.petit pas

sunrise, sunset & night

2012-01-28T10:45:00.001-05:00

We are back in Paris and don't have much access to the internet, but we wanted to share some photos of a day last week which was our last day in Paris with my sister. It was such a beautiful day, and we saw the sunrise and sunset, and then after visiting a beautiful art exhibition featuring the work of photographer Diane Arbus, we saw Paris all sparkly for the evening. It was the perfect way to finish our adventures together.
enjoy
-kim

old orleans

2012-01-23T02:03:00.003-05:00

We have come to visit my aunty and cousins out in an old bourgeoise town called Orleans (pronounced or-lee-on). Its the first big town we have been to outside of Paris and it's giving us a taste of what type of town we would like to settle in. I always love coming here and seeing how much my cousins change and sitting around drinking 'aperitifs' with my aunt and talking about history, family, science, art and our shared passion...thrifting! Tomorrow we go to a big flea market in the area, which kim is very excited about seeing as I have told her this is the country of antiques and great flea markets. We are only here a short time and there is so much to do in this town. I thought I would just share a few old house fronts photos I took yesterday on a short stroll.

-morgan
ps.there are more photos of us out and about on instagram. follow us on username:morganandkim if you like.

Lardy Lardy Da...

2012-01-20T10:58:00.004-05:00

Well after a couple of days back on Paris, we are now staying with Morgan's Uncle in Lardy, a village south of Paris. My sister Sarah flew back to Australia yesterday, and this is now the point in time where we are no longer really traveling, but we are here in France, and this is where we will stay. That was a bit scary for me at first and although there is a lot of unknown things, it is great to be here. Morgan has been a real champion translating for me and helping me work out how to be a bit more french. Its also be so great to finally meet all of Morgan's extended family.

Today we went exploring a couple of castles. There are so many beautiful old buildings here in France, quite different to Australia. Hopefully we will be able to visit some markets this weekend and maybe pick up a few new treasures.

enjoy
-kim

Snakadaktal

2012-01-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a second to tell you about Snakadaktal, a band that recently won a high school band competion of our major independant radio station Triple J. As we have left Australia I believe this to be one of the best new/young talent Australia has currently. Big statement, but I have thoroughly enjoyed their EP. Download it here. No regrets. Promise.

-morgan

I want to be by the seaside

2012-01-14T07:41:00.003-05:00

We have left Paris' busy roads and have come to Brittany, the west side of France to spend three days in a small sleepy sea side town called Douarnenez. This part of France is actually where part of my family tree begins. So to come here and sea the maritime lifestyle is really cool. Brittany is to France what Ireland or Wales is to the UK, they are kind of affiliated but very much their own region. Not to mention the rolling green hills by the water. We have enjoyed the past few days exploring small streets, eating lots of fresh fish and living life with a little bit less rapidity. This region of France is where the stripy shirts/jumpers come from which Coco Chanel made famous.
- morgan

we are here...

2012-01-13T03:13:00.003-05:00

We have finally made it to France. Its been a long time coming but it's good to be back. For Kim this is the start of a new, exciting, difficult adventure. For me, it's home already. Even the smell of the air makes my heart race. I have come to France often growing up so the majority of my memories are around childhood joys. I have taken Kim and her sister on a little journey through my childhood. We have eaten chocolate croissants, drunk pomegranate cordial and had little kinder suprises along the way. France for me can be summed up in one word. FOOD. We have enjoyed buying fresh baguettes each morning, trying french wine and cheese and even some frogs legs.

We have a bit more traveling around Northern France before settling in the south for a while which means we don't know when we will have internet access. But bear with us as we will try and be regular at updating.
Hope you all enjoy breathing in the smells of your home.
-Morgan

Ice Ice Baby

2012-01-05T13:10:00.004-05:00

Well, we are in Iceland and it is freezing cold. It has been -3 degrees Celsius most days and so we have all been dressed with so many layers to try and stay warm with our inappropriate Australian clothing. This country is surprisingly more incredible than I imagined. The people are lovely (except the cranky bakery girl), the landscape is unbelievable, and there are so many beautiful things to see. The tap water is the best we have all ever tasted and the hot water has a smell of sulfur as the water is coming from the geothermal pools.

Today we did the Golden Circle tour, which took us to a number of incredible natural sights around Iceland. We saw the Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysers Strokkur and Geysir and a number of other sights including my highlight, Icelandic Horses. It was great to get out of the city and at times felt like we were trekking through Antarctica.

Tomorrow we are off to The Blue Lagoon, and ready to rest our weary bodies in the geothermal spas.

We have been using a number of different cameras, but can only share the digital ones until we get the different film developed.
enjoy
-kim

If this city never sleeps...

2012-01-04T05:07:00.004-05:00

Well we are in Iceland now and have access to constant internet. So I thought I would update a little with a few of our New York photos. Fear not, in the next couple of days I will be posting plenty of Reykjavík photos.

New York is an amazing city and I think you would need to live there over a year to experience it in full. We had 4 days and 4 nights. We stayed in a dodgy little one room apartment in East Harlem. At first for our Australian minds we thought it to be dangerous, but it was such a cool experience.

We had no idea what we were going to do for four days or where to start. I asked Brian Ferry, one of my favourite photographers who nows live in NY for a few tips. I'm glad I did because the journey it took to get to the places was worth it. We decided to walk most places, which in an city is a good choice. See little streets+get lost+burn calories and eat lots of food+sore feet=good times. On Brians recommendations we went to The Oyster Bar, Motorinos, The High Line and crowd favourite district, Soho. On top of this we did all the touristy things like visit Lady Liberty, go ice skating in Central Park. eat pizza and lots of junk food, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, bring in the new year in Central Park, hail taxis etc etc.

enjoy
-morgan

Guest Post: Diana

2011-12-28T17:19:00.004-05:00

Today we arrive in New York, and so we asked our friend Diana from our city lights to share a little about this wonderful city. Diana is a great lady and knows her stuff.
- enjoy m&k
---

New York City isn’t just a city; it’s an experience of a lifetime. There is nothing like actually visiting NYC, but the experience can be packaged and sold in a dish (the iconic cuisine- pizza!), for some it’s watching a movie (Hi, Woody Allen), and some, like myself, believe it’s reading. The best American writers come from New York City and now I know why- they have so much to write about! Below are my favorite books about New York or writers from New York.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo. The Mafia isn’t NYC, and NYC doesn’t represent the Mafia, but Puzo’s description of the Carleone family stays with you. After reading it, it’ll be an adventure of NYC you’d hope you’ll never experience but so glad you read.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I read this book at an impressionable age, and it has stayed with me forever. Esther Greenwood is a woman coming of age with and with poor circumstance, leads to a state of broken mentality. It's dark, and reminds me of the vulnerability we all have.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. Ok, so this isn't riveting literature. It's an easy read (I should warn you it ends nothing like the movie adaptation), but working in the top magazine in the world based in New York City makes any fashionista appreciate the book. It's bit grim, but the description of the City is worth the read.

Summer Crossing by Truman Capote. If there was one writer who would represent New York, it would be Capote. No, he wasn't born in NY, but most of his stories were based in NY. This story is a draft version of a young girl in love with life. It's not his best work, but what you're reading isn't just the story, it's absolute Capote in the raw.

Eloise by Kay Thompson- I'm totally jealous of Eloise. She lives in The Plaza hotel, and can have anything she wants, when she wants. She's a socialite without the snobbery. She's adventurous, unpredictable and imaginative, all with a touch of class a kid could exude. Reading her is an adventure at any age and a must read before going to the Plaza.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Another coming of age book based in NY but amidst all the digital reading, I will always own this on my shelf. This generation may have Gossip Girl but we had Holden Caulfied, the first teenager who attended prep school with a string of emotional problems we could all relate to no matter the measurement. Blair has nothing on him!

Honorable mentions: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzergerald, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, A Tree Grown in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, anything by James Henry.

I hope K&M have a blast and are able to return safely with their own adventures to share. Can’t wait! Best of luck to you both on your new journey ♥
Diana

Welcome to America

2011-12-27T17:31:00.003-05:00

We have made it to America and are having a lovely time staying with our friend Derek and his family.

It is so beautiful here. Today we went for a drive to a ski slope, and we all saw snow fall for the first time. We built a snowman and made snow angels. It was incredible and pretty cold. I have been wanting to see snow for a while and was one of my goals to do before my next birthday.

Yesterday, Derek and his dad took us to shoot some guns. We had so much fun. We shot at targets and clay pigeons.

Derek's dad is a bit of a hunting pro. He has quite a few deer's in his trophy room.

Well thats it for now. We have one more day in Michigan, and then we fly to New York. If you want to follow us on Instagram we are posting pictures there under the username "morganandkim".
Hope you all had a great Christmas.
-kim

Guest Post: Derek

2011-12-25T17:50:00.005-05:00

We are in Michigan, and staying with our good friend Derek. Derek usually lives in Australia, but is back home with his family for the Holidays. We are so excited to start our adventure with him.
- enjoy m&k
---

Morgan and Kim asked me to write a post for their blog a couple months ago when they decided to come visit me in Michigan over Christmas. So i thought i would give the low down of some of the activities that will be taking place (weather permitting).

Shooting Skeet. America loves guns, Australia doesn't. I'm not saying that we're going to hit anything but we are definitely going to throw some lead around and probably have bruised shoulders the next day.

Sledding. (Hopefully we get some snow for this) always a good time, we're still snowless at the moment, which means we'll have to trek to a ski hill which will mean taller, scarier, faster hills. I feel like the kid in the middle has the most genuine sled-excitement face.

Build a Snowman. Snow ball fight. Snow Angels. Snowmobiling, We really need some snow.........

The Michigan sun is pretty lazy in winter, it gets up late and goes down early. Most time is spent indoors out of the blustery cold eating delicious food, and enjoying your company. So there will be plenty of time to introduce newcomers to the U.S. to things they have been missing out on.
Derek

See Ya!

2011-12-24T17:00:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well today is the day that we leave for France via America and Iceland. We have been waiting for this day for a long time and have a little bit of every emotion flowing through our blood. I'd say mostly READY!
We hope you enjoy your Christmas day and dont get caught up in the consumerism side of things but enjoy Hope, Peace, Joy, Family and Jesus (if your so inclined).
We're off to 39 hours transit! woo hoo.

We will try keep you updated as much as internet allows us, but stay tuned we have some international guest bloggers the next couple of weeks.

Much Love
-Morgan and Kim.

i made: a red dress

2011-12-23T18:54:00.000-05:00

So about 5 months ago a friend of mine moved back to Canada, and was clearing out her sowing gear and so I snatched up this beautiful 1950's pattern. I have been working on this dress on and off since then, and it has been a long time coming, but this week I finally finished it.

I learnt a lot making this dress, and am very happy with the result. There something special about making something from scratch, it's very rewarding. I wore this when we celebrated Christmas this week with my family.

enjoy.
-kim

the sea

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got some negatives back from the shop. I took my Sprocket Rocket out on a little boating trip with two good friends of mine. I love the richness in colour that this camera gives. I am yet to use a scanner that allows me to show the exposed sprocket holes but either way I love the shots this camera helps me take.

-morgan.

pentax expired film.

2011-12-20T01:59:00.003-05:00

When I was working at the op shop I would always find old cameras that sometimes work and sometimes didn't. When the didn't I would salvage the film. This roll was taken with my pentax K1000 with an old expired 400asa where I'm used to using a 200asa. I found alot of dark, grainy shots but a few turned out ok.

Enjoy
-morgan

going away

2011-12-18T22:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday day we had a little going away afternoon tea party in the park. It was a mixture of joy and sadness as we celebrate good times and friends now and tear up as we say our goodbyes. It's nice to know we'll be missed.

ps. 6 MORE SLEEPS until we move overseas!

diy round up

2011-12-16T17:21:00.002-05:00

This year, getting ready for Christmas with lots of Christmas crafts has been a little distracted by another exciting event. We haven't even made a new Christmas tree this year, but recycling our one from last year. We are usually pretty good at it, see here & here

I have however been busy finishing off lots of crafts, and working on some tutorials other people have shared online. I thought I would share a little more of my finished products like I did here, to help you if you're in need of some diy christmas present inspiration.

i made a detachable collar from a tutorial from the owls are not what they seem blog

i also made some fabric covers for our bibles loosely based on the blog moonstitches

morgan made a frame to hang our instax photos in, inspired by Talia Christine

and i made some Peppermint Seasalt Foot Scrub for some christmas gifts from Tipnut

ps. I have pinned a whole heap of great diy ideas on pinterest which could make great gifts. Check them out here, here, here, here and here.
enjoy.
-kim

christmas cheer.

2011-12-15T01:52:00.004-05:00

These past few days of unemployment have been busy and fun. Today I baked some cookies for all my old colleagues at work. I always like to do something nice for the people I work with at Christmas.

Although we don't have much money to throw around this Christmas, I do have time, so made everyone some gingerbread cookies and dipped them in dark chocolate. We have already packed up the cookie cutters so I had to go with circles. I didn't have any little bags to put the cookies in either so I sowed up some Baking paper into little pouches and tied them up with a ribbon.

They were pretty simple to make, and just used resources I already had, but I think they turned out pretty good, and I hope that everyone who receives one feels pretty blessed.

Have a great day.
-kim

our night at a silent film

2011-12-11T18:37:00.000-05:00

To celebrate my last day working last Thursday, Morgan and I travelled out to The Majestic Theatre, to experience the wonder of a silent film. This theatre has been open for 90 years and has so much character. The film we saw was 3 Bad Men, a Western set in the American Gold rush. This was such a special experience watching this 1920's film with a live piano playing alongside it, to an audience that consisted of us and only 5 others.

We forgot to take a camera up, so just snapped these ones on the iphone. Our friend Derek visited earlier this year and took a couple of beautiful photos you should see. They capture it a lot better.
-kim

weekend away

2011-12-08T17:16:00.004-05:00

We went for a family christmas/holiday last week end. Some friends lent us their holiday house on a beach island. We had to drive a 4WD on the beach to get there. It was absolutely stunning. We relaxed all weekend, ate good food, watched movies, swam and visited many beautiful areas. I will miss the beach when we are traveling.

Have a great week end.

-morgan

carnival

2011-12-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

A month or so again a good friend of mine played a gig... on the back of a truck... at a school fete. It was great.
-morgan

12 Days of Christmas mix! [ROUND TWO]

2011-11-30T19:13:00.004-05:00

Last year, Morgan and I made an incredible 12 Days of Christmas mix of all our favourite classic and contemporary Christmas songs. This year we are back with round two, and it sure is a hit.

This years mix is dedicated to Cesar and we hope you like it. Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for reading our blog.
- m&k

Download 12 Days of Christmas mix! [ROUND TWO] here

1. Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens from the album Songs For Christmas
2. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Bright Eyes from the album A Christmas Album
3. It's Christmas, I Love You by Daniel Ellsworth from the album Music City Unsigned Family Christmas
4. Silent Night by Rosie Thomas from the album A Very Rosie Christmas
5. Christmas Day by She & Him from the album A Very She & Him Christmas
6. Tracks in the Snow by The Civil Wars
7. The Christmas Song by Sleeping at Last from the album Christmas Collection 2010
8. The First Noel by Goodlife from the album Born Is The King
9. Winter Wonderland by Bing Crosby from the album I Wish You a Merry Christmas
10. Baby It's Cold Outside by She & Him from the album A Very She & Him Christmas
11. White Christmas by Bright Eyes from the album A Christmas Album
12. Joy by George Winston

ps. Andrew and Carissa have also created a great Christmas mix here

weekend on the farm

2011-11-28T16:31:00.000-05:00

The pack and move is pretty much complete. We have sold as much of our things as possible, and sent the rest to the op shop. We have packed, cleaned and moved out of our home, and moved in with my parents for these last few weeks. Things are starting to settle down for us now. We both have about 2 weeks left at our jobs, and then the fun begins. This is really happening.

While cleaning out the computer I came across these photos I was meant to share. About a month ago, a great friend of mine turned 30th, and so a group of close friends hired a house and went away for the weekend. Because I was just recovering from getting two wisdom teeth out, I only went up for the afternoon, but was able to practice using the Canon, and get photos.
enjoy
-kim

ps. a big thanks for all those lovely ladies who took the time to share a guest post. We really value you all.

Guest Post: Jessica

2011-11-25T14:56:00.000-05:00

Over the next few months we have a few different Guest Posts from a few of our friends (both online and in the flesh). Joining is this week is Jessica from honeymoonchild. This marvelous lady has an incredible way with words, and we are so happy to have her share on our blog this week.
- enjoy m&k
---

Join me on a picnic, dear readers. We’re headed to the sea. Let’s get up real early, say 4.30 and look around, we’ll see the world before the cynics have got out of bed. Bring your thermos, for it’s chilly in these parts. I’ll bake kanelbullar in the hours before and stow our rations in as many pockets as one coat will allow. We’ll pedal through the streets with abandon. At this hour the city will belong to us. Soon we’ll hear her whispers, she will beckon us forth to our spot on the pier. Let us burrow under an enormous rug and set our gaze across the Baltic, for Sweden, she is waiting to bid us good morning.
Jessica

Notes: Visa från Utanmyra from the record Jazz på Svenska by Jan Johansson

i read: Making a World of Difference

2011-11-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

My sister gave me this book for Christmas last year, and it took me a while to finally get around to reading it, but i'm so glad I did. Miles Roston's "Making a World of Difference" is a series of stories of "unsung heros" impacting lives around the world.

Wow, these stories are great. I think the most powerful means of change in society is the through the telling of people's real and inspiring stories, to encourage you that anything is possible. Miles travelled around the world, witnessing the work of a variety of people including, an old couple in Amsterdam giving an outlet for young kids to learn life-skills interacting with animals, a young guy in Cambodia teaching street kids to work in a high class restaurant, the man who started the Homeless Soccer World Cup, a young monk in Cambodia who started a school to educate marginalised children and many many more.

As an Australian, one story that really stood out to me was that of Paul Pholeros and Sandra Meihubers. This unlikely couple ended up working in an Aboriginal community in central Australia. For those of you who aren't aware, many Aboriginal communities in Australia, are on par with third world countries. It is a horrible disgrace for a developed nation like Australia, to ignore the bad conditions the original inhabitants endure. Paul, an architect, and Sandra, a dental nurse, ended up doing some incredible work along side the community, empowering them to transform the conditions. Paul worked along side the Aboriginal elders, to help discover what was truly needed, and help implement that to action.

'Before meetings with bureaucrats, [the elder, Yami] would say, "Don't use all your bullets. Keep a few for the kangaroo." And he'd relate that to a hunting story. He'd say, "Young blokes fire at anything that looks like a kangaroo. The finally when the kangaroo sticks his head up, you've got no bullets left. And you hit yourself using all your bullets up on rabbits." Yami would save his fire for the things that actally mattered. He taught me a lot.'

As with Paul in the quote above, I learnt a lot through this book. I learn that social justice can look very different to what I expect it to, and that the only way to bring change to this world, is to really listen and find out what need to be done. We all have our preconceived ideas about what we think people need, but with out really listening we can truly miss the mark.

-kim

Guest Post: Kerrie-Anne

2011-11-18T17:20:00.004-05:00

Over the next few months we have a few different Guest Posts from a few of our friends (both online and in the flesh). This weeks guest post comes a lovely friend Kerri-Anne. She is both a talented photographer and an incredibly passionate young lady, and we love that we call her and her husband Josh our friends.
- enjoy m&k
---

In honour of Kim and Morgan getting ready for their travels I thought I would reminisce about some of mine… I have recently scanned in some of my film from my less recent travels to Fiji. I love the people you meet when you travel, I guess you have more time, you're more open and willing to hear people's stories (I need to try to do this more at home). This was definitely the case in Fiji, I met the most beautiful people and heard a lot of their stories, some happy and some sad.

Kerrie-Anne

ready for winter

2011-11-16T18:21:00.001-05:00

As we have been sorting through our clothes and deciding what we keep and what has to go, I have been getting more and more excited about living in the northern hemisphere, in a place where it actually gets cold. I love winter and layering up, but growing up in north Queensland where jumper weather only lasts a month or so, I am so excited for the new fashion opportunities. More than anything I am excited to buy some knee high boots and coats. I have never owned boots other than ankle ones and brought my first coat this year to get ready for the trip.

Here is some fashion inspiration I have been storing on pinterest for when I get live in a winter wonderland.
-kim

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: ravelry.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Guest Post: Beth

2011-11-12T18:19:00.004-05:00

Over the next few months we have a few different Guest Posts from a few of our friends (both online and in the flesh). This week we have a special treat from the newly married and tremendously talented Mrs Beth Murphy.
- enjoy m&k
---

i know it is truly autumn when i begin making anything with pumpkin.
i never cook or bake with it during the rest of the year but when it gets to be this chilly time here in the northeast, with fiery leaves on trees and holidays soon coming, something inside of me knows it's time to bake.
Beth

instagram

2011-11-10T16:27:00.000-05:00

We don't use instagram much, but when we do it sure is lots of fun. Here are a couple of pics from the last month or so of our adventures recorded by instagram.
- m&k

[1] The Beach. [2] Coffee time with a KeepCup. [3] Road Tripping. [4] Broken Car. [5] Barefoot Bowls. For the record, Morgan was a Bowls Champion. [6] New yellow tights. [7] The Van packed. [8] At the markets. [9] Presents from a friend. [10] The only clothes we are keeping.

Guest Post: Claire

2011-11-07T16:06:00.001-05:00

Over the next few months we have a few different Guest Posts from a few of our friends (both online and in the flesh). To kick us off to a raging start we have a Guest Post from our lovely friend Claire. She is a very talented artist and dear friend, and you can check out more of her mad skills HERE.
- enjoy m&k
---

Image Source: Claire Matthews

Morgan and I have regularly (once, maybe) got into a discussion around photo-realistic artwork. I can't actually remember what side of the proverbial fence either of us was on, as I always change my mind halfway through talking. I tend to run around in discussions looking up new ideas' skirts rather than huddle with my back to a corner waving a big stick at them so I can't quite remember where I was standing.

Basically the discussion runs like this: If you're copying a photo, and your copy looks exactly like the photo, what's the point in copying it? What does the painting give the viewer that the photo does not, other than maybe an appreciation for the technical skill of the painter.

Wherever anyone was standing it's an interesting discussion for me as I am one of the world's copiers. I like copying a photo in all its irritating detail and sitting back at the end with a satisfied glow in my belly looking at a mirror image. It's satisfying. It's theraputic. It's mind meltingly boring and face slappingly fun in equal parts.

I also like drawing cartoon monsters. If I have something eating away at my insides it's the monsters that help me express it. They help me to get it out of my head as they run around with hairy armpits, trailing birds and vomiting rainbows.

So the monsters get all the expression and emotion and the portraits are something I enjoy doing because it satisfies my perfectionist tendencies. And never the two do meet. I've yet to find a way to mash up the two styles. The monsters happen quickly whilst I'm in the grips of this or that soggy or spikey emotion. The portraits are calculated and mulled over and happen when I want to think about nothing.

So what to do what to do. I'd like to somehow develop a style that satisfies my craving for accuracy and detail whilst also leaving room for sloppiness, expression and emotion but I have no idea what that would look like. Which is in itself gloriously fun in its mystery. I feel like I'm looking for some forbidden joyous intersection simultaneously celebrating my perfectionism and my mess. Oooh that would be fun.

In the meantime I don't mind when people say I'm not an artist, that I'm merely a human photocopier (quite the compliment actually thanks so much) because although sitting on that fence gives me those occasional criticism splinters in my tush it's worth it to have a foot on both sides. I can vomit up my problems onto a page and maybe make someone else feel a little more hopeful, and I can give someone a drawing of their recently passed friend and hopefully make them feel a little less alone. And I like it that way.

Claire

the markets

2011-11-06T03:00:00.003-05:00

This weekend was enormous. We head to the markets bright and early on both Saturday and Sunday to sell off all the possessions we just can't put in storage. It which turns out for hoarders like us, this is quite a bit of stuff. We had a great time hanging out in our market stall, chatting with customers and seeing the new owners of some of our favourite things and creations we made. I snapped a couple of photos this morning after we had just finished setting up shop for our second market.
enjoy
-kim

a to z

2011-10-30T19:01:00.001-04:00

Source: designspiration.net via Jake on Pinterest

I did a post about movies I love not long ago and it got me thinking, if I had to do an A to Z of my favourite films, what would it look like. So I wrote it out.

A} The Assasinations of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Redford. I find Casey Affleck an amazing actor. Simple yet captivating.
B} Big Fish. I'm a big fan of Tim Burtons film, this one is a beautiful tale without the blood and guts.
C} Control. I grew up listening to Joy Division. This is one of my favourite music/band movies. Sam Riley plays lead singer Ian Curtis too well.
D} The Departed. All star cast, all star soundtrack and all star director.
E} Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of Micheal Gondrys best.
F} Fight Club. Brad and Edward. enough said.
G} Garden State. Just watch it if you haven't.
H} Hook. Who didn't love Robin Williams growing up?
I} I'm Not There/Inception/Into the Wild/Inglorious Basterds. Too hard to pick, gun to my head....Inception.
J} Juno. All time feel good movie.
K} The Kid. Not the Bruce Willis movie, I'm talking silent film by the great Charlie Chaplin.
L} The Lord of the Rings. All three are the true movie watching experience.
M} Memento. Complex script/screenplay. I love it.
N} The Nines. Ryan Reynolds has a great screen presence.
O} Ondine. I couldn't understand Colin Farrell in parts, but who doesn't love a Irish movie about love.
P} Paris, Je t'aime. A bunch of beautiful short films set in Paris.
Q} Quintin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction. Q was very hard. Classic film.
R} Robin Hood (Disney). Best Disney film. Roger Miller as the rooster. Great.
S} Snatch. My favourite Guy Ritchie film.
T} Temple Grandin. A beautiful movie about Autism.
U} Unbreakable. Who doesn't wish they had a super power.
V} V for Vendetta. Poetically messing up the establishment.
W} Walk the Line. Incase you weren't already into Johnny Cash.
X} X-men. Like I said, who doesn't want super powers.
Y} Yellow Submarine. I had a confusing childhood.
Z} Zoolander. I do like comedies as well.

This was really hard to chose but looking back I think I am happy with the list. If you disagree with some or all of my choices let me know. I would love the challenge to watch movies I have not yet seen.
Enjoy
-morgan

collections.. pt 4 [the owls]

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

A while back we shared some things we collect [one, two and three] and I have been meaning to share this one more for a while. A few years ago I declared my love for owls, which resulted in an influx if gifts owl related. Now I seem to have collected rather a family of owls and these few are my favourites.

These guys have come from all over the world and have all been such lovely gifts. Although I have actually never brought any of them, I love that I have unintentionally collected this parliament of owls.
-kim

red carnations

2011-10-23T22:42:00.003-04:00

For the last few weeks I have been tempted by the fresh cut flowers at my regular markets, and this week I gave in and came home with these beautiful red carnations. I don't often treat myself to things, but when I do I love how much simple joy I get out of them.

I thought I would share a little of that joy with you

enjoy
-kim

jacaranda season

2011-10-22T02:17:00.002-04:00

In the mountain top town we live in, every spring these old jacaranda trees bloom with bright purple flowers. This saturday morning kim and I decided to go out hunting for some of our favourites. The bright colour that peeps over houses and other green trees is so beautiful. It was so lovely to go searching for them and see how old some of them were. The way that the small purple flowers carpet the ground is magical, whilst driving around with the windows down, one flower even fell on kims lap. These are one of our favourite flowers and we are going to miss them alot when we leave this town.

ps. so sorry we have not been writing/updating the blog alot lately, we have been packing and sorting through all our possessions. deciding what to keep, sell and throw out. In a couple of weeks we will selling alot of gear at markets and garage sales. Very exciting times ahead. hope you have a great weekend.

-morgan

i read: To Have and Have Not

2011-10-15T17:19:00.003-04:00

Because I had so much fun doing the last book review for you, I decided to do another.

One of my favourite authors is Ernest Hemingway. I love his style of writing, and the beautiful scenes he creates in an era I wish I could have lived. I recently borrowed "To Have and Have Not" and once again fell in love with this talented author.

This book centers around a man named Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain working around the Florida Key. Harry is a hard working man, who gets thrown and few curve balls and this story follows his response over the course of a few years. Hemingway has a way of truly of drawing you into the story and making you really connect with the characters. Each chapter changes from who it is written from the perspective of, which gives you multiple angles for the story.

We lay offshore about a mile in the dark. The current had freshened up, with the sun down, and I noticed it running in. I could see the Morro light way down to the westward and the glow of Havana, and the lights opposite us were Rincon and Baracoa. I headed her up against the current until I was past Baruranao and nearly to Cajomar. Then I let her drift down. It was plenty dark but I could tell good where we were. I had all the lights out.
"What's it going to be, Harry?" Eddy asked me. He was beginning to be spooked again.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know," he said "You've got me worried."

Although this book is very racist, calling people 'niggers' and 'chinks', you can ignore that and still enjoy the story. When I finished the final chapter I was nearly in tears with such joy shared in this book. I know that sounds over the top, but this book was just beautiful.

If you have never read any work by Hemingway, you should also check out "The Sun Also Rises" and "The Old Man and the Sea"
-kim

body products

2011-10-11T21:41:00.001-04:00

For a while now I have been meaning to write about my attempts to try and go more natural with my body products. Most of us are aware of the toxins and "bad stuff" which are in products we use on our bodies on a daily occasion, and this great video below, made by the team at the story of stuff, shares a little more into that.

I thought I would share a few of the products I have been using in my attempt to "go natural".

clean your face
Cleanser: To clean my face I rotate between to products. Most days, inspired by Crunchy Betty I wash my face with honey. Its incredible how simple and effective natural honey can do for your skin. I have found these past few months washing my face with honey, has been the best my skin has ever been.

The other product I use sometimes is the Angels on Bare Skin cleanser from Lush. I do really love the Lush products, which are all handmade and use natural products. This cleanser is essentially ground almonds, lavender and rose.

Toner: I use a tea tree, rose and willow bark facial toner from Orange Fuzz. This is nice and refreshing and 100 % natural.

makeup
I don't wear tons of makeup, but as my products have been finishing I have been replacing them with less chemical based products.

Blush: I wear the Lush Black Stockings body tint as a blush on my cheeks each day. I have found this to be a real nice colour, and is essentially Cocoa and Shea butter.

Mascara: My sister brought me some mascara from New Zealand company Living Nature. This mascara is great, although because it is 100% natural it doesn't last as long as the waterproof chemicals stuff. If I go out after work, I have to re-apply again.

other stuff

Soap: We have just run out of Lemongrass and Cardamom Guinness soap. This was a nice one to wash your body with and left you smelling amazing!

Also, we have previously brought some Moon Goddess Vegan Soap. Once again, this soap left your skin smelling amazing and so soft.

Shaving Soap: Morgan started using the Orange Fuzz Beer and Clay Shaving Soap at the start of the year and it has been so economical. He has quite sensitive skin, and this works a treat.

Body Lotion: The Funk Off Vanilla, Blackberry and Sage Lotion is flipping incredible. This stuff smells amazing, its vegan and lasts ages. We brought some about a year ago, and still going through it. Well worth the buy.

Lip Balm: When we brought our other products from Funk Off, they threw in a Spearmint Lip Balm for us to try. This is great at soothing dry lips, and leaves you smelling minty fresh.

I hope you go check out a couple of these stores and can find yourself some new natural products to keep you looking and smelling amazing, without the toxins.
-kim

our home.

2011-10-07T20:05:00.000-04:00

For a while I have been wanting to do something like this. About a year ago I started reading The Selby and since have wanted to share a little virtual tour of what for the last year and a half we have called home. We have about one month before we start selling most of our possessions and clearing this little apartment to prepare for our one way trip to Europe.

When we first moved here, it was very scary, the apartment is built in the steepest street in Queensland, it is always dark and cool inside and when it rains, everything stays wet and the man who built it simply threw together with odds and ends from scrap shops. As Kim and I tend to collect a lot of treasure/junk we have filled this apartment very rapidly, with lots of beautiful things. Sadly, now we must sort, sell, throw out and reminisce of all our nick nacks.

Hope you enjoy our home as much as we do/did.
-morgan

i love my craft group.

2011-10-03T16:45:00.001-04:00

I love my craft group. We have been meeting for about 5 months now (I think), once a month, to share skills and take time to make fun things. My friend Talia started it up and I am so glad she did. Our numbers are still small, but new people are coming along every month.

On Saturday at the Sunshine Coast Brown Owls meet up, I learnt how to crochet. I have been wanting to learn for ages, and this month Gaby taught us all some of her mad crochet skills. I am so excited. I have been practicing my skills all the time since then [thanks gaby!]. I can't wait till I can make a granny square blanket.

I often spend time on other people's blogs and pinterest looking for inspiration, but you can never go past an actual craft group to give you a boost of creativity. This month I challenge you to start meeting with your friends or join and existing group of people who join together to share and inspire each other in creative pursuits. It is so worth it.
-kim

summer.

2011-10-01T03:12:00.003-04:00

It's starting to get a lot warmer around these parts. It feels like summer is close. I have been wearing singlets all day and a scarf to hold my hair back, I am excited for the warmer weather. It feels like we have had a long winter this year, and it is so refreshing to feel the heat again. I'm happy to be where I am right now. Life is very good.
-kim

i read: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2011-09-27T18:30:00.002-04:00

As part of my weekly goal setting using irunurun, I have been trying to read more regularly. I used to be someone who took ages to finish a book, and often lost interest because it was taking me so long. Well last week I finished a great book and I wanted to share a little about it with you as it impacted me so much.

Donald Miller is a lovely creative writer, and i have read a few of his books. His latest book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" was such an empowering and challenging story I wanted to share a little about it on here, to inspire you to go read it as well.

To give you a little back story, back in 2003 Donald Miller wrote a book "Blue like Jazz" about his life story. This went on to become pretty popular, and Miller got contacted about making the book into a movie, which will be released next year. "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" picks up where Miller is editing his book to become the screenplay for the movie. To book follows Miller as he learns about 'what makes a good story' and how he implemented these writing theories into the way he lived his life.

Miller writes...

“We have to force ourselves to create these scenes. We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off, we have to blow up the inner-tubes and head to the river."

This may sound a little weird, but trust me, this book is full of inspiring stories of people Miller met, getting off their couch and beginning to really live life. Sometimes in life we need a little kick up the butt, to shake us up and not get complacent. To realise we need to seek adventure and not wait for a great life to come to us.

The following is a paragraph that really resonated with me about conflict...

"I was watching the news the other night, and they were still covering that story in Mumbai about the terrorists who when on a shooting ramage. The man on the news said that before the terrorists killed the Jews in the Jewish centre, they tortured them. I had to turn off the television, because I could see the torture in my head the way they were describing it. I kept imagining these people, just living their daily lives, and then having them suddenly ended in unjust tragedy. When we watch the news, we grieve all of this, but when we go to the movies, we want more of it. Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are in.
We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller.

So, go on, go read "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.
-kim

ps. if you have read this book, i would love to know your thoughts. comment below and let me know what you thought of this book.

big news

2011-09-24T15:18:00.002-04:00

Things are going to get a little different around here soon. In 3 months today, (yes, Christmas Day) we will be saying our goodbyes and leaving Australia to begin a new life overseas. We are moving to France. We don't fully know where, and we are very much stepping out into the unknown and as scared as we are, we are very excited for what is ahead. Before ending up in France we will be having a little holiday, beginning in Michigan, then New York, then Iceland.

If you have any travel recommendations for New York or Reykjavík please pass them on. We would love to hear your recommendations.

We are so excited to see where this blog will go as we head on our adventure. We will try and blog just as much, but we have a busy few months ahead of us, as we sort through our belongings, and get rid of much of what we own.

If there is anything you have previously seen in our home and you would like it, let us know, because almost everything has got to go.

thats all for now.
- morgan and kim

ps. did you see our submission to the burning house??

diy round up

2011-09-22T18:37:00.000-04:00

So in the past week or so I've completed a couple of great DIY's which I have made following some great online tutorials. Here is four simple and fun DIY's, all of which can be completed in around an hour.

i made a pair of shorts from a tutorial from maycie after five

i made an awesome tote bag from a tutorial from megan nielsen design diary

i made a skirt from a tutorial on the etsy blog

and my lovely sister sarah made me a wrap bangle from a tutorial from lune vintage

I hope this inspires you to get crafting this weekend. If none of these projects tickle your fancy, you can find a heap of other great tutorials I have on pinned on pinterest here and here.
-kim

ps. you might wonder why these projects were all so cheap to make. I have had some great luck recently, finding lovely material in the remnants box at my local craft store. Make sure you always check to see if there is anything worth your while in the remnants box. Great way to source fabric.

Instax friends

2011-09-20T04:33:00.000-04:00

Here are a few silly Instax photos of some friends of ours.

"The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you". ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Speaking of instant cameras and friends, our blog friend Cesar has a great giveaway going on for his blog's first birthday. Go check it out and share the birthday love. [congrats cesar]

-morgan

recycle: wedding dress

2011-09-18T17:20:00.000-04:00

Last week I got a lovely email that brought a big smile to my face, and I thought I would share it with you. You see, when Morgan and I first got engaged, we decided we wanted our wedding not to be a big huzzah of just one day, but to make sure as many things as possible, were able to be used again some how. That was kinda easy for some things like our fabric bunting decorations, the tea cups, black boards and some of our clothes, but one thing I always hoped was able to be used again was my Wedding dress.

I loved that dress, well I still do, and so when I saw a friend of mine, who I knew had a similar style to me, got engaged I knew I should offer her the dress. She loved it and she sent me some pictures last week of her wedding day wearing my old dress. She altered it a little to bring her own spin, and don't they look amazing. I found it so incredible to see this dress be re-used again and for it not to be a one day dress.

I guess I want to encourage and challenge those of you who have been, or are about to be married, think about what you can do with the things you make/use for your wedding. That dress hanging in your cupboard could be perfect for someone else to enjoy on their wedding day.
-kim

re-style: pink dress

2011-09-15T18:16:00.000-04:00

This little dress re-style has been a long time coming. I started sewing this dress back in april, finally finished it in August and only got around to taking photos last week. Well it's better late then never. Here is a dress that i fixed up for my sister. It started off as a massive size 22 dress that I got for $2 at an op shop. I loved the neckline straight away and new I could do something better with it.

I cut off the sleeves and re-shaped the shoulders. I brought in a bulk off the skirt and raised the waist. I have pretty much re-sewn this dress all over again, the only original part is the collar. I love how it looks on my sister sarah. It is made especially for her and i'm very happy with the result.

enjoy.
-kim

blogs we love.

2011-09-13T19:23:00.001-04:00

Its been a few months since our first edition of blogs we love so we thought it was time to share a few more of our favourite blogs at the moment. You can find a full list of goodies here.

Kim is lovin...

Little eco footprints
I came across Tricia's blog only a few months ago, and I have been loving her practical tips and the inspiring example she is to live a eco lifestyle. This blog is so real and relevant and not the superficial trendy "green" tips you usually see around.

Skunkboy Creatures
Katie from Skunkboy Creatures makes the most adorable plush toys and also puts out a delightful blog. I have been enjoying her sweet fashion, fun diys and general sharing of life.

Morgan is lovin...

Deathtron Mountains
At the beginning of the year I got a tattoo of any image Ghost Patrol designed. I have always been a big fan of his work, and always love hearing about his very ventures.

andrew & cassissa
Kim has read these guys blog for a while, so I am a bit of a late comer. To put it simply their photos are beautiful.

We hope this can help you find a couple of new blogs you will enjoy. We would love to hear some of your favourites blogs you are lovin at the moment. Please share...
- morgan and kim

sprocket

2011-09-10T20:17:00.000-04:00

As promised yesterday, here are a few shots taken recently with my sprocket rocket which I had developed this week. I'm love this camera the more and more I use it. I look forward to traveling with it by my side.

-morgan
ps. we got a new vinyl in the mail last week. Beruit just released his new album The Rip tide. check it out!

photographs

2011-09-10T01:32:00.002-04:00

I recently got some film from my Pentax K1000 developed. Alot of the photos are from our recent camping trip.
Stay tuned tomorrow for some photos from my Sprocket Rocket.

Have a great weekend, take some photos.
-morgan

dresses in haiti

2011-09-04T22:41:00.009-04:00

A few months ago I, along with a mighty team of others, started sowing pillowcase dresses to send to Haiti. Our friend Dani was going to be heading over with a team to help out at an orphanage and do a ton of other things to help out and make it more sustainable.

Well, Dani has now been to Haiti and came back last week. She just sent me a ton of cute pictures of the kids with their dresses. I just want to give a big THANKYOU all the ladies that helped out. What started as a little idea of mine to try and collect a few, turned into something much bigger. We had some lovely ladies from my Church, the Sunshine Coast Brown Owls team, and friends everywhere were making little dresses to send away. In the end we collected 101 dresses which went to the kids at the orphanage Dani was helping at, and other kids in the community. How great is that!
-kim

photo credit: dani harriott

the first day of spring

2011-08-31T22:10:00.003-04:00

The First Days of Spring Official Trailer from charlie fink on Vimeo.

Today is the first day of Spring here in the southern hemisphere, and it is turning out to be a beautiful day. When I go to work this morning we listened to the whole album "The First Days of Spring" from Noah and the Whale . I had forgotten what a great album it was.

Tonight I am getting my hair cut. It is starting to get a little out of hand and I am so excited to see what Lisa, my lovely hairdresser, is going to do. I love getting my hair cut.

Tomorrow is my rostered day off from work, and I am going to sleep in, eat a big breaky with friends, and then go op shopping. I'm really looking forward to dressing in a pretty dress and hanging out with morgan. We don't get many full days together and so I am really excited about what we have planned tomorrow.

I told you it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
-kim

i made: camera strap

2011-08-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

morgan and i have both been having lots of fun with our new camera. When it first arrived we started talking about what type of Camera Strap we should get. It came with the standard edition Cannon strap, we weren't real keen on using that one. After browsing heaps of Vinage ones on Etsy, I decided we could reuse the one we already had and make it our own.

I found a piece of scrap Gingam fabric I had left over from a previous project which was the perfect size needed. All I did is unpick the existing camera strap, and sow it back together with my fabric covering the top layer. This was super simple to make and exactly what we needed.

- kim

ps. Sorry for the awkward photography. Im still learning how to use the camera.

the fox, the crow and the cookie

2011-08-24T18:52:00.003-04:00

mewithoutYou - The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie from David Bell on Vimeo.

One of our favourite bands is mewithoutYou. They are currently recording their fifth album which makes us very happy indeed. Here is a film clip of theirs from their last album. Its been stuck in both our heads all week and has been playing on repeat. Enjoy.

ps. some other music loves at the moment are:

Foster The People
Cataldo
Valley Maker

Have a listen.
Dare you.

-morgan

dates

2011-08-21T17:31:00.003-04:00

In all my experience in marriage... 1 year 3 months and 21 days to be precise. I have learnt this, date. and frequently. Dating never ends and the fun should never stop either. Although as comfortable and fun staying home watching a movie could be, you gotta go out and explore (this works for both single people and people in a relationship). Kim and I will bounce back and forth in a month asking each other out on dates.

Be intentional.

Well thats it from Dr Morgan. Now go out and put it to practice!

-morgan

i learnt

2011-08-17T20:10:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I learnt how to play backgammon.

I'm hooked, and now, the hunt begins.

For a travel backgammon case.

what is your favourite board/card game?

we play monopoly deal, scumbags and warlords, billionaire, times up and mancala.

-morgan

newest member of our family

2011-08-16T02:05:00.003-04:00

That's right, we'd like to introduce to you our newest addition... Canon 60D.

We have been thinking about getting a digital SLR for a while now, considering we only use film cameras, and last week we finally took the plunge!

All I can say is... I am in love. I feel like a grandpa at the digital revolution, getting giddy over the fact I can take a photo and view it immediately without waiting for the roll to finish and then sent off to get developed. Don't get me wrong, I still will be loyal to my Pentax K100, but boy oh boy, this Canon, is the start of something entirely different.

So don't expect the usually iphone snaps on here anymore, expect quality (as we try to master this digital beast) and expect alot more photos.

one question... which do you prefer... Digital or Analogue?

-morgan-

op shop finds August

2011-08-10T21:47:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I have done an op shop find post.
When kim and I went camping a few weeks ago we found a few treasures but recently I have been spending more time working in my op shop and have come out with alot more things.

(some of this is not pictured but here a few beauties)
So, my recent finds are
A dapper hat for kim
A beautiful woolen jumper for kim
A few expired rolls of film both 35mm and polaroid
A few embroidery hoops
A couple of Sigma lenses for my Pentex K1000 ($15 for both a 100-300mm and 23-80mm Macro!)
A frame to make this to display our instax and polaroid pictures
A couple of working Brother typewriters
A Tom Sawyer book
A beautiful crocheted boat in a frame

And this is by far my new favourite of the house, a handpainted 2 metre long landscape. Stunning.)

What have you scored from thrifting of late?

-morgan-

Instant

2011-08-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

Guess who got to play with a friends Polaroid camera this weekend. Expired film...YES!

Hope you had a great weekend.
-morgan and kim-

i made: dinner

2011-08-04T18:26:00.002-04:00

So these last few months I have been setting weekly goals. Each week I am trying to focus my time and energy to achieve things that enrich my life and bring me joy. I have been using irunurun to help me achieve this, and it has been so exciting tracking my weeks as I work to reach my target goals.

One of my goals is to cook two things each week. As you can imagine, it is tough getting into the kitchen with a talented chef as a husband, but I am trying to overcome this fear. I don't know if you struggle to get into the kitchen, but I thought I would share some inspiration, and some dishes I have made over the last month or so.

I made the vegan avocado wasabi salad
This was delightful, except I went a little overboard with the chickpeas.

I made a yummy lentil loaf.
Unfortunately, this wan't a massive hit with the husband.

I made a buckwheat salad
This was delightful. I will definitely make this again.

I made some no-bake granola bars
These weren't as healthy as I anticipated, but were very yummy to eat.

I made a heap of Vegetable calzones.
These are great for an easy lunch. Just wrap them indervidually and chuck them in the freezer.

and I also made a Pumpkin, Carrot and Beetroot Soup [aka Porsch soup]
This is such an incredible soup recipe which my friend Warwick created but he let me share it here for you all to enjoy.

ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 shake of cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, dry chilli
1/2 a pumpkin
2 carrots
2 beetroots

what to do
fry up onion, garlic, oil and butter in a large saucepan. once it is softened add the spices and continue to fry until it starts to smell amazing. add the chopped veggies and stream them for ages, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin starts to fall apart. At this point you should add as much stock as you desire. blitz/food process the soup to make it nice a smooth, add salt and pepper and any fresh herbs you may have and serve.
makes appox 5 servings.

happy cooking..
-kim

ps. if you need some inspiration i share heaps of good looking recipes on pinterest here

one hundred.

2011-08-01T23:51:00.010-04:00

Well this is our one hundredth blog post so I'm going to let you in on one of my favourite things....
MOVIES

Source: weheartit.com via Meg on Pinterest

Ever since I was young I've loved movies. Never really comedies... although I did love them. I was always about a script, something written like a book and something that visually blew my mind (and I'm not talking about special effects, I mean cut and put together well, beautiful cinematography).
So from time to time I thought I'd share some new films we've seen or some old favourites.

What better place to start then my top 7 movies (for each day of the week) in no particular order

1) Fight Club- I watched this young with few friends, it freaked them out a bit, but it sparked something within me. Since I have read most of Chuck Palahniuk books and watch nearly all of Edward Nortons films.

2) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- This was the first time I took Jim Carey seriously. I am a big fan of Michel Gondrys music clips and thought this movie was amazingly beautiful.

3) Memento- What the hey... Any film by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Inception, The Prestige etc) is amazing. I think he is my favourite writer/director. He turns a complex script into art on a screen

4) Into the Wild- To show I'm not all about weird, twisted movies I also like something that inspires you, although this movie is sad it makes me want to travel the world and sell all my possessions.

5) Lord of the Rings- All three shows that good blockbuster can be made and that a book can be translated to the big screen

6) Snatch- Although all of Guy Ritchies films are the same, the way they are put together with great shots, music and actors makes me laugh and appriciate the art of film.

7) Life is Beautiful- Although I was only 10 when I watched this movie, it changed my life. If you haven't seen it yet... do so now.

There you have it. I've left alot of movies out, and might have a new list in 6 months but this sums me up pretty good I think.

What's your favourite movie?

-morgan-

[time goes by like the wind]

2011-08-01T04:08:00.000-04:00

Wow! The year has flown, and it has been so fun blogging and meeting different people through this weird format. It has been a blast. Since our first post a lot has happened, both here online and in our everyday lives. Thanks so much for all of you who have been on this journey with us. We really appreciate your comments and kind words.

Here are a few fun stats about the blog, enjoy...

Top 5 posts according to us (in no particular order):
- 3 days, 3 cameras series... one, two, three
- what to do in melbourne...
- our christmas traditions
- 5 things...
- [GIVEAWAY] one year.

Top 5 most read posts to date:
5. 12 Days of Christmas Mix!
4. Morgan & Kim got Married
3. April Challenge pt2.
2. Dresses for Haiti
1. [GIVEAWAY] one year.

Top 5 Countries who read our blog:
5. Germany
4. Canada
3. United Kingdom
2. United States
1. Australia

Thanks again to each and every one of you, but there is one thing that we want to know... what do you want to see us do more of on the blog across the next year?
- morgan and kim -

say no...

2011-07-28T23:10:00.008-04:00

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!

2011-07-27T17:31:00.006-04:00

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..

2011-07-25T05:27:00.004-04:00

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...

2011-07-23T02:01:00.004-04:00

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...

2011-07-21T20:51:00.003-04:00

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

2011-07-18T18:46:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-14T20:44:00.002-04:00

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

2011-07-10T17:49:00.002-04:00

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

2011-07-07T21:05:00.004-04:00

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

2011-07-06T04:33:00.003-04:00

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.

2011-07-02T19:30:00.012-04:00

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

2011-07-02T17:51:00.002-04:00

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.

little joys.

2011-06-30T04:46:00.003-04:00

One of my favourite things to do when I have Friday off fortnightly is to go out for coffee with morgan. The best cafe in our area is only open monday to friday, so if you want some good stuff, you have to make an effort during the week to get there. When I was at uni I used to drink about 3 coffees and 2 energy drinks a day. That was not a very good time in my life. Now I am a lot healthier with coffee, I only have a cup about once a week, and only if I know it will be good.

The last 3 weeks have been pretty hectic with lots going on at work, lots of sowing pillow case dresses, and unfortunately we have both had the flu. I had not had the time to go and get a coffee from my cafe in over 2 weeks. Yesterday, however, I did something I have never done before. On my 30min lunch break, I jumped on my scooter, rode 10mins to go an have a quiet little coffee all by my self at my favourite little cafe. It did me wonders. It was so lovely just to escape the office, even just for a short moment, and feel the cold winter breeze on my face and sit and enjoy my existence.
- kim

Last year I worked in 2 schools, one in the beautiful hinterland hills and the other in a low social economic suburbia. The school in the mountains was about a 15 minute drive further than the suburbia school. I found that the scenic drive would always relax me and give me a fresh start to the beginning and the end of my days. When driving to the suburbia school I would always still have home in the back of my mind coming to work, or work in the back of my mind coming home.

This 10-15 minutes of a mountain drive was enough to change my whole perspective on the rest of the day. In moments like these sometimes I decide to drive the 'long' way, just to enjoy the scenery or maybe the music I'm listening to in the car. I'm not endorsing extra fuel consumption, but taking time to do something and actually enjoying it is something I struggle with. I am a time management freak. So, my challenge to you and myself is, take time to do something just for you, dont worry about the clock or what anyone thinks. Soak in the little joys.
- morgan

ps. Diana wrote a lovely blog about taking care of yourself which you should definatley read.

tattoo tuesday.

2011-06-28T08:07:00.003-04:00

Guess what! Morgan's tattoos have been featured on Dani's Tattoo Tuesday series on her blog Sometimes Sweet.

You can read all about morgan's amazing tattoos and my one too here. Enjoy
-kim

what to do in melbourne....

2011-06-24T22:47:00.001-04:00

ok. So this last trip we did to melbourne was maybe the best trip I have ever done. We had such a great time and saw so many new things.

I know many people who visit melbourne, or who are thinking about it, so I wanted to share a few of our favourite places you may want to check out. Here are all our answers to a few of our favourite things.

1. Favourite cup of coffee
SARAH: St Ali, we went their for breakfast and I ordered a double shot soy latte and they made it with BONSOY. the best darn coffee i had the whole time although there were a few that were close to being as good! Also you have to try the breakfast My Mexican Cousin, its amazing.
DEREK: St Ali - Flat White - it was just delicious.
KIM: I love Three Bags Full. Its so consistent, and they make such lovely coffee. The food is really good as well.
MORGAN: My favourite was St Ali, but to share something different, and if you are in the area for the Camberwell Sunday markets then Collective Espresso is a great spot to stop.

2. Favourite Dinner
SARAH: This would be either Beatbox burgers- with Mushroom and beef patty.. the best burger i have ever tasted.. OR. that Japanese bento box place in China Town in the City. I ordered the chicken teriaki box and loved it cause it was a little bit different.
DEREK: Beatbox burgers - sammy dooblaye. best burger i've had all year.
KIM: One place I really loved was Bimbo's. It could have just been the vibe and the company, but I loved the Pizza. We got a few and shared them, I loved the Il Greco (Halloumi, Green Olives, Lemon, Oregano yum)
MORGAN: Beatbox burgers - the secrecy and mystery alone will draw you in. Such a great idea for a traveling Burger Van, the fact that they have perfected a burger recipe is just an added bonus.

3. Favourite place to visit
SARAH: Rooftop bar. It was freezing cold but your right in the middle of the city amongst the high rises. I ordered some scrumptious mulled wine which made the location even better.
DEREK: The Rooftop bar was pretty dope. best view of the city.
KIM:My old favourite place to visit is the Sofitel toilets. Now I know this sounds silly, but if you take the lift in the Sofitel toilets on Collins street to the 42 floor, and head into the toilets you have an amazing view of the city. The photo above is take from the out the glass window wall. Its a beautiful site, and a great way to take in the city.
MORGAN: The National Rhododendron Gardens were beautiful. It is so nice to see the seasons change.

4. Favourite thing we did
SARAH: Looking at the street art in the back streets of the city. Our day trip up to the Dandenongs- such a beautiful area and we got some good finds at the opshops up there.
DEREK: Drink Coffee amazing coffee everyday. I love coffee and Melbourne has taken it to that to the next level
KIM: I loved playing in all the fallen leaves. Autumn is such a beautiful season.
MORGAN: Eat, Eat, Eat. All the food and coffee we had was amazing. The differences in cultures and the vast amounts of creativity makes for a perfect combination.

we hope this help you find some fun things to do if you make it to melbourne some time soon.
- enjoy

ps. photos 1, 2 and 6 taken by the talented mr derek ellens

seize life!

2011-06-21T22:38:00.005-04:00

Source: flickr.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don't skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.
The Bible - Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (The Message)

24 things before i'm 25

2011-06-18T01:51:00.009-04:00

So yesterday was my 24th birthday.. woo hoo. haha. So in the good old blogging fashion, here are my 24 things to do before my 25th Birthday.

1. ~~Although I am already in the process of this, I want to try and help make 50 dresses to send to Haiti.~~ - DONE
2. I want to go surfing and actually stand up.
3. I want to be confident in speaking french.
4. I want to cook something new each week.
5. I want see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
6. ~~I want to make a snow man, snow angels and go tobogganing.~~ - DONE
7. ~~... and to make this possible, I want to see snow.~~ - DONE
8. I want to make more clothes for morgan.
9. I want to get another tattoo.
10. I want to grow my hair.
11. I want make a home movie.
12. I want to cross off a few more of the wandering travellers experiences with morgan
13. I want to ride a horse.
14. I want to have more guest posts on our blog. (contact us if you wanna do one..)
15. I want to get a hair cut in Iceland.
16. I want to try live more sustainably
17. I want to read more books.
18. I want to get a job that uses my degree and makes a difference.
19. I want to live like a french girl
21. I want to experience life having a grandma
22. I want to be better at showing morgan how much i love him
23. I want to paint more with water colours
24. I want to be thankful every morning for all the amazing things in my life....

lets see if I can do it..
-kim

365 grateful

2011-06-13T18:03:00.001-04:00

365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.

We hope your week is kicking off to a great start and you are having a lovely day. I just wanted to share a great little project some locals near us are doing which is so inspiring and excited. Watch this video and get prepared to smile and have a lovely day.
- kim

ghostpatrol

2011-06-08T22:20:00.003-04:00

Look who made it onto Ghostpatrol's blog, my handsome husband morgan!

morgan got his tattoo of a ghostpatrol design done at Chapel Tattoo on our trip to Melbourne in February earlier this year. The Tattoo Artist was Sento Puros, an amazingly talented guy from Spain who was touring the world and happened to be in Melbourne when we were down.

If you are ever in Spain and want to get a tattoo, definitely try and track Sento down. I'm gonna try get a piece done by him one day. Just gotta decide what.... Maybe I could get a piece by ghostpatrol too??
-kim

dresses for haiti

2011-06-07T05:51:00.005-04:00

This story all began about a month ago when Rachel at Smile and Wave post a story about how she was making some dresses she was making some dresses to send with a friend of hers to take to give to little girls in Haiti. I was instantly excited about what she was doing and planned to make some myself to send along. But as it always does, life happened and after a series of strange events I missed the deadline to post the dresses to make the trip to Haiti. I was super bummed I missed my chance to send some dresses but that same day I found out my lovely friend Dani is heading over to Haiti in early July to help renovate an Orphanage and make it more sustainable. Woah! Isn't that awesome, so I have a new plan, and this one you can get involved in too.

So here it goes...
I'm gonna be collecting handmade pillow case dresses for Dani to take in a months time. I'm putting this out there to see if you can help me and Dani make enough dresses so each little girl can have a pretty new dress.

There are tons of great tutorials around to get you started here, here, here, and here. If you wanna get involved, flick me an email [kimberley [dot] tm [at] gmail [dot] com] and I will give you my postal address to send them. Its probably best if you live in Australia, but if you really wanna get involved feel free to get involved where ever you are.

This dress I made cost me only 1 dollar and about 30mins of my time. At this rate we can all afford to get involved and share some joy in Haiti. Please share this around so we can get as many dresses made as possible.

I'm also gonna be sharing how to make these dresses at the next Sunshine Coast Brown Owls Meet Up. If your living on the Sunshine Coast you should definitely come along and check out this new group my friend Talia has started.
Thanks heaps.
-kim

3 days, 3 cameras pt. 3

2011-06-05T18:05:00.000-04:00

Finally we have the Sprocket Rocket, this baby is very cool. You can take great panoramic shots, expose multiple amounts of time, wind back and forth through your film and expose onto the sprocket holes. I had to scan with the sprocket holes covered but I look forward to playing with this one more in the future.

We hope you enjoyed the last three days, hopefully we will have more shots coming up soon.
hope you had a lovely weekend.

-morgan

3 days, 3 cameras pt. 2

2011-06-04T19:00:00.004-04:00

Todays camera is the Robot Action Cam. We bought this one about 8 months ago and it has stayed in kims bag most of the time, I love the shots that come out of it and it puts a fun twist on a simple shot. It's light and easy and heaps of fun!

I think this is kims favourite camera. Come back tomorrow for the final of the three, the Sprocket Rocket.

-morgan

3 days, 3 cameras pt.1

2011-06-03T22:28:00.004-04:00

The next three days we will post a collection of recently developed film from three types of cameras. The Pentax K100, the Robot Action Cam and the newest edition, the Sprocket Rocket. all photos are a collection of shots from our recent trip to Melbourne, a few picnics, a wedding and our general life. Enjoy

The Pentax:

This is my favourite camera, I love the clean shots it takes and I have an unhealthy obsession with mastering double exposures. I have taken all of these in camera and not edited any, hope you like. Tune in tomorrow for the robot shots.

-morgan

melbourne love

2011-05-30T05:14:00.007-04:00

Last weekend Morgan and I had a lovely long weekend in melbourne. It was only a couple of months ago since we last went to melbourne and we had been talking to our friend derek heaps about how much he would like it, so the 3 of us and my sister sarah went off on a little adventure.

We all took lots of photos, but we are still waiting for them to come back from being developed. Here are a couple of pictures from the trusty iphone. We can't wait to share the pictures from our first rolls from the Robot 3 Lens Camera and morgan's new Sprocket Rocket. For now enjoy these...
-kim

this was from the ghost patrol exhibition. it was incredible.

winter time

2011-05-25T06:28:00.001-04:00

Its pretty freezing cold riding on my scooter to work and back, pretty glad I have sweet glasses to keep the icy wind out of my eyes.
-kim

diy... guest post

2011-05-23T20:22:00.009-04:00

We are back from a fantastic long weekend in Melbourne. Glad to see you all loved the Guest Post from Cesar.

If you wanna read a little DIY post I did for Talia's blog on how to recycle a t-shirt to make a scarf check it out here...

Have a fantastic week.
-kim

Guest Post: The Dead Format

2011-05-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

Meet our blog buddy Cesar from The Dead Format
While we are away for a week in Melbourne we asked Cesar to write a guest post for us. We love to check out his blog for inspiration, he takes some beautiful photos and we are envious of his polaroid camera collection. We hope you enjoy it, and dont forget to check out his blog.

-----

Canon T2i

These pictures were taken in Los Angeles during my vist to the MOCA. They currently have an exhibit dedicated to street art. I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the L.A area.

I always like to carry at least two different types of formats when I go on my little photo adventures. That day I had a Polaroid SX-70 Alpha 1, a Canon T2i, and a 35mm Gakkenflex toy camera. I was immediately drawn to this old parking lot sign while walking to the museum and took a picture with each camera. I dont have the Gakkenflex pictures yet but I will post the pictures from the Gakkenflex on my blog as soon as I get it back from the photo developers, hopefully they will turn out ok (crossing my fingers). The Polaroid pictured below is my most popular picture on Flickr to date, I've even seen it floating around on various Tumblr blogs :)

blogs we love.

2011-05-17T17:43:00.001-04:00

We thought it was well over due for us to share the blog love and let you know about a couple of our favourite blogs at the moment, so here goes...

Kim is lovin...

Pugly Pixel
Is there anything she can't do? Katrina creates amazing tutorials and web graphics which a really cool and inspire me to play with html and css more and more. She makes you feel like you can do it too, and thats so lovely to help feel a little more confident with nerdy things.

Natalie Creates
This blog is probably the only one i've been following for more than two years. Natalie shares great honest stories from her life, exploring gardening, simple joy and living sustainably. She takes lovely photos too...

Two
This is a new find but this blog shares two photos a week from two photographers who have a theme each month. The photos a simple yet so so beautiful.

Morgan is lovin...

The blue hour
I love to check in to this blog to be inspired by simple and beautiful photography or fresh cuisine ideas.

La Blogotheque
I have been a keen follower of la blogoteque for a while now, if you like music, then this is a must see site of live recordings

Todays Letters
I don't really regularly follow any blogs, but this is one I check every couple of days. We love them heaps.

We would love to know some of your blog loves.. What are you hooked on at the moment? What is inspiring you? or what are your long time loves? Please share...

entering the kitchen...

2011-05-14T18:27:00.001-04:00

Being Married to an ex-Chef is a hard thing sometimes. I have never really been passionate about creating great food, but always loved eating it, I guess this is my Morgan and I work so well together. These last few months I have been more and more inspired to learn how to cook better and experiment more with food. I've been finding many exciting recipes and ideas online and saving them on Pinterest. Here are some I want to make over the next month.
- kim

Zucchini Oven Fries

Source: prairie-table.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Avocado Wasabi Salad

Source: veganyumyum.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Homemade mozzarella sticks

Source: foodpeoplewant.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

No-bake granola bars

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

Blueberry Hand Pies

Source: veganyumyum.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Pudding Pop

Source: endlesssimmer.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

... yummy things are on their way... i hope.

free stuff!!!

2011-05-10T17:23:00.000-04:00

In the last month kim and I have both won something from blogs we read. Firstly, I won a Coava Kone which has revolutionised our home coffee experience. It's a complex procedure to make coffee now but its so worth it, especially with this delish black star coffee. I won this through a giveaway through Todays Letters. If you dont read these guys blog, do so, now. They have encouraged us heaps in our marriage and have taught us about many cool bands, movies and other great things. We actually decided to send them a little present a week before the competition opened, so whoever said 'give and you shall receive" was on to something.

Kim also recently won a pair of Tipsy Toesshoes from hello owls little giveaway. These haven't arrived yet, but Kim is pretty keen to try them out. I think this is the first time either of us have won something online, maybe even ever (apart from kims 'most infectious grin' award in grade 2).

SO, to celebrate our first year blog anniversary in July we will be giving away a few things. So stay tuned, and if you have any ideas of cool things to giveaway let us know.

-morgan

black star coffee..

2011-05-08T17:15:00.000-04:00

Over the Easter weekend I went on a little day trip down to Brisbane with a couple of friends. One of the first places we stopped at to fuel our bodies was a little cafe/roastery called Black Star Coffee. This lovely little place roast their own beans and make a very lovely brew which is both organic and fair trade. They even sell their own cold press coffee in bottles, which is what I had since I am totally loving cold press at the moment. I also brought some beans home to try out our new grinder morgan brought back from the op shop the week before. It works a treat and you can totally taste the difference with freshly ground beans and fair trade coffee. There is nothing better than a good cup of Fair Trade coffee. enjoy.
-kim

Pay it Forward Revisited

2011-05-05T18:15:00.001-04:00

At the start of the year we par took in a little game called Pay it Forward. The idea, make something for five people and recieve something from one person. We got sent this beautiful mini bunting from Georgina at Perpetual One.
Sadly only one person, Talia took our call out and recently recieved her little gift. If you would like to partake in this great craft cause please read our post here and sign up. It's a great way to be generous and get something nice from us too!

-morgan

manchester orchestra..

2011-05-03T17:46:00.001-04:00

Manchester Orchestra - "Simple Math" from DANIELS on Vimeo.

These past few weeks I have been completely hooked on Manchester Orchestra. I have been listening to this band over and over, so it helps we have 3 of their albums and 4 EP's. Their new album "Simple Math" is released this week, and if their first single (video above) is anything like the album its going to be AMAZING! Andy Hull is so talented with his words and the lyrics and heart to these songs get me every time. My favourite album is "I'm Like A Virgin Loosing A Child" (2006) which was their first full length album which they released.

If you're already a Manchester Orchestra fan, make sure you check out the band's side project with Kevin Devine, "Bad Books'. This stuff is equally exciting, and has the influence of one of my other favourite songwriters Mr Devine, which comes through nice and strong.

And finally if you are all over that already as well, then check out Andy Hull's solo stuff under the name "Right Away, Great Captain". These epic songs make you want to go live on a boat and sail the seven seas...

I hope you check this stuff out and you enjoy it. Let me know if you find a new favourite artist, or if these are already in your top 5, then we should be friends.
- kim

UPDATE: If you solve a puzzle on the Columbia Records website you can listen to the new album 'Simple Math' for free now.. Check it out here. It's beautiful.

Morgan & Kim got Married

2011-04-30T17:42:00.005-04:00

So today is our one year wedding anniversary so we thought we would share some of our favourite photos and moments from the big day as we have never done that on here.

We had such an amazing day. We tried to be very minimalistic with our approach to the wedding. We didn't want getting married to be all about the wedding day, rather treat it as a giant celebration of all things "us". We wanted as much as possible to do it handmade/secondhand or at least recyclable after the event, like last christmas. We hired a little woodern hall just out of town that had a nice big yard. The ceremony was inside the hall, the after all the guests head outside to play games, eat great food and celebrate.

Our rings were handmade by a local jeweler using new and recycled gold. Kim bought an 'off the rack dress' from a business that closed down (60% off RRP) and made her own veil from an handmade headband and some netting off etsy. Each of the bridesmaids chose their own dresses, so it would be one they would wear again. Morgan bought his and the groomsmen's clothes from a formal wear shop secondhand. Also a close group of Morgan's friends all got married within a year of each other, so we re-used the same black suits in 3 of the different wedding parties. The Bouquet and Boutonnière were designed by a friend of ours, with the grooms men's made out of herbs and the bridesmaids with a wrist corsage. Since the wedding Kim has been able to pass on her dress to a friend who will be wearing it when she gets married later this month, which is so exciting.

In the lead up to the big day, we sewed 3 kilometres of bunting flags from recycled vintage fabric (this was the most time consuming thing about our wedding). This was an awesome bonding experience for sure. We used local flowers as decorations in old bottles around the place, and had heart shaped balloons (not really handmade or recyclable woops). We hung a quilt that Kim's parents bought us as a backdrop during the ceremony and hung paintings from our home everywhere around the hall. We also brought old picture frames from op shops and painted them with chalk paint to make signs for around the venue.

Spoonfed, a local caterer did all our food, using from local products and also alot of free range/organic goods. We gave out teacups as wedding favours, which we collected from opshops for our guests, which they used on the day to drink all our homemade iced teas and lemonade (Morgan is still kicking himself he didn't write down the recipe, it was the best lemonade he has ever tasted/made).

Morgan's dad made an amazing giant frame for people to stand in and take photos, and we also went off his French heritage and played petanque and horse shoes. Morgans godmother also played classic parisian style accordion all through the day which was a definite highlight. We were also honored to have our friends work together as the photographers. This husband and wife duo did an amazing job capturing the day, we appreciate them so so much.

And now for the photos. Enjoy....

LINKS YOU MAY ENJOY.
Brides Head Band - handmade from yellowyellowdesigns
Brides Veil - homemade from squirlgirl Millinery supplies
Bridal Party flowers - by Sarah
Wedding Cake topper - handmade by VintagebyCrystal

april challenge pt2.

2011-04-28T05:35:00.002-04:00

So, this weekend just gone, I actually finished another dress, and fortunately this time i also actually took a before photo (don't mind the crazy face)... I got this dress from a clothes swap about a year ago and loved the print but thought the dress looked like it was from a polish concentration camp. It took me a while to work out what I wanted to do with it, but I am happy with the result. All I have done is brought up the waist with a new waist band, given it new sleeve cuffs and a collar. This probably took me about 6 hours all up, but I had a few complications which dragged it out. This was my first Peter Pan collar which I messed up a little, but I rekon next time I'll get it perfect. Enjoy.
-Kim

finally the handsome photographer...

Mawwiage

2011-04-26T16:59:00.003-04:00

On May 1st Kim and I have been married ONE YEAR!!!! So stay tuned for a special post on May 1st.

Picnic Loaf

2011-04-25T17:45:00.000-04:00

A while back I saw this in a magazine and decided it might be a nice dinner to make. To make the picnic loaf is easy enough, for a recipe go here.

You pretty much hollow out a cob loaf, fill it with your favourite food (I chose capsicum, pumpkin, salami, smoked ham, danish feta, mushrooms and eggplant), put the lid back on, cover it in al-foil and bake for 30mins. It makes heaps of food and was great for lunch the next day. Next time I make it, I might just have to take kim on a picnic.
-morgan-

happy easter

2011-04-22T03:03:00.003-04:00

From both of us, we hope that this lovely long weekend is more than a holiday for you. We hope you contemplate the meaning behind this day. Kim and I are both so very grateful for what easter symbolizes, Jesus' death and resurrection for us all.
-morgan and kim-

april challenge pt1.

2011-04-21T05:21:00.001-04:00

So, as a result of my April Challenge to work through all the clothes waiting to be sowed in my art room, I am finally making progress and taking photos. Unfortunately in all the excitement of sowing this dress, I forgot to take a before photo [woops], so you just have to imagine what it looked like.

I brought this dress for $2 at an op shop because I was instantly in love with the fabric print. If you can't tell in the pictures, there are parrots all over this dress and they make me smile. When I brought it, this dress was really wide and frumpy with a drop waist, not really my style or suits my body shape, so I took to it with some scissors and a sowing machine and this is what i achieved.

I am so happy with how it turned out, and have been wearing this dress so much since I finished it. It was so easy, you can do it too. Hope this inspires you to take to the sowing machine and make old clothes great again this weekend. With all the public holidays here because of Easter i'm going to be sowing even more, so I should have more things to share next week. Enjoy...
-kim

ps. what im wearing: pack brixton hat [gift from derek], opshop dress, belt and bag, found sunnies, and whittner shoes from dfo.