PHOTO SHOOT // KATE TOVEY PHOTOGRAPHY

I was lucky enough to win a wee Facebook competition with the lovely Kate Tovey Photography. That girl is a total gem and she made us feel so comfortable during the shoot. The forecast was pretty average that weekend, but luckily the rain stopped long enough for us to go and play in the trees at Cornwall Park.

Thank you for the photos Kate. We love them.

EASY (and cheap) SCRAPBOOK IDEA

I've kind of gone off DIY blog posts. Not from other people (I am totally inspired by other DIY projects) but just my own. I like doing things my way, and I find that while the result may look good, I'm not the best at explaining how I got there. There's never any real "method" when it comes to my projects so sometimes the tutorial falls a bit flat. What I do like doing is sharing what I've done and letting you decide if you'd like to try. 

Last weekend was our first one back after our holiday in Niue and I thought it would be nice if I spent the whole weekend just doing crafty/creative stuff. Seriously, the best weekend ever. I'm considering boycotting socialising so I can just spend all my time doing that. Ha! Okay, not quite, but I do really enjoy it and I find it pretty relaxing as well. Because I took a whole lot of photos (around 1000!!) I thought it would be nice to create a little holiday album. I've since decided that I'm going to do this for every trip we go on. It might seem like a lot of work, but I've found a pretty neat way of doing it that is not only cheap, but looks pretty darn cute as well!

WHAT YOU NEED

a photo pocket album (mine was from harvey norman but you could probably pick one up anywhere! mine had 36 pockets) / photos / coloured paper / scissors / glue stick / any other crafty stuff 

I've always wanted to do a scrapbook but I know that it can take a lot of time and it seems to require a lot of supplies. Coloured card, buttons, sequins, washi tape, special stamps.. The list goes on! Because I wanted something personal that wasn't going to be a huge amount of work, I decided to go and buy a cheap little photo album that really is just full of photo pockets and add something interesting to each individual photo. I liked having the freedom of not having to glue everything down and there was no worry of layout. Each photo had it's own pocket and what I did to it was totally up to me.

I wanted to have a similar "theme" throughout the whole album so I went through the paper I had and just chose a few patterns and colours to use. I also stuck with similar "fonts" and text layouts so it felt cohesive. I really loved the cover I made which was just a piece of patterned paper and cut out glittery letters. Ahh. I love glitter! So so much. Anyway... I wanted to use those letters throughout the book so there were a few layouts that had them. I also wrote funny (well, funny to me!) comments straight onto the photos and cut shapes out and wrote on them as well.

I won't lie, it was hard to be funny and quirky throughout the whole photo album, but I think it was worth it! A lot of the pages just explained who was in the photo of where we were. I cut out arrow shapes that looked like name signs to show where the photo was taken. I just wanted people to enjoy going through our album and get a feel for where we were. Obviously you can't really sum up a holiday in 36 photos or less, but I just loved the idea of having a little summary sitting on our coffee table. 

There are so many ideas as well, in terms of what you can do. It's easy enough to mix it up with colours, and with type. Especially because different locations will require different themes. You could even predesign the type or collages on photoshop and print it out so it's ready to go straight in the book. Because I work mostly on the computer, I love being able to get busy with my hands and creative with things I can find lying around.

I've since printed out photos from our trip to Australia and I think I'll make another little one for that as well. Even though they are little, I think they are super cute to have lying around for when people come and visit. They are also easy to store and flick through! So nice to be able to take a trip down memory lane every now and then.

NIUE SCRAPBOOK // AUGUST 2014

(How clever is this GIF?! It's my first time making one and I love it!)

Let me know how you guys get along and if you decide to make one! I'd love to see what you come up with. Just remember, it's your holiday and you really can do what you want. Make sure it reflects your personality and your trip. And just have fun! Because that folks, is what life is about.

NIUE ISLAND

Hello friends, I'm back!! After a wonderful week away it's nice to be home, but not so great to be at work. However, that's life! We did a whole lot of exploring, swimming and snorkelling and even saw some whales and dolphins. Dad and Donna treated us to a whale watching trip which was so amazing! There were whales only about 50 metres away from us. You're allowed to swim with them but they were a bit too playful so we didn't get a good look underwater. Pretty amazing though to see these huge creatures so close.

Here are some of my favourite photos from our trip.

Drinking fresh coconuts!

My lovely Nana and Grandpa with their famous MakFurly burgers!

Our local Niueans (Dad and Evil Step Mother - who's not evil at all!) husking coconuts

Our family land in Liku

And of course, I had to finish off with some underwater photos! Luckily Dad had an underwater camera (I'm definitely going to buy one) so we managed to get some pretty awesome photos. I'm thinking about making a scrapbook for all our travel adventures so that's going to be my little project for the weekend.

June on Instagram

Another month eh? As far as month's go, it wasn't too full on. Rob and I celebrated our three year anniversary! I seriously can't believe it's been that long. Sometimes it feels like it hasn't been long at all and other times it feels like I've known him forever. I'm one lucky girl though, that's for sure. 

I also started a new photo challenge, #100dayslookingdown. I've been sharing each photo on Instagram daily, so a lot of my updates are just going to be full of "looking down" photos. I actually might combine my monthly Instagram roundups with the challenge photos, at least until the 100 days are up. It's been alright though! I must admit, it's a little challenging to find things to take photos of - especially because part of the challenge is to not take the same kind of photos. I'm getting there though! And I've had a few other girls jump on board as well which has been awesome. Don't feel like you are missing out! The best thing about this challenge is that you can start at any time. Use #100dayslookingdown on your photos so I can have a look!

1. New cushions  2. Our three years  3. Roadtrip!  4. DIY Haircut  5. Evening walks  6. Dressing up  7. #100dayslookingdown  8. Sweet treats  9. Lazy mornings 

Weekend Away // Coromandel

A little lookout point on the way to the batch

My wonderful models.

This was the second time I'd been to the Coromandel (and a first for Rob.) I had forgotten how beautiful it was. Actually, as soon as you get out of Auckland and are travelling around "inbetween" places, the scenery and views are always amazing. Last time I came was with my lovely friend, Kathryn, and she invited us back again for a weekend away to celebrate her birthday. Such a neat idea! And I definitely enjoyed having a break. It's crazy how the stress all seems to melt away as soon as you get away from the city. Once we reached her batch I almost felt like a new person. 

Rob and I set off on Saturday morning and met Kathryn and Nick at a cute cafe in the Coromandel Township. There wasn't a whole lot to see there, except for the sweetest shop ever! It's called Tara Homan - Jewellery, Beads and Findings. Once I walked in and saw all the colours, of course I had to take 1349873497 photos. Not even exaggerating. Okay, maybe a little. 

Isn't it fun?! As soon as I walked in I knew it was my kind of place. The whole shop is just full of colourful and patterned beads and you can mix and match to make your own jewellery. I love how they are all grouped in their colours/shades. It makes for some pretty sweet pictures.

Once we made it to Kathryn's batch, we lazed around for a bit and then headed down to the beach. It was pretty overcast which made some for moody pictures and because of the storm last week, naturally, there was a seaweed fight.

It was such a lovely weekend. It's always nice to just get away, away from all the stress and worry, and relax. Once we hit South Auckland, we could already start feeling all the "city stress" come back. Washing, tidying, vacuuming. We suddenly had this huge list of things we needed to do and it felt like the weekend had been a dream.

Kathryn, thank you again! So kind of you to open up your little holiday home to us and share it with us.  I hope you had a wonderful weekend because we definitely did!

Happy Birthday! xx

A Lovely Princess Party

In the weekend, we went to a lovely princess party. Rob's niece (well, cousins daughter) was turning five and is currently obsessed with Queen Elsa from the movie Frozen so obviously, Princesses were the theme. Naturally, there were princesses and even a pirate! The sun was also shining which made for some pretty pictures.

I am not claiming to be a photographer (and I never will) but when Sarah asked me to take photos for the party, I couldn't refuse! Sarah, I hope you like them! It was such a fun party to be part of.

March on Instagram

March was an alright month. It's started to get a little colder, which I'm honestly pretty stoked about. While I do enjoy the sun, Summer really isn't my month. I have no doubt though, that when Winter comes around I'll be wishing it was January again.

I've definitely been a bit more adventurous this month. I've started a new weights workout. I'm loving it. It's only week 3 though so who knows how I'll feel at the end of April. I've attempted (and failed) at baking. And I've done a few more DIY projects. I keep meaning to share them on the blog, but my problem with them is that they aren't really tutorial type posts. When I "do it myself" I tend to pick easy projects that are more a bit more personal. What I mean by that, is that there aren't really any steps. I just grab whatever I need and go for it. I might share them though - if anything, just as "inspiration" posts rather than DIYs.

1. New Triangle Art   2. This curious little guy   3. Going out   4. Clear skies   5. My growing collection of house plants   6. Baking   7. Weights   8. A little engagement invitation   9. Exploring our new neighbourhood