Hello! It is Royal Wedding Day! I am a little excited. See, I am not really a royalist, despite being married to a Dane, whose royal family is one of the longest running monarchies in the world. Also, despite the fact that I not too long ago realized I had unwittingly given all 3 of my children middle names after English kings and queens (Richard, Elisabeth and Mary). I am excited for William and Kate. Because it is their day. And we get to have a little look in.
I made a banner to go with the party my neighbour and our kids are having tonight. There will be a little champagne, maybe some cherry bakewells, a few crisps (that is really what they call chips over there!). There will be lots of fake British accents thrown around (my kids think this is really funny!). The banner was completely inspired by Tiff from Dotti Angel’s lovely weathered cotton bunting. You must go and have a look. I thought it so pretty.
Anyway, Happy Wedding Day to William and Kate, may your day be lovely and special, just as mine and Mr Viking’s twas.
It has been a full mailbox the last two weeks. Here are some of the goodies that have surprised (and delighted) me. The top picture is a lovely mixed media work that I found, by Portland artist Cathy McMurray. It was a present for Mr Viking for our wedding anniversary on Monday. It is titled ‘Books’. He really liked it. We read a lot in bed and it is for above our bed. I said it was a double present because he gets to put a hole in the wall to put it up, which is one of his favourite things to do!
The pretty blue card is from Mr Viking to me – it came with some sweet cotton bed socks, as cotton is for your second wedding anniversary. Yes, we have been together since 1994, though only married two years ago. It was time!
Inside Out arrived this week. I have been a subscriber for many years. I was a little nervous when Karen McCartney left as I really liked her aesthetic (even after 10 years) though I really liked this issue with Richard Waller the editor doing a great feature on collecting Art.
Can you see the pretty Bespoke zine in there? I was a lucky winner of this over at the Brown Paper Bunny blog last week. I have loved reading it, it is jam packed with crafty articles of all sorts. Jess from Epheriel Designs puts this together. You won’t be dissapointed. Jess, from Brown Paper Bunny, makes really fun cards and things here.
The pretty butterfly envelope and notecards came from Etsy seller Sarah Ogren. Sarah is a mixed media artist with lovely whimsical work. The japanese tapes are from Uguisu, my favourite place to buy tape supplies – Hiki’s service is outstanding and fast.
Last but not least, Chantal, whom I met at the ABCD meet-up last week, well we did a little swap - some notebooks for one of her gorgeous Willy Wagtail stamps. Chantal hand carves these stamps, they are so clever, she also makes lovely Easter cards which you can find here. It is not normally this exciting a week of post, so definately worth sharing.
A new arrival. The vintage garland for the girl species. Isn’t it a pretty one? You can find one here.
I have spent the morning updating the Vintage Shop with some sweet finds and doing an enormous amount of washing after the rain we have had in Sydney this past week. Some have had too much rain, and it is flooding again, and that is bad. I hope that you are dry, where ever you are. Do you know I almost couldn’t list the Dutch tile you see up there, I loved it when I found it and I still love it so.
The winner is Joy! What a happy name you have. Joy’s comment was number 8 and her happy colour is Pink. Joy, if you would prefer a Pink Happy Birthday garland I am happy to send you one of those instead. I will be in touch. Thank you to everyone who entered, I loved hearing all about your happy colours.
Now, I am going out to do some banking (I found a long lost cheque) and I am going to see if that 1960’s sewing machine is still at the Op Shop. I think I might have just the place for it.
Have a happy day.
What the world needs right now (in my opinion) is a little Happy. Especially Japan. So, I am giving away a lovely Yellow Happy Birthday garland. All I would like to know is – which colour makes you happy, and why? Just leave a comment below, and make sure to tell your friends. I will pick a winner from the hat next Monday. I cannot wait to hear about your colour.
Lately, it is just me and this guy hanging around the house. Here he is waiting for his keyboard lessons. This room gets lots of wonderful natural light (perfect for taking photos) and looks out into the branches of our liquid amber. I take all of my product photos in here. Mostly at 2pm in the afternoon. Bad Cat likes to sit and he tends to twitch alot when he spots a feathered friend. I like the way he comes and finds me in the day, and just hangs out there beside me. I’ve got some new garlands coming later today, stay tuned.
Like in your bag of mushrooms. This one went into last night’s Coq au vin. It was my best yet. Sign quietly added by Miss Viking.
A little behind on the giveaway – it is a coming, I have just suddenly got carried away making paper rabbits.
Last week I answered a call from Jenny from the fabulous on-line kid’s magazine lmnop. Jenny asked if I could make a sign for Itty Bitty City, a paper based family project held at the National Arts School in Forbes St, Darlinghurst to celebrate the opening of Art Month. I was thrilled to make the sign, and it looks to all accounts like everyone had a great time creating an Itty Bitty City from paper and bits and pieces. Wow. Did you see that silver dragon? Or maybe it’s a rocket? I LOVE seeing kids letting loose with their creativity. Congratulations Jenny and Ian on a fabulous day!
This is post no. 150 for me. I think that calls for a giveaway tomorrow.
I have been thinking about this idea for a while now, and I spent all morning working on square sizes, length vs. weight issues, working with punches. The colours and patterns all seem to come easily to me, it’s the maths that sometimes messes me up. I am really happy with the result though. I have based the shape on the humble cafe curtain, present through out the 1970s and 1980s in many Australian (and international) kitchens. My Mum loved them. We had some amazing patterns going on. She was always so happy to hang up a new set. So, these I dedicate to my Mum! You can get a garland here if you like.
