Random rambling.

This week the house looks like  rampant teenagers have been on a trashing spree...but l doubt even THEY could make the mess l HAVE......you see l've been repainting the kitchen, family and dining rooms....it's still a work in progress and hopefully pics next time... but l tell you this 'cos there's not been much time to take pics though l hope you enjoy these few l've put together.

Vintage hat from the hat stash....l love that it's smothered in hydrangeas. In the foreground, lucite butterfly cuff with aurora borealis diamentes.



Found this pretty tin at the market yesterday not real old... but a perfect size for storing the smallest of things.



Moodboard from the back room.......Still don't have it all together but thought you might enjoy a sneak preview :-))

Found these lovely pics at  jeanne d'arc living magazine. 

These pics were taken ages ago and l've shown similar before, but l shopp'd these and was happy with the their "new" look.

Photo of a photo.Country Style   magazine. 

Just for a change of pace....my son travels to remote areas in his work and about a year ago he took a pic of a landscape that had the back section of this truck in it...."where's the rest of it" l ask.  Ohhh mum l didn't think you'd be interested in THAT .... any way long story short....when he rolled by again recently he snapped it in it's entirety for me.

Such an iconic Ozzie landscape isn't it.

Taken about 70 ks north of the Victorian/NSW border, near Barham.

Hope you all have a wonderful week...thanks for popping in.

Til next time,

Bron.

A mixed Bag.

Hope you all had a great weekend. It's been an enjoyable one here... the weather gods were kind for the Ballarat Begonia Festival which is held in Ballarat each year. The antique fair is a highlight for me and l spent a blissful couple of hours wandering up and down the aisles there Saturday..... and as l did l couldn't help but notice how much collectibles have changed over the years. When l first started going to the fair some 15 years ago, it was all gold and crystal jewellery, chintz and carltonware china, carnival glass and silverware . Not to mention zillions of dolls and teddy bears, but nowadays l'm seeing a lot more retro stuff from the 50's to 70's.... bakelite and plastic jewellery, art glass and oriental pieces, so l guess even when you sell old stuff it has to be old stuff people WANT...Any way... just an observation..

l spent some down time last week making this bag. l was thinking it'd be nice to get the doyleys out the cupboards and off the tables and turn them into something a bit funkier. The bag (above) is what l decided to construct. The bag itself is made from a supper cloth (lace edged) folded in half. Then all the doyleys were sewn on.... just a little around the centres so that the lace would hang willy nilly. Didn't want anything too fussy. Popped a drawstring around the top and attached another doyley at the top to form a flap.....but it just may be too white....????

 Today as promised l'm fulfilling my obligations in accepting the Leibster award. This means thanking the person who awarded it and linking back to them. (Thanks again to the lovely TAM over at a treasuredpast for awarding it to me).
Then l have to tag 5 blogs l love that have under a hundred followers.....So (after some fun research) here's my list.


1. Shel at mdinteriordesign For anything you want to know about colour, and beautiful photography.
2. Shelly at LUSH for her gorgeous fashion and interiors ideas...she's also an awesome blog buddy.
3 .mymanymoments. who shares beautiful interiors and tells a lovely story about adopting a child.
4 Karen at Only things l love. who shares her fantastic travel pics and also has gorgeous interiors pics.

5. Simone and Bec over at melbourne vintage girl. jam packed with awesome, interesting finds.

Then l need to let all the recipients know about their selection.

Yep the white had to go.......way too impractical for a cloth bag........ so decided to dye it. Since l'm very much a jeans person l figured denim blue would work well. l bought a packet of Rit  and it worked a treat. Just dissolve the dye in boiling water, then add enough warm water to cover and stir.  Pop the item in and leave for half an hour, rinse well when you get it out..dry it and voila!!!

Here you can see where l've not been too fussy about the doylies being sewn on properly.

Blue jeans white shirt and slouchy bag.... Good market gear....

Here l was wearing a good white Tshirt when l dyed the bag.....and even though l KNEW l should go and get changed l DIDNT..... so when l got splashed.... l just threw the bloody thing into the dye. At least it matches now :-))

The Sunday market was great this morning. l'm pretty sure this book's already a movie, but DO love to read.

Also found this new retro style T-towel.......Little angel cup.

A pic l took ages ago but have'nt shown. Vintage clothing with roses.
And a few other pics l put together.

Now for a couple of Pinterest Pretties. Lots of vintage hats andreasingarella.com 

Sewing room vignette. flickr.com

Flowers from last Spring......on my window ledge.

Hope you enjoy these pretties l put together.


Thanks again for stopping by and have a wonderful week,


Til next time,


Bron.

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.

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.

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.