Love this vintage...

French sweet bonbons tin from pamelapopo. Shame I'm not Nathalie or it might be mine.

I'm really exhausted, finally getting over this terrible virus, and finally back at work. It feels like I never left the place, which is a pretty good thing in most respects. My little munchkin was so tired tonight she fell asleep on the way to the bedroom...I hope it gets easier on both of us.

A little Red Ribbon on Lovely Clusters

Morning all. Exciting News!

Some of my handmade items are now featured on this lovely site above. Have you seen or heard of it? It's a beautiful collection of lovely things put together in colour and category clusters, curated by talented Rachel Follett (of Lovely clusters blog) and Vicki Dvorak (of Simply Hue). They are clever girls, and have developed a beautiful place to shop where you are guaranteed to find sweet things. My things are there, as well as some of my favourite sellers such as Oh Hello Friend, Namolio and White Owl. Thank you girls for including me! I am honoured.

Head over to Lovely Clusters and have a look at some lovely stuff!

Slowly on the mend

I'm slowly on the mend (I think). Still not well enough for work today (can't believe I'm taking sick leave on my SECOND day of work!!!!), but the little one is a bit more herself. We are watching Playschool at the moment, and for international readers who don't know what that is, it's like the best children's TV show you've ever seen - yes, I believe better than Sesame Street!! So wonderful to know my little girl is growing up watching the same wonderful programs as I did. She is chewing on a rusk, toddling from the lounge to the TV, dancing and humming to the music. She must be getting better.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to go here and check out Betz White's latest post. She is such a clever girl. If you want to repurpose something boring and old into something wonderful, then here is a great project.

See you soon. I am going to rest.

(ps. thanks so much for all your get well wishes yesterday).

Sorry

Hi Everyone. I am unwell today and too sick to post a full "free stuff I love" so I hope you can understand that and I will see you all as soon as I'm better. I am also contending with a sick bubba (still) so here's hoping for a better week next week!

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Gretel x

Stitches and Craft Show

So, after all that waiting the Sydney Stitches and Craft show came and went. I had a great day out with family Yana, Ros and our Mum's. That's me on the right in the top photo with Yana, and that's Ros with the ever-lovely Ink & Spindle girls (I was behind the camera).

The incubator section was fantastic. Loads of inspiration and encouragement to follow your dreams, that's for sure. A few of us caught up with crafty acquaintances who were holding stalls, and a great day was had by all. We even learned how to upholster an old chair from scratch!

"So, what did you buy?", you ask. Have a look down below!

Fabric-wise, I picked up a few fabric panels from Ink & Spindle, a cute little screen print of a washing line that I couldn't resist from The Red Thread and a fabric remnant from Cloth - a new label to me.

And my favourite purchase of all was a bias tape maker from Nicole Mallalieu Design. Yep, I'm easy to please and oh how much easier my life has been since! This is the most amazing little gadget and I've been after one for AGES. I think I've cut down my bag-handle making by about 90%!!! No I love making binding instead of hating it and I'm so relieved.

So there you have it Stitches and Craft 2009 was a success.

Love these vintage...

PATTERNS!!

[image via craft gossip]

I just heard via craft gossip that until Tuesday, you can access the entire database of vintage patterns at the Commercial Pattern Archive. Click on the one week free trial bar for details on how to access the database. YAY! Check out the embroidery ones. Pretty.

I posted this last night and scheduled it for this morning because as you read it I'm probably already headed back in the car to work....back after 13 months is tough. And Ellie's first long day in care. But we will get there, and now it's time to switch off the brain from craft and think about hand therapy (I'm a hand therapist at a very large hospital in Sydney for those of you who didn't know). Have a lovely day all. :o)

The postie has been good to me

This week, Mr Postman has been good to me. A lovely bulk shipment of linen arrived at my door yesterday (feast your eyes on that Ros and Yana!!! You can touch tomorrow.) I have been searching for a good deal on linen for months now without success. But we thought we'd try and give this shop a go, where buying in bulk, together (as the cost of the shipping is enormous) was our best bet.

.

Aren't they pretty?

( vintage spool included just because it's nice to look at)

For us, it worked out to be about $13/m AUD for a variety of linens, which realistically is cheaper than we would find anywhere else in this country (am I right Aussies? Yes, feel sorry for us everyone else).

And he also delivered my two birthday books!! Yay! Even if I never make anything, they are wonderful to read and inspire and such beautiful eye candy. But I do hope that one day I will have some time to make some of the cute ideas in here.

Anyhow, off to make use of my quiet time before it's over....I can't believe she's into her second sleep cycle. It's been a while since she's done that during the day. Ciao! xo