weekend

She is growing up. Her hair is now long enough to put into tiny little pigtails.

This is her camera aware pose. She knew I was there.

We had a rollercoaster ride of a weekend. A good one.

Im still sick and hardly slept last night from coughing. The Mr left me to it.

Today I cant focus, my head is full. Ive begun moving things around in an attempt to get sorted. Its slow going but Ill get there. I cant seem to perform miracles at the moment with the house.

Im sewing in three rooms. There are blankets and knits piled here and there.

Ive taken the clothing range out of the studio and its back in the laundry on a nice fresh chrome rod that Navarh helped me put up while he was here.

 It feels like I have a blank canvas again in there now. Plus the rail

kept falling down with the weight of the eskimos. I have a small goal of doing an inventory of the current sizings by the end of the day as I have no idea what I have left after the recent markets. Over the weekend I began trialing this method of taping custom orders to the wall in organised rows and it has already freed up some of my mind for pure creation.

So much so that I hit the op-shops this morning ready to bring home something a bit different.

I rarely do this style of op-shopping as I find it clutters my home and my mind. Not today. Today I shopped with an open mind ready for new things.

I can offer more strawberries and cream cardies. Any ideas for naming the blues? Something to do with dessert would be good. Blueberry sherbet? Snozberries and custard?

Today was gooooood. I found something exciting that will inject the shop with a bit of wintery fun.

So heres hoping ill be able to launch of a new style of coat this week.

For girls only this time and youll see why when they are ready.

Ill keep you updated.

my booty

I shouldnt, but I always get surprised at how good country op-shops are.

Here is my booty and we were shopping for under an hour.

Can you imagine the hoard if we made an entire day of it?

Among these tablecloths I bought a danish inspired buffet for $12!

That little gem was destined to be a housewarming present for a very deserving couple.

I was actually out country to help my mum with her paperwork and general housecleaning slash gardening. She gets behind and it overwhelms her, plus I enjoy helping her get on top of things. We giggle about really stupid stuff when were together. Like two little girls. I dont know why but thats where our relationship hit and stayed. A good place to be with my mum as its been a hard road for her. Shes such a strong lady. I come away feeling boosted as well, ready to tackle the mountain of dishes I know will await me when I arrive home. Its somehow so refreshing to help another. Like a holiday from the daily whatever it is that I do.

Then to come home with some nice cloth is an extra added gift in itself.

 One of my boys happened to be on the same train as me, my phone had died on the way home and I lost contact with my closest ones. We walked home in the rain together and didnt really notice the cold as we were deep in conversation. I feel blessed today. After all, the dishes werent that high. Well ....they didnt extend to the floor this time.

And one day we will build a house for all the light fittings I seem to collect.

(I really needed vacuum bags and these were 50 cents.)

And this is what my son found while going through his room lately. A Textured Leaf embroidery circa 1996. For those of you under the impression that I actually embroider these days. I dont. 

I do want to and you never know when the mood will take me.

Maybe tomorrow? But to be honest I plan to sew and watch some girly movies

 to hold on to my euphoria for a bit longer.

op shop props

This morning MrTL and I went op-shopping together. Yes. You read right.

Thats Op-Shopping with a capital 'OH! Are you sure?'

Ahem. Thinks are definitely looking up around Textured Leaf Central.

To start us off today we have this gorgeous coat I found. I mean blanket. I mean coat.

This $5 blanket above will become a coat for me in this style.

We were supposed to be shopping for props for my market stall. I found this for $7 and

will do something with it so it looks more 'me'. I thinking aqua or red. Any thoughts?  My son wants it for a bedside table.

I was dropping off a teenager late the other night and parked next to a stack of firewood. So after looking sideways at the stack decided they looked like they came from a nice 'little tree'.

Of course I brought the rest home for old fashioned firewood.

Perfect for weighing down tablecloths at the market and great with little things perched on top.

Theyll send the look towards the scandinavian which I adore. While im writing this theres a funny crow outside making me crack up. I find the sound of crows in the early morning starts me giggling when im half asleep.

These were just waiting for me. The book in the background will be a great nursery bunting.

This quilt will come in handy for the new grandbaby. Its a Lazybones and was only $4!

The pillowcases are a lovely thick soft cotton linen. Wow I never find these, the feel of them makes me think of my nanna.

The best thing about having someone over to sew with you for the day is finding their scraps in your bin the next morning. Naughty Eleesa for throwing these away. I dont know what she was thinking, she normally uses every last little bit like me. But im guessing she was probably tired after all that sewing so ill give her the benefit of the doubt. These are going into my stash!

For any new people who have joined The Textured Leaf, please make sure you enter
my Pin-cushion Giveaway.

Have a lovely weekend!

P.S.  for those of you still around Kate has done a post with 4 favourite photos and I may just be joining in  posting my Favourite Four later this evening. For now im off to the bank to post a cheque ive been neglecting all week.  Come on Rustico!

norwegian style

Ive seen this today over at Siena's Stitching blog.

 I found this at the local op-shop a couple of weeks ago but its too thick to wear as a scarf as its double knitted so im going to make it into something more wearable, something that I dont have already. No, not the knitted hotpants! stay tuned.....

P.S     If you havent you seen my quilt tutorial yet the second instalment is happening later today. Stay tuned for that too.

It was really nice to meet a few special ladies at The Finders Keepers Market yesterday. I saw Jo from Frankie and Ray fame, (we were actually friends already), and Nic from Yardage design. I have one of her standout-from-the-crowd teatowels, bought for MrTL, as hes a foodie if you didnt know already.

a surprise weekend away

We got a late phone call on Thursday night inviting us away for the weekend. The cabin had been booked and all we had to do was get in the car with a change of clothes and a bit of bedding and go.

I wasnt feeling that great but of course I was going!

Cuddles with my grand-daughter for 2 days. Heavenly. 

My daughter and I got dropped off by our lovely

 (but very keen to get out on the boat) hubbies at a random country town in Vic while they went fishing.

It was raining so we had reservations about leaving the warmth of the car, especially with baby, in the rain.

We were on the hunt for op-shops but werent holding our breath.

I told her not to worry and if all else failed at least we could have lunch at the pub.

To the girl running barefoot full pelt down the street in your evening dress,

sorry, but you were funny.

I wanted to capture everything we passed because if the fishing was bad our visit might be shortlived.

The gorgeous colours and architecture, (why does everything look better when its raining?)

typography of another era,

kooky mosaics of yet another era

looking up to see aging forms of shop fronts,

even if I was slowing down the hunt.

I knew there had to be one at least, there always is isnt there?

Thats her in the background waiting patiently.

We didnt have to worry about baby after all,

what, with all that colour and fabric to feel and touch.

A nice big bag of goodies, (the bottom of the pram was chockas as well).

This shop was closed....

 luckily...

 cos those two unusual side tables were just a little bit too swedish and very tempting to try to squeeze into the car. Im famous for buy now, think later. Even when im overseas.

We stopped for a chai and berry pancakes at a friendly, old-fashioned-service cafe that I now wish id written the name of for here. 

Then we found our second op-shop.

Yay! more goodies.

We split everything down the middle, Zja and I.

Thats pancakes,

and fabrics we find.

 We go home (our cabin for the night) and get the scissors out

(freshly purchased at the local IGA as I forgot mine, plus Zja needed a haircut)

and slice most of our stuff in half.

Its a buzz when we get back together down the track to see what weve individually done with our halves.

I might line a hood where she may make a whole dress.

Packing the car to go home wasnt so fun.

Fishing hooks and vintage fabrics are not a good mix.

So...

What did you end up doing this weekend?

finds

I had to run some errands the other day and was pleasantly surprised to be parked near an op-shop I hadnt got to yet. It had re-opened after the holidays and had some real finds. I didnt really need another jug but...it was love at first sight.
These are childrens records for reading along to. Much too good to leave behind, I thought.