Vintage Love via Brisvegas

I went to Brisbane for the weekend on my own!! Wooo hooo it was such a refreshing break from my full-time Mummy life. I packed in a LOT and enjoyed every minute of it!



I stayed with some lovely friends on the Friday night who have a gorgeous little home filled with gorgeous vintage finds - all thrifted by Hannah.



Hannah is also a great cook and made a delicious hot breakfast for us before we went on our respective ways! mmmmm





Hannah whipped up this fabulous robot birthday cake for her nephew birthday that morning too; courtesy of ready made sponge cakes, Donna Hay icing, a variety of lollies and inspiration from the net, clever girl!



I felt weary this morning but ready for the start of another week, pre-school resumed today and Josiah turns 1 tomorrow! I hope you had a lovely weekend too.

Hat Block from Prague

I am absolutely over the moon about my newly acquired hat block! I love it to bits and love that it has come all the way from Prague :-) A friend of the family, Kveta is a wig maker and worked for the Sydney Opera House a few years back but before she did that she worked in her native Czech Republic for many years in this lovely old profession. It's thrilling to imagine what was created on this block and for whom! We gave 'her' a sand and a lacquer but I am yet to name her... any suggestions? Have a lovely weekend - I am finding it hard to tear myself away from the TV as the flooding unfolds - ah a time to be reminded about being thankful for what you have!

Repurposed goodness by Leslie Janson

Loving this re-purposed cuff by Leslie Janson on Etsy.



What a fabulous idea - these are Christmas ornaments but I think they would look great hung anywhere at any time! (pardon the pun).



More fabulous cuffs - made from vintage burlap and lovely rhinestone bling :-) What a great original idea!

Friday Favourites - Gold Vintage Handbags

I found these gorgeous vintage bags at Bowerbird Vintage. So pretty!


I have my Grandmothers Oroton crystal clutch similar to the pic above and I take it to all the weddings I attend. I do have a cute gold one she has given me also but I tend to favour the bling bag :-) I will take a photo of it one day and show you. Have a great weekend!

Doug up on Bourke

I finally had the pleasure of visiting Doug up on Bourke in person during my holidays. It was a treasure trove of goodies! I limited myself to a spool and letterpress 'G' as the prices were pretty high and the stuff I really liked wouldn't have fitted into my boot. No hat block unfortunately as that is what I was looking for!!! The staff are super friendly and helpful though - give yourself a couple of hours if you want to meander about.

Vintage Wood Type

I started with Vintage this week, so may as well end with it!!! Hubby is a big Typeface fan and I love true vintage and letterpress - so what a great combo you would think... only problem is hubby doesn't like 'stuff' and I do :-) We find a compromise though! These are from MonkiVintage on Etsy and really are quite small, they would look great on a shelf in the office or lounge room!



and I would of course need one of these to display them in....



Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Vintage Sewing Patterns

I have such a big bag of 'reject' patterns from my sister's mother-in-law that I inherited. I was going to sell them on e bay or something... It will be a job to do before we move! I of course kept all the cool ones, like these pictured! My sister has a massive bag of rejects also... and she doesn't really sew! Some patterns I kept just because they made me laugh - like the knitting patterns for men - such bad photos! This bottom Butterick pattern is very Jackie O inspired I think!

More Fabulous Finds - Doug Up On Bourke

A few more of my favourites from Doug Up On Bourke but a few more in metal this time. This really is my new favourite shop!



I have a thing for cabinets - have you noticed?





Either of these would look cool just inside the doorway of my new place - somewhere to put your keys and mail and telephone!





These are just cool!





Ahhh dreaming of lovely pieces to fill a truck! I enquired about a rough price on cabinets and they got back to me straight away and also recommended I come and look as they have too much to put on the website! *giddy* I have often whinged about Australia's lack of proper vintage / flea market shopping opportunities - but I think these guys have satisfied my cravings.

Fabulous Finds - Doug Up on Bourke

I had heart palpitations while browsing the Doug up on Bourke website! When I found out it was Bourke St SYDNEY not Melbourne I was reeeeeeeeally excited!!!




Packed with super cool pre-loved gear it is used as both a retail store and prop hire.



You can't imagine how badly I want to get in the car and go NOW, especially after posting these photos! Aghhhh.....



This has my name written all over it! *sigh*

Monday Musings - Vintage Love

Hubby came home last night after after LOTS of travelling over the weekend! We are taking off to the beach for a couple of days for some R&R before heading back to Canberra/work. Being at my parents place I had a little more time to surf the net and indulge in some blog reading while Anya was being doted over :-) I had to share these gorgeous vintage props from Have You Met Miss Jones who makes those divine big bone china buttons I saw in the Inside Out Christmas magazine and the beautiful china goods pictured above *sigh* I would like to scoop them all up and take them home too.

I do actually own one medium sized vintage spool like the ones pictured that I use for a market stall prop. A friend found it for me at the Cobitty Village Markets which is on my list of places to visit this year. I want to grab a few more :-) I love checking out other markets now too since I have been involved in the Handmade market. Speaking of which the next date has been released for SUNDAY MARCH 28th 2010, 10am - 4pm (Canberra). I won't be having a stall as I will be very preggas but I will be there with bells on!

I hope you had a lovely weekend! See you Wednesday.

{images via Studio Home Creative}

Lovely ribbons and material

How lucky did I feel this month to have been given two lots of goodies from two lovely ladies who wanted to clear out some things they no longer had use for! I got some stunning fabric from Rockstars and Royalty the colours are good enough to eat and my friend's mum gave me the ribbons and lace etc. I have to sit on my hands for a bit because the creative in me wants to get lost in it all and MAKE but I have 'organising' type stuff to do for the markets - I feel like the prep has been going on forever and I am looking for the day just arriving now!

Friday favourites - Vintage sewing books

I picked this book up at the last Lifeline book fair (next one in Canberra: 25-27 September 2009) and had forgotten about it until I poked through my linen cupboard yesterday morning. I haven't even had a good look through yet! It was published in London in 1964 and has some really great advice on cutting/tailoring patterns in it. Even though it's circa '64 many of the patterns can be adapted to today's fashion. It is a follow up to Natalie Bray's Dress Pattern Designing book. I have never really drafted my own pattern - the most daring I got was inserting a train into a formal outfit for a Hollywood themed work Christmas party. I am itching to do some sewing of my own though! Have a great weekend.

Something pretty to look at for the weekend....

My Nanna lent me this gorgeous brooch for a Vintage themed party I went to last weekend! I of course put it on a headband ;p and wore it as a hair piece! The brooch has clip earrings that pop out too - how cool.

Childhood wallpaper #2

This is another image from my childhood wallpaper. I love these old 70's images... so Holly Hobby. I am wondering what to do with the remainder of the roll???

Vintage sewing patterns #3

It's been a while since I posted some of my cool old patterns... here are some more I would love to make... My favourite is the Butterick pattern at the top, the striped dress on the right is practically my bridesmaid dresses. They were V front and back which I love. These hair styles are doing the rounds again now too!