found! vintage embroidered linens ...

I found these beautiful vintage embroidered linen doilies on Friday at an op shop for $7 ...

 

I love them all, but this one is my favourite ...

There is something about circles that always draws me in - as well as simple design and delicate fabrics. To see what other beautiful bargains people have found or to show us yours, visit Sophie at Her Library Adventures.

my creative space ... on the wall

This week, I've been printing, printing, printing - a new larger version of my vintage tram roll menu tea towel. I've been wanting a larger version of this design for a few reasons - I love typography, quite a few people asked for it (which is nice) and I have had a bit of a framing idea in mind for a while ...

 

I found a great frame at a bargain shop for 20 bucks, with some really lovely people on it ....!

{Note: The dimensions of the printed area of the tea towel are 21.5cm (8.5 inches) x 51cm (20 inches). The dimensions of the frame (inside) I used are 28cm (11 inches) x 60cm (23.5 inches).}

 

Step 1 - remove the back of the frame, as well as the "lovely people" and mounting board. 

Step 2 - glue or tape the cardboard that the people are on to the mounting board to create a firm board to wrap your tea towel around.

Step 3 - align the print of the tea towel to the board you have created.

Step 4 - attach tea towel to the board - I used double sided tape (the kind you might use to hold yourself in a strapless dress, as it adheres to anything!) but you could use glue or whatever you have really.

 

Finally, put the lot in the frame, and put the back on it ... you're ready to hang it in your kitchen (or where-ever). 

Voila! 

... a bit of art for my favourite corner of the kitchen!

Tea towels available here and here.

(free postage for Australian orders)

For more creative spaces, or to join in, click on over to Kirsty's at Kootoyoo.

new, but old - sort of!

Excitement at the studio last night ... I could not wait to print a larger scale version of my Vintage Tram Roll Menu tea towel onto some brand new black organic cotton/hemp that arrived yesterday! Printed, sewn and in the shop within 24 hours - a new record!

 

Get your own here (in Australian dollars) and here on etsy (in US dollars).

vintage tea towel bag

I've had a few vintage tea towels floating around for a while. One in particular has been tagged for my sister, so I thought I would use Curly Pop's tutorial and make a bag out of it for her birthday.

 

Cam's instructions are super clear, and the whole project took about an hour. The only thing I altered was the length of the straps (from 50cm to 65cm) so it was easy to carry over one shoulder.

 

 

Thanks Cam!

my creative space ... martha

My creative space this week has been largely confined to my desk where I've been busy finishing some design ideas ...

 

However, while testing some designs on paper, I played around with a new MARTHA purchase - do you know what it is ...

 

... if you guessed circular cutter, you'd be right! (from Spotlight incase you're interested)

 

It cuts beautiful circles, so I've been making some little gift tags out of the draft prints I've been doing (on thin card) - it's very theraputic!

In other creativity ... my friend Pam from Pippi Creates, made this cute hat for Little Mister - he calls it his "special car hat" (because it's lined with car fabric - it's reversible too) and hasn't taken it off since he got it - thanks Pam! Pam sews beautiful kids clothing and accessories - check out her blog here.

 

I hope your week has been creative too. To check out other creative spaces, or to add your own to the pile, visit Kootoyoo.

my place + yours ... kitchen love

I'm joining in the my place and yours fun this week, because the theme is kitchen love and I'm all about the kitchen love!

But first, let's start with a bit of background. When we bought this house a couple of years ago, the kitchen was the second worst room in the house (the bathroom was the worst - I still have nightmares!). The kitchen we inherited was a reno jobbie from the 80's with secondhand cabinets and bright blue accessories. The worst part was that there was 12cm difference between the height of the floor from one side of the room to the other, so everything rolled off the benches ... not nice! So last April, we did this ...

 ... it felt good - it all went - the kitchen, the dodgy plumbing, the appliances and the floor. And we replaced it with this ...

  

  

These are my two favourite spaces in the kitchen. The first is the open shelves that house all my odds and ends and a small selection of the cookbooks that I own ...

 

But this little corner of the kitchen is my standout favourite. I am lucky enough to have a fire engine red Kitchenaid mixer - my favourite appliance by far! The wooden bread board on the wall is french and antique. I bought it when we bought the house and it was my little incentive to make a kitchen that I would be proud to hang it in. The cannisters were Mr Yardage's grandmothers - we salvaged them from the old family farmhouse in NSW last year - they are very special and got their own little glass shelf to live on.

 

So that's my kitchen love, and one of the main reasons I like to make tea towels and other kitcheny stuff! To check out other great kitchen love or to play along too, visit Vic at Punky & Me (our lovely host) here. 

P.S. Our table was custom made from local recycled timbers by a guy in Richmond, and the chairs were a super splurge from Thonet - I love these too!