Oh me, oh my!

I want these so badly:



If only...

Australia Day

Australia Day was a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to share some photos!

Hayden and I aren't overly patriotic and didn't fancy going to a BBQ or party, so we had a lovely picnic near Olinda Arboretum. We drove for a quite a while into the bush in Olinda, towards Silvan. I think we started at the Eagles Nest picnic ground and walked up towards the Valley picnic ground, or something like that.


But we didn't make it all the way because we came across a small clearing beside the track with a beautiful view:


So we camped there for the next hour or so. I had baked the easiest scones (with lemonade!) and whipped some cream-which Hayden promptly dropped in the grass...I wish I had of taken a photo of the food! And we took our thermos out for the second time, but it still made the tea taste rotten :(

We had a lovely time!

Wisdom

Last Wednesday I had my wisdom teeth and two baby teeth taken out under a general anesthetic. Oh, the pain!! Actually, it was OK. Not as bad as I expected! All though the day after my operation I ate the heavy duty pain killers in anticipation of the pain on a unsatisfied tummy and spent the night vomiting up jelly-filled liquid.

I should have known better!

This photo doesn't even show me at my puffiest, but it's the ugliest I can bear to put up!!

In other news, I have managed to fit in a little Op Shopping here-and-there...They can't keep me away for too long! I start having these realistic dreams about going on missions and finding Op Shops that I swear I could draw the layout of the next morning if I tried. I am an Opp-a-holic.


These boots would be perfect for autumn with black tights and a cosy coat, but they're a size 6 so i'll put them on ebay soon enough! I couldn't leave them behind...



This little leather satchel purse will be great for festivals.


Today just as I was leaving the Vinnies in Mitcham, empty handed, i spotted this vintage lamb on a shelf through the window and i ran back inside to adopt him. So sweet and only 50 cents! I'm always on the look out for vintage figurines like deer and children, so I was delighted to find this cutie scratching his ear with his back foot!

Claire

Rivers

Ok, so I am not a huge fan of the clothes at Rivers, it's all a bit too practical and boring for me. But their shoe collection! I frequently drop into the Rivers factory outlet in Boronia to check out their extensive jungle of shoes.

They have lots of sandals and shoes for 'mature ladies', but they also have some sweet, vintage inspires heels and flats that keep me coming back. A few weeks ago I bought these sweet little lace ups for $29


Yesterday, I discovered that ladies dress shoes and sandals were on sale for $18, so I bought two pairs which will be nice in winter with stockings and coats.




I love the brown pair because they remind me of flapper shoes!

So there you go. Rivers have cute & comfortable shoes to complitment our pretty vintage dresses! And cheap!

Claire xx

Christmas, the New Year, and more Op Shops!

The past year has flown by so quickly, and it scares me how little time we have in this world. When we were children, each day was filled with care-free play; being looked after by our parents and teachers meant that we needn't worry about anything! But now the days pass by so quickly. Anticipation, Stress and Urgency fill our thoughts as we travel to-and-from work, school, commitments, family...Always in a hurry!

I've so enjoyed the break from uni and spending time with my family and friends over Christmas. I created my own Christmas tree out of twigs and peacock feathers. I spent a small $4 on the decorations, and made some out of ribbons and felt.



I have a huge amount of clothes and shoes to donate to Op Shops. I will do a little trip today and divide them among a couple of stores. Here are some of my recent finds:


Vintage tooled Leather Bag-$8 Vinnies, Mornington *

Vintage Flour Sieve-$4 Vinnies, Mornington *Not sure which suburb


1950's Skirt. Brotherhood of St Laurence, Wantirna

Friends of Couture Sweater, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Wantirna-$12 with the 50's skirt.


Black & White gingham 90's pinafore-$5,Boronia Salvos

I hope that you all had a safe and happy Christmas, and best wishes for the year ahead.

Claire xx

Fred Astair: Puttin' on the Ritz (1946)

This dance is considered to be Fred Astaire's final dance. It was a part of the film 'Blue Skies'(1946). I cannot get sick of watching it!

I did tap dancing when I was in primary school, but I quit after about 4 years and I'm so sorry for it now. His cane magically springs into his hands, and he moves so quickly and precisely that each tap, slide and stomp he does is perfectly in sync with the music. It's like he's conducting the instruments with his tap shoes! You must watch it all the way through...



So good!

Trish Hunter Finds

I love to read about Trish Hunter Finds' amazing collection of vintage goodies. Her blog is also very entertaining! She has now opened her online shop, so pop over and admire all of the lovely retro clothes and home wares that she has on offer!

The New Year

For the past two years, I've spent five or six uncomfortable hours in the car on the way up to New South Wales to get to ConFest. ConFest is my ideal way of spending New Years Eve and Easter. It makes me so happy!

But this year, Hayden & I are opting to stay home and build our vegetable patch, using the money that we'd have spent on petrol and entry into the festival. I think this is a wise decision, as if we do a good job of preparing the soil and creating a really good garden, we should be able to start relying on it as a food source by next year!

This garden car is amazing, I want one!

Youth/Arts illustrations

Last semester at Uni, I took a subject called 'Youth/Arts: Expressing Cultural Identity'. We did a couple of assignments on defining youth, and exploring the ways in which youth create art and music. For my final assignment, I chose to do some illustrations that were aimed at youth, and by youth. Here is an excerpt of my exegesis:

"My illustrations are created for the subculture of girls that have an appreciation for old fashioned, pretty things. I don’t know if there is a name for this subculture, but I like to think of myself as a bit of a nana in some respects, and these drawings are created for young people who have a similar love for all things quirky and sweet. These girls like vintage dresses, pretty pictures, gardens, animals, drinking tea, retro decor and picnics.

I choose to do illustrations because I constantly doodle in lectures, but never show my drawings to people other than those sitting next to me. I thought that this assignment would be a good opportunity for me to create pictures for other people to (hopefully!) also enjoy. I have never been taught the skills behind drawing, so my technique is probably completely wrong. But my intention is to inspire youth to create art, without feeling self conscious or wrong. The illustrations are not only for youth, but in some cases, about youth. I’ve included young women in the illustration in an attempt to pull them into my fantasy."

It was basically a big essay explaining how my illustrations would be related to youth. I also had to provide inspirations and a general draft of what they'd look like.

"I found inspiration in so many places. Children’s books, such as Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carrol), Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter), Possum Magic (Mem Fox) and The Far Away Tree (Enid Blyton) are full of beautiful pictures that accompany the story and arouse the imagination."

The current artists that I quoted as inspirational included Niccoletta Ceccoli, Daniel Hyun Lim, Sally Shand, Omar Rayyan, Shaun Tan and Ghost Patrol. I also mentioned the blogging world! One of my illustrations was directly inspired by an outfit of the lovely Frances Baker.

Anyway, I know they are not very clear because I photographed them. I am lazy! But here are my favorites from the series:


This one was inspired by Frances Baker's outfit in her post Tales from Canterbury


If only birdies would sing from my hair!


In my presentation, I remember my only comment on this one was that "everybody likes a fat owl!" I wasn't pleased with my Water Color efforts here though.


Rainbow Music.


Oh deer!

So, these were the favorites of the lot. I know that I'm no artist, but the concept of my project was to encourage youth to put their imagination onto paper and not worry about whether it looks silly, amateur and rough. If I'd had more time, i would've explored editing software, and made them look pretty and professional, but that wasn't necessary for the assignment!

I have lots of new Op Shop finds that i will be posting as soon as I buy some more batteries for my camera!

Claire xx

Bettie Page-How to Kidnap a Pin-Up

The Happy Housewife

I think some women might get cross with me for saying so, but I love to pretend that I'm a housewife. Perhaps it is because I'm doing it not because I have to, but because I want to (all though I cringe at the thought of what our house would look like if I stopped!), and I associate it with the brave women of past generations. Actually, I associate it with their clothes and sweet ways, mostly!

Now that I am well into my summer break from Uni, I've been taking on a lot of cleaning and re-organising. It makes me so happy to be in a clean kitchen! And baking also makes me very happy! And you know what else makes me happy? Seeing Hayden happy. Yes, happy happy all around! Last night I put off making the apple crumble that i was craving until Hayden would be home. So when he did arrive home from work at around 11:30pm, we had a feast of Apple Crumble and Custard while we watched X-Files.
Today I made some yummy choc chip cookies to put in my new giant cookie jar. I should probably be looking at going on a no-sweets diet soon...?

Here's a photo of some of the lovely flowers that I picked from our garden. We have so many at the moment! The small apricot ones are my favourite.


Anyway, I bought myself a couple of dresses of Ebay America before my birthday and they finally arrived-yay! This gorgeous dress I believe is from the early 50's. I'm in love, and even though I need someone to help me get in and out of it, it fits like a glove and I want to wear it everyday!




I also fell in love with this cute 1960's play suit, but when it arrived the shorts were far too small and it smelt sooo bad of stale cigarettes! I was very angry. I've washed it about 5 times, along with a soak over night in bi-carb soda and washing powder. I did manage to get the smell out. And I'm grateful that the shorts are a very basic design, I should be able to sew a stripe of ribbon or fabric down each of the side seams to allow for my booty and they'll be gorgeous! Here's a photo from the listing:

Sigh. Perhaps if I didn't eat so many cookies I'd be able to fit into the shorts.

That is all for now, I will try to blog more often!

Claire xx

Phew!

Horray!

Yesterday I had my violin recital for uni, which was the last exam for the year. So now I'm freeeee!
I'm pleased with how I went. There were a few little spots which I was worried about that were fine, but then there was one particular climax point that I thought I had down-pat, and slipped up because I confused my fingers! Which was rather annoying because I had that bit mastered ages ago. But that doesn't matter because it's all over now and I definitely wont fail! (I hope...!!)
Anyway, Hayden and Mum came to watch. Here is a photo of Hayden and I outside before the exam:

I'm aware that I look like a little pixie with my ears poking out, but you can see how nervous I am! Hayden did an awesome job at turning the pages for my accompanist, who was a rather rude man. But I've done my fair share of complaining about him so i wont let it spill into the blog of happy and pretty things!

It was my birthday on Monday. Now I am 20, Yay! And I just realised that I will be getting a pay rise...WEEHOOO! I woke up early and pottered around for a little while, recieved lots of lovely text messages and facebook comments on my wall (thankyou friends!), and then went Op Shopping in Boronia with H. I really could not think of a better way to spend my birthday!

This was my only find for that day, but isn't it interesting?! $3 from the Rotary Op Shop next to Disco Factory in Boronia. I always find funny little things in there, and all of the old ladies are hilarious! The necklace is made up of these little folded metal beads, with beautiful tarnished roses and-wait for it-pineapples and fish! Strange combination, but I think it's gorgeous!



That night I went to Mum and Dads for a BBQ and received lots of beautiful presents and attention-I was very lucky! Hannah made this amazing chocolate birthday cake for me which she insisted was crap but it tasted divine!

I was particularly fond of the sparkly writing and polka dot candles!

As promised, here are some of my recent Op Shop dress finds:

1960's? Mini dress with slightly see-through bellowing arms and a sailor neck tie. It's really hard to date this one, because the fabric looks a bit 80's, but the style looks 60's. I don't know! I've worn it with white tights and the blue duffle coat that i posted up a month or two ago. This one was $1 from the big community cafe Op Shop opposite NQR in Lilydale!



80's-does-50's light blue dress. It came with a hideous cropped jacket, but I will probably never wear it as it is etremely 80's and daggy! I think this was $10 from the Australian Red Cross in Croydon. I'm not a fan of that Op Shop as they selectively choose all of the stock that they put out. It's clean, organised and expensive. It makes me angry because it takes the fun out of the hunt! But I did find this dress so i guess I can't complain too much...


This dress is most certainly not vintage, it's CKM (updated Caroline Morgan?), one of those cheaper clothing brands sold alongside Face Off. But it is very cute, don't you think? The waist is a little loose so I'm tossing up whether to do some experimental nipping in with my sewing machine, or hunting down a nice thick white belt to clinch it in with. This one was $5 from the Recycled Clothing shop next to NQR in Boronia.

Seeing as I've mentioned them twice in one blog, I should mention the Not Quite Right stores are a great place to buy cheap groceries! I know that it's called Not Quite Right for a reason, but everything there is perfectly edible....even if the 100 Earl Grey tea bags that I bought for $1.99 definitely had a distinct hint of jasmine in them!


Finally, this dress was FREE! Wheooo! I spotted it at the Vinnies store in Croydon, and it didn't have a price tag. I spoke to one of the ladies and I think she said $4 or something, but I only had my eftpos card (I don't usually carry cash, to deter me from impulsively buying food and other things that I don't need!), so i left it with her at the counter and was just about to leave to get some money out when she noticed that there were a few pulls and a little stain. So she said i could take it for free! I put it in the wash and it came out perfectly clean. I don't at all mind the pulls. It's an awesome dress & I've started wearing it with my thick leather belt as well to give it a more 70's look. Can't wait 'til winter so I can team it with stockings and boots!

I'm sorry that I'm not a more frequent blogger. Perhaps if I start to aim for a blog every 2nd day, more people might begin to read it! Now that I'm on holidays, I'll have more exciting finds to share with you, and fun stories to tell!

Claire xx

Dreaming of holidays...

Yes! Two exams down, and one more to go! The last one is my recital, so all I need to do is practice, practice, practice, until I go totally loopy and start prancing around, occupying myself with housework or anything else that will distract me from the squark that is my violin right now.

Thankfully, the heat has calmed down a bit over the past couple of days, but earlier this week it was so hot that even with the fan going and all of the windows open, I was sweaty, tired, dehydrated and really not in the mood for music. I had my hair tied up, a headband keeping my fringe out of my face, and a little dress on. But I was still uncomfortable and insanely 'out of it':

No make-up, no bangs, and tired eyes!

Anyway, as I said, the weather has improved. I bought this sweet retro display cabinet from the Salvos in Boronia on Monday, and we picked it up yesterday:

I've been looking for something to sit under the Lynch print for a while. I did have a little arm chair there, but I think this looks swell!
I'm not sure when it is from-maybe the lat 50's? It has laminex on the top, as well as on the draws, but I think the rest of it might be teak. I love the chrome lining around the edges, and the draw handles. Sadly, it's missing a glass slider door, but that's why it cost $15!

Ohhhhhh yeah...Bargain!

I don't know what i'll put in it yet, but i've done a little display of my vintage Home Journals, and the beautiful 50's icing set that I was given as a housewarming present by Barb. I think it looks quite sweet! I've been dying to have it on display, it looks great with the magazines.


Dresssses still to come soon, and I've got an amazing 1960's play suit coming in the mail from America in a couple of days, so I'll be sure to put some photos up when it arrives!

Xx Claire (who is almost 20!!)

Sneaky Op shopping

'Tis exam time at the moment, and my first exam is on Tuesday. I haven't really studied very much for that one, but I have been trying to do lots of violin practice for my recital. I really hope that I don't fall apart in the exam!

I have been finding little slots of time to duck into the occasional Op Shop though, just to keep me sane! I drove past one that I'd never been to before in Mitchim on Friday and i just HAD to check it out!

I found this sweet little red bowling hat for $2. It's a tiny bit too loose on my head, but I'm hoping I'll still be able to wear it non-windy days!


This photo shows off some attractive folds of arm wobble.

Helloooo dork.

I also have a couple of dresses to show you, but I will wait until I get some batteries for my camera. The one in my phone just doesn't suffice!

Can't wait until exams are over!!

Farewell holidays...

My 'Study Break' is officially over. I, however, did not do any study at all. But I did do a lot of cleaning and organising!

I made up three tables in word.
One of them is to record who pays our bills. Hayden and I often get into little tiffs about how much money we owe each other, what bills are overdue, that kind of thing. So now we can record it all to keep the peace.

Another thing that we quarrel about is housework. I am positive that i do 80% of the housework, and Hayden seems to think he does his share. It drives me crazy! So I made up another table, this one recording how many housework 'tasks' were completed by each of us every day.

An example from the 30/9/09: Claire 11, Hayden 3.

To be fair, I've been on holidays, but it really is true that if I don't do all of the little bits and pieces to make the house clean and pretty, it would be an absolute mess. Hayden's realm is the study (which I refuse to take responsibility for cleaning). It's a good example of his cleaning and organisation skills:



As opposed to mine:

40's Art deco bed & dresser (not in photo) $20 off ebay. Hayden scored them years ago.
50's Art deco bedside tables-Walnut veneer, $30 from the Salvos in Kilsyth.
Small Staggered Book Shelf, $5 from Wantirna Trash & Treasure (We added bakelight handle)

Thank god that study has doors. The third table is for me to record how much violin practice I do: Not enough.

Caitlin came over a couple of days ago, and we made this pretty cork board with some retro fabric that Hayden's relatives gave to him.


First, we stole the corkboard from Haydens work bungalow, saving the yellow and green pins.
Second, we cut the fabric to size.
Third, we ironed it, making sure the creases disappeared.
Fourth, we pinned it to the board, folding carefully the edges that were not hemmed, and taking care with the colours of the pins against the fabric.
Then we hung it up and I decided that it looks to groovy to pin things on!

I will put up a post soon about the eggplant parma that I made for dinner last night. Yum yum!

Ta ta for now,

Claire xx

Piglets

Babe is just the sweetest movie!

I love the part where Babe sings "laaa la la laa"!
I desperately want a pet piglet, but I know there's no way I can afford to invest the time and money into setting up a good environment for one at this point in time.

I have 3 pet fishies, Two goldfish and a Beta fighting fish. The fighting fish lives in his own bowl/vase, and refuses to eat anything other than peas. He's quite happy these days with the heater on most of the time, but when it's cold in the house I feel sorry for him.
My goldfish live in a beautiful big bowl which I am a little lazy about cleaning. It takes me about an hour to clean it thoroughly, so I try to do it about once a month, before their water goes icky!

I would love to have a miniature pig trotting around behind me, just as Agathe from Style Bytes does. I'm in love with her little friend called 'Molvin':

He's so cute.

Agathe also has a wicked sense of style and a great blog. Do visit her here.

I cannot wait to get my own piggy!

Vintage Dress for Sale! (size 12)

Hi there,

I'm rather strapped for cash at the moment, so I decided to sell one of my lovely dresses that doesn't fit! I'd like to keep it as a pretty piece to look at, but the truth is that I'll never get to wear it, so it's best that it goes to somebody who will!

Click here to visit Ebay listing

$55 buy it now, or you can make me an offer here and if it doesn't sell I will consider it!

Ciao

Claire xx

Spring time!

I have been very busy lately! I'm on holidays from uni and teaching at the moment, so I've been doing quite a bit of op-shopping and lot's of relaxing!
I stayed in Rye on Monday night at my parents little beach house. I was so excited about all of the op shops there were to explore. A drive along the peninsula took me to 2 op shops in Rye, about 6 in Rosebud and 4 in Mornington.
Unfortunately I can only use the camera on my phone at the moment, so I could not get very clear photos.

This coat was half price, it cost my little sister (the only one with cash on her!) a grand total of $1.50. I love the burnt orange colour, and i feel like a doll in it. This one came from one of the op shops in Rosebud.
Just before I reached the final Op Shop in Mornington, I put a big tear in one of my favourite dresses. I was devastated, but it's been falling apart for a while. Anyway, I pinned it up with a saftey pin, so the ladies in the Vinnies couldn't see my bottom while I was in the shop. I had a look at the dresses hoping I'd find one decent that I could change into, and I came across this beauty:

Ok, so you can't really see how lovely it actually is. I'll have to post a photo of me wearing it. I think it's from the 60's, judging by the tag and the design. It'll look cute with heels and little gloves at the next wedding I go to!

This shirt will look sweet with a black pinafore and white tights.
I've also started experimenting with sewing bows for my hair. I'm getting better, but they're a bit messy.

Still, they look cute.

Mum bought me these little green 'Camper' booties from the Wantirna Trash & Treasure for $12. I need some vertical striped tights to wear them with, they make me look like a frog princess. So pretty!



I love this song. Grace is so beautiful, I love her bangs...

And I really want a bunny!

Today is Saturday! I'm so glad it's the weekend, as I quit my job at the Pancake Parlour and don't start my new one until next week, so I've got a lovely lazy rest ahead of me. I plan to fill it with lots of violin practice, cleaning, baking, listing things on ebay, and perhaps some hairdying/cutting... I used to have bright cherry red hair, which I had for about a year and got sick of, so I dyed it a chocolatey brown colour, and now I feel so plain. But I also want to dye it blonde! I think I'll go red again when it grows a little longer! Some more things to feast your eyes on:

This is my new favourite cardigan, from Friends of Couture. I love it!

Set of four retro tins. They're quite rusty inside so i don't keep anything in them yet... $15 with the gold apple from a few posts back.

Home Journals from the earl 60's off ebay. I think they were about $8 each...






I love reading old magazines. These ones have patterns for dresses and childrens clothing. (I really, really have to teach myself to use patterns) The ads about improving waistlines and your bust are so funny, and I especially adore the articles about how to please your husband!
I found this gorgeous coloued duffle/pea coat in the Vinnies Op shop at Mitchim yesterday:


I couldn't get a good photo of the colour. It's not quite as bright as the first, and not as dark as the second! It doesn't have a label on it, and it's construction leads me to think it's handmade...It looks really 70's with a short dress and tights. I need to find a new black beret to wear with it! My other one has stretched into the oddest shape...
It's just started to rain, which usually forces me to be even more productive inside. Wish me luck!

I'm feeling rather sleepy today, so I skipped a rehearsal and cleaned up the house a little bit instead! Then I made a cottage pie for dinner which was really nice, and watched an episode of Project Catwalk, series 3. I don't own a television, so i watched series 1 of Project Runway Aus. on YouTube, only to find that Series 2 stops after the first 2 episodes! So I've gone for Project Catwalk, an earlier English series. It's super addictive! Anyway, some more lovely things to show...

Thai? Female Dancer-Wantirna trash & treasure

Mint condition unwanted 1960's mushroom lamp that Haydens parents found for him. Score!!!



Brogues- $2 Ringwood op-shop type think next to the station. Soooo cute, but for some reason they get sticky on the bottom when I'm walking in the rain.
Oh, and I'm sorry about my inability to take a good, clear photo. I still haven't learned how to use my camera properly! xx claire