things I got for a song

Thanks so much to Tamara for picking my name for her Ella and Kate giveaway - lovely pure white ribbon bow - my girls will die when they come home from school -'Sharing please'- will be my mantra - or maybe I just need to get one more - should have ordered one at the time!!! D'oh!

Another big score - this time at Amitie - 50% off on a few selected bolts - I bought the whole bolt on this one......a Kokka gauze....maybe a skirt?


....Anna Maria Horner $10 / m - had to get the rest of the bolt too! Look at what Ashley did with her large print....could me do that too?


....some lovely Kaffe i didn't have....just some squares
....some super lovely AB Temple Flowers - big piece had lots of holes fussy cut out of it $5!!

I felt and surely looked like a bag-lady by scrounging around in a big cardboard box of scraps - pulling out this and that - even large lengths of fabric - "how much is this?" - $20 a metre - well, I thought, surely fabric in a scrap box is reduced?? No?? NO. Okay - that goes back and that.

don't put it in the SCRAP box if it's not a SCRAP - okay rant over.


Remiss of me to neglect talking about another thing I won - A Luckie from Tinniegirl


Lots of papery bits and pieces for collaging and scrapbooking and general ooh and aahing - I would love for Cathy to show some ideas for our Luckies - I'm not a naturally gifted paper ideas girl.


This caught my eye - I am a bit of a romantic:



Here is Ruby - our foster greyhound - we have her for 3 weeks, teaching her how to be a good citizen of suburbia and general household living - ie - what are stairs? Do I go through the glass door or around it? Do I chew the door or your shoes?

It has been interesting to say the least - she was tested at the GAP kennels as being "good around cats" - well, Not in this house -she would love a little bit of Cat Dinner, so, very strict rules about keeping our cat and the dog separated At. All. Times.

She is a lovely dog who just needs a bit more time spent on her with house rules ie please don't wee again on the carpet, please don't bully your way through the door, please don't eat the guinea pigs, please don't wee Again on the carpet.....oh dear...I'm not painting a very good picture of her.....she needs love and more love...we love to love her....but she will be going back.


Edit: i think she is looking at this pile as 'snack time' - found an eaten LIBRARY book - can't fudge that one at work!!

Vintage stash and goodies

I haven't done Sunday Stash (see sidebar) for quite awhile, so being Sunday and a very wintery 14 degrees and blowy, I did a little cutting:

Some little vintage goodies for the Vintage Sheet Swap - I had to actually cull some I got so carried away - I think I shall send 36 little packages (in one big bag!) folded as requested like so.....




here are some of my favourites.......






do you see the delightful old gold velour couch they are resting on - that story is for another post I promise!!



I think also I can request some particulars.....so 'no brown' for me please Cg! There is something about brown quilts that I cannot figure - I just can't bear them! Sorry any lovers of brown!



My other lovely goodies are from Lulabell that came with my oh so wonderful doll quilt.

I love this cloud fabric - perfect for dreaming!

That girl is one clever cookie!

Sorry for my continual skiting!! It is all totally intentional...lol!

Heather Ross Rocks

After reading Chaletgirl's post on her love for HR - I love CG's quilt - so darn cute! and Damm it, she has some Far Far Away - that elusive new range by HR - could be one of her best and I can't find it anywhere (a little on etsy - but not the ones I want)

I want: Unicorns, Princesses atop mattresses,Frogs on lillypads in so many different colourways, sob, .....like Chaletgirl, .........sob

I read somewhere that maybe end of May people will get some shipments - but the frenzy may just increase exponentially because everyone wants what they can't have!!


A HR search found some lovely babushka prints and flower chain prints as a giveaway - on The Creative Juices of Ariel - sponsored by Down Shadow Lane Fabrics

Image from The Creative Juices of Ariel

I love the blush flowers and the babushkas - one more to add to my own HR collection, if I'm lucky!.

Doll Quilt Swap 6 ' Score!'

I don't watch sport and am not generally interested in anything that resembles competitive sport, but I can't help myself yelling

"SCORE!" as if I kicked the last winning goal straight through the middle posts
(AFL thoughts here)

I have been given the most beautiful doll quilt in this swap!

this is by Hayley of Lulabell










Most talented quilter and a fellow Kaffe Fassett admirer! I think she only just starting machine quilting too - beautiful pattern and the colours and the details....on the wall it has to go!

Oops - I forgot to take photos of her other pressies - some great KF fabric - which I don't have so

"Score" again

and a simply lovely eyemask, which Hayley made herself - truly great!

Cheers to you Hayley, and thank you too for the lovely card (did you make it?) Hope we can keep in Bloggy touch!

Piccies of these will definitely come - computer and email and photo stuff all v.v. messy at the moment here - so I 'm glad I could get something up here.

The famous come walking by...

Well, not really.....I am going to do a bit of name dropping, which really, I don't care for, but, I want my 5mins of fame through proxy....

okay...this is for all the aussies and maybe brits out there

having a lovely breakfast at a cute little cafe we found called.....wait for it......'Cafe'

this hunk of a spunk walked in.....Aaron Pedersen.....'City Homicide'...'Water Rats'....

hubbie goes....'Actor, actor...look' in a kind of secretive voice and hand gesture - not obvious at all!!

of, course, you don't look, but you do...you can't help yourself...but we are cool people...we don't fawn over celebs...well not to their face....just on a blog!


Then...after breakie....we walked down to a most obscure little op-shop called Blue Cross Animal Welfare Op-Shop (Through Rd, Camberwell) and scored with some t-shirts, stuff for the girls, fabric and the like....but also found a lovely shetland wool embroidered vest and inside was a tag which said...

'Neighbours'
'Tess'

Our own piece of flotsum and jetsum from the long running extremely popular or boring Aussie soap? Can anyone tell me if there was a character called Tess?

Some more cute stuff...

Vewy vewy cute!! (thanks Cherrie) This is made by Leah Sutton - I'm such a sucker for knitted things!

I want it now - I want to ride a pink Vespa just like this with my little handbag at my feet and my hair billowing beautifully behind me, my pink lips smiling at the admirers, tooting and waving as I go by....

Right, like that's going to happen. You're not in Rome now, baby.

Felt and French Knots and Favourites

Are not these just the best little creations!

DD1 and DD2 found some felt in my sewing basket over the hols, spied a needle and some perle thread and voila!!!

These are the Flopsy Bunnies - Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail

This badge was the inspiration for these.

DD1 wants to put cheeky messages on them.

All their own creations - I just threaded an empty needle now and then and helped a little with the simple running stitch, blanket stitch and (not so easy) French knot (little francophile's eyes lit up when she learnt the name!). After a few goes, they persisted and found that they absolutely Loved Embroidery!!

Here is "Buttons":

Playing with some fabric, a hoop and her favourite toys: her button collection!

"Just call me Button, now Mum"

"Okay Button"

Sweet grin!

Melted heart!

Gotta luv a getaway

What a perfect Easter break! Sunshine, sand, crystal water......forgot the swimmers (yes, my fault!)....what do you need swimmers for anyway?

We worked on the little 'shack' some more: sanding, painting, nailing, hooping (see below), played on the beach, went for drives through the countryside, visited a bush market- spent a bit of money..ahem...

Those toes could only be mine

A girl has to stay warm- I look good in purple, don't you think?

Some super cute goldfish in a bowl..no... a hoop...or two.....

A vintage sheet in a hoop...so soft and silky and the colours just sing to me.....

A vintage mirror bought at a garage sale in Red Hill for 20 bucks! the top bit I think we will spray a pretty silver - love the oval shape - can you see the granny rug on the couch? It was made by my Granny (or Nanna, as was her name) - the pink and yellow colours lift up the blue/greens/whites of the room.

The (only) bedroom - secondhand curtains snaffled at a last minute trash and treasure- gaudy red hibiscus with olivey green leaves - just happened to fit the two windows PERFECTLY -and the olivey green matched some painted drawers - who would've guessed?

The gorgeous white chenille spread from an antique store in Ballarat - again, 20 bucks!!!

The red rug from Salvos, Camberwell - saw it in the shop - could not leave without it - got it home and the colour just did not fit at my house. Clever hubbie suggested this little place and it found the right place!

some sweet bird cards framed:

Heronswood - beautiful historic building set in luscious grounds - all drought tolerant though!! We got there 1/2 hr before closing, so just a quick go around the nursery, pick up something interesting, take some shots and go - I think you need about 2 hours to explore it fully.

The view out to Port Philip Bay

this was a highly recommended roadside stall, selling tomatoes...ooh they were yummy!

Love the sign - "Honesty is an Australian tradition - let's keep it that way!"
3 cheers to that!

Lastly but not least - my daughter's present to the Easter Bunny - she was so proud of it - and I am so proud of her!!! This is really creative of her and I love that she loves to give gifts - what a sweetheart - the EB will treasure it forever!!

(Those are teeth, not fangs! hehe!)