2012- What a Year it has been! We moved into our New Home on 1st January 2012 and I also got  a new job that month too, but to add to all of that, we were also arranging our wedding for February. We had our wedding on 25th February and thank goodness it didn't rain. I am blessed to have found such a wonderful husband. We did a lot of decorating in our new home and I enjoyed my afternoons on the farm- helping with the calves and getting lots of fresh air. We booked our honeymoon for September and had a great time. We even got a tan (I call it a tan,  but to most others it is probably just a lot of freckles). I wrote a review for the Irish Country Living Magazine which appeared in their Autumn edition. IKEA also asked me to take some photos of my new home to feature in their House Call Feature (they haven't used them yet which I'm thinking means that the photos aren't good enough quality). My blog got shortlisted for the Irish Blog Award which was really exciting too. I got lots of inspiration online this year and am really enjoying using pinterest! To all of my friends, followers and those who visit my blog, twitter or pinterest, thank you all so much, I really hope that my blog sprinkles some happiness into your life. . .

From top left: 1. We moved into our new home- our cottage in the country. 2. We got married, pictured above in the hotel. 3. Some daffodils I picked and put in our home, 4. Our kitchen is fully completed. 5. A trip to the seaside to my parents holiday home. 6. We booked our honeymoon to Madeira. 7. Some lovely hydrangeas my mother picked for me, 8. Long walks along the lake shore. 9. Honeymoon in Madeira. 10. Some more wedding memories. 11. A trip to the Market. 12. A view of Funchal from our hotel suite. 13. Some more flowers in my sunroom. 14. Another trip to the west coast of Ireland. 15. My spare bedroom, 16. Our Wedding Day

To each and every one of you, hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all peace and happiness.   

 

Wonderful Christmas Chalkboard Art from Lily and Val

 

If you haven't already picked up Mollie Makes Magazine- you will have to put it on your shopping list for over the Christmas! It is full of so much inspiration but on top of all that you get this beautiful 12 months of Inspiration from Selina Lake in the form of a 2013 Calendar- the images are so beautiful and cheerful, it would look wonderful anywhere in the home.... Feast your eyes on the lovely images below...

Selina Lake Inspiration from Mollie Makes

I got my Christmas holidays Friday, so it's now time to really get into the Christmas spirit. I met with friends yesterday for a nice meal.It was good to catch up. I hope to finish decorating my home tomorrow.  I waited this long as I want fresh Holly, Ivy and festive shrubby which I will get on the farm.  I took some inspiration from pinterest today and wrote on my chalkboard, I decided to put it on an old vintage ladder I was using to decorate my tree. What do you think? I need to add real Holly and Ivy to it in the morning. I will give you an update photo then.

Spotty cushion covers €8.00 each from Heatons. They are really cute with white lace edging on them.

Fluffy hearts and Christmas tree decorations from IKEA.

 

Our Christmas tree is massive this year, it doesn't look that big in this picture, but it over 10 foot tall. My husband got it in the forest near by. I still have some decorations and red bows to add to it. I have added the red and white spotty cushions I bought in Heatons at the weekend. Sorry the quality of the images are bad.

 This weekend I will finish off all my decorating. This is our first year in our new home so I am still buying new deocorations.

 

 Do you enjoy Kirstie's Homemade Home, Homemade Christmas and Vintage Home, they are full of homemade crafty inspiration which I love.

For those of you who haven't heard of her, you should visit her website. She also has a few books too. She loves all things vintage, craft and homemade :)  

 

 

I went to IKEA last week and bought these pretty Rosali bed clothes for our bedrrom, the looks like CK but for half the price :) I thought they might be a bit hard but they are so warm and cosy- I love them :)

 

 

 

I am off work today and I am daydreaming again, longing for some Summer sunshine too.

The images above were taken on our holiday in September.

Last Sunday I had a lovely day out with my husband, he treated me to dinner out and we also went to a local Christmas Craft Fair. I bought a few things but couldn't leave this Amy Butler fabric handmade bag behind- Isn't it beautiful? I love all things blue and this pattern really stands out. Do you like Amy Butler fabric? I love the patterns. Here are a few more Amy Butler patterns below....

My notice board for November, it changes each month.

 

Autumn display on my dining table

 

Some dried hydrangeas in my sunroom to brighten it up for the Autumn.

 

Autumn Display

 

Adding some hints of red with my wee ladies on the dresser

 

 

I am hoping to buy some Christmas decorations in the next few weeks as I have none yet. We will get a large Christmas Tree from the forest over from our house. I hope to put it in the Sunroom as the ceiling is high, which means I can get a big one :)

November is well and truly here now, the days are getting much shorter and starting to get colder as the weeks pass. Do you like November? The beuatiful colours of the leaves layered like a golden carpet on our rolling country landscape, the dark evenings closing in on us all too suddenly, the sense of warmth in our homes at the fire with a big hot mug of tea- Yes in ways it is really nice, a secure sense of warmth in our homes and time for our families and friends to come visit us prior to the Christmas rush. Here are a few images of my walk around the farm, you can notice the darkness setting in.

I have had a touch of writer's block lately and haven't posted very much on my wee blog. Above are a few new items around my home. The owl has taken residence in my sunroom while the bird house is on my kitchen dresser. It is that time of year when we are spending more and more time indoors, the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting much colder. I am looking forward to Christmas this year as it will be our first Christmas in our new home and our first Christmas married. I need to buy Christmas decorations too which I am looking forward too.

The evenings are getting shorter but I still try to get out for an evening walk. Above are some images from my walk around the farm. The colours of Autumn are so beautiful. Unfortunately you cannot see much colour in these photographs as it was getting dark. I'm off work for a few days so will be relaxing and enjoying our long weekend here in Ireland.

As most of you may not be aware, my background is in urban and regional development, I have also worked in heritage related posts and in rural development. I am a qualified planner and did some teaching too. I am also a farmers wife, may I add. So today I would like to introduce to you, The Urban Nexus Initiative. This initiative was initiated by two of my  friends whom I met when we pursued a Masters Degree in University College Dublin. While we have gone our own ways career wise since, we are still in contact and enjoy meeting up every so often.

For those of you who are not from Ireland or are not aware of the Initiative, it is a design and research based programme developed in 2010. It's main aim is to explore cities using alternative techniques and methods in order to inspire creativity and originality in the city design. It is all about more holistic approaches to how the urban realm is designed in the modern day city.

In order to put this into practice, they have developed the XXI Century Liffey Project (The Liffey being the main river which flows through Dublin City). This is an urban design project to re-vision and re-imagine the Liffey Quays for the XXI Century. It is basically about the River Liffey and its quays- an iconic space in Dublin City, but a space that seems to have been left behind. Through the project they aim to re-imagine the role the quays play in the XXI Century Dublin by considering design as the vital element in the creation of dynamic and interconnected spaces. They have began to stimulate discussions and debates through various methods including a number of exhibitions, lunch time talks and seminars prior to any proposed plans for the area. Ultimately they hope to initiate new ways of thinking which can be applied to the wider urban areas of Dublin and other cities alike.

{All images from Urban Nexus Initiative}

Source: allthingsnice4life.blogspot.ie via All on Pinterest

Here is an image of my new home... hopefully we will get the outside completed within the next year. Do you have an image of your home?

I have joined pinterest and haven't had much time to get around to blogging as well these days. If you would like to visit my pinterest page, please pop over http://pinterest.com/4allthingsnice/ and become a follower. I would love to see all your boards and pins too so share your pinterest boards with us. There is such much inspiration on pinterest- I love it!

I posted a few weeks back about my magazine reviews. My review featured in Irish Country Magazine which I was very proud of. For those of you that are not familiar with this magazine, Irish Country Magazine is bursting with fashion, beauty and lifestyle tips, features on inspiring rural women, makeovers with women who love farming and fashion, health, beauty and wellbeing. It's got interiors inspiration, gardening pages and how to grow your own vegetables. My next magazine feature will be on IKEA's online magazine for Ireland which will feature my new home, they contacted me through my blog :)

 

 

  

 

These doors are all so unique, I took the photographs while on holidays in Madeira. They are really interesting, located in the Old Town of Funchal.