My heart wanders...

from place to place.

A couple of days ago it wandered in the door of Pia's beautiful houseboat & now it's attached itself to her wonderful project my heart wanders: a collection of subtle hearts in special places

I know this girl is going to be really excited by my heart wanders. If you're excited too - go & read more.

Thanks Erin for the introduction.

On my desk...

The desk has been pretty busy this week. Lots of comings & goings.

Today:

Handbound book from Kitty @ Fred & George books...
plus a gorgeous pillowcase for the collection. Thanks Kitty!
Printout of Pip's swappies & some of my own
Avant Card by Joel Tarling. The illustration really appeals to me & makes me think of The Plant Sitter. I absolutely loved that book when I was small.
My Grandma's document wallet & all her important papers. I really want to know what was in that envelope that was so important.

Pillowcase Love...

Folding & sorting to add to the collection.

My little set of shelves is almost full to overflowing. I've been really lucky with my pillowcase opping lately & most of the stash pictured came from one little old lady's linen press.

I've been working on another make & do pillowcase project today & I'll have a tutorial to share by the end of the week.

Op Shop til you drop...

Thrifted Tuesday on Flickr

One curtain drop of this gorgeous fabric. Sadly, no selvedge notes.

It's a nice weight - I think I'm going to make a laptop bag for myself from it.

Bookish Tag...

I was tagged some time ago by the lovely Alexandra for the book tag that's been doing the rounds.

the rules are that I, as the tagged, must:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123. The book I have is only 98 pages so I've opened to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

So here I go...

She began to put out the things for dinner. Now she wished that she had remembered to bring a tablecloth -it made everything look so much nicer. But she had remembered spoons and florks, and her mother had put in plates.

I've posted about The Deserted Cottage before. Oh how I wished to be Maggy Ann & have rolicking adventures in the woods & wheel a bodge to our very own deserted cottage in a lovely clearing in the English countryside.

I won't tag anyone but if you'd like to have a crack consider yourself tagged.

Hand art...

Image source - used with permission.

affects me in a way I cannot describe.

Two years ago I was lucky enough to have my hands painted with Henna by Somali women. I found the experience quite emotional - yet another powerful experience of women & community. I've been reading up a bit on Henna lately & then I came across Esti's blog (via girl ferment).

The images from Esti's hand project took my breath away. You can read the story of Esti's cousin whose hands these are here.

The universe served up another breathtaking Henna inspired project here (via design for mankind).

This is...how I recycle

I am pretty good at recycling. We reduce, reuse & recycle wherever possible.

Re-crafted, repurposed, recreated & reverse art is my greatest crafty pleasure.

I prefer to make stuff from things that have had a previous life. I source my craft materials from: "rubbish" from our daily life, op shops & reverse art.

This is my recrafted toadstool pincushion - made entirely from "waste" products/materials. I made it last Monday at Brown Owls.

Sunday Supper...

Sunday Supper hosted by Meet Me at Mikes.

Yesterday was wet all day & today is shaping up the same way. It's a good day to stay indoors & make soup.

This soup is dead easy & really yummy too.

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup
15 (about) large ripe tomatoes cut in half
1 head of garlic - separated into cloves (leave skin on)
2 brown onions - sliced
slurp of olive oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1 litre stock

Preheat oven to about 150 C.
Place chopped tomatoes, onion & cloves of garlic in a good sized oven tray.
Mix olive oil & brown sugar in a small bowl. Pour over vegies & toss to coat.
Whack the tray of vegies in the oven for about 1 & a half - 2 hours.
Once cooked, remove the garlic cloves.
Process in batches squeezing the soft roasted garlic from a few cloves & adding it to each batch before processing.
Place pureed tomato into a saucepan & add stock.
Heat & serve with South Cape crumbled feta, fresh basil, cracked pepper & crusty bread.

SNAPits...

1. Winson, 2. One O Seven, 3. Felton Woods, 4. Cardiff, 5. Blair Logie, 6. Elonara, 7. Homerton, 8. Assounta, 9. Atherstone

I grew up in a house named "Lonamba".
Named houses make me smile.
My favourites are cream brick & weatherboard with loopy writing.
Beach houses have the very best names.

I wonder what the owners of these homes used as their inspiration? Some are obviously street names but the others? I'm imagining the discussion around the lino dining table deciding what to name the new 5 room 1960s cream brick. It's a good image.

Friday Archives...

Friday Archives with Loobylu.

This was found during the whole love letter episode. It was attached to one of the drivelly, boring, long winded & EMBARRASSING letters I wrote the date during class in year 12. I expect I must have done this during legal studies as the teacher was particularly slack.

It does beg the question "what was I doing with a math-o-mat?"

Found photos...

I'm about halfway through Jessie's album. Are we in for the long haul Bricolagelife?

Jessie is out of town again.

This makes me laugh because my dad has a farm & I reckon if he saw me hand feeding a kangaroo he'd whip that air riffle out from under the little chap's arm & shoot us both.

Reverse Art...

Eeek - The Reverse Art Truck is even more exciting than Op Shopping. Just look at all the good stuff I picked up. I've got some notes over on Flickr if you want a closer look.

Some days it's not worth the drive but ... yay hooray I was lucky this trip.

Some girls I think should make the journey:

Kitty
Claire
Liz
Pip
Gemma
& Nichola

I tried hard not to be greedy but it was tough.

On my desk...

Inspired by a really smart guy - I've got a bit more reading material. I love smart people.
My recent purchase of Oye Modern. Expectation exceeded - I'll be going back!
ACEO by this girl which I'm absolutely obsessed with.
Brownie Annual from this lovely girl.

Plus some bookish loveliness, DVD loveliness, boy meets girl loveliness and the promise of some crafty bargains...lots to get through.

More desks in my sidebar. If you decide to play along let me know so I can pop in & say Hi.

Op Shop til you drop...

I'm so in love with this bedspread.

Thrifted from my teeny local Op Shop last week. It's weighty & wonderful.

More Thrifted Tuesday goodness here.