A quick catch up ..

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur - with one of our daughters needing surgery, and working on some new dolls for the shop. Also, I was asked to work on an exciting project that will be seen in the New Year.

The koala's above, have gone to a shop in Melbourne. The last photo is of some tin cans I covered in fabrics from my stash, for our little ones new desk!xx

my week

Getting back into the swing of things after not being well last week.

The Frida phenomenon continues, with some more thread drawn

faces going off to some shops and also on Etsy. 

A personalized custom order doll.

She is a 1st birthday present, made from the little girls new born clothes.

Being hand delivered today, by the Mr!

A gorgeous basket for a new plant -

found during a fun Ikea trip with an inspirational lady!

Vintage find :: the most wonderful colourful wall vase..

I've been looking for one for ages,

but all the ones I came across were very boring!

The girls have been calling me outside every 2 seconds 

to show me new Passionfruit flowers - so exciting on our

less than a year old plant! We now have some actual 

Passionfruit to stare at too - love them! (and that colour)

Also this week - Miss Gilda made an appearance

in a photo shoot for the new Dulux Effects paint range.

She fits right in with the pink and polkadots!x

Things I'm loving ..

Painting a huge terracotta pot.

Vintage fabric op shop finds

on the line.

New busts - bought in the January sales.

To display my neckpieces.

Escaping the world, to piece together.

Vintage Ireland cushion for the FIL

from My Bearded Pigeon. 

Figuring out how to draw/paint digitally on a tablet. 

Learning how to get the froth from an Atomic coffee maker.

Stuffing around with a new photo app.

#madewithfaded

And thank you to Spoonflower for sharing my

blogpost on how to draw with your sewing machine!

Purchases, dolls, food and Frida's ..

* We recently purchased this gorgeous outdoor mat to brighten up our

little patch of concrete patio. It is made from recycled straws woven together!

It is also UV stabilised so that it won't fade out in the strong sun here.

And all you need to do to clean it, is hose it down! The aqua colour is made from blue and yellow straws woven together. (We got it from Natures Home and Garden.)

* This is my work space - made a lot easier to keep tidy now that I have the 

two trolleys either side for storage (seen in this previous post).

 I've made a start on a custom order made from the toddlers 'old' baby clothes.

 I haven't made one of these for ages  it feels like!

Name free motion sewn onto the back -

the baby ruffle bum pants being used on the bottom of the doll!

* This was part of our Father's Day meal -

rosemary leg of lamb cooked on the BBQ with the rotisserie!

And a Mars Bar Cheesecake - so so good.

The base is made with chocolate chip cookies!

(recipe here)

* This is the latest doll uploaded to my Etsy store.

Her name is Miss Milly and she's over here!

*I've just discovered a new recycling magazine.

Its called Reloved and is a UK publication - this is the first issue.

It looks good so far - lots of great ideas and how to's.

* And last but not least - I'm hoping to do a Frida doll 

shop update next week.

I'm using some different fabrics and doing a couple of slight changes too.

Oop - she's almost smiling here!

Overdue opshop post ::

Its been months and months since I've done an op shop post!

So here are my best finds from the thrift stores over the last few months ::

This gorgeous little jug with watercolour flowers dripping down the sides.

(because I neeed another jug)!

A huge flower print. 

It originally had a gold frame, which has now been spray painted black!

I really really love this print.

It fits perfectly in our home. 

The lamp and bedside table were opped too.

The granny stripe rug, cushions and lampshade cover made by me!

This little shelf which I spray painted for above my cutting table.

And another - for the little ones room.

Some vintage neck ties. I love the textured ones the best.

Some places are charging up to $6 each for these.

I won't pay more than $2 though!

These Royal Staffordshire plates are actually teen tiny - oh so cute.

Blue Polish glassware. 

One large dish and six small bowls.

And the most recent finds :: 

this small dish at the front.

(the others are opped too)

And this 18 piece Staffordshire set :: cups, saucers and side plates.

Also the two Johnson Bros plates at the back.

These last two are actually from antiques shops, but still V good bargains.

This vintage clock didn't work and the brass edges were black!

The Mr put a whole new clock piece in and cleaned her up amazingly well!

This was my birthday pressie.

A vintage lamp whose hat sometimes gets knocked off!

(the tiered jewellery box was thrifted)  

So thats it.

Will probably be another couple of months before doing another opshop post.

All depends on the op shop Gods. Sometimes theres few and far between,

then you spot a bit of gold that makes up for it!xx

ps. There's a little Q & A over here with me!

joining in with op shop show off here

Making from a drawing

This was a 'made at 10pm, one night in the holidays project.

The 6 year old had drawn the pic not long before bed.

Telling me she had designed her own toy.

Frankie.

I think it is down to choosing the right fabrics for this,

that help it look more like her picture.

The main thing about it though, was hearing her cries of surprise -

waking up to the toy she had designed the night before - priceless!

And here's a shot of her new (old/op shopped) curtains.

They are such a huge step in our settling in here.

They make her room so much cosier and welcoming.

(And will keep that 4am sunlight out, at certain times of the year!)xx

more creative spaces here