Sweet Fabric:
the ranch

I was actually looking for blue stuff for my sister but this DIVINE set of mixing bowls had my name all over them.

Op Shop visits have been few & far between over the summer but I was well rewarded on my sneaky stop over the other day.

I confess that the red kitchen collection is getting a little out of hand but what's a girl to do?

Happy weekend lovely folk. Hoping that the Op Shops are good to you & Camberwell's Trash & Treasure is good to me. I do love a bargain.

PS: If you'd love a bargain of the fabric kind you'd better quick click here. It's the very last day of Aunty Cookie's super sale.

Since my disastrous ebay chaise purchase I've been on the hunt for a little sofa/settee/love seat for the space under the window in the family room.

Most of our furniture has been handed down, rescued, opped or picked up on the side of the road. This was not. It was purchased from 20th Century Scandinavia, 79 Lygon Street in Brunswick (9387 2664). That place is like heaven on earth. I was spoilt for choice!

I'm very pleased with the way everything has come together. I whipped up the cushions yesterday from a Warwick Fabric sample.

Read Lucy's post on 20th Century Scandinavia here.

It's been a big long weekend.

Shopping, cooking, footying, coffeeing, gym competitioning.

The biggest news in this lot of "ings" is that there was no crafting to be had - not even at the gym comp & I'm usually very well prepared for the 4 hours of boring.

& this is the way the weekend ended. Crumpled heaps in front of Masterchef last night & then falling into bed.

I've been looking the other way in Op Shops when it comes to stackers lately. I've got more than my fair share & a girl can only drink so many cups of tea.

I can tell you, there was no sideways glance when I spotted these at the Camby Market yesterday. I reckon I probably knocked over about half a dozen people in my rush to grab them.

I've been a stacker fan for a good long time & I've never seen anything quite like these.

Off to make a cuppa now.

It's done!

Exhaling all over the place.

A good day for our little family.

twice.

When we moved from our first family home the only thing I was sorry to leave was our height chart.

Determined not to have the same regrets I made sure the height chart of the-then-new-house was moveable - on the inside of the linen press door.

This door is about to be fixed to the wall in the craft room.

Sentimental? You bet!

you bet!

These brass burners were pretty badly tarnished. They've come up wonderfully (& with very little elbow grease).

I just gave them a light buff with steel wool after they had soaked in Coke for a few days. If you're going to have a crack at this...

-Get an airtight container (to keep the bubbles bubbling longer).

-Place your burners in the container & fill with Coke until they are well covered.

-Regularly change the Coke over the next couple of days.

-Buff with steel wool (not jex...the real stuff).

& proud of it.

We've had a quote to replace the fence which is absolutely beyond our reach at the moment. So today I've fashioned myself a render look fence using shade cloth & cable ties.

I just wrapped the old cyclone wire fence in the cloth, pulled tight & then used my hand stitching skills with cable ties to hold everything in place.

Imagine my delight when I found that they actually make shadecloth in "Woodland Grey".

Proving that having a crafty mind is useful for all sorts of thing.

I've not been around much. It's all been smoke & mirrors...just logging on to update & then getting over to the old place to work. I'm hoping that it will all be worth it & I'll be able to justify another 12 months without paid employment because of all the "renovating" I've been doing. Anyway enough of the excuses.

It's poor & I'm sorry. I've really appreciated the lovely comments, favourites, visits & encouragement despite my "help yourself & slam the door behind you when you leave" attitude lately.

I thought you all deserved a little present & I reckon this is one you'll appreciate.

More signage!

I've sent it to Flickr nice & large so that you can download & print as you like. Ours is hung on the pantry door but I think nice for the studio/craft space or master bedroom if you've got co-sleeping issues you're trying to work through.

Anyway...lots of love to you all & see you soon (I hope). x

A few months back The Date & I went shopping for a hall table. We bought a fabulous old hospital laundry trolley which is doing the job perfectly.

On the same day we purchased these signs which, in a former life were in situ at the Kew Police Station.

The little guy laughed out loud when he came home from school & saw the "mess" sign at the bottom of the stairs.

& this outside the door to the laundry craft room.

This kind of stuff gives me a real kick.

Claim: WKHZPB9XZRFN

We've left the madness that is pre-Christmas Melbourne behind & we're enjoying the snoozy pace of life by the sea. I've been to a beautiful wedding, slept a lot & sipped a lot & today I lost a couple of hours in this place.

I'd only been to Kyo once before & had no idea it was anywhere near as big as it is. There's so much to love about Kyo. I was tossing up whether to share the vintage Kimono or the Kokeshi.

There's something else really special stored on the digital camera but I can't show you that...I'm working on The Date for that one!

This is my pick of the Kokeshi. I hope when I go back it's not gone! Keep away Melbourne girls.

PS: Wish you were here...happy to be a courier for Kokeshi.

Right O it's all about the hot at the moment. I'm choosing not to focus on the not.

HOT
- a christmas gift from rummage. Just gorgeous...go & get your pressie too.
- thoughtful, intelligent people writing some good stuff over here.
- the butter dish featured on my kitchen table above.It's so good - it even has it's very own knife.
- my house tour on the design files. Eeek...Lucy has made my house look fab. You've all been very patient waiting for me to share some pics & I haven't because I wanted to wait for this. So if you want a gander at the new digs you need to click here.

Check out more hot stuff over at Loobylu.

I love stuff but I hate dusting so I'm trying to keep the stuff to a minimum in the new place.

This is the shelf over the little bar desk in the kitchen.

I can't believe how long this whole moving caper is taking! I've previously moved house (& been unpacked) in 1 day. I think it's the stuff!

This stuff made the cut...

- Kissing kids purchased at the Camby Market about 100 years ago.
- Pierlite fluro lamp purchased in Caloundra this year for $2 & posted home.
- Old bottles found under the old house.

Determined to have some craft stuff out tomorrow.

& where I sleep.

Yesterday afternoon was all about having a DIY crack...

FYI ... it is possible for one (average sized & fairly weak woman) to hang a room full of blinds alone.
FYI ... if in doubt - drill first & worry later.
FYI ... you can (pretty simply) cut your store bought Bunnings blinds to fit.
FYI ... golf's boring. (x)
FYI ... my camera battery is now dead (don't know where the charger is).

As predicted I found the afternoon with the hacksaw & the drill just the ticket & have now started to put together my side of the bed (FYI also DIY ... vintage bedheads & cheapo IKEA base).

FYI ... it's a WIP.

Photographs of artworks made by bricolagelife.
Geninne's bird.
Photographs of my smalls when they were in fact small.

(x) ... FYI that's for The Date.

The Little Guy is big into games that involve both his sisters (& preferably both his parents). He calls them "family bonding games". My favourite of these games is indoor cricket using teeny tiny cricket bats & ping pong balls. I made sure that the cricket set had pride of place in the new ranch.

I confess that after the initial excitement on Wednesday & Thursday morning now I'm just absolutely exhausted & feeling like I'm not doing too much bonding with anyone. They're all happily set up in the new place & I'm dealing with the aftermath at the old house...it's not inspiring or exciting & frankly pretty lonely. Thankfully Mum gave me a hand yesterday afternoon & the Op Shop & rubbish piles in the old family room are growing steadily.

This afternoon I am looking forward to breaking out the tape measure & the hacksaw to attempt a DIY modification to the blinds I'm trying to hang in our new bedroom. I think it'll be quite therapeutic.

Thank you all for being so excited about the house...it really is lovely & hopefully I'll have some housey pics to share tomorrow.

This is my nearly finished house!

I've made a video to show you all how it's looking at the moment.

My house tour...