a little bit of Daylesford, a whole lot of happy

Today, I came home from work, feeling a bit tired and worn down... and then I visited the letterbox. A parcel from Kate was waiting, with TWO gorgeous dresses inside (because it was just too hard to choose a favourite).

Immediately, the weight on my shoulders disappeared, and the late afternoon was filled with dress ups and photo shoots...

can you see why we couldn't choose?

and the creation of a "banana princess cavewoman" too (if you read Meg and Mog regularly, you may understand...).



Thank you for bringing brightness to our day, Kate!

flea market finds

Some treasures from a fete I went to last weekend...

A suitcase, found under the stall - I asked the surprised looking man manning the stall, who confirmed it was for sale (I think he thought I was a bit crazy, buying the old thing...)



and a little wooden bill / letter stand (currently holding some recently thrifted books).


They count as sensible, practical storage items, don't they?!

(let's not mention the STACK of books I collected today, on the other hand... well, maybe I'll show them to you next week!).

For more finds - including an envy-inducing sewing machine - visit Sophie.

grateful for our little patch of wilderness

When I'm being melodramatic (which is perhaps more often than I'd like to admit!) I refer to our backyard as "the concrete wasteland"... because most of our less-than-3m-wide space is covered in the stuff. Grey, cracked, concrete.

I often suffer from backyard envy... but, some days, our space has its own magic and wildness...

tiny baby snails


spiders weaving beautiful webs


seedlings growing from the very seeds she collected




and sometimes a cheeky rabbit pops in for some silverbeet!


So, while I still dream of our "one day" garden, I am grateful (thanks, Maxabella).

giveaway winner

And the winner of my vintage FQ giveaway is...

NessaKnits!

Email me your address and I'll send your fabrics on their way!

Thank you to everyone who joined in.

my creative space

We have a couple of sets of lovely twin girls in our lives, which is absolutely wonderful, except when it comes to birthday presents. I always want to make gifts, but my time management deficiencies often let me down - and on more than one occasion I have been sitting in the car (in the passenger seat, I might add), hastily sewing up the last seams.

I am proud to say that this time I finished the pair of gifts at home, and even found time to photograph them!

Two pencil / notebook "bags"- one purple and one pink (luckily my lovely nieces have chosen two different favourite colours!). The idea is not my own - I know I saw this concept on a blog somewhere, I think maybe a year ago - if it is yours, please let me know so I can properly acknowledge you!

(I did finish attaching the second set of snaps before getting in the car...)

The best thing about these gifts was watching them being immediately put to creative use... ahh, a rainbow, carefully made with every pencil in the set!

(I heard later that this was her first ever rainbow!)

For more creative spaces...

flea market finds

It's been such a warm, sunny morning, and as it turns out, my finds are sunny too - a Ladybird book, a vintage book of short stories for children, and this lovely quilt cover (which will buy me some time until I make the vintage sheet quilt cover I have planned (inspired by the lovely Beck)).

Speaking of vintage sheets, you might like my giveaway here...

More flea market finds via Sophie's.

101

Yesterday I wrote my 100th blog post. I could pretend I didn't notice, but in fact I was suffering from a little milestone anxiety. As I've mentioned before, I'm not so comfortable with big events (even if they're only big in my own head!)...

So, instead, I'm celebrating 101 posts - reaching 100 and keeping on going (and I've always been fond of prime numbers...).

I have a little giveaway in honour of this little milestone - 5 vintage sheet fat quarters, one each of the sheets you can see here (I've been on the lookout for sheets to join in this Vintage Sheet Swap...).

Just leave a comment - entries open to all.

PS: forgot to include the closing date - entries close next Friday, March 18

my creative space

Lately, it feels like I have been alternating between just kind of inching along...


and being helplessly upside down, trying my hardest to move, but getting nowhere...

I've had a slow start, but I have high hopes for a bit more inching today.

I hope you're travelling well.

More creative spaces here.


PS: this is supposed to be a caterpillar - made after our girl tearfully announced that our original caterpillar did not look at all like Wooly Bear from the book (luckily, the original Wooly Bear is still going strong, just with a new name - Bluey...).


It's a bit short and stumpy, but it has stopped the tears, and every piece of green fabric in the house is now a plantain leaf, so I'm considering it a success...

falling off the wagon (flea market finds)

I started this year with the plan to give more to the op shops than I bought. For a while there, I was doing brilliantly, but somehow, op shops seem to pop up close to many of the places I visit, and, well, I've fallen off the wagon...

I even bought the wagon!

(this is NOT everything I've bought lately, just a representative sample...)

I guess I'd better start decluttering again!

Visit Sophie for some lovely finds...

my creative space - no bake cookie

I said "should we make something?"

She said "Yes please!"

The only problem was, I was thinking crafty thoughts, and she was thinking cookies...

We found a compromise - a softie cookie, (with a bit of inspiration from the works of Nikki and her girl).



Mmm, smells good...


For creative space inspiration, visit Kirsty.