origami kimono's on it. I just had to buy the pattern. For those who know me, I'm more into being at the receiving end of quilts than making them. (My dearest friend, Nat, knows this well. She made me the MOST wonderful quilt as a 30th birthday present for Khoa and I. I'll remember to post a photo of it soon.) But this japanese quilt was just so fabulous I just had to make one and have one. So, I find myself embarking on this accidental journey into quilt making. Wish me luck!

Anyway, here's a snapshot of some of the fabrics I bought at Studio Mio. Don't you think they look divine!

crazy critters

Drawn using my Wacom Bamboo Fun

I've been working on a series of crazy critters lately. I thought I'd share them with you. They are all in the early stages of being developed so if you have suggestions for improvements, I'm all ears!

(I promise, the pieces of the puzzle will all fall in place soon. I just have a few more things I need to get/do before I can share the entire dream with you.)

Can you guess...

...what I got for mother's day? Oh, happy day!

Image originally uploaded by CreekCreationsau

Extraordinary Mondays - Letterpressing

Originally uploaded by porridge papers

Originally uploaded by dolcepress

Examine the image above. The detail, the inking, the embossing. Aren't lovely to look at?

I have recently just discovered letterpressing and have caught myself simply staring at pictures of the prints. It is all bittersweet as I really don't have space to even begin to think about getting even a small tabletop press.

Letterpressing is an age old method of printing on paper originating from about the 1400s. The difference between this method and our modern day printers is the texture. It has experienced a revival particularly in the wedding industry because there really isn't any better to indulge in your wedding stationery than to have them letterpress printed.

I can just imagine my own personal line of stationery, letterpress printed by myself, with my own designs, all using homemade paper and fruit/vegetable inks.

So, if any of you have any leads to a machine somewhere, I'd like to know. Maybe I could just buy the machine first, store it until we've done our extension and THEN, I'll have space for letterpressing. Sigh!

Happy Mother's Day!

Quarry Amphitheatre

Khoa and I had the honour of attending the wedding of a great friend at the Quarry Ampitheatre on the weekend. I have never been there and was surprised at not only the secludedness of the site but also of its immensity of the quarry walls.

What a lovely ceremony it was! Simple and intimate. The groom was in a simple black suit with a white shirt without a tie and the bride was in a silver gown that flowed at her toes. The wedding was at dusk with lovely colours in the sky, birds singing and the beats of an african drum duo.

The thai kitchen after the ceremony served up food in very interesting ways, such as: red curry with prawns and sago in little glasses, fried rice in mini chinese takeaway boxes and almost all other food served in shot glasses.

There is certainly very little that could beat the combination of a wedding, good food and friends to share it with.

Extraordinary Mondays: Kite-flying bubble-blowing weather!

See that little red speck? That's Zach's kite.

It's been lovely weather lately and we have been taking the kids out to the nearby park on the weekends.

We took Zach's kite out for the first time since we bought it and he had his first kite flying experience. You had to be there to see the delight on his face as his kite flew higher and higher. It flew for such a long time, we sat down on the grass with the kids and watched it. The kite started tugging on the handle and the thread got released more and more when suddenly, the thread was no more and the kite FLEW AWAY! Poor kid.

Anyway, that was impetus enough for Khoa to make a kite for Zach. We took the kite for a fly on the weekend. It was such a great kite and looked fantastic in flight with its red and yellow tails until it got a little tear at the tip and kept nose diving.

Zach wasn't too devastated this time as he went on to play with the bubble solution Amelia and I were playing with. Look at the bubbles we made!

Here's the recipe:

2L water
250ml washing detergent (I used Morning Fresh)
4Tblsp Glycerin

Make sure you leave it overnight to settle. It's not the greatest but it's pretty good. (I still can't get the lasting effect of the commercial bubble solutions.)

The success of bubbles really depends on the content of the water you used, humidity and wind conditions of the bubble blowing day.

Boy, I do love bubble-blowing!