We had both of our families over on the weekend for Mother’s Day. Champagne, pie and good conversation – if only every Sunday afternoon could be so divine!

I’ve shared my recipe today over on Polka Dot Bride.

Product photo courtesy Andrea Smith

It’s a public holiday here but I had to pop in to share my latest guest post up on Houzz.

I’m going to a friend’s baby shower on the weekend and I’m giving her one of my framed art prints (er, spoiler alert, Cat!). With that in mind I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favourites by other artists, including the adorable one above by Andrea Smith.

See the full roundup over on Houzz.

Aussie and Kiwi readers, I hope you have a restful and reflective ANZAC Day. Everyone else, happy Thursday (or Wednesday as the case may be in your time zone) and I’ll see you tomorrow with a Mother’s Day gift guide.

This post may be a little late for my local friends but it’s perfect for our Northern Hemisphere counterparts!

Head over to Scoutie Girl to read the full post. I hope you like it!

I normally talk about my fave technology lifestyle tips on my Tooling Around column over on Scoutie Girl. But there is such a thing as too much. We’re now filling every spare or ‘wasted’ moment with checking our phones, updating our status and checking email.

Today, I’m challenging you (and myself) to not fill those empty moments. Simply relax and enjoy the breathing space it provides in your day.

Read the full post and let me know how you go!

This post was originally slated to appear as part of Janice’s series of three guest posts while I was overseas. Unfortunately, however, life happened and Janice fell ill so we were unable to schedule it as planned. It’s too good not to share, so here it is!

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Two of my favourite things about the internet: meeting lovely likeminded people and awesome creative tools like Pinterest. Today’s guest post combines the two, as my blog buddy Janice Bear shows us the real side of Pinterest-inspired projects with, uh, varying degrees of success. – Alicia

Hello again Atypical darlings! It has been a bit since we last talked, but I have one last pinned project to share with you before dear Alicia returns from summer vacation.

I turned my focus once again to my downstairs powder room. This time, instead of covering the walls with paint I covered the floor with rags. Sort of.

I recently read Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash, detailing the change in social mindset from “reuse” to “throw out,” and have since been dying to try my hand at a rag rug. I had previously pinned four different rag rug-esque tutorials so I let me Emily girl choose the final DIY.

Braided rag rug tutorial via Moda Bake Shop

I made some changes right off the bat. First, I didn’t buy any “honey buns” of quilting fabric. I’m sure my final rug would have looked a lot better if I had, but I just couldn’t find the sense buying something new when I had so many scraps lying about.  I’m not actually sure how long a jelly roll is, nor do I know how many strips of fabric one can get from a four-yard cut. Here’s what I do know. I used a total of 107.3 yards (96.5 meters) of 1.5-inch (3.81 cm) fabric strips. Some strips are from old t-shirts, the lightest grey is an acetate-based lining fabric, a fair bit comes from a curtain valance, and a pair of silk trousers made their way into my rug as well.

If I could do it all over again, I think I’d stick with the cotton jersey (t-shirt) scraps. They don’t fray and they make for much neater braids.

Here’s where I made another change. Instead of cutting all my strips, then braiding, then spiraling, I sort of did it all at once. Vanessa’s tutorial is really well done, but it left me in the dark when it came to corresponding braid length to rug circumference. I was going for an ombre effect and I didn’t want my color sections to be too wide or too narrow. In the end, I think my white section is much too wide (10in/25.4cm) and my darkest grey far too narrow (.25in/.63cm), but I’m going to blame that on the nature of crafting.

To make a long story short; I cut strips, I joined strips, I braided, I rolled, and I sewed. Repeat. I really recommend joining your fabric strips the way Vanessa demonstrates in her tutorial. Her way is so much better than just using a square knot.

Oh, I also had a lot of help.

And a fair amount of beta testing.

In the end, I had an acceptable rag rug. Not lovely, but acceptable.

But, of course, there was a problem. The rug, designed to math my (unfinished) bathroom, doesn’t work in the intended space. It is too big to fit in front of the toilet, and obstructs the door if laid in front of the vanity. I suppose it would work as a kitty mat, though… In all, I declare this pin plausible for all skill levels, and one that will improve with practice.

The End

It seems as though I just said “hello,” and I must already say goodbye. For now, anyway.  Thank you all for suffering my dribble for the past several weeks. I have very much enjoyed being here, but I will be delighted to soon be reading sweet Alicia’s posts once again. If, however, you miss me, feel free to stop by the blog or my many, many pinboards.

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About the guest poster:

Inspired by our trip, I thought I’d make this instalment of Tooling Around all about working while travelling. Although most of the tips apply to any kind of travel, whether you have a business or not.

Read the whole article here.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, however January is a great time to consider your plans and goals for the year, don’t you think?

With that in mind, my first Scoutie Girl post for the year is all about defining your goals (business or otherwise) and some tricks to help you find the time to achieve them.

You can read the post here.

My goals for 2013 you ask? This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are a couple of things:

• Edit our overseas photos and create an album (February)
• Launch the Atypical Type A redesign and shop (March)
• Finally renovate the bathroom (Easter break)
• Do something special to celebrate The Man’s and my ten years (!) together (August)
• Do up the porch and front garden (September)

Plus many, many plans I have for the business!

How about you? What’s on your agenda for 2013?

I hoped you’ve enjoyed the previous posts in this series with the cake topper and candles. Now it’s time to bring the whole look together with a few simple DIY touches and styling tricks.

Read the post here.

Oo, boy! I’ve been waiting to share this one with you for a while. So happy it’s finally seeing the light of day!

I created it for a wedding shoot to be used as a ring bearer bowl, but the rest of us can use it as a catch-all for our jewellery or keys. It would make a make a great handmade Christmas gift too!

Get the how-to here.

Photography: Shona Henderson Photography
Styling: ByGabrielle
Ring: The Vintage Bride

Right now I am frantically trying to finish up client work, schedule my posts, submit all my regular guest posts and generally prepare to leave my business for six weeks – eek!

With that in mind, this month’s guest post over on Scoutie Girl is about some of the tricks I’ve been employing to make sure my business doesn’t fall apart (or into oblivion) while I’m away. Even if you’re not a business owner, you’ll find some of the tips useful as an employee preparing for annual leave.

Hop over and read it now!