Yikes 2012 fast approaching!

Wow! I cant believe I am already thinking about 2012? Luckily I have some beautiful calendar eye candy to help me cope with the reality of all that next year holds. Shivani from My Owl Barn and a team of fab designers have done it again, a fantastic little free calendar for you to download and print, take a peek here. Just gorgeous!
image by Petra Boase

a good little bargain

It is no secret... I love a good eBay auction, who doesn't I guess? my latest little winner was this set of sturdy vintage kids chairs. The seller was an absolute pleasure and threw in this cute little table as well as a very funky random ice bucket. His place was jam packed with sooo many lovely retro and vintage items I had a field day browsing through his shed. I really felt like I was part of the American picker team, minus the extensive pricing knowledge of course... The sellers house was also completely amazing, it looked like it was straight out of a magazine shoot themed around vintage. Little girlie can't sit on these chairs yet which thankfully gives me enough time to give them a tiny bit of a make over...hmmm I am off to get my sanding block.

Tote Sale!

Grab yourself a little bargain from my etsy store... a Christmas is July pressie perhaps? All tote bags are now only $5.00 hooray!

The dream house...

All little girls need a great dolls house, dont they... or should that be all "mums" want to relive their childhood through their little girls dolls house! I think its the latter in my case, I cant wait to get cracking on this little project. Should be finished by the time little miss is actually mobile and big enough to know not to eat the furniture or the dolls. My favourite dolls house is still this beautiful creation by Dinosaur Designs which was auctioned to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation of NSW back in 2001.




images from Dinosaur Designs

I love old things

Everyone has a shed, right? when you clean out that shed you usually find treasures... here are some 1930s treasures belonging to my Nan found in my parents shed. A nursing dictionary, midwifery book and a friendship journal containing a lovely note from my Grandpa (who I never got to meet) from 1934 along with some pretty fun drawings and other notes from friends! I love old things and the memories they make.

See you tomorrow!

Hope to see you all at Perth Upmarket tomorrow, almost all done just need to pack up everything and load the car! we will have loads of totes, badges, canvas art, tea towels, magnets plus more and dont forgot to get in early for our $10 Print sale....

Perth Upmarket Time!

Can you believe that there is just over a week to go until Perth Upmarket? I cant!!! I am pretty excited as this is the first champ + rosie outing of the year, to celebrate all our A4 giclee prints at Perth Upmarket will be on sale for $10, a total steal! I cant wait to see you all next weekend.

Look at me...

Finally I can walk into Spotlight and not feel like a sewing impostor! Here are some of my efforts for the the past few weeks (dont look too closely!) Sewing is great, I'm not really sure why I didnt learn earlier? It doesnt seem like a lot but my fold over pouch, drawstring bag and retro cup pincushion seem like gold to me! If you want to learn definitely check out miss mary sewing classes, kelly is a fab teacher and soooo patient with the unskilled like me!! Next projects... peasant top, pinafore & softies ohh and possibly some Christmas stuff... excited.

Slight obsession with Instagram...how about you?

Instagram

Sew!

Seems (*sewing reference haha) like I have been blabbering on about learning to sew for years now! well finally I am learning, I have signed up with Miss Mary Sewing Classes, soooo exciting I will be sure to take pics of my progress for this week... I think it took me about 50 hours to select fabric for my first project, I am pretty sure the ladies at spotlight had a good laugh, oh well! here are some pics of the sewing machine I have on loan, not sure how old it is but I suspect minimum 40yrs? its fantastic, I love the fact that it has an 'expand-a-matic' however it is a workout carrying it anywhere!

Tote crazy!

it is no secret that I love a good tote bag! my love of the tote was what pushed me to start creating my own, something lovely to carry all of my junk around in and a pretty alternative for grocery shopping, instead of those green bags... and now my totes are in this great book, hooray super exciting! there are soooo many great makers, illustrators and designers featured in this book and it feels very weird to be including along side them! also I cant wait to use the Gemma Correll tote that comes with it yay!! It was put together by Jitesh Patel (a very talented UK designer) and published by Laurence King check it out!

Tea weather?

I thought I had forgotten what it was like to see, hear and smell the rain...but I was reminded yesterday by the brief downpour we had (finally!!) weather like this is perfect for cups of tea and badge making! if only I had one of these (or both?) cute Shinzi Katoh teapots life would be perfect!

Beautiful bunny!

The Easter bunny arrives tomorrow...here are some of my favourite bunny related finds!
ps. check out the 'your letters' section of the May edition of real living magazine!!!



Bunnies and tea by tabitha emma



White Rabbit original canvas papercut by the time is now



White Rabbit - Art Print Where's Alice by corella design



Teeny Tiny Gray Bunny by little elfs toyshop

snap happy

It seems my camera is in over drive at the moment, constantly snapping pics of little miss! I have a pretty basic digital camera, not like these guys from years past... I wish I had one to pop on display at home! they certainly dont design them like they used too, but luckily you can reminisce with these champ + rosie magnets, maybe you could use them to prop up pics on your fridge!!

Undecided?

Today I ventured out by myself (without little miss!) for a spot of shopping/browsing nothing fancy, I found a store called typo, its probably been around for ages but today was the first time I saw it, my heart kind of sunk, I'm not sure if I like it? sure the stationery and nic nacs are lovely but its sort of like seeing the best of etsy or a local market day tweaked and turned into a mass produced commercial shop if that makes sense? there is plenty of typographical things, babushkas, vintage camera designs, eiffel tour stuff and keep calm merchandise... again I'm not sure who designs their products and what not, but I did feel sorry for the independents out there (like me!) who mostly hand make stuff... I know that I would definitely love it, if I knew that all the stationery came from independent labels and designers but with such cheap pricing I dont think it does? did I mention that it was packed out with shoppers...

I spy...

...our new tea towels available online (finally!!)

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday Little Miss, Alex and I went down to Perth Upmarket for a wander, it was fantastic being on the shopper end for once and having so much time to browse the stalls rather than the usual routine of stuffing my face with food and trying to have a peek around on my five minute break from my stall!

There were a few newbies which was lovely and some old faithful which was also great! here is what I came home with; a couple of pretty little headbands from sweet poppie lane, a lovely, lovely owl and a beautiful organic onesie from future shelter! nothing for me I know, it seems when you have kids you just cant resist stuff like this! Although I did sample some sweet treats and was allowed to window shop down stirling hwy on the way home...


I just love this little owl, so cute!

Finally..

You will probably remember these little guys from awhile ago (last november?) well, they are finally available online in my etsy store, choose your colour & design, hooray! also dont forget Perth Upmarket this sunday 10-4 at UWA cant wait to be a shopper!

Doing whatever you can

I am still in shock after seeing what has/is happening in Japan, it just seems so crazy and so sad. My heart goes out to the Japanese people, there are many ways I guess we can all help... and here is one from talented ex Perth designer Skye Ogden who has lived and worked in Japan for the past 5 years, he has created this illustration It says 'NIHON, GANBARE!' or 'YOU CAN DO IT JAPAN!' or as put by his friend of 'STAY STRONG JAPAN!' which is available as a t-shirt 100% of the proceeds will be donated. You can see his blog here and you can check out his t-shirt here.

back in the swing of things...almost?

Parenthood is quite the ride! its full of joy, tears, smiles, feeds, nappies, cuddles and lack of sleep, but i wouldnt have it any other way. Our beautiful little miss made her way into the world 4 days late (by this point i was ready to burst!) all happy, healthy and wide eyed! Being a mum is lovely (so far...) and i cant believe i have been one for just over a month already?

Not a lot of champ and rosie action happening at the moment, I only opened up my sketch book late last week and i have just rediscovered my computer, but slowly and surely the ideas will start flowing again!

I am looking forward to attending perth upmarket as shopper this time around (20th march) and having a good hunt around, they have rebranded and relaunched their website, which is great! a whole bunch more features and cool stuff to look through. I am sure i will come home with a swag full of goodies and i just cant wait to try some of the yummy macaroons i had my eye at the last market...mmm...yum!

Australia!

Tomorrow is Australia Day, a day for yummy bbqs, a swim and a general relax! oh and fireworks if you can be bothered venturing into the city with a few thousand drunk people and braving public transport home! I thought I would share some of my fav designers/stores/goodies from Australia...



Ink & Spindle
A boutique textile studio located in Kensington, Melbourne. Owned by designers Lara Cameron & Tegan Rose, who design and screen print all their textiles by hand in an ethical and sustainable manner.



Abble & Game
Melbourne based duo of Anna & Gareth who create offbeat greeting cards that use humour and real sentiment to convey messages that are quirky, poignant and personal! You just cant help but have a bit of a giggle...





Future Shelter
Another fantastic duo of Jane & Adam who design, print and make a range of awesome goodies from their workshop in North Perth, they are also very big on preserving the environment and sustainability.





Tabitha Emma
Super talented Tabitha Emma is a Sydney based designer and illustrator, who produces a variety of beautiful design and illustration work.

Food, glorious food!

Lately I have been missing a few of the little yummy snacks which I would treat myself to whilst working in Subi (probably a good thing because they are quite fatty!) number one would be the hot chocolate from Boucla delicious, I have tried Dome which is 5 mins away from home but... its just not the same. Also missing the yummy muffins from Ogilvies and the divine Banana bread from spring...so anyway today I thought I would start to try and recreate my favourite little treats, banana bread results are below (note champ + rosie tea towel in the background) the recipe is really simple from here and if I can say so it is super yummy!! watch out spring...next on the list is orange & dark chocolate muffins!

Stationery Hoarding..

I love stationery! I was quite the hoarder in my younger days, I can remember having sheets and sheets of stickers all in pristine condition, I never used any of them I just loved having them to admire... a zillion cute mini erasers in the shape of fruit and cute little animals, I am pretty sure that I never used any of these either, again just purchased to admire their sweetness! I was even excited to go and pick out all of my new school stationery for the year, labeling pencils and contacting books don't get me started!! Well if you are anything like me you will appreciate this place cute tape found via poppytalk heaps of cute stationery in one spot (images from here)

sooo cute!

*squeal* how cute are these little measuring spoons? how good would they look with the fred and friends M-Cups I already have... now to waddle myself off to the shops to find some! (Image from here)

Love

I know it might be a bit early... but there is just over one month to go until Valentines Day! I thought I would share some of the "lovely" decorations I found on etsy, sooo sweet!

by daisychestnut


by victorianstation


by funkyjunkyart


by tenofhearts

All done...

It has taken a while, but...the nursery is complete! I think I stuck to my inspiration board and colour theme well.

One thing I guess to remember for any future decorating ideas I might dream up would be... do not under estimate the wall sticker, this was a mammoth task and probably the most time consuming part of the whole room, but I love the result! the stickers arrived in sheets and had to be cut into a million pieces then labelled...every branch, trunk, leaf and bird was meticulously blutacked on and then peeled off and adhered to the wall by my super patient husband (had it been up to me...I am certain it wouldn't look like this!)

As mentioned I did splurge on a couple of things including the pretty sparrow linen & matching tidy box (not pictured) by Dwell studio ( I could only find one store in Perth who stocked this) and a lovely little eames rocker from a replica store over east

The shelf and frames are from trusty ikea, and I managed to buy the cot and change table second hand. They were both in fantastic condition pretty much as new and were a total bargain... thank you super nice western suburbs lady (I wanted to buy this lady's house whilst I was picking up the furniture it was amazing!) Most of the other bits and pieces are from around town and the net, including pikelet workshop, henry hiccups and speckled egg and of course I made the mobile and garland and designed the wall art!

Overall this was a fun project and I am pretty happy with how its all turned out, I hope the new arrival will love it too!

ps. I wanted to take a pic of the whole room, but my crappy photography skills wouldn't let me.. so maybe in the future.