Happy 3 Years!

On this day 3 years ago I married my love in front of our family and friends. It was such a happy and magical day - a cloudless sky, perfect company, great food and promises made. Married life so far has been an amazing adventure and it's only just begun. All I can say is I am so happy that I met my best friend so young and that we could set out on building this life together. This journey has been incredible and I'm so excited for everything the future has in store for us too!

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Snap Happy

(all photos taken with the Fuji Instax Mini and Instax Wide Format 210)

Last night I was enjoying some down time and having a bit of a browse through my box of instant snaps from the last year or so and I realised I have quite a collection now! It's fun to look back at all the memories and good times with friends. My instant cameras seem to travel with me the most when I'm going to be amongst a bunch of people and we can capture the moments together. There's something so satisfying about watching the picture develop and being able to hold it in your hands straight away. I'm thinking I'm going to need to stock up on film for both cameras so I can get snap happy and document my summer adventures!

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Let the Festivities Begin!

A couple of weeks ago I got asked to take a few festive snaps for the latest issue of Elle Girl Korea. The above pictures were quickly captured by my husband (God bless his patience with being married to a blogger) as deadline date was fast approaching and we had just arrived back in the country from holiday. Anyway it all worked out and I'm now in the latest issue of Elle Girl Korea with a few other familiar faces including Chrissy Lau, Stefany Alves and Caitlin Shearer. I haven't had a chance to snap a proper picture of the article yet but you can see one little one here. I still enjoy the little thrill of seeing myself in print!

And that being said, I am ready to go into full on festive mode! Time for Christmas shopping/ decorating/ baking/ caroling to begin!

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Adventures on Film

As you know last month the husband and I went to Australia for a week and stayed with Liss from Daydream Lily on the Gold Coast. Well I finally got the roll of film developed and I'm happy to be able to share the first couple of snaps with you guys! The top two images were taken with my LC-A+ (you can also see more images from my LC-A+ here) and the bottom with my Instax Wide Format 210.

I love the pink light leaks that came through in the top two images, so pretty! I haven't actually been shooting much film lately but this has me excited to get back into again. Now I just need to find more hours in the day to get out and take some pictures. Anyone else feel like this year has disappeared way too quickly?!

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Little Things

I'm a little behind on things I want to share with you guys on here. I have rolls of film to develop, new clothes and things to photograph and a few photographers I want to share. But sometimes the business of life gets in the way! In the meantime you can pretty much always guarantee I'll be keeping up to date on instagram, it's such an easy way to share little snippets of my day. Above are a few of my latest snaps but if you have an iphone you can also follow me (username herecomesthesunblog) for full updates. Hopefully I'll get on top of things soon!

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Handmade giveaway winner!

(picture credit)

My latest giveaway full of beautiful handmade goodies from talented New Zealanders and Australians is now officially closed. 541 entries on one giveaway is a record for this blog! Now down to the import stuff, I'm happy to announce the winner is:

Congrats to Dee Dee from Put flowers in the mud, baby. Please email me at amanda.ellen.thomas@gmail.com with your postal address! A big thank you to Dane for organising this giveaway and to all the talented people who donated their work for this amazing prize.

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16 Hours

Doesn't that all just sound delicious? I think I need to print that off and put it on my fridge. If you haven't heard of 16 Hours it's an online magazine created by two talented designers based on opposite sides of the world (Australia and Canada) and it's more than a little bit inspiring. Issue three is coming out on December 16th and you can catch a little peek of what to expect here.

As a side note, I'm drawing my latest giveaway tonight so you still have a little time left to enter. Don't miss out! And remember to check back here later to see if you won :)

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The Horse

Sydney shoe label The Horse make the most beautiful leather shoes for ladies and gents. The designs are clean and simple with the slightest special touches bringing them to life. I had already fallen in love with the images above from their latest lookbook so was over the moon when they offered to send me some treats! 

Sorry about the extreme glare in my pictures (it was the middle of a gloriously sunny day) but I just had to take a few snaps to show you guys my new goodies. The green pair are called Thelma and the brown pair are Joan. I can already tell these are going to be on high rotation in my wardrobe this summer!

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Yellow Pirate Ship

Lovely new goodies from New Zealand boutique The Yellow Brick Road that I've been swooning over. Make sure you go check out their online shop as well, the good news is they ship internationally so you can get some of these treats for yourself no matter where you are in the world! 

Also I've had a few people ask and yes my latest giveaway is open to all readers, international included. If you haven't checked it out already take a look HERE. There's still a few days left to enter so don't miss out! 

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Oh summer

(one. two. three)

Only 5 weeks until my summer holiday begins. I'm counting down to camping adventures, barbecues every night, fireworks, picnics, sleeping in, beach trips and living in the pockets of my friends every day. Seriously cannot wait! Ahhh summer you make me happy!

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Giveaway: Art, Handmade crafts, Jewellery + more! CLOSED

 Cupcake brooch, toadstool brooch and birdcage purse from Tabitha Emma, Bam Bam Creative magnets & tote bag from Foxes

 Frankie magazine from Foxes, rubber stamps & notepads from Nut & Bee, cat postcard set from Evie Kemp

 Stickers, prints, postcards, zine and greeting card from Devon Smith

 Handmade bunting and floral wheatbag from That Vintage Thrill, Tooth wheatbag & fabric wall decals from Feltgood 

 Print by Emma Leonard, set of 10 illustrated cards from Bird in a Bunny Suit, greeting cards by That Vintage Thrill

Feather brooch from That Vintage, dog ring from Evie Kemp, knitted bow necklace and bowtie by Kute Kiwi, triangle necklace by Bliss in a Teacup

Well ladies and gentleman here we have the biggest giveaway this blog has EVER seen! I've been so excited to bring this to you guys and it's all thanks to my good friend from Tornadoes and Tigers. Dane had originally organised this for his blog but due to his hiatus he kindly passed the goodies onto me! Sign up to his facebook page to be the first to hear when he's back in action. So let's get down to the good stuff like how you can make all of the above yours:

1. Leave a comment on this post

2. Share this giveaway on your facebook or twitter (& leave a seperate comment)

Entries close 22 November 2011. Max 2 entries per person. 

To be clear: This amazing bundle of goodies is going to ONE lucky winner who gets to have it ALL. Pretty exciting early Christmas present if you ask me! Now what are you waiting for :)

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And so it begins..

(polka dot shirt c/o Romwe)

Part of me says it's still a little too early to be posting about Christmas, but then another part of me says as soon as Starbucks start selling their Christmas menu it's time to go into full on festive mode. During the year I don't frequent Starbucks very often, but as soon as it hits this time I can't help myself - I'm such a sucker for the gingerbread lattes and cute little red cups. Yesterday I even managed to match my shirt and nails to my cup, how often does that happen?! (Random coincidence I swear haha).

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Im dreaming of a....

(Pictures by Lucy Lu, London)

Lately I've been having the realisation of how strange it is that here we celebrate our Christmas in summer. While most of you are starting to get festive with dreams of a snowfall while you sleep, my excitement for Christmas is full of plans for camping, trips to the beach, barbecues every night and a fruit bowl full of all my summer favourites. Funny isn't it? I love my Christmas being in summer but I also have the hope that one day I can make a little trip and have a white Christmas somewhere like New York or London! 

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Red, Blue and Yellow

(Motel top c/o Market HQ, Shoes c/o Wild Pair, bag from VJ style)

It's funny to think that only a year or two ago my wardrobe was almost completely black. Even though I still have my black staples now (jeans, stockings, skirts etc) I have so many splashes of colour in everything else and I can't get enough! Also I've been so excited to show you guys my new shoes. I only got them a few days ago but I've been absolutely thrashing them. I can't believe how comfy they are, it kinda feels like I'm walking on cushions!

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Brisbane Finders Keepers

I was so disappointed to find out last week that I was leaving Australia the day before the Brisbane Finders Keepers markets were kicking off. We had been staying an hour out of Brisbane and it would have been so amazing to attend! As you all know I'm a sucker for anything handmade and crafty so this was a bit of a blow. Instead I'll just keep looking at these gorgeous pictures by Elleni Toumpas and live through them! Did anyone go? Let me know what goodies you got! Hope you said hi to my Style Milk buds Jen and Liss at their stall :)

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Hound

Even though we're coming into summer here in New Zealand and I'm so excited for the warmer weather, I can't help but find myself drooling over all the pretty Fall/ Winter lookbooks coming from the northern hemisphere at the moment. This one from Hound is no exception, so dreamy!

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