Merry Christmas Friends!

The last of the Christmas orders is complete! Now it's time to get festive. It's also time to spend many hours making plans for next year... new year = new designs & new inspiration.

I hope you all have a fabulous, joyous and inspirational holiday season :)

Finally a couple of new house pic's...

Not much crafting going on here at the moment, instead my creative energy has been going into unpacking and organising our new house. Here are a couple of pic's of wee Charlie's room...

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My studio is almost complete, so I will have some pic's of that soon. Hopefully, normal craftiness will resume thereafter! :)

Glenlyon Make it, Bake it, Grow it Market

I haven't been crafting much lately, but today I had my second outing at the sweet country Glenlyon monthly market. It's five doors down from my new house which appeals greatly to me and my new found devotion to the slow living movement. I just stroll down there with my goods in wheelbarrow- it's all very relaxed and friendly.

I had such a fun day chatting to gorgeous people, making new friends and selling some stuff to boot. Even my last doll Miss Scarlet found herself a new home. I really need to do some sewing before the next one!

I found myself a gorgeous 100 year old table to put my old singer sewing machine on up in my new studio (which is almost unpacked and ready to be photographed). I'm currently munching on the best pastie I have ever eaten and we are having home made pasta with pesto made from fresh locally grown basil for dinner. This is the life I tell ya!

Also, my lovely neighbour was Nikki who has a peony farm just up the road in Spring Hill. She was selling her stunning flowers which are ready for the picking and admiring for just a few short weeks. They are so delicate and smell absolutely divine. They look fabulous on my kitchen table!

If anyone fancies a Sunday drive in the country (and you live in Melbourne!) they are having an open farm and you can cut your own Peonies. Its just off the Springhill Rd, just past Tylden.

Paul Bangay is also having an open garden at his Denver house- it's supported by and raising money for Stephanie Alexanders kitchen garden foundation. The details can be found here.
That's where I will be tomorrow, will post some photos then! :)

Back to the future

After a month of packing, moving, cleaning and upacking....
plus a month of having no phone, television or internet...

I'm back :)

So much to catch up on!
Moving to the country has been the most fantastical ride so far.

Things I'm loving:
Decorating my new house.
Yummy fresh local produce.
The birds... so many birds. Rosellas, King Parrots, Cockatoos, pretty little Finches and my favourite the big feisty Kurrawong.
Watching the amazing Maple and Oak trees in front of my house growing their summer leaves.
The way the person at the table next to you in the cafe will just start talking you like you are old friends.
There is a market of some kind on every day of every weekend.
My new studio.
Seeing the kidlets so happy.
Feeling so relaxed....

It's idyllic to say the least.

I even love that when I put the rubbish bin out I have to put $8- in coins under the bin! So quaint...


So we are almost unpacked and orgainsed, then it's time to get crafty in my new studio. I have so many ideas already!

My creative space (almost)...

Since we are in the middle of moving (from Melbourne to Daylesford in country Victoria) I currently have no 'physical' creative space.

It's all happening in my head..


I'm daydreaming about my new studio (above). Planning where everything will go and how it will look. Imagining how it will feel.
How inspired I'm going to be. It's big and light filled and it has a balcony all of it's own...

with a gorgeous country view!


Just think of all the wonderful things I'm going to create...

Oh I'm so excited and I can't wait to share the finished product with you in a few weeks! Stay tuned :)

My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

Round She Goes- Spring!

This fantastic market is on again. In the glamorous Camberwell Centre for the final time, with over 80 stalls of gorgeous pre-loved designer and vintage clothing and accessories. It's an absolute wonderland in there! There are some amazing bargains to be had too. Last time I got a leather jacket by Arabella Ramsay, still with the $600- price tag for $80-. My friend Biddy got a gorgeous pair of vitage cowboy boots for $10-! God I love a good bargain, don't you?

And I shall be there (taking a much needed break from moving) with vintage buttons galore for $5- per tube and some fabulous vintage frocks, boots, shoes and accessories. Some come along or pass it on to your friends!

We are moving to Daylesford!

So we will be moving over the next month out the to beautiful country town of Daylesford. If it's anything like the commercial says, and I believe it is, we shall be very happy there!

So for the next month or so my blog maybe quiet or full of crazy moving tales I'm not quite sure yet, but I am very excited. The new house has an amazingly big and beautifully light studio space for me (woohooo!!!) and chook shed and vege patch ready and waiting.

So stay tuned!

Ps- how the hell do you move house with two kids?? Does anyone know?

New life..

Remember that vintage cloth nursery rhyme book I got last weekend at Camberwell.
No? Well you can see it here...

I stitched them into little quilt blocks and made cushions out of them. I think they are really sweet! Now I need to find some more, lol. Just another thing to keep on my magpie list!

The cushions and the new dolls and lots of other new goodies will be with me at the Made in Thornbury Market this Saturday. Hope to see ya there!

Welcome!

Scarlet...

and Maya! (Sold)

Formerly known as body parts hanging on a clothesline....

My Creative Space

My creative space today is all about the dolls, well, bits of dolls at least!
I like to hang all the pieces up so I can easily see where I'm up to. Having little people around when you are creating means you often have to drop what you are doing and come back to it. This is one of my coping strategies!

What are yours?

My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

Little shop of...

From Camberwell Market on the weekend I also got this lovely wee owl brooch. It's made from plywood and I love it 'cause it reminds me of the owl from Meg & Mog. I loved those books as a kid and I'm still loving them as an adult reading them to my kids.

It's made by the very talented Bec Albinson, and she has opened a real life shop in Melbourne at 8 Woorayl St Carnegie called Little Shop of Handmade. It's filled with treasures from lots of different melbourne designers. Or you can see her stuff online here. Beautiful little things at very reasonable prices!

The latest addition to the family...

I've been busy little bee... sewing and crafting like mad to get ready for the Made in Thornbury Market. Not mention looking after kidlets and generally trying to enjoy life.

I often feel frustrated at how limited my time is these days... there are so many things I want to do and often I want to post about about the millions of ideas I have and the projects I'm working on but it's usually more important to actually work on the projects than blog about them! I wish I had more time to post more often... I really do. Perhaps this week I will make more of an effort!

Anyhoo, the past weekend was devoted doll making... and though I had the entire day Saturday and grand plans of making 5 dolls, I finished up with one complete doll.

Her name is Madeline (SOLD). You can see more about her here if you like.

I also slipped in a visit to Camberwell market on Sunday. I acquired this gorgeous vintage fabric child's nursery rhyme book which I'm going to make into either little bags or t-shirts. I LOVE Camberwell!

My new bike...

Oh how I have longed and pined and wished for a beautiful vintage bike for what seems like eons. I have been following this gorgeous Californian vintage bike blog, Riding Pretty and it certainly did nothing to diminish this desperate longing. I harped on endlessly about how I didn't have a bike... I needed a bike!

So a while back Adam found this one...


in a clients back yard and was going to restore it for me. Months later however I looked around at the many and varied unfinished or yet to be begun restoration projects and came to the sad conclusion that it would probably never happen.

So took the matter into my own hands and consulted the great purchasing oracle that is Ebay. There I found my beautiful new bike at an absolute bargain price... here she is...


I'm so in love. She is from The Indian Bicycle Shop in St Kilda and was only ridden a handful of times by her previous owner. She is so comfortable and cruisy.... a total state of mind, just like my car, the Volkwagen Caravelle Van (the modern woman's Kombi)!


I would love to get her some of these gorgeous panniers from London's CycleChic, but I will have to put a kiddie seat on the back for wee Charlie. So I will stick with a standard wicker front basket.

All that's left then is to give her a name and bring on spring baby wee are off and cruisin' in the sunshine.... yeeeha!

Market Review- Thread Den Market

Well what a fabulous day I had at the Thread Den Market on Sunday!
It was so lovely to be among fellow crafters who really appreciated my candy store button collection. I was so busy all day and lucky enough to chat with lots interesting creative people. Thank you to everyone who supported me and stopped in for a chat!
Special thanks to my best customer, the lovely Grace who was totally smitten with my rainbow pretties and even came to check out my collection at home! I hope you find room for them all at your place Grace!
The market was full of wonderful handmade goodness- loads of stuff I hadn't seen anywhere before which was awesome. I was so inspired by the depth of creativity! I really wanted to take some photos of other peoples goodies to post here, but I was so busy I did not get the chance.
It was an all round success so hopefully there will be another market before Christmas. It's definitely worth coming along, or booking a stall yourself.
So I had a very successful day, loads of fun and even made a new friend... all in all a perfect day!

I'm a winner, really I am!

I was one of the lucky winners of Amy over at Badskirt's 500th post competition and I received my fabulous little package of lovely fabric scraps in the post today. Lucky me! Thank you Amy. I'm about to start on a whole bunch of new dolls so I think I shall use some of the fabrics in those and some to make Charlie a hat for summer. I can finally use the pattern I got from the Stitches and Craft Show.


I also got these cute 70's snap cards from the op-shop today. They are just crying out for a cute little craft project. I just love the little bird card. I also got some fabulous blue suede shoes and cute polka dot frock perfect for summer bike riding and wine sipping. Top it off with a lovely lunch with friends and kidlets and it was a fantastic day. Hope yours was too!

My creative space....

I'm busy busy getting ready for the Thread Den Market day on Sunday. Sorting through tubes of buttons and packing them in suitcases. It's an uphill battle I tell you. As fast as I can put them in, my little helper pulls them out! I also have to be really strong and not keep pulling tubes out myself that I want to keep. I mean seriously, how many buttons can one woman have? They need to go on to bigger and better things, a plethora of amazing craft projects..... but they are just so amazing, it's very hard to resist.


Anyway, I'm taking four big suitcases jam packed with buttons and I'm selling them at the special bargain market day price of $8- a tube or .50c a button, whichever works out cheaper. Some tubes have a hundred buttons in them! So if you are interested, come along, or if you know someone else who would be excited by this pass it on :)

I will also have a full collection of trims, random vintage haberdashery and heaps of vintage womens & kids patterns all at very special prices.

There's gonna be over 50 stalls! I'm very excited!



My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

Thread Den Market Day- August 9th

You can catch me with a selection of fabulous buttons & vintage craft supplies as well as my handmade creations at this great market next weekend. There will be a host of other creative folk there too as well as some fabulous vintage treasure to get your hands on. It's indoors too, so come along and say hi!

Thread Den Market Day

Sunday August 9, 10am-2pm

Hand-made - Melbourne Indie Design
Vintage clothing & bric a brac

Join us for the first ever Thread Den Market Day, undercover at Lithuanian Club. So don't let bad weather keep you away!

There will be over 50 market stalls, activities for the kids and great door prizes. Entry via gold coin donation.

It's also your first chance to buy tickets for Thread Den's Spring Fashion Week show - Killer Queen.

Details:
Sunday August 9, 2009
10am-2pm
@ The Melbourne Lithuanian Club
44 Errol St, North Melbourne

Contact us for more details:
93295305
info@threadden.com

My Creative Space

In my creative space today- a bunch of fabric scraps cut up and ready to be made into fabric baby rattle / teething / tag toys like the ones at the bottom of the pic. I stuff them with the less interesting vintage buttons. One of these will be going to our new little nephew too in his welcome to the world pack.

Also some lovely red riding hood fabric covered buttons I got on madeit ages ago and am determined house today.

And on the floor of my creative space.....


my best ever creation! :)

My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

Upcycling vintage wool skirts

I've spent my weekend giving vintage wool skirts a new life as funky little scotty dogs.
This particular wool is awesome as a softie as its so textural and tactile, not to mention the gorgeous colour.


I was also inspired by this beautiful blog to carve some rubber stamps and have given my little scottie dogs a matching wee scottie dog stamped tag. It's so much fun carving stamps! Takes me back to lino cutting days at school. For those of you in Melbourne, I got most of the supplies from Melbourne Etching Supllies in Fitzroy and the inks from a seller on ebay.

You can find Mr Scottie Dog for sale here :)

My Creative Space

I'm feeling very blue this week.

I know I'm depressed when I eat Tim Tams for breakfast.
Winter is getting to me- I'm spending the majority of my waking life wondering why I ever left Port Douglas and trying to scheme up ways to get myself a free month in tropical paradise.
A place where the kids can run around nude and free instead of rugged up and shivering in front of the heater needing constant entertainment. I seriously cannot play one more bloody game of UNO!!!

So it's fitting that my creative space is a day late (I actually only just realised it's Friday..) and that in my creative space today is a pretty blue tuxedo dress. I'm making two, one for Charlie and one for the shop. I'm using the gorgeous Russian doll tape I got from Amy over at Badskirt and some of my gorgeous vintage trims and buttons I have hoarded. It's designed to snap closed all the way down the back for easy dressing of squirmy little ones. The snaps I'm using a lovely vintage pearlised cowboy shirt snaps which I've been dying to use.


Well my fingers are now freezing and I can no longer type, back to dreams of mango daquiris and warm blue seas....

My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

I love... Tea Cosies!

This is my newest tea cosy... given to me by my wonderful mother in law- bless her.
I love it! There is something so wholesome and comforting and well, cosy, about a tea cosy.

And there are just so many different designs out there- it appears you are only limited by your imagination!
Here a few I found that I just love...

From Biddy Bags.... Super cute cupcake tea cosy.

From Knitvana this gorgeous cat and other great quirky patterns.


And from Santa's Postbag this kinda creepy Santa Claus cosy.

Do you have a cool cosy?

My Creative Space

It's a gloriously gorgeous day here in Melbourne, so my creative space today is outside in the garden. We have a lovely north facing garden with a grape vine that lets the sun in in winter and shades us in summer. It's just lovely.
Escher's at kinder, Charlie's asleep and I have a cup of tea, some almond cakes and my gorgeous new chair I brought off ebay and picked up this morning. $50- what a score, its so comfortable! It will eventually find it's home as a feeding, book reading chair in Charlie's new room.

Whilst enjoying the winter sun & getting some vitamin d, I'm packaging button hairpins and fabric covered badges for the next market.


My Creative Space is hosted by kootoyoo- pop over there to see more inspiring creative spaces :)

Cheeky Little shop

I finally have my wee shop up and running...
Still many more items to add, but spare time continues to elude me!

Little Red Dress

Okay, this coming week I am determined to get through some of the half finished projects on my desk!

The first of which is this little red dress. I needed to redo the neck because it was too small. Now that that's fixed I thinks it's turned out pretty good!

It's reversible, with a cute vintage seersucker fabric on the inside and a I added cute brooch, which I made from a fabric yo yo and a vintage button.

One down, ten to go... :)

My favourite yummy easy winter spicy soup

Ingredients:

2 Cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tablespoon tamari or soy
1 teaspoon miso paste (optional)
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 star anise
1 teaspoon grated ginger
noodles of your choice ( I like quinoa soba or udon) prepared according to packet instructions
a handful of:
snow peas or sugar snap peas
bok choi
shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried)
small cubes of tofu (optional)
bean shoots
chilli flakes, chopped corriander, sliced spring onions & fried shallots to garnish

Method:
Prepare your noodles.
Gently fry the ginger & star anise in a tiny bit of oil, just to release the flavour then add the stock and bring to the boil while adding the sauces & miso paste.
Be sure to stir in the miso paste properly otherwise you will end up with lumps at the end.
Once boiling add the veges except the bean shoots.
After 1.2 minutes add the tofu and then the bean shoots.
Cook for a further minute or so.
Place noodles in the bowl.
Pour over soup and top with garnishes.

Wa La!! So quick and easy and ymmy and good for you!!

You can mix and match ingredients- and play with sauces and flavours but this is my current favourite mix- enjoy!

Market Day Success!

Well, I had a wonderful day at 'Round She Goes' yesterday- thank you to everyone who came along- especially those who said they had seen my blog and came just to find me & my buttons! Special thanks too to my little shop assistant Georgie (pictured above) and my big shop assistant Cate, who very generously offered to help and get paid in frocks & buttons!

The day was a great success personally and the market as a whole was spectacular. The Camberwell Civic Centre was a fabulously glam venue, much larger than I imagined and very very busy! Adam though for sure I would spend all the money I made, but I was very well behaved and just come home with one perfect item- a gorgeous Arabella Ramsay leather hooded waistcoat... I love it!

Charlie had a fabulous time pulling the buttons out and leaving them on the floor and crawling into our neighbouring stalls- though she was thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home!


Lots of people asked about buying buttons in bulk etc after the market- if anyone is interested, don't hesitate to email me, or watch this space for info on future markets, thanks!