Happy Halloween!

'Twas a day of trick-or-treating in Geelong for the above ghoul and bat...they had a ball, we almost died laughing and now everyone is tired coming down from the suger overload. Happy Halloween everyone!

Another blog addiction - mel bombardiere

I can't remember when I came across the world of mel bomba. I am totally addicted to her blog, mel bombardiere. For a number of reasons. She has divine design style so her blog always had divine photos. She has a divine renovation on the go and we've been following her every step of the way - I can't wait to see what styles she chooses and what hues here and there. And now she's got a divine bump growing so that's even more anticipation...!!



On top of that she designs divine fabrics! I absolutely love her design style - I see flickering of nouveau and deco in her designs and an intricacy I don't often come across in modern boutique textile design. I adore them - they have such heart.



If you're after a fabulous blog to follow then I would highly recommend mel bombadiere - it's like a bloody good thriller novel without all of the horror and CIA stuff :) I took all of these images from her blog but you can see some other fabulous shots on her Flickr...trust me, you'll never want to leave....

Heart breaking...and so beautiful...

I just read this article. Heart breaking yet it also made my heart soar. We truly do live in the most wonderful world...

Surely we can treat our earth and our animals - and ourselves - with more respect?

...and then there was vintage fabric goodness

I have been trawling through our old photos looking for a specific shot for a customer...and I came across these magnificent fabrics. We still have some in stock here - but, boy, do they deserve smarter photos! Gorgeous fabric, though, aren't they?

Think Links - Edward de Bono

When I studied advertising one of the people we were incessantly told about was Edward de Bono. He is the champion of lateral thinking, of breaking grounds to allow your brain to think wonderful things. I was a great journal writer and I remember filling one of my books with only lateral, autonomous thinking. That means you write without thinking. Yes - that's right. You write without thinking - without giving your words form, function and structure - you write what you see and feel without trying to make sense. Not only is it great fun but it's also supposed to be great for the subconscious - it relieves possible issues blocking up your thinking and feeling space.

I hadn't thought of autonomous thinking until I came across this box set at a fete last week. I snatched it up straight away as I was keen to delve into any world de Bono wanted us to stretch our minds in. It's got a full book listing loads of games to play as adults and with kiddies - but I have, out of pure habit, reverted to my lateral and autonomous thinking to break thought patterns I have built up over time...



The box set has picture and word cards. I have shuffled them and have been selecting three cards to work with. The above image is of today's set.

Brown cldness in a stale room with slippers underneath a chenille without chenille.

To elect anyone is ruthless selfishness and to sleep without fear is unheard of.

Quiet, still, flickers the twitching television as the paper creases in the flickering fire and the flat smells of mildew.

Should elections take us down that particular road then may we hide ourselves in fantasy-land and cuddle our lovers we may not have forever.

That's a little example.

Why don't you have a go and let your brain think what it wants to think? All you need to do is look at the images and write. But don't censor your writing. Just write. The more you do it the more creative you will be - and you'll see themes come out. Yes, you will. You'll see your brain wants you to think about certain things - and, you know what? It's quite cathartic to listen to your brain and think on them :)

An inspirational read....

Have you met the inspirational Kirsty - Kootoyoo - , yet? I have had lots of chats with Kirsty over time and have always found her to be the friendliest thing (thing is a term of endearment word) in the world. I adore her blog and her inspirational ways and days. Her Red Quilt Project will bring joy to your heart and gives me faith the old arts and alive, well and kicking along in caring, loving hands, like Kirsty's and her contributors.

DIY shampoo and conditioner

Living life accepting things as they are just isn't my thing. I always look to how I could improve processes and procedures, purchases and the general running of the family home. Killing my family and I - and the earth - living the wrong way doesn't flick my switch. Small changes over time have really changed our lifestyle - and lives.

This weekend I decided to make our own homemade shampoo and conditioner. The idea was care of One Green Generation. I have to admit I wasn't sure this was going to work - how could it be that easy and that good, my sceptical side said. But my optimistic side shoved that thought out of the way so I gathered some ingredients I already had, found two bottles and set some five minutes aside to whip up home made shampoo and conditioner.

The shampoo is a baking soda and water mix. I decided on one part baking soda to four parts water and put in some drops of pure eucaluptus oil. The mixture froths at the start but then settles into a nice liquid you have to shake every time you use it. For the conditioner I chose a cinnamon stick, a vanilla pod, one part vinegar and four parts water. Shake it all about and that's it. I let the mixtures sit for a day to get some nice aromas going and then....

...washed my hair. You put the shampoo onto your dry hair, just on the roots, and then massage it in. Leave for 1-3 mins and then rinse out. It felt strange as the baking soda was a little gritty, but it felt quite invigorating at the same time. Then you pop the conditioner onto the roots, massage in, leave for some seconds and then rinse out. By this stage my hair felt wonderful - oh so soft. Today, day two, it still feels soft and people have remarked it's shinier. And even though I used vinegar my hair didn't smell of vinegar at all. Next time I want a citrus conditioner - I can't wait to put some orange or lemon peel in...

I'll see what I get like tomorrow. I have very oily hair so it'll be a miracle if I get through day 2/3, but time will tell. I'll keep youp up to date :)

Many thanks to 1 Green Generation and her inspirational blog!

My place and yours....'bedside'

I love the new meme from Pip so I have decided to join in once again. Last week you saw the robot collection. This week the lively Pottymouthmamma (I was addicted to her nightly commentating on MasterChef on Twitter - who wasn't??) chose bedside as the theme.

I took two shots to represent bedside in our household. To get the top photo meant I had to go on a stealth mission up the loft bed ladder. This, in itself, is a mission, I can tell you. Then I had to fight the six-year-olds toys, doonas and pillows, stick my arm out and aim for his window shot. His loft bed is the same height as his long skinny window so this gives him the perfect bedside table. The whole window ledge is covered with nicks and nacks and lots of Santas and Christmas stuff. He loves Christmas - he's the Christmas kid. The shot was taken looking through his loft bed railings - and is a miracle!

The shot below is my nook and cranny. Very simple as I hate clutter around the bed. It's an original art deco bedside cupboard - love it. It has my Sony clock I received when I was 13 - yes, still going 20+ years later - love it. I light up my night life with my retro bright red steel lamp - love it. And then we have the night water and the collection of books and the handmade bookmakrs care of the six-year-old. Love it. The brown bricks are just about to be painted a high gloss white. Can't wait.

I love night time.

Turn over a new leaf...

Coming to the website soon...

Have a lovely weekend!

1969: Vintage article for Lurex

Interesting little advertiement for Lurex - the brand, the metallic yarn. Quite interesting, actually. I had no idea Lurex was a brand and a manufactured product - I thought it was a weave with a certain fibre that was metallic. Interesting to note that this brand became so strong it actually became the fabric - like Kleenex with tissues and Band Aid with adhesive strips.

Vintage advertisement from American Fabrics magazine, Spring 1969.

Here they are! Vintage fabric scrap packs!

Way back is late 2006/early 2007 we created our popular Inspiration Scrap Packs - lovingly sold in Melbourne by the lovely Pip from Meet Me at Mikes and sold on this website until early 2009.

They are back by popular demand!

Our Inspiration Scrap Packs are cut from bolt ends, estate linens or small remnants we can't sell on the site. Each piece is roughly 15cm x 15cm - some a little smaller, some a little larger.

Fabrics will be anywhere from 1930s to 1980s, cottons through the velvets, fine to heavy weight. We have a tonne of small pieces so we can also try and accommodate the colourway/s you're after - but please keep in mind these are mixed packs so we can't promise anything 100%.

Most of the pieces shall be unused, but there may be a piece here and there that has been washed or barely used. We have a very high quality yardstick, so you won't receive anything you can't use.

Our Inspiration Scrap Packs come in 10, 20, 30 and 40 pieces - and they're listed here!

No Impact Project - what a wonderful idea!

I am a fan of the No Impact Man. I am just about to buy his book to inspire me to clean up my living act - even more. We're doing a lot of keep our environment as pure as possible, but we know we can do so much more. Like make our own soap. Our own shampoo. Fully evaluate our rubbish and think of ways we can reuse it ourselves. The list goes on. And then this arrived in my email. No Impact Project. Would you like to improve your life and the world environment? Then read here. We're thinking of doing it as of Monday...

Art deco or atomic vintage fabric?

The power of pattern never ceases to amaze. Both fabrics are so of their time, don't you think? I don't know which I prefer. These are new arrivals going up on the website this week...

Neil Bradburn Contour Heal of London

This iconic 20th century fabric is coming to our website soon...

Back by popular demand - Inspiration Swatch Packs

Way back is late 2006/early 2007 we created our popular Inspiration Swatch Packs - lovingly sold in Melbourne by the lovely Pip from Meet Me at Mikes and sold on our website until early 2009.

They are back by popular demand!



Our Inspiration Swatch Packs are cut from bolt ends or small estate fabrics we can't sell on the website. They are roughly 16cm x 30cm, so quite large to suit a variety of crafting projects.

Fabrics will be anywhere from 1930s to 1980s, cottons through the velvets, fine to heavy weight. We have a tonne of small pieces so we can also try and accommodate the colourway/s you're after - but please keep in mind these are mixed packs so we can't promise anything 100%.



Most of the pieces shall be unused (but not necessarily perfectly ironed!), but there may be a piece here and there that has been washed or barely used. We have a very high quality yardstick, so you won't receive anything you can't use.

Our Inspiration Swatch Packs come in five, 10, 15 and 20 pieces. Our website listing is here.

These photos are of a batch of swatch packs we produced in 2007. Please note these photos are not the actual Inspiration Swatch Packs listed on the website.

My place and yours....'on the shelf'

Thanks to the wonderful Pip at Meet Me at Mikes for the fun meme. I rarely do memes but this one tickled my fancy a bit. The theme this week is 'on the shelf'. This is a pic of a loved collection displayed in our piano room. The collection always gives family, friends and guests a giggle...yes, we truly do love retro and vintage! Well - not me, per se...robots don't flick my switch, but they do flick the husbands :)

Apologies for the grainy photo, too...

Cranes on vintage fabric

I never really appreciated cranes until I saw Florence Broadhurst's The Cranes design. But now I find the birds so majestic. I love this piece we popped onto the website this week...

Batik design and colours - Java hand made

...should say stirred with wooden paddles...








...should read...in hot wax with the tjanting pen.



This article is from American Fabrics magazine, Fall, 1972. I found it so interesting. Batiks are one of my least favourite fabric designs - I think as I love symmetry - but I found the article and its detail in the hand-made nature of batik so worthwhile to read...hope you do, too!