things I love...

The gorgeous Thea from Thea & Sami nominated us for Kreative Blogger award back in May. I wanted to answer from my heart, to share with you my stories, and tell you of seven of my most favourite things I love... so my apologies for the delay, i hope its been worth the wait!


1. My gorgeously sweet Husband. Truly the most spectacular and gorgeous man. Back when I was 21 I traveled 2421 km to go and live with this stunning boy who I had fallen totally in love with, but really had not spent a great deal of time with. It was the most gorgeously wonderful time, I went with out a doubt, and followed my heart and it was the start of our beautiful life together, it was love of the most beautiful kind. It was supposed to be.

He is the sweetest, most kind hearted, gentle and loving man. He has built my dreams, building our gorgeous home, supporting me and all my crazy dreams and building our life together that is so very wonderful and full of cute names, funny jokes and happy times.

He is a fabulous pilot (oh how I miss him when he is away) who I admire for his dedication to follow his dreams amongst adversity. He is a brilliant renovator who will tackle anything, no matter how crazy my ideas seem and no matter how hard it would be, he will learn and conquer on the way. I am in awe of his patience, his dedication and his beautiful happy spirit.

He is a fabulous help here in the studio, not only did he build our amazing white studio, but he jumps in on the press when our legs get weary, he fixes our presses when they decided to play up, and pulls and lifts all the heavy parts which just wearnt built for girls to do. He gives so much support and encouragement to me and my business. Such a gorgeously sweet man, I am so very blessed to get to share my life with such an amazing man. This picture above was our wedding day in 2004, celebrated in the gorgeous gardens of my parents home... see below!


2. Going Home to Mum and Dad. There is nothing more beautiful and heartwarming then walking in the front doors of my parents home. Its a home of laughter, of love and joy. Its a home of gorgeous design which has very inspired my own sense of style. Its of walking in the kitchen, seeing the mail on its same spot on the table, smelling mums fabulous dinner in the oven, and smiling at the Myles cat watching from behind the door.

Its walking Mum and Dads gardens, where they have manicured the best half of 6 acres of bush into gorgeous cottage gardens. Its picking Mums David Austen roses and putting together a little posy for her in one of her crystal vases. Its watching Dad down by the pool scooping out the never ending leaves, and spending his therapy time out on the lawn mower. Its Mum and Dad in the formal lounge room, drinking tea, holding hands, so happy to be together. It is a home of love.

Its climbing into a bed made by my gorgeous Mum, perfectly tucked, perfectly folded, perfectly freshly laundered. This is home.


3. My sisters. My sweet little and big sister who I never get to see or talk to enough. Its hearing their stories and thinking of them everyday. Admiring my big sister for the achievements she has made, the courage she has found, and the strength to find health and happiness anf follow her dreams. Its laughing at my little sister, full of funny sayings and faces with a love for staying in her pajamas, and sharing the her life with a million and one friends.

My sweet sisters. I love how alike we can be, and how very different as well. I love thinking of our childhood, of the crazy sister fights, but the gorgeously fun games we made up as well. Constructing pulley systems between rooms to pass notes in the middle of the night, indulging in our love of skiing - off snow, on bikes of course. If you didn't know you can ski on a bike, just ask us, we conquered it, but you must use ice cream bucket as a helmet. Its not the same otherwise.

Its jumping on the trampoline, playing in the pool, sneaking into each other rooms just to have a look. Such beautiful sisters, I miss them every day.


4. Sweet little Ruby. Gorgeous, gorgeous Ruby, she is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, the most pompous dog name but the sweetest little thing ever. She is quite precious. She wont go outside if its raining, she wont play on wet grass and heaven forbid she will not sit her bum down on mud. She is quite the lady and as such demands quite a grand name - either Ruby Red Dress, or Ruby Tuesday, names quite fitting for a lady really.

She is quite the placid dog, she was a gorgeous pup with the most striking eyes, but now aged three she has settled down into our routines quite well. She is a gorgeous studio dog and the most beautiful company for while my husband is away. She will sit by the press, and doze away despite the clunking of the press inches from her head and our seriously loud music, she isn't too disturbed. Bless her little white socks. She is quite a muffin.



5. Holidays on the farm. How I love holidays. Growing up we were extremely lucky that our extend family owned two holiday houses, we had a unit over looking Manly beach in Sydney and a farm on 250 acres just outside of Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains. My favourite by far was the farm.

Being not far from the snow we learnt to ski even before we had learnt to run. We grew up speeding down the slopes, we were fearless and we were fast. My poor mother, not being a skier she was left on the edge of the slopes on a brick wall (this is before cafes and fancy lodgings, just the snow and a brick wall!), I remember she would take her knitting, most likely to distract herself from the fact that her children were propelling themselves down a mountain at a speed of knots. Dad was the skier, he would take us up the hill, and no doubt we inherited our love of the speed from him. It was fast or flat out, there wasn't much in between!

When down at "Jindas" we would also spend our days out exploring the farm on our bikes. Did you know that you can ride your bike around creeks which have been frozen over? I don't recommend it, I fell in more then once. We also climbed the great big rock boulders that were scattered everywhere, we would build cubby houses between them and chase the sheep and cows. Such pure childhood fun.

We also learnt to drive from a very young age. I would beg dad to let me drive up the long driveway over the cattle grid and through the front gate. I seem to always remember Dad letting me, although of course, I was sitting on his lap, his feet were on the peddles and he was steering with me, but still, I was a kid and I was driving. Terribly exciting!

There was also this crazy old motorbike down on the farm. Dad would take us for trips around on it. I'm sure once again their was fast or faster, as my big sister and I do look like we are hanging on for dear life. How I loved being down at "Jindas". A chance to get away, explore the area and breathe in the fresh country air with a cow pat or two.

How I miss the farm.


5. Running Bespoke. I love what I do, all I can say is that I am at home. I feel I belong here, I feel that this is what I am supposed to be doing, and I love every moment of it. I will be doing this forever.

Having been a commerical graphic designer for almost 10 years my background was mainly in packaging and as a graphic designer for the hollywood blockbuster films by Twentieth Century Fox. It seems a lifetime ago, but this was my life for many years. It was a fabulous job, I was blessed to have had the opportunity, But I did not feel at home. It was corporate and it was big, I needed more beautiful things in my life. I had had enough of designing with the Brads and Angelina's and the Jennifer's to last a lifetime.

Bespoke started with love. A love to design and produce gorgeously opulent things. To combine my love of beautiful typefaces, vintage designs, and the most amazing paper stocks into something spectacular. To get my hands dirty, to get permanent calluses from cutting paper, to get inky hands and wear work clothes. To feel at one with what I am producing.

I love our presses, especially Charlie. He is a grumpy old man, their is no denying it, he does have his off days... But being 116 years old, really we don't mind. He brings me so much joy and appreciation for all his beautiful oldness. It is such a joy to be part of such a beautiful craftsmanship. A pure joy.

I love walking into our new studio. A beautiful room create by the prior mentioned renovating husband. I love the smell of the oil and the grease (it reminds me strangely of the smell of my dads hands growing up). I love my shelves with mountains and mountains of cotton papers. I love the smell when you open a new packet, its potenial to produce something amazing. I love mixing inks and watching them evolve into the most lovliest colours. I love it all.

And where would I be with out our gorgeous wedding clients. Oh how I love designing for brides (and the occasional groom!). They are full of such love and happiness. I love sharing their dreams and visions, of working so closely that deep down they become such the loveliest friends. It is such a beautiful joy to be sharing such momentous occasions. To hear their stories and their plans, to them I share such a small part of their day, but to me they are my everything. How I love working with them all. It is such a wonderful joy.

5. Blog Love. I love this wee little blog. Its a chance to share my days, tell some stories and create a journal of all the little things which happen here in the studio. I love all my blog followers and the blogs in who I admire. There are so many of you, my blog list I read daily is enormous, but it is such a wonderful inspiration to surround myself with such creative stylish people every day.

To the bloggers I have met in real life - how blessed we are to have found each other. To those bloggers I will meet one day, I cannot wait to meet you and let you know how much you inspire me. And to those bloggers from far away lands, thankyou for sharing your stories and bring joy to each and every one of my days. This is such an amazing community, we are so lucky to live in this world where we can share our lives and inspire each other. From the bottom of my heart thankyou thankyou thankyou.

As part of this award I am supposed to nomimate seven blogs in which I love. There are so very many of you I cannot choose. If you would like to share seven things you love please do and let us know, we would love to hear your stories as well.

xox