Saturday Morning

Lately my kids have been going to a swimming class on Saturday mornings, so I have missed our little drives around the country. But as it's school holidays we drove over to Trentham, where we did some op-shopping...


followed by breakfast at Red Beard.


I'm a big fan of the op-shop/café combo. It's great with kids, as they have something new to read or play with while you have a peaceful coffee and read the Saturday papers. A nice start to the weekend!

Brightening my day... Part 2.

At the Post office a huge box was waiting for me, and inside was a Tinnie ! Yay!

I have pined for a Tinnie for ages. Mine is in a blue/violet colourway, stuffed with vintage fat quarters, trim and buttons. And - surprise - a Holly Hobbie pillowcase! Wow!

I love the concept of a Tinnie - they're like the old tins of haberdashery you find in op shops, except they contain an edited selection of pretty things that you actually want. Cathy is awesome for making these. We met up recently and I sent her a big bag of vintage wallpaper offcuts and she kindly promised me a Tinnie in return. Hurrah for swaps!

Brightening my day...

This Portobello bone china tea set, found at the Anglican Trash 'n' Treaure this morning. Just the thing for a dark winter's morning, I think! Also found: a beautiful vintage sewing machine in a stand (more than I wanted to spend but it is so utterly nice), some old chocolate tins, glass sweetshop jars, three tablecloths, a vintage school embroidery sampler, box of wool oddments, storybooks, crochet blanket and some Madame Wiegel's sewing patterns for my collection.

PS

PS here's Michelle's winning answer, drawn at random...

"My role model was Barbara from "The Good Life". She was assertive, strong and very, very clever. It's funny - I'm now so into cooking and gardening and being sustainable that my best friend calls me "Barbara"!"

Yes, I loved the Good Life too, Barbara is a great role model. Sadly I am probably more Margo than Barbara myself!

And the winner is...

Michelle!
Thank you for all of the lovely entries into my Clothkits giveaway. Reading about everyone's childhood role models was such a hoot, there were so many great entries! Michelle - please contact me with your choice of Clothkits children's kit!

And why is my Blogger dashboard suddenly speaking Catalan?

Home Sweet Home

Look at this cutie - an old wooden display unit shaped like a little house. I spotted it a few weeks ago at my local vintage shop but it had a SOLD sticker on. I was gutted. It's been sitting there ever since, making me sad every time I go in. So today I asked the owner about it. He told me that he was planning to use it himself to display some goods, hence the sticker. But he is a sweetie and, seeing my disappointed face, he said that if I really, really wanted it I could have it. For five bucks. Yay! I am going to paint it and use it to display Lark goodies at our trade fair, and then afterwards in our living room. I can't wait to get started!

Lisa Jones

Today I have been looking through some of the newest illustrations from Lisa Jones. I love Lisa's work, her hand-printed and recycled cards are so appealing and really stand out from the crowd. I really like working with Lisa too, and her partner Edward, as they are both lovely. I think it shows in their work! Lisa cites her inspiration as 20th century studio pottery and Scandinavian folklore, she lives in London and loves cycling around and tending her allotment. Lisa has a cute blog. You can find Lisa's cards on our website here, and we will be launching the new designs in August. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy some of these cute pictures of Lisa and Edward and their work...

Frankie

The latest edition of lovely Frankie has an article about people with creative businesses who've left the city to live in the country. Paul and I are in there, it's in the newsagents this week, have a look! That's us on the right.

We did the interview ages ago and Teagan from Ballarat came to take photos of us in our office, she was very sweet. We both hate how we look in the photo of course, and to make it worse (don't laugh) have a look at the gorgeous creatures on the page opposite. Never mind, at least our kids look cute!!

I haven't sat down to read the rest of the mag yet but it has some great articles as always including interviews with Sublime Stitching and Faythe Levine, cute wallhangings to make and loads of other crafty stuff as well as music, art and fashion. Isn't the cover so pretty?

Come and say hello!

This Sunday Steph and I will be at Mathilda's Market in Malvern. It will be our last market before Christmas, so do please come along to stock up on treats and gifts. We'll be the ones peering out from behind towers of knitted cakes, piles of beautiful books from Paumes and Rosie Flo and a pretty box of Belle & Boo goodies. There'll be lots of lovely makers, including several who I have never met before but can't wait to see. It's on from 9am-1pm at the Town Hall. Hope to see you there!

Bobbing about

Paul and I went over to Bendigo today to see the Camera on the Somme exhibition at the Art Gallery. It's a collection of photos taking by two brothers during and after WWI, that were stored in a biscuit tin in their garden shed for 90 years and have miraculously survived. What an amazing collection, I found it fascinating.

We also popped into see lovely Sonia at Bob Boutique , her shop was as sweet as ever, she is awesome.

It's nearly the start of a new season and I can't wait to get my new knitted toy designs into the shops. Today we had a photoshoot - you can just see one of the new toys (a garden gnome!) at the back of this tea party photo.

More wallpaper love!!

I have added some new prints from my vintage wallpaper collection to Flickr. This one is a recent find, I already had the same design in pink. It's definitely one of my favourites!

My Weekend

Saturday - the Sisters Market in Brunswick was totally ace! I have never met such a nice bunch of shoppers as this market attracts. Several times during the day Steph and I were in fits of giggles and we chatted so much that the time literally flew by. Hello to all the lovely blog readers who dropped by our stand!

Sunday - we made a Treasure Chest cake that the boys found a recipe for in a Scooby Doo magazine. Mmm, healthy... not. Delicious though!

Toadstool Time

One of my favourite things about Autumn is looking for toadstools - here in Daylesford they are popping up everywhere at the moment! And you'll find them in our webshop too...


Lark Toadstool Baby Rattle
Dandy Star Toadstool Tee (great over a long-sleeve top or skivvy!)
Lisa Jones Greeting Card
Lark Toadstool Mittens

Japanese advertising and packaging

Angela's reports from Japan have reminded me that I didn't finish the posts from my own trip last month. One of the things that I really loved about Japan was the way that packaging - for food, toys, clothes, whatever - was never dull. Everything seems to have a cute face, a big bright flower or at least some bold and pretty colours. Billboard advertising is really innovative and fun too. Here are some random photos I took on my travels - you might need to put your sunglasses on!

Packing for the Sisters Market...

If you are in Melbourne tomorrow and trying to escape the rain please come to the Sisters Market at Brunswick Town Hall. Lots of great handmade stalls and I will be there with my Lark lovelies, Paumes books, Belle & Boo and Rosie Flo. The market supports Beyond Blue, the national depression initiative, so it's for a great cause too.

Steph and I will be manning the stand - hope to see you there!

A Cuppa With Kate and Steph

I've been at Kate's cosy house in the bush most of today, along with Steph, talking about the future of the Maker's Market and hatching various other crafty plans.

Kate is making her first granny squares blanket and it is lovely. She has also made some cute granny square purses.

These two I have picked out for a trade we are doing. And do you like my new camera cosy? I bought this from Darren at the makers market, who now has an Etsy shop, it is made from a vintage blankie and a lovely floral hankie.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, you just have to tell me who your role model was when you were a child - some of the entries are hilarious!!

My TV role model + giveaway!

When I was a young girl, maybe 12 or so, my TV role model was Molly Jones from A Country Practice. I loved how she was so in love with Brendan, and I aspired to her life in the country having babies and practising her own eclectic style and 'home made', crafty take on life.

I grew up in a big city in England where my life couldn't possibly have been more different from Molly's - and I probably didn't even know where Australia actually was in those days - but it does often strike me as odd that I have somehow ended up a crafty mum in this small country town in Australia. How did that happen? Who was your childhood role model? Please tell me and I'll enter you in the draw for a Clothkits children's kit of your choice (Molly was definitely a Clothkits kind of mum).



The closing date is 16 June. Open to anyone, anywhere.

Daylesford Maker's Market

Well, it was a very busy day, that's all I can say. I took these photos at 9.50 before the doors opened and I'm glad I did as I didn't stop for a breath or a cuppa until 2pm! The atmosphere was amazing - lovely venue, live musicians, cosy cafe, very laid-back as you'd expect in Daylesford, and friendly makers from all over the region. Lots of blog girls popped in including CurlyPops, Tinnie Girl, and Ric Rac. We had a 'guest spot' for a Melbourne maker (Polly Pratt) and we hope to offer more guest spots in future, following lots of requests. We worked hard, but all in all it was a lovely day and we raised a heap of cash for the local hospital. For me personally, it is really nice to be involved in something as lovely and creative as this after the rudeness and negativity I encountered at the school fete last year (regular readers will know what I'm talking about!), and to work with some genuinely creative and open people. Plus it was a chance to do a dress rehearsal for the Sisters and Mathilda's markets that I have coming up the next two weekends! Thanks to everyone who helped Steph with the organisation, especially Betty and her team in the cafe and Susie and Marcia who were real troopers. x