Suffragette Journal

We finished the Suffragette Journal a couple of weeks ago. I need the girls to bring their completed journals so I can share with you.

This is a side view, as you can see it has got quite fat.

View from the opposite side with opening catch. To hold the pages shut, ribbon and chain with a padlock depicting women chaining themselves to iron railings, on cutting the chains they where thrown into prison, to contemplate their audacity to think they could be equal to man. I have also threaded on a enamel label with the word 'Journey' as this was an amazing journey in history

This last page and the front cover, is constructed from an old book cover plus the spine which hides the mechanics of the journal. A small shadow box nailed down with tacks houses a vintage silver button with knots for the joining of women supporting each other in the fight to win the vote.

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me on honouring these brave and gutsy women.

cheers Jacky

Rain and more rain

We are having some wonderful rainy weather here in Perth, rain but temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius, so really comfortable. I personally love winters in Perth, I love taking the dog for a walk early mornings just as the birds are waking up and giving half hearted sleepy chirps to greet the new day.

These are some dwarf sweet peas that I planted from seeds, I haven't grown sweet peas for years I just love the flowers but never quite sure of the right time to plant here in Australia. This is something I have learnt, growing plants are so different to conditions in New Zealand. Still struggling with lettuces (they bolt so quickly here) and potatoes. Oh dear, can you see the mess on the pavers, yes I need to get out and garden, my excuse is that dear dog, digs in my garden and then lies on my plants and being a big dog she flattens lots of my plants.

I love this old metal side of a babies cot, in the rain everything looks so fresh. Very hard to capture rain on film, it was bucketing down when I took these photos with the sun showing through, bizarre weather. I have been very busy with my art this week, but not ready to share just yet, a lot of vintage art.

Miss Johnsons Vintage and Handmade Market

October 30th and 31st, Phil and I are running a new Vintage Craft Market, at the beautiful Guildford Town Hall. We had looked at one run in the USA http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/raised_in_cotton/2008/12/magical-miss-frenchies-holiday-brocante-show.html check it out, we thought it would be fun to run one here in Australia. You will find a link in the side bar if you would like to follow ours. We want to create a vintage brocante, something that you can meander through, unlike a fair where the stalls are all in a row, nothing co-ordinating with the stalls either side or the fair itself. We want ours to be a theme, create an experience that you will tell your friends about and come to our next one. We aim to have vintage items, handmade in the vintage style or using vintage items. There will be yummy food for you to eat while you peruse the items around you. We will be doing the hall up very vintage and the Guildford Hall lends very well to this. There will be music gentle music from another time. We will give you little tempters on our new site to keep you interested. Hope you will join us, and if you would like to sell in this unique market we would love to hear from you.

cheers

Jacky

Vintage Silk Mantles

On Sunday my sister had a stall at the Mundaring Markets and the Mundaring Truffle's event, so I scooted up in my trusty little subaru sherpa, poor old girl does find it harder going up the hill but can still pass the slower traffic, she has heart if not style. It was a lovely sunny day, poured with rain the day before, and there was a huge crowd, parking a bit of a challenge but found one in the Woolworths car park. Crossing the main road was a bit hairy, two lanes made it a scramble. There was a wonderful exhibition on the corner, not sure of the name of the building, most amazing dyed and felted clothing, very India Flint style, have a look at her website, she does amazing things with silk fabric http://www.indiaflint.com/ well worth stopping for. Opposite Phil's stall was a lovely couple selling antique and vintage collectibles, found these lovely Silk Mantles still in their lovely old glassine envelopes. If you do not know what silk mantles are, I certainly didn't, bit before my time, they are these little knitted silk bags that go on the kerosene lamps. Now of course I saw the perfect little pocket to use in vintage fabric art, perfect to hold a little treasure. They measure 3 x 2 1/2" or 7.5 x 7cm and you could see an object that you placed in it. So with the possibilities of using them in art I purchased 12 and have put 3 on my etsy if you are interested. If you do not know Mundaring, it is about a 30 minute drive up into the hills, surrounded by beautiful bush and some very interesting homes, I didn't think to take my camera. Phil had a very successful 2 days and of course her stall looked lovely.