Thursday is good.

Songbird pleated skirt - vintage fabric.

Size range due in next week(ish.)

ooooooooooh our Chloe & Viscount range has been replenished!!!

And the latest issue of the delightful SOHI has literally just been delivered by our "Courier with a 'tache" too!!

Thursday IS good.

PS hope your Thursday is behaving nicely too.

xxx

PPS And, later in the day, the very gorgeous & talented Shana from Doll Eyes dropped in her latest collection of soy wax scented tealight candles!

Thursday IS good.

Solitary afternoon.

Spent this afternoon hiding away at my Mum's place.

The Agent was bringing more potential buyers through our place this evening and, once I'd cleaned and tidied, I decided to hightail it out of there so as to not make mess!

Mum's house is just two blocks from ours - this is one of the many things I shall miss once we've moved.

Luckily our new home will be just a few doors down from my shop & therefore from Mum's shop - Cooks Hill Books.

So we'll still see her nearly every day - thankfully.

She's one of my closest friends and Sean & I'd both be rather lost without her.

Anyway, won't get all mushy on you. This is a photo I took of some flowers she'd picked from her lovely garden & placed in her loungeroom. I found myself staring at them; admiring their simple beauty & decided you may like them too.

xxx

PS Hope you have had an enjoyable day. Mine was full of breaking things...including my poor overlocker. Worse things happen at sea.

We can make it happen....

Selling our little home has not been incredibly fun so far.

I was feeling a little blue. Living in limbo had brought me down somewhat. Cleaning house before leaving for the shop every morning - in case the Agent phones announcing another potential buyer would like to be shown through - has become a tad tedious to say the least. I am completely confident that one of the people our Agent "introduces to our property" will be as smitten as I am with it's unique character & charm soon though.

With this is mind (and as a positive affirmation perhaps?) I've become a trawler of ETSY. Searching out the perfect plates to form a collection that I intend to hang above our kitchen sink in our teeny new home. This is the first to arrive. It is from The Story Book Rabbit - it was sooooooo difficult to select just one! I chose this "shy rabbit" design in the end as the words were so encouraging & positive. I strongly suggest you peruse this lovely ETSY store (now that I've bought the one I wanted the most!)

xxx

PS. Hope you've been well.

Sorry my blogging is even more sporadic than usual.

The Divine Delilah Devine

Vintage wallpaper & plywood flying ducks trios.

Paper Cut "I like people who smile when it rains".

awwww!

The one we received is black paper in a birch frame.

If it hasn't sold by the time we move it is so mine!

Vintage wallpaper & plywood "Sweethearts" brooch.

Vintage wallpaper & plywood "Delilah" brooch.

"Launched in 2009, the Delilah Devine range is inspired by a love of vintage patterns and a seemingly endless fascination with scavenging the hard rubbish collection...

Each item is hand made, featuring limited edtion vintage materials. No one is quite like another (just like us, really).

The philosophy at Delilah devine is to make beautiful things that don't hurt anyone! To that end, the focus is on making the business environmentally sustainable and ethical. All printing is done on 100% recycled paper, plywood is AFS Certified and recycled packaging is used...

Linda also collaborates on illustration work and interior and fashion textiles from time to time, so feel free to contact her for more info."

Just click on any of the above pics or her highlighted name to pop over to her delightful site!

We have a small range of these dreamy wares in stock NOW!

What are you waiting for?

xxx

While we were closed today...

...the postie dropped off some glorious parcels!

The must anticipated second issue of *bespoke* is now in stock!

(Do you think I remembered to bring my copy home though?)

And some delectable delights from Sheeps Clothing await your perusal in store too now! Oh they are so scrumptious!

There's cowls like in the photo below; beanies & scarflettes.

All unique. All handknit.

All made from pure Australian wool by Stacey.

So glad I popped in to drop off the million paper & calico bags we Gocco printed & heatset today!

xxx

PS Bring on real Autumn weather I say! Goodbye horrid humidity!

Open for Inspection?

Here's hoping that our Real Estate Agent doesn't call us in the next hour or so wanting to show a prospective Buyer through our little house!

We've just Gocco-ed till we could Gocco no more!

AND the clothes line is full of calico bags screen printed with our Logo too. They'll be dry before we know it though!

We LOVE Gocco printing!

Hope you are having a productive Monday too!

xxx

Put a smile on your dial...

robo-rainbow from mudlevel on Vimeo.

Sean just found this on one of the sites he frequents - thefoxisblack.com

He was trying to cheer me up as we've just been watching The News.

Press mute on your telly and watch & listen to this quick video, if you're in need of perking up too. It's about Street Artist Adam Nilsson's rainbow making machine. As you know I only condone Street Art that is done with the permission of building owners, I imagine many would approve of this one pretty easily.

So cheerful & positive.

Just what I needed. Sean is a clever man.

xxx

Shhhhhhhhh! Don't tell Sean!

Yesterday a fellow adorer of James Jean/regular Customer

- Keyah - popped in.

Naturally, she placed a James Jean book (Process Recess 3) on hold to add to her collection.

We were talking about how marvellous James Jean is (as we tend to do!) and, using her iPhone, she showed me his latest creation - limited edition hand printed silk scarves.

They are, frankly, to die for!

But - they are $380USD.

That being said, Keyah tells me that he is donating the funds raised to the Japan Red Cross.

Swoon!

Anyways, naturally I had to show them to Sean online last night.

And I'm afraid that, once he left the room, I "accidentally" bought the above print + the mint tins. These added up to WAY less than buying a scarf would have done. Like a third!

What would I do with a Limited Edition Silk Scarf anyways?

The package should arrive in approximately 3 weeks!

Sean will be very pleased indeed as the print is one of his favourites! I already have "The Maze".

It is framed & sitting wrapped in bubble wrap.

Waiting for our long anticipated move.

Who knows when that will be?

When it happens though, we'll have lots of new Art waiting to adorn our freshly painted walls!

xxx

OK OK I'll stop!

I cannot help myself. It is a compulsion.

I must remind you that the

Young & Baroque Markets

are on this Sunday!

xxx

PS No. I am not receiving a commission/bribe/incentive payment.

x

Chloe & Viscount

Sal, from Wollongong, is the gorgeous creator of

chloe & viscount

She "likes printing, sewing, threading, drawing and cups of tea. buttons are a favourite, as is wasting endless amounts of time pottering around on etsy and other handmade sites to be amazed by the talent... she loves experimenting with household items for unusual prints, and scouring second hand shops for vintage fabric."

" Chloe & Viscount products are distinctly unique, crafted from a collection of new and vintage materials. Every handcrafted item is a feature piece, and most are completely one of a kind.

Chloe & Viscount jewellery and accessories are available exclusively in selected boutiques and online."

We are over the moon to announce that we are the latest stockists of these scrumptious clutches.

The only problem?

I want to keep them all!!

xxx

PS To see an even larger range of these delightful creations pop along to Young & Baroque Markets at ArtHive this Sunday!

I love my little house.....

my neighbours caught me taking these photos out the front of my house the other day.

after 6 years they're used to me. they just paused, looked then walked on.

We are in the throes of selling our lovely home.

Well, it is officially on "the market" - the sign is going up Friday morning & then it'll be officially official.

I really do love our house.

It has pressed tin ceilings & wooden floor boards; the walls are mostly lining boards & it has a little, freestanding "studio with ensuite" in the back yard.

What's not to love?!

I hope that the person who buys it sometimes finds her/himself sitting in the lounge room just looking about at it's loveliness.

I do that still.

The back yard is just the right balance between neat and nature.

I have put an old terracotta pipe along the side fence for the frogs to live in & they sing us beautiful tunes at night time. There's also an old tin pail that I keep topped up with fresh water for all of the native birds to come bathe & splash in. Usually at around 3pm every day two wood doves perch on the side of the pail taking turns to take sips. Once they leave some other smaller natives line up on the paling fence & dive in for a quick bath, one at a time. They do this in a very orderly manner.

I hope the new owner always provides water for the birds even if in a different way. Maybe I should leave a note?

Is that crazy? Yes. I suppose it is.

There are three huge swamp oaks in the yard behind ours which the Rosellas & occasionally cockatoos love to visit several times a day too. I'm making it sound like a nature reserve but it's actually in a suburb that is only ten minutes walk to Newcastle's Centre.

The place we are hoping to buy & live in has wonderful features too. I'll tell you all about that when the time to move draws closer if you like.

I'm feeling more than a little nostalgic now.

I do love this house.

xxx

I simply must insist.

If you do nothing else this coming Sunday, you simply must pop up to Arthive and attend Young & Baroque Markets.

You will in no way regret this.

There will be many gorgeous handmade wares. Wares that are not available at the other Newcastle Markets.

Including Chloe & Viscount by Sal.

We may or may not be about to become very proud stockists of these amazing, hand screen printed & hand made clutch purses!!

(Well we are actually!!)

And Flamboyant Joe by Emma-Lee from Milk Thieves will also be offering up some scrumptious creations for your perusal & purchase!

There will, I believe, also be amazing creations from Jessica Fuhgetaboutit ; Doll Eyes ; Natural History Illustrators and Rose & Sarah from Grey Gardens of course! After all it's their baby!

The only acceptable excuse for non attendance is that you will not be in, or anywhere near Newcastle on Sunday.

xxxx

PS. Today I am "bossy Nici" so look out! Scared? You so should be.

PPS. hahahahaha

Sensational Sunday

photo of side window featuring Lauren Carney postcard & sticker sets + Anorak cards

+ Blueberry Gift Wrap

I have had the most delightful Sunday.

I'm not trying to gloat though.

Well....not really...

We started the day by taking measurements of what we very much intend to make our new home within a couple of months.

Still ironing out the details so can't say much more but we're so excited. And overwhelmed. Nervous. A tad giddy in fact.

I made it back to the shop to open on time just by a cat's whisker.

Several phone calls with loved ones all happened consecutively - isn't call waiting the most efficient invention!

I felt quite popular for several minutes.

Every extremely lovely person in Newcastle made a beeline for my shop today.

Well, that is certainly how it felt.

Every very well behaved child + every enthusiastic, friendly and encouraging grown up within a square 5km came through our doors.

A few very regular Customers popped in to chat, a lot of new Customers did the same.

My throat is sore from gasbagging.

So satisfying & encouraging.

We've just screen printed the first layer of Sean's new design for Anorak Tees (yes for Hims & Hers) and we'll do the second layer tomorrow so they'll be in stock by Thursday at the latest I reckon!

You know by now that we adore owls?

Well this is an owl based design but with an unexpected twist shall we say!

Photos once they're done.

Now my Sean is in the kitchen cooking me a yummy dinner while I'm chatting to you.

We are blessed & we are grateful.

Thank you.

xxx

1st day of Autumn...

hurrah!!!

Spring & Autumn are our very favourite seasons!

Typically it is over 35 degrees & horridly windy today here!

I tried to sew but I swear that it was 5+ degrees hotter out in the workroom...so back indoors with me!

I did manage to finish constructing some strings of paper bunting before I surrendered to the temperature!

So cute & completely pointless!

Think I'll use it in a window later this week...

On Sunday we visited the Pub we hope to make our "local" before the year is out - The Oriental in Cooks Hill (pretty much the only pub in Cooks Hill not yet yuppified beyond recognition.)

When I got out of the car I looked down & saw this feather masquerading as a fallen leaf & had to take a shot.

I don't know why my brain works the way it does but I'm done apologising for it.

xxx