It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

I can't believe where this year has gone. It just seemed to disappear right before my very eyes, but I guess having 2 jobs (3 if you count the kids/house and 4 if you include all the butterfly frames and cards I make...) time just goes quickly.

 I've been attempting to decorate the house for Christmas for 2 weeks, but I'm only half way through, as something else seems to crop up which is more important. Next year, I think I might start in September!!




So far I have got as far as the tree, the front door and the hall table, but the stairs and dining table are still to be done. I've also bought 2 wreaths for under the lights on the front pillars, but they are yet to go up too.

One day.....

Don't forget you can find me on Facebook, where I tend to update weekly due to ease. I very rarely sit down at my PC these days, whereas I have my phone with me constantly. What did we ever do without smartphones?

I promise to be back before Christmas with some updated decorating pics!

Busy.

Life, as it seems, has come between me and my blog...again!

I'm actually home this week, sick, and instead of running around catching up on all the housework I perhaps should be doing, I'm taking some time out and resting instead. I'm actually too dizzy to be running around anyway, so taking things quietly has been good.
Today, I plan on making some more vintage style gift tags and cutting out some butterflies for a couple of orders I have. The washing, vacuuming, cleaning out the fridge and tidying can wait!








This is a limited edition French Travelling Butterflies I made out of a French book I found in an Op Shop. The book is small, hence the 'limited', I may stumble upon some more, but this is all I have at this stage. I actually finished it for Bastille Day...but didn't find the time to process the photos or update the blog...until now.







I'm also itching to go and visit the new Mondo Cherry shop, which has opened up about 10 minutes away... 2 weeks ago, and I just haven't been able to. School discos and sleepover parties have prevented me from going on the last 2 Fridays. I just love their use of colour, and I can't wait to see their artwork mixed in with other lovely goodies!

http://mondocherry.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/we-are-open-tomorrow.html

Don't forget you can come and visit me on Facebook, where I find it so much easier to update. I'm still getting used to the new blogger interface...

Stormy's Castle Now on Facebook.

Hi Everyone,

I have created my own Facebook page with all of my butterfly frames and crafty things in the one place. I will still be updating the blog, but thought it was easier to have all the photos of my frames and art/craft in the one place where it is easier to find. Any queries for custom made orders are welcome.

So feel free to join me and 'like' my page :)

http://www.facebook.com/StormysCastle

Blue and White.

Such a beautiful classic colour combination which I have wanted to create a butterfly artwork in, but always found it difficult finding the right paper. By chance, I came across a small pad of scrapbooking paper at Spotlight, which was perfect! The right colours and the right geometrical patterns.




It looks great in my lounge room next to my new (second hand) Ginger Jar and blue jug - both from the Waverley Antiques Bizzare....I so love that place!! But I'm actually going to be giving this one to the shop to see if it will sell, with the intent on making some more.







Next on the to-do list, is a travelling style made from a French book I found in the Flinders Op Shop, and perhaps another Mills and Boon one, as I have sold the other.

...I just need to find some time.

The Making of The Craft Room.

As the title suggests, it was time to move all of my crafty 'stuff' from the familyroom/meals area into it's own dedicated space. It has always been tricky working on something, having to pack it all away to clear the table for dinner, only to set it up again after. My pile of 'stuff' (although mostly stored away in a rattan trunk) was ever growing, and was crying out to be organised!

..and so, the transformation of the 'just-chuck-it-in-the-spare-room-and-I'll-deal-with-it-later' mess begins!

This is what I had to deal with:




There was lots of reorganising and throwing out to be done. A lot of it went to the op shop, but most of it actually got moved to the other side of the room...to be sorted on another rainy day!

After planning and measuring, it was off to IKEA to go shopping:




6 boxes later, it was home again to begin the construction.

Piece 1: a 4x4 EXPEDIT in white:




Piece 2: The EXPEDIT Desk attachment in white:




Piece 3: An EXPEDIT 2x2 for under the windows:





Piece 4: A new chair and floor mat. Put it all together with a few boxes, magazine files and an EXPEDIT draw, and ths is what I have:



It's still quite bare at the moment, but I'm slowly adding all my stuff to the shelves and tidying up. I still need to get a light and a pin board for the wall above the desk for all my inspiration.

I have since added a set of drawers to keep my A4 paper in (colour coded, of course), and a ribbon dispenser I found in Spotlight while looking for other storage boxes.



Looks a little more organised, doesn't it? My apologies for the phone pics, I promise to take some better ones once the space is complete. These were all taken on the fly!

Stay tuned for some more pics once I inject some personality into the space. There is still quite a bit to do!

Love Butterflies.

Just a quick post today with another 'Travelling Butterflies'. This time, I cut them out of a 1956 Mills and Boon purchased from the Op Shop for 50c. I love a bargain!!



It hasn't made it into the shop, yet, but hopefully it will sell shortly.



Lots of plans in the pipeline to make some more....just have to find some of that precious time to do it in. Between 2 jobs and looking after 2 kids and a house, there isn't much of it left. A fair bit of my spare time is taken up with constructing displays for one of my jobs, attempting to relax in front of  'The Block', and catching up on washing/folding/cleaning. Oh, and getting my head around the new blog interface...the old version was so much more user friendly. Guess I'll get used to it ;)

 Chat soon!

Vintage Heaven.

My decorating style is a bit of a mod podge of Hamptons, French Provincial and English Country...with a bit of vintage industrial thrown in to create an eclectic mix. I have a few vintage 'decor' items around the place, and I adore the whole raw industrial look of natural wood and rusty metal, all weathered for that gorgeous vintage look.

I have just discovered the most amazing place approximately 10 minutes from home, which is a haven of vintage heaven! It's a HUGE warehouse FULL of individual antique and vintage store holders in Glen Waverley....yep, the burbs!! No longer is a trip required to The Tyabb Packing House, day trips to country towns in search of vintage goodness, or trying to find a carpark at the Chapel Street Bazaar. There's one on my doorstep! I believe it is operated by the same person who began the Tyabb Packing House and the (now closed) Mornington Antique Market...but don't quote me!

The Waverley Antiques Centre will be seeing me possibly on a weekly basis. I already have a few of my favourite store holders picked out :)

So....what did I find? Apart from anything and everything that I 'could' have bought, I settled for a book plate of birds eggs in beautiful creamy/bluey colours, a couple of old books (with blue covers), a wooden shoe last, a metal number 3 (complete with cobwebs), a gorgeous blue sliding box that originally had watch springs in it and an Hawaiian flag which I'm told was used in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. I actually didn't realise it was the Hawaiian flag...but I had to have it as it was the 'right' colours...and had the Union Jack on it...naturally!







I'm not sure what the number was originally from, but it has 3 holes along the top and none along the bottom, so I can only guess it may have been from some type of scoreboard? Regardless, it's old and weathered and I love the font!

My advice if you plan on making the trip to the Waverley Antiques Centre, is to make sure you have lots of time (and I mean hours...), know your prices and compare prices once you are there. I saw the same book in 2 different stores. One had it for $15 marked down to $8, while another for $25! My shoe last was $22, but I did see others for around $60.

Last weekend, we took a day trip up to Daylesford to deliver a couple of butterfly frames I had finished. I had not been up there for many years, and loved it! The Lake was stunning on a perfect Autumn day, and the shops were gorgeous! My butterfly frames will do well up there, infact 2 previously have sold within a day, and this one sold within 2 hours!





This was the other frame we delivered, a white frame with green, purple and pink butterflies in the 'travelling' style. I don't think it will be as popular as the vintage maps in a black frame, but nice to try something slightly different, and it may be just the piece someone has been looking for.





In other crafty DIY news, I made use of 2 IKEA candles and some of the vintage sheet music I have collected :)





Until next time, happy vintage hunting!!!

...And Life Just Got A Whole Heap Busier.

The title says it all, really. As well as all the volunteer work I do at my children's school, I have now taken on 2 part time jobs. Yes, you read correctly, that's 2. It only equates to 13 hours a week over 2 1/2 days, but from no paid employment for the past 11 years to all of a sudden 2 paying jobs in the space of 2 weeks is a bit mad! Time will tell how I go, but I do know the house work will suffer :). Thankfully, with one of the jobs I don't have to work school holidays, so I do get a little bit of a break shortly.

Also, the shop on the Mornington Peninsula where I sell my butterfly frames and gift tags, has just opened up a new shop in Daylesford in Country Victoria in the Central Ranges (Spa Country). There, I sold 1 of my travelling butterfly frames in a day! Yes, they require more, and yes, I have to find time to squeeze it all in.

Forgive me if my blog gets terribly neglected and the blue tufted ottoman I keep threatening to make actually doesn't occur anytime soon. Maybe over Christmas this year when I will have 2 weeks off I may consider it again.

In the mean time, life will be slightly crazy as I adjust to the new challenges that have come my way!

And Then There Was Light.

After a fabulous holiday on the southern Mornington Peninsula, it was time to come home and get ready for the school year ahead. I finally dismantled all things 'Christmas' last week, so it was great to get my Lounge and Dining rooms back. We spent last weekend catching up on some cleaning and organising as well, and finally put up the chandelier I have had tucked away under the stairs in a box for 2 years!



The Dining room is almost complete...for the moment. There will still be a few finishing touches when I get around to it :-)











What's next on the ever growing list? That infamous blue tufted ottoman I've been talking about for years but haven't had the time (or possibly the courage) to begin. Must try tufting a sample piece first.

Travelling Butterflies.

It's great to be on holidays and able to finally dig out the vintage paper and scissors! It's been a while....a little too long, in fact.

I found an early 1960's Readers Digest Atlas at a Fete several months ago, and put it aside for a rainy day! It's not the only 'old' atlas I have, but this one has beautiful soft muted colours, perfect for my butterflies. I wanted to create something a little different to the formality of my usual 6 butterfly shadow frames, with the idea that the butterflies needed to 'fly' across the frame.

This is what I ended up with:









This one is already for sale in a shop on the Mornington Peninsula, so I made another for me. This time using vintage sheet music and it will reside above our bed. No pics yet, though. Maybe once it's up so I can photograph it with my new bedside lamps.

The next version may require a little tweaking, but that's part of the fun of it! There are 3 different sizes of butterflies, but I may make the smaller ones even smaller.

I have an idea for my collection of vintage stamps, too, so watch out for that one (provided it works!!!).

Merry (belated) Christmas!

Once again, blogging took a back seat in my life over the past 3 months. I did have a few moments each day to read my favourites, but not much time to comment, let alone take photos of my place, process them and post. It all got a little difficult, as it does with 2 young children and all the end of year events they attend!

I am now beginning to relax, but I have so much to catch up on it's hard to know where to start! Christmas, I guess? I vowed last Christmas, having hosted twice in 2 years, that I wasn't going to host for another 2 years, so this Christmas I didn't! I managed to decorate when time permitted, but I completely ran out of time to finish, despite starting in late November! This year I'll start in late October and have more chance of finishing (as well as beginning the Christmas cards!).

This Christmas I had a 'blue' room and a 'red' room! The Christmas tree resided in the lounge room in front of the large window, and was decorated in predominately blue and silver, which matched in perfectly with the decor of the room:



My kids were under strict instructions on what colours to use at the front of the tree, and what to put at the back! It's quite 'middle heavy' at their arm level, but (again) I ran out of time to adjust it!



My antique table in the lounge (which usually sits in front of the window) had the blue treatment too (love the blue feathered birds from Domayne):



On the 19th of December, we finally picked up the dining table, which had been on order since early September. I received the chairs the day before my party (see previous post), and they waited very patiently for their companion:



I can't tell you how good it is to have another horizontal surface to put pretties on:



The 'red' room:



Love the pair of mercury glass candle holders, $24 for both (thanks Target).....





...not to forget the little glass cloche with a bird on top, sitting on the grey/brown stand (one of my Christmas presents):



My 'Tree of Life' didn't escape the Christmas treatment, either:



(thanks to IKEA for the tiny red glass baubles)

The stairs 'mostly' completed:



I over decorated the entrance hall table and didn't get a chance to re-arrange it all, so the dog's breakfast won't be shown in full, but you can see this snippet of the mirror above:



Last, but not least, the front doors were decorated in the big red bow again, only after 2 years it had faded considerably, so I had to make another, double this time:



So what else have I done and haven't blogged about? Another butterfly frame way back in September, the other book shelf in the family room has been painted (umm...that was back in September too!), I've bought a few little bits and pieces, there are new pictures up on the wall, and I am seriously considering repainting the whole of our bedroom suite...white, of course!

But all that is for another time...and soon, I hope!

Best wishes for 2012!!