a bunny for a baby

A blossom bunny made by me from my new softies book. She is going to fly across the ditch to New Zealand for Keira Marie, the lastest edition to my cousins family. I do hope Keira likes her blossom bunny.
I think next time I make one of these, I'll put a rattle inside for extra fun.

on my desk... on a wednesday

On my desk is an old griffiths sweets tin with orchids on the lid, a book I made a while back that I fill with little drawings and cut outs. And lastly, a tin full of antique coins. The boy was rummaging through the cupboard last night & pulled this out to show me. It belonged to his late grandfather, all of the coins date back to the 1700's & 1800's. Then there are some that are so old & worn that the year has corroded off. What a treasure!

a productive afternoon

10 new doodle books made, all with vintage wallpaper lining. Look out for them at the rose st market in the coming month.

just another day

I just had to post this! Driving up punt rd yesterday, the date and I almost had a heart attack thinking some bloke had a giraffe in his car. But giraffe it was not, great dane it was! His head was huge! I was compelled to take a photo, I had to use my mobile hence the bad image. And no I wasn't at the wheel, just in case you were worried. We followed him from swan st to johnston, just so I could watch him enjoy the ride with his ears and jowls flapping in the wind. What a sight!

yesterdays purchases

I picked up some cute vintage fabric I had purchased on ebay. The donkey has a sign around his neck that says "smart ass". Hee hee. The pink piece has flowers and old buildings on it and the leaf piece is an ever so soft drill fabric, such a great autumn pattern.

I bought these two books from borders. I've had my eye on them both for such a long time. My cousin just had her second child, a wee baby girl. I will make her a mabel monkey I think. And I'm sure to find a little something to make for the mirabel foundation too. Better get crackin.

And I picked these two reels up from Tarlo & Graham on chapel st. I'm going to create a ribbon dispenser with them. I'll post when complete.

this is... my absolute favourite book

This was a hard one... there have been so many. So I have gone with two that inspire me to cook.
I have a dream... to one day go to paris and live for a couple of months. I want to compose a book of my recipes, drawings, photographs and writings. I want to go to different markets all over paris, buy beautiful fresh produce and take it back to my apartment to make something from it. I know that I can do this in melbourne too, but it is a little hard to immerse yourself fully when there is everyday things like work to consume your time.
Stephanie's book is like a bible to me, do you want to know what goes with venison? Then just ask aunty Steph. This book was given to me by three great friends.
Oh, and that is my teddy bear Victor. He was given to me when I was born, and has been much loved.

oh mister postman

Such lovely things arrived in the post yesterday. Some vintage fabric and art deco buttons. I is a very happy kitty. What to do with them... I am yet to decide. But they are very beautiful.

on my desk... on a wednesday

Oh, I know it's thursday again. I would have been on time this week, honestly. It's just that yesterday blogger was being dumb.
These are the plates and glasses I purchased in Castlemaine on sunday. I've transformed them into a serving tier for a lovely little friend of mine who has a passion for making lamingtons. I think they will look perfect atop my creation. I haven't glued it together yet, I'm contemplating glue types... superglue or hardcore craft glue?

girl meets guy craft: finished product

Hoorah! Check out this shelving beauty, designed by me & constructed with the help of my wonderful multiskilled fiance. The front section of the workshop is slowly evolving, by the end of the week it will be finished. The white pendant light was sourced on our sunday adventure out to Castlemaine & the table is an old workbench of the misters which takes 5 strong men to lift. The blank wall on the left is where some of my motorcycle photos will live & maybe be sold... fingers crossed these motorcycle types like photos of their beasts.

learning card lessons

Tow-truckin across the universe.

Tea, anyone?

What goes up and down and round and round?

I can paddle one of these, canoe?

ding-a-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning
songs of the deep south.

this is... my latest discovery

CASTLEMAINE!!!

Yesterday the mister & I rose early for a drive out to Castlemaine. We had packed a picnic & were in search of antiques & curiosities.

This is the Restorers Barn, where you can find gorgeous crockery (heaps of trios), old tins, bottles, lights, books, etc,etc. And if you're retoring an old house they have really good copies of everything you could possible need, from door handles to decorative pressed tin. We bought a huge old enamel pendant light, some petrol and oil tins (both for the misters workshop). And I bought 3 plates and 2 glasses... I'll show you what I make from them later.

This is the botanical gardens, we had and antipasto lunch off to the left. It's really sweet to sit with your loved one, drinking wine & talking about life, history & love. A beautiful afternoon.

We discovered the old gaol, which has an awesome view over the town.

Went to the XXXX Antique Complex, where we fell in love with the Automotive room. So many beautifully restored petrol bowsers, one day we'll get one for the workshop.

And there is a fantastic steam train that does return trips between Castlemaine & Maldon. We ran out of time to jump aboard, but next time this is a definate!

I totally forgot about taking photos all day, so these are all courtesy of the web.

girl meets guy craft: lesson in steel construction

Warning serious guy craft, please wear safety gear.

A while ago, I drafted up some drawings for some steel shelving to go in the workshop. This week the shelves came to life. I measured the lengths of steel and marked all the 45 degree angles which Samuel then proceeded to cut. We then placed the pieces in their respective positions and made sure they were all squared up and parrallel. The weld all the necessary parts together and whola, bobs your uncle steel shelves. They are huge, 2.9 metres wide, 2.4 metres high and 40cm deep. Today the boy is cutting up some wood slats for shelving, then it will really be finished. What an achievement! I'll post the finished product soon.

Here it is upside down. We had to carry it out onto the street where there was enough room to flip it over, then carry it back in again.

on my desk... on a wednesday

I haven't been at my desk much this week, so there hasn't been anything of great interest to photograph. Instead I give you 4 more learning cards featuring desks.




I'll be back later with some great girl meets guy craft... a little but very big project me & the mister have been working on. I'll give you a clue: it involves 60m of angled steel...

gingerbread cake

This one's for Pip! It's an old favourite in my family.

What you'll need:
1 cup plain flower
1/2 cup selfraising flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp mixed spice
pinch of ground clove
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
90 gm butter
1/2 cup golden syryp
1 tsp lemon juice

How to make it:
-grease & flour ring cake tin
-sift flours, soda & spices into bowl
-stir in sugar & combined egg & milk
-combine butter, lemon & syryp in a saucepan stirring over low heat until melted
-stir butter mixture into main mix
-pour into tin & bake at 180 degrees celsius for 40 minutes electric or 50 minutes in an old gas oven like mine
-stand for 5 minutes before turning out

filing is fun

Pop on over to mikes to view a week of pillowcases hosted by the infamous kootoyoo. Today you will find some lovely fabric files, assembled by the lady herself. You can win them too! Below is another beauty from my learning card stash.

This is Maud, filing is a dread for her. She is wishing she too had some fabric files to brighten up her day.

more learnings from the cards

this is a fight,

this is a kite,

this is an oboe,

& this is what gives old ladys the same hairstyle... that's right isn't it???

thrifty kitty & her new boots

This morning I went thrifting along the Windsor end of Chapel st and boy did I have some finds. I was searching for vintage wallpaper, but was open to other ideas aswell...

vintage cadbury tin & miliners brush

golden hands craft magazines

& a stash of fabric.

And I couldn't help a drop in to Emils shoe shop to see if there were any nice boots in my size... & there were! So I put them on layby. They are Justins & made from buffalo leather.

a sneak peek of things to come...

Here is a start to my bookmaking, a simple little doodle book filled with cartridge paper for all your expressive doodling. It measures 13.5cm by 20cm and is lined with vintage wallpaper (a little hard to take a photo of). Just a bit more fine tuning, then I'll have a production line going. I'm also working on a few other book styles aswell, I'll post them soon.

the postman came on a thursday & put a letter & a frog & a mouse & a spider in the letterbox

Ok ok, the postman only left a letter... and these wonderful vintage learning cards! My postman was not at all silly like Peter Coombes' postman, mine was very wise to bring me these.
There is 153 cards in this pack, and I want to share them all with you. So here's a few for today & I'll gradually keep posting them until we're through.