loving house

Am having no regrets whatsoever on my move to the sticks. The sense of community and the peace and quiet is everything I wanted and more. Must be getting old! I also love love love having a house after being squished into a small unit with all the kiddies bumping around for so long.  It's lovely being able to make stuff for houses too.

We have two main beaches where we are. Last weekend we took a stroll off one of the beaches into the National Park and collected this piece of wonky driftwood. I bought those glass jars at Spotlight for AU$2 (!!!) each and hung them with twine to make a tea light holder above the outside table. It looks so pretty lit up at night over dinner.

 I know bunting has been completely done to death but there really is nothing like it to jolly up the place. And being from England it always reminds me of cobbled streets strung up with bunting by the sea. I made this looooong stretch of bunting using IKEA fabrics. So cheap and bright and brilliant for outdoor use. 

I have been meaning to make Kitty and Spike a door sign using this gorgeous screenprint from 

Sketch & Jones. I bought a few different designs from her at the Avoca beach markets but this was totally my favourite. Kitty on her bike dragging Spike along in the cart. And bunting featuring again!! So sweet. Not sure what I'm going to do with the other designs I bought. Might put them on some shirts for Kitty for the summer. 

spike's 1st cowboy party...

 Today Spike turned 1. I organised a Cowboy party for him. I made some flags from some Spotlight fabric, lolly bags with kraft gift bags with some cheap n cheerful Sheriff badges from Hot Dollar and an easy peasy cow print cake with royal icing.

 I have organised a market stall in a couple of months so will keep these flags to sell there as Kitty and Spike are room sharing these days so bit too 'blokey' for their space!

 Found this idea on this lovely blog and thought I'd do a bit of a copycat. Was a hit with the kiddies.

 Loved the fact the kids played cowboy/cowgirls for the entire party. Very sweet to watch.

Here he is. The biggest love affair of my life so far. Mothers and their sons. A deadly combination!

declutter reclutter....

PHEW!....It's been a busy couple of months. We moved house to this wonderful place and couldn't be happier. So peaceful, found my yummy coffee spot and perfect little community spirit. It's like going back 50 years. So me. Unfortunately the serenity goes hand in hand with many a living thing at home that doesn't include my hubbie or kids. 

 The council clear up here has proved to be a bit of a winner too. My favourite score was this gorgeous Ercol Windsor Sofa. Should have seen the grin on my face dragging that one down the street home. So happy. Also picked up some great kids toys including this original 1970's Fisher Price till that little Spike has taken a bit of a shine too.

 So that's where I've been. Moving house, emptying boxes, decluttering, recluttering, dragging sofas around streets and lapping up the peace and quiet with a few too many big spiders thrown in the mix.

Expensive Trim!

I have just returned from 5 weeks in England and had an amazing time and am struggling to get back into my Aussie groove a bit. I'll get there. Just miss my mum, my brother, tearooms, pubs and jubilee bunting everywhere!

Obviously I splashed out on some new fabrics and crafty bits but my biggest SPLURGE by far was during a trip to the beautiful town of Stamford.

I 'popped' into a fabric shop and spotted some very special looking trim all curled up in a glass jar on the shelve. I promptly ordered a metre, wandered up to the counter to be told I owed £15! Was slightly shocked and pretty pleased I only ordered a metre!

It is however amazingly beautiful and made by this super talented lady.

Priority on returning to Australia was to put that pricey bit of trim to good use.

I was recently given this lamp which is sweet but not quite to my taste. So I used some fabric I bought from this brilliant shop and added the trim to the bottom. I'm using the lamp in Kitty and Spike's room (there they are in the background making a guest appearance!).

our creative spaces..

Loved creating this hoop art for Kitty's friend Daisy who had her 3rd birthday party on Sunday. It's always nice when you make for somebody with the same taste as you so you can use all your favourites from your op shop stash of vintage supplies!

I cut a doily to fit the frame and embroidered her name and a few extra daisies onto it. I then added some gorgeous pom pom trim that was my girlfriend's grandmothers and was given to me when she passed away recently.

It's such a simple idea and super easy to do but they look really sweet and make great door signs!

Pop over here to check out crafty lovely things......

vintagey inspiration....

Kitty and Spike are now sharing a room. It is the most heartwarming thing ever popping my head in to see their gorgeous little heads only metres apart in the land of zzz's. I have had to cull a lot of Kitty's florals in order to make the room a little more Spike friendly. I'm trying to put together a vintage mish mash of crafty type decors. Here are some pictures that I am feeling very inspired by.....

here

here

here

here

All so lovely. I really need an ornate bay window preferably with a bit of stained glass, original rustic floorboards and a big fat picture rail running around the middle of the room to get me started. Guess I'll have to use a bit of artistic licensing on that one!

our creative spaces....

I have actually had a bit of time to make some me things this week. Having had a busy lead up to Christmas with my online store and then a month off followed by a busy February and March I am really enjoying delving into my basket of crafty things that have been sitting on the backburner.

Had been wanting to make an embroidery hoop with a fabric slogan for ages so made this Home Sweet Home version for a girlfriend who is about to move into a new place.

Looking forward to having a browse around here now to check out what you've been up to....