:: And the winner is ... ::

A big thank you to everyone who entered my Christmas giveaway! Ladies (and gentlemen?) we have our winners!

The winner of this adorable spotty make up bag/pencil case and goodies is Gracie from GracieBellaButterfly!

The winner of the cute tartan make up bag/pencil case is Chloe from Chloe in Reality!

Congratulations ladies! I'll be sending you an email shortly to get your postal addresses.

Thank you all for your generous comments on my wedding invitations. I'm glad you all like them as much as we do! We are currently working on our Orders of Service and a survey for our guests to fill out about us!

:: Wedding Inspiration - Vintage Books ::

I love books. The love the smell of them. I love the feel of them. One day I hope to have a library in our house with floor to ceiling books. Luckily, I am marrying someone who also loves book - old books in particular.

So, what do old books and our wedding have in common? I've been so excited to share this with you, but I had to wait! Now I can finally show you our vintage book invitations!

Time was running out on our invitations and we still hadn't settled on a style we liked. We both love simple, clean looking things and we both love old books. It was actually my younger sister who came up with the idea to join the two together and create a fantastic book themed wedding invitation!

They have been a hit with our guests and we couldn't be happier with them!

Who doesn't love a brown paper package tied up with string?

The countdown is officially on now - 24 days 'til we get married!

PS. Don't forget to enter my Christmas giveaway!

:: And so this is Christmas ... ::

So, I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Christmas has crept up on us quite quickly once again! Mr LG and I put up our Christmas tree a few weekends ago and I think it's quite cute. We chose red as our accent colour this year, but we plan to change the accent colour every few years. This weekend we will start wrapping our presents! I can't believe that in two weeks time Christmas will be here!

To celebrate Christmas I have decided to have another giveaway. This time there are two prizes up for grabs!

Giveaway number one is a cute spotty make up bag/pencil case, some gel pens, an assortment of sticker seals, a pearl and glass bead bracelet and a shimmery lip shine!

Giveaway number two is a cute tartan make up bag/pencil case, a little notebook, an oversized paper clip, an eraser, some lip shine and some hand repair creme.

Here are the rules as to how you could win one of these prizes:

♥ The give away will end Friday 17th of December

♥ The give away is open internationally

♥ I will be selecting the winner using a random number generator

Mandatory Entry:

♥ Follow my blog and leave me a comment containing your email address and tell me what your favourite part about Christmas is.

Optional Entry:
♥ Blog about this give away and leave me a separate comment with the link.

To top it off, each prize will also contain a little surprise from Gracie's adorable etsy shop!

Good luck!

PS. Isn't my Mum's Christmas tree to die for?

:: Wedding Inspiration - Engagement Photos ::

Just in case you're not totally over me talking about wedding information, I can finally share with you some of our engagement photos! Mr LG and I woke up early and headed to the Storey Bridge, which is across from Brisbane City. We bought Mr LG's vintage bike with us, as well as my vintage inspired bike. Our photographer was the incredibly talented Troy Hansen.

This shot was taken while we were on our way under the bridge, so some action shots could be taken of us riding along it.

While I don't like having my photo taken, I do like this photo. My dress is dark blue with tiny white love heart polka 'dots' on it. Seriously cute dress.

In the end, this is the photo we decided on. I love Mr LG's old bike in the corner. The only touch ups I insisted on were to remove my underwear lines! I love the slightly vintage feel of this photo.

If you could have a photo shoot, what kind of feel/look would you go for?

It is my Hens weekend this weekend. We are planning on enjoying pedicures/massages, dessert for dinner, Harry Potter and a photo-based scavenger hunt! I can't wait to share it with you.

I hope your weekend is fabulous!

:: Wedding Inspiration - Kitchen Tea ::

Thank you for all your lovely comments about my Kitchen Tea invitations. That chandelier stamp was the best $16 I've spent in a while! I think a lot of things will be stamped with it in the next few months - pen pals, you have been warned.

I have finally uploaded my Kitchen Tea photos, so you can see a few snippets of the day. I had so much fun and I'm so glad I decided to do something different and went with a Parisian theme.

I am in love with the pink and white 'poufs' my sister created out of tissue paper. Thank you Martha Stewart for providing such adorable (and simple) decoration ideas!

The pink coconut macaroons were to die for. I gave myself a sugar headache because I ate so many! They were such a vibrant pink colour inside, I wish I'd taken a picture to show you!

Note the Earl Grey Lavender tea my Mum put in the box as a little joke.

Our toilet paper brides and flowergirl!

The gorgeous toilet paper flower girl. This is my next-door-neighbour's second daughter. She is adorable.

One of the very few photos taken of me on the day. I don't like having my photo taken.

I'm still working on my thank you notes. I'm not working any more than I usually do, and yet somehow I don't have enough hours in the day to do what I need to do! Christmas, New Years, my birthday and the wedding are only a few weeks away!

Speaking of Christmas, check back soon for a Christmas giveaway!

:: Wedding Inspiration - Kitchen Tea Invitations ::

Well, my Kitchen Tea was a success! We ate far too much delicious food, played some fun and slightly ridiculous games, and had an overall good time.

A few months ago I was perusing wedding blogs when I came across a Parisian themed Kitchen Tea. I sent the link to my sisters/bridesmaids and said, "Wouldn't this be fun?" And within about 5 minutes from sending out the link we had decided that I should have a Parisian themed Kitchen Tea! Ideas came thick and fast - generally in the form of pictures sneakily Googled while we were meant to be working - have I mentioned that at the time I worked on the same floor as my sister and sister-in-law? I also work in the same team as my brother. We work for a large company, so it's kind of funny we all ended up working there!

I digress ...

Anyway! We decided on a black, white and pale pink theme complete with chandelier-themed invitations. I decided to have my Kitchen Tea at my Dad's art gallery (tres chic!) and purchased the most adorable pale pink dress with black velvet polka dots and a black ribbon belt.

It was fun to do something slightly different for my Kitchen Tea. I am normally surrounded by green (by my own choosing, of course) so it was fun to buy pink items for a change. I am about to start the Thank You cards because you can bet that if I leave it too long I'll find every reason under the sun to procrastinate!

Stay tuned for more photos to come!

:: Wedding Inspiration - Envelope Seals ::

I have always loved the elegance of wax seals. When I was 8 my cousin was given one for Christmas and ever since then I've wanted one for myself. Our wedding invitations are going out next week and what better way to add a touch of class to the invitations than with a wax seal?

We decided to cheat and save a little time by purchasing some amazing 'peel seals' online. All the hard work is done for you and all you need to do is peel the sticking backing off and stick them like a sticker! I will definitely get more made for my everyday snail mail adventures.

I can't believe it's 7 weeks until I get married! Time is really flying now! We're getting down to the last minute details. I'm trying to take time to enjoy it all and am refusing to let myself get stressed.

I find drinking tea helps calm me down, do you have any other tricks? I'd like to try yoga, but all the times at places near me are either during work or ridiculously late at night!

My Kitchen Tea is tomorrow and I can't wait to share some fantastic photos with you!

:: Finders Keepers Markets ::

This past Saturday I went to the Finders Keepers Markets with my friend, Halie. Oh my, it was wonderful! I love markets in general, but these ones in particular were fabulous. I restrained myself and only purchased a few things (even though I was desperate to break the bank!). They were held at The Old Museum which a beautiful old building that was once a museum and is now home of the Queensland Youth Orchestra, a rhythmic gymnastic club and a few other performing art groups.

I arrived at the markets just before opening time and was able to browse stores with ease as only a few people were there. Within the hour it was packed!

I love the blue, cream and tan decorations hung up around the three rooms. They added a really quaint feel to the markets.

I only took these two photos of actual stalls, because I wasn't sure if I was allowed. Does anyone know photography etiquette when it comes to photographing market stalls?

I was very restrained in my purchases. There was so much I could've bought, but managed to keep myself in check. Here is what I did buy.

This pack of sweet little cards from the Frankie stall.

This adorable scratchie card from a stall selling for multiple people, so I can't remember who made this one. Under the scratchie silver stuff it says 'Nt ll f the keys wrk but I'm gld this ne des xxxxxxx'. Cute, right?

This colourful card is from Able & Game. I love it's bright candy colours and cute print.

These lovelies are from Bespoke Letterpress Boutique. I may or may not be a little letterpress obsessed at the moment.

What did you get up to this weekend? Mr LG and I also put our Christmas tree up. Along with letterpress, I'm also obsessed with Christmas!

:: Award ::

In the past few weeks I have been gifted two awards from some lovely ladies. Thank you all so much! Here is the first award.

This award was given to me by Megan of Time After Tea. She is the author of a fantastic blog that I highly recommend! Gracie from Graciebellabutterfly also gave me this award. Gracie writes a ridiculously cute blog and you should really check it out if you haven't already. Thanks girls!

1. Why do you blog?

I love to write. Writing is my creative outlet. Ever since I was little I've had journals and notebooks lying around the place, and then when I discovered the Internet I quickly joined blogging sites like LiveJournal and now Blogger. This blog is my space to share all the things I love and enjoy with you.

2. Three best memories.

- When Mr LG proposed. We were eating lunch on our front deck and it was perfect. I never want to forget that moment and how I felt at that time.
- Meeting Hugo (my nephew) for the first time. It's incredible how much love you can have for someone when you've only just met them.
- Any time my whole family has come together to celebrate something or to simply hang out. I love my family more than I can express.

3. Four of the best fiction books you've read.

- 'Handle With Care' - Jodi Picoult
- 'My Sister's Keeper' - Jodi Picoult
- The Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (this counts as one book!)
- 'The Road' - Cormac McCarthy

4. Five best movies ever made.

- Atonement
- Donnie Darko
- The Notebook
- Seven Pounds
- Love Actually

5. Five things you can't live without.

- My family and friends.
- My life with Mr LG
- Smiles
- Photography
- Touch

6. If you could change your name, what would it be?

I've always loved my name. I don't know many other people called Jasmine, especially not with an 'e' on the end. I also love that my middle name is Holly AND that my future last name will be Lavender. Doesn't get any better than that!

7. Tell us a unique and interesting fact about yourself.

I'm an allergy kid. You name it, I'm probably allergic to it!

8. What do you love most about yourself?

I think it's my altruistic personality. My concern for the welfare of others helps me be a better person, I feel.

9. If you had a 'Freaky Friday' experience, who would you change places with?

I would like to trade places with my youngest sister. I admire how truly happy she is with her place in the world. Sometimes I forget how amazing this world we live in is, and I'd like the reminder that there's more to life than chasing temporary highs.

10. What is the best thing about being a woman?

I love that as a woman it's not frowned upon if I share my feelings and be emotional - I am allowed to laugh, cry, and get excited about the smallest of things and no one will judge me for it.

I pass this award on to:
Jamie of So Flawed
Chloe of Chloe in Reality
Allana of High Maintenance Hippy
Jess of the beat my heart skips

:: Wedding Inspiration - Wedding Rings ::

I don't know if I'm one of a few, or if every girl is just like me - but I have had my perfect engagement ring pictured in my head for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I knew what I wanted and didn't know it was part of a particular style or period (I just knew it was pretty!). I now know the style I love is from the art deco period. I am so in love with almost everything art deco-ish.

For a while I toyed with the idea that I may want a coloured engagement ring, or maybe three stones in a row, or even perhaps a larger stone with baguettes down the band ... and yes, I toyed with these ideas while I was still single. Hey, a girl can dream!

When Mr LG and I went to look at engagement rings I didn't even bother to try on the art deco style I loved, because I was so sure it wouldn't suit me. But, Mr LG picked a ring out that he loved and asked me to please try it on. It was exactly the style I had always wanted!

That ring became my engagement ring a few months later.

This is my amazing engagement ring! I am currently without it as it is at the ring makers having a wedding band matched to it. I am having a half-band of small diamonds to match the shoulders of my engagement ring and I can't wait 'til January when I can wear both and proudly let all my family and friends know how much I love and adore Mr LG.

Do you have a favourite style of jewellery you love to wear ... or dream to one day wear? Another jewellery item I love is necklaces. I own so many of them and if I am out, you will rarely see me without one.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

:: Pink and Green ::

A little while ago I participated in a Colours of the Rainbow swap hosted by the lovely Jess. It was such a fantastic swap - your partner was given your favourite colour and they sent you a package full of your favourite coloured goodies!

My partner was the gorgeous Allana of High Maintenance Hippy. Her favourite colour was pink. I had such a fun time putting together her package of all things pink!

 

 

 

 

 

I sent Allana a package full of stationery, a tea towel, decorations, a travel mug, a necklace, some musks and some ribbon. I also sent Allana's daughter a small package (the last photo). According to Allana, she was 'tickled pink' (ha ha!).

Speaking of corny jokes, you're going to be 'green with envy' when you see what Allana sent me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever seen so much green deliciousness in one package? Allana put together an amazing package full of stationery, a tea towel (I love that we both gave each other a tea towel!), two gorgeous hand-made crocheted bow brooches (so adorable!), recipe cards, a cute little magnet, and the broken little guy in the last photo. Unfortunately he didn't survive the trip to my mail box which is such a shame because he would've fit into my kitchen perfectly.

Thank you again Allana! And thank you Jess for organising this swap!

Today was a fantastic day. Mr LG and I had our engagement photo shoot! I can't wait to show you the photos once we get them. We had a lot of fun on our old bikes.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything exciting?