Friday, May 24, 2013

Mont Albert Antique Fair ~ my first try at selling in a long, long time.

I started out with a table full of bits and pieces from around the house and from my Storage Unit.
I washed, I sorted, I priced, I packed ~~ and now I have enough to sell this weekend at the Mont Albert (Vic) Rotary Club Annual ANTIQUE FAIR at the primary school.
Setting up will be this evening (Friday 24th) from 7pm so I have carefully packed the car, and am almost ready to go, and only 4 hours early.

It has been a long time since I sold at an Antique Fair or Antique Center.  Back in the 1980s I regularly had space in a local Antique Center, and enjoyed spending Sundays there, tidying up the stock and talking to the customers.
In recent years I have sold some vintage linen and clothing at the North Melbourne Market, but this is my first venture into a 2-day Antique Fair since the '80s.  I know a lot has changed, but I feel sure I'll meet lots of interesting collectors and have a great weekend.   My friends Anne and Mike will be next to me for encouragement.  They have been selling at Mont Albert for a few years now, and convinced me it would be a good idea to join them.
I will keep you all informed of my progress.




Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday afternoon and it is all finished


Well I really am proud of myself today. Finished this in just one weekend, and I am very pleased with the results.  I distressed the edges ever so slightly, for that 'shabby chic' look, using a rather fine sandpaper, so as not to get carried away with the process.


Now I have no excuse to not sort out my tshirts, pjs and undies into neat tidy drawers,.... oh yes, I forgot to buy lining paper, so have to wait another day or 2.

My first venture into a make-over I shall count as a big success!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Day Two ..

 Day Two and the drawers have been undercoated, and since this photo was taken also had their first coat of Antique White USA, paint.
 The Body has also had an undercoat, in the bedroom as I couldn't carry it outside to the garage on my own. Might be OK to give a first topcoat tomorrow morning.

I also managed to go shopping today and purchased 8 very sweet silver knobs for the drawers at PROVINCIAL HOME LIVING.  They have lovely furniture and accessories, and who knew they also stock a wide range of knobs?
Just need to buy a hacksaw now, as the screws are too long and will have to be cut off once put into position.  Hey, this is turning into a fun project.

Friday, March 1, 2013

my first Painting Project



Yesterday I went shopping, at Bunnings.  I have a plan.


This 1980s 'orange' pine chest of drawers is very handy, it stores lots of my clothes and things, in my unit where storage is at a premium. But - - -  it's ugly.  In our previous home it fitted inside the walk-in robe, so was out of sight and didn't bother me too much. Prior to that, it was in my son's bedroom, matching his pine bed,[ just like all teens had in 1981].

I have only ever once tried to paint a piece of furniture, it was about 1978 and it was an ugly brown wardrobe, which became an ugly green-antique-finish, painted wardrobe! I never picked up a paintbrush again.

This afternoon I started the 'reno' Removed all handles, sanded down all the drawer surfaces and I have given each one an undercoat.  Yay me!  The body is too heavy and difficult for me to remove to the garage without help. So I have bought a drop cloth and I will paint it  in the bedroom tomorrow!
The plan is to paint it all white, and rub back a few places to get a 'shabby chic' look.

watch this space |__|



Sunday, February 3, 2013

Retail Shopping .. .. .. shock horror

sometimes you just have to go to a shopping center and Buy what you want.  I hate that, I love finding just what I want / need at Op Shops, or Sunday markets, or Garage Sales.
However, I really wanted a small green or aqua teapot, so I got this cutie from House.
Then, I have moved an old computer/printer table out of the tiny study into a corner of the dining room, all it needed was a couple of baskets or boxes on the bottom shelf to keep crafty stuff in. Although I went looking for cane baskets, these fabric ones were too cute to leave behind in Target, especially as cane does tend to catch and snag yarn, and these had green and aqua spots [my two new favourite colours for the black and white kitchen].
I am now spending a lazy Sunday afternoon re-arranging some of my 'treasures'.
How's your Sunday?


Monday, January 28, 2013

Finally, some nice Vintage Retro Shopping for Myself





On the weekend granddaughter LJ, and I decided to pop into the Waverley Antique Bazaar for a bit of a look around.  They seem to attract the kind of sellers I like, lots of Retro, lots of quirky, unusual bits and pieces.   My regular readers from last year will know I moved from a large house to a small unit and de-cluttered in a big way.  Well I am finding the black and white of the new kitchen a bit too stark and boring so I had decided to jazz it up a bit with some green and aqua colours.
I had a few pieces here, and at Waverley I found a lovely little piece of retro fabric to put into a frame to hang on the wall and a couple of jars and some sweet Czechoslovakian green glass bowls with gold trim (with original stickers underneath)
As we were about to leave, there was an announcement that one of the Stalls was closing down, that day, and for the last hour of the day everything was $1 a piece.  LJ and I went to look and found that large jar, the green bowls and amazingly, THREE Margaret Preston prints.  Last week Helen, at Objects of Whimsy  had mentioned Margaret Preston and I commented how much I loved her work, now I have 3 framed prints on the wall for a total price of $3.


amazing!

That was a successful end to LJ's Melbourne holiday, and she helped me choose where in the  room to place them.

After that, there was only an exciting Sunday to spend in Melbourne before she flew home again.
Later in the week I'll update my other blog with news of what Yarn Bombing exploits we got up to on Sunday, but as I haven't put anything up on that blog for a long time, I'll have to do some catch up first.


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Oppy -- -- -- my one and only Doll


This is Oppy, she is the only Doll I own, but when I read Clare's blog and saw some of the Dolls others had, I knew I just had to share Oppy with you.

My dear daughter-in-law from Sydney was visiting Melbourne one weekend in 2009 and we tripped around a few Op shops looking for fabrics and vintage goodies.  At the time Emily was making lots of these cute Softies, and this one, (supposedly a Giraffe) arrived in my mailbox a few weeks later.  She has a tag on her arm stating that her name is Oppy.  I was immediately smitten.  She lives in my bedroom, close to my vintage suitcase collection.
Pop over to Clare's blog if you would like to see more well loved dolls, and maybe you'd like to share your favourites too.


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Paparazzi ..


On Friday my granddaughter, LJ and I took the tram into Melbourne so she could try out some cityscape photos with her new camera lens.  Quite fittingly at Federation Square was an art installation of Paparazzi Dogs,  so I took the opportunity to catch her using her camera.

We were just about to catch the tram home when who did I spy but one of my favourite TV Panelists Russel Howcroft from Gruen Planet
So I became the paparazzi and snapped him.  He did smile and wave to us when I recognized him and said it was OK to photograph him, which LJ did, but he just continued with his phonecall.
This is my pic.
LJ thinks it is hilarious that I would even want to photograph a celebrity, hard to explain to her what a groovy granny I really am!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Not a lot of shopping on Friday, but a lovely afternoon out with Gina. We had lunch, sat and chatted and she was telling me about this lovely little Gallery in Eltham (unfortunately closed in January), and the cute tea rooms attached to it (OPEN in January).  Gina will be doing some workshops and art classes there later this year.
So we took a drive around to THE LIGHT FACTORY GALLERY, what a delightful little tea room, lots to see, all tea served in china teapots and mixed floral teacups. I didn't have a camera so I'll have to let you imagine the pretty pink roses on my cup and saucer.

I will not be doing any art classes there, but I will definitely be back for a pot of tea.
The light factory is at 21 Brougham St Eltham Open Wed to Sunday from 11 to 4.30 and yes they have a website too.
Thanks for introducing me to this lovely tea room Gina.
On the way home I picked up some new [old] knitting patterns at the little op shop in Macedon Square.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Stash Busting .. the easy way

A few days ago Nicole posted about joining the Stash Busting Challenge  Now even tho I do have a lot of yarn, I am not ready to de-stash it.  Most of the Yarn I use up in my Yarn Bombing exploits with the Yarn Corner Group.
However .. .. ..  I do have a lot of embroidery threads, and I no longer embroider
so to prove to Nicole that I could de-stash something, I took the whole box along to our Craft Group on Wednesday night, and now I have about 1/3rd of a box LESS.  

So, next time I see a lonely bag of embroidery threads at an Op Shop I wont feel so guilty about bringing them home.

The Aim of the Stash Busting Challenge is to show what you did with your stash so as I only did give-aways I can't really join in.
However, I am knitting frantically for the huge Yarn Corner covers City Square Project (Swanston St, Melbourne) on January 27th.  28 Trees will be decorated in the colours of the rainbow for all to see for a whole month !

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

2013 already .. and back into Op Shopping





For several months now I've not been doing much Op Shopping, and no shopping for my eBay Store. Now that Vic is settled in his new home and I have so much more time on my hands, I thought it was time to get back to my old eBay Store.  I usually specialize in Vintage and Retro Knitting and Crochet patterns, and some vintage linens and other bits and pieces.    My stock of pattern books is rapidly depleating and I've not found many new additions for ages. 
There were not a lot of Op Shops open this week, but today I did manage to visit a few, with minimal success.  However, as I was looking thru some pattern books at a local shop, one of the volunteers came out with this stash of vintage cotton seersucker in the prettiest of patterns.
I've not measured the pieces yet, but each one is certainly more than a yard long, and I just adore the patterns
Trellis with pretty pink flowers
big bold purple (passionfruit?) flowers
funky 1970s flowers on a pale blue background
or just some pretty stripes.

All of these would make great aprons, or little girl dresses, and seersucker is just perfect for nighties in summer.
So now that I have had one 'find', I'm even keener to get going with lots more shopping.