(not quite) wordless wednesday

I'm not feeling so wordless today. In fact instead I've got lots to share. My this week has been fabulous so far, how 'bout yours?

Sunday night, while skyping my lovely husband's family I made pesto...

It was hot hot hot 'round Melbourne town, so my lovely husband and I took little-miss-e to the beach on Monday morning. It was so much fun! She loved the water, and for the first time sat on the sand in with the little waves rippling over her legs and splashed and splashed!



Then, Monday afternoon, my sister and my lovely husband had conspired to give my an afternoon off! My sister came round and whisked me away to an afternoon of cafes and op-shops, whilst my lovely husband stayed home and looked after little-miss-e.

Yesterday was full of jam making, finally. I'm not sure how many figs I ate, but I only ended up with 1.7kgs of figs to make into jam. Its a sweet sticky messy process, but the end result 'little bird burnt fig jam' (named in honour of a new little bird we know) should certainly be worth it!

As for today, well - there's great stuff going on, but I'll tell you all about that another time...

Hope your week so far has been just as great!

unexpected op shop delights

I just had one of those moments while op-shopping today. One of those is-that-what-I-think-it-is?! moments. An unexpected op-shop delight.

See, I was op-shopping while on holiday in January about 100km from home. And I stumbled across the cutest fitted cot sheet.

I loved it and seeing we didn't have any cot sheets at all, felt completed justified in my purchase.

Fast forward to today and op-shopping unsuccessfully for a couple of things a few kms from home, as I am heading to the door I wander past this

it's the flat sheet - same print, same size! I couldn't quite believe it! And so, even though it was $4 (a bit expensive I thought for a cot sheet), I couldn't leave it behind. How delightful - I now have the set!

And it got me thinking about the slightly amazingly/slightly crazy experience that op-shopping can be. The best example that I know of actually happened to my mum and Nan when my Nan was in her 70s. They were op shopping close to my Nan's home and while looking through the doilies, came across a doily that my Nan had actually made as a teenager! She recognised her own work straight away, including the mistakes she had made and how she thought the reverse wasn't neat enough! Needless to say they bought it, and it now sits pride of place on my mum's sideboard...


How 'bout you? What's your best unexpected op-shop delight?

Linking in today with flea market finds over at her library adventures.

crochet addictions (and some other stuff)

just one more post about my crochet addiction (for the moment at least). but what else do you do, when going into an op-shop and finally finding a pile of crochet hooks*!

how could i possibly leave them there? lovely metal hooks, with such a nice feel! i never never never find crochet hooks in op-shops, and i got this whole bundle for 50 cents! love love love it

so the bit not about crochet: while we were on holiday, the little church around the corner from where we were staying had a garage sale. we poured over everything, and i got a pile of wool, and a pile of books. including this one. first of all i walked past it, i mean its nothing to look at from the outside:

but flipping it open:

 



what's not to love about it!  patterns for 70's children's toys. sewing patterns, knitting patterns, clothing patterns. can't wait to get started on them all!

*i have asked it before - but can someone please explain to me why op-shops always have an abundance of knitting needles, but there is never a crochet hook to be seen!?

ok, ok...

...i admit it. i really do have to stop going into op-shops. i know. i do.

but if i did that, well, i wouldn't have found this:

a round table cloth - how cute!

or this:

fitted sheet - what fun!

or this!

square tablecloth - isn't it fabulous!

the best part is that i bought them for a specific project, which means they won't just get added to my stash. *coughs* except for the bit where i actually bought all of them for the same project. and i only need one. so i am pretty sure the square tablecloth is the winner- oh well. they really are lovely though, aren't they...

opshops and buttons

this weekend has involved a nice bit of opshopping. love it. i found lots of fun things, and was proud of my restraint a couple of times. but mainly i wanted to talk to you about this...

 

see i bought these great pants that someone had thrown out, just because they were missing a button. so this afternoon, out came one of the jars from my button collection. spilled all over the bed and poured though, until i found the perfect one. 

love it!

an october challenge

so, i'm not actually doing blogtoberfest. (despite the fact that i have posted pretty much every day this week). 

no, i've signed up for the salvo's nothing new challenge. it means that i am going to not buy anything new for the whole of october. given my everpresent love of op-shops, i didn't think it would actually be too hard for me to do (is that dodgy, signing up for a challenge cos you think it will be easy?), and it's been a good reminder of the fact that really, i already have a lot of stuff, and actually i don't need to buy anything new. 

my only problems so far have been presents for others. the first one was easy, my friend who recently got married wasn't keen on getting "stuff" that they wouldn't be able to fit into their place, so a bottle of my burnt fig jam was very well received. but i've got a someone else's birthday coming up, and the best plan for a present - you know, when you come up with the PERFECT present idea and can't wait to get it and give it to them cos you know they will love it... the problem is that i have to buy it new. its not something you find in op-shops. and there aren't any second hand ones available.

i have a dilemma. do i buy it new and break my pledge? or do i hold off and wait until november and thus give them the present late (which kinda feels like poor taste, given i am holding off for my benefit and they lose out a little)? and given that i am going to buy it in november, does it matter if i buy it in october, despite my buy nothing new pledge?

what would you do?    

ahh, op-shopping

it felt like i hadn't done a good lot of op-shopping for a while, so it has been great over the last month or so to catch up on some of my favourite op-shops and even check out a few new ones. 

i've gotten some great things! like these fabulous shoes:

and some more great linen (table cloths and serviettes). 

and best of all, a spare crochet hook...

(one of the downsides to teaching all my friends to crochet is that i inevitably lend them a crochet hook to practice with. the end result being that i only have one hook left!)

and on a side note - can anyone explain to me why op-shops always have a big bunch of knitting needles, but there is pretty much never a crochet hook to be seen? its a mystery i can't understand... 

ahh, op-shopping.

one of my favourite kinds of weekends - one that involves a bit of op-shopping and some vintage linen.

like this sheet (oh, i have such good plans)

and this tablecloth (what fun!)...

i hope your weekend was full of goodness!

on being date-less

so it turns out that i need to pay a bit more attention to things. i made muesli and date loaf today:

well, actually i made date-less muesli and date loaf. see my new breadmaker (brilliantly op-shopped for $20) has an automatic fruit dispenser. and having not used it before, i popped the dates into the dispenser, popped the other ingredients into the bread tin and walked away. (the walking away bit was the killer). 

it turned out that the "automatic" fruit dispenser was automatic, but just didn't actually open wide enough to "dispense". opps. 

but warm buttered date-less muesli and date loaf is still good...    

not about crochet

ok so, i do know that not everyone crochets. and that not everyone is into crochet. and after reading and reflecting on this slightly mocking post from gina at clutterpunk* i've realised that i do post an awful lot about crochet. so today, i thought i'd do a post not about crochet.

i was thinking, see, that i could post about the current sewing project i am working on for terrible comfort's show, which opens next week.

 (they will be mexican wrestling masks, black and white ones, copied from the blue and yellow ones - i should be working on these at the moment...)

or i was thinking that i could post about these fabulous vintage op-shop finds: a pillowcase and a doona** cover (which is for my yet to be fully worked out next project).

 but really what i want to post about is this new wool that i bought and the granny square scarf that i started last night. 

so ok, hi, my name's becclebee and i'm a crochet addict... 

*i'd like to note i love gina and i'm completely ok with her hassling us all about our crochet addictions
** doona (also known as ' duvet', or 'quilt' for those non-aussies)

my creative space is...

...filled with 70's inspiration. my fabulous friend bought me this fabulous book from an op-shop:

 it looks like so much fun. 

although - if anyone knows what you do with a crocheted "calypso barbecue holder," feel free to let me know!

 as always, play along with the fabulous kirsty...

a pillow pal

i did a random and unexpected bit of op-shopping today. and came across this... a CPR "pillow pal". what fun! a pillow case designed to help you remember and practice your cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

i definitely couldn't leave it there, not with my continuing pillowcase obession. for 99 cents this gem was mine. but what to do with it?

well, a little lace, a little scrap material, and here you have it, the latest addition to my ever-growing bag collection. 

i love the way it looks on the inside too... 

camberwelly

ahh, camberwell market - such a lovely place for a sunday morning jaunt. (for those who haven't heard of it, every sunday morning there is a rotary trash and treasure type market in camberwell - a suburb of melbourne). fondly referred to as camberwelly by many (well,  sayraphim and i call it that - or maybe its just me).

anyway, it was a slightly unexpected trip to camberwelly this morning. sayraphim and i planned it last week, but given the rain and crazy weather here in melbourne over the last few days - we weren't sure it would be on (its a fair-weather market, outside in a carpark and is cancelled when it rains). we went anyway, with the plan to just go out for breakfast if it wasn't on. but we were in luck and dampness aside - there was fun and bargains to be had. 

among other things - i scored:

this fabulous fabric

some fun wooden blocks

 

a great tablecloth and serviette set (although technically, this was part of a $3 haul of sayraphim's)

and curiously i found this:

but i am not sure what something becomes once it is ex retro. does that make it new again?  

christmas tree packing

so, a few days late, i know, but i have finally taken down my christmas decorations and dismantled my christmas tree. 

see, i am late because before i did that i had to have somewhere to put it. it being new and all, i was planning on popping down to the fabric shop and getting me some cheap christmas fabric in a post-christmas sale. but, instead on my last op-shop visit, i found this fabulous christmas table cloth 

made it into a bag 

and voila, one christmas tree safely packed away 'til next christmas.

op-shop goodness

so, there's been lots of busy-ness 'round these parts, but very little crafting. but even when there's not time for crafting, i can usually manage a little bit of op-shopping... i love love love this fabric - and i have such plans!

obsession confession

ok, so. i may have popped into another opshop this week to feed my current pillowcase obsession. opps... (and actually, the floral one on the end there is from my fabric stash, but it happily joins the others). i can't wait for tomorrow - it will be pillowcase central round here.

a new obsession

so, i am an op-shopper (thrift-shopper) from way back. but recently i have developed a new op-shop obsession. pillow cases. its kinda weird, but also makes much sense. see it all started with the vintage pillow case veggie bags i made a little while ago. i am in love with them. i use them all the time and am finding that 4 is not enough. so a few weeks ago i popped down to the op shop to grab another pillow case to make some more (using pillowcases is brilliant, as some of the seams are already done, and being second hand or vintage - they are often well worn and therefore very light weight). i came home with a couple and put them on a pile of my things to do. then today, i popped into an op-shop during lunch (it was right next to the post office) and came out with another 3 (oh, and a brown and orange linen tablecloth). the fabric in the pillowcases is really lovely. i enjoy the patterns and the different styles. today i came up with a great plan too. a new pillowcase project i'm pretty excited about it, i really think it will work - now its just finding the time to make all these pillow case projects up!