some more thrifty finds...

There's something so exciting about entering a room full of antiquities and second hand paraphernalia.
More exciting than the thrill of shopping on sale days in retail land, cause you know when you hit jackpot and find those little gems that come home to be treasured, that they truly are rare gems.

I often have feelings of anxiousness and apprehension as to which way to turn first.

Maybe that woman will get to the tea towels before me.....or what If i skip books to get to the tea towels and then see someone walk past me with 20 little golden books....I'd cry on the inside...oh o.k................ I'd cry on the outside.

So I tend to do a quick skim and then come back to the hot spots for a closer look.

The lovely Beky from Pivx was the little gem that told me about this new place to shop for wonders of old. Well I'm sure it's been there forever but it was new for me. It's the diamond valley antiques and collectibles centre. We got lots of goodies there.

This superdooperly fantastic intercom system, and a vintage microscope still in it's box,

A great cane caddy for my bitses and some more souvenir tea towels for stools and the upcoming apron making for charity sessions...

some great kids books and these naff knitting patterns.
You can't really see the men's vest one, but it's titled masculine knits. Hehehehe...cause you know, if it didn't say masculine the big boys might feel a bit sissy wearing Nana's knitted vests. But now it's all o.k

So funny.

When I was young.....

Yeah o.k......maybe not when I was young.
But back in the good old days when they watched a movie at home, I'm sure it looked a little like this.

We went to a fabulous antique emporium on the weekend and picked up this spiffy projector.
Best of all it had some reels of film in it.

At first I was excited at the beautifully sculptural camera with case included, then I became all the more intrigued, pondering what might be on the film included.

Could it be a happy birthday from days of old, a Hollywood great....or something more sinister like some young lovers late night jaunts....or worse....could it be a travesty, a secret, a murder.... filmed like it was in that gruesome movie with Nicholas cage '8mm'

We had to know!

So home it came.

The machine switched on, it whirred and hummed just like it should. The light shone bright, ready to tell the tale of the little film reels within. But alas, the rubber belt that made the wheel turn was goo. So, so old it had deteriorated into goo.

Determined to unveil the images of old, Mr Finki had an idea!
We had picked up a vintage editing splicer at some garage sale ages ago, for no other purpose than it's vintage geeky appeal.

But being the uber geek that Mr.Finki is...he actually knew what it did and how to work it. So he popped on the reels, plugged it an and wound the handle.

As the picture went flicka...flicka, a yellowed image..... a man, walked on to the screen.
He struggled to carry a large hessian bag that was leaving a trail of something behind as it scraped it's way across the floor. We lent in closer to see if it was, what we thought it was and at that very moment, the bag dropped and out rolled a head....
Do you believe me? Nahhhh...

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is....the movie was a 1922 Hollywood flick called weak end driver. About a man and his motor car. An old model T ford.

So cute to watch.

It's nice to have little bits of history around our house and even nicer that some of it works too.

Right up on High....

Was wandering up on High st on Friday and came across....wonders of wonders....a bead store.

I'm sure I've passed it a million times before, but stupidly, never ventured in.
It's not the most delightful of interiors and there is definitely no sales assistants asking how your days been, but that's sorta appealing in itself.
You can linger longer and take your time touching everything.

They have trays and trays of beads, strands of gems, lots of suede's, leather and tiger tail and some super cheap shop display items behind the counter.

I got some funky beads for a project I'm working on ready for my December markets and at only 10 cents each I could afford a few colors to have a play with.

I also nabbed a display bust for only $8.95.....I've seen them in shop display shops for much more then that, so I was very happy.
I don't usually use conventional display items for my stalls, but the beaded idea I'm working on needs something to set it apart from all the rest, so it was good timing really, that I came across it.

If your in the area and after a bargain, the shops called Bejooled and its at 320 high st, Preston, Vic.

Where's your hoot...........

The lovely Felicity over at Flicketty splits recently posed the thought, "I sometimes wonder where my hoots end up"

I can answer that.....thought I.
As I have had the pleasure of meeting the hoot family and adopting one for me.....

This here is my hoot, she delights in bringing a splash of color and fun to my bedroom and spends her days reclining on plush cushions far far away from little hands.

although little hands sometimes find there way to her abode.

Having seen the absolute adorableness that a hoot can bring to ones home my M.I.L agreed that her home would not be complete without one too.
So meet 'In my gothic garden'


She perches delightfully atop a very funky wicker chair, taunting the many pussy cats that wonder by. She's very at home, indeed.

If you have the pleasure of owning one of the hoot family too, lets start a family tree.....

A partridge in a spare tree......

We have a spare tree or two up for grabs.............

Land is being cleared ready for building and 8 or so lovely trees need to be removed in preparation.

Unfortunately we can't fit them in anywhere else, so I thought I'd put it out there, in case you know any one looking to fill some space in their yard.

They were originally planted as little fellas about 10 years ago along the fence line, to grow up big and strong and create a nicer view than the back of the neighbors house.
Well, grow they have.
Each one is about 10 foot high, 5 foot wide give or take.
I think they are Acmena Smithii or neighbours be gone, but I could be wrong.

Here's a close up for the green thumbs....you'll know better than me.

They are free of course, but you'll have to drive over to Melbourne's north to dig them up and transport at your own expense.

Drop me a line if you need more info, or would like to give them a new home.

Welcome to the world..........

After incubating for the full 40 weeks and then some....bubba no.2 for my little sis has finally decided to join the world.



For now we call her little lumpy, whilst mum and dad decide on a name that sits well.
She has a full head of fuzzy brown hair and an appetite to challenge the hungriest of hippos'

I wish I could be there to welcome her and give her a big squish, but she's up in sunny Queensland. I'll be up in November to catch up on cuddles for sure.

Till then, my thoughts are with her very tired mum, her very smitten big brother and her doting dad.
These first few weeks are the hardest, but will fly by and soon be a distant memory to the delightful giggles, and everyday wonder that is watching a little one grow.

Congratulations little sis and welcome to the world little lumpy.

Oh what a day....

Finally a chance to sit and tell you all about my time at the "Northside Makers Market" on the weekend.Words like fun, sun and lots of glitter come to mind. Along with a sense of absenteeism from the event. Strange but true! I had that sort of out of body experience where you're there but not really present. There was just so much going on.

It felt just like organising a wedding.
Months and months of planning. Making sure uncle Earl gets to sit next to auntie Bess. Remembering to have stuff for the kids to do so they don't get bored, wondering......did I put the milk in the fridge? Did I remember to stop and chat to everyone?
And of course...we left something at home and had to do a runner at the 11th hour.......
that was soooo gunna happen, no matter how organized I tried to be.

But, gosh it was fun.

I finally got myself set up, the craft table organized and headed in to the kitchen to set up tea and coffee when I stopped for the first time to look around.

There was a sea of people shopping, stallholders chatting, a line for buying cupcakes and a kettle slowly boiling....... Just perfect.

From then on in the day ran so smoothly. Each and every stallholders had such a beautiful table of handmade goodies on offer. (See more pics here) The vibe was a buzz of art, creativity, family, and fun. Which was our aim, 100%. So I'm so glad it all panned out the way we had hoped.

Mr. Finki did a marvellous job of manning my stall all day and the glowing baby mama, Auntie Jessamy helped Yaya take care of my sisters stall. We had uncle Ben and Kierah on the craft table all day and all the committee members hubbies were steadfast in hanging around to help set up and make sure the day ran smoothly.

I was humbled to see that many of our members rocked up super early to help us set up tables, and stayed back to pack up at the end of the day. It makes it such a joy to volunteer our time when we know that our members are behind us all the way. Thank you.

You know my day would not have been complete without a spot of shopping too, so without further a do let me show you some of the gorgeousness I scored on the day.

Some fabulous screen printed singlets for Finn from 'Whittaker rose baby'

A snazzy new purse from 'Whittaker rose designs'

An awesome s'octopus from 'chuckles'

more accessories from my favourite brooch maker 'Curlypops'.

A journal or two, from the amazing selection on offer at 'found n' bound'

Some button accessories for Kierah.

and more birdies to surround myself with.
Paper cranes by 'Tirese Ballard' and brooches by 'made by Sarah'.

There was more.....but I best stop there before Mr.Finki starts counting the $$$$ spent....

Sadly two other things didn't get ticked off my shopping list:

Melbourne Epicure 'Sold out' so I missed out on my gingerbread fix.....

and time got away from me, so I missed out on getting a massage.....boy I needed it.

Next time!

I'll make sure I get in early next time.

Keep your calenders free on Nov 28th for the next 'Northside Makers Market'. It's gunna be huge!

Almost the big day..................

When I jumped on board the committee for organizing a new handmade market in my neighborhood, I had no idea what I was in for.
In part, I thought it would be a big bloggy love in, with the odd friend roped in under pressure.

How wrong could I be.

After months of planning, online collaboration, talking, texting, making bookings, twitting, blogging and dreaming we, Margaret Jennie and I, the Northside Makers, have created one hellava market event right here in Northcote this Saturday.

There were times when all our patience was stretched, whilst we juggled our own craft business, our day jobs and our young families.
There were the inevitable delays with banks and corporations, the tedious tasks of setting up liability insurance and booking tables....but I would not change it for one second.
Cause come Saturday, I think we will all be able to stand there, so proud of what we have achieved.
Not just for creating this opportunity for all the crafty people in our community to come together and shine, but for laying the stepping stones for this event to pave the way to the ongoing growth of this fabulous community of handmade artisans.

This.....is just the beginning.

There will be over 40 stalls of handmade wonder. (check our blog for the list of stallholders)
We have cakes, coffee, a fundraiser sausage sizzle, face painting, balloons and craft tables for the kids.
I look forward to beginning my Christmas shopping whilst I'm there and continuing my mission of only buying and giving handmade presents for all.

Amidst the craziness of planning this great event, I may have overlooked the fact that my name is on that poster advertising me as a stall holder too aghhhhh....

Till this week of course.

So I have been crafting from dawn to dusk...I kid you not! and look forward to displaying:

A few of my new bill books

Some new big berthas! I had sold out of all my large glass pendants and had trouble sourcing the glass till now, so finally......... they are back.

A selection of fabric button bracelets in vintage and vintage inspired fabrics. So many peeps pick these up thinking they are for the kiddies.

I must just be a big kid at heart, cause I love all the fun colors and most definitely make these for the grown ups.

Some 'match box minis'.

Little glass pendants for the petite at heart.

Lots of new glass rings......just love them colors I do.....

and releasing the 'Finki art pendants' in my new oval design.

Whew, I'm exhausted.

Just some last minute running around tomorrow, early night for R & R, then a super duper Market Day on Saturday. Hope to see yah there.

Come along and support all the new faces to the market scene, as well as some of your old favorites.