a new collection....... of sorts

I almost doubled my folk art plate collection on the weekend. First Ms Cinti swelled the ranks with the little Russian number in the top right (the bright orange flowers on the black background) and then I found the two Norwegian 'Rosemaling' plates at Camberwell market on Sunday. It's the scale of these new Rosemaling plates that I love. They're BIG, at nearly 50cm in diameter.

I intend to have a wall of these soon. It seems a lot of cultures have timber folk art plates and I'd like to collect a few different kinds. I have my eye on a couple of stunning Mexican numbers and I would love to find a French example but they are rare and very, very expensive.

What are you collecting at the moment?

what a load of hard rubbish

It's hard rubbish collection in my neighbourhood this week and the streets have been transformed into avenues  of  the unwanted, broken, chipped and irrelevant. Piles of household crap have been mounting in front of homes steadily for the last two weeks and as collection day looms the number of fossickers and scavengers reached a crescendo today as a precession of cars, utes and vans piled high with plunder meandered slowly through our streets.

I drove past this painting a couple of nights ago. I couldn't see any detail in the dark but her dress struck me as ghostly and the frame was delightfully heavy so I gave her a lift back to my house where she has taken up residence above my dresser. Half finished and rough as gut's, my husband can't stand her miserable Victorian expression, I personally want to paint a chuppa chump in her hand. The frame is quite large (60cm x 40cm) and weighs a ton. I love all the broken plaster work and the wonky mitred corners. I'm not sure if she is going to stay yet, we're still working that out...

For more flea market finds pop over and see Sophie at Her Library Adventures.

Little Pony Massacre

My Little Pony, I love My Little Pony...........


I spent a productive Wednesday this week under the tutelage of Ms Cinti. Sewing lessons (blanket binding) and mucking around taking photos for Animation Friday. This noir horror is Ms Cinti's directorial debut (I was in charge of cinematography and editing, go me!) Although there are whispers of Oscar nominations and global acclaim, I'm doubtful 'The Academy' will support this independent masterpiece. 


For more Animation Friday fun head over to  visit Ms Cinti at My Poppet blog.  If you want to give one a go yo' self head to the tutorial here.

when opportunity stops knocking

This is one of my favorite opportunity shops to hunt for vintage bargains. It is run by TEMPCARE part of the Christian Community Churches of Australia. TEMPCARE provide temporary foster care for children in need and right now they need our help. 

This teeny tiny little op shop is the kind that you used to go into 10 years ago, before vintage was big buisness and before charities hired antiques valuers to price their goods. An absolute treasure trove to be turned over and sifted through I have found so many wonderful things here. The thing about little gold mines like these is that when we find them we don't want to share, we want to keep them all to ourselves so they don't become to picked over or over priced. BUT little gems like this wont survive unless lot's of people keep coming through the door and this particular gem is in danger of having to close it's doors in Oakleigh where its been running for the last 20 years UNLESSS they get lot's more visitors so why don't you come to Oakleigh and pay them a visit, They would love to relive your wallet of a little change and you won't walk away empty handed. 

TEMPCARE Opportunity Shop

5a Station Street Oakleigh

Monday - Saturday (depending on the availability of volunteers, call ahead to confirm) 

ph 03 95691474

If you have a favorite opportunity shop why don't post about it and leave your link below! 

flea market finds

Two hours alone, one espresso and four op shops made for a very nice haul on Friday. I was meant to be going to vote early but ended up on a mini thrift spending frenzy. 

In order of appearance: One quaint little hand painted Victorian plate, brown and yellow batik cloth, Indian Block Printed Queen sized linen set including two standard pillow cases, two European pillowcases, one flat sheet and one quilt cover, vintage flannelette single sheet, vintage retro queen sheet set (love the faded yellow and orange combo) a yummy tangerine felted mohair throw and two framed landscape prints.

The linen and the plate were by far my favourite two pieces. The plate is destined for hanging and the linen will go on the spare bed. I would love to put the linen on my bed but I only use linen that's a size bigger than the bed itself (I like a generous amount of over hang, saves of arguments in bed about blanket stealing). Maybe I can turn the orange and yellow set into another quilt cover for me, pity there were no matching pillow cases.

What have you been collecting this week? Leave your link in the comments so I can pop by for a squizz!

blossoms, bees and wees

The almond tree in the back yard is always the first to blossom, full of blooms and bees it positively vibrates at this time of year. I get my honey from an old man who lives at the end of my street and I wonder if these bees are from his hives? Will our next bucket o' honey have a hint of almond from our own tree? A nice thought. 

You may have noticed the lack of posting recently. It turns out puppies, toddlers and creepy crawly babies  are a lot of work (go figure) and there doesn't seem to be a lot of time at the moment for making things or finding things of even wasting a moment or two reading blogs or magazines with a cup of tea. My world is all about keeping the levy banks from breaking, one sand bag at a time (that levy I might add is holding back a reservoir of pee). But like all things, this too shall pass and I am armed, mop at the ready until then.

On a lighter note, it's HARD RUBBISH time in my hood, whoo hoo! I wonder what treasures the natives will be offering up this year?

x

rag tag bunny

This floppy little lady (you may remember her decapitated head from last weeks creative space), finally got her knickers stitched up and went off to her new home today. She's my first softie with limbs and apart from a few construction issues with the head I'm quite pleased with how she turned out. 

I must confess to feeling a little bit like Dr Frankenstein while stitching her up, all limbs and heads and stuffing. I'll refrain from trying to bring her to life with the harnessed power of an electrical storm though........

Ada has put in a request for her own softie now. Surprising really, because she's not really into dolls or soft toy's, less surprising was the stipulation it be either a dinosaur or a volcano. The volcano seems fairly simple so I might start with that.

pay it forward goodness

I received a parcel today from Allana at High Maintenance Hippy as part of the Pay It Forward wagon that's travelling the internet at the moment ( I posted about it here). Goodies wrapped up in brown paper are the perfect antidote to a cold, miserable Melbourne day and Ada and I took very little time to unwrap all these goodie s! I have to say I was holding my breath with hope that I might receive one of the many Amigurumi critters Allana has been obsessively crocheting for the last couple of months (Being untrained in the art of the hook myself, it's always a pleasure to benefit from the skills of others). Allana of course did not disappoint with this adorable little cupcake critter immediately pounced on by Ada and later the focus of an intense battle of wills as I struggled to reclaim him long enough for a photo (said child subdued with a lolly pop and a book on volcanoes). Also included in the package was an awesome card with a lovely message, a super cute doll house pack including a bunch of adorable crochet floor rugs and a mini patchwork quilt with embroidery detail (LOVE IT)! a notebook, postcards and a crochet ball for Freddy already soaked in drool and much loved.




Thank You Allana for Paying It Forward and spreading a bit of the High Maintenance Hippy Love around :)




Now to get back to work on the surprises for my own Pay It Forward peeps :)




Peace Out kids.




x

flea market finds

I actually made it to my local oppy this week for the first time in ages. The pickings were slim but I did take home this super little vintage fisher price musical ball. Freddy seems to be quite fond of it and it makes a beautiful chiming sound kind of like those silver meditation balls you find in hippy shops next to the nag champa, lol.

I'm off to the country this week with the kids for a day trip or two so should get to rummage through a couple of newies, whohoo!

For more flea market finds pop over to Sophie at Her Library Adventures.

my creative space

has a decapitated bunny head in it, should really do something about that..............

For more creative spaces, head over to kootoyoo.

forget about it!

Remember those bulbs I was 'forcing' but gave up on when they got mouldy, all the way back here?
Well, my dear old Aunty Willy was over helping me clean the place up a bit for Ada's birthday party (went smashingly, thank you) when she found them quite transformed, hidden in a soggy cardboard box in the outside loo. It's quite the Cinderella story actually because now they are sitting very proudly on the window sill, no longer suffering the indignity of living in a soggy, dark, box in a toilet completely unnoticed. I do love a happy ending!

In other news, things have finally started quietening down around here. After 6 weeks of birthday parties every weekend, house inspections, Ada's birthday, visitors, painting bedrooms, teething infants, toilet training toddlers and completely INSANE puppies, I am a little world weary or as the French would say 'ennui'. I have not visited a market or op shop in the last two weeks (I hear the gasps of horror, yes it's been that bad) no reading blogs, books or magazines, not a single second alone, sigh. I have however consumed a few more glasses of wine than usual, understandable...right?

But that's all in the past and I'm all about the future except when I'm all about the past in which case I'm usually attempting irony or humour or both, somewhat unsuccessfully.

I have a list hanging around like the proverbial monkey on the back, of things I have been meaning to finish for months,or in some cases years. I am determined to cull those niggly little jobs and projects and half finished things one by one until I have a nice little pile of 'I did thises' and an overall feeling of self satisfaction.

Now to go and write up that list and to pop by and say hello to all my friends!