Happy Australia Day

I love this land Down Under!

8 years ago today I officially became an Australian.

8 years ago this week, I saw the most amazing coral reef, my love for the Whitsundays and for Australia was cemented. 

The Heart Reef is a naturally formed coral reef in the shape of a heart, discovered in 1975. It sits in the middle of the vast Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. No wonder it rendered Oprah speechless when she flew over it recently. It is truely magical and it's on my very own door step - what a lucky country.


Happy Australia Day everyone.


Happy Island Styling!

Oceania Island Living: Goddess Jewels

Oceania Island Living: Goddess Jewels: "Island jewellery fit for any sun goddess is simple in form, but beautiful in aesthetics. This cuff from Heidi Klein has the most won..."

Goddess Jewels

Island jewellery fit for any sun goddess is simple in form, but beautiful in aesthetics.

This cuff from Heidi Klein has the most wonderful

brushed gold finish. Not really a gold girl,

but loving the soft opaqueness of this piece

Loving the individual coral like pieces

on this necklace from Dinosaur Designs

Simple bangles evoke textures of the beach

image Dinosaur Designs

Shells suspended in sea bubbles

image Dinosaur Designs

image Dinosaur Designs

This necklace looks amazing with aqua
image elk

I love the naturalness of this 
image elk

So cute
image Dinosaur Designs

The ultimate island girls jewel

Black pearls are found in the South Pacific

and they are amazingly beautiful

Happy Island Styling!

Oceania Island Living has been awarded

How awesome to find Oceania Island Living has been awarded a Stylish Blogger Award, especially after such a long day yesterday (first day in new office after transfer, heading up design for one of Australia's most respected builders)!

So a big thank you to the lovely Shelley at http://calypsointhecountry.blogspot.com/ for the award and making my day special. 

In honour of this award I've been asked to reveal a little bit about myself and vote my top ten blog-tastic sites, so here goes:

1. My all time number 1 island paradise is The Cook Islands. I've travelled the South Pacific and have absolutely fallen in love with it - true picture book paradise.

image Fiji Tourism

2. I love food and I love to cook. At the moment I'm in love with Caribbean and Spanish cuisines. I've also been trialing Native Australian & New Zealand foods here and adore using Lemon Myrtle and Wattle Seeds.

image Fiji Tourism

3. I get nostalgic in winter time in Oz for my homeland - England. Don't ask me why but even after 10 years in Oz I still miss elements of England. So in these moments a make a good cup of tea (in a china cup) and indulge in a hobnob or 2.

image Etsy.com

4. Aussie beaches rock! I'm not talking about the usual tourist haunts. I'm talking about the absolute beauty of those almost untouched beaches, too many to name but you're never far away from one living as the Aussies do - a nation of coastal dwellers.

5. When I'm not painting or drawing I'm crafting! My toolbox is an ever expanding visual feast of opportunity. When I get some spare time I delve in. It's the experimentation and creating of something that's unique, beautiful, functional or just all out gorgeous. Also adore Spotlight (hardware for girls!)

image marthastewart.com

6. I've fallen in love with Island music. Well the BBC documentary soundtrack to South Pacific composed by David Mitcham - truly magnificent.

7. Lastly I'm a bit of a Magpie. Can't help but be attracted to beautiful things. I collect vintage pottery, beautiful vintage dresses from America and tropical shells because well, they are so amazing.

So here are my top ten sites, I'm going to cheat here because some are websites as opposed to blog sites, but they are all so inspiring and lovely, well worth a visit:

http://www.escapetoparadise.com.au/

http://www.islandcollections.blogspot.com/

http://www.completely-coastal.com/ 

http://www.blog.kellyhoppeninteractive.com/

http://www.etsy.com/

http://www.citified.blogspot.com/ (This is glamorous)

http://www.beachvintage.blogspot.com/

http://www.sequinsandsand.com.au/

http://www.beachandbeyond.com.au/

http://www.marthastewart.com/

Happy Island Styling!

Island Ocean Offerings

During a hot, humid and rather wet afternoon in the Queensland tropics there's nothing more relaxing than putting paint to canvas and creating a little treasure to add to the collection. I've always loved painting & drawing, but with a young family in tow I have to grab these moments with both hands.

I have a lovely collection of similar paintings and sketches, let me know what you think of them. Maybe I can pair them up with some beautiful frames I have in storage and give you the opportunity to purchase a little Oceania Island Treasure?

These are still works in progress, but its a good sneak peek

into my artistic endeavours.

And here's the inspiration.

 Two large boxes of the most wonderful Ocean offerings

I received for Christmas

Happy Island Styling!





Island Style Weddings

In January 2003 I had my very own Island Style wedding. It was magical. After a year of searching for all the right suppliers and making sure all the details were taken care of, the day went so smoothly that it was all a bit of a dream.

My wedding was on the beautiful Shelley beach, Manly. The council planted an avenue of Palm trees just a month before, so I couldn't ask for a better venue. After the wedding ceremony the whole beach (full of sunbathers) clapped and cheered - what an audience! So with experienced hands here's a few gorgeous ideas  - who doesn't love a good Island Style Wedding.

image pacific weddings magazine

The romantic way to stay cool
image pinkfrosting.com.au

image pacific weddings magazine

Just the cutest. Although you can't go past the frangipani, gardenia or orchid.

image marthastewart.com

When it's hot, these are a lifesaver.

image pinkfrosting.com.au

image marthastewart.com

The perfect honeymoon clutch
image escapetoparadise.com.au

 image pacific weddings magazine

This is a gorgeous box perfect for

island wedding keep sakes

image islandcollections.com.au

What a magnificent cake.
image pacific weddings magazine

For extra sparkle add silver sequins to the ice.

 image islandcollections.com.au

Island weddings can never have too many candles.

image islandcollections.com.au


Happy Anniversary Rich x

Happy Island Styling!

Island Beauty Secrets

image pinkpearls.com.au

Island Beauty is found in nature's harvest. Here are a few of my favourites.

For thousands of years the Polynesians have used Coconut as their number one beauty treatment and having used it myself it's easy to see why. Not only does it make your skin silky smooth but the natural aroma of coconut is extremely soothing, leaving you stress free - that to me is the ultimate spa treatment.
image from nuicoconut.com



This is another Aussie secret.

Paw paw is magical if makes a great lip balm and is fantatsic on sunburn.
image lucaspawpaw.com.au

Aloe Vera is another great healer. Every garden should have one of these amazing plants. Snap off a small leaf near the bottom of the plant, break open the chunky leaf and apply the gel to sunburn or insect bites.
image from aloelife.com.au

The tahition gardenia has the most amazing fragrance
image pinkpearls.com.au

image pinkpearls.com.au

Happy Island Styling!