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.

Our almond tree is showing signs of life again with pretty pink blossoms that will eventually turn into nuts for us to harvest . I just hope the birds don't get to them before we do this season. Last time we had a flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos eat most of the crop which was disappointing on the almond front but fascinating to watch at the same time. Fingers crossed.

Camberwell Rotary Sunday Markets

I went to the Camberwell markets on Sunday. The photo shows my haul from the excursion. I can’t believe I have been in Melbourne for over 2 years and it has taken me this long to get there. It felt like I was in vintage heaven.

For those of you not in Melbourne, it’s a trash and treasure market and that’s exactly what you will find plus everything in between. If you are after vintage and collectibles it’s the place to go apparently. All the goodies I bought were vintage - fabric, buttons, a beautiful tin and an embroidered tablecloth still in it’s packaging.

I went on my own which means I could browse to my hearts content and I didn’t need to worry about anyone else getting bored. There are around 350 stalls so it takes a while to get through them all especially if you want to go back and have a second look.

If Camberwell was close to home I would probably be there every Sunday but because it is a bit of a trek from my house I think I will have to be content with once a month. I can't wait until my next visit.

Sunday Stash #9

This one I bought from Patchwork at Central Park.

If you are interested there is a list of other people playing Sunday Stash here.

Surviving the Heat

Melbourne has been very hot lately in case you didn’t know. Yesterday the temperature climbed to 45 °C, which is just plain crazy if you ask me. I have been lucky that I could spend most of the 40 plus degree days bunkered up at home with the air conditioner running. It’s been hot but without the air conditioning, it would have been a lot worse. Thank you to our wonderful landlord who installed air conditioning in the house AFTER we had moved in. How fantastic is that?

My luck ran out a little last night when the power went off at around 6.30pm. Fortunately it came on again around 2.5 hours later. Yesterday evening was the first night since the heatwave started that the outside temperature was cooler than the temperature in the house so we were able to sit outside while there was no power.

Today is going to be cooler, thank god but still hot. We are expecting 37 °C, which will be a welcome relief from 45 °C and means I can venture outside today.

Melbourne Etsy Swap

I am taking part in the Melbourne etsy swap. It’s a little like Kris Kringle, only you have to make the gift you send out. Melbourne etsy sellers participating were randomly given the name of another seller to make a swap present for. None of us were told who was making our gift. The theme for the swap was red and green, which meant we could make pretty much anything that was red or green or both.






So the reason I am telling you this is because my swap present arrived this week. I got a lovely surprise in the mail on Monday, an adorable little denim pouch from etsy seller NeverEver. It’s got cute red and white polka dot lining and closes with a red button. She has also appliquéd a kite design on the front. I wonder how she knew I loved red? You can see more of what NeverEver makes in her etsy shop. If you have little ones to buy for you have to check out her Dressed for Dinner Bib and if you don't, you might like her Supermarket Chic Shopping Bag.


I sent my swap gift out in the mail this week also, I won’t give away any details, but you can see what it looked like all wrapped up and ready to send out.

Speaking of birds...

We have an almond tree out the front of our house. At the moment the almond pods are still green. You have to wait until the pod dries up and cracks open and then you can take the almonds out, still in their shell.

This year we have had a flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos decide that they want to have the almonds for themselves. They have been frequenting the tree for the last week or so, munching on our almonds and letting the scraps fall to ground. They have made quite a mess. The little sparrows come and pick through the remains after the cockatoos have gone.

They are fun to watch, even if they are eating our almonds. They are quite big birds and they make a hell of a racket. You can tell when they are around because there is a lot of loud screeching going on.

Today we counted over 20 of them in our tree and on neighbouring powerlines. They were a fantastic sight to see. I didn’t get a photo of the 20 but I did manage to get a close up of one earlier in the day.

Buttonmania Sale

This is what I bought at the Buttonmania sale today. They didn’t have much in the way of vintage buttons but there were a lot of buckles on offer and I bought some with the idea of making some brooches. It is hard to shop when you don’t know exactly what you are going to make, so I chose some buckles in some colours and sizes I thought I could use and hopefully I can do something with them.

Most of the buttons and buckles are on sale for $70/kilo and my stash cost me $9.80. The sale is on until Saturday.

What to call them...

I finally finished some pink and purple brooches made out of pink Liberty Tana Lawn and some purple kimono silk from Kimono House I had a lot of trouble with the fabric covered buttons, they refused to co-operate with me and I battled with them for days. In the end I had to glue the backs on just to make sure they don’t unexpectedly come apart while someone is wearing them. If I make anymore I will have to come up with a better solution.



The hardest thing for me is working out what to call the stuff I make. I am not particularly good with descriptions, in fact I suck at it, but I understand that it is more exciting to have an imaginative name for something rather than just “pink fabric brooch”. As soon as I figure out some half decent names for the brooches I will divide them between my etsy and made-it stores.

The Start of an Addiction

I bought these vintage buttons off ebay and they arrived in the mail last week. I had never bought vintage buttons before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially since it can be hard to tell what they are like with only one photo. Well I think I am officially addicted, they are beautiful. The colours are really bright and they are in excellent condition. I plan to use some of them for my brooches. I am also waiting on some more vintage buttons to arrive from America that I bought off etsy.

What kick started this all was my plan to go to the latest Buttonmania sale. I have not been before but from written reports it sounds exciting. It only happens twice a year and the latest one starts on the 24th November and lasts for a week. Apparently you are given a tray to pick through the buttons and you pay by the kilo. When I rang up to enquire about the sale I was told they were sending out email reminders so I was put on the mailing list but I think they might have written my address down wrong because I haven’t heard anything from them yet. I will let you know how it goes.