Opportunity Knocks

Steph and I felt the need to escape the office today, so we drove in to Ballarat and did some essential op-shopping (for work purposes, of course!).

We found lovely vintage fabrics, buttons, children's books, blankets, colourful doilies, old packets of confetti, wrapping paper and a few housey bits and pieces. I am giving a whole pile of our own stuff to the local op-shop tomorrow, as I think it's important to keep the shops well-stocked and spread good oppy karma!






When we got home we piled everything up on the verandah. The pouffe needs a few repairs but I am very taken with it, I think this was my favourite find today!

Vintage Kid's Craft on Flickr: Day 4

Images originally uploaded by klynslis.

Vintage Kid's Craft on Flickr: Day 3

Good ol' Ladybird Books craft!! Originally uploaded by wingsinthewater

Vintage Kid's Craft on Flickr Day 2!

Crochet a funny face today, originally uploaded by Suzy Sputnik

More Vintage Craft on Flickr!

bunny, originally uploaded by cakeyvoice.

Vintage Craft on Flickr: Tortoise pouffe

Tortoise pouffe, originally uploaded by Fiona Goble.

Another favourite - check out Fiona Goble's photostream, she has THE BEST photos from vintage toy-making books!

Vintage Craft on Flickr with Meet Me at Mikes, yay!

Feeling broody, originally uploaded by Fiona Goble.

I'm joining Mikes in a week of 'Vintage Craft on Flickr' - I will be posting some of my favourite vintage crafts for kids.

Sally's Kitchen

Here are some photos I took in my friend Sally's house a few weeks ago.

Sally lives down the road from me, she has been a vintage-lover for ever and has the best taste, I love everything she has and the way she puts it together. This is just Sally's kitchen, but the rest of her house is equally fab!

The Party's Over!

Phew, another kid's party over and done with. I think I have 12 under my belt now. Why are they such hard work? Ten six and seven-year-old-boys, one Spiderman movie in the private screening room down the road, one footy cake, it should all be so simple! But then ... there is always one boy who can't concentrate on a movie for more than three minutes at a time, one boy who just can't resist pushing and shoving, and one boy whose rudeness astonishes ('I don't like this food', 'haven't you got any other drinks', 'this is boring', 'when's the cake coming'). Every year I say to myself 'this is the last time' but I always give in, I know it will be nice for my kids to grow up remembering some of the great parties we have had.

Time to take off my shoes, pour a big glass of red and sink into the sofa...

Secret Seven

Talking of Secret Seven (below), our baby is turning seven this week. Gulp! Seems like only yesterday...

Feeling the urge...

I haven't been op-shopping for a while, but with the Spring weather, lots of country car boot sales are popping up and I'm beginning to get the urge! The only place I have been into lately is the vintage/junk barn around the corner from my house, as I have to walk past it to get to the grocers.

The owner knows that I love old children's books and yesterday he went into his back room and pulled out these 1950s Secret Seven books, aren't they just so gorgeous? Unfortunately they have been stored in someone's garden shed so they are a bit spotted and worn but I care not!

This second photo is from Cliffy's cafe in Daylesford, which is my favourite meeting spot - I had a lovely lunch there yesterday with this very clever girl and her adorable baby boy.

Fairy Cakes

This week, instead of making knitted cupcakes (or 'fairy cakes' as we used to call them in England), I have been baking them instead - batch after batch in preparation for a cupcake stall I volunteered to run at a big local event in two weeks. Everyone thinks I am mad to have volunteered but I am actually really looking forward to it.

I am not exactly a domestic goddess, I can only make a few things really well (full English breakfast, Hollandaise sauce, cup of tea, apple crumble, shepherd's pie, toast) but I am really proud of my cupcakes and they always get snapped up so I guess they are pretty good.

Tanya at Lily & Agathe asked me ages ago to write a recipe post for her cute new 'how to' blog, so I have posted my best fairy cake recipe and you can see it here. These are some of the photos I took for the post - do you think I own too many cupcake cases? I seem to have an obesession with them and was surprised at quite how many I had when I pulled them all out of the pantry!











Find my recipe here.

Wash Day

I thought these Keep calm & Carry On Tea Towels looked good hanging on the line to dry.
We started printing these a couple of years back, and any imperfect prints were put to use in our own kitchen, so we have quite a pile of them now. I love how they have all faded at a different rate - we use vegetable inks on linen/cotton, so they age beautifully.

There are still a few of the tea towels available from our shop. Very soon we will stop making these, as Keep Calm stuff is everywhere now. I still love this iconic image though, and I am very proud that Lark was the first ever to take it and print it onto things. But I feel the moment has passed, and it must soon make way for new things...

Top To Toe

A new exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London: TOP TO TOE: FASHION FOR KIDS, until April 2009


"Drawing from the Museum's outstanding collection, Top to Toe explores the fascinating world of children's clothing - separating the myths from the realities.

Developments in the 'form and function' of clothing are represented through a number of themes: childhood milestones; changing fashions over time; why fashions change and who drives this; and practical versus impractical clothes. Would you like to wear an 1880s bustle making the back of your skirt stick out? Or how about wearing a boy's dress?

Items on show include a stunning 1700s wrapping gown, an 1800s boy's hat, a muff made of peacock feathers and the popular 1970s 'snorkel' parka coat."

Oh, I would so love to go to this exhibition and see the snorkel, and some vintage Clothkits and other children's outfits from history!

WOW!

Just look at this amazing dress that Jodie from Ric Rac made - entirely from leftover selvedge strips donated to her by other crafters. 'Wow', that's all I can say!

Shopping at The Mill

Some photos from The Mill Markets in Daylesford, where I spent a happy couple of hours today. Daylesford is well worth a visit for its vintage shops. If you plan to visit for a Spring weekend, please come on 29/30 November as we are planning a Lark sample sale in conjunction with a new local makers market.




Don't you love the Crying Boy painting? I would love to own one of these but I am too scared to have one in my house. I still remember the British media coverage about the Crying Boy Curse in 1985, when a fireman reported an alarming number of house fires in homes with a Crying Boy picture, and in each one the painting was the only thing to survive the fire. Honestly! I read once that Wayne Hemingway covered a whole ceiling in his house with Crying Boy pictures, so he is obviously a lot braver than me, and I don't think his house burned down.