Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

Be spring inspired

Saturday, 20 October 2012




Springtime sun shiny weather finally came to brighten my days and waking up early is no longer a chore, rather I find myself running out the door each morning to embrace the sunshine.

This year I spent my Floriade visit with my mother chatting about this and that, stopping by flowerbeds to take photos and having coffee at a cafĂ© overlooking the flowers.  It was the perfect location to sit, relax and take in all the colour, shapes and textures of the flowers.  There is something about flowers that makes me grin far more than a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles on top. The colours are stunning then paired with glorious sun shining rays and all the dull grey days of gloomy winter are gone. 

DK does not enjoy Floriade- which I guess is helping me to learn just how different men and women are.  For the first years we were together I dragged him to Floriade showering him with gifts of choc mint and caramel fudge or hot sugared almonds as a reward for holding my hand and taking a romantic stroll though the flowers (of course with no complaints from him). Didn’t last long… Guys just aren’t into flowers let alone one massive almost village sized plantation of tulips, poppies and daisies and not to mention a lot of hay fever inducing pollens.  So I leave him at home now and joyfully frolic in the sun amid the flowers with either my mum or my girlfriends.

The Floriade theme this year is ‘Be spring inspired’ and to me Floriade marks the start of the refreshing.  A time of newfound energy, an awakened desire to get out and do more, catch up with friends and start new projects.  So this spring I look forward to lovely afternoon teas and picnics in the parks, learning how to make fruit chillers with sprigs of delicious fresh mint and tinkering ice cubes in glasses whilst giggling with my precious friends.  I look forward to sitting in my own garden with a cup of tea and smelling natures candy like flower scents while drinking some tea and maybe immersing myself in a new craft project. 

Whatever my spring days may hold, I know they will be full of excitement, discoveries and delight.  

I feel spring inspired and alive.




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Floriade festivities

Saturday, 6 October 2012


Ordinarily at this time of year I'd find myself frolicking through beds of tulips at Floriade, eating mango flavoured fudge from the Fudge Man whilst basking in the glorious sunshine surrounded by the giggles of friendly catchups.  But it seems that spring time in Canberra is teasing me this year with lovely sunny days when I'm at work and then turning to cold, rainy days when the weekend arrives.  Regardless of the weather I am going to make it to Floriade before it finishes and I will eat mango fudge and catch up with friends.

One of my favourite parts about Floriade is the Gnome Knoll, a place for gnomes to gather and compete for the title of Miss/Mr Gnome 2012, and yes it is based on looks.  So you purchase a gnome or two and paint them in either a style that reflects the Floriade theme or in your own flair.  

My Dad is an amazing artist and I studied design so you think that painting a gnome should come easy... Well here's some news for you- I have ZERO painting skills.  Painting frightens me, I seize up and get all tense and then destroy whatever I attempt.  Give me spray paint however and it's a different story.

So this year I finally purchased two terracotta gnomes from the art store for $13 each and then told my hubby (DK) that I wanted spray paint them so we went to the auto store to get car spray paint.  

Spray painting gnomes is super fun, pretty easy and I guess you could do it with teenagers if you supervised them.  But then again kids and teens would probably love to unleash their creativity and actually paint them with a paintbrush.

Click through for a quick and easy tutorial on how i made my own spring time gnomes.


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