It's Giveaway time!!!!!

Over at Fortune Favours that is! So if you haven't made your way over there yet, now is the perfect time. If this swag isn't enough to nudge you toward making the move with me, then I don't know what is........Chocolates maybe?

You may have missed it,

..........but we've moved!

Come on over to my new blog, Fortune Favours the thrifty for some sweet, vintage finds and a new market post later in the day. Go on, click over, I'll miss you if you don't!

x

I'm Moving Blogs!

That's right Friends, I will now be blogging from a new address on the internets. My new blog is called Fortune Favours the Thrifty  and I would love for you to come and visit me at my new home. A similar vibe to Curbside but without the cringe inducing 'Style' bit (and a whole lot prettier). With a new address and a new 'do' I'm feeling ready to post my backside off so it would be ever so lovely if you would stop by and share my thrift adventures.

AND.......just to get the follower ball rolling (because let's face it, we all feel good when we see lot's of peeps are reading) I will be hosting a very special giveaway on Wednesday so tune in and get ready to hit that follow button!

portraits of dolls

I love kitchy, tourist wear dolls. Ada and I have been collecting them for a while. They don't tend to last very long because they were never deigned to be played with and it's hard to stop a 3 year old from playing with dolls in her room, but here are some recent additions and some lucky 'survivors'. I'm absolutely  in love with the Polynesian dolls face, what a beauty.

a lovely pair

I've been Mrs Stitchy fingers recently, pumping out some blanket softies/cushions for my Camberwell Market stall. I love this pair of love birds, they look so cute together. I'm really enjoying sewing these blanket softies, you can keep the shapes and motifs really simple because the blankets do all the talking. I'll have some more photo's of other designs over the next couple of weeks and you can see them in person at my next market stall on the 12 of June. I've never really sold anything I've made before. I've been making these blanket softies, some super hero capes for kids out of vintage sheets and some cute leather brooches so I'll be interested to see what the reception is like.

The kids have been quite kind to me and have largely left me to sew while they play (one of the benefits of them getting older I guess), it's so nice to be able to do something for myself, I just wish I didn't have to keep stopping to do housework.

Shafted by Schafter

I'm not much of a Twitterer. I could, at best, be described as an inconsistent flirt, only following a select few and being followed by even less. My tweets are minimal; few and far between. So you could imagine my surprise when Zigsma messaged me to ask if I was aware that one of my Tweets appeared in a recent article on the ABCs Hungry Beast program. The article in question was about hate following; that is, following someone on a social media platform merely to keep the fires of outrage burning in your belly. My curiosity aroused, I logged onto the show's website and proceeded to watch the article in question.

Monique Shafter, one of the show's painfully gen y presenters was investigating her and (presumably) millions of others, compulsion to follow the social media musings of some of the worlds most irritating people (think Andrew Bolt, Justin Beiber, Germain Greer, Charlie Sheen and other anger mongers of this ilk.) The article included interviews with comedian and social commentator Catherine Deveny and shock jock Steve Price. This is where it gets interesting (at least to me).

Monique began by interviewing Catherine about the trend of 'Hate Following' and the example quickly centered on the public outrage towards Catherine's tweet during the 2010 logies that declared her desire for the (then) 11 year-old Bindy Irwin to get laid - a tweet that consequently showed Catherine the door from both The Age and (presumably) Australia Zoo. To illustrate this concept of 'Hate Following' towards Catherine they presented a selection of tweets (including mine) and encouraged the viewer to form an opinion.

Now I cannot speak for the legitimacy of the other tweet, but I felt the @CURBSIDESTYLE tweet was distressingly brief, though very much too the point. Unfortunately the point was lost as the viewer was not presented with the name of the intended target of my brilliant (if pointed) wit, but was instead only shown the screen name of one @catherinedeveney. 

My tweet "@Uberclit @catherinedeveny Bitch please, at least attempt to google that shit before you get mouthy." was aimed at one Ms. (presumably) Uberclit who demanded in a most impolite fashion to know why I didn't just "f''ing" say "Fresh Cream" instead of "Creme Fraiche". My response, as published on Twitter, links to the original comment in which Catherine requests a recipe for scalloped potatoes. I provided my own take on this culinary classic (having just cooked it to rave reviews) and declared that it would be much improved through the use of a cultured cream, rather than normal cream. (Creme Fraiche - Fresh Cream. You have to love contranyms, except when they're not.) 

By dropping the crucial "@Uberclit" and then juxtaposing the doctored tweet against the infamous "Bindi Irwin" tweet, gave the viewer the impression that my tweet was related through time and intent to the one that saw Catherine wave adieu to her hallowed broadsheet. This deliberate manipulation of my tweet was clearly done to make me appear to be one of Catherine's 'hate followers', simply not the case.

So, should I be surprised that a television show that started before it's first episode by launching a study by the fictional 'Levitt Institute' as an example of how the Media fail to fact check and merely report the news as it appears in the press release, can so misrepresent a recent Tweet because they can't be bothered to press the down arrow a few thousand times to find some real outrage? Probably not. Or perhaps I think that someone at Hungry Beast should have stuck a pile of coins on their "Page Down" key, brushed off the Kettle Chips crumbs, and then left for lunch. 

I'm waiting on a response from the ABC.

flea market finds

 fish tank snow dome

 a selection of vintage coat hangers

hot pink, little girls, woollen jumper

mid century teak and ceramic salad servers

Just a few thrifty finds this week, I found a bunch more but photographing anything in this dreary Melbourne weather is next to impossible when you're snapping pictures on your phone.

After an incredibly long and busy week I'm quite of the mind to put my feet up with a pot of tea and do some hand sewing for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately though, we have a bunch of family arriving on Tuesday from Perth and Japan. There are so many jobs that need doing before then, I fear my little 'rest fest' 'tis likely to remain a fantasy. The biggest job is by far turning the sewing room/guest bedroom into somewhere nice for my Aunt and Uncle to sleep. The last couple of months have seen it fill up quite satisfactorily with thrifty items for my market stall but now they need to move to there temporary home on the garage, which means i need to clean the garage out.....oh crap, enough blogging time to get back to work.

For more thrifty finds pop over and visit Sophie from Her Library Adventures and Apron Thrift Girl.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday Folks :)

my darling buckethead

I love him so.

flea market finds

 Tiny wooden abacus, stands only 10cm high

 Cornflour blue, woolly jumper for Freddy. this colour looks so good on my little ginger boy.

 A sweet pair of globes to add to my collection. I love the atomic stand on the larger one.

 A Gyroscope, for Gyroscoping!

 Nana Chic

Ancient Britons, worthy subject matter for a tea towel. 

A curious little trio of hand carved owls, so full of expression and each one different.

There was little time for hunting this week. I was going to miss out all together until some friends cancelled lunch yesterday and Ada and I got to head out for the afternoon. Now that I'm stocking my market stall our outings have become a bit more serious and I usually like to take home a bit more bounty than I did today, but they are all lovely and the owls alone made it worth it for me. Ada also did quite well for herself, dragging home a rather delinquent looking Barbie sporting a hair 'do' I'm certain didn't come out of the box and bunch of other miscellaneous crap I'm sure to tread on and throw at a wall at some stage. I don't really care what she decides to take home, as long as it is treasure to her and it comes under her op shop budget, then it's fine by me, I'm just happy that she wants to come with me and that we can have these adventures together. 

For more flea market finds, pop over to visit those Doyennes of thrift, Sophie from Her Library Adventures and Apron Thrift Girl.  

stitch n' bitch

I'm not sure why, but there is just something about repetitively pulling a needle and thread through cloth that makes me want to chat. It's been yonkers since I've been to a stitch n' bitch and now that I've taken up the needle and hoop again, I feel the need to get some ladies together for some down home crafting and some not so wholesome gossip.

I've tried joining a few local craft 'circles' but found the atmosphere a bit uninspiring and left feeling like I hadn't really gotten anything out of it. I was recently talking to a crafty/blogging friend who was saying that she had experienced the same thing as well. So it seems that social dynamics are often awkward to begin with and it obviously  takes a group time to develop those relationships to a point where the conversation is easy and uncensored. What happens then, when you want to get stuck right into it and can't be bothered with those awkward and tentative getting to know you conversations? Is it even possible to organise a stitch n' bitch that is just that, a stitch and a bitch?

So, I would like to organise a Stitch n' Bitch, for rude, friendly, highly social types with big mouths and even bigger opinions. If you live in Melbourne and would be interested in coming along, leave a comment and over then next month I'll set about organising one for a weekend in June.

all by my self

I am alone for the first time in almost two years, in my own house, by myself, without the family, completely and totally alone. You would think that this 'harpy of the home arts' would put this hard one freedom to good use by engaging in all manner of un-child friendly activities like welding or sharpening the collection of priceless, antique samurai swords or firring up the home still, but sadly no. All this poster girl for domestic Stockholm syndrome has managed to do for the last two hours is vacuum dog hair of the carpet.......what a waste.

Easter Sunday Marketeering

I thought I would post a few dodgy pic's of my Camberwell Market stall today. A slow start to the day had me wondering if it was worth the 4.30 am rise and shine time, but once the sun came out so did the cash and I finished with a bang. I sold over half my stock and made a nice bit of pocket money to fund a few more thrift adventures. 

On a side note, my absence on Easter Sunday meant leaving Mr Curbside in charge of the Easter Egg hunt........I came home to some very scary scenes and frankly the rest of my day has involved wrestling chocolate crazed children from crawling up the walls. Who gives a three year old and a one year old an entire basket of chocolate eggs and tells them to go for it? Seriously.

this little piggy

is off to Camberwell Market in the morning, bright and early and *loaded* with some fantastic vintage pieces.

I've been away all week visiting family and haven't had much time to photograph my favourites, but hopefully the sun will hold out and I'll get some pictures for you before they all sell.

If you want to come and say hi I'll be in stall 253 which is in the little nook, near the centre, undercover walkway near the main entrance. Just look for the stall with the green, 60's shade umbrella.

touching base with a bit of thrift candy

I just thought I would stick my head into Blogland to say a quick 'Hello', let you all know I'm still alive and offer up a bit of cheeky thrift candy to make up for my absence. If Bloggers were family then I would be the dodgy dad who takes off for months at a time, never has enough cash to pay the school fees and consistently  forgets your birthday but tries to make up for it when your sixteen by taking you to the strippers.  Quality stuff.

All of the little treasures laid out before you are destined for my stall at the Camberwell next weekend. I'm especially fond of the little big eye print that looks disturbingly like an adolescent Rowan Atkinson and the turquoise filofax but my hands down favourites would have to be the copper and enamel dishes. I've collected a few of these recently and now need to decided if I keep them or sell them? The rules are (as laid out by my no longer so patient husband) that if I want to keep anything, something else has to go.... but what do I send the the thrift equivilent of the gallows in their stead?  

That is the question.

to market to market

 Antique, hay stuffed bunny, so soft and lovely. 

 Vintage, clip on earrings, super big and shiny and oh so fabulous.

 Here kitty kitty, sweet little vintage tin.

Classic Melmac bbq plate (one of a pair). I wonder if this dude is anything like Don Draper?

to buy a fat pig........and possibly sell some sweet vintage finds from the weekend.

These babies are just a small taste of some of the finds from the last week. My next Camberwell Market stall is this Sunday (April 3) so I've been stupidly busy scouring op shop's, school fetes, trash and treasures and some other top secret places looking for pretty things for people to buy. I'm hoping to have the prettiest stall at the market and would love for you to come and visit me if you're in the area (toilet breaks are always appreciated). I will be located at the bottom of the car park, in the nook just opposite the 'Market' sign. I'll be the stall looking all pretty and stuff.

flea market finds

 

Iv'e Just gotten back from Camberwell market, I had my first stall there today and it was lot's of fun. It was a great opportunity to flip some stuff, pocket some cash and make some room, but the 5.30 start almost killed me. Big thanks to Cintia for saving my life and coming to relieve me for a toilet break. I swear I would have drowned if it were not for her timely humanitarian effort.

 I found lots of cool things this week to go on my stand and a couple of things I will definitely keep for myself. 

1- hilarious plastic cup featuring a "Bobby' policeman, a buxom prostitute and a hairy chested hippy, I was just saying to Andrew that children don't get enough Cop's, Pro's and Rock n' Roll Hippies in there lives.

2- Psychedelic silk sunglasses cases (try saying that 5 times fast).

3- Silver teaspoons, I love the scallop shell shape of these spoons.

4- Viking embroidered cushions, these would have to be one of the coolest finds I've had in ages, I feel like I hit the jackpot with these babies.

Thanks for stopping by, for more flea market fancies why not pop over and visit Sophie at Her Library Adventures and Selena Apron Thrift Girl

Tally Ho, Chums