Merry Christmas

Well I hope you are all having a very Merry Christmas.

It is late afternoon/evening here and we have only just finished lunch! I guess we will be having a late dinner.

I should mention that I have found it nearly impossible to take a good photo of my christmas tree. The branches stick out in all strange directions and it's not symmetrical at all. It's a cheap $12 one I bought from Borders one Christmas eve when I was desperate to find something. I think I will have to remedy that next year.

Yes those are the decorations I crocheted! I will show them to you in a little more detail soon.

Christmas Baking

I have been doing a bit of baking the last 2 days in preparation for Christmas.

I made some gingerbread biscuits for the first time ever yesterday. I got the recipe from here. The only thing I changed was to use cinnamon instead of the mixed spice. They worked out well although the icing seems to take forever to harden. I iced them this morning and it's still not hard.

Today I have been working on cream puffs which are a Christmas tradition in our household. I have made the custard and shells and will assemble them tomorrow so they can be eaten fresh.

phew! Time for a cuppa I think.

100 Seinfeld quotes [Episode 1]

For all you Seinfeld fans out there. This clip never fails to make me laugh!

Christmas Decoration Sneak Peek!

I have been busy crocheting.

Brooch SALE

I am discontinuing my current line of brooches. It's time to move on to new designs. As a result I have put them on sale for $20 (including postage for Australian customers) until they all run out.

You can find the brooches in my etsy shop here. With Christmas just around the corner they could make good christmas presents.

I have already had a few sales so if you see something you like, grab it while you can. I have multiples of a small number of designs but if the listing says last one then that is it!

Vintage Crochet Patterns

Clark's and Coats Book No. 243 Pot Holders

This is one of the many vintage crochet patterns that I have purchased lately. Oops did I say many? Now that I can crochet I may have developed just a slight fascination with vintage potholders, vintage crochet motifs and crochet covered coat hangers.

The pattern booklet contains a variety of potholder patterns and was printed in 1948. At the moment I am dreaming of collection of potholders on my kitchen wall....

...but I must work on my Christmas decorations first!

Granny Squares

Granny squares made by me!

They are not too hard once you have mastered the basic crochet stitches, although I am still working out the finer details of an invisible finish.

I think I will save making a granny blanket until after summer. I want to try some smaller projects first and make some christmas decorations.

Camberwell Markets

I didn't go to the Camberwell markets at all during the winter, mainly because it was so cold. Yes I am a wuss!


Anyway I went this morning and there was lots of vintage goodness on offer.

I came away with a sugar bowl, a tablecloth and napkin set still in it's box (minus the lid), a set of 8 cross stitch napkins all with the same design and a selection of crochet patterns. All vintage and all in excellent condition.

It was a beautiful spring day for it too.

New in Store

New in my etsy store is this purse made out of denim and a vintage napkin that features a floral cross stitch design.

You can find it here.

OK Go - White Knuckles

If you love dogs you will love this film clip by the band OK Go and even if you don't I am pretty sure you will find it amazing anyway.

Spring Birds...

I won a giveaway that Belinda of Moonmum was running and these beautiful Spring Bird cards arrived in my letterbox this week.

The bright and cheery colours do remind me of spring and I can't get over how well made they are. The quality is really impressive.

I am feeling very lucky right about now, especially since these were the last Spring Bird cards that Belinda had left.

Crochet

I am learning to crochet!! and I am excited...hence the exclamation marks.

I have always wanted to learn how to crochet ( something to do with my love of doilies) but put it in the too hard basket because I am left handed and instructions for us lefties are scarce and trying to reverse everything is just too hard.

Anyway learning to crochet right handed has solved that problem and I have been taking classes at Onabee in Kensington. So far I have done Crochet 1.The Basics, Crochet 2.Granny Squares and will be starting Crochet 3.The Next Step soon.

At the moment I have been just practicing my technique but I am thinking about what I could do as my first proper project...something to do with granny squares I think.

My Birthday Wishlist

Sweet Bow Studs from Joannarutter

Monty the Fox Lambswool Plush from Sara Carr

Heart Factory from Pearson Maron

Silver Stitch Texture Ring from All Those Threes

Blue Is Bashful

ruby-jo brooches can now be found at Blue is Bashful, 109 Greville Street Prahran.

Blue is Bashful is a cute new shop selling pretty clothes and accessories with a vintage feel from independent womenswear labels with a focus on local labels.

If you want a peak of what else is in store you can check out their blog, or better still, go and visit in person.

The shop is just a short stroll from the Prahran railway station so it's easy to get to and it's nestled amongst a selection of interesting shops that include fashion, books, magazines and music, so its so it's worth the trip to have a look around.

Peppermint Magazine and How To Score Yoursef Some Discounts

The DUST team which I am a part of are running a promotion in the latest Peppermint magazine, where participating shops are offering discounts until the end of August.


Details on how to get the discount are in the add, including the discount code, so you will need to buy yourself a copy of the latest Peppermint magazine to take advantage of the offers.

I am offering 15% off. My shop is a little bare at the moment but I will be adding new items over the next week or so. I have trying to get the hang of photographing some new products which is proving to be a little difficult and slowing me down a little.

Sunday Stash #24

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo lately so have resurrected Sunday Stash to give me a gentle push in the right direction.

This is a screen printed fabric I bought off etsy.

More Birds!

I have been trying to get my hands on a set of geese measuring cups for ages.

I finally managed to score a set from ebay. They haven't been used and came in their original box.

I paid a little less than $20 including postage from America. I can't believe I was the only bidder.

Come Fly With Me

I have just uploaded another bird brooch to my etsy shop.

It has been featured over at Calico and Co in their latest Handmade Heaven post about birds which you can find here.

I only have 2 bird brooches left including this one and then that's it. Unfortunately I can't get any more of the same bird buttons.

EDIT 21ST MAY

I just found out that my bird brooch has also been featured on Kid Independent, alongside some other beautiful brooches - which you can view here. Yay!

The Progress So Far

I mentioned this kit from Subversive Cross Stitch in a previous post.

It has been quite fun to do and very easy to stitch.

I just have the border left to finish and then I am itching to cross stitch something else.

Photos from Yarraville

Here is the table I shared with Amelia from Milkwood.


My half of the table.


And a basket of cushions which wouldn't fit on the table.

If you look carefully on the pin up board in the second photo you can see I managed to get 2 heart brooches done.. well 3 actually, I wore one of them. They both sold so I will be making some more soon.

Jess from Epheriell dropped by to say hello which was lovely. It's always fun meeting people in real life when you know them from online. Jess has blogged about visiting us here.

Right now I am trying to recover from my cold, catch up on sleep, clean the disaster I left in my workroom and the mess in the rest of the house and catch up on about 2 weeks of bookwork.

Yarraville Markets

Just a reminder I am having a stall at the Yarraville Markets this Sat and Sun.

I am a bit under the weather but will still be there on both days if you want to come and say hi.

Sharing a table with me will be the lovely Amelia from Milkwood.

New Brooch In The Works

I have taught myself blanket stitch ( which isn't easy when you are left handed because no one seems to want to produce left handed instructions or diagrams! ) and am busy practicing it for a brand new brooch that I am really excited about.

I was hoping to have some of the new heart brooches ready for the Yarraville markets this weekend but I am running out of time fast....we shall see how I go.

A Bit of Fun

This cross stitch kit from Subversive Cross Stitch arrived in my letter box yesterday all the way from Texas.

It's a favourite saying of Ev's (never to me of course) and I can't wait to stitch it up.

Countdown to Yarraville Markets

I will be having a stall at the Yarraville Markets in Melbourne on the 1st and 2nd May. Yes that's 2 days.

It's going to be my first market ever so I am just a little nervous...okay more than a little.

I will be sharing a stall with Amelia from Milkwood, who makes gorgeous resin jewellery.

At the moment I am busy sewing stock to fill up my half of the table. I have a few new products in the works too, that I will be launching at the markets.

Stay tuned as I might just show you a sneak peak of what to expect as we get closer to the date.

Happy Easter!!

Easter25, originally uploaded by ewan traveler.

Hope you are having a restful day and not eating too much chocolate!

It's turned out to be a beautiful day in Melbourne.

Vintage Finds

The tin is from the Lost and Found Market on Smith Street. It's such a beautiful tin, quite large and in excellent condition. The inside has hardly aged at all.


The tablecloth and napkin set I bought from the Camberwell markets. As you can see it is still in it's original packaging. I am currently in love with anything cross stitched and this is in as new condition...just how I like it.

Storm Pics

Just thought I would share a couple of pictures of what it looked like out the front of Cyclic Bicycles when the storm hit Melbourne last week. Pin Oak crescent got a little flooded!

You can see in the top photo that the water came right up to the doorstep. Luckily we didn't suffer any water damage, although that's not the case for a whole lot of unlucky people across Melbourne.

The second photo is looking across the road from the shop at Newmarket train station.

Thank you to Marty for the photos.

Needlepoint

I found this vintage needlepoint in Savers late last year. I had been looking for some needlepoint for a while but hadn't come across much and nothing I really liked until I found this piece. After cleaning up the glass on the inside it turned out to be in perfect condition.

Chocolate ANZAC Biscuits

I thought I would give you my recipe for chocolate ANZACs. They are really yummy and super easy to make. They were actually the first thing I ever baked from scratch when I was living away from home. I love this chocolate version so much I have never actually made the non chocolate version.

TIP: If you already have an ANZAC recipe that you like all you have to do to make the chocolate version is add 1/4 cup of cocoa to the mix.

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CHOCOLATE ANZAC BISCUITS

Ingredients

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup of desiccated coconut

¼ cup of cocoa powder

125 g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 tablespoons of boiling water

1 teaspoon of bicarb soda

Method

Preheat oven to 150 °C

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine sifted flour and cocoa powder, sugar, oats and coconut in a bowl.

Melt butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat.

Dissolve bicarb soda in boiling water and then stir through butter mixture.

Combine butter mixture with dry ingredients and mix well.

Spoon heaped teaspoons of mixture onto the tray and lightly press each biscuit down with a fork.

Bake for 20 mins.

The biscuits will harden when cool.

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For myself, I like to tweak the recipe a bit and add a touch more butter for some extra moisture and cook them 10 mins longer because I like them to be slightly overcooked and really crunchy when they cool.

Enjoy!

Shop Update

I have uploaded a few more brooches to my etsy shop, including this new design made from linen and a vintage hanky which you can find here.

I seem to be drawn to vintage hankies at the moment - unused of course.

Not With The Good Scissors!

My favourite pair of earrings at the moment are the good scissors earrings from Melbourne gal Victoria Mason.

It's important to know that the good scissors are for fabric only and anyone who uses them on anything else is bound to get in a whole lot of trouble. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Monster Goodness

Yay! I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Emma at Benconservato. The prize was a colouring book and a couple of postcards.

The colouring book is called Monsters Behaving Badly. I love it! It's fun and full of playful monsters.

You would expect at my age (over 30) that I left my colouring in days behind me years ago but there is something about the colourless pages that are begging me to colour them in. That's exactly what I plan on doing too just as soon as I get myself some crayons.

Getting Sorted for the New Year

Inspired by a blog post titled "Five easy ways to get organised!" over at Retro Age Vintage Fabrics, I decided to buy the book Sorted by Lissanne Oliver and have a go at organising myself.

I think it's a great way to start the new year, getting organised and clearing out clutter to make space for the new, including new ideas and new creativity. I love the idea of having life running more efficiently so I don't get bogged down in so much stuff.

Since I am currently drowning in paper I have started in the study. The plan is to do a little at a time and eventually get to my workroom. Wish me luck.

Oh and did I mention that I bought a copy of the book at the Camberwell markets for $3? Well I did. How's that for a bargain?