happenings...

I have almost finished the painting and the house is pretty much ready to move our things in. A lot of my furniture is still in Pannawonica, so we are starting again in many respects. I was happy to find this table at a local oppy for only three dollars. You can't tell from this picture but it actually has the sweetest mid-century style legs and is in reasonable condition. The tablecloth was only $2.50 and it fits perfectly. Now I need some chairs... Other fabulous oppy finds include  this gorgeous grey suitcase for only $3.00 and a pretty pink tapestry to add to the collection.

The prospect of decorating a new house has had me internet shopping like a fiend. A supreme waste of time considering I can't afford to buy anything right now. At the top of my wishlist are harry bertoia replica bar stools, 100% LINEN bedding and a baby pink smeg fridge. Or maybe a mint smeg fridge. Such a tough decision. Lucky I don't ACTUALLY have to decide right now :)

the sugar shack...

It's pretty much official. The small person and I will be moving into the little pink house by the beach as soon as next week. The last two days I have been cleaning the walls and evicting the spiders. This afternoon I started painting the walls a natural white. I decided on white but it was hard to not be seduced by the colours available and I may soon change my mind. White will do for now. Painting is exhausting and hard on the body. Luckily today I had a special delivery from the postman, a luxurious mattress topper and some deluxe king sized pillows. I have made up the bed with fresh white sheets and it is seriously divine - I highly recommend investing in good bedding. Although now I am afraid that I might not ever want to get out of bed in the morning...

So the time has come for me to shut up the shop, just for a few weeks until I have moved into the new pad. I may pop by to blog from time to time, no doubt I will have plenty to share with you while I am nesting. I have a ridiculous amount of new fabric so I am re-doing the fabric library for a fresh start when I re-open.  I will still be working on existing orders while I am closed. 

Yay! Exciting times ahead. But right now, I am off to bed...

this week...

This week was hectic. It was all about getting things done. I stayed up late nearly every night finishing orders - pushing myself perhaps just a little too hard. Luckily I achieved everything that I set out to achieve and I was able to take the weekend off. I packed up the car on Friday night and first thing Saturday morning we made the drive to Perth. It was a great drive, the radio was wonderful company and my small person slept most of the trip. I arrived at my mums with a smile on my face feeling energized and ready to Party. 

I spent Saturday in Fremantle with a crazy bunch of ladies celebrating one of my best friends hen's nights with champagne, dancing and a burlesque lesson. After learning a routine full of shimmying, bumping and grinding I am officially a cabaret convert. I must seek out lessons. Things got a little wild and we ended up owning Freo until about three in the AM. I woke up this morning on my besties couch with red lipstick spread far and wide across my face and despite the vile hangover I knew I would be enduring for the rest of the day, I felt nothing but a glowing happiness in my heart at the fun memories of the night before. Katie and Jim - I love you guys more than anything. I can't wait to party it up with you guys in Adelaide next month for your wedding. Look out!

I am making my way back to sunny Dunsborough tomorrow morning and already this week is shaping up to be a doozy.  I am moving house again this month and I will be shutting the shop for a few weeks while I set up the new shack. I will try to send out most outstanding orders at the end of this week... 

You are my sunshine!!

Over the last week I have written numerous draft posts, only to abandon them when I realised I had a shortage of photos available to accompany them. The weather has been wet and the skies are gloomy which has made it nearly impossible to get a good photo. It was a freezing morning so I have already lit the fire. Last night was so cold! I woke up with aching legs after sleeping with them tense and tucked up to my body. Last week we had such incredibly sunny weather, what a tease! As much as I do enjoy the rain and the romance of winter, I can now say that I am officially ready for spring.

It has been a mammoth week. I have been working harder than ever. I have SO much to tell you.... But it will have to wait. Right now I am just sitting down with some chocolate and a strong coffee, regathering my strength so that I can push on for the rest of the day. I am shipping out two big wedding orders and a handful of etsy orders. Plus this little shack is being inspected tomorrow so a bit of a tidy is in order... I might be up late tonight.

distressing news for lovers of vintage floral...

Yesterday was epic. The sun was shining in all of its warming glory and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. It felt like summer and the radio seemed to be keeping up with an endless wave of feel good, happy music. I opened all of the doors and windows of little shack and let the breeze blow through. In the afternoon I headed out driving with the small person and almost unconsciously found myself in the next town over seeking out op-shops. I am SO happy that I did. One stop had a whole rack of floral sheets hanging out the front, just waiting for me! SERIOUSLY! With the happy price tag of only $2 each. That is just unheard of these days. It has been a long time since I have had such a score.

There was one incident that threatened to ruin my mood. If you are a lover of vintage sheets and you collect them, then you will understand how rare they are becoming. I was heartbroken to discover that the Salvo's in Bussleton has a policy to shred these precious sheets to make rag bags. AS in a plastic bag full of rags. I was looking down at these beautiful, scrumpled patterns all torn and ripped. I took the bag up to the counter to ask the lady behind the counter if it would be possible to save these sheets. She obviously thought that I was mad when I tried to explain that they were collectable (but their just old sheets...??)  SO, if you are a local Southwest person PLEASE please please head to the Salvo's in Bussleton and let these ladies know that these sheets are worth more whole than they are as rags. 

Distressing as it was, we shook it off and headed to the beach to enjoy the final hours of sunshine. The small person ended up naked and caked with sand. She attracted quite an audience as she frolicked and played. It was a scene of pure joy and it made me so happy. I love this town and its pristine coast.

That's it from me today. Time for coffee and maybe some fruit toast. I hope you are having the most wonderful weekend so far, wherever you may be.

Bec x

I have more dresses to show you....

Wow people - the last two days you have kept me BUSY! Heaps of emails and a number of sales! I really can't thank you all enough for your support of this little venture. It is overwhelming sometimes. I really do feel like the luckiest lady in the world right now.

I am just taking a step away from the machine to eat some lunch and brew some tea. It has been bitterly cold the last few days. The fire has been on 24/7. A quick stop past the local church oppy this morning uncovered a gorgeous yellow, floral, flannelette sheet that is destined for my bed this afternoon. Its sunny colour and extra warmth will be sure to boost the snuggle factor in the coming cold nights...

I decided to keep one of the dresses I had available for sale, sorry to any of the ladies who had their eye on it for themselves. I haven't kept many of my own dresses. I usually make one for my self, only to have someone beg to buy it from me and I usually do sell it on thinking 'I can always make myself another one...' Next week I might show you my private collection.

Hello again...

This last few weeks I have been involuntarily unplugged from the rest of the world. First with the broken laptop (now fixed, hooray) and then with a disconnected internet service. Before I set up in little shack I purchased a portable wireless internet device to keep me connected while I move around. It is a prepaid service that you can connect multiple devices to without needing a cord. Perfect for when I get my ipad (wishful thinking). ANYWAY, I thought that my device was faulty. But it turns out that I just ran out of credit and I needed to recharge it. I couldn't believe that I had used all my credit SO quickly... hmmm. 

So while I have been offline I have been sewing. I have made nearly 20 dresses in the last two weeks. I wont bombard you with pictures of them all straight away, I will spread them over the week... There is something about Dunsborough that makes me productive. Maybe its this cold, fresh air. Or maybe its the Yallingup espresso?? 

In other news it seems that my time in this little cottage is almost at an end and I have set my sights on another little place down the road. It is an old, pink house that reminds me of a sugared almond. I have dubbed this cottage 'the sugar shack'. It's not mine yet but I am doing all I can to change that. Living in this place has reminded me of my urge to nest and create a beautiful space. I had planned to keep moving for a while, but the small person has settled back into her old daycare so beautifully I feel that it would be mean to disrupt that again.

I think I need to unplug again and take this little out of the house for an op-shop visit. I hope you are enjoying a gorgeous Wednesday so far, wherever you may be...

Bec x