{2014 resolutions!!!}

{via}

hello lovely friendlikins!

HELLO TWO THOUSAND + FOURTEEN!
how are you feeling about the new year? good vibes or a tad stinky? have you been having lots of wonderful summer adventures, lovelies? what are your goals + plans + dreams + adventures for this year? are you continuing on from last year or have you made a change in the direction your'e taking?

i'm feeling really good about 2014, i think it will be a wonderful year of change + growth + adventures + mystery + am looking forward to doing life with my hubby {tom}, kitties {bumble + moose}, my friends + family + with you lovelies too! i'm excited for tommy to be touring australia + going overseas with thief this year {although i've already had a cry - i'm going to miss him!} i'm keen beans to be blogging more, working on my consistency + content + general bloggy goodness - so watch this space! i'm keen to get back in the studio, churning out some bunting + other handmade goodies for my etsy store {milk + sugar story}. i'm already enjoying weekly fun times with the 3 munchkins i'm nannying for + all 5 nephews + neices!

what are you looking forward to? anything that your'e counting down the days til?! i think it's important to have plans + goals + things to look forward to. it really helps to give you direction + not spend all day thinking... umm... what now? if you've been following along, you may know that last year i had quite an ambitious list of goals that i wanted to achieve! 52 things before 25, was a list that i still want to achieve but will be on the back burner + not being my top priority, as there was just so much, that it was quite overwhelming. i think it will take another year or so to cross everything off my list - but a huge contributing factor to my lack of finishing my goals, was having a lack of money. so one of my goals for this year is to be working more + saving.

my resolutions for 2014 are continuing on from last year, as i think they are important + need continued maintenance. my resolutions include, working on my health, relationships + getting things done. my goals in a nutshell are:

{health}: i'm working on eating more veggies + going on more bike rides!

{relationships}: writing letters to friends + making time to spend with friends + jesus in prayer + his word!

{getting things done}: basically i need better time management so i can achieve more things towards my biz, blog, and life in general!

since the end of last year i've been working on a new planner system to get me organised for the new year. i'm still making changes + seeing what works, so i can be ticking the boxes rather than being consumed by my list of goals! at the moment i'm using a planner i bought for my hsc year, which is a personal sized planner + which i've been using as a wallet to help with the change over. i am however, still using my kikki k A5 planner, but am tweaking it to my needs for this year. i also have a household planner, that will help me organise all my house wife duties, like cleaning + meal plans + what not.

later on, i'll share with you my system, when it's looking pretty + helping me get things done! do you use a planner? perhaps a filofax? mmm... so good. what are your resolutions for 2014? remember it's never too late to think about how you want to spend your life! what do you want to achieve this year? i want to be living + loving intentionally! will you join me? i'd love to hear, share below in the comments!

love love
 {lizzie}
  xoxo

{the good times of 2013}

hello lovely friendlikins!

wow, we've made it to the end of 2013 + already into 2014! i hope it's been a good year for you : ) and that you're excited for the year ahead! here's a snapshot of my 2013:

2013 was the year of...

* 52 things before 25 + kikki k planner organisation

* moving to our beautiful cabin!

* bike rides!

* weddings, engagements, birthdays + CHRISTmas parties!

blue mountains wedding - jon + dante!

matt + katie lovegrove's wedding!

andrew's 21st birthday!

blue mountains wedding cake

freya + leo's engagement party!

blue mountains wedding + birthday celebrations!

* making tommy + i a quilt

* my first car wash!

* making lots of bunting for friends + family + etsy!

* christian conference - new wine festival!

* chain necklace scarf making!

* experimenting with stitching!

* pizza nights!

* we scored two vintage typewriters!

* blackstump!

* thief!

* road trip to nelson bay + the blue mountains + newcastle!

* pancakes!

* tom + my one year wedding anniversary!

* we saw the moscow circus perform!

* entered a knitting competition!

* enjoyed the beauty in this world God has blessed us with!

did you have a good 2013? looking back i can see there are so many things to be thankful for + i know that God has been pouring out his blessings on us. he's provided i more ways than i could ever know + blessed us with strength + good times, even amongst the harder stuff in life. HE's good like that! i'm excited for what 2014 has to offer! what adventures do you have to look forward to in 2014?

love love

 {lizzie}

  xoxo

{52 things before 25}

{audiobooks}

link

hello lovely friendlikins!

how are we this drizzly day? i'm enjoying the cool break from the toasty hot like an oven heat! if you've been following along with my 52 things before 25 goals, you may know that to read a book a month is on my list before i turn 25 this december. to be honest, i haven't done too much reading, but i have done a WHOLE lot of listening! tommy + i have listened to many audiobooks this year, most nights, instead of watching tv or a dvd we'll listen to the next part of our story. it's been lovely to listen as i craft and tommy draws. have you listened to audiobooks before? if you haven't, i think you should give it a go, it's GREAT!

here's what we've listened to so far:

we started the year with the inheritance cycle series by christopher paolini.

1. eragon

2. eldest

3. brisingr

4. inheritance

they're full of dragons, adventures, dwarfs, troll like creatures, elves, magic, love, loss, courage + fun times! i haven't seen the movie + didn't know anything about the story but really enjoyed this fantasy series so far! i think there is one more book to listen to!

link

we followed suit with more fantasy adventures, listening to the disc world series by terry pratchett.

1. the colour of magic

2. the light fantastic

3. equal rites

4. mor

5. sourcery

6. wyrd sisters

7. pyramids

8. guards! guards!

9. eric

10. moving pictures

11. reaper man

12. witches abroad

13. small gods

14. lords and ladies

15. men at arms

16. soul music

17. interesting times {currently listening to}

{next on the listening list:}

18. maskerade

19. feet of clay

20. hogfather

21. jingo

i've really been enjoying this series! i was first introduced to this magical land of hilarious adventure, when tommy + i were making engagement party invitations + making 35 metres of bunting! i highly recommend this series + the movies are AMAZING!

in between these amazing series, we started listening to a million miles in a thousand years by donald miller. i've read this one, i enjoy all of donald millers books! he has a great style of writing, like he's your friend sharing about his life's adventures!

link

the actual reading i have done are parts of:

1. the bible

2. searching for God knows what by donald miller

3. 31 girl by mary simpson

4. a women's devotional book

it's been lovely to listen + do, instead of watch. i would still like to get some actual reading done though! i'm even part of a book club, i haven't started reading the book... persuasion by jane austin. don't tell them, shhhh.

if you'd like to start listening to audiobooks, you should check out audible!

HAPPY LISTENING/READING!

love love
{lizzie}
 xoxo

p.s. if you need some reading inspiration check this out.

{i LOVE...}

{quilts}

{multi-layer mix}   {kite}   {bundle of quilts}

{hexagons}   {flying geese}   {paper cranes}   {feathers}

{bedroom}   {star}   {zigzag}

hello lovely friendlikins!

how are we all? hope your'e fine + dandy! have your days been full of crafty shenanigans? i know mine are! i'm working on the quilt for tommy + i {as you may know if you follow me on instagram}. i'm teaching tommy how to sew {we're making him a hoody covered in ducks!}. i've also started a spontaneous, make it up as i go along cross-stitch design which i think will eventually be on our wall!

i always seem to hear: 'oh wow, what are you making?!', 'yeah, i like to craft - well i used to, i just don't have time now'...

the thing is - we all have the same amount of time. it all comes down to how we choose to use it! if you want to get your wool + knitting needles out - pencil in time to do it! if you want to learn a new skill, make a plan, follow the steps + wallah - you've learnt something new!

for a very long time, i had been wanting to learn how to quilt. i didn't know anyone who did so, so i stuck with crochet + knit + all my other crafty shenanigans! but a couple of years ago, when i met my soon to be mother-in-law becky {aka nonna}, who is the quilting queen - i knew i would finally learn how to quilt.

i bought a whole pile of lovely fabric, had mini lessons from nonna + had a vast resource of quilting books to learn from too! there's something really special about learning skills from our loved ones. passing down knowledge from one generation to the next. i'm looking forward to passing what i've learnt on to friends, and one day our children.

ahh, quilting. as you can see,  i LOVE it! so many pretty colours + patterns + designs + fun times! i've been hand sewing the quilt, so it's taking a while... but i knew it would + i enjoy the slow nature of it. i also like being able to take the section i'm working on wherever i'm going, instead of being glued to the sewing machine.

how pretty are the quilts above?! so lovely + special + something to be passed down for generations.

well, friendlikins, i hope you feel inspired to learn something new, to make the most of the time the LORD has given us + to take things a bit slower.

love love

 {lizzie}

  xoxo

{instagram photo a day}

{july edition}

hello lovely friendlikins!

how be you, this fine + dandy, sunshiny day?! hope all is well + that your'e not getting too bummed about voting + elections + government + what not. all we can do is pray for wisdom + discernment for our leaders. meh, anyway... here are some photos from the last couple of months that i took for the july + august photo a day challenge. enjoy!

11. i wore this!

whilst i painted for 5 1/2 hours!

{august edition}

1. something beginning with n

{nature} it was so windy that this rose flew off!

2. incomplete

3. skyline

view from our loft

4. fresh

went for a lovely bike ride, followed by yummy pancakes + fruit salad for brunch! {@gracieliz}

5. early

early morning stitching - 6am! {@chloerach society6}

6. this means a lot to me

i'm handmade by my creator God + creative like him!

7. a sign

rainbow - God will never flood the whole world again, noah style.

8. peek-a-boo

cutie moose!

9. 2 o'clock

crafternoon time

11. i love doing this!

finding inspiration in crafty books, mags + pinterest!

14. trash

sir moose in his tower of boxes, looking mighty cute!

15. the best

this one is my favourite so far!

22. a room

tapestries in our lounge room!

24. in the background

congratulations freya + leo - engaged!

so as you can see i did horrendously bad in july, but not so bad in august! will you join in for the september photo a day challenge? if you have instagram check out @fatmumslim. and tag your photos with #fmsphotoaday

happy spring snapping my lovely peeps!

love love
{lizzie}
 xoxo