FRANKIE + Aura Linen = Happiness

... and the winner is ME ... all I did was subscribe to the fabulous Frankie Magazine ...



... and look at the stunning linen pack I won ...

... linen more gorgeous in real life than you could ever imagine ... Thank You

... subscribe to Frankie here

... visit Aura here

On the subject of chairs ...

... a chair for the green house?

Office chair search is over ... rejuvenate

Earlier I posted some chairs I fell in love with here and here


... these also intrigued me in my search for the right fit ...






Jane Schouten's design wasn't quite right ...

Louis XV was beautiful but ...

Arne Jacobsen's were gorgeous ...

... LOOK :: LOOK :: my twelve year old throne is rejuvenated ...

she's been re-padded, re-stitched, re-covered ... she's bew-di-ful, she's soft,

oh so comfy ... so is my derriere ... bliss !

A gift of roses by Coalport ...

... a gift of beautiful roses ...

... no perfume ...

... China ...

... not made in China ...

... made of China ... fine English china ...

... gorgeous!

What was expected of the little woman in 1955 ... read on ...

... click on the page to enlarge it ...

... but first put a ribbon in your hair ... be a little gay ...

... get ready to be shocked ...

... no wonder boomer mothers were so narky (mine was) ... hooray for

Womens Lib!

Collecting = FLEA MARKET STYLE MAGAZINE the making of a magazine ...

On the topic of collecting where would we be without flea markets, garage and yard sales, op shops, council clean ups and the like ... what do we do with our finds?
Pop over and take a peek at a new magazine in the works in the US ...

FLEA MARKET STYLE Magazine ... is stupendous, exhilarating ...

Give them your support ... the directions are easy ...

See the Flea Market Style blogroll here ...

I'm there ... you can be too pop over ... join up ... be excited!

Collecting :: Pique work

... picturesque Pique work ... beautiful finds ...

Unconscious Mutterings week 343 ...

1. Disguised :: unrecognisable


2. Big wheel :: turning


3. Irritating :: annoying


4. Care :: take


5. Grandpa :: chair


6. Shooting :: filming


7. Sunglasses :: shades


8. Stampede :: rush


9. Painstakingly :: diligent


10. Terrible position :: contortionist

read other mutterings here

"JACKPOT" ... found a WOODBLOCK PRINT by EIZAN ...

... as the purging continues I took this beautiful gem off the wall and thought Mmmm what does that small description say on the back ...

... bought at a garage sale a few years ago for $5 ... the marks on the matte surround didn't deter ... a closer check shows the piece of paper on the back basically says "jackpot" ...

... it's back on my wall ... pass me a lemon to get the smile off my dial please ;)

... how that for a collecting tale?

Collecting ... let's talk about my fave past time ...

Too much time's been spent lately on other stuff ...

... if you've been here you'll know what I mean ...

... time now to talk about fun things ...

... collecting ...

... last Sunday at the Powerhouse Museum I saw the following ...

... that made my heart sing ...

... all things old and older is my want ...




... beautiful antique sewing notions ...




... operculum jewels from 1880 ...



... sewn and sewing ...





... fine & delicate antique lace ...




... antique jugs ...

... I'll show you other stuff ... drop by and let's explore more ...

... my operculum, my haby, my sewing notions ... pop back ...

...I assure you there's more !!!

Here's Where I'm up To ...

Pip posted the following ... here's mine ...



Making : this list ...

Cooking : lamb rump, baby chats, brussel sprouts, beans ...

Drinking : water ...

Reading: My French Life by Vicki Archer ...

Wanting: a hard to find copy of 'Time Travellers Wife' ...

Looking: gorgeous ...

Playing: with Blossy ...

Wasting: time ...

Sewing: tape on a hand towel to hang it on a knob ...

Wishing: nope not wishing ...

Enjoying: doing this ...

Waiting: for nothing ...

Liking: everything ...

Wondering: what tomorrow will bring ...

Loving: the call from Frankie mag that I've won $300 worth of linen ...Bliss ;)

Hoping: to live to 125

Marvelling: how happy I am

Needing: more time ...

Smelling: like a rose ...

Wearing: black ...

Following: too many blogs ...

Noticing: how time passes quicker ...

Knowing: there's more to know ...

Thinking: it's like a 12 lane highway in my head ...

Feeling: blessed ...

Bookmarking: Project Runway ...

Opening: a dark choc Tim Tam ...

Giggling: at winning the Frankie prize ...

Feeling: doubly blessed ...

Young Blood Designers who was there ...

...some of the stall holders at Young Blood Designers :: click on their name

Pigeonhole ... and these guys travelled from Perth ...


Lightly : tales of times gone by ... from Melbourne ...


Mooza Designs ... hand made resin designs Sydney ...


Tsu Jong ... gorgeous and scarves too from Sydney ...


Matt ... I adore my Matt bag made in Melbourne ...



... there were more but these were the ones I managed to grab a card from ...

New York International Gift Fair ...

I know I know ... I promised to tell you more about the Young Blood Designers

market, who I'm thrilled to report have published an apology about the

atrocious conditions last Saturday read here .... Yayyyyyyyyy ...

... instead I've been whisked away drooling with the divine Ms Strassman at the

New York International Gift Fair ...

... isn't this chandelier TDF ... see more here

Unconscious Mutterings 342 ...

1. Delayed :: late


2. Irresponsible :: unreliable


3. Stupendous :: supercalafragilisticexpialadocious


4. Barcelona :: Spain


5. Solution :: result


6. Simplify :: easier


7. Crumble :: crunch


8. Podcast :: listen


9. Conversation :: learn


10. Homepage :: web

... more mutterings here

Young Blood Designers Market ...

With anticipation we did the The Young Blood Designers Market at Powerhouse Museum today ... sadly it was a total schmozzle. At 11am we queued for forty minutes to pay $5 to get in the Museum ... compared to last year when the market was free and accessable ... and on level two where where you could wander in and out ... was unexpected and irritating.

The powers that be obviously decided they'd scoop the pool, get as many unsuspecting, never to have been inside the Powerhouse through the doors peeps as they possibly could ... and they did ... the market was on level one in the bowels of the building ... therefore the unsuspecting had no choice but to head on down ... clever ply ... annoying if you only wanted the market!!

The Powerhouse is an interesting joint ... today we went for the market ... here's a glimpse of what we had to contend with ...




... torture ... to see anything, to speak to who you were with ...




Stalls were tiny, the organiser couldn't have given stall holders a smaller space if they'd tried.

Some areas had NO lighting at all.

It was impossible to get through to browse or shop and more impossible to get down both sides of one aisle.

If something caught your eye and you dared to stand still you were physically swept along with the throng.

The mega queue was still happening at 1pm ... The Powerhouse must have made a motza ...

but ... my heart goes out to the stall holders ... all that anxiety, anticipation, preparation, travel, expense etc to be squashed in like sardines ... disgraceful!


One of the best finds was the KEEP CUP ... onya Abigail Forsyth ... the end of disposable coffee cups is near ... she's on my list of great Aussie heroines ...

... off to the cot now ... more Young Blood Designer finds tomorrow ...

Pip over at Hello! It's Meet me at Mikes has posted on 'How are we not Perfect' here ...

She rang a few bells so here's my rendition ...

• I love being 39 with a lot of late nights ...
  
• I love being with my girls now we're four generations ...
  
• I love to make something out of nothing - sewing from old clothes or old linen, from the pantry or the fridge ...
  
• I consider myself blessed ...
  
• I see the funny side of almost everything ...
  
• I spend too much time reading blogs ...
  
• I too love "The Real New York Housewives of NYC' plus 'Project Runway' and 'Damages' ...
  
• I too have never had a facial, mani or pedi ...
  
  ... what about you ~ how are you not perfect ~ if there is such a thing ???

Have you been Lilly-fied?

Today courtesy of Martha Stewart , I was ... what a blissful time ... here

Think spring, fresh, peonies, roses, pink, green ... ahhhh gorgeous ...


Lilly Pullitzer celebrates 50 years this year ... enjoy ... you'll be glad you did ;)

Young Blood Designers at the Powerhouse ~ Sydney ...

The crafty me is making a comeback ... hence my following purchases ...


... soft ... like chamois ... not so yellow ...


... old doiley's, crisp linen ...

Gallons more inspiration this Friday night & Saturday ...

Young Blood Designers at the Powerhouse see you there!

Superhero's & Villians Challenge ... my picks

Margaret Olley a true superheroine ...

The challenge this week is Superhero's & Villians ... of which I've known plenty!

My super hero's are real ... they're women. ... they're heroines.


From my great great grandmother, Mary Bee who was shipped to the colony, as Australia was known in 1820 from England for stealing cheese ... to the women I have met along the way ... nameless heroines each with marvellous stories of survival ... not neccessarily women in the public eye ... none of them would have been seen in a spandex suit, with huge zhoomers, lips and/or hair ... simply ordinary women who survived against the odds!


Three you might know ... all with super abilities that inspire, motivate and leave me in awe are ... Margaret Olley, Klytie Pate & Mirka Mora ...


MARGARET OLLEY is the person I wanted to be when 'I grew up' ... in her 90s Miss Olley is still strolling the streets of Paddington, pinching flowers from front gardens, painting beautifully and holding soirees for the invited few ... more on Margaret here


KLYTIE PATE :: a recent interview on ABC Collectors with one of my super heroines, Australian artist, Klytie Pate.
Now a spritely 97, Klytie began her career in 1936 and continued to work in the earthenware tradition for over 60 years, an outstanding and rare achievement. With her work so now highly regarded and valuable, Klytie said she’s sorry she didn’t keep more!


MIRKA MORA ::: read about Mirka here ...

Mirka and Margaret Olley were the only ones I was able to find a recent photo's of ... the rest, like true heroines, are too modest!

... the villians for this challenge ... I've know too many of them, not enough bandwidth here ...

Unconscious Mutterings 341

1. Death :: defying

2. Identified :: sprung

3. Saturday :: everyday

4. Dumped :: fortunate

5. Division :: conquer

6. Stilted :: tall

7. Crimes :: losers

8. Stumped :: baffled

9. Future :: exciting

10. Team :: fun

::: read other Mutterings here

Black & White challenge craft ...

... craft part of the challenge ...black satin + beads = bag by Moi ...

... see more of the photographic challenge here.

'Black & White' challenge ... Ken Unsworth

black & white photo's taken at Ken Unsworth's "A Ringing Glass (Rilke)" exhibition in honour of his wife Elisabeth ...

Unconscious Mutterings #340

1. Memo :: reminder


2. Copy :: cat


3. Office :: prison


4. Stapler :: unstapler


5. Paycheck :: dole


6. Watercooler :: gossipper


7. Desk :: table


8. Human :: being


9. Resort :: relief


10. Boss :: who?

read more here