Cellophane....twice as fresh!!!

I recently was lucky enough to find some really nice treasures at a local "garage/yard sale" here on the Mountain.  One of my favourite being a bound collection of the Saturday Evening Post May 1954.  I have been having so much fun reading and looking through this time capsule of the modern 1954.  Some of the adverts are sooooooo politically incorrect you have to laugh. Here are a couple of my favourite. Sorry about the quality, the scan bed on my scanner only takes A4 size and the magazines are quite a bit larger.

Easter Bunny Bags............. Doing it just for fun.

Something I have come to realise now in my 60's is that I am not going to make any money from my crafts.  Not to say they aren't good enough, which they might not be, but because of my lack of 100% determination to do what it would take to make any money.  It seems that no sooner do I try and make something that I completely enjoy doing, the task of the current craft, into something that could possibly make money, I loose interest.  I only enjoy it when it is a "one off" activity.  So I am now not going to try, albeit very casually, promote myself.  I am going to do my craft of choice at the time, possibly try selling it and/or give things away to friends and neighbours.  The joy really is in the making and the giving.  I soooooo enjoy making new things out of old.  Well we'll see how it goes.

This is the final product, made completely with stuff (material, tape etc) I already had, some of it for a long time.

These cute little bunny bags came about using material scraps I had (and still have).  There are 14 in total (since starting this post it has dwindled to 12) and ever so cute.  But now onto the next project....Kimonos from vintage sheets.

These are the prototypes, the first 2 I made.
 I learnt/figured out what to do next and how to do it.

I started an assembly line, sorry about lack of photos, but I got so caught up in the activity of making the bags I only randomly remembered to take photos. I cut out as many pieces of the bag as I could from my piece of remnant allowed (14 x 36cms x 18 cms), 14 pairs of inner ear (the white with pink roses) and 14 pairs of the out ears the same as the rest of the bag, 14 pairs of 30cms long ribbon/handles.

I then sewed without hemming the inner ear onto the outer ear.

Then I pinned 2 ears to one of the handles, then pinned the ears and handle to the bag.

Then at the other end of the bag pin the other handle.

This is when I got busy again and forgot to take photos.  I had all the bags pinned with ears and handles and I just had to put 2 rows of stitching on each end to attach the ears and handles, then with right sides together I sewed a .5cm seam.

I also wasn't happy with the face on the bag. Firstly, I used a brown marker and when I test washed it, it ran like crazy so I switched to the black, old reliable Sharpie. Secondly, the face was boring and I wanted something more animated I guess, so this is the final bag.

Too HOT to work outside... So here I am, inside on the computer

It is just too hot outside to go or do anything.  Safest and coolest place is inside with the dogs.  Lots of water and something to keep busy with.

I am starting the New Year, as so often before, with plans and promises of getting organised and finally finish down sizing, its been 4 years now.  I am getting there, but I have just come to a bit of stand still. So I have spent the few (hot) days reorganising my work space.  I hadn't intended to do it, so no "before" photos, but I can tell you the difference is "night and day".

I have been able to give, sell, trade and gift sooooo many things, but we are still overwhelmed by how much "stuff" we have.  I am so glad we started downsizing now and not in another 10 years.  It might take us until then to accomplish the perfect balance of "things".

The work space where I take photos for my Ebay (if you like what you see have a look here) and Etsy listings works well.  It is close to the window and the best time for me to take photos is definitely in the morning, so up goes the blinds, in comes the light and away I go.

I also have a craft area, but that still needs some work.

There's one dog, enjoying the air conditioning.....

..... and here's the other one.  Spoilt or what!

Best ever photo station.  I don't have to put in up and pull it down each time.

The craft/sewing area, but that's another time, still too messy.

It feels like home to me.

Well we have been in our new home for almost a year now and things are just getting into some sort of order.  Moving from a large 4 bedroom home on 10 acres with an extra large garage and granny flat to a small 3 bedroom 1/4 acre block has been nothing short of hard.  I have had garage sales and have been selling a lot on Ebay here at mugwhys vintage and giving things away and still there is hardly room to move.  Yes, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I do still have lots of things to get rid of.

The gardens were well established when we moved in so we have only had to do some maintenance, including pruning and replacing some plants that have passed they used by date with new ones.  I am much more of a rustic gardener so I am putting my stamp on things.

Another lovely day on the mountain....

Well another beautiful day on Tamborine Mountain.  A few degrees cooler than in the valley, thank goodness.  The gardens are flourishing, not only ours but all around us and we don't even have to water much as the overnight dew takes care of things.  Which is a good thing as we are on tank water.

Now that we have been here a couple of months and we are settling in, I know I keep saying that, but I feel until every last storage box is emptied and every last piece of bric a brac has found a new home (either with us or with someone else) I won't be really settled.

Just a fraction of what we have to part with.

I don't even remember what is in these boxes.

Check out what I have already listed on Ebay here at Mugwhys Vintage.

Nicky Likes her new home and so do we!

Well we have been at our new home for just over 2 months now and the dogs are settling in.  Nicky is 14 years old and we were worried that the move might upset her as she has only known the one home.  Thankfully all is well and she seems to be thriving.

Let the downsizing begin......

Well here we are nearly 3 years after we decided to move and downsize, in our new beautiful home.  Now the work really begins.  I wasn't sure how much "stuff" we could fit in the new, much smaller, house so I took it all with us.  A lot has found a new spot but oh sooooooo much has to go.

I have dozens of storage boxes so as I open them I will list whatever doesn't fit in the new house on Ebay here.