A truly beautiful Minxy mix of charm, inspiration, practical advice, and pretty projects to simplify and beautify your life and home. - Jane Brocket, The Gentle Art of Domesticity
Clare Young etchings
Waiting by Clare Young
I’ve had a thing for etchings ever since my friend Lisa and I took a Printmaking course together at Pine Street Studios by accident a few years ago (we thought we’d be designing fabric… the course description was a little sketchy and I was woolly-headed from pregnancy, but it was a happy accident).
Adore these drypoint etchings by Clare Young. So inspiring for a moment of pure, quiet reflection. Along with ceramics, etchings are such good value art to invest in, and a range of textures and mediums add so much character to a home.
Treasures by Clare Young
The Girls by Clare Young
Escape by Clare Young
Popping these in a Corban & Blair box frame would do the trick.
Craft for fidgeters
Tea cosy one
I’m restless. As far as relaxing goes, I think I’ve lost the knack.
Behold, the evidence: two tea cosies salvaged from leftover Echino & Liberty fabrics, and a decorated doily thingummy for afternoon tea parties. I had the urge to make something useful – can you tell how I spend my time these days if these are the first items which spring to mind?
Sew be it
Tea cosy two: front
Tea cosy two: back
Calico & Ivy goodness
And a bag full of goodies from Calico & Ivy. Told you I was heading over there quicksmart. What a divine, delicious shop. And they were lovely to Olive, too.
Calico & Ivy
Great to hear this popular Perth store has opened new digs in Sydney. I haven’t been in yet, but planning to scoot on over and pick up some Liberty print asap – they appear to stock a vast amount, along with wonderful Milla Mia patterns (featured here earlier).
Calico & Ivy
10 Birchgrove Rd
Balmain
Monique Germon’s STORY
Tamara Maynes cross-stitch
Oh I love this new online store with products I’ve not seen elsewhere:
“STORY is the curation of ideas through product, word & the exploration of a new kind of narrative. We take pleasure in exhibiting the work of individuals who make a significant contribution through the production of exceptional art & design. We also take great pleasure in exhibiting the brands of like-minded others that produce items that transcend conventional market standards. STORY reveres authenticity above all & pays homage to this as a style unto itself. In other words, we were born rural and remain so. Most importantly, we honour the act of storytelling as an art form.”
- Monique Germon, Proprietor
Sequinned collar
Sienna the Bookblock table
Storybook brooch II
Unwritten Book notebook
Tara Badcock tea cosy
Market hopping
No space for a Singer
What does the perfect weekend consist of? Good weather, good food, a family trip to the beach, high tea with friends and a spot of market hopping.
Here’s a few of the bargains I didn’t buy: an antique Singer, leather doctor’s bag, and these sweet ballerina prints texted by my neighbour Anna, and seen too late.
You snooze, you lose.
Doctor, Doctor
Gone but not forgotten
Mila’s daydreams
Such a cute idea – Adele Enerson spent her maternity leave blogging pictures of her daughter, Mila, against imaginative backdrops while she was sleeping. To be published in a book soon.
Hipstamatic, baby
I know it’s très boring to bang on about how much you love your iPhone, but I’ve gone all gaga over the old-school effect of the Hipstamatic Camera app… this is what all our family pics from my childhood looked like! Who needs high-def when you can be livin’ in the seventies?
New family member, Harry Fish
Cocktail hour with the neighbours
Tiny animals
Sir Beauty B.Dandy sculpture, Felieke van der Leest
Check out these strange & unusual pieces by Dutch artist/jeweller, Felieke van deer Leest (first spied on my lovely mate Olivier’s blog, Dossier 37). Imagine attempting the crochet work on these!
Wild.
Terribly fab Tessuti
Trip the light fantastic
A while before xmas I went hunting about for some fabrics and embellishment to zhoosh up a couple of otherwise-plain vintage finds for the party season (a fifties bolero made from a rich ottoman fabric, and a simple black sheath dress). Here’s what I found at the ever-inspiring Tessuti. I could never grow bored of this place!
The Surry Hills branch - a trove for wedding lace
Marvellous Missoni
Love Liberty
And all that jazz
Feeling vintage
Manning the book stall at the Coffs Harbour Vintage Fair
We’ve just returned from a few days in Coffs Harbour, where I was speaking at the Vintage Fashion Fair and reading from A Life in Frocks. Thank you to the lovely blog readers who travelled from near & far to say hello, and to organiser Jeanette Luke, owner of From Here to Eternity, for inviting me to attend.
If you’re in Sydney this weekend a couple of the same dealers – including Coco Repose – will be trading at Becky Sharp’s Vanity Fair vintage market, held from 10-5 at the Paddington RSL on Saturday. Go forth and plunder a fab frock or two…
From Here to Eternity's Vintage Swimsuit exhibition
Jess Guthrie's Coco Repose stall
Feathered friend in stunning fuscia, Coco Repose