It’s alive – well almost.

The past five months have been a challenging and rewarding period in my life. Work has been insanely busy and with that has come the usual challenges and juggles that make life interesting, but I am super happy and very proud to announce that this afternoon one of the biggest projects I have worked on in my capacity as a “Freelance” Creative Director is going finally going live.

There are so many stories to tell and pearls of wisdom to share from my last 5 months that I can only promise to get back to Blogging and Tweeting and Instagramming once I have summited the peak today.

So hold thumbs for me (and my team) – and watch this space – lots of design joy will follow!

The post Exciting times appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

The bond between pet and human is often so strong and so wildly deep that no words can explain the feelings and connections.

Here is an amazing story of young Noah, who in 2013, rescued a wounded baby magpie in Newport, Australia. The bird (now called Penguin) decided that life in her new home was pretty special. Free to go whenever she wishes, Penguin has rather opted to remain living with her human consorts.

So precious – I love it!

You can follow Penguin and Noah on Instagram.
Original post and all photos found on Fubiz

The post A young boy and his bird appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

Today is St Paddy’s day and what better excuse to return to my beloved blog with a spot of green loveliness (AKA bunny with a mad green hat) and well wishes to you all.

First of all, apologies for my silence. The past 2 months have thrown me quite a few curve balls and finally I feel like things are returning to some level of normality. But these are stories for another day. Right now things are looking so much better – work is keeping me super busy, I am physically feeling strong and the sun is shining, so life is good!

Moving forward, I have exciting changes planned for my little blog. I am in the process of a little redesign, so watch this space!
Also my Pretty Pretty Kitties are flying out the Fabricate Shop in the Gardens Center in Cape Town and I have also had numerous requests for custom orders with Kitties being adopted from all over the globe. Very exciting!

So – lets see this as the beginning of a new and exciting year, in the words of the old Irish saying:
May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Happy St Paddy’s day all!

PS – Couldn’t resist putting in a cheesy bunny related joke:
What is a rabbit’s favourite beverage and why?
Beer, as it’s made with lots of hops.

(don’t judge me!)

Picture found here.

The post Happy St Paddy’s Day appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

2015 is going to be an amazing year, I know it!

I hope you are ready for all the exciting adventures that lie waiting for you – I know I am.

Do you always make a list of resolutions at this time of the year and do you stick to them? I am afraid I had given up on the whole idea of making “New Year’s Resolution” lists, they always seem to get forgotten about and by the end of the year I am just wrapped with guilt about not sticking to any of them.

Luckily my lovely friend Anne (from The Owl Studio) was quick to send me some much needed inspiration for a more reasonable resolution list. Thanks Anne for keeping me on track. I can definitely try to stick to most of these suggestions (especially the one about helping spiders escape).

The post New year’s resolutions for 2015 appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

The festive season is finally here. What does this mean to you? Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Are you going away for the holidays? Will you be celebrating with tons of food and lots of prezzies?

Time is ticking and having a nifty December Calendar may help you organise your days during this crazy time of the year. Download your December Wallpaper Calendar now and start planning.

Select and download the option that works best for you:
Laptop – 1440 x 900px
HD Desktop – 1980 x 1080px
iPad/tablet – 1024 x 768px

The post DECEMBER WALLPAPER CALENDAR – DOWNLOAD NOW appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

This year has been an exciting one for me, full of unsettling change resulting in so much to think about.
Have you started a new journey this year? Have you embarked on big changes? If not, why not? Now is your chance to embrace change and get going in the direction you are meant to be going in.

These wise words where beautifully penned by Jennifer Wick

The post Wise Words to start your week with appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

As the end of the year approaches, work is getting more and more hectic and the days are all blurring into one another.

Don’t get me wrong – I love being busy – busy is good. The trick is finding balance. How do you manage to find time for all the things you want to or need to do? Sometimes I battle to find the “even keel”. There just doesn’t seem to be time in one day to do all the things I need to. Then to top to top it all, we are in the process of having our house painted, so my concentration is split between my work and keeping a beady eye on a bunch of guys swinging off of ladders – not ideal.

Oh well – this week is going to be crazy and I suppose the best way to get through it is task by task, step by step. As my Mum would say: make a list! So with pen in hand and my diary open in front of me, I am going to embrace this week and kick it’s butt!

How do you tackle being pulled in a hundred different directions? What is your magic pill? Or do you just blindly rush in and get it done. I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

(Todays wise words where illustrated by Mary Kate McDevitt and can be found here)

The post Wise words to start your week with appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

Last week I had the good fortune to be invited to attend a #CuppaForCANSA high tea at the luxurious Table Bay Hotel in the Waterfront. This delightful afternoon was hosted by Le Creuset and the lovely Vicki from Iwantthat and the afternoon promised to be a real treat.

Given it’s luxurious reputation The Table Bay’s new High Tea menu did not disappoint. We were plied with teeny tiny sandwiches, posh sausage rolls, mini salmon quiches and gorgeous wraps and that was just the first course.

After that we tucked into warm scones served with dollops of thick jam and lemon curd and washed down with pots of hot tea.

Then to finish it all off we were set loose on the cake table (sadly I did not manage to take a decent photo of this marvel). The enormous pastry display was crammed with all kinds of delicious goodies, to be honest I had no idea where to start. There where every kind of cake you can imagine. There was even a multicolored cheesecake – truly the silliest cake I had ever seen!

As you may remember, Nadine was selected as my “Cake Date” for the afternoon and we had the best fun hanging out together, Turns out we have a lot of friends in common and spent a lot of the afternoon catching up on who’s who and what’s what. I couldn’t have wished for a better High Tea buddy. Thanks Nadine for putting up with my non-stop chit chat and sitting with me while my sugar rush passed! You are dynamite!

After stuffing our faces with kilograms of carbs, there was a sneaky little raffle draw (in aid of CANSA) and much to my surprise I was drawn as a prize winner, scoring, for myself, a very pretty pink Le Creuset stove top kettle. How exciting! Now Alexis and I have his and hers kettles (as we already have a baby blue kettle).

Then to top it all each guest was given a divine little party pack, filled with loads of gorgeous goodies, including the prettiest heart shaped ramekins and a perfect pink cappuccino mug (from Le Creuset) as well as the pretty pink nail polish. What a treat!

What a fantastic afternoon, I went home so happy, my belly was bulging with sweet treats and my heart was bursting with sweet love from new friends. What a delight!

Thanks Vicki for organizing a truly amazing afternoon and thank you Le Creuset for the gorgeous gifts.

The post #CuppaforCansa High Tea appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

WOW – November is here, which means Christmas is just round the corner. Are you ready for the silly season?
To help you count down the days, here is a pretty November Desktop Calendar for you to download – enjoy!

Select and download the option that works best for you:
Laptop – 1440 x 900px
HD Desktop – 1980 x 1080px
iPad/tablet – 1024 x 768px

The post November Wallpaper Calendar – Download Now appeared first on Pretty Pretty.

WOW – Monday is nearly over. Did you also hit the ground running today? Is your week also filled with all kinds of cool and crazy business?

Here are a few highlights from my week’s to-do list (I am hoping that putting them down in a Blog post will help me to commit to actually doing them all):
1 – Finish off and package my latest order of Wild Beastie Wedding Lapel Pins
2 – Get cracking on an exciting new Blog Makeover client who’s portfolio I am helping to revamp (cant wait to share more about that)
3 – Scout for shops in which I could potentially sell my Kitties in (for some reason I am quite nervous about this one as I am totally self conscious when it comes to selling my crafted goodies… silly I know!)
4 – Attend WordCamp
5 – Attend #CuppaForCANSA High Tea at the Table Bay Hotel – super excited about this one!
6 – Attend this month’s Creative Mornings talk given by Ian Dommisse
7 – Do my tax (EEK!)

So, all in all a jam packed week. Hopefully this gorgeous poster, created for Etshy by Melissa Deckert, will give me (and you) the encouragement needed to see it through and “break new ground”.

See more of Melissa’s work here

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