Life without ceramics

I have a slight fixation for ceramics, especially, mid century West German and Italian.

My Flea Market Finds this week is a bit of a backlog of {some} of the ceramics I have got in the last few months. Yes, there are more!

The first one is this great Bitossi vase given to me by my sis. It is very unusual as it looks as if it has Chinese writing on the side. (Knowing my sis, who is an op-shop savant, she got this for $1.50 with a vintage dress thrown in for good measure!)

My collection is comming along...

Next, a medium sized Italian oil pot. The cork is stuck fast, so I haven't been able to wash it out yet...I am a bit afraid of what I will find!

And finally a lava West German vase. I got this from a friend and fellow stall-holder at the last Love Vintage Fair. She is always telling me to get rid of anything I don't absolutley love...but the problem is that I love alot of things. I have alot of love to give for ceramics...alot of love.

It sits beautifully with my collection of other op-shop found vases.

Pop over to Sophies and Apron Thrift Girl  for more stuff to love.

Retro Markets in Lismore

Today I am busy making bits and bobs for tomorrow's City Centre Twilight Market in Magellan Street Lismore. If you are in the area, come on down.

I am becoming very excited, as I am trying out a few new products on the unsuspecting public. It looks like it is sure to be a fun night with like minded people.

Run with the Wolves : My Creative Space

Unlike most of you out there in blogland, I don’t like Christmas. There is a very good reason for this, (which I won’t go into, don’t worry this post will end on a positive note)

 I have tried, lord have I tried, to overcome this dislike, but to not avail. I become stressed, anxious and depressed , and it’s takes all of my efforts to get through the day. As a result of my fragile state, my Christmas presents are usually in the form of an IOU.

Today, my creative space is the completion of the last Christmas present for 2010. Ahh, breathe a big sigh of relief,  I can now move on.

It is for my nephew who is 20. Already the alarm bells ring. Male!!  Twenty!! Apart from a car, and  an iphone what can you give them? Well, how about a 'you beaut' hand embroidered T-shirt. Sound daggy? Read on!

I have developed a Christmas rule which, most of you will be sympathetic to, “all Christmas presents must be handmade.” I bought a black T-shirt, cut off the sleeves and some of the neck, embroidered some bad-ass wolves in white thread and hammered some eyelets along  the armholes to grunge it up a bit. Easy peasy. I was going to add the text ” RUN WITH...”. but I ran out of puff (ha ha) and decided that it is complete.

I am prepared for:

 FIRST SCENARIO

Him to thank me politely, roll his eyes, and surreptitiously throw it away.

SECOND SCENARIO

Have him throw his arms up in the air proclaiming that he loves it, and it is just what most 20 year old males would wear. He would then put it on, take a picture on his i-phone, and proudly email it to all his friends.

Mmmm, I think the first scenario is the likely result, but I don’t care. The box is ticked. I can move on.

Pop over to Kootoyoo  for more creative angst.

Bris Style Handmade Ark Appeal

I have just listed a couple of  "Waltz with Me" garlands in my Etsy shop, with 100% of proceeds going to the Premiers Flood Relief Fund.

These haven't been listed online for quite a while, as I have been swamped under with orders and everything I make goes to my stockists. They sell for a bit more in the boutiques, so you will be getting a bargain and helping the flood victims!

Wall pockets

I am becoming quite obsessed with wall vases, or wall pockets as I have found they are called in the US. I have no idea why...I don't think our mum ever had one in the house...but nevertheless I am irrevocably drawn to them.

Here are a few little beauties. The first I would have thought, was a Bitossi, but it has been described as Rosental Netter. I obviously have to brush up on my ceramic knowledge. (A quick look on the net has found that Rosental Netter could have been American importers of Bitossi...so I guess this is really Bitossi...I will continue my quest)



here

I think this is my favourite, I love any ceramic that is black and white. It would be damn near perfect if it also had yellow in it somewhere.

here

This little Italian example is way cute....another obsession of mine, Italian ceramics

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They seem to be turning up everywhere. I could go on and on. Kit and Nancy inherited three lovely examples just recently. Those little birds are so cute.

And a couple of other animal themed concoctions. As you can see, I deviate quite alarming from cutesy kitsch to minimalist mid century modern. It is like two Sybils in me fighting to get out!

here

here

Until my next obsession...

Yeah baby!

I couldn't believe my luck when I found this at the Salvos on Thursday. I have had my eye on these retro magazine racks (they come in a multitude of colours) for a while now and thought that everyone else would have recognised its 'wonderfulness.'

 I was the lucky duck though and won the prize! I was so thrilled that I stood grinning smuggly at other customers whilst standing at the counter, silently yelling "Yes, I am the victor!" However, I was very careful to always have my hand in contact with the object, lest anyone get any smart alec ideas and try and steal my prize from under my gaze. No-one made an attempt though, maybe because they sensed that  my panther like reflexes were ready, and on a hair trigger.

I initially intended to sell it on at the next Love Vintage Fair in Byron, but....it is looking sooo fabulous next to my Parker and complimenting so wonderfully my lava West German pots collection, that I don't know if I can part with it. I will think about it

Have a look at more great finds at Sophies and tomorrow at Apron Thrift Girl.

Sitting on a goldmine

Over the Christmas break we have been busy building, renovating and throwing out twenty years of accrued rubbish. I feel like I am becoming lighter as every day progresses.

But the subject for this posting are the new solar panels that we have put on the house...in all eighteen of them. They in theory, should be a goldmine, making copious amounts of  money as I sit watching the tele, sipping on a cuppa, and acting like Lady Muck. Unfortunately the weather was not aware of my grandiose plans to become a millionaire by harnessing the rays of the sun...it has rained and been overcast for most of the last month.

However, we are lucky that the forcasts for the rain and flooding that the media suggested for the Northern Rivers have not eventuated. I initially took these pics with the expectation of flooding, so that I could show the difference in water levels, but tragically Toowoomba in Queensland bore the brunt. So awful.

Wall flowers

These wall vases have been drawing me like a magnet lately, and have been popping up regularly at op-shops, auctions and the Tender Centre. They are way kitsch, and somehow remind me of the play, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, which I studied in high school. Maybe it is the era in which it is set, or the memories of the play, that was presented at the Adelaide PlayHouse Theatre, $1.00 for all students. I was such a dag (or could you say, cultural savant?) that I went to every play that season produced, and which offered this special discounted price. Was there nothing to do in Adelaide in the 70's? I think not.

I have put them all up on my wall in the Studio, for now, and as yet, they haven't sprung a leak. Ideally I would love to collect about fifteen of them (where did that number come from?) and have them grouped together randomly  on the wall. Great idea for a shop eh?

For now they are happy where they are, albeit a little crooked. I can have flowers in the Studio without knocking them over.

Pop over to Sophies and Apron Thrift Girl to see other goodies.

Heidi, heidi ho

Well, I spoke too soon. My fabulous Telstra internet turned out to be a big pain in the neck. We have been  offline for three weeks and have now lost our good signal strength. RRRR!

I have so much to write down. All the little bits and pieces that happen throughout the day that you write in your head are clogging up my grey cells so I must purge, crappy internet or no.

After making a few vintage  banners before Christmas of Heidi, I realised that I had not read the original, by Joanna Spyri in yonks. The Little Golden Book version of Heidi illustrations by Corinne Malvern are truly delightful. I love the saturated colours and the paper of  these old books.

My daughter has recently bought a brilliant 1956 edition with the ugliest pictures in it. Ye gods! Are they marionettes, freaky ugly people with masive hobbit feet, or children?

Peter looks like he is a cross between a Thunderbird, an alien, and Michael Jackson. These illustrations are by Janet and Anne Johnstone.

I had  forgotten that Grandad was called Nunky, (but maybe it is just the edition translation) or that Peter is such a pleb. (I think Heidi actually ends up with him!) I have just consulted Wikipedia and have found that the sequel books of Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children were not Joanna Spyri's work, but her translator's, Charles Tritten,  which is a great relief, as Peter had the most unfortunate character, and I don't think that any girl of spirit would marry him!

And shock, horror, it looks like Joanna may have even plagarised Heidi from  Hermann Adam von Kamp which was published in 1830, called "Adelaide, das Mädchen vom Alpengebirge."

Maybe I should have stayed with the idyllic Little Golden Books ...nothing very bad seems to happen in them, and they tell a story in ten pages!