Wink Designs

Back to school

Good luck to all those with back-to-schoolers....

Etsy favourites on a Monday

What's inspiring me today are blues and mustard with a dash of brights thrown into the mix:

Candy Shoppe Ponytail Holders; Sunglasses Case; I Am Sew Creative Print; Angel's Breath Garland

Summer Garden Pillow; Vintage Typewriter Cards; Abstract Design Print; Sophie Fabric

Aztec Pillow Cover; Dragon Scales Notecards; Chirp & Tweet Gocco; Passing Shower Print

Campfire Top in Turquoise; Outside Oslo Fabric; The Merriam Pendant; Felted Balls

Hope you're having a great start to the week!

Flowery flickr faves

Here are some recent flickr favourites featuring little rosy and floral motifs.  Pretty?

1. Pip Studio Cups, 2. Catherineholm!, 3. Desk, 4. project wedding2, 5. Shabby Chic tea towel- retro goddess!, 6. Pantufas sapatilhas, 7. Japan Bits, 8. DIY: fabric scrap gift tags, 9. pretty spools

Sunday etsy favourites

I was looking through my recent favourites on etsy and thought these ones looked particularly pretty together.  There's a hint of aqua running throughout, which makes them especially fabulous:

Sewing Things by simplyhue

Wood house handpainted secret money place by OldNewAgain

A Forest of Three Art Print by inaluxe

I Love My Bed Wall Art by ThreeRedApples

Colorful Aqua Leaves Fabric by stefaniexu 

 

Handmade Modern Baby Quilt by BlueElephantStitch

Peppermint Candy Buttons by andiespecialtysweets.  Yes folks, these really are edible!! Can you believe it?

From the $2.50 shop

My local shopping centre has its share of $2 shops (with most of the stuff being from China) but some time last year a little homewares shop popped up where each and every item costs $2.50 and is mainly from Japan.  This is where I picked up these lovely goodies:

 
I love the little container with the Dala horses on it and the glasses with the scallop trim motif around the edges were just too good to pass on.

 
Now this can be quite dangerous, not only because of all the Japanese cuteness on offer (I may not need to go to Tokyo again?) but also because the brain says "$2.50, hey, that's not much".  But it's amazing how quickly $2.50 becomes $25.00 (and beyond) once you start getting into the swing of it.....

From grandma's cupboard

You have to love it when your mother casually drops the question: "I found some old fabric when I was cleaning out the cupboard.  It was from when you were little - I never got around to making anything with it.  There's an old pattern there too.  Are you interested in taking them? 
The red polka dot fabric is cotton, the paisley is a flannel and the pink heart print (complete with ribbing!) is a cotton knit.  The smock pattern is also too cute.  There was also another knit and a flannel in more distinctive 70's colourways, as you can see:

 
Now the question is, do I make something with them or will they become vintage finds for my daughters one day?

A new "Hobbie"

Shirred clothing for kids is hip at the moment. I haven't used the technique for ages and thought I'd better get back in practice.  I followed Flossie Teacakes very sweet tutorial and made a little shirred top.  I'm proud of the way it looks and have officially declared this project "The Perfect Half Metre Stash-Buster"!

 

I'd agree that shirring is very addictive and is a hobby which, if left to run its course, could lead to the purchase of many tens of metres of elastic thread....

Here is the top being road-tested by my little model who demonstrates that you can wear it either on or off the shoulder (for that saucy look)!

  
What?  A shirred top?  Even the dog was excited!:

On a side note, I picked up this Holly Hobbie framed print at the op shop some time ago and have just recently gotten it out and dusted it off.  I think it's the real deal and probably lived on a little girl's bedroom wall for many years.  It's printed on a linen type fabric and needs a bit of t.l.c. but is very sweet nonetheless.

Don't you agree that the print in Holly's dress and the patchwork cheater fabric used for the shirred top have a certain something in common design-wise?  I definitely do and as such decided Holly should share a spot in this post!

 

Wallpaper, wallpaper....

I love this free download desktop wallpaper made from vintage wallpaper from Nest Decorating.  Very cute both to gaze at and as a little pun!

Tamar's blog must surely be one of the most ogle-licious (new word!) around.  Have a look at the jewellery designs here (swoon) and don't you just love the yummy gift tags in her latest post?

Hello again!

We've been back from our holiday for a week and a half and have come down to earth with a thud as the constant activity and adrenaline of traveling are replaced by the usual household and school routines.  Returning to chilly temperatures from the balmy summer weather overseas has also been a bit of a shock to the system.  

 
The trip, on the whole, was amazing but I know I don't need to tell most of you that travelling with toddlers and kids for an extended period is never going to be a job for the faint-hearted.  

We covered a lot of ground from France to Spain to Finland to Japan.  As well as revelling in the sights, sounds and tastes of all of those places we encountered our fair share of travel gremlins.  

Luggage that didn't arrive at our destination including the stroller (twice!), sick kids, European train strikes and (horror of all horrors!) no functioning movie screens on one long 10 hour legs of our flight.

Cee Cee was great and enjoyed the constant stimulation of changing locations.  Miss Wink, on the other hand, was not a happy camper for most of the time and missed her little routines and familiar surroundings at home.  We celebrated her second  birthday while we were away.  In retrospect maybe she was a little young for a trip of that kind....

Two places we visited were fabulous from a crafty point of view.  Tokyo, of course, needs no explanation but the other gem was Helsinki, both in terms of its handmade craft and also the higher end Scandinavian textiles and design.

 
I'll write a bit more about both places when I get the chance but in the meantime (for your viewing pleasure!) I've included photos of some of my shopping haul of stationery, fabric and notions from Japan throughout this post.  

Some favourites are the pink and orange trellis flower fabric and the Liberty Mirabelle fabrics in the second photo from top, both of which are tricky to find online.  I also treated myself to a couple of metres of Nani Iro gauze fabric in the photo below, the motifs and colours of which seem to happily echo (in a more modern way) the retro design in the Lecien print at right.

Am enjoying catching up on all your blogs.  It seems everyone's been busy, busy busy!

Is it thrifty if it's more than fifty?

A recent addition to the furniture around here is this cute, distressed (but in a good way!) little children's chair.  It made a proper appearance in this post and will probably be a regular feature on the blog:

It wasn't exactly a steal but not over-the-top expensive either.  The cute elephant ceramic thingumy-jig (I think it's a planter of some sort as it's got a hole in the bottom) was definitely a steal.  One dollar and fifty cents, to be precise, at the St Vinnies sale (yes, even St Vinnies have sales!).

And the best vintage finds, of course. are the ones that are free.  I found a whole boxful of these "Lakeland" brand pencils (which I think are from the 70's) at my Mum's.  They were from a set we had as kids, are in perfect condition and in colours that you just wouldn't get now days.  Bliss.