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Image: printspace

{giveaway} piper + lily

I've been continuing my online Christmas shopping and wanted to share this store with you too. piper + lily sells gorgeous little handmade wares for little people. When I saw these fabric necklaces I was totally in love and knew my nieces would be too. I have stocked up on some of these necklaces and they will be wrapped and ready for Christmas this week. Aren't they great?

Natasha is the lovely owner of piper + lily and she sells lots of other beautiful things - cotton slippers, skirts, bibs, tag blocks, jewellery - all wonderfully handmade. This week, for one lovely reader of this blog, Natasha is offering  a fabric necklace. Go take a look at Natasha's store and leave a comment below sharing your favourite item and you will go into the draw to win. It might just make a lovely Christmas gift to a special little girl in your life.

Natasha also has a blog you can follow here.

The giveaway will be open all week and I will draw a winner next Monday morning.

Good luck!!

i'm really loving......

...the view from our back balcony at the moment. We haven't been here for a full year yet, and so this is our first spring/summer here. All we see out our back windows are the beautiful bush and our spectacular (though messy!) Illawarra Flame tree. I still marvel at our view and am so thankful every day for it.

I love living in this house. It's peaceful most of the time. And we are woken by kookaburras and serenaded (ie. laughed at) to sleep each night by them too!

zoe will be a softie

Isn't this doll just divine? I'm so glad that I recently stumbled across the nooshka store on Etsy. Casey at nooshka makes the most gorgeous dolls and softies including custom made designs. Her dolls are adored worldwide and are even being sold in boutiques in Switzerland and France now. The detail in these dolls is just amazing - the faces, beautiful outfits, their character.

I have asked Casey to make me a doll for Zoe for Christmas and I'm so excited about it. I've enjoyed every minute of looking through many photos of dolls Casey has made in order to pick and choose the elements I especially like and that will make the perfect Zoe doll.

And I can't wait to share a photo of the final product and the two Zoe's together!

mathilda's market stash

Here a few quick snaps of the two dresses I bought for Zoe at the recent Sydney Mathilda's Market:

This dress is from Loz + Dinny

and this dress (and its matching hair clip) is made by the lovely Jen from Melei who I said hello to but was too shy to tell her who I was....

I've also been fortunate enough to have just won a giveaway at Jen's blog! Thankyou!

I also bought a few little gifts while I was there including:

: three cute little coin purses from alfalfa

: custom name garland from Mel at paperklip

: a print from little envelope

There were so many more things I could have bought, but I did have to restrain myself a little!

Anyone else go to Mathilda's Market in their state?

the things kids do

I was tidying up the lounge room floor the other evening and as I went to pick up the last of the toys I found this......I had a little giggle, took a pic and finished tidying up!

sniff sniff

Image: school room by Rob Shenk

I enrolled my boy into preschool last week. From February next year, after his 3rd birthday he will be attending a local preschool for two days a week. I'm excited about it but I know when the day comes to drop him off I will be so sad. It's a big step for me sending my little boy out into the big wide world. He has been in my care and my mum's care since he was born.

I know he will LOVE preschool though. We have visited already and he didn't want to leave. As much as he is a bit of a mummy's boy, he loves the outdoors and he loves the type of environment with other children that preschool will provide. He will grow so much more next year I'm sure.

Have you had to send your 'big' little person to care and how did you go?