Christmas parties

This week to thank our lovely girls for their loyalty and friendship we put on a Christmas party to thank them all. I managed to take photo's of the night class girls but was to busy talking to remember to take the morning class girls photo's.

Monika, Cheryl and Donna all waiting to the others to arrive.

We will be closing the shop Saturday 2 oclock and re open on Tuesday 6th January 2009 for a well earned break. Not going away anywhere, but this year we are having Christmas dinner at near by Whiteman Park, which we have paid for a covered area to eat at, plenty of room for all the kids to play, Joannes giving all the kids water pistols so I'd better get the biggest one I can find, they'll all be out to get me, there is also a paddling pool if it is hot (I pray not), tennis courts and lots of bike trails, it will be fun.

I would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas season and my best wishes for 2009, I am looking forward to the new year with anticipation, we have some wonderful plans coming up.

London Court dressed for Christmas

I really haven't had time to take photo's of Perth city dressed up for Christmas. The opportunity arose when we had half an hour to spare after setting up our stall for Perth Upmarket. Down Hay Street Mall is the lovely Tudor London Court, it was a few hours before the city shops opened so not many people around, a good photo opportunity.

This lovely elderly couple out to do their shopping early or just sight seeing, can you see them holding hands, it just made me think of my long gone Mum and Dad.

Perth Upmarket day

Well its all over, was a lot of work leading up to the fair but it was all well worth it. Its not only the sales but its the wonderful people you meet and new contacts for the shop. This time we had an extra 2 hours and it was not so crowded. Sometimes when a fair is so crowded, people become frustrated because they cannot see what is on the stalls, there also seems to be a lot of pushing. It did not feel that there was as many people but that could be the longer hours, but sales where good so was all worthwhile. Above is the wonderful Perth Town Hall in the centre of the city. upstairs where we had our stall. Can you see that beautiful ceiling. The lovely Annie with her beautiful handmade wares. Sorry photo a bit blurred Beautiful handmade glazed ceramics, such beautiful colours Amazing colourful shoes, not handmade but designed by this lovely lady.

And lastly our stall, we where one of the first to finish setting up this time, which takes the pressure of. View from the stage end of the hall, Joanne heading out.This is my one purchase, lovely handwashed french linen napkins. Are they not divine!

Perth Upmarket

Tomorrow, Sunday 14th we are participating in a new artisans market at Perth Town Hall. We have been preparing for weeks, making handmade products as per criteria of the organiser of Perth Upmarket which is very refreshing to be getting back to making products. This is the 2nd event the first being in September which was a huge success, crowds of shoppers blocking all the aisle's. The Perth Town Hall is a beautiful old building which has recently been refurbished the street entrance now used as a gallery and the beautiful upstairs restored to its original style. Both upstairs and downstairs are used for the Upmarket and we are upstairs which makes us feel very privileged. Following are some of the products we have made for the market, we are really excited to be doing this. Packs of stamped gift tags and twine to wrap. Memo stick it notes. More tags held with wood peg. Fridge magnet pegs. Large rosette for a new baby boy. For a baby girls first christmas.These large rosettes where fun to make, we made small ones to go on the gift as well.

The rosette on these are about the size of a large dinner plate.The canvas's here have borrowed relations, an album I was given when I was in France, so they are all unknown french children.

Vintage buttons, buckles, optical lens and a pewter twig used on these canvas's. I will take my camera and share the view inside the market.

classes in shop

The girls who come regularly come to our classes have been very creative lately making Christmas items, decorations and for gifts.

Christmas glass balls with silver nest and eggs inside nest, have you any idea how difficult it is to put things inside these glass balls and glue them in place, a real challenge as the girls will tell you, moving things around with bamboo sticks until one is happy with placement, can you see the little bird hovering over the nest. Top is decorated with pretty ribbon and decorative buttons. The buttons where kind of heavy so was difficult to get ball to sit up straight.

Above is Mandy Herrings decoration, see the feather.

These are the samples I made for the canvas class, a lot of the girls decided to make more of these as Christmas gifts. The one on the left is my little family, Kirsty and Raymon on top and Joanne nestled in a tin with mica on top. On the right is my sisters and I as little children. I have used pewter twigs tied on with torn ribbon and hung little dangly things of crystals and vintage beads. Vintage buttons are also used on the roofs of the homes.

Baby kookaburra's

I know, Jo's off sick and I should be painting canvas's, but just out the back of the shop we have been most fortunate in experiencing the first week of 3 baby kookaburra's, ok so what some of you may say, but for us kiwi's they are what australia is all about. I first saw one in a large gum tree a little way away, branches got in the way to take a good photo. Saturday while I was teaching a workshop they had come down into the jacaranda tree right there next to the fence and I was lucky to get some close up photo's.

Bit blurry but you can see how beautiful it is, they have kept us entertained all week as they practised their manic laugh, started off like a baby cooing. Well there you go I hope you enjoy them like we do.

Christmas Decorations at home

I took some of the christmas decorations home to take photo's, big mistake, you move things and there is an impression where it was standing, I am so not into housework, but now I know how much dust there is I cannot put it off any longer, Australia is a very dusty country, you can dust one day and the next day its back again, well thats a waste of time dont you think.

Anyway here are two photo's I took quickly last weekend

This is a photo of Joannes completed journal after doing the talented Judy Wilkenfeld's workshop here in Perth, looks great doesn't it.

Christmas decorating

We have just got in a wonderful line of Christmas decorations from the USA. Dollar was not good mmmh, but everyone is in the same boat. For a long time I have admired the American feather trees so we got a few of these. They are beautiful and made of real goose feathers, make a real statement especially if you don't have the room for a large tree, we got these in the 36" size also a small one 12" which looks lovely in a bowl surrounded bey baubles or a lovely vintage tea cup. We also got two of the silver tinsel trees in 24" and the cutest 8" miniature for those who love to decorate with white and silver. We also got a variety of the lovely cream bottlebrush trees that came in a set of 3, we are also selling them individually, they have strings of pearls wrapped around the tree.

We also got in a lovely range of snow village houses and churches, one has a green bottle brush covered in snow above a small house covered in snow, just look at the bottom to the left. and to the right is the tallest church at just over 12" high, this one is all pale cream with a wreath above the door and bottle brushes each side. The other church at 10" with a silver roof with drifts of snow, dark green bottle brush trees and a steeple. the two village houses are about 6" high white with silver roof, snow and dark green trees. There is also a winters eve village all covered in snow and a couple of miniature reindeer, too cute.The old German Santa with switches completes the picture, these photo's are taken of our shop window arrangements. I have looked longingly in American magazines especially Romantic Homes and Victoria that have featured these Christmas Trees and Churches and Houses for years but have never seen them here in Australia. I also love the romantic white decor and these go perfectly, ever the romantic mmmh. I will take some of these home today and photograph around my home to see how they look and will post them for you to see what they look like in the home.

Gardening

I am fighting the rise in food prices by growing my own vegetables, we got this corrugated container to start our first little plot. Last year I grew a few vegetables and herbs in polystyrene boxes with organic soil, this went quite well. Only problem was I planted the little cherry tomatoes in a pot and my dear hairy friend decided that she liked tomatoes and as they ripened she would pluck them off, I think I got about 2, but I am not giving up, will put some net around the one in above garden, bit of pepper might help to keep that big moist nose out, that sniffs to see when tomato has ripened. I have also lost faith in vegetables in supermarkets, tasteless and no idea how long they have been in storage. My organic vegetables have also got very expensive. Must be good soil the radish and carrot seeds where up within days, must of been old seed carrots as they still haven't appeared. I do like to go out and pick fresh vegetables and herbs for a meal. That is sawdust on the ground, the soil here is not good, constantly needing feeding and dry as a bone.
We also took up the paving and put a new garden separating the gazebo and large pergola, the idea is that the tree and shrubs will grow high and thick enough to form a screen to separate these two areas and provide a cooler backyard. You can see the agapantha's have taken well, these plants are so tough, I have planted a lovely jasmine to climb over the iron archway, that should look and smell good. I do love perfumed plants in my back yard.And this is my wisteria, well it is only its second year, once it grows along this pergola it will look amazing!

Bridgetown

Above this beautiful rose was a rare one we saw, if you breath in you could imagine the perfume.

What a wonderful little town with such a great community spirit, and the shops, a great variety, a wonderful art supplies shop too. Nestled in a valley, with hills both sides, some great cafes and lovely gardens everywhere, they take a pride in their town. They had this wonderful old jail in the main street which we couldn't resist looking through. Only two cells as serious offenders where sent on to Albany or Bunbury.

I don't think there was too many problems with prisoners trying to escape, they would have to be stick thin to get through this narrow opening in the wall with a chain all rusted up.A bolt on the door this size would be pretty hard to pick I would think.

This oven was in the tiniest little room out the back where the Policeman's wife cooked the prisoners meals, no cool feat in West Australian heat of summer. We don't know the meaning of hard work do we. These ovens have become fashionable again they are calling them pizza ovens.

These lovely old worn row of seats have come out of the picture theatre that is no longer around, just outside the little kitchen on the ivy covered veranda. We also took the opportunity to look at some of the lovely gardens open to the public. The lovely mauve wisteria was amazing, I am so envious makes mine look pretty pathetic. Driving along we would see an amazingly blooming bush growing over an old shed, presumably a house once stood there as well, how do they survive through the summer without water.

The gardens at this lovely little cottage nestled into the side of the hill where full of lush greenery.

Ford House, Bridgetown

whoa, I have been so busy I have not had time to update my blog, my apologies to those who take the time to read this blog, when I read some other blogs (don't have much time to do that either) I wonder if anyone finds mine interesting or not.

Joanne and I have been busy making things for craft fairs as well as keeping up with projects for our classes. The girls who do take classes are progressing well with their vintage silk and lace journals, I will include some photo's when we finish, this is a long project and we are taking a break for a little while. At the present we are making some christmas cards using Beryl Taylor techniques and then we will move onto a vintage look canvas.

I did manage to take a week off, or part of the week. John and I spent a week down south, I had a stall at the Westfibre Forum in Bunbury on Sunday and Monday. I would recommend participation at this forum they had excellent tutors and a good variety of classes. The forum was held for a week at the Catholic College just outside Bunbury, great venue. We spent Tuesday to Thursday with eldest daughter Kirsty, husband Peter and grandchildren Jack and Alyssa for a bit of rest and relaxation then went on to Bridgetown where we spent two lovely nights at the beautiful Ford House, the gardens where stunning all the images in this post are taken at this special place beside the river.early morning the river is like a mirror below the two bridges one a road the other a rail.this is the view from our room in the early morning, how relaxing is that, the view of the river is at the back of our room, one could get used to this I think.The roses are just starting to bloom but this beautiful buttery yellow Banksia rose was out in all its full glory.