Monday, February 28, 2011

To market, to market



Went back to the Brisbane Markets at Rocklea this weekend. 
So glad to see it back up and really busy after being closed down due to being under water!! The boys and I went out for some beautiful fresh fruit and veges, breakfast and coffee. 
My friends Kell And Matt have a regular gig here. I love seeing them play. Kelly has being writing songs since our primary school days. I was just as much in awe of her talents then as I am now. We used to perch up in a tree in her front yard with cushions, notebooks and bags of lollies or homemade biscuits, for hours and talk and imagine and create. Kell used to make up songs and poems and I think I just used to talk a lot of nonsense. So not much has changed.




Sunday, February 27, 2011

Cake Pops!


Afternoon tea yesterday at a friend's. She has a beautiful collection of vintage china, 
I wish I'd taken more photos! And how sweet are those cake pops! 
My other friend Leesa made them and they have some pretty, peachy cake shimmer on them. 
They went quite nicely with some cool pink sparkles in big glasses!
 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Collection of Beads


 I have had this pretty set of hooks for some time and have finally gotten around to hanging it today.
I am reluctant to hammer anything into a wall because I rent so decided in the end the best place for it is on the side of my wardrobe in my bedroom. Now I have somewhere to keep my beads so they won't be a tangled mess and I'll be reminded to wear them more often, plus they look pretty I think!



Now on to some more sorting and little jobs around the house, not so fun but helps when 
you can stop and take a pretty picture of something finished every now and then.
awesome print from here at keep calm gallery

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Kerbside ~ the collection continues...


Want to see some more of the junk I've been collecting?
The ladder above I think has been my biggest and proudest conquest so far.
It was one of those days when I was least expecting something cool to happen that I found it. 
I was driving home from lunch at a friend's. I had to make my excuses and leave early as I had a hundred really important  things to do before picking up my children from school. She got a call from me an hour later asking her to posthaste bring her station wagon round {I'm only about five minutes away, i said} to help me get this little guy home. 
She was amazed it had taken me an hour to travel a distance which should have taken five minutes... but I got sidetracked! 
There were streets and streets of cool old junk for me to find! I did try and fit this ladder into my magna on my own and it took quite a few arguments between me and my car and some pleading and begging, but I lost the fight and had to ring for back-up. 
Of course the two manly men I called up first let me down so in the end I was rescued by a very little lady and her more accommodating vehicle.
It's a very solid and perfectly working ladder {attested to by the man who used it to clean my gutters}. 
It is also a fab colour, {which I like to call institute green} and smaller, less cool versions of it are selling for hundreds of dollars at the local antiques centre so I do feel like it was a treasure worth fighting for! 
Not sure what I will do with it though.....



Also found was this chair, aged perfectly for me and a big red suitcase and 
my 13 year old insisted on this microphone!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tiny sweets!




So juicy! I found these at the local chemist. 
They are made in Montville. Kiwi Fruit was my favourite.
They make other lollies too which you can order online and get ones made 
up with your name in them ~ sweet!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Fauxmance





The search for love continues, have stumbled across a bit of fauxmance along the way although 
nothing as exciting as these Mills & Boon Covers as I have always had my 
heart set on a guy with an eye patch.


Happy Valentine's Day ~ I got mine!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Little Projects




I have had this craftwood set of drawers for about 10 years. I think I originally got it from 
Ikea and switched the drawers back to front and painted it to match my 
Laura Ashley bed linen {back in the day} and added some knobs. 
As I got sick of looking at it about 9 years ago I thought it was about time for a makeover. I cover all sorts of things like this with paper and this is they way I have found works best for me........


I have chosen my paper, a good way to use up scrapbooking or wrapping paper that you love. 
Measure each surface of the drawers and frame that you need to cover and cut out 
those sizes from your paper selection. Then glue to the surfaces, I use Mod Podge or PVA. This is sometimes a bit tricky especially on larger surface areas. It depends on the kind of paper you use, I will admit I got a few bubbly bits. Try to smooth it out with a cloth as you go.

When it's covered and the glue is dry you can trim, sand and varnish.
I am far from accurate or patient so I always get bits of paper sticking out which have to 
be trimmed with a knife.


Next I sand the edges to make it nice and smooth and flush. Don't go crazy or you will rip the paper too much. However having said that, a nice distressed edge looks good too. Use a medium then a very fine grain of sandpaper. This should just be a quick sanding.


This bit is the most important so PAY ATTENTION. You have to go buy yourself some gelati so you can use the cup when you're finished to pour your varnish in to. Whatever you do, don't use a normal plastic container you already have lying around at home ~ it won't work!
Now to varnish - do two coats taking care with the edges so that your paper won't peel up at a later date. Any kind of water based craft varnish is fine, glossy is what I used here. 
Wait till it dries before applying the second coat. When it's done your piece will be sealed and easy to clean, able to withstand knocks, ra ra ra. 
Last step ~ add some pretty drawer pulls / knobs {mine used here were purchased from Ikea } 
~ all done! 





Friday, February 11, 2011

Welcome to my new home.


It's been a little quiet here in the suburbs ~ no internet for most of the week! So frustrating... but I think it's fixed for the time being. It's been much cooler this week so perfect for some hard labour fixing up my new house

 ~ welcome to my new home ~


                                         

Still a bit of work to do. I think the pink room will be mine. No mortgage here as we picked this one up for free on the side of the road!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Cooling Green

This heat in Brisbane is TOO MUCH!
I have no air conditioning!
You have to get dressed in front of a fan. I poured some talc into my hands this morning without considering the effect of being 2cms in front of a fan whilst pouring a handful of talc. You can imagine...
Here is some cooling green.






This is the pin board in my office, I love looking at it, it helps relieve stress. It works. I have been collecting the cards and postcards on here since I was little. Some are from places I have visited,
some are vintage, some were given to me by friends and some are the cards I buy after visiting an exhibition and have fallen in love with a particular painting and wanted to take it home with me
but only have a dollar.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A Day Out In Paddington

Was probably, what felt like the hottest day so far this year and last year too.
My sister and I had our first Work Free & Child Free Day, {and by "Day" I mean approx 5 and a half hours} in a LONG  TIME  so we thought..... coffee..... and why not make it in Paddington!
First stop was coffee, we chose a cool looking little place. 
Upon ordering we went to pay with our cards and the lady said ~ sorry it's our very first ever day and we aren't fully set up yet, you can bring along the cash later if you like. 
I was suitably shocked at this free thinking!  We had our very well made coffee and dropped off the cash later on during the morning. She gambled with trust and won our respect!
URBAN GRIND  review on fourthousand
*Picture below is NOT the coffee shop ~ just a house I liked.



Monty's Chocolate ~ we stopped in for another coffee and a chocolate as we were getting a little 
weary from all the looking at shops AND power walking combined with hill climbing up and down Latrobe Tce. As we couldn't decide which chocolate to taste with our coffee no.2 for the day we sensibly chose the chocolate tasting plate. It came with a lovely thick hot chocolate and we thought a very generous selection of chocolates including chocolate coated nuts, chocolate coated salted caramels and chocolate coated cocoa beans and nibs dusted in chocolate ~ 
I can't even begin to explain it correctly so I suggest you go there yourself! 
We had to stop at about the halfway mark and got the remainder wrapped up to take home.

                            
Had to sit down for a bit during post chocolate mini coma ~ comfy, 
not exactly as it is made of mosaic tiles! But it did have a lovely view of the city!


We redeemed ourselves at lunch with rice paper rolls and a cold bottle of water


Op Shopping!


A colour for every day plus a beige for weddings and a black for funerals ~ everything you need!



Oh dear! ~ Not For Sale!
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