What a whopper competition! (+ a peek at my hollyhock shoes)

So I've joined forces with Stella for her mammoth GIVEAWAY! There's a pair of my shoes up for grabs and some super cute other prizes, I especially love the fox dress.  Be sure to check it out and enter, it's amazing. Have a browse through her blog while you're at it too, it's one of my favourites and if you haven't already discovered it, you'll be glad you have now.

Did you see the gorgeous piece of embroidery on my post a couple of days back?  Well here is a sweet wee pair of shoes I made from it yesterday.  Photo doesn't do them justice, it was another dreary old day, I plan to retake some photos during this brief spell of fine weather.

Have a great day x

Dreaming of hollyhocks and sunshine...

Some lovely hollyhock embroidery on a vintage doily... just waiting to be made into little shoes  

More beautiful hollyhocks from this book, a withdrawn book from my local library, the pictures were too pretty to leave it unwanted.

My hollyhocks in the vege garden, early summer. I fluked it with the pink hollyhocks and sweet peas growing in the same plot, and the white ones in another. 

Apparently I have ALOT of floral in my wardrobe, an observation I cannot dispute.  I love florals in clothing, they make me feel feminine and they also remind me of Spring and Summer, which can't come soon enough I might add! I've got a stash of beautiful vintage embroidered doilies and tablecloths (just waiting to be made into little shoes and aprons) which I've been ironing, while the rain pelts my studio windows. I wonder if the clever women behind them were also dreaming of Spring? I imagine many a favourite hollyhock, or iris, were carefully embroidered through the dreary winter months.

Here's a couple of pairs I've made recently, one with my favourite vintage Sanderson, the other vintage embroidered linen...

I hope it's cosy in your house... if you too don't have any sunshine x

ps. Joining in here.

New book Tuesday... Mollie Makes Home

Ok, so technically it's actually a magazine, but I think it holds it's own against some of the best interiors books I've read lately.

It's got a great layout, divided into four main sections (see above), my favourites being Homespun Charm and Scandi Whites.

It features the homes and interviews with some of my favourite designers, stylists, retailers and bloggers.  There's Selina Lake, who's book Pretty Pastel Style I wrote about here, Allison Jones, the clever crafty lady behind Lark, I LOVE her style (imagine going to a garage sale at her house!), Lottie Anderson, whose beautiful fabrics I adore, Jeanette Lunde, from gorgeous blog By Fryd and others I was happy to be introduced to.  Interspersed amongst all this inspiration are crafty tutorials and recommended reads for each decor section, so my bedside reading pile is set to get a whole lot bigger!

Happy reading x

Things I'm loving... Autumn

Delicious apples and feijoas from Mum's.  The apple tree is a beautiful old fashioned variety, nothing like the supermarket apples, and they're great for baking too, we've had a couple of Apple cakes, and apple and feijoa crumbles, I don't even stew fruit first and they're delicious.

Late afternoon playtime in the garden, teeny gumboots, woolly hats and wobbly steps!

The last of my hydrangea blooms, with their muted shades and bright pink tips, beautiful.

Magnolia Rouge

the golden adventures of a very dark horse...

and lastly, loads of very pretty giveaways, it seems to be the season for them. 

Have a lovely afternoon x

ps. joining in here.

Little Ladies Coats (and a wee Gent's too)...

Here's a couple of coats I finished this week (above).  I love the green one!  It was great fun to make, searching for the perfect lining fabric, and finding the gorgeous vintage buttons in my ever growing button collection. The pink one is pretty adorable too, I just love the paisley lining, I've had it in my stash for quite a while.  If you don't follow MissMollyCoddle on facebook (you really should), then you probably haven't seen all the coats below too (yes, I've been busy!)...

For more creative spaces, pop over here...

Have a lovely day.

Sarah x

New book Tuesday... (on a wednesday)

I thought I'd start a semi regular post, without making too much of commitment (actually none whatsoever), in fact it may be sporadic, though the name suggests it shouldn't be!  I love discovering new books and new authors to follow, and thought I'd start sharing a few favourites.  They'll mainly be of the home interiors, cooking or crafting variety.  In a world full of online inspiration, it's still a pleasure to turn the pages of a beautiful book and more often than not, discover a new inspiration online from it, be it a blog or pinterest page.

The name of these posts stems from the previous owners of our home, who for a few years were also our neighbours, I miss our chats over the fence, while pegging out the washing.  Anyway, our local Library always puts out new books on a Tuesday, they're displayed for a week before being available for loan.  It was new book Tuesday (as they fondly refer to it) that brought these neighbours together, as he would come in to check out the books... and apparently the lovely librarian too!

This weeks book I want to show you, is Pretty Pastel Style, by interiors stylist, Selina Lake.  I've been a fan of hers for a while and was excited to see she was releasing a fourth book.  I managed to request it before it'd even made it to 'new book Tues', so was first in line to loan it, yippee!

Don't be fooled into thinking it's another shabby chic/country decor book.  Yes, it's full of beautiful pastels, but there's also plenty of mention of modern metallics and neons and how they work so well with a pastel palette.  Take the image below for example, with it's gorgeous pastels, beautiful vintage imagery, and modern chevron, washi tape and neon pink, what a great collaboration.  Delicious!

images via pinterest.

I've already gotten heaps of ideas and inspiration and I've only flicked through it.  Time for a cuppa and a proper browse... the sewing/dishes/laundry can wait.  So I hope you grab yourself a copy, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Sarah x

Places to see and things to do...

Nice Hotel

When Sam received her terrible diagnosis a fundraising auction was organised to help her tick off as many things as possible on her bucket list.  It was a great success, thanks in part to the generosity of many kind individuals and local businesses.  One of them was Terry, the owner of  Nice hotel, who donated a nights accommodation and breakfast, which we won on the night!  It was somewhere I'd always wanted to stay, but being due to have Ben (and fearing my waters breaking on their luxurious linens), then not wishing to take Ben (and his portacot), we only just used the voucher.  It was bliss, and somewhat surreal to wake (of our own accord) to silence, in a suite no less, thanks to their generous upgrade and to then wander through the very inspiring tropical decking (designed by Michael Mansvelt), to a breakfast I didn't have to cook myself!  So, I can now tick it off my list (which I hope to have MANY decades to complete) and move on to the next.

The flying fox, somewhat rustic, idyllic accommodation up the Whanganui river.  I read about it on my honeymoon, and spent a birthday there on our return.

Inspired by Megan's board on pinterest, which I thought was a great idea for saving ideas of places to check out on holiday, I've started my own, you can check it out here.  I'll also include some favourite places I've been too (such as the flying fox, above), if you wish to add to your own board, let me know if you have one, as it's nice to learn of places in other towns.  

Also, we have a wedding in Sydney later in the year, so any suggestions for there would be greatly appreciated, especially vintage shopping (home wares rather than clothing) and craft markets, thanks so much, I'm sure my husband will be very grateful, bahahaha....

Sarah

Ben's new bunting...

Poor Ben never got the room makeover that his sister did, one of the cons of being the second born and sharing a room I guess.  He's 15months and until last week was still tucked in under a (albeit beautiful) ballerina quilt, with a dolls coat hanging at the head of his cot and fairy paintings the length of it.  But we've remedied the situation!  My sister made the gorgeous aeroplane and cloud mobile, and I made some bunting for him.  I bought a vintage fabric book from one of my favourite vintage shops, faded fancy, in New Plymouth.  Judging by his squeals and pointing, I'd say he's pretty happy with his new decor.

For more creative spaces this week, pop over here.

Sarah x

To market...and a freebie!

Hello again! I've had very little time this past week for blogging, the busyness of the Summer months seems to have lingered, and I've even caught myself fantasising of cold winter days stuck inside by the fire with nothing to do (always omitting the reality of two toddlers climbing the walls, or more literally my beloved lounge suite).  Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of a market stall I had over the Easter weekend, it was great fun and a very relaxing day.  I also thought I'd share a photo of myself as it's always nice to see the face behind the blog.  I resisted the urge to include a pre children (pre sleep deprivation) shot, oh so vain!

I sewed a bundle of paper bags for the market, made from a 1940's children's book.  It was the sweetest book, though very battered and torn, bit I still felt a bit guilty cutting it up, and now have a pile of loose pages containing stories I thought my kids would enjoy.  Each page contains a complete story as there was one for each day of the year.  I'm loving the polka dot washi tape too.  The little rocking horse package above, contains this sweet reversible floral pair, (made from the vintage Sanderson) for a special first baby.  I hope you love them! 

Here's some sweet wee hair ties I've made recently.  Poppet proudly helped make herself a pair of the gingham ones, and is looking very cute in her pigtails.

I'll be listing them in my felt shop shortly, until then... how about a freebie?  I'll pop one in with any felt purchase for the rest of the week (ending midnight friday), it will either be a single large tie, or a set of two. 

Sarah x

A little shoe cupboard (for very little shoes)...

I picked up this super cute wee cupboard last week, for a bargain $2 from my local op shop.  I love it's little curved corners, bakelite handle and lovely wood grain.  I'm guessing it was once a bathroom cabinet, and that it would have had a mirror, where now it is a piece of board.  But it's just perfect for a little shoe display cabinet...

Firstly I gave it a very light sand and used some danish oil on it, it came up beautiful. I decided to do the front in this pretty duck egg floral, a scrapbook paper from spotlight, that way if I want it in my room it'll suit nicely.  It's glued then mod podged.

But the inside is a gorgeously happy children's party print.  Lot's of bunting, sparkles and clouds (just to carry on the theme).  It makes a lovely cheerful surprise and perfectly suits my little shoes.  Very happy indeed!

For more creative spaces, pop over here.

Sarah x

Hooray for rain! Some lovely cloud themes to celebrate...

I spent a lovely rainy Sunday afternoon (our first rain in a very long time) making some appropriately themed items.  A lovely retro cloud cushion(avail here), super soft and cuddly and a cloud themed hot water bottle cover(avail here), for those 'soon to be' cold nights.  I'm really loving cloud themed crafts at the moment.  Below are some of my favourite discoveries.

available here.

tutorial here.

via pinterest.

To see more creative spaces, pop over here.

Sarah x