17/52

16/52

15/52

Instagram

I was generously gifted an Iphone as an early birthday present. (Thank-you mum !)
I have instagram & you can follow me here.
x

Clothes Swap

For the last few months (or since always, maybe that, too) I have been doing that frustrating thing that women seem to do. Each morning I stand at my huge rack overflowing with clothes, convinced that I have nothing to wear. It is laden with beautiful 50's dresses, velvet Karen Walker suits & about 15 pairs of jeans I don't wear. 

I've never been much of a purger. I hold on to things, convinced that one day, I will find them in favour. Convinced that there will be an occasion for that dress, one day. 

Well, I finally took action.

Last week, I invited over some of the styliest ladies I know. 

We all threw our offcasts into a big pile on my lounge floor, and rummaged like crazy.

It was extremely overwhelming & intense but INCREDIBLE.

I was able to get rid of six shopping bags of things I don't wear, & in return I got some of the most beautiful things I could have hoped for.

When you can't buy things, you privately compile little dream shopping lists in your head of the things you pine for.

Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe that is some fine tuned synchronicity, but I got every single thing on that list from the clothes swap.

I'm not fucking around. 

Ever since we started this I have been feeling more spoilt than ever before. I am learning to have true gratitude for the things I do have.

It was such a pleasure to watch all of these beautiful girls walk out the door with handfuls of new treats.

I think it will definitely have to become a 6 monthly event.

x

14/52

Three tired people.

Lately

Not off to a good start taking photos everyday this week, I left my battery charger at work & now Chris has taken my camera to do some filming for work.
Oh well. Photos will come.

In the meantime I am really excited to share some things I have been working on lately.
Each night when Willow is asleep, I have been working late into the night in my makeshift ceramics studio.
This is my second crate of greenware off to the kiln & I couldn't be more excited.
Such a rewarding craft.
I can't wait to get these little babies back from the bisque firing and glaze them!
x

13/52

I wish this wasn't all I had this week, but it is.
This week Willow learnt to walk, clap & four teeth came through.
If there was ever a week for milestones, I would have to call this one.
It makes me a little sad that I no longer live with my camera in hand the way I used to.
Taking photos obsessively of every ray of light on the wall, every strangers face in the street.
All of those photos wasted on menial things, not on capturing my first borns chubby little feet drag across the floor. Wobbly & uncertain, but so so sweet.
I am setting myself a challenge to take just one photo each day this week.
A simple exercise to remind me to look.
x

Kitekite Falls

12/52

Those lashes.
x

A few beautiful words

I've watched this a few times over the last few weeks, & I keep coming back to it.

You've probably already seen it, too, but I'm sharing it here so that you will take time to rewatch it.

A concept that we all inherently know, but how great it is to hear it out loud. Over and over again. 

Happy Wednesday my sweets x

11/52

Nine & a half months.
This week you learnt to stand up unaided without any support from us or furniture.
You have become so much more vocal and inventive with the sounds you make, which entertains everyone around you.
One more tooth has joined the clan, bringing the count to three.

It's hard to believe that I will learn to love you more than I already do. Sometimes, when we lie down together, I look at your tiny face & my chest feels like it's bursting.
But I know that I will love you more. I know because already I have learnt to love you more.
x

Our second month without spending.

How incredible that we are already two & a half months into this year. 

It's taken me a little while to get around to penning this update, as usual life is incredibly full.

Each night I stay up far later than I should working in my make shift studio trying to materialise some of my ideas with clay. Ceramics is wonderful & meditative ( and a lot better for my soul than my computer). 

One aspect of living with this budget that I find incredible difficult is not buying materials. 

I have the beginnings of a humble business idea snowballing, but it's difficult to budget expensive materials into our incredibly tight weekly allowance.

Although this is frustrating, it's also great for my all or nothing attitude. I have a tendency to get obsessed with a hobby and splash out on all of the materials, do it once or twice and then lose interest. 

Slowing down and only buying tools or resources when I absolutely need them makes me push the boundaries of each step a little further, developing my ideas into something much more whole.

In general, not buying isn't exactly a straight line. I am constantly at odds with it. Some days I want to throw it in and go and buy a new pair of shoes to replace my sad, dirty Vans, followed by a well earned massage. Other days I feel so liberated & literally joyous at not having to partake in consumerism. No longer do I kill time wandering into shops, picking up something small & insignificant that will blend into my home or wardrobe and quickly become forgotten, after giving me a moment of fleeting pleasure.

Now, instead of buying new sneakers, I actually wash my old ones. 

Instead of buying expensive organic moisturiser, I make my own with natural ingredients that cost me almost nothing.

One experience this past month, that stood out to me the most, was an act of extreme generosity.

Earlier in the year, I basically begged my friends and family for any unwanted baby handmedowns for Willow. It was humbling.

We got the most incredible response from people I had never even met. 

Bags of clothes were delivered to us, & my good friend Samara even started picking up books & clothes at her local op shop in Melbourne and bought them home for us on a recent trip.

It's these incredible acts of selfless generosity that make me feel so full to my brim. 

But it was last week, when we visited our beautiful friend Lucy and her even more beautiful baby, Clementine that I seriously lost it.

Lucy works with her mother on their amazing childrens clothing label YmamaY. She mentioned she had a few things for us but I definitely wasn't expecting her to give us a pile of beautiful brand new clothes, and then bring out FIVE BOXES of almost new girls clothes & shoes, and a basket of toys & bottles. I honestly felt greedy accepting so many beautiful things. 

That evening we were having dinner with friends, when I realised it wasn't until we decided to stop contributing to the consuming cycle, that we have been given things that are SO much nicer than we ever would have been able to afford to buy.

Not only that, but for the past two weeks I had been silently wishing I could buy a plastic washing basket to carry my washing from the washing machine to the line. What a petty little thing, I told myself. My hands were doing the job, a little awkwardly, but I would survive without one. 

When Lucy gave us all of the clothes, she told us to keep the plastic basket that was holding them.

Seriously. What a minuscule thing, but it was then that I realised that what you put out does came back to you, even the trivial things.

How blessed we are to have such an incredible network of thoughtful, kind people in our lives.

I'm sorry for writing such a long, rambly, & most of all sentimental post, but I sometimes feel taken aback by how lucky we truly are.

Thank-you to everyone that follows along here and gives such heartening feedback. 

H x

Little Dreams

I'm so excited at the moment, to have so many ideas and projects on the go all at once.
It started a few weeks ago, with a small burst of insomnia.
At first I was so frustrated to be losing precious sleep, but after a few nights of tossing & turning, I decided to use it to my advantage. I started playing around with some different ideas I have had floating around, watching youtube tutorials and working with my hands into the wee hours.
It quickly began to consume me & all of my thoughts. The longer I thought about it, the more things clicked into place. All of these little projects that were sort of like loose ends started to fit under the umbrella of one big overarching idea that ties everything together.
I still have so much work to do, & I am probably a long way from being able to fully share my little dream, but I thought it would be nice to share a little taste.
Happy Tuesday my sweets x

10/52

x

Looking through old photos & found this little gem.

My two loves.

x

Splore Festival (part 2)

Thank-you, Splore. For the most beautiful weekend ever. xx

9/52

 

Something so beautiful is growing before me, most of the time I can't even come to terms with it.

Her first word this week. Papa.
x

Splore Festival (part 1)