Oct 29, 2010

Bright and Colourful.

I asked a friend what things she would like to read about in my blog. She thought for a minute, then she knew: she'd like to see the things I've bought. Thrifted in op-shops that is. And she is not a frequenter of such establishments.
This intrigues me.
Why would a person with no desire to browse through other people's discarded junk, be interested in what I found, while fossicking through dusty boxes and stained linen?
Is it perhaps a shared excitement of a lucky pretty find, but at the same time being distanced from having to have ownership of the thing?
It is true; reading about other people's purchases can be nice and it doesn't clutter up your home......

So de-clutter with these little finds of mine:
Marigolds and geraniums, bright and beautiful, yet very modest little flowers from my garden.
I bought the blue patterned drinking glass for my eldest (you'll get it when you come home, babe). I just love the colour combination. It reminds me of a group of Indian women in their silk saris walking along.
A little bowl of old buttons and a sparkly glass paperweight finish the little arrangement.
Yes everything thrifted!
And some up-cycled fabrics in the same colour scheme!
I spend a whole day making this little dress. It is made in size 3 ( 98cm for you Europeans) , it is hopefully the first of many. I took an existing pattern and (oh boy..) changed it. That's why it took me all day. The lining (a soft sheet from a bygone era) is completely sewn in. The main problem I had, having made that part up without instructions, was how to turn it inside out with all the seams, except the bottom one, already sewn up. I had to unpick the shoulders again and re-sew them shut, by hand. It seemed the easiest option in the end .
But I am sure their must be another way! Luckily the afore mentioned friend told me to give her a ring next time and she'll give me a lesson. Thank you, thank you...!

Here I used some of the 70's embroidered ribbon I scored ages ago at an auction. It matches perfectly.
And a teeny button detail. The back of the dress is a turquoise fabric with a patterned weave.
I like being able to use several fabrics in the one dress, which is one of the reasons why I changed the pattern.
The other reason is, that it is now my pattern.
If only I can sew it up quicker.....

And look what is growing in our veggie patch!! Some lovely broccolis . We had some of this and a cauliflower that Miss 16 grew, and sliced carrots, all raw with a lovely savoury cream cheese and yoghurt dip for dinner. Scrumptious!

Oct 22, 2010

It's been ages....

Yes it has been a wee while since I updated my blog! I have been so busy that I have only spent about 4 sessions on the computer since the last time. And only to check a few e-mails and blogs I read, with a quick cup of tea. There has even been a 2 week school holiday in that time. I didn't go anywhere, except to see family in Napier and to my stall once a fortnight at the craft market.
I have been tidying up and re-arranging, yes I even threw stuff out and a few bags full went to thrift shops.
My darling spotted a lovely chest of drawers in the Salvation Army store. It has 9 deep drawers, with brass corners and handles. I cleaned it thoroughly and repainted all the drawer fronts in a matching white. Then re-sanded slightly, because it got too pristine. Now it doesn't look so perfect. Even though it is perfect for storing all my paints, glues, paper crafts, altered books and stacks of labelled magazine clippings for collages. It took me most of the holidays to sort through everything, which was spread in 3 different places in the house.

And now everything is totally organized in one place. I even have 1 drawer for beads. Amazingly I still have 1 drawer empty. Don't know how that happened...
Even my painting table is clear and can be used again. Such a great feeling!
Costs: nz$30 for the cupboard and $15 for the paint. Stress levels: minimal!

This is what the area looked like before.... With stacks of vintage books on the ground.
It also means that I suddenly have empty spaces in other areas of our house, which can now store other messy stacks in it, now all sorted as well.
It must be spring.. I'm sure I did something like this last year. And, this time my studio is all use-able and clean again too.
My favourite 3 trees in our garden. Silverbirches. They are about 12/13 years old. And my tree-loving bloke reckons they are about 10 to 12 metres high now. They love our good soil, and I love their white bark and the rustle they make in the breeze. Our garden isn't just on the ground but has different levels upwards.

The first flush of green!! Love love love springtime!

Unfortunately we have had many rainy weekends in which no outside work could be done, but the new daylight-saving hours are really helping, when my man comes home from work.
The sanding and painting is really coming along nicely.
As you can see, many years ago our house used to be white with blue. Even though it was the same colour as the summer sky, we are sticking to the butter-yellow with greens scheme.
It just feels friendlier somehow.