Sunlight and Shadows.

Before too long Summer will be over....already l see the changes, the days are shorter and the mornings are dark when l go out early for a walk. The leaves are turning and beginning to fall. lt'll be sad to see the long hot days end but still...one thing l've learned as l grow older is that change happens whether we're ready for it or not...another season, another year,,, aren't we SO lucky to be here to see it....in fact let's EMBRACE it ;-))

 

l'm not sure if was just the light at the time but these pics seem to me to have a bit of an Autumn feel about them. 

 

 l wonder if you're like me and bring home all kinds of random things....l've NEVER seen myself as a collector, more a finder or gatherer.....l don't bring home so much these days, although l'm FAR from being a minimalist, l can't bear a whole lot of clutter either. Besides.... l've watched a few episodes of Hoarders and that's enough to scare anyone away from the opshops and markets...hahaha!!

 

 

There's a few rules that l try to stick too whenever l go vintage shopping.

Is it within my budget, (usually about $10.00).

Am l going to use it for an immediate project (not one a couple of years down the track). 

Is it reasonably small.

Do l (or will the reciever ) really love it.

Of course rules are made to be broken every now and then, and believe me l've brought home my share of  "WHAT THE'S" over the years:-)) but l've found using this little checklist has helped.

 

 

 

The ballerina's are from the 80's. Mother of Pearl box sequinned bow, pearl collar, velvet ribbon and vintage hat from the 60's.   

 

Looking across my bedroom to the bay window where l hung a lace panel to achieve this filtered light effect. 

 

 

Vintage millinary flowers, bow and hats. The Madonna was stuck onto an (ugly) fake wood panel, l simply prised her off with a nail file....much better.  

 

 

I've loved (and admired) the work of Marina Bychkova for many years, the dolls she creates are out of this world so when l came across these photos for Vogue Japan l just had to share them with you. See more of her exquisite work here. The Enchanted Doll 

Both found via httpshaktisnewblog.

 

Incredible aren't they!!!

 

 

l really hope you've enjoyed this post as much as l had putting it together.

l love that you've taken the time to stop by and for your kind and lovely comments.

Thanks to my newest followers also.

 

 

Bye for now.

 

Bron.

 

Valentine's Day...We heart it!!

Heartcatcher.

I'm sure you've all heard of dreamcatchers but this is a heartcatcher....

l wonder if it'd catch good hearts as well as good dreams....worth a try :-))

It was made from a wire coathanger, bent to shape and the hook cut off. The wire was covered in a long strip of fabric simply would round and the end glued. The centre webbing was a bit tricksy and is a bit messy, but l'm sure you get the idea.....l threaded some shells onto the string as it was woven....to finish l simply added more fabric strips, beads and feathers.

 

This is what my friend Ali sent me the other day....she sells these beautiful robin hearts (that are so perfectly sewn) on her  blog Alicelovesbrocante. and when l asked if she sold them (she does), she generously insisted on sending me one GRATIS...what a lovely surprise when the package arrived all the way from Poland, not only with the robin heart, but also the sweet gingham one, as well as the hand stiched rocking horse bag....THANKS SO MUCH Ali...they're awesome.  

  

 Valentine's Day is not only cause for celebration for people but can you believe that it's estimated  people also spend $45 million dollars on their animal buddies. Dog owners alone spend a whopping $23.3 million dollars....that's a lot of pampered pooches and moggies out there.  

 

 

 

Found this cute loveheart tape at the market and had a bit of fun sticking it to one of my paintings. 

  

 

The new Romantic homes arrived the same day as my gift from Ali and was a welcome change from the usual (boring) stream of junk mail and bills.. haha. 

  

 

This steel cabinet was my Christmas pressie from son though admittedly l picked it out.... l often end up doing that 'cos everyone says l'm too hard to buy for, which is weird cos l think l love pretty much anything.   

 

Lovin' this hanky with "lily of the valley" embroidery....so pretty...though it's dubious how absorbent sheer nylon is.....prob'ly not too useful for nose blowing:-))....another thing that's a bit dodgy is this heart shaped HALF of a belt buckle ..... but is so old l couldn't bear leave it behind.

  

 

More heart shapes picked up on my travels. 

 

l found a floral shirt made from a soft floral cotton and thought it perfect to make some hankies.(Top left drawer). l was able to cut four from the shirt and intended to crochet around the edges in different coloured cottons, however l did a couple of stitches along ONE edge and thought that was way too slow!!!I pulled it out and headed for the sewing machine....much quicker to SEW some lace around the edge...despite that l've only finished one so far;-))

 

This is a painting l finished recently...it now adds a bit of colour to one of my daughters' walls.

 

 

 

In the spirit of romance a couple of pics from Rachel Ashwells' Instagram site.

 

 

 

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week and an enjoyable Valentines' Day doing whatever you want with the one/s you love.

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 

Dining Dilemma.

 

Having used the same"everyday"dinner set for almost 20 years it was well time for a new one and l'd been on the lookout at least a year....then l found the perfect one....but THIS ISN'T it....you see l found the FIRST one a couple of days after Christmas and although it didn't come in a box but was loose on the shelf, l figured it was worth the  hassle of stowing all the pieces into one of those wheelie trolleys so it could be hauled up to the checkout,  packed up and taken home..... l was totally happy with my purchase for about HALF AN HOUR, when l was reading the junk mail and saw THIS dinner set....

 

 

The design around the edges was prettier, the cups had that well shaped sturdy foot and the bowls were deep but not TOO big....It was just a  bonus that it cost only a third of the price of the first one...Oh what to DO!!...The next day l just happened to be passing by the shop that sold this set and naturally l HAD to pop in and check it out....well as you can see it didn't take long for me to load all the pieces in THEIR wheelie trolley (it too came loose).... and up to the checkout l went....The only thing that was a little disappointing was that there were only 3 small plates left....but meh!!

 

At home no-one could believe l'd bought ANOTHER bloody dinner set. l ignored their outbursts and calmly packed up the first dinner set and returned it to the store where they happily reimbursed me:-)) and l'm so happy l did 'cos l love this one better....(Just as well l don't change them too often.)

Oh and by the way when l was in Adelaide l found the three missing plates, can you believe they were the ONLY pieces of that dinner set left in the store....another of life's little (good) mysteries!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l propped up the louvre doors in front of the plain old white one that leads down to the kids old bedrooms and my workroom. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lovin' this white peacock, he was also found in Adelaide and "smuggled" across the State line:-)) 

 

 

 

Beautiful dinner set from horchow.com

 

Inspirational dining from gatherlove.

 

 

Hope you all have a fantastic rest of your week....thanks so much for stopping by.

 

 

Til next time.

 

Bron.

 

Road Trip

 

Last week l packed up and headed to Adelaide to help my girl unpack and set up her new place...

There was oodles of furniture to be painted and l mostly did this, while she unpacked and put things away.

 l DID take my laptop with the best of intentions to post while l was there, however we had net issues so l just couldn't make that happen.....it was a lovely sunny morning here at home yesterday so l took some pics to share. 

  

 

l totally LOVED going to the massive Adelaide Ikea store.... It even has it's own restaurant. Naturally we had to have a cuppa and a VERY naughty cake..tsk tsk:-))

 

My daughter found this gorgeous doona cover there a couple of weeks ago....only $30.00 (with FOUR matching pillowcases) and l couldn't resist buying the same one.....hubby said nothing when he saw it last night.....wise man...no doubt he rolled his eyes but hey, l didn't look.. haha!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This dining setting was one of the pieces of furniture l tackled last week. Originally the entire thing was black, including the chair seats.....it was completely transformed with a couple of coats of white paint and nuetral upholstery. Daughter painted the dresser and covered the door inserts with the pretty fabric print before she moved. We prob'ly should have ironed that tablecloth for the pic but... meh:-))

 

l really enjoyed finding a new purpose for the lady figurines l found at the opshop ages ago. The skirt halves were broken off so a piece of dowel could be glued into the hollow....the dowel was cut long enough to also fit into the bottle to form the stopper. They were then decorated with scraps of lace, velvet, beads and flowers. The "Marie Antoinette" stopper was topped with a large piece of (dolls) hair... plaited and shaped into an impossible "Madge Simpson" style bun:-))

As you can see the skirt halves were roughly broken away to make way for the dowel. The top one broke further up than l'd hoped but l worked around the problem by making a cape to hide the break.

 

Found the beaded wrist cuff, ribbon necklace and lace diamante collar at the Adelaide Sunday market...we went EARLY at 7.00 am so l could get away early to drive back home.....and there were already so many people you could hardly move.

 

Awesome painted bedhead and matching cushion....zsazsabellagio.

The black lace curtain and quilt seem to add a bit of drama to this otherwise pale bedroom and isn't  the mismatched wallpaper fantastic...vintagerosebrocante via my daughter's pinterest page.



Well the holidays are almost over again and l guess the kids will be heading back to school any day now.....wishing you all lovely days...thanks so much for stopping by...til next time.

Bron.

 

Splattered - Drippy Fun.

 

l've been wildly splashing the paint around this last week or so..... as the pressure's on, it's almost time to have entries in for our towns' annual artshow. Since it's local it's a cinch to be involved and the money raised is for a good cause with a quarter of the sale price of any painting sold going to charity. For a number of years my canvases have mainly been native plants  (see one here) but they were so painstakingly SLOW to paint that it almost sucked all the fun out of picking up a brush.

 

l have the beautiful romantic works of Laurence Amelie to thank for inspiring me to make a change. l've always been big on painting flowers, so that bit hasn't changed....but over the last 12 months or so l'm more focussing on colour, and a fresher, less fussy finished piece. l hardly use brushes at all now, preferring instead to paint with my fingers.... lt's pretty messy though, which means covering everything within flinging distance with plastic to avert certain disaster:-))

I'm always surprised when odd little things happen out of the blue.... l was chatting with daughter when she was here about the sheepskin rugs we used to have in our old house (moons ago) and saying how l'd love a couple of white ones for the couch in the lounge room and about 2 days later this is what turned up at the opshop.....only one, but still kinda weird.. huh !!

These delicate lace panels were found at the Sunday market...Apparently Georgian era (1714 - 1830) anyway VERY old and fragile, they'd look lovely framed and l guess that might also help conserve them.... Also plastic 50's era necklace which was broken when l bought it, but was easy to fix. The segments remind me of snowflakes.



Also found this pretty florentine tray, totally shabby and in a pretty shade of blue....also one Japanese candlestick which was covered in grime and candlewax which prob'ly explains the one dollar price....believe it or not l enjoyed getting it all clean...

Six vintage postcards....The one on the left has a swastika emblem inside an upside down horseshoe...Something l didn't know (til l googled it yesterday:-)) was that pre war days (early 1900's) the swastika was used as a good luck symbol.
If you'd like to read some more. here

 

One of Laurence Amelie's awesome artworks.

This  pretty vintage room is from Australian Country Style magazine...via pinterest.

Oxygenart. via pinterest...well worth a look, so many gorgeous pics.


Have a fantastic week everyone.....
Many thanks for popping in, my daughter loved the fuss made about her handmade flowers..l didn't get to see her face but l bet it looked as happy as a seagull with a chip:-)).

Til next time,

Bron.