Fun and festivities galore .....

Well Christmas has been and gone for another year and I am rather relieved.  We had a funtastic day with a crowd of "orphans" who gathered at the fabulous

 Cafe Velo

in Bright and did  a "pot luck" lunch!

Easy for everyone and lots of helping hands to clean up afterwards!

We came home after a great afternoon and

 chilled with the kids watching our current favourite movie

RED DOG

I was very spoilt for Christmas and received some gorgeous pre-loved gifts!

These fabulous kitchen canisters! Perfect for a girl born in the year of the rooster!

also

These lovely jubbly old rose tins in a deep apricoty sort of orangey colour!

and this yummo scrumptious 1970's hand-tooled leather bag!

Oh my God, I am in lurve!

Another favourite pressie is this spectacular book from my sister

"Famous Frocks" complete with traceable pattern pieces instructions and style variations!

It couldn't be a more perfect present for this give-it-a-go-sewing-kinda-chick!

Lots of delightful photos and sketches with patterns for frocks inspired by

Jackie O, Twiggy, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis,

 Diana Ross, Stevie Nicks and Madonna!

I feel like I have died and gone to heaven!!!

To top off a fabulous week with the family, catching up with friends, movies, sleep-ins, drinky poos, BBQ's and not a sewing machine in sight ......  well, actually

(more on that in a minute)

I  also managed to snaffle a few bargains at the local oppie

(but I had to fight my way through the tourists)

a la vintage sheet o mondo's

and

genuine black leather pants

(but fart ...... I wish I could fit them!)

They are a bit eighties but hell - they are leather!

Granny cardigans for re-vamping

old tins

and the piste de resistance

 (said with my fabulous french accent)

in return for giving away

this funky smurf dress to my gorgeous friend Trina

she secretly sourced this BRASH pedal sewing machine and 

dropped it at my doorstep two days later!

How freakin awesome is it!

My oh my ............. I have been a rather spoilt bratt this xmas!

But now petals it's time to rattle me dags and head off to another wee BBQ for more wee drinky poos to celebrate the New Year in!

(I wonder if I'll still be awake at midnight????)

Happy Freakin New Year everybody!

I hope you have a great night and all the very best for

2012

x Dee x

For all you Glamour puss's!

and seen as I haven't quite mastered it (yet) I thought I'd consult some experts!

so i turned to

 

Glamour Daze

for some Stylish beautifying tips!

Now darlings, once you have caked your face on the next step is to prepare oneself for

 summer fun!   Brushing up on your poolside etiquette is a must!

(and did anyone guess who the "Amazonian manly-man" was???)

Well,

here are some of my essential

Poolside

must haves:

1. Bathing suit

(is that Tarzan dragging her off to the jungle?)

2. Parasol

(to keep those ugly UV rays at bay!)

3. Bathing cap

(now we don't want to mess up the "Do" do we!)

4. Beach ball

(The perfect poolside accessory!)

Actually, I think

the most important poolside accessory is

a thirst quenching G & T or three

(the more the merrier)

and possibly the most important ...

5.  A HOT summer romance

Ahh yes

(but don't tell the hubby!!!)

(and excuse the cropping - I'm a beginner

and I could have spent hours trying to perfect this but alas I have housework to do -

*ahem* *cough* *splutter*)

-

 Don't ya just LOVE the way that Don Draper is ogling me!  I just know he wants me :-)

Well anyway loveys

enjoy your last day of Christmas preparations

and I hope these hot tips help!

Ciao,  Dee x

This little piggy went to market ...

To market, to market - a seamstress must go!! 

And go she did ...

 After sewing like a maniac for the past two weeks

I finally made it to the Make it Bake it Grow it Market held in Bright, Victoria

every 3rd Saturday of the month!

The weather was perfect in the Alps today and lots of locals were out in abundance

shopping for their Christmas presents!



plenty of stocking fillers at the "one denim bird" stall!

and I shared with the incredibly talented Sandy who makes these gorgeous

rainbow beanies, rainbow necklaces and rainbow tea cosies!

(can you feel that rainbow love?)

with lots of fabric in bright colours for custom orders!

and skirts a plenty made from recycled tablecloths!  Perfect for dinner dates!

Pretty little shirring elastic dresses for tiny tots!

Lots of recycled denim .... cushions, baby bibs and baby blankets!

A few frocks for a frolic or two!

And I couldn't have done it without the help from my gorgeous assistant/daughter Grace - thats her and I in our pinnies!

(Luckily I got my brother-in-law to take a happy snap of us in the back yard when we got home - this photographer never seems to get photos of herself! *sigh*)

Anyway petals, it was a very successful day all in all with plenty of sales and few custom orders! 

 I had great feedback and handed out my cards to many potential customers!

I have committed to a January stall so I better get cracking on that machine again!

Now it's time to put my weary feet up and then tomorrow get into Christmas mode!

Hope your feeling the festive love!

Dee x



Do drop into The Blue Duck Inn ....

 

Hi Peeps ..........a couple of photos of our journey to the Blue Duck Inn ...

be back soon - gotta get organised for this saturday's Make it Bake it Grow it Market!!!

(That's me kids squinting into the sun!!!)

Oh, and some fun fabrics arrived in the post from the gorgeous misfit

Sarah

Thanks sweet pea!

Chat soon, Dee x

We have a WINNER!

Well done to Miss Nelly over at

My friends call me Nelly

The mystery musician is

Max Merritt from Max Merritt and the Meteors!

Max is probably most well known for this gorgeous song ...

Slipping Away

Have a listen!

History Lesson:  So my best drinking buddy Donna and I were having a welcome rest from picking tomatoes in Bowen, QLD in the mid nineties (sorry details are blurred) and we drove down to Airlie Beach and stayed in a cheap and cheerful hotel and went whale watching and ended up staying an extra night at the hotel when we found out Max Merritt and the Meteors were playing - I mean why wouldn't you stay - the man's a legend!

What I do remember vividly is everyone was standing around the outside of the venue (like wallflowers) for the first few songs and we decided to make an executive decision and move a whole bunch of cabaret style tables out of the way so we could get up and boogie!  Everyone finally followed suit and moved onto the dance floor and grooved all night long!

After the show Max Merritt came over to us (ringleaders) and personally thanked us for taking the initiative and said it had been one of the best concerts he had performed so far during that particular tour because everyone was on the dance floor!  And that made the man happy!

He rocked and we rocked and we ended up at some crazy bar in Airlie Beach flirting with the roadies and hanging with the band!  Oh what fun!

So Congratulations to you Nelly for guessing the muso! 

I'll be whipping up a twirly skirt for you darlin!

Ciao bella's - I better get back to the sewing machine!

Dee xox

Clue #2

As promised clue # 2 is:

This singer/songwriter and guitarist was born in 1941 and moved to Australia in December 1964!

Here is another photo of this mystery musician from his hey day (he's the fella in the middle) ...

(check out the drummer - he's got mad hair!)

Anyway luv's please DONT pop any veins straining the brain!!

I will post more clues for you tomorrow !

I may have to drag this game out over the weekend as I am off to

on Saturday morning with the hubby and kids and everyone else from the bike club!  It's the annual Le Grand Boucle (a ride around the Victorian Alps) you can find the Blue Duck Inn HERE

And in other news here is my week so far in photos -

fabric scraps everywhere ...

Another skirt in the making ....

and others ...

and making little "pillowslip shirring elatsicated frocks with shoulder ties" for wee tots!

I've got a bit of a production line happening!

All good Peeps!

Love n hugs, Dee x



First to GUESS is a WINNER!

Hi everyone ...

I found this old photo in my archives the other day and I thought it would be FUN to play a guessing game!

PS: that's me on the left in my "half cut/50% bogan/50% gypsy/fruit picking/lack of responsibility" era many moons ago. On the right is one of my all time favourite extra special drinking buddies, Donna!

If you are the FIRST (yes that's right poppets) FIRST to guess who this dapper gentleman in the middle is, you will WIN a handmade vintage inspired full gathered skirt made by "moi".

It could look a bit like this-



You can select a fabric of your choice from my "FABRIC STASH" here on my blog or nip across to my Facebook page and LIKE me and search the "fabric stash album" there too!

Conditions of entry:

1.  You need to be actively "Following" my blog and "Liking" my FB page!

2.  The first person to leave the correct answer in the comments section below is the winner!!!

3.  To make it interesting I will leave one hint every day until you guess who it is!!!

4.  Some of you may need to ask your mothers, or dare I say it ... Grandmothers for some help!

5.  You must have fun!

OK

Hint # 1:  He is a musician!

Good Luck!

Dee xox



Thrifty week ...........

Whoops!

I was meant to add photos of some yummy fabric finds this week .....

Here goes:

Yay!

Other treasures I found ...

L-R

1. Romance English Ironstone Tableware

2. Queen Ann Bone China tea cups and saucers

Funky Spunky colourful tablecloth

And in breaking news ..............I have almost finished the Vintage Sheet FQ quilt cover!!!

Just gotta find something for the backing!!!!

Now off to Georgia's 4th Birthday Party!!!  (Nikita's wee friend)

Ciao Bella's

Dee x



Thank god it's Friday ...........

Friday nights used to be filled with glasses of wine, dressing up, hanging with friends, wandering down to what ever local pub I was living near at the time, more drinkie poos and then after happy hour, several games of pool and a win on the raffles we would head onto the dance floor for some serious hours of grooving!!!

Remember those days?????

This was one of my fave's ............... ciggie in one hand, drink in the other!

Rain by Dragon

Now days its more like fish n chips on the lounge room floor with the kids and then some serious blobbing on the couch in front of telly!!

oh how times have changed, today I have a serious case of pub dance floor withdrawals *sigh*

but I'm good at improvising these days - there is a bottle of wine in the fridge and I can get my old music out and still go to town ...........

So what was your favourite pub-dancing song???

Hope your all enjoying your friday evening!!!

Dee xox

Pearly whites ...

Hi All,

Today I drove to Wang to take my gorgeous baby girl, Nikita to the DENTIST !

(notice it says ME not my girl!!!)

I was seriously shitting myself as I haven't had a filling since I was about 7 years old

(and neither Grace nor Teo have any - oh woops - Grace and Teo are Nikita's older siblings!)

and my memories of that incident surely didn't leave me with the "warm and fuzzies". 

I can't say I remember the pain but it can't have been overly pleasant as I was gripping the old wooden arm chair like there was no tomorrow and then the nurse yelled at me to stop squeezing her arm and move mine away!  DOH!  How the hell did I know it was her freaking arm???? 

(it felt as stiff as an old wooden arm chair!!!)

Luckily for me I have good healthy teeth because if I didn't I'd be such a wos, woose, wuss !! 

So, like the "worry wart" mum that I am, I had been playing the whole dental visit up, telling Nikita how much fun it would be (shhh) and that she may get a sticker or something at the end.  I even booked myself into the local dentist for an annual clean last week and purposely took Nikita along to pretend I was really enjoying it  (ahem) just so she would get used to the environment and think it was going to be nothing other than goodness!

Ha, well I didnt really need to go through all that palaver as she happily got up on the dental chair, popped her sunnies on and did everything Miss Dental Nursie asked her to without even flinching once and my brave girl had the decay "cleaned" out and filled with "stuff" to keep all the "yukky germs" away! 

(as said almost word for word by the reassuring Miss Dental Nurse)

All in all it was a very happy experience for both mother and child!!! 

Anyway pets, it's time for beddie bize, I managed to sneak in a bit of op shopping in between dental visits and xmas shopping so will post photos tomorrow!

Night xox



Project Package

Hello Possums,

this year I am taking part in the Project Package

run by the fabulous Nadia over at

Cupcake Couture

  It's my first time :-)

My partner in crime for this fun swap is the amazingly talented Graphic Artist Colleen over at

Hello Olive

Pop over and take a peek at her colourful blog!  She is in the process of launching her very own

 etsy shop ...

 stay tuned............. this girl is going places!

Dee xox