"Using secondhand tea cloths and aprons, Life is Suite has created a sofa with a narrative. Pictures, homilies, poems and recipes tell a story of a Nan's life, evoking happy memories tinged with nostalgia. As a chair for modern users there are pockets for remote controls, and other sofa paraphernalia. The sofa has been created by Stuart Parker and Paul Green for Life is Suite."
Chairs upholstered by Suzie Stanford.
Laptop Cosies by Darren Carmichael, The Clunes Strangler.
Skirt by Penelope Durston
Pincushion by LottieLulu
I bought a pair of dull grey IKEA PS cabinets some time ago with the intention of having them painted in a nice colour, and this week I finally got around to it. 
My idea was to paint them 'the green of a vintage Ladybird book', which even I thought was a bit vague but with the help of Michael, our local auto spray-painter, and the helpful guys at Protec paints, I managed to get just what I wanted. 
I am really pleased with the result, the cabinets look so good in our hallway and they are big enough to hide away the kid's school bags and lots of other junk that tends to congregate there!
Two of my designs were featured in The Age this weekend - the knitted Ducky Slippers (which have sold out as a result) and the vintage wallpaper rulers.
The owner of the vintage shop around the corner called me to say a consignment of vintage wallpaper had just arrived - so I hopped on over and scored these beauties - three rolls of each! 
He actually had five but another girl was looking at it wistfully so I thought I should be nice and share the love! What I like about them is how they are a really good match, even though they are from different wallpaper brands. I wonder who they originally belonged to and why they were unused?
Isn't this folksy kitchen wallpaper adorable? I'll be adding this to my collection, maybe making a few pieces for Lark with it, until I find the right space for it in our home!
I'm really excited about the Maker's Market in Daylesford next week, which I am one of the organisers of. It's going to be a lovely event.
The makers are from all over Central Victoria, including many new faces. Most of the stallholders only sell locally, so you wont have seen them at the Melbourne craft markets or on Etsy. 
It's a great opportunity to take a leisurely drive to the country and shop for gorgeous hand-made items. As well as the stalls, Betty and her team of local nannas will be serving up tea and cakes in the market's Cosy Cafe and there'll be kid's musicians and entertainers throughout the day. If you want to make a day (or a weekend) out of it my previous post has lots of links and suggestions, from vintage shopping to horse-riding. I'll post some suggestions for eating out next week.
Yesterday was a fun day. A magazine came to photograph all around our house. I don't want to reveal too much yet - but I can tell you it's going to be one very colourful and home-made issue if our place is anything to go by!
I made these cushions the night before the shoot to jolly up the sofa, I call them '5-minute cushions' because they literally are!
In the afternoon my package from the Handmade Swap arrived. Yippee - it was full of crafty goodness including a knitted dishcloth, pretty bags, a wallet, brooches, owlie soft toy, an ace apron with cherries and ric rac (and a Cherry Ripe in the pocket!), patchwork scarf and a sweet winter hat. Thank you so much to everyone who was in my swap group, I totally love everything I received!!
Cass has done the best job organising this and I felt quite overwhelmed - I hope my humble little soaps were well-received, I made a special run of them with a cute swap card girl on and wrapped in pretty paper and folksy ribbons.
Rita had a lovely day too, getting lots of attention from the magazine people. She was caught out trying to snaffle the icing from one of the cakes I baked and, when it all became too much, she retired to the bedroom for a long snooze!
Last night while watching Mary, Queen of Shops on Lifestyle TV (my current fave programme, have you seen it?), I decided to lovely up this cushion with some ric rac. It's very wonky but I like how it turned out.
And when I put it on the bed this morning I thought it would be a good opportunity to sort out some of my blankets and eiderdowns ready for winter. The loveliest season of all!
Lark is currently looking for freelance graphic designers and illustrators to work with us on some new products. If you are ace at typography and drawing and you like what we do, please send me an email to: allison(at)larkmade.com.au with some samples of your work. Students and emerging designers are welcome to apply. And please pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested.
Take one boring 1980s saucepan holder.
Add some op shopped Holly Hobbie vinyl wallpaper
Et Voila! Much prettier, I think!
The Daylesford Maker's Market 'team' has been up at the Town Hall this morning, scoping out what is to be our new indoor venue (yay! no more fly-away marquees or sunburn, boo, no more popping into the trash 'n treasure next door!).
The Town Hall is a gorgeous heritage building and is going to be a perfect setting for the June 6 market, I think. We plan to put the stalls all around the edges and the children's winter wonderland lounge in the middle.
We are also excited by the senior citizens room at the back which we'll turn into a cosy cafe, with the help of a group of local nannas. We're collecting all of our favourite vintage tablecloths and granny cushions to make it cheerful.
But it is pretty groovy already to be honest! Come along! Join the fun! Enjoy a day in the country! Saturday 6 June, 10am-3pm.
Speaking of local craft shops, have you been to Threadneedle in Daylesford? They have a lovely display of Lark & Friends things at the moment, and the Meet Me at Mike's book of course, which features my baby shoes project. This is a lovely shop, well-stocked and friendly, do drop in to see Merrilyn's wares if you are in the 'hood!
I will still be buying my supplies at my local indie craft shops but I have to admit I do love these cute coloured knitting needles, they would definitely brighten up my winter knitting basket.
It's the first time I've been to this particular market, and I'm looking forward to it as some of my favourite market gals will be there like Dana and Michelle, plus lots of ace-looking craftsters I haven't met before. And vintage goodies too!
Please come along and see lots of goodies from lark and the other indie designers I represent. There'll be Belle & Boo galore, including greeting cards, badges and pretty soaps.
Rosie Flo Books to colour in
Paumes books to get inspired by
Dumpling Dynasty lovelies
and of course, lots of LARK! We'll have a wide range of cute knitted toys at special prices for the market, as well as our popular samples basket, and some special one-off pieces. It's a great opportunity to stock up on gifts for the year.
