say no...

Source: businessmodelinstitute.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Yesterday I found out some exciting news, well exciting for me. The lovely Liss from Daydream Lily shared a link on Twitter which made my day. This news is unfortunately only really relevant for those in Australia, but i'm sure there is an equivalent around the world.

You now have the opportunity to choose to opt out of receiving the yellow and white pages. We never use these massive books which means it is such a waste of paper. I always just jump online to find phone numbers or addresses and I'm sure you do too. All you have to do to stop them coming to your house is register here. The registration lasts for three years, and then you get to decide again if you want to receive them or not.

We opted out, will you?
-kim

ps. you can follow morgan and i on twitter here

[GIVEAWAY] one year WINNER!

The time has come and a winner has been picked for our blogs one year birthday giveaway...
Congratulations Sarah!!!




But wait there's more...
We have an extra pair of Reskew'd doily earings to giveaway to one lucky person. And it goes to..
Sunlite705!!!



We will be in contact with both winners shortly.
Thanks to everyone who entered, we had a blast reading all your very cheesy jokes (honorable mentions to chewyfingers cheese jokes).
We look forward to another year of blogging and hopefully more competitions. Have a great day!
-morgan and kim-

ps. here is a little video to enjoy, so you all feel like winners today.

giveaway update..

Source: onepearlbutton.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Just a little reminder that our giveaway ends this thursday, so only a few days left to get your entries in. Don't forget you get extra entries if you tweet / blog / facebook about it, just make sure you leave additional comments letting us know you have done so. Hope you are all as excited as we are...
have a great week
- morgan & kim

We're back...

3 days, no technology, just straight up country town and camping by the creek. Beautiful.
Thursday morning we went out early to a northern country town. We began our day op-shopping which saw us bring home a ton of cool stuff (post to come soon). We also bought some passion fruit butter and rossella and apple jam from some old ladies. We then spent the rest our time away lazing in the sun, reading, building fires, skimming stones, cooking, taking photos and walking around the beautiful forests and dams. This was a well called for, well due little getaway for kim and I.

I recently purchased a Fuji Instax Mini which arrived the day before we left and took the opportunity to test it out.







The chef in me will give you a menu for the days (just incase you were wondering) :
Dinner: Beef and Cider Stew
Breakfast: Pancakes with our new jam
Lunch: Lemonade and soy sauce chicken with salad
Dinner: Beetroot, pumpkin and carrot spicy soup with fire baked garlic bread followed by damper on a stick
Breakfast: Bacon and egg sandwiches
Lunches; Sandwiches and an icecream stop on the way home.

-morgan

ps: Friday our competition is drawn, still plenty of time to get in some additional entries, just click on the giveaway button.

have a nice weekend...

Well morgan and i are off camping having a lovely well needed long weekend break alone. We hope you have a great weekend too, and can get outside and enjoy the amazing world we live in. Here is some inspiration to get you moving and off the computer.
Have a great weekend. Love you guys....
-kim

Source: flickr.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Warwick on Pinterest

Source: kerrieanne.wordpress.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via Warwick on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: complejo.deviantart.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: kinfolkmag.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

i made: jeans

Time has flown and it seems its been a couple of months since I last did a diy post. I thought I would try something different to get me back in the swing of things, so I'm going to share a little tip of one of my favourite types of sewing.



I love to buy second hand clothes from an op shop and then revamp them so they suit me. Morgan loves skinny leg jeans which are kinda hard to come by in an op shop, so he started buying any jeans that fit him in the waist, and then I just make the legs custom to what he likes. This is super easy to do, and I'm gonna give you a couple of ways to do this.

::ONE::One may to make your own custom jeans, is to try them on inside out, and pin then to the cut you like. This is hard if you are doing this for yourself and you may need some help from a friend.

::TWO::An easier way to do this, especially if you are making them for yourself is to lay a pair of jeans you like the cut of, on top of the jeans you are trying to fix. This way you can just trace the cut of the jeans and sew them to the same size. Once you have done this, you can try them on and see if you need to change anything.



TIPS
- There are special sewing needles for Denim. For years I just used the same needle for everything, but would always snap needles when I was fixing jeans. It's well worth swapping needles when you're switching to sewing denim.

- If you don't have an overlocker (like me), you need to reinforce the stitch so it is strong. Its good to do a straight stitch down the length, then running parallel down the edge of the fabric neaten it up with a zig zag stitch.

- It is best to make the adjustments (unless you're doing some major work) to the inside seem of the leg. This allows you to change just one seem, and correct the length, width and crutch all at once.

If you have any questions just ask..

Oh and don't forget to enter our Giveaway. You go in the draw to win a lovely collection of goodies (camera, book, beautiful coffee, earrings and much more), and there are a heap of ways you can win, so get cracking.
-kim

noir et blanc

Like it or not, black and white photos, no matter how cliche it can be, look beautiful. I have never really experimented with black and white film. After finally getting a roll developed I was very surprised with the outcome. There was an automatic vintage feel, but one of my photo mentors taught me all film has a temperature, meaning black and white film can hold colours such as green, yellow, red and even purple. Seeing this come through was beautiful. I took my pentax with me to Laneway festival in brisbane a while back where we saw beach house, stornoway, warpaint, jenny lewis, local natives, two door cinema club and heaps more. I am excited about trying to master b&w shots in the future. Here are but a few shots.










Also a couple of people have asked where I get my film developed...
Firstly for standard 35mm developing I send away to ExtraFilm, these guys are cheap and have a high standard.
Secondly when it comes to getting lomo shots or anything done by hand I send away to Photo Continental, these guys cost a bit more but do amazing work and developing anything you send.

consume

Source: matchbookmag.tumblr.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

I am back from a big week in Sydney and it is delightful to be home.

It is always nice to get away to a city and see many different things that you can't see in the area where we are currently living. I love the fashion and style of people in cities, and variety of cultures and foods you can find. I spent most of my time last week eating in china town, and looking at super cute japanese stores. This was lots of fun, but was a challenge for me to stay strong and avoid buying lots of things I don't really need.

See, as an attempt to live a sustainable lifestyle, I have pretty strict personal requirements on any purchases I make. This was really hard to stick to while I was in Sydney. I saw so many people wearing really cool things, and had a bit of free time, which was easily spent strolling around the shops. I found so many things I wanted, and believed would make my life better if I brought them (I'm a sucker for good merchandising), but alas I really knew they would not. They were all cheap imported items, which would not last, and were most likely made in bad conditions. I do not want to support that but buying these items.

So I thought I would share a three of my simple requirements I have for whenever I want to buy something...

1. Always try and find it second hand first! This is always my first point of call, to reuse something already created. Whether from op shops, a clothing swap, ebay, or if I can source it from friends.

2. Is it ethically made? Buying fair trade/sweatshop free products is well worth the added costs. There is nothing better than knowing the people who made your things didn't risk their life doing so.

3. Is it build to last? Buying things new isn't bad, as long as it is going to last the distance. Quality made items, constructed with care are so worthwhile to invest in. I buy many of my shoes brand new, but try to select ones that are going to be worth while.

I would love to know any other things you like to keep in mind when your making your purchases. What helps you make the decision on what you buy?
-kim

ps. how amazing was morgans post while I was away. He sure is quality.

right round, baby, right round

So for the last 2 years we have become vinyl addicts. When I say we, I mean me. Kims sister gave us a beautiful Radiola record player cabinet which she bought of an old couple that bought it new in 1960, it even had a spare needle that they bought with it. In January the old girl stopped working. We paid the same amount to have it looked at to get fixed then what kims sister paid for it. The diagnosis came back, and it was going to be way too expensive to fix. This begun the journey for a new player.




I bought this one at a good price on eBay. Its a beautiful old Crown portable record player. This one doesn't work to it's full potential but lets consider it my new 'project'. In the mean time we had accumulated almost 15 new vinyls since our first player passed away.




After working a big day on a public holiday (double the pay) I sporadically bought my first brand new record player. This little beauty plugs into our computer and our cd player. It's sounds pretty decent with it's inbuilt speakers, but through our sound system it has brought our vinyl experience to a whole new level.




This begs the question, vintage or new? Vintage looks and sounds great, but parts and repairs are really hard to get. New sounds great and hopefully is easier to fix. I think I would still choose vintage, our cabinet lasted 50-60 years, as far as we know this was it's first time in a repair shop. So who cares if we only got to love it for a year and a half, they were some of the best years of my life.



And for those interest here are a few records we love at the moment.

- fleet foxes>helplessness blues
- death cab for cutie>codes and keys
- rosie thomas>all the way from michigan not mars
- stornoway>beachcombers windowsill
- black keys>rubber factory
- edith piaf>a portrait of piaf
- louis armstrong>hello dolly
- bon iver>bon iver

what do you think/do vintage or new?

-morgan

lonesome

Kim is away for the week so I'm in-charge of the blog while she is gone. I feel like Kevin from Home Alone.
A little while back kim wrote a sneaky post about me. So in her absence I am going to write 5 things I miss/like about her.



1- Kim talks and thrashes about in her sleep. Since we have been married I probably have had 5-8 nights un-awoken by either clapping, roaring, singing, mumbling and the odd elbow to the face. However this is one thing that last night I missed. The comfort of knowing she is next to me, even if it is telling me to pat the puppy dog.

2- Kim insist that we kiss before bed every night until we die. Track record 426 days out of 431 days (minus 5 nights apart when we have been working).

3- If you have seen photos of or know kim, you know how HUGE her smile is. In grade 2 she was awarded most infectious grin from her teacher, this is probably her greatest achievement in primary school. Every day I try and make her laugh or smile just to see it.

4- I do all of the cooking at home, but kim tries really hard to get into the kitchen, when she does, she bakes, and boy is her apple crumble good. It's her signature dish and it's amazing.

5- Kim challenges me to better not only my life, our marriage but the whole world around us. It doesn't matter if I'm going out to the letter box to check the mail, going to work in the morning or cooking her dinner, she always makes me feel like I can conquer the world. She is such a strong supporter and encourager and for this I'll always love her.

The list could go on, but I'll just tell her the rest of the list when she gets back.

-morgan

ps. DONT FORGET TO ENTER OUR FIRST COMPETITION. There is plenty up for grabs and a good chance you could win. To enter click here or on the giveaway button to your left.

[GIVEAWAY] one year.

So in celebration of this month being our one year blog birthday, we thought we would put together a little giveaway for you. Since our first post we haved loved every minute of this crazy world called blogging. Many blogs do giveaways based from their sponsors, but we have put together a few things that we just love and hope you do to.


Firstly we have a sweet vintage Palmat Auto Matic This camera takes beautiful shots and we know you'll love it.


Secondly we have not one, not two, but three sets of doily earings from our friend Erin at reskew'd. Theses look great on or would make a great gift (for all the guys who might enter).


Thirdly we have one of kims favourite books, Breakfast at Tiffanys from which the movie was based. And a bag of delicious coffee from our favourite coffee shop.


And lastly we have a custom embroidery made just for you by us.

All of this and some other little extras could be yours!! Wow! Who doesn't love free stuff posted to your front door!
So...

What you have to do to enter...
Leave a comment with your email included and tell us.."your favourite joke" (the cheesier, the better)
You can get additional entries if you blog, tweet, facebook about the giveaway, or become a new follower. Just leave additional comments with a link for each action you have done. Entries are open for international readers too.
The winner will be drawn at the end of the July, Good Luck!

UPDATE: Remember if you tweet, Facebook or become a new foll0wer- make sure to add an additional comment saying so with a link for more chances to win! Ohh and make sure you link to your blog so we can go check it out.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO ENTERED, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS SARAH AND SUE

twenty six letters

Last friday night we went along to a little local gallery exhibition that a couple of our friends had pieces in. It is alway nice to go to these things, and be excited about how talented our friends are.

My favourite piece was the letter Q. It was such a great idea creating an interactive piece that was aesthetically beautiful but very smart as well. Morgans favourite piece was the letter L, which was done by our friend Kerrie-Anne Bennett. She is a talented photographer and created her letter by manipulating a shadow onto the wall and taking a photo of that. Incredible.
- kim












ps. sorry for the crappy photos. you can see some better shots here

ohh and check back tomorrow for our exciting first ever giveaway! We have a few things you are gonna love.