Unwrapping South Perth

I gave the markets last weekend a miss (Perth Upmarket and Made on the Left), and saved my enthusiasm for the Unwrapped market in South Perth last Sunday. It did not disappoint!

E dropped by after work and we walked down to the market. C lasted about five stalls before he decided that it was more exciting to go and buy potatoes and E and I kept going. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to go shopping with my sister? For the record it is excellent fun!

Angelo Street in South Perth was transformed into a bustling market place, and the clothing stores that we went into were jam packed with people. The market was part of the South Perth Fiesta, and there was a stage set up with fashion parades and entertainment.

It was great to see lots of interesting stalls that we had not seen before. There were familiar wares and new bits and pieces! We both found pieces to inspire us. I have a new blouse by TipToe, we both have greeting cards by Elbie Sparks and E has a tote from Sideline. We were also inspired by Truso and many more of the stall holders.

The next market is coming soon at the Angove Street Festival on the 10th April in North Perth.

Quarterly Update: Goals for 2011

Without even checking up on my Goals for 2011 I am fairly confident that I have not achieved any of them. Yet.

A five day weekend is coming up at Easter time. C is working so I will have time on my hands, and I think it will be a great opportunity to try and knock a few of my goals off! I am going to aim for the following three:
2. making a skirt
3. rejuvenating my footstool
4. making macarons

Hopefully I have enough time to organise the bits and pieces I will need for these three times, especially the fabric for reupholstering the footstool as I plan to purchase it online.

2. A skirt
My list of items to make a skirt includes:

• a pattern!


• fabric


• Mum's sewing machine


• thread and accessories etc


• the expertise of C's mother for zips etc

I think that a pencil skirt would be nice, the majority of the skirts that I own are A-line. So, whilst that could possibly be easier to make I would like to add something new to my wardrobe.

I did a whole semester of sewing when I was in Year 8. I have actually made a dress at one point in my life but it has been a long while since! This will be a real challenge.

3. My footstool
My list of bits and pieces to rejuvenate the footstool includes:

• fabric to reupholster


• fabric for the underside


• trim


• Spray paint


• sandpaper


• new cushion

I also think that I will need to deconstruct it to see how to put it back together.

4. macarons
There is not too much early preparation required for this, I should be able to buy the ingredients on the Easter weekend. My biggest is to determine what flavour I wish to try!

Bathroom blues

Yesterday C decided that it was time to get moving on renovation of our bathroom. It is the last room in the house to be touched!

This morning as I left the house to catch the bus I was greeted with the remains of the vanity and our mirror, waiting on the verge to be collected.

We purchased all of the tiles and fittings last year before we renovated the ensuite, so it is just a matter now of organising all of the parts.

We have a new vanity and basin, new taps and fixtures, new tiles and will be getting a new mirror and a partial shower screen. The bath we are leaving in place and going to get it refinished.

Boundary Street

E and I took in some culture this week and checked out the new State Theatre Centre. It was exciting to see the centre, with its clean lines and modern styling. I think that it is fantastic that we have a lovely new venue! The Heath Ledger Theatre where we were was timber (or veneer I daresay) and looked stunning. The seats were quite funky as well, and the view we had from the very back row of the Circle upstairs took in the entire stage.

We took in the spectacle that was Boundary Street. The music from James Morrison and his band was excellent, and we enjoyed his score. The play itself moved like the tortoise, and we were disappointed that it never even saw the hare!

Still, we enjoyed the evening and I would love to see more at the theatre.

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Talking in your sleep

Ooh I am so cranky this morning! I was looking forward to a good night of sleep and a late rising. What I did not expect was to be woken at 4.15am by the sound of voices! I got up and realised that it was coming from over the back fence. Slamming my window made me feel better but unfortunately they did not get the message. I am sure they continued yammering for another hour before they quietened down.

Hopefully I can get a good night of sleep tonight. There is meant to be a fortieth party across the road so I am a little concerned!

BUILD: We have bricks!

Our house build is moving along and in order to build the walls you need some bricks. Here in Western Australia most new houses are a concrete slab with double brick walls.

Our house is going to be rendered with an acrylic render. The colour is worked into the render, and I have been told that this looks much better than the renders that are painted afterwards. The colour that we have selected for our house is called "Grand Piano", with a contrast colour "Carriage". It is all very exciting!

View of our kitchen and open plan living area.

Bricks! and some rubbish. Looking at the house from the front.

C admiring our alresco wall.

In the frame. Yay!

Markets in March

March it seems is market month here in Perth! There are a few coming up. I am looking forward to checking out some more handmade goodness.

March 20
Perth Upmarket
10am to 4pm at Winthrop Hall, The University of Western Australia
Made on the Left William Street Festival
10am to 4pm in the James Street Mall, Northbridge

March 27
Unwrapped South Perth
12pm to 6pm at Angelo Street, South Perth

Keeping it clean

I bought C a new toy today. I am such a good wife! It is a Dyson Turbine Plus vacuum cleaner.

We have been discussing buying ourselves a Dyson vacuum cleaner for a while, but the cost has put us off. I finally looked up on the Dyson website this week to see where they were sold and discovered that Myer sold them. We had quite a few gift vouchers for Myer and this is what C decided that they should be spent on.

C did the legwork during the week and I was told that my task for today was to go in to Myer and purchase him a new machine. They currently have 15% off, and with all of the remaining wedding vouchers and Christmas gifts we only had to outlay less than $200 for our machine. Yay!

First impressions are that it is very easy to handle, a pretty funky design (apparently Dysons are exhibited in a few of the world's modern art museums!) and most importantly it is capable of sucking up any loose hair off the floor. C is in heaven.

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A girls night out...

On Monday night Mum, E and I went to the movies. The men in our lives (Dad and C) declined the invitation to join us and so it was a girly affair.

I do prefer the independent cinemas, however E had given C and I free tickets for Hoyts for Christmas and we used those on Monday. I was stunned to find out that movie tickets now cost $18 each! E also treated herself to some popcorn and a drink and they totalled $13 for the smallest serves.

Expensive night out aside, the movie was excellent. We watched "The King's Speech", a movie that I had been interested in seeing before the Oscar buzz, and with its awards it made me wish to see it on the big screen!

The focus was on Colin Firth's King George VI and he gave us a character who we could empathise with. Helena Bonham-Carter was charming as his supportive wife. Being Australian, Geoffery Rush' character was someone who we could identify with and we laughed at his casual dismissal of rank.

The treatment in the movie of a slice of history was fascinating, and I could not help but wonder how much of what was portrayed was accurate. It left me wanting to know more about that period and the characters.

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Designing shelves

My sister E has been contemplating built in shelves for her television wall for a while. C and I decided that it would be the perfect birthday gift for her, and now it is a matter of designing the shelving to go in there.

Initially the intent was to design and construct from scratch. These photos are a few that E has sent me as her inspiration.




Fortunately for our budget E's wall is not nearly as large! I am sure though that she can design something even more inspiring.

The latest plan I believe is to use Ikea as a base for the shelving. Ikea has a Planner to use to design a wall of Besta products. Perhaps that is where E can start!

Images 1, 2, 3, 4