Old sheet's, young Mexicans and incredibly bonny babes

Lot's of lovely vintage sheets getting a second life

I found this little guy hanging out at Bentleigh market and he is the exact same little maracca playing man that fell off my wall some 3 months ago, fancy that (and half the price too-boot)! 

 The not so wee fella catching some shut eye.

'Tis been a busy week in Casa del Pickersgill, with toilet training, 'big girl' bed's, plenty of appointments, lot's of bargain hunting and some very industrious crap culling (in-spite of the bargain hunting). 

Ada is moving from her toddler bed to a lovely antique wrought iron number so I have been busy sewing a fancy smanchcey quilt cover and making various preparations for the momentous occasion.

Freddy had his three month check with the maternal child health nurse and he is officially a giant! Turns out that all those bowls of ice cream haven't been going to my hips but his. At 7.5 kg he has more than doubled his birth weight and I'm debating about whether of not to change his name to Gulliver (or I might just take to calling him 'Big Friendly' Freddy).  

And Moi, well I joined the lemming parade and got an iphone and have disturbingly found myself playing with 'apps' in the middle of the night while I'm feeding, such a fun novelty......

All aboard the folk wagon

 Polish paper cutouts or Wycinanki (pronounced vee-chee-non-key)

With the Handmade Revival in full swing it was only a matter of time before folk art, or 'the art of the people', saw a modern, consumer driven, renaissance. 

Folk Art is fairly loosely defined with most academics agreeing that it is "art that originates from an indigenous culture made by peasants and the labouring classes".  Folk art is predominantly functional and decorative, as opposed to fine art which is purely aesthetic.

Cultural imagery from Russia to Bangalore is appearing on everything from laptops and mobile phones to t-shirts and coffee mugs, and often the cultural styles from different continents are being mixed together to form a sort of 'folk mash-up'. 

While these images and patterns are deliciously rich and tactile, often full of bold colour combinations and daring or romantic imagery, I wonder if this creative evolution is not harming the styles and art forms it is trying to emulate.  Or are we on the verge of a new global identity where growing multicultural communities and internet access are breaking down social borders and homogenising previously distinct art forms?

Dutch designer Tord Boontje is probably the most well known artist to have produced folk art for the mass market, from a line for Target in 2006 to the new HP Laptops, Tord's work is appearing on everyday items all over the world. Interestingly, while the adornment of utilitarian objects with pattern and imagery  is by definition 'folk art', it has never before been seen on such a global scale. Where it was once one artist decorating one bowl, now that one image can be reproduced thousands of times on thousands of bowls or laptops, or t-shirts or bedlinen.....

HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje

Sanna Annukka for Marimekko

  

Penguin Classics by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Lucky, lucky, lucky bastard.......

That's me!

I have just been informed by the lovely Liz of Betty Jo Designs over at the Lino Forest blog that I (yes that's right ME, not you) am the incredibly lucky winner of one of these delightful little paper dolly brooches.

A Betty Jo brooch (and clock) have long been on my list of desirables and now I get to pin one on my proud bosom! Thanks for making my day Liz, what a champ!

Capital A for AMAZING!

Ok, so I know I'm meant to be saving and not adding to the mountains of stuff we are about to move across the state, BUT when I found these incredibly beautiful tissue poms on etsy I had to make an exception. They are made by Kirsten of Pom Love http://www.etsy.com/shop/PomLove and are just amazing. They range in size from 9" to 16" inches (that's a whopping 40cm) and can be bought individually, in groups or as mobiles (I bought 'punch drunk love' for Ada, see bottom pic). I can't wait to hang them in Ada's bedroom and so we can have a bit of our own 'Pom Love'.

note, all pic's have been taken from Kristen's etsy site so I'm assuming she is the photographer.

Ribbon weave footstool before & after

A bunch of bright ribbon, a staple gun and an afternoon in front of the telly, not bad for a couple of hours work! The pic's are a bit shabby but you get the idea. I love how the different ribbon's come together to create these random little patterns. 

Now that I'm feeling a bit more confident with the technique I'm going to try a lamp shade next.

Owling around

Hoot1, originally uploaded by curbside style.

Meet Hoot, my daughter Ada's second best friend and one member of our wee owl collection. Hoot was made by British Toy designer Kristin Baybars in the late 60's under the 'Ostrobogolous Toys' brand for Kalpatch Ltd and was featured in the British Design 1969 Journal. He's had a bit of repair work done and I've had to re-attach his wings once or twice but he still looks pretty good for a lad in his Forties no?

How now, little owl

little brown owl, originally uploaded by curbside style.

How cute is this little fella! He's actually a brass money box so he should come in handy. I'm going to be posting a few vintage owl's over the coming day's, Between us Ada and I seem to have developed a wee collection (easy to do with owls).

I've also got a couple of easy upholstery diy's to post so keep a look out!

Surfers Paradise

 

  

mellow yellow

Cuppa and a biscuit, looks nice doesn't it? I bet it would have tasted nice too if I'd had a chance to drink it ... ah kids who'd have em?

The coffee pot and posy vase are both recent oppy finds. The vase is by Pates an iconic Australian pottery manufacturer and the coffee pot is made in Poland and stamped on the base. Enamelware pot's like this one are getting so much harder to find these day's, I feel like I've struck gold whenever I find one!

Hello.......

While I may dream of Mark Tuckey tables and Phillipe Stark chairs, my budget would barely stretch to a package deal from Fantastic Furniture. If my family and I are ever to afford that elusive first home then all our pennies must be counted and budgets adhered too.

In the meantime this frustrated decorator occupies herself with scouring markets, digging in op-shops and occasionally joining the thousands of other junk rats in a midnight drive to root through some unsuspecting persons hard rubbish.

Welcome to curbside style, a blog dedicated to the art of second hand living.