MY CREATIVE SPACE

I really do love myself a bit of hoop art. I am forever picking up hoops from my numerous trails around the op shops and love putting them to use. I have had a lot of different things hanging on my front door but have been wanting to make something relevant to my family. So inspired by some great hoop art lettering on pinterest I used a bit of artistic license and came up with this. There was just one stipulation; the squirrel just had to be red. They are MUCH cuter than the grey ones aren't they.

My Creative Space...it's been a while!

I have been a seriously slack blogger. No excuses. However, I did create something yesterday that I would like to share on the wonderful 'My Creative Space' so here it is. I really love hoop art and have had these two very old hoops hanging around for a while. So I grabbed a thrifted pillow case and drew a loo and a bath and appliqued them on to the chopped up pillow case. Stuck it in the hoop and I have myself two pretty cute and retro looking bathroom door signs.

Check out other craft here

cheering things up a little.....

...after yet another tearful farewell yesterday reluctantly seeing my mum and dad back off to the UK (they don't get any easier).  I decided to cheer myself up with a little post about Christmas. I have been extremely slack on the blogging front this year but have been crazy mental preparing for my first market so thought I'd pop in a wee post before Christmas.....CHRISTMAS!!! how did that come round so quick???....

Will be putting up the decorations this weekend but a few have cheekily snuck their way into my house already. My sister in law sent these gorgeous wooden beach huts over with mum. How sweet are they? There they are sitting on top of my newly acquired 1920's kitchen cabinet which I am so in love with (will post on it's revamp a bit later on)

 Had to share my Christmas card from mum this year. A paper snow globe nativity scene. It's like a decoration in itself.

This ballerina was winking at me in the shops the other day. Luckily for me I have absolutely no colour scheme whatsoever when it comes to anything including of course Christmas so every single decoration is there for the taking. Which can make things a bit dangerous. Can't wait to put her on the tree this year. I'm sure she'll be a family member for many years to come, I'm not one for change. In fact I don't replace anything really (clothes, kids, husbands,friends, furniture the list goes on...)

 The advent calendar is up. I am SUCH a fan of the fabric advent calendar and have seen some amazing creations around this year. I particularly love this one that Melissa made for her family. Totally gorgeous.

 In my dreams my front door would be this one from The Holiday. However, it most definitely isn't so I have to make do with what I have. (I'm pretty sure Kate didn't have that small screaming person at her front door either who will not let me leave his side for a millisecond!). Please note I don't make a habit of shutting him inside whilst I'm out but needed to if I had any hope of getting a decent photo without the matt or coat bucket flying mid shot. I'm actually desperate to fill that bucket with pine cones but can't find any! Am reluctant to buy them when I know there must be a park nearby full of them. Hopefully it will be filled by Christmas.

I made some fabric wreaths this year which I sold at the markets but couldn't resist this one for the front door after finding it in my mother in law's garage. It had some pretty old stringy ribbons attached so I stripped it bare and added a couple of cute little dicky birds and a new Christmassy ribbon.

Looking forward to now doing some more cheery uppy stuff and checking out other bloggers Christmas things now....

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!).