Wednesday at my house

Today has been quiet

Nicholas left to go to camp this morning for 3 days and I miss him already 

It's always nice for hubby and I to have some time alone but this time I am particularly missing my big boy (must be all those extra hormones racing around)

I am sure he will have a great time away and I did offer to go as a parent helper, his response "Mum, I'd like some time on my own" Fair enough, I would just be continuously reminding him to wash his hands before he ate, make sure he had dry socks on etc..... being a typical mum :-)

There is not much new happening in our parts, I have new stock which I am slowly adding to the store and I currently have 20% off everything store wide, just use code FD20 when you checkout.

I have had people pop in to check out my goodies so I have started putting price tags on my store items to make them easily identifiable and because I can never remember how much something is when people ask.

I am also going to market in a few weeks time, so I figure pricing everything now is a good idea.

I have never been to market before so if you have any tips for me on running a stall etc I would love to hear them.

Hope you are all having a great week.

xx

Fathers Day Sale - all stock 20% off

 

Fathers day is not far at all 

and to help you all spoil your dad (or even yourself, I won't tell) I am offering 20% off all items in store.

Just use discount code

FD20

when you go through the checkout.

Don't forget shipping is $9.95 flat rate anywhere in Australia and all items are gift wrapped.

To start shopping just go to 

McCarthy Designs & Occasions 

online store.

Sale ends September 1st 2012

xx

Kaytee's Creations - Handmade Glassware

Good morning all

How was your weekend? 

Ours was lovely and quiet. 

 We had a wonderfully relaxing couple of days with not a lot 

happening at all. I need those occasionally.

 

This morning I am really excited to be introducing you all to 

a very talented lady who creates beautiful glassware.

Katrina is a a mother of 4. Who loves to create. A few years

ago she attended a one day glass fusing class with some

friends and has been hooked ever since.

Katrina loves to experiment with different colours, mediums 

and styles.

Her designs are called "Kaytee's Creations"

I have a small range available in store now. 

Each item is 

handmade and hand painted and they make a beautiful and 

unique gift or purchase for your home.

I love to be able to support Mum's who have their own small 

business and I hope you love Katrina's designs as much as I 

do.

The smaller designs are $19.95 each and the larger plates as well as the cheeseboard are available for $24.95 each.

You can find them all here.

Have a great week!

xx

Bargain Buys

Do you ever find that when you aren't looking for something, sometimes that's when you manage to score the best bargains.

Weeks ago I happened to be walking through Myer and spotted this fabulous handbag, originally $129 marked down to $80, better than that it was on a table with a sign that stated there was another 75% off the already reduced price. 

Hmmmmm $20, done. I can always use a new handbag.

However I was pleasantly surprised when the lovely lady at the checkout gave it to me for $5 explaining that the remaining items were about to be reduced again so I could have it for that price. 

Yay!!!!

Then today after my doctors appointment (everything is going really well so far with the pregnancy so far, so thanks again for all of your prayers and support) I ducked into Kmart to buy a gel cover for hubby's bike seat. He has started riding again and it is proving to be a little uncomfortable, given I can't join him on the rides I thought I would try and make it a little better for him.

Anyway as I was about to leave I decided to check if they had anything nice in their maternity range, unfortunately not but on my way I spotted another bargain - a 3 pack of underwear for $1, stop, go back grab 5 packs, 15 pairs for $5. Maybe I don't need that many pairs of new underwear but I won't need to buy any for quite a while!

I also managed to get 3 new bras for $3 each, wow... bargains galore!

If you need new underwear and you have a Kmart near by it might be worth your while to pop in and see what you can find! 

I didn't look at anything else but Michelle mentioned that she picked up some cushions for $3 each and a few other goodies at great prices too. 

Have you stumbled across any great bargains lately?

xx

My House

I've been swapping things around again, it is always so much fun and it means I can display all of the new goodies from my store :-)

Remember this corner here, 

well it isn't like that any more 

but before I move on and show you the new display, 

a few lovely ladies commented on this tray and glass cover last time I showed you pictures and I am pleased to say that I was able to get a few in to sell and they are available now in store here for $49.95

This is my corner now

This gorgeous three head metal candle holder is available in store here for $69.95

 I love the finish on it

This urn is also available in store here for $54.95

I can think of so many uses for it, roll up your hand towels and display them in the urn, create a gorgeous floral display, I think it will look fabulous at Christmas full of pretty baubles too

This plate is just perfect for serving cakes or cookies, display your favourite jewellery in the bedroom or pile up some pretty soaps in the bathroom

You can buy it in store here for $19.95

I hope you like the new items I have available.

Is anyone else thinking Christmas yet or is it just me?

I am really looking forward to it this year & am hoping (but not promising) to have a VIP night at my house for

McCarthy Designs & Occasions 

to launch my Christmas stock.

xx

Our weekend - Nick's birthday

It was my wonderful husband's birthday on Saturday and I feel like we spent most of the weekend celebrating by eating way too much!

My mother took us out for lunch on Saturday to all you can eat chinese, yum but too easy too eat way too much

Then back to our house for tea and cake. 

Nick requested that I make the carrot cake from the September Better Homes and Gardens magazine  

It turned out surprisingly well (I really struggle to bake cakes) and it was delicious too.

I also made some mud cupcakes just because mud cake is one of his favourites and I like to spoil him and I may have been having a craving for chocolate when I decided to make them :-)

After eating entirely way too much we sat around the table and played Taboo for a couple of hours and continued to graze on all the other naughty things like pods, M & M's, fantales, chocolate biscuits etc 

Despite the chocolate overdose we had a great time. 

We should play board games more often, I laughed so hard I cried!

Even though no one was hungry I forced them all to eat again as Nick had requested the slow cooked Pork Belly in Asian sauce also in September's Better Homes and Garden's magazine.

It had been cooking since 10 that morning and it was fantastic too. I wasn't sure about it when I was making it as the sauce had a few things that made my stomach turn as I added them but once it was all done I really enjoyed it. I can highly recommend it.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it before we ate it all up, sorry

It looked a bit like this but I served it with mash potato instead of rice as well as broccoli (from our garden) and bok choy in oyster sauce.

I can't find links to any of the recipes on line but if you're interested let me know and I can scan them and email you a copy.

Hopefully this week I will get back to some sort of routine with my blogging, but no promises ;-)

Hope you have a fabulous week ahead

xx

Our weekend

Thank you for all of your messages on our good news last week.

I am continuously amazed at the generosity and support of the blogging community and it makes me so happy that I started my little blog and joined in.

After the big announcement on Friday I unintentionally stayed away from the laptop nearly all weekend. 

I did see emails coming through on my phone though :-)

We managed to get outside and get some more work done while the sun was shining.

We have had this horrible spot in our yard that has been waiting for a solution for years now. Yes we are still renovating almost 4 years on, it seems we just keep finding more to do.

Anyways....  this slope has been a big eye sore, we wanted to keep the slope to allow easier access to the back of the yard for garbage bins and wheelbarrows etc but nothing grows except weeds. 

 

We finally decided to concrete the path and finish it to match our crushed limestone courtyard. 

Nick was very inventive and poured the concrete then levelled and then added crushed limestone to the top and patted it in. I think it turned out really well and because the stone is set in the concrete it won't roll down the hill or end up anywhere it shouldn't. 

I went out more for moral support rather than any usefulness to Nick but I did manage to weed the veggie garden and mulch it. 

I have been so slack over the last few months that the garden was a bit of a mess. It is quite amazing that we have some veggies growing. 

I don't really know what I am doing in the garden but I am working on it 

We often find things growing that we haven't planted and usually they are weeds but sometimes they're not. If in doubt I let it grow for a bit to see what happens.

We had a very productive day, the path is finished but I didn't take a photo of the finished path because it was dark. Once spring comes around and the backyard looks prettier I will have to take some updated photos. 

There are a few projects I haven't really shared properly that I would like to.

One is our pizza oven, we love it. I love it the most I think. Nick cooks in the pizza oven which means I get the night off and there is no oven to clean,  yay!

Here he is getting it all ready for our roast chicken dinner on Saturday. Yum!!

We have chicken and chips most Saturday nights and cooking the chicken in the fire outside is quicker and it has a fantastic smoked flavour.

I am really looking forward to the weather warming up and getting outside a bit more. How about 

you?

xx

Celebrating

Yesterday marked 4 months since my online store opened! Yay!!

I have really loved being my own boss and I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to do what I enjoy

I have not had to push sales in my store nor have I had to get out and chase business for the styling side and I am so grateful that I haven't had the pressure to make money. Thanks to my wonderful husband and to the Bank for thoughtfully providing me with a redundancy :-)

It has meant that the last month and a half while I have lacked motivation and felt pretty miserable with morning sickness I have been able to relax, rest and put my feet up with no pressure to perform.

Yep, we are double celebrating 4 months for McCarthy Designs & Occasions and on Monday we head into our 4th month of pregnancy.

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that we have been trying to expand our family for the last two years and unfortunately we suffered 3 miscarriages through the first 13 months. It has been a tough journey but perhaps the hardest was losing our bub at 19 weeks. You can read more about that here.

So while we have passed one milestone and have made it through our first trimester we still have a ways to go, however we are thrilled to be here and we are trusting in the Lord through it all.

So to celebrate I have chosen 4 of my favourite items from my store and I have reduced them by 40%

Yep, a huge 40% off but only for 4 days or until sold

I love this wine cooler, it is a lovely solid piece and can hold 6 bottles of wine or sparkling easily. 

It would also make a great Father's Day gift!

Was $195

Now $117

These stylish horse head bookends

Were $99

Now $59.50

This gorgeous Fleur de Lys Trainer/Candle holder

Was $80.85

Now $48.50

and finally I love these raw linen cushions,

 perfect to use outdoors or extra seating on the floor

Were $54.95

Now $33

All four of my favourites will be on sale until midnight 

Monday 6th August 2012

or until sold

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend

xx

Blessing Others - Compassion Australia

If you missed my initial 'Blessing Others' post you can read about it here.

In July we were blessing UCB Australia Australia you can read more about it here.

For August 10% of all sales (or minimum $100) will go to Compassion.

We have supported Compassion Australia for a few years now via sponsor children. We try and write to them on a regular basis and we chose a sponsor child for Nicholas who has the same birth date as him so that he can write to him and have similar things in common to share. It is a great way for us to teach our son that his life is blessed and that there are so many others in the world who aren't so fortunate.

Here is some information on Compassion from their website:

Compassion is an international Christian child development and child advocacy ministry committed to working in partnership with local churches around the world to foster the spiritual, economic, social, physical and emotional development of children living in extreme poverty in over 26 developing countries.

Compassion works with the individual child from the womb to university to address their economic, social, physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Compassion partners with the local church to implement our holistic child development programs:

• Child Survival Program
• Child Sponsorship Program
• Leadership Development Program
• Complementary Interventions

Compassion’s Holistic Child Development Model reflects our long-term commitment to the life of each individual child. Our programs strive to meet not only a child’s physical needs, but also their spiritual, economic, social and emotional needs as well. Our holistic approach extends to all areas of our programs, giving children the resources to survive, thrive and learn, the opportunity to hear the Gospel, and the love, care and attention they need to grow into fulfilled and independent adults.

If you would like to read more about compassion 

or if you have been thinking about sponsoring a child 

you can find out more here

xx

PS. Today my online store has been opened 4 months, yay!!! Come back tomorrow I am going to have some super specials on some of my favourite items in my store, I'll announce these tomorrow along with some exciting news.