wellington boots

HOW much do kids love Wellies!!

They may not be 'that' designer...BUT...they work and Kitty and puddles are new best friends.

five favourites

Wooden People carrier - I've been obsessed with this toy ever since my mum bought it for Kitty. I love their different personalities. But we (Kitty) lost two of the passengers this week and I was distraught. As you can see they have since been found. But the loss reconfirmed my love of this lot.

Friends photos- I check in every day on friend's new uploads. And sometimes I come across some I really love like the wishing one from my blog earlier in the week, and this one by the same guy, my friend Michelle's boyfriend Wiggle. Small birds always remind me of home.

Rain- has been my best friend this week as it has allowed me lots of guilt free stay at home craft days. Thanks rain.

Vinnies half price sales - Have had so much fun at Vinnies this weekend. As if things aren't a barjin enough already, and then half that again! - picked up a superb, I think handmade, jacket from Bondi Vinnies on Saturday. It's lushious.

kikki.K- I love this shop every week but the new Cirkus and Resa range- oh my god. I particularly like this travel satchel from the Resa range. It's $24.95. Totally worth it!

Go visit Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for more fav 5's!

1st garland order-complete!

A lovely mum from the school gate needed a pressie for her new nephew in England. I'm so pleased she decided on a Kitty n Kitsch product! So I set to work and....

.....made a yacht garland [with reds and blues as requested] and included his initials too. Hope she likes it! I'm no photographer, but you get the idea. Oh, and I'm pretty happy it's making it's way back to my home turf too!

do not wish....

....to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.

-St. Francis De Sales

Thanks Wiggle for this beautiful picture!

my creative space

This week I'm still boat building. But, with a difference. I'm creating sails from vintage pillowcases. These boats might not suit the blue/pink variety of nurseries, but if you're anything like me, and adore a mish mash of colour with a bit of vintage thrown in, they would look super cute hung from a door knob or cot.

To 'go with the look', I have made the little flags from old velvet ribbons and I have just invested (last night in fact) in a fabulous box of old buttons from eBay.

Here are the buttons;

Aren't they cool!

I'll pop a button on the boat for that finishing touch. I thought maybe a maroon button to match the flag would look nice on the above boat. What d'ya think?

Take a look at kootoyoo for more creative goings on this week!

a friend for tea

It's pouring with rain and today I'm having my friend over for a cup of tea. As I was setting up, I realised how much I love loving old things.

You see, it came to me that when you love old things, you are surrounded by stories.

So the story of the tea set goes like this.....the ridiculously gorgeous tea cosy was handmade by Matt's great grandmother (it's my all time favourite hand me down-how sweet are all the different patchwork pieces, there's a lot of work in it), the tea cups are from a set of 6 which were handed down by my late grandmother, Marmar. They are such vibrant colours each with a different floral design inside the cup. I love them! The sugar pot is an op shop find. It is an old souvenir from British Columbia in Canada, which I'm sure someone would have brought back from a holiday once ( I love to imagine who has housed it before me!).

Even the teaspoon is Matt's 1st birthday present (it has his name engraved on it-bless!). 42 years old and still stirring strong!

I have so many old bits and pieces in my kitchen, from op shops, markets, but mainly from my English bone china loving grandmother. I'm so happy I'm not one of those 'save it for best' type people as I get to put it all to use daily.

Now that was so much more fun than sharing my brand spanking new tea set from Myers wasn't it?!?

etsy is open!

What better day than a rainy Sunday to open a shop. I even worked out how to add the link to my blog. I'm getting into this now. Check out the items I have for sale and let me know what you think! It's pretty nerve wracking when you have made something and it's up on public parade...with a price tag! aaarrrggghhh.

Would love to hear your comments!

ps. op shop i love you!

Yet some more great op shop finds today; couple of great tops for Kitty, Pictionary (never used), a 70's yellow/orange floral pillow case (which will turn into something wearable for Kitty or maybe a little retro yacht) and a beautiful bird embroidery, which as always, is wall-less right now whilst I decide upon it's home.

Op shop shopping is too much fun. Here are 5 good reasons why;

1. Because you never know what you're going to find. Driving past an op shop and not being able to go in is like somebody putting a wrapped present in front of you and telling you you can't open it. Every time I venture into an op shop I feel like I'm unwrapping a million presents.

2. Because somebody else's trash will undoubtedly become your treasure, and well, a bit of pre-loving and history gives the item more value anyway.

3. Because you are donating to a good cause whilst you shop.

4. Because you can leave with 6 great items and only be $10 lighter like I did today!

5. Because you can shop over so many fads/eras and are not restricted to the latest designs.

However, even though I like to bang on and on about how great they are [and seem to find even Cotton On prices something akin to Gucci now], I am careful not to bang on too much as I need my friends that buy brand new shiny labels for their little ones to remain unconvinced, as they are my suppliers!

my creative space...

In anticipation of opening my Kitty n' Kitsch etsy shop imminently I have been frantically making more products!...

I have been working on; boat building....

Little yachts that you can hang up (somewhere). With a Cinnamon stick mast, mini sails (from a collection of yumi op shop, market and ebay fabric finds), and a couple of extras (buttons, flags etc) each one is different and a wee bit fiddly but lots of fun.

AND; my children's greeting card collection....


If you have a spare second take a look at the 'gweeeeeetings' post and you can see the finished product. In the meantime, I will carry on cutting out patches from an old sheet I found at Salvos and sewing sewing sewing in a wiggly fashion. I'm so in love with this material, I think some of the patches are too cute, like 'j for jam' and 'n for necklace'. I've also used some of this material on my wee sails to make personalised yachts (like the 'S' yacht above).

Happy crafty days. Check out all the other fabulous Thursday crafters at Kootoyoo!

hot soup!

PUMPKIN SOUP

It's that time of year again. Cold days crying out Hot Soup!

1 steamed pumpkin

1 steamed sweet potato

2 small onions

500ml chicken stock

1/2 tsp curry paste

small can coconut milk

big knob of butter

salt n pepper

I steamed the veggies (but think roasted would be yummier) and used an Indian curry paste (but think Thai might be yummier) and Light Coconut Milk (but think full fat MUST be better -isn't it always??). However I cooked it all up in a pan and stuck it through the blender and it was still

VERY YUMMY!!

Enjoy!.....

gweeeeeetings......

Unearthed!...Some blank greeting cards I made for my 'Kitty n Kitsch' collection. They are intentionally for children but if you're as silly as me you'd love to receive one at whatever age! They are patches from some vintage fabric I picked up along the way, simply sewn onto a blank card. I will sell some as sets, like this 'animal set'. Some individual. There's some cute patches. I'll share with you another time.

Would love to know what you tink about these?

carnival and candy floss mobiles

I was lucky enough to have Craig Hempstead , a local photographer and friend come around today to take some photographs to prepare for the launch of my 'etsy' and 'made it' online stores. Here's a sneak preview of two products that will be featured;

Carnival Mobile

Inspiration for this came from a ton of ribbons hanging from some wire in a beautiful shop down the south coast. I thought it was a mobile, which I was set to snap up for Kitty's nursery but when the shop assistant told me it was a means of displaying ribbons and not actually a mobile I decided to create my own version. With 125 metres of 6mm ribbon, a rose embossed metal heart from a store in the UK, a metal hoop and some hemp string it came together!

I'm pretty happy with the result. The olive greens, deep purples, crimson reds and hot pinks sang Carnival to me. So that became it's name.

Candy Floss Mobile

For something a little softer I went on to make this mobile. I replaced the red heart with a cream version, used whites, creams, silvers and gold ribbons and the finished product reminded me of a candyfloss stall. Hence, it's name.

Both these mobiles will be available for purchase in my 'made it' and 'etsy' stores later this week. Boys colour schemes also available. Heart will be exchanged for something more masculine!

a cushion, a winerack and something very small...

3 new things in my house this week.

I found a cushion insert in Vinnies with all intentions of making a patchwork chenille cover (coming soon!). I also bought an olivey green (my new favourite colour in ANYTHING) velvet cover in yet another Vinnies. So I brought the two together and sewed on a sparkly black bow and some black pom pom trim and Im left with a sultry boudoir style cushion with nowhere to live as it doesn't match anything in my house....but who likes matching anyway.



I found this wine rack in an antique shop at the fabulous JindyAndy Mill east of Nowra. Have no idea of its origin, but it's yellow, and a bit wierd so felt the need to bring it home. It is also a complete mismatch with anything in my kitchen....but nothing matches in there anyway!

My father in law just returned from England and brought home this super cute pigeon pair. A mini beach house and a mini yacht. This does match my nautical themed bedroom and they sit nicely on top of our nautically welcoming bedhead. ps. how cute are the proverbs?!

And that's it!!

rocking horse

I found this little lady (i think it's a lady!) on the roadside this weekend. I think it's pretty charming and looks family crafted (wonder why she was dumped?)

I've always had a slight obsession with rocking horses....and carousels for that matter....(but strangely have never taken to real horses for some reason). Im in a quandary as to what to do with my new friend above. I want to make her cute for Kitty, I'm thinking this thing will become a Pearce family heirloom!! Serious stuff.

So, it prompted me to do some research on rocking horses (this was fun) and I found two condenders for inspiration. Do I keep it simple and make her less 'worn out' looking, something like this divine rocking horse designed by Danish designer Kay Bojesen;

OR, due to having a slight aversion to 'anything' minimalist, I was loving this little man (i think it's a man?) designed by US artist Linda Spillum;

I really feel like giving my horse a bit of personality...and I can paint and I love doing it. I think I'll stick it on my list of crafty things to complete this year and before long she may have a mane, tail and maybe even a neckerchief of her own!

Any thoughts/ideas????

finders keepers...weep losers!!

Seriously loving the FINDERS KEEPERS market in Sydney today!

I managed a few cute handcrafted little buys but my favourite has to be my tweetie bird/teapot teacup earrings by 'the little shop of handmade' which Kitty so kindly bought me for mothers day tomorrow.

I also stumbled across the TART cafe on the way home (i sniff these things out) in Erskinville, a previously undiscovered suburb for me with a cosy village atmosphere. Fantastic coffee washed down by a cheese and leek tart at the Erskinville deli next door. Superb stuff.

What with that and a Vinnies pit stop in Rockdale and another at Pitt Trading in Ramsgate...we have one very happy camper.

a cat named zelda!

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, my 10 year old stepdaughter decided to craft a cat for her baby sister Kitty! a kitty for Kitty!! I think she did a fine job. Nanna Lyn had given her some cosy comfy material that morning, she cut out her cat, sewed her up, stuffed her up and garnished the critter.

Zelda now lives on top of the bookcase in Kitty's nursery in all her glamourpuss glory.