Daylight Robbery.

Hi there, it's been a while hasn't it....you may have guessed that l've been struggling a bit with my blog of late....many reasons, however l do want to persist through these not so easy times....l really enjoy being part of the land of blogs, it's such a creative and inspiring place.... somewhere too l can record this journey and hopefully be somewhat inspirational along the way.

 

l purchased some new living room drapes a few weeks ago and though l would've loved roller blinds and sheers.....for me they're just not a practical option during our chilly Winter's, being that the windows make up an entire wall of this room.... so heavy duty drapes it is.....l was happy to get 5 sets alike, in a light neutral. l made some tie backs to hold them away from the windows to allow in as much light as possible.

 



Each tie back was sewn from hessian (burlap) and then decorated with tulle and vintage millinery flowers....all in varying shades of white.



 l fell a little bit in love with this cane table which was bought at a country garage sale, even though it's headed for my stall at the Mill Market. My guess would be that it's 70's. The previous owner said it came from Bali with a matching side table, couch and two chairs... sadly none of which were for sale. 

Of course this fabulous wedding dress had to come home with me.....the gorgeous lace and pearl button detail are totally my thing. 

 

 

A new/old Buddha, what a face....with "peace" mother of pearl earrings. 

 

(Adult) son and l were walking yesterday and these gorgeous hydrangeas were growing through the fence, spewing out onto the footpath, it was a huge bush.....so come on, who wouldn't......well l picked a couple of blooms much to son's horror....l had to laugh at him taking off up the road like l'd kidnapped the Queens' corgis....and it took some convincing to get him to walk with me again....struth... aren't we the one's meant to worry about them embarrassing us:-)

 

Anyway hope you enjoy the pics of my ill gotten gains...haha.

 

 

That's it for now. Hope your life's going well whatever you're up to....

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 

Twenty Fourteen, The Year In Review.

Happy New Year 2015.


I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas celebrating and noshing with family and friends:-)
A few days ago l went through all the previous year's posts and selected some (a lot) of my favourite pics to share, although l really felt like it'd been a bit of nothing year, l see there's been a few positive changes and improvements:-)

The New Year had me creating a white day bed in the spare room...Just cos :-)

 

 

l DO love a Summer post... and it's worth the effort just to  remember these warm days in the midst of Winter. Temperatures are quite wide ranging here where we live.....from -5 (Celcius) in Winter to over 40 in Summer.

Also in March hubby and l celebrated 30 years of marriage which was quite the milestone....and they said it wouldn't last....haha.

 

 

Lots of furniture got makeovers including this TV unit which began life as the base of a dressing table. 

A 1950's prom dress pattern found at an antique fair was used it to make this ruffled tulle number.

Red lipstick music bunting celebrated Valentines Day.

 

A vintage wooden side table got a blue makeover.

 

Found lots of  lovely old china to both sell and to add to my collection.

 

 

Around Easter l opened my stall for business at the Mill Markets, there's been some serious culling around the house since then.....which was needed, though l have to say also rather painful.

 

                 



The main bedroom is forever changing...new linens always create impact .

 

From pink to blue.....

 



and new wall shelving too.

 

 

Sewed some Winter velvet slipcovers...changed up the tables and wall décor.

 

New paintwork on the dresser in the dining room.

 

Chosen to compliment the new paintwork in the adjoining kitchen...

  



 From orange/brown timber to fresh, light and white with a few coats of Antique White U.S.A.

 

Now a calming cohesive space....

 



Visitors arriving meant a do-over for the guest room. l painted some new artworks as well.

 



After a long cold Winter, Spring finally arrived and l wasn't about to miss a minute of it. The house was awash with flowers....

 



 Whether from the market, the garden, or snapped from trees along the side of the road, flowers are forever inspirational.

 

Sewed more cushions and created new vignettes...always chopping and changing, an endless process.

 



After years of searching for a new dressing table the right size and style for this corner l finally gave up and decided to repaint the one l was already using.....Made my own chalk paint colour and was happy with how it turned out.

 





 

l wish you peace, love and happiness for the coming year. Thanks so much for popping in to visit over the past year and for your kind and encouraging comments.

 

If you'd like to see last years New Years post you can check it out here and

the year before that here

 

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 



Christmas Day is Here.

A Very Merry Christmas To All.

 

 

 

 

More of an instagram post than a blog post today.

 

 

Hope you enjoy these pics of the table before the family arrives.

 

 

Have a wonderful day.

 

til next time

 

Bron.

 

Christmas Cross Wreath.

Happy Friday......

 LESS than a week to go and the countdown is on, l hope you all get the chance to relax as we head into these final days of preparation, things are still pretty cruisy around here (though they prob'ly shouldn't be:-).....l might not have presents organised, food shopped for, or table decorations sorted, but hey l DO  have a wreath and it's always good to get your priorities right......right.... haha.

 

It was pretty simple to make, l bent some wire into a cross shape, cut strips of tulle and tied them on, and then decorated with ornaments...and it's  something a bit different from the traditional round shape.

Warm sunshine through the kitchen window....a few new pretties for my stall at the Mill and roses in the perfect state of decay.

Not sure how this nest ended up on our lawn but it's construction is engineering genius...right down to the warm and cosy polyester fill used to line it....so clever, oui.... 

 

 This lovely tapestry was a recent opshop find. It had been hideously framed, which didn't exactly enhance it's loveliness, and l promised myself and "her" that l'd give her a decent makeover. So instead of throwing it to the back of a cupboard or my workroom (which is what usually happens:-) work began immediately l got home....(and so you see how l don't get the necessary things done:-) 

 

 l decided on a cushion since they're always useful and this would mean being able to add some interest to the blank (boring) right hand corner. l finally decided on a heavy grey lace with rosette bow, topped off with a bit of bling...

 

 

l added this pic so you could see the the fabric l used for the rest of the cushion...it's a heavy damask in a similar grey to the base of the tapestry which l think works well enough. l gathered some of this same fabric to create a ribbon to go around the wall that divides the front from the back. l also inserted a gold braid at the back, to echo the gold braid and gold stones of the brooch at the front.

   

 

 Found (the other day) a few more old mercury glass Christmas decorations to add to my small (but growing) collection.

  

 

Mid 1800's Coalport plates found at the market...looking so NOW they could have been made yesterday.

 

 

 

l hope you all have a safe and happy beautiful Christmas and holiday season. Thanks so much for stopping by.

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 

Starting To Feel It.

 l'm happy to report (after my wee tanty last post..haha) that l HAVE found a little Christmas spirit since then, which is definitely due in part to all the lovely blogs out there chock filled with Christmas inspiration....l've been putting a few ideas together and taking photos in the hope of doing a little inspiring myself....if not, well...at least l've tried:-))

The candles shown were inspired by the lovely ones Rachel Ashwell is selling on her website, which come ready melted....an idea l wanted to try, though for these l used a different coloured candle for the melted edges than the base...it was simple to do, l lit a pink candle and dripped the melted wax all around the edges of a white one, encouraging it to drip down the sides as well, it's a bit of a slow process though and l only used half a taper for the two candles.....it would have looked better if l'd used about 3 of them to really build up the sides.... but it's just the idea isn't it.

 Some of you may remember the glass swans that were big in the late 70's, anyway they're pretty easy to find at opshops and flea markets.....normally l wouldn't schlep them home but l had the idea that if l funkied them up a bit they'd make a nice centrepiece in a Christmas vignette. To do that l simply took out the old fake roses that were in their hollow tummies and filled them with feathers. (Back in the day people filled them with coloured water...eeek!!)
The reindeer were originally brown cardboard, they can be bought in most craft shops or discount stores....l covered them in woodgrain wallpaper which was a sample piece (free) from Masters.

  The Christmas tree is up.....l decided on pale pink, white and gold and then found these peonies at the market....they just happened to match perfectly.

  



 

 

Rachel Ashwell also sells lovely little white star tree decorations.....These were made of twigs from one of our trees which were snapped to size and wired together....then decorated with flowers and strips of shabby chic fabric. 

  

Here they are on the tree....wondering if l should paint them pale pink.....maybe l need a few more.....or maybe less would be more haha..... 

   

 

 Love my pink Santa....l was lucky to find him, they're near impossible to buy here in Oz....wah:-))

 

Rachel Ashwell's pretty shabby pink Christmas living room..... 

Thanks for stopping by and hope your weekend is awesome.

Til next time,

Bron.