Friday, February 17, 2012

Deal or no Deal.

Hi all....Hope you all enjoyed a little romance on Valentine's Day and that the rest of your week's been fun. It's been a busy week here sorting and packing 'cos l'm off to market next weekend to hopefully offload a LOT of goodies(??)...it's been over a year since my last one and the cupboards are starting to look like Fred Flintsone's...you know, where he opens the cupboard doors looking for his bowling ball and a tipload of stuff falls on his head (including the bowling ball) :-o Thankfully there's no bowling balls here yet...but it COULD happen.


Decisions about what to keep and what to sell are always a bit agonising.......invariably as soon as you get rid of something, the next WEEK you wish you'd never sold it. l'm not too keen on selling off my linens... things like teatowels, tablecloths, quilts and lengths of fabric....l'm also well attached to my china collection, however l would just LOVE to have some free space around here....so l'm sucking it up and getting rid of at least part of these collections.

Four metres of Peter Rabbit fabric which is awesome....but seriously what am l ever gonna DO with it.

Vintage china ('specially English) much of which l've had for 20 years....but there's WAY too much of it.



Just putting in this closeup so l can remember it....hehe!!


Thought you might like to see a little more of my handbag collection, not ready to part with these one's yet. 



l bought this pink diamante one at the market years ago....it was a little exy....but irresistible to this sparkleaholic.





And this wooden beaded bag was found just last week, its so cute and l may even use it at some stage. On the same (sh)opping trip l also found the old plastic bangle that is it's perfect match.






More of my fave's.....vintage enamel jewellery from flickr. via pinterest.



Too tempting...vintage tin collection.interioralchemy.tumblr.com By the way if you have a mome pop over there for a peek....it's well worth a visit.




What l wouldn't give for a collection of Blythe dolls....they're the ants pants AND the bees knees.google.com via pinterest. The originals were made by the Kenner company in 1972 (just for one year).
She's almost a foot tall and has an oversized head with eyes that change colour with a pull of a string. Nowadays they're made by Takara.

Thought you might enjoy these quotes l found in a book about collecting which for me are SO true.

It always surprises me to discover how little l enjoy shopping, and yet how much l love hunting and collecting. Go figure!..................Lynne Perrella.(She's the author....Art making collections and obsessions).

And this one
Collecting is of course, for most collectors just a reasonably absorbing and largely harmless pastime, looked upon by an uncomprehending world as a kind of gentle madness.......Stephen Calloway.


So happy you took the time to stop by......have a wonderful weekend everyone.


Til next time,


Bron.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Love Sweet Love.

l'm lovin' how Valentines day is a great excuse to indulge my delight for all things girlie and romantic. Those of you that pop in often know l don't need MUCH of a push to do that :-).....l hope you enjoy this romance inspired post, lts great to spread some feelgood vibes around... not only JUST for our romantic crushes and partners, but for ALL the things we're passionate about in our lives...


Many years ago at the market l bought a bag of amazing lace offcuts that the dealer told me came from a bridal couturier in Melbourne. It was filled with lace tulle, beaded lace, French lace and other unidentifiable fabrics.....though much of it has been used, l managed to find a couple of pieces lurking in the cupboard.
The flowers are pelargoniums.


l think most people enjoy fresh flowers in the house and often l'll buy them, but rarely buy roses 'cos they have such a long flowering season that there's nearly always some in bloom in the garden..... but these pretty frilly edged roses were irresistible....l cut them off a little each time l changed the water until they were so short l had to find these teeny vases to put them in.



Vintage petticoat and tulle skirt with old flower adorned hat from back in the day (50's) when it took HOURS to get ready to party.....and that was just to get the UNDERWEAR on, (all this with the hair in curlers of course)... haha!!





More roses....but of the porcelain variety.



Strands of wicker have been wrapped around a wire heart shaped frame. It's hung with torn vintage floral fabric.


Anodised Kissin' Cousins pendant....BIG back in the 70's.




Gorgeous prom frocks from,  etsy.com via pinterest. Love how they've been used for this bridal party.


Have yourselves a wonderful LOVE filled day won't you.....flickr.com via pinterest.

Thanks for stopping by,

Til next time,
Bron.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Little Miss Muffet.

l know some people totally freak when they see a spider but generally l'm not one of them. l'll pop them onto a piece of paper (or for the really bigguns) a broom and take them outside. If it's a white tail...(for those of you outside Oz..think nasty flesh eating bite) well lets just say....l'll dispose of them. So when l brought the junk mail in the other day neither l (or he) was expecting THIS reaction.....l opened out the leaflets and even as my throat constricted, l could see it was only a huntsman and YES he was HUGE and HAIRY and sooo in my FACE, but l knew he wouldn't hurt me.....however that SCREAM was unstoppable and gawd it was LOUD...to add to the overeacting l also staggered backwards from the chair, across the tiles and into the wall, (pathetic aren't l) by the time l'd recovered (a few seconds?) later  the spider had disappeared.....l searched and searched for him but he was nowhere....l wonder if  l VAPORISED him!!!

 


Then this......when l went to start taking these pics for some reason my camera wouldn't work. l tried turning it off and back on again (jolly good advice from the I.T. Crowd hehe :-)) l recharged the batteries but nuh...then recharged TWO other sets of batteries (thinkin' l had a bodgy lot) but still nuh.....what could be wrong with it???



 

In desperation l pulled out my old camera. It's got so many buttons and dials l've barely used it....l kept playing with the settings so that's why all the pics have different light. Afterwards l got to thinkin'....l opened the battery compartment and held it to the light and peered in. It looked like something was stuck to a terminal so l attacked it with a pair of long tweezers.....and out nose dived a dead MOTH.... WHEW problem solved.

PS That compartment has NEVER been left open!!!


Anyway l thought you might enjoy seeing some of the sparkles l've salvaged over the years. 

Lots of paste rhinestones....brooches, buckles and earrings mostly from the 40's and 50's. Mostly unmarked but the star brooch is a Simpson which was an Australian company, l hear they're a bit collectible these days.




Some of my enamel collection...the round green one is English from the 20's. The floral spray brooches are mostl likely 50's. The pink daisy is much later.
 

Some of my micro mosaic and petite point pieces from a previous post.You can see and read a little about its history here.



The brooch ( left) is newish however the pendant looks art nouveu to me... which would make it from around 1900. l think it's made from copper and the stone is abalone shell.



More sparklies from a previous post. 



Gorgeous pic from homeofmine.tumblr.com via pinterest.




Saved the best for last. r-o-o-m-s.tumblr.com via pinterest.... Awesome bathroom...what about those lace walls.



PS Thought you might like to know the huntsman turned up on the ceiling a few hours later, l put him on the broom and took him outside....not a sound out of me....l PROMISE.

Well l've had fun and l hope you have too....thanks heaps for stopping by.


Til next time.


Bron.