Wednesday, March 28, 2012

A little glimpse of our home on my Birthday!

Vintage kitchen knick knacks, baking tins from France

Luncheon table, vintage teacups a gift from my daughter, pink lemonade
and flowers from the garden.

A mere trifle... homemade black forest trifle in a teacup

Courtyard Al Fresco dining

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Weekend Flea Market Finds

On a beautiful sunny Sydney Autumn weekend we had fun visiting the local flea market

and shops that sell vintage wares. These are some of our treasured finds.

This gorgeous French vintage lantern box was a birthday gift for me,
my birthday is not until wednesday but I could not wait to use it !
I will use it to display my vintage sewing spools and lace:)

The silver teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug were an earlier market find.

Vintage wooden pegs...

An old rotary dial telephone and a glass cake stand...

and a pretty little tin bird feeder for the front courtyard.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend too...

Thursday, March 22, 2012

My French Café

We have a covered walkway along the side of our house which leads to the basement

and rear courtyard. The steps are very steep but it is perfect for alfresco dining.

We have many plans for it's restoration. This is as it looks today ...

Basement Renovation and a Farmhouse Sink

The basement of our Victorian home was in need of some major work.

There were no storage cupboards, a tiny stainless steel sink and a hard to clean concrete floor.

The walls were pealing with ancient chipped paintwork.

With a little help from Ikea a splendid newly tiled floor and lots of hard work

we have a lovely new basement laundry. The tap is from Perrin and Rowe of Mayfair.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Bunny Bliss for Spring Celebrations

Sir Hopsalot by Forest Blue

Little Tina Bunny Needle Felted from Virtual Distortion

Shadow Box Bunny by ILaBoom

Mixed media collage by Sarah Ogren

Saturday, March 17, 2012

French Victorian Cloche Terrarium

Victorian style Cloche Terrariums are becoming very popular and make a gorgeous decorative pieces for the home. I have begun to collect them and find a great deal of pleasure in using them for displays of vintage and antique bits and pieces collected over the years.

Inspired by my collection a new collage has just arrived at Cafe Baudelaire.

Wonderful Cloche Jars. Picture with thanks from here

Friday, March 16, 2012

Moleskine notebooks for your muse

Moleskine notebooks were a popular in 19th and 20th century in Europe. They were handmade by small French bookbinders. These bookbinders supplied the stationery shops of Paris.

The notebooks became a popular way for artists and writers to jot down notes and sketch, capturing on paper the romance of life seen around them in the streets and cafés of France.

These same style notebooks are still available and enjoyed by many artists and creative people.

Now manufactured as Moleskines by an Italian company in Milan.

Mulberry Muse has a large selection of these Moleskines customised with prints ,vintage lace and ribbon. Please visit here to view the collection and perhaps choose one for your creative muse:)