to market.

if you've been to paris, then it's more than likely you've wandered the enchanting alleys of les puces. on my first trip, i was too daunted to attempt them on my own so stuck to the safety of the dreamy arcades in opera. i still love perusing the old bookstores and photographing the decorative tiles that abound in the passages. last year i wandered les puces with my two best friends which was just magical. the treasure we unearthed was incredible, the majority too large or too expensive to come home with us but inspiration was at an all time high. this time around my sister and i spent a chilly but sunny saturday morning wandering, fossicking amongst and admiring the treasure that les puces had to offer. i have to admit that i was a little bewildered at just HOW expensive things had become. for the regal furniture dating back to the 17th century, it was a given, but a lot of the everyday retro finds stretched too far from my budget. this didn't stop the excessive photo-taking (when i was allowed to) and my heart must have exploded at least a hundred times at the colours and compositions presented before me. within the first half an hour, i had been fed at least half a year's worth of screen-printing and collage project ideas. a quick crepe fix and a few finds later...i was in heaven. having my sister in such close proximity and living in such an amazing city means a weekend wander around these incredible markets is now only at arm's length. oh the possibilities! 

amsterdam - round two.

one superbly sunny tuesday in march, i grabbed my delicious dutchman with one hand and some special deal rail tickets in the other and jumped on a train to amsterdam. you may or may not remember my story of the last time i was in amsterdam. yeah, it wasn't pleasant and i have been itching to return to rebuild my love for the city ever since. so with a fully charged iphone and a small list of places to go, we spent a beautiful day wandering de 9 straatjes, popping in and out of vintage shops, taking a few touristy pics, re-energising with friet & mayo and generally just loving being out and about in the sunshine. there is something utterly charming about amsterdam, her almost fairytale style house facades nestled up against the quaint canals are completely enchanting. there's a picture perfect opportunity at every turn. each bridge that you cross has numerous bicycles attached, the perfect addition to your view. incredible street art, hole in the wall clothes shops and vintage treasure that spilt out onto the street, were a few of the many charms that kept my creative soul and instagram feed very happy that day. strangely enough even after a few hours of vintage ferreting, i came away empty handed...perhaps even a little overwhelmed. the expensive but utterly beautiful vintage delights in laura dols, pattern & wallpaper heaven aka kitsch kitchen and the numerous pre-loved treasure troves i popped my head into had me wanting more. more time and more money to spend in the beautiful city of amsterdam. on a bit of a side note, i've already been in rotterdam for 6 weeks and i can honestly say that i have fallen hard and fast for her. she's the more modern and eclectic sister of amsterdam (thanks to the germans) and although sometimes a bit neglected by us foreigners when planning trips to holland, i really like having these two beauties in such close proximity to each other. this way i don't find myself longing to be in amsterdam every weekend but do appreciate the opportunity to venture back whenever i fancy. the new and incredibly improved rijksmuseum has myself, the boy and our museum-cards eager to return and then again soon after for a vintage fix with my paris based sister. holland is continuing to woo me, in all the best ways possible. 

hello beautiful.

the amazing laura dols.

my kinda vintage wallpaper stash.

picture perfect.

vintage fabric!!!!

my delicious partner in crime.

what more could you want?!

we holiday in the spaces of our home.

as i dust off my laptop keyboard and log into blogger, i notice it really has been some time inbetween my posting. my poor laptop has been weighed down with new seasons of new girl and the walking dead and after a week without internet, some crazy storm behaviour and a little visit to funky town, i really wasn’t keen to share my mundane happenings with the bright and beautiful blog world. instagram has been on fire in the past few days however, capturing a delicious saturday spent with two of my favourite creatives, seen me baking up a gingerbread scented storm and eagerly awaiting five days of family fun which starts THIS friday. i’ve been craving some family time after a few weeks of 8 hour sewing sessions and overtime action at the gallery and becoming overly impatient from this whole waiting to move overseas game. i’ve missed checking in with you all, so i promise to get back into it once the new exhibition opens and things begin to settle on the lead up to christmas. i won’t be having any time off over the holiday period as my  family will be spread across the world again and the overtime dollars are needed to fund the planned  frivolous flea market jaunts that are getting me out of bed of a morning. well, that and the fact that temperatures are soaring and we have officially welcomed summer to queensland. more christmas baking is planned for the coming weeks, including rocky road and some more of the terribly addictive gingerbread whoopies. not only are they the cutest looking treat (i describe them as a cupcake sandwich for goodness sake!), their spicy aroma and treacle toned appearance is enough to bring any savoury favouring soul to their feet. packing has also been keeping me busy and i am now officially onto my 600th kilometre of bubblewrap. the packing process has been going swimmingly and only a few pangs of sadness have surfaced. luckily there is enough space in my parent’s storage unit for my 15 or so crockery and fabric filled boxes, a 70’s egg chair and a few pieces of my grandparent’s furniture....but everything else? sold or donated. it’s been an incredibly uplifting experience letting go of so much ‘stuff’ and i have never felt so sure about something in my life.  5 months on and i am still beyond excited about the adventures that lay ahead. i’ll leave you with a bit of instagram love for this balmy tropical tuesday. keep cool friends.



two of my favourite girls flaunting their amazingness.

flowers by above favourite.

my sister working her magic in the afternoon sun.

sunday leftovers.

the time has come to pack these babies away.

they're great for packing too!

some dutch treat love from the boy. 

my belly is smiling.

a sweltering day topped off with a beautiful sunset.

hot fun.

as i sit here with a fan 3cm from my face, i can only wonder what summer has in store for us. this sweltering spring sunday started with a delicious brunch date with one of my old favourites in one of the cutest neighbourhoods in brisbane. we wandered the second hand shops trying on clothes that resembled retro bed sheets in dress form and shimmery 80's delights. i found a norwegian beauty that i've had on the wish list for sometime and snagged a special sequined sussan number for those chilly days in paris next year. that's right, on one of the hottest days so far this spring, i was dreaming of being snuggled up in sequins, hot chocolate in hand. these balmy days do ignite a small sense of excitement in me which i can only presume is my milky freckled complexion screaming out for some sun. the crazy thing is that next year i'll be going from sweltering summer sunshine one day to an overcast and frosty london town the next. i've vowed to enjoy this last aussie summer, sweaty brow and awkward beetroot burns aside. this post is also a fickle excuse to sit down for 15 minutes, avoiding any further sorting/packing behaviour in this heat and to share with you the happy florals that were in abundance today. a perfect spring sunday, hot sweats and inability to nap aside.

life lately.

life lately, or as i like to describe it....an excuse to show you pretty pictures and a couple of my latest oppy finds. it's one of my favourite things to blog about as there's no real direction and i can go off on a million different tangents and yet come together at the end with some sort of unified message. pretty much my life story. i'm tucking into a freshly baked friand as we speak, an impulse saturday afternoon bake off that has turned out deliciously well. they're one of my favourite things to bake, no icing, gluten free and very little sugar. i'll take the remaining 10 or so down to the coast tomorrow where i'll spend the afternoon sushi'ing, beaching and afternoon teaing with two of my favourites. i've got london on my mind and i'm feeling more motivated than usual. i'm adorning my $96 stretchy pants and walking home from work, infact, walking everywhere i can and loving it. i'm grabbing this burst of energy with both hands and am waiting with great anticipation for rachel castle's screenprinting class in late october. here i was complaining about the days crawling by and now i can barely work out what month we're in. it's the season of family birthdays and before i know it, i'll be whipping up yorkshire puddings to michael buble's christmas carols. the days are warm and at a perfect temperature, unlike what is expected come christmas. i've taken a vow to enjoy this last aussie summer, for i have been warned that i'll need some summer sunshine to cling on to whilst dressed to the nines in 17 layers and cradling a hot chocolate the size of my head. i tried on my winter coat the other day, it hasn't seen the light of day for a year and even though i was sweating at the time, i couldn't contain my excitement imagining it teamed with cute boots, skinny jeans and a floral scarf. of course not everyday will be that cute, i can see my trackies becoming a staple and socks? i hate socks...but i'm sure they'll soon become my best friend. i've lost count of how many tangents i've taken you on, but here we are, coming to a close and the message for this week? life is too unpredictable and short to not be lived exactly as you please. love your most important people and tell them so, as often as possible. love and friands for the week ahead.

spring and strawberries, my current favourite combo.

vintage floral treats picked up at the oppy today. delicious.

rifle paper co products never cease to inspire me. this one will house all of my textile design inspirations.

culling my beautiful crockery collection to make life lighter for the move. these babies made the cut of course.

the perfect kind of mail from my mama. she knows me too well.

walking through my neighbourhood this morning, stopping every 10 mins to snap my local delights.

falling deeper and deeper in love with my galleries. portrait of spain is rocking everyone's socks off at the moment.

weekending.

every so often, it's a breath of fresh air to be able to escape from the big smoke for a weekend away with your girlfriends. when ash's mum announced she'd be away in the usa for a month, we jumped at the offer of staying the weekend in her northern nsw beach house. i have always loved that part of town and have fond memories of visiting family near mullumbimby, walking belongil beach and ferreting through second hand treasures in bangalow. we set off down south on friday evening and arrived home just shy of 5pm today. a perfect amount of time away and the most perfect balance of treasure hunting, lunching and relaxing. murwillumbah and it's quaint opshops were first on the list on saturday morning that was followed shortly after by a couple of blissful hours treasure hunting in beautiful bangalow. it's not hard to understand why bangalow really is a little slice of new south wales heaven. a place i could easily set up home and open a little cake/textile shop...oh one day. it's dainty and decorative main street is full of delightful little cafes, gorgeous homewares and local art and design. to be honest, we were there for one thing and one thing only that day...heath's old wares. i fell in love with this gold mine around 2 years ago when mum and i travelled south to byron and veered off track. since then, it's been a secret supplier of inspiration to me and my love for the pre-loved object. everyone deserves a visit to this pocket of heaven, so i'm taking the chance to shout it from the blogland roof tops. take a large car, preferably a trailer, you won't be disappointed. a set designer/interior stylist/event planner/old knick knack lover's dream. just promise that you'll show me your finds. i snagged some treasure for a real steal, which i will be sharing with you tomorrow as the amount of eye candy you're about to endure is surely enough for one night. saturday night saw us dinnering with our favourite boys and sharing stories of europe over delicious local delicacies. this morning we slept in, spent a good hour spamming everyones instagram feeds with yesterday's treasure hunt and then drove our lazy sunday selves to coolangatta antiques. on boy did christmas come early. bouts of squealing could be heard from all corners of the place, when we would uncover what could only be described as a vintage gift from god. needless to say, this happened every 35.6 seconds. at one point i had an armful of treats, had misplaced my iphone amongst the retro fabrics and had my tight ass purse strings denying me of such decadent spending. reasonably sized piles of happiness were then taken to the counter after a few moments of clear headed decision making/putting half of my goodies back. lunch at currumbin, a frolick on the beach, love hearts drawn in the sand and afternoon tea at vintage espresso was THE perfect ending to a most delightful weekend. my two amigos @_ruby_ruth and @ashleighbourke were the perfect weekending companions. their instagram feeds will fill your lives with instant joy and loveliness, just like the last two days i spent with them.

first destination.

your standard driver, selfie taker & instagram threesome.

the signage was spectacular.

green hues in murwillumbah.

back in my opshopping groove.

the beautiful place.

fine & sunny stopoff.

tapestries galore next door.

selfies at heath's...

and a little bit of french kissing.

a treasure i can now tick off the wishlist.

jar heaven.

the crate queen.

my world.

stairway to heaven.

it was, thank you.

music to my ears.

perfection in garden furniture form.

follow me if you dare...

a perfect pair.

chasing the sun.

stairway to fabric heaven and i'm first in line.

this girl knows her treasure.

not a bad view.

perfect pear cake from VE, my happy place.