Monday, June 28, 2010

Today ...

The sky was blue ::: The sun so warm :::

I went for a walk at lunchtime and saw my first blossom tree ...
SALE - set of 3 Spring Blossom photo blocks

Spring is nudging it's way in.

Although, I've had a sneaky extra spring this year, in April, while away on our US trip. Whenever I wear the perfume I bought while in New York, it brings spring (and NY!) wafting back to me.
{all of these shots are from our last day in New York - we spent it wandering through Central Park. The very first image is of a local community garden near our hotel}

It seems like there has been a subtle shift in the seasons, even though it's sooo cold at the moment. Tonight while driving home I felt like I had a sense of us swinging out of winter. There was a different feel to the air somehow.

But sitting here tonight, my mouse hand feels icy, and the air in the house feels colder. Anyone who knows Sydney will know that we generally don't heat our houses with central heating, instead relying on space heaters. I have a lovely restored (fake) coal fire in the old cast iron hearth (my feet are toasty, even as I type)

Other rooms need a heater to take off the ever prevalent chill that creeps into these old semi's, especially when you have floorboards all the way through the house and no ceiling insulation. In summer the house generally stays nice and cool if you keep it closed up, unless we have a string of really hot days when it will then heat up and stay that way. We also don't have air con, relying on wonderful ceiling and floor fans and a breezeway effect down our long hall.

But summer seems such a long way away right now, although not so much when I catch up with all the summery posts out there in blogsville, from the northern hemisphere. I read a lovely one today, over at Fresh milk delivered daily. So simple and evocative.

Tomorrow, it's forecast to be 15 - that's pretty cold for us! But as long as it's sunny and blue like it was today, it's not too bad at all.
Sunny Day

My Etsy Front Page!


As mentioned, one of my treasuries was selected for the front page of Etsy. It was laid out differently {original here} but here it is ...

Silver fox has a red letter day


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Fabric art

Found some wonderful images from the talented Louise Bourgeois who died this year (at the age of 99 I think!). I was interested to read that her family moved further out of Paris to run an antique tapestry restoration business - I wonder what amazing tapestries she worked on as a young woman.
The images from the book, Ode de la bievre made me think immediately of patchwork. I was reading Kaffe Fassett's Passionate Patchwork this morning (I borrowed it from the library) and all I could think of was that there is so much to learn about colour.
passionate-patchwork.jpg
I would love to get hold of a copy of both of these books. In the meantime, I will keep gazing at these images to see what I can learn from this beautiful work.
Louise Bourgeois' limited edition art book.
{found originally via all the mountains}

Bag art

Plants: image 1 0f 4 thumbPlants: image 1 0f 4 thumb

Amazing Nutsa Modebadze. They all have a character that is so immediate. :::
Plants: image 1 0f 4 thumbPlants: image 1 0f 4 thumb
Plants: image 1 0f 4 thumbPlants: image 1 0f 4 thumb
Plants: image 1 0f 4 thumbPlants: image 1 0f 4 thumb

Etsy Front Page - woo hoo!!

I'm so excited! I created a treasury collection (one of many!!) a few days ago and guess what? It was put on the front page! Only trouble was, it happened in the early hours of the morning here, so I missed logging on and seeing it. Never mind, there were lots of lovely, warm comments to read through.
The thing to remember is that these treasuries are only as good as the beautiful items made by all those talented Etsians out there!
My treasury is called Silver fox has a red letter day - I'll add an image of it tomorrow.
The name came from the colours - it was all silvery grey's and popping reds, and a few key images started to tell a story, so then the title just came to me. Anyhow, it was a whole lot of fun putting it together.
Confession time, I am a teensy bit obsessed with Treasury East at the moment. It's sooo much fun thinking of a theme and finding all the beautiful items to tell the story ...
So much so, I had to take an enforced rest day today - my hand was getting a little sore!!
Anyhow, hope you enjoy it and all the wonderful items in Etsy.

Friday, June 25, 2010

A walk through West Elm

Dipping into a new site tonight, West Elm, gathering more ideas for the house. I'm concentrating on bedroom, mirrors and hall at the moment ::: {found via Simply Grove}
Floating Wood Floor Mirror
{Here's a floor mirror - I'd like to put something like this near the front door, from here}

Shadow-Box Gallery Frames
{very affordable little shadow frame from here}

Wood + Resin Boxes
{nice little black and white boxes, just what my husband needs to keep his watch, keys, etc in, from here}

Organic Carved Circles Duvet Cover + Shams
{another lovely bedroom idea, I love the taupe wall colour, and the fireplace with layered frames and mirror, from here}

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Patchwork by my mum

One more item to share tonight. This little evening bag was made by mum for me, as a birthday present a few aeons ago. It is made with Liberty fabric, this time from the 80's. Liberty, like Laura Ashley, put out charm packs with a range of their lovely fabrics. I still have quite a lot of these fabrics left over.
Anyhow, this little bag is lined and has a fine shoulder strap but I mostly carry it as a clutch. I still love to use it - coz it reminds me of mum.

Heavenly hexagons

Hexagon purse by Choccybangles
Just found this little purse over at Choccybangles. Very sweet.

I have to show you something hexagonny from my collection, made by me and my mum :::
It's a quilt and we started it, hem, hem, back in the - dramatic pause - 1970's. Yes, too true. It's made from Laura Ashley squares, from back when the store first opened in Sydney (and I was still at school!) We would travel down for a shopping day from time to time and I would buy another pack of mixed squares. We had to supplement the fabric a little, but I still have some of the original fabric left to complete the quilt.
My mum's no longer with us, so I have a major challenge to finish this off, now that I've set off on my creative path. This weekend, I will commence!

A lovely place to greet


o'brien4, originally uploaded by poppytalk.
I'm keen to find a new hall table. Our hall is looong and dark - we will probably add a skylight in the non-pressed metal ceiling end. It's not skinny but it is not terribly wide, so the table can't really be too wide. As for style, I'm thinking something like this. I like the turned legs, the lower shelf and the drawer for bits and bobs. Also the lamp, but for us to get a power connection, I'd have to run a cord around the skirting board, probably via the front door. Hmmm, problems, but not insurmountable. The only other thing is I don't think white would suit, even though I really like this light fresh look. We have a lot of dark furniture so I think it would go in that direction - or perhaps a soft grey/taupe painted finish might be nice. Much to think about.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Monday finds

Love this fabric - Driftwood by Dotty Logic. I see lots more goodies to be found there.

{found via here}


Loving these lampshades, fabric, et al from Quince - and they are Australian. Yay!
I want to cover a lampshade and these shades/fabrics look ideal.

{found via here}


Would love this feel on our deck - the furniture, grey seat cusions, mustard, purple, wine colours, just the simplicity really. Wish I could transplant the view too!

{found via here}


Loving. A lot. And I can do this - I have a whole lotta lovely plates.




{all and more from here - loving the blog name Down and Out Chic - well worth a bloggy visit}