Crafty Monday

D day for these Parker chairs is December 17th...my Dad's birthday.
I can't wait to have these chairs completed and to hand them over to my Dad. The first night celebrating on them over a long home cooked meal down on the coast with my family will be such a joy.

They've been totally stripped back from the awful lacquered teak they were when I purchased them.
the backs have been re-padded & reupholstered.
the seats re-webbed.
Lastly, the seats are ready for new foam and upholstery.

The momentum is building. I know they've been a while in the making but I'm so pleased with the way they're turning out.
I do love Monday and the feeling of progress. x

I'd just like to say....

I hope you're having a lovely day. xo

Ready for a new life

Another 2 chairs complete. I'm making headway, stealing a little time here and a little time there, making friends with my compressor and becoming more efficient. My skill level is expanding with each job. It's a great feeling building a skill. Now I need to get a move on and open a little online store.

I've added a new page for those of you who love to drool over chairs in all their guises and included links I'm often snooping around on for inspiration.

x

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
- Seneca

Sharing the love

A little list of lovely people & places to visit:

Daily imprint. I especially enjoyed the interview with Hallie Burton.

Reading about the adventures of the Click Clack Gorilla living in a caravan community in Germany. Marvelling at the size of her van & the fact that she's about to have a baby. Wow!

I know I've listed it before but there's always so much to delight over at habit.

This magic wallet by Mini-eco is about to hit my to-do-list. I love it.

Permablitz Melbourne. What an amazing idea, eating the suburbs one backyard at a time.

Kiuyu. The rescuing makes me bop about the house. It's possibly the sound of the casio that makes me so happy.

Enjoy xox

a late addition... Ben's cold pond water blog. I'm so impressed Ben. Winter in the uk...are you mad?

Thrifty finds

Z and I met his cousins at their school fete, St Johns's Primary Mitcham on Saturday morning. For those of you not in Melbourne on Saturday, it was absolutely pouring! Mitcham is quite some drive from our place without the rain. Thankfully it was warm......just incredibly wet. We were soaked through within 15 mins of stepping from the car but still our enthusiasm reigned. There were show bags, hot dogs, scary rides, jumping castles, scones, face painting, mini golf... you name it, they had it covered.

For me, where things really started to heat up......the bric-a-brac stand. My heart skips a beat. The thrill of finding something special in a pile of 'junk' always brings me great pleasure.

Saturday was no exception. I discovered 4 very retro Greman Melitta glasses and made them mine at $2 the set. I then found 4 tub chairs stashed under a stairwell and after some deliberation thought there was no harm in asking a price. '$2ea... are you sure?.... I'll take them.' I then discovered another 2 hidden under a mountain of junk and snapped them up too. Four I could squeeze into the car with Z and I .... but six? I had to call for reinforcement. My brother arrived with his ute, shook his head and graciously packed them onto the tray top without fuss (a thousand thank you's Uncle P).
I wasn't 100% sure my vision for these chairs would translate once home but at $12 it was worth a shot.

They're perfect! What's more I feel like I'm sitting at Cicciolina when I sit at the table. Now, that can't be a bad thing.

{this moment}

A special moment from the week. One I am so very grateful for.

Z was out in the garden singing away at the top of his voice while dancing around last week. A little later he came into my room and said "Mum, did you hear me singing outside?" I replied that I had and how fantastic it was to hear him sing with such gusto.
He then said "I was just celebrating you mum."

My heart melted. He's 3. I love 3 & I love my Z.

Have a wonderful weekend. xx

Shopping South Melbourne & my Kippis mugs

I love, love, love my new Kippis mugs. They're a belated birthday present form my long time friend and neighbour, S. They came from here....somewhere I've been meaning to visit....but have resisted as I know the temptation to purchase something and everything will be quite overwhelming. So a huge thank you, they're the best.

Another birthday present I'm particularly fond of is this charming milk pitcher from Southwood Home.
If Southwood Home doesn't get you hot tailing it to Coventry St check out The Design Files Shopping Guide to South Melbourne (it's from 2008 so although it has a lot of wonderful retailers listed there's even more to excite these days). Be sure to pop into Chez Dre for a pastry (or two) in their courtyard. Heaven. x

a new look for an old gem

Friends commissioned me to reupholster this armchair for their sitting room. The original chair, with it's terribly 80's fabric, was in desperate need of a make over. It had the lingering qualities of a 'has been' chair from a big time boardroom.

Ta dah..... look at it now. A little love and some handy work have given this gem a completely sleek look (much more in keeping with it's owner). The fabric is from Spoonflower and the geometric design is perfect to complement the handsome timber arm rests. I'm very happy to be sending him home looking all swanky and new.

I hope the C-S's love it as much as I do. x

Making it in merry good time.

We've officially started making our Christmas gifts! Yippe, we're on target. Let's just hope we keep up a steady momentum. The gift list is long this year.
These FIMO necklaces are to be bundled up for Z's carers.
The tea towels are still in the works. We have all the materials now we just need to agree on the design and set a date to start printing. Hopefully next week.

Have you made a list and checked it twice?
x

PS. My favourite stall from the Magnolia Square market this year was Sirens Swimwear. These cossies are so very flattering! They get a huge tick from me.

Hand printing on Fabric

1. Screenprinting, 2. Folk Birds - Tea Towel, 3. Dusk Lupine - Tea Towels, 4. pattern of the day-026, 5. Shipping Out I, 6. Untitled

I've decided (with a couple of friends) to hand print some tea towels for Christmas presents this year. Being complete novices we've been investigating the process, made trips to Melbourne Etching Supplies and Riot Art for supplies, watched youtube tutorials and consulted our copies of this Lena Corwin book and my beloved Lotta Prints book. I'm now hoping we'll be ready to roll next week.

We just need to come up with our artwork & choose whether to use the Drawing Fluid & Screen filler or stencil technique.

Here are a couple of tutorials I found which are handy if you'd too like to get crafty and print up some tea towels of you own.
Miss Daydream Believer's print studio
Anna Laura's screen printing using drawing fluid tutorial.
Craftgrrl's Cheap screen printing using an embroidery hoop.
Dakini Silk & Things tutorial.

I've also been pinning my favorites over here. If you have any inspiration.... or tips I'd love to hear. Please leave me the links below. xox

A rainy day with Sally Seltmann

Hanging about at home.
Watching the rain.
Listening to this.
xox

My Cinderella Chair

I just came across my reupholstered 'Acland chair' over on a couple of delightful tumblr pages dreams and idle pleasures and chair porn. It's quite a compliment to see it there amoungst the gorgeousness.

This chair was found on 'Acland' street, by my friend Tom Tom, on his way to work one morning. He texted me a photo & the location so Z & I scooted down and bundled it into the car. The incredible stench emanating from it was something else.....it made my tummy turn. Springs and wading were popping out in every direction. This abused and abandoned chair needed a lot of love.
It almost didn't make it home.
After stripping it back to basics and reupholstering it in this lovely linen...I'm so pleased it did.

Happy weekend x

What's cooking?

It's been a week of organising and getting back into the swing of things.

A little ho hum for some.......but I've prepared my Christmas cake mix & it's soaking in Grand Marnier ready for baking in December. I used the trusty old Womens Weekly Christmas Cookbook recipe (I see Peter's of Kensington have a lovely hard cover edition) but would love to hear about any of your prized Christmas cake/pudding details....Do you have a favourite recipe?

I've made a batch of Chewy Coconut Biscuits, from cityhippyfarmgirl and also one of the Cashew Chia Date rolls....although, mine didn't turn out looking quite so well but it tastes delicious.

I made another Flourless Orange Cake last night for the L.F. to take into work today. I really do love this recipe. If you have a couple of hours to spare it's super easy and so delicious. I hope there's a slither left over for me!!

We've de-slugged our veggie patch with some more of this & enjoyed cooking up the bounty of Swiss Chard we came home to after our break.

All in all a lot of time has been spent in the kitchen but after eating out almost every day on our holiday I've totally enjoyed it.

Here's a peep at our kitchen. The giraffe grow chart I painted to keep track of Z's height. 'Growth spurt' really is an appropriate term for little people. It's incredible to see how quickly he shoots up.

Adios, I'm off to make moussaka. xox