Vintage for Sale

I have packed up four boxes of my vintage and china items to be donated here . The trouble is I have a lot more stuff I need to let go of, so please check out my Ebay Listings for vintage goodies that I have collected over the years. Some of these items I have brought back from overseas and some I have bought in Australia.

I enjoy the thrill of the hunt and unearthing new treasures, actually I should probably say that I love it! However, I have some lovely stuff, some of it I use, and some of it sits in the cupboard waiting for a new owner. Time to let it go to that new owner.

A gorgeous Vintage Tea Towel I found in NZ

Stunning Pansy hand embroidery from the UK, Saxmundham (Suffolk)to be exact.

1970's Dutch Retro Fabric from Dekoplus

Country Farmhouse Style Tapestry Pillow Slip on Hessian

So there you have it...and so it goes on as I am usually listing everyday. Never know what you may find.

Hoping you are having a great start to the week.

Ottoman Before and After.

Before..

...After

 I had been searching high and low  for suitable fabric to make a slipcover for our sad ottoman. I had no idea what I was really looking for but when I saw the colours on this fabric - neutral  and roses of course, and that was it. (Thanks  to the Sotlight sale)  None of our furniture is covered in floral fabric so this will become a feature in it's own little spot.

The chair and the ottoman are from Freedom furniture purchased a few years ago. As you can see it is a light neutral colour and does not keep itself clean, especially around here. There is no way I could have a white slipcover on it, which I would love by the way, just not practical for other members of our home.

Making a slipcover has always remained in the too hard basket for  me,  but I  thought I would give it a go. I  read many tutorials out there in the blogging world and got the gist of what I should do and worked out the easiest way for me.

I am really pleased how this turned out, it fits in well with our lounge area and .....written with a huge hint of sarcasm...I can't wait to cover the chair!

Have a great weekend.

OTT Fabric Scrapping.

If you are like me and have a pile of fabrics 'that you might use one day'...then you will know that sometimes it is just too hard to use them because of indecisiveness or psychological attachments. Well... that's my theory and I am sticking to it.

However, I am trying to use up what I have already have on several projects, but I must admit to buying some new  Lakehouse fat quarters recently. I was temporarily seduced by MMMC's post about her new quilting career. Making a quilt for the first time sounds reasonable, but I think I have decided that I am not ready for this amazing  passion after checking out all of the fabulous fabrics around. Anyway, I would have so much trouble just choosing fabrics, let alone the colours.

I was after a particular design book that was proving hard to buy and thought that the local library would be worth checking out - I was right. Hopelessly, the 'craft' section seemed to jump out at me and I was hooked. Easily distracted these days???...for sure! Only  ten embroidery and patchwork books later!

One of the books I have been enjoying is called Fabric Scrapping  by UK textile designer Katie Ebben.  This book has easy peasy projects and creative ideas for using up fabric remnants. I love the creatively named chapters;

Use it up.

Sew it on.

Cover it up.

Mix it up.

I thought this peg bag looked rather cute, very colourful and stylish. 

Very OTT (over the top) - suits my personality in some ways, so here is my version on a grey denim. What do you think?

It has a combination of flat frills and ruched frills which I think appealed to me. I almost felt I was sewing a little girls dress! I even had to go down to the op shop to buy a child's hanger as there are no such  things around here anymore. 

 Then there was this vintage doily curtain panel that I was taken by and have already bought the muslin for. Just one panel in my creating room would do...just need to save up the doily's!

So what do you really think about my OTT peg bag?

Crepe Myrtle Up Close...

From my garden this morning, Crepe Myrtle up close and personal.

 Thinking of the mothers of little ones beginning school this morning for the first time. For some, the new school year begins today.

Donating Vintage...Another Way To Help...

I have been in the mood to let go of some of my vintage china collections since the beginning of January. There is an ulterior motive here ...I want to change the layout of our lounge, so a whole cabinet full has to go...and the cabinet as well. I hope you can tell how serious I am!

Anyway, I have been letting go and packing away vintage china, depression glass, toby jugs, vintage pressed glass vases and plates. I cannot believe how much stuff I have collected over the years. Each item has been a treasure I have found somewhere.

My initial idea was to sell all of this 'junk' at the local markets...but I think secretly I have been looking for other avenues and I think I have found the right one. All I have to do is pack it all up and take it to their collection site.

Our local Rotary Club is hosting a Monster Flood Fightback Garage Sale as part of their Flood Appeal. You can find out about it here. They will raise much needed funds for our fellow Queenslanders  who been devastated in recent floods. This will be held on the 5th and 12th February.

It's just another way I can help our Queensland families by letting go of these...

...Hammersley Bone China Trios...

...A French Trio...

...Green and Pink Depression Glass...

...Japanese Anemone Ware and Toby Jugs...

...Vintage Pressed Glass...

...Loads from my blue and white collection...

...and then there is linen...

 The sad part is this is only some of it. I hope it sells well for much needed funds.


A huuuge shout out to two Brisbane bloggers I follow, the lovely Laura at Kit and Nancy and gorgeous Trish from Spring Blossom Journey for getting out there and being part of the 'mud' team and making a difference. Well done!


Better get back to packing up all of this 'stuff' here. Have a great weekend.

 

A Piece of French Whimsy

A small package arrived from Fifi Flowers this morning. I am not a calendar girl, if you know what I mean,:) :)... but this small calendar caught my eye and are perfect for a tiny space next to my laptop so I don't have to flip through my diary. I bought them from her ETSY store.


Fifi Flowers describes herself as a painter of Whimsy and Fun with a Parisian Flair. That's why I like them, they are bright, they are fun to look at and they do remind me of Paris!

 The roses that I bought at the markets yesterday and posted about here are in full bloom this morning. Not only do they look fabulous they are so fragrant and the scent is divine.

Have a fabulous day today!

 

Getting back into it.

Who would have thought I would be photographing potatoes and posting about them on my blog!

I love these potatoes! They have a story.

At the Chandler markets this morning, I noticed that at my favourite rose stall they were also selling buckets of freshly dug potatoes. I was intrigued.

Dave and Sheila are market gardeners' from Booval, a community south of Ipswich which is set at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range called the Scenic Rim. Parts of the Scenic Rim have experienced severe flooding and primary producers have lost crops and their livelihoods.

Dave recounted his story of how they harvested most of their crop of potatoes, when they knew that the heavy rains were imminent. However, they were unable to pick all of their other market garden vegetables they produce. Their home is on high ground so was not affected by the floods.  However, their crop-producing land was low lying so they did lose all their crops...

...and their pigs were in trouble!

From their kitchen window they were able to see their pigs swimming in the flooded paddocks. All they could see were little snouts poking out of the water and there was not a thing they could do for them as it was too dangerous to venture outside.

A good news story here! The pigs survived!

As the water levels subsided, the pigs proceeded to roam at their will. Pigs and mud...heaven!!! Dave and Sheila's fences were down and they were very concerned for their pigs. When it was safe to do so, Dave rounded up his pigs and corralled them into a make shift enclosure which originally was a field  cherry tomatoes and potatoes. Again, the pigs were in heaven...Dave said they ate too much here! Those particular potatoes the piggies were feasting on, were the ones that didn't make their previous harvest.

So, the potatoes I bought today, are like gold to me, freshly dug and  have a powerful story behind them.

I have been supporting local farmers at our markets this morning. People like Dave and Sheila with smiles on their faces they recount their losses, but at the same time try and concentrate on the positives to get them through. Lovely people!

Reaching Out...

Finding it difficult to blog with  the recent devastation in Brisbane, the city I love and I live in...

... but there is a window of hope...

people are reaching out to each other...

neighbours...

 friends...

family...

complete strangers...
volunteers...
and everyone else

The whole world is watching us as we begin to grieve, along with the other fellow Australians and other countries...

and their flooding,...

their fires...

and their tragedies...

As our flood waters recede,  we will re-build ourselves, we will clean up our towns and cities.



For myself, I have registered for some volunteer welfare work, so I can contribute in some small way to supporting my friends who I have never met.

A Walk In The Park.

We are copping our fair share of rain in Brisbane these days. Some of our local roads have been temporarily closed . Our local area has received almost all of it's average January rainfall in less than a week. I am taking you on a walk down to our local park today. Our beautiful park which usually has a small babbling brook running through it...

Walking down the pathway and we were stopped in our tracks and could not go any further. There is usually a pathway over the river. Today it is a torrent of streaming water which has turned into almost the white water rapids.

The babbling brook has come over the banks and spreading through the park.

Even the ducks are saying enough is enough. They were on the path waggling their tails and trying to dry themselves!

The lump that you can see in the centre of this photo was actually a little island which had a tree on it. It was a sanctuary for all of the birds and ducks. The sheer magnitude of this fast water has moved this mass.

Then we came across some colour under a gum tree and we were quite confused as to what it could be...until we got closer...

Funghi...a gorgeous shade of  red and it was really a bright red in the rain. Upon closer inspection it looks like under sea coral.

As for this funghi, lovely and colourful, but had an awful smell about it.

We are not in any danger of flooding where we are, my husband assures me. But watching all the reports of the major flooding everywhere else my thoughts go out to the families who have had to leave their homes. families who have lost their homes, and their liveliehoods. According to the weather reports there is more rain to come.

Rain , Rain, Go Away!!