Time For Fun

Well, aside from sniffles and stomach flu, and the dismal Melbourne weather (too cold for the seaside unfortunately) 

we have been thoroughly enjoying the Spring holidays.

1950s John and Betty Australian School Reader (from my collection)

We've visited local op-shops (and those a bit further afield), 

Ari's been to a couple of birthday parties and to the cinemas, 

we've caught up with friends and we spent Thursday with the 

dinosaurs at Scienceworks (Ari's favourite place on earth... so far).

Yesterday we did a HUGE food shop at the market and today 

was spent within the cosy confines of our home, nestled infront  

of the fire watching 'Walking with Monsters' and 'Dinotopia.'

1950s Janet and John American School Reader (from my collection)

The Royal Melbourne Show is on and I'm keen to visit the 

animals.  We're hoping to get a chook house up and going 

this year and there's no better place to check out different breeds.

We planted out our seeds for the vegie patches in our makeshift 

greenhouse (so far we've got three raised beds ready to go) and 

suddenly everything's beginning to shoot up. It's very exciting. 

1950s Janet and John British School Reader (from my collection)

Next week, I'm hoping to spend a few nights in the studio finishing off 

the lovely little creatures that have waited so patiently by my machine whilst I enjoy having Ari all to myself for two weeks!  I'm also hoping we might spend some time in town. I'm really enjoying life in the fresh air, but I do still miss the hustle and the bustle of the city and the coffee! But tomorrow we're off up the road to the visit The Tramway Museum.

I hope you've all enjoyed some fun times this week too! xo

Playing With Matches

aren't they just delightful?

Eastern European Matchboxes

via

 mid-century modern: sticker, label and stamp club 

Ari & co. (one year ago)

Ariel Gray and Scarlett Rose were both five years old.

Modelling more fantastic opportunity shop finds,

& we couldn't get them to stand still then either!

The beautiful cubby house was an Ebay score that

Scarlett's very talented mummy, Emily re-vamped.

It recently grew a lovely garden of plastic flowers.

Isn't it just wonderful?

Hello Mister Narwhal

A new little friend from the work table...

likes: swimming, playing ring toss, they might be giants

dislikes: oil spills, eating his seaweed, Jaws (the movie)  

(Thanks Emily! For the heads up on these guys... we love them too. xo)

Ari & co. (one month ago)

Ariel Gray and Scarlett Rose are both six years old.
They have been the best of friends ever since birth. 

Now that they're at school they don't see each other so often, 

but when they do, they always have enormous fun together

That day they were having an absolute blast, playing at home.

And the super cute outfits? They'd both dressed themselves!

Ari's T-shirt was a b'day gift from my sweet friend Renee.

It's by Boo Ware and it's one of Ari's absolute favourites.

The darling grey tailcoat? $1 from the local Tip shop and

all the rest was second hand from Savers and Op Shops. 

(Yes, even Ari's skinny leg black jeans & Scarlett's gorgeous pinafore.)

Ari customised the tailcoat with paint splatters during one
of his visits to my studio... he's a perfect little bohemian!

Take it from the kids, you don't always need to spend a lot 

of money to look super cute... or to have a great time.   xo

welcome to the dollhaus

Take a look at this gorgeous apartment I blogged about today,

on my other (fashion and art) blog welcome to the dollhaus...

what? You didn't know I had another blog! Take a peek here

The apartment almost seems to have been painted and decorated

to match the lucky owner's collection of Alexander Girard dolls ⇓

they are available here if you're in the mood to splurge

Raised by the Wolves

from Anne Roos via where the lovely things are

I love the old eastern european graphics!

This one's quite similar to my business card design...

© Anna Maria Drutzel 2006

I've actually been thinking about simplifying the children's clothes 

and faces so that they better reflect the aesthetic of my designs.

I love the comic quality of the wolves though.

I wanted to create a sense of ambiguity in the design, like the children, 

the viewer's not quite sure whether the wolves are friendly or hungry...

Len Lye

Len Lye's animations are magical viewing for little ones... 

Ari loved them when he was two or three.

I love ACMI. They have some excellent exhibitions which are often great 

for kids (like Len Lye back in 2009), a collection of thousands of flicks 

on DVD and film reel (and available for us Victorians to borrow through 

our local libraries) and a fantastic shop filled with all sorts of cinematic 

resources. If you find yourself in Melbourne, you must make time to visit.

If you like this Len Lye animation there are lots more on YOUTUBE

kickcan and conkers

Did I ever tell you that in my past life I was 

a Costume Maker and a Performance Artist?

bear mask by kissmego

crocodile veste by Bouille de Clown

queen of hearts by Oeuf

It's quite true.

And so I could happily play dress ups with Ari every day. I think
I could also quite happily spend a whole week in the blog where I
found these lovely images. It's filled absolutely to the brim with the
most wonderful links to lovely things, and it's one of my favourites:

kickan and conkers

Deborah's holding a wonderful giveaway at the moment ↓

for this beautiful vintage french botanical illustration.


I sure would love to win that!  Go, take a peek at her blog.

The contest ends on the 5th of September,  so you better get

your skates on and hurry over there. Click here for details...

xox

Apple and Pear

...a perfect combination in my opinion.

A range of fingerless gloves will be available 
soon in both shops here and here...

and here's a pear-fect recipe if you're heading into Autumn:

Apple and Pear Jam

1 1/2 lb pears

1 1/2 lb apples

3 lb sugar

1 cup water

2 lemons

vanilla extract

Place a saucer in the freezer  (you will need this  later to test the 

jam as it approaches boiling point) and wash jars and lids in warm 

soppy water and place upright on an oven tray.  Set oven to 100℃.

1. Peel, core and chop the apples and the pears.

2. Place the apples in saucepan with water and lemon juice.

3. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until apples 

soften. Add the pears. Bring to the boil again, reduce to a 

simmer and continue cooking until the fruit resembles a pulp.  

4. Add the sugar and bring to the boil again. Reduce to a 

simmer, add the vanilla extract to taste and continue 

to cook until it reaches the setting point. 

To test for the setting point remove the saucer from the freezer and place a little of the 

jam onto it. Allow it to cool for a minute or two. Then test it for thickness. Remember 

it will become thicker as it sets so you want it to still be slightly runny, but not overly.

5. Remove the pot from from heat, remove the jars from 

the oven and ladle the jam into the hot jars. Screw 

the lids on immediately, but not too tightly.

6. Process in a hot water bath for 15-20 minutes.

Positively delicious! Enjoy xo

Spring Is Here

The red Alpine style house is built into the side of an extict 
volcano. My grandparent's built it as their 70s dream house.

This beautiful purple weed's flowering everywhere...

This blossom looks like snowballs at the moment. It's so very very dreamy. My 

grandmother planted it 30 years ago and the plums...  taste like my childhood.

The border of the garden bed was made from the volcanic 
rocks which littered the property when it was purchased.

The  first day of Spring greeted us with sunshine and  blossom-filled breezes. I took these photos in the garden this afternoon. Everything is looking so wonderfully... springy! Jonathan created the fairy garden for Ari last year. It fills the flower bed beneath an enormous fir tree (much like how I imagine the faraway tree might be). It's a little overgrown and in need of a tidy, but still our favourite part of the garden. I found the little fairy in a junk shop. She sits on a rock inscribed with the words...

'life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away'

Happy Springtime! 
or Autumn or Rainy Season...
depending on where you reside

Ari's outfit:  vintage 1970s overalls: op shop, star print spencer: Baby Gap 

and batman gumboots: Cotton On Kids (both found second hand at savers)

Total cost of Ari's outfit =   $6.98

lovebirds

Our garden is filled with all kind of birdlife at the moment...
but these little lovebirds are sitting sweetly on my worktable.

(this one still needs it's feathers stitched onto its wing)

I've been experimenting a bit with their eyes and details, as 
you can see, but I think the rest will be like the orange bird.

Perhaps, I'll have a whole flock sewn up by the time I'm 
ready to launch my business and open shop.

xoxox

lucky finds

 Today we visited our 'lucky op shop'. We've taken to calling it this because whenever we're looking for something particular, we seem to find it there, and wonderful treasures too. Just look at what I found...

 I bought three beautiful Australian made pure wool blankets for $6. One of the blankets says " make 'goodnight' a certainty" on it's label. Too nice to cut up, they've found a home in the blanket box. Perfect for picnicking, now that picnicking weather is officially here. 

I also found an incredible woven linen table cloth for just $1, a metre of cotton school check for 50c and the sweetest piece of (repro 40s?) cotton covered with hearts and flowers and tiny dancing girls, which was also just 50c.  I can't wait to make something out of that print!

Well, when I took them up to the counter, it came to $9 all up and the eftpos minmum is $10 (oh yes, they eftpos too).  So... the lovely op shop volunteer suggested that we pick two toys out of the bargain bin. And yes, we found Mr Owl and Mr Teddy waiting there, just for us.

What a lucky day we had!