The highlights of the week.

the first fire of the year

Mollie the caravan chicken

coffee and mango muffin at dbl ristretto

kindling!

a clear mountains afternoon

city biscuits' cakes

the clearest sunset

Amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

It's very easy to get carried away with the hurly-burly of life, caught up in the necessities of earning a living, looking after yourself and your family, running around - forever chasing your tail.....not leaving any tine to really appreciate the loveliness of the little things around you.

This week was crazy-mad for me getting ready for a garage sale as we try and clear the decks of our life.
Some days I couldn't even think about taking any photos at all!
Let alone thinking of something that was rocking my socks!

So here is this week's round up - a few discoveries in store!

Cadbury's Rocky Road. Who knew?

Re-discovered a box of Barbies

Cat suddenly became cuddly (for a minute)

Amazing afternoon after-storm light

Re-discovered old 78's (my sister's)

I love sticking boxes together!

French toast with custard at Henri Marcs

How was your week?
Did you find something/someone to love?

Try and take time next week to enjoy, really appreciate something every day.

To have a sale....or not?

What are your thoughts on having a sale? Or discounting your wares?
What do you do with items that have been around for a while and haven't sold?

It's a vexed question?
Are you devaluing all your hard work?
If you often have a sale, do your customers wait for you to reduce your prices - does it discourage them from buying at full price?

At the weekend I was at a big country market that happens twice a year and as we will be moving soon I decided to see if I could sell more of my stock (so that I don;t have to pack it).
I offered 25% off all my jewellery, that wasn't already discounted.

I made a couple of sign, maybe they could have been bigger...
I also mentioned my discount to customers (or potential customers!)

Did it work?
I don't think so, for these reasons.

1. People seemed to buy what they wanted to anyway. If they like it - they will buy it.
2. Mentioning that I was having a sale and why didn't seem to spur people into a shopping frenzy.
3. When I didn't mention the sale they still purchased an item.
4. They sometimes seemed surprised that they were getting a cheaper price.

I think a couple of customers perhaps bought another item or two, but it's hard to know as they may still have done that.

Overall the day wasn't bad but I can't help thinking that I did myself out of a quarter of my takings by having this sale.

Ah well, you live and learn.

I'm late, I'm late....for a very important date!

But it's never too late to share the good bits of life, right?

So here we go...

a new beading magazine arrived

after-meeting bubbles with friends

a walk after 2 weeks

little tin, perfect for a sewing kit

something from grandad's cupboard

camping, with the caravan

a country market, at Millthorpe

Stampin' up a storm

Do you ever use stamps? No, not the lick and stick for snail mail kind!
The inky rubbery kind!
Have you tried making your own stamps?

I thought it would be fun to try when I saw someone offering a stamp carving workshop, unfortunately I can't get to the workshop (it's too far away) but I wondered how hard it would be to do it yourself.

handcarved stamped cards

You can find out how on this tutorial by Lisa Tulse.

It looks easy enough - you just need the right tools.
You can make small stamps from good quality erasers and you need something like a craft knife or lino cutting tool to cut the design.

If you need inspiration - or another how-to, check out Gennine's blog.
So many sweet ideas.

Gennine's stamps

Of course there are other materials you could use - remember potato prints? haha!

I still found time to appreciate things

I'm not finding much time for blogging generally but I'm still trying to find some joy each day.
Some little thing that pleases me, that makes me think "ah, life is good"

This week I bought a big bunch of basil to make some pesto to make this recipe.
Mmmmmm, I love the smell of fresh basil.
I have got some in a pot but it wasn't enough to make pesto....just enough to inhale every now and then.

Who has a love-hate relationship with shopping?
I do!
And dragging an enormous trolley around Costco it one of the hates....but there are several things I love.
Their organic cheese.
The smoked salmon.
Bagels.
And looking around the "others" section.
This week they has showers all sorts of home reno stuff including the kitchen sink!

I have been trying to do the fast diet or the 5:2 diet,
Some days it is hard.....but I love that dinner tastes so much more intense, more fabulous on a fast day.
This was (spicy) masala prawns on a bed of baby spincah.

Mr planet and I have a caravan.
We also have some old and grotty plastic cups that we have used for camping for the last 10 years or so.
Time for some new fabulous mugs I thought! Right?
Wrong?
Cannot find melamine mugs or plastic mugs anywhere.
All the usual suspects - Target, $2 shops, camping shops - zilch!
But I did find these spiffy melamine latte cups in the Leura Whisk, kitchenware shop in Leura.

So the sorting out continues, the decluttering, the moving around of stuff from one spot to another.
This week I tacked my sewing basket and found some forgotten treasures in the depths.

Yep, I was back at Henri Marc again.
What can I say? I just love that place.
Plus they have a great spoon collection.

And another foodie love.
Tofu burgers.
Yep, tasteless, bland old tofu mixed with walnuts, onions,carrots and various other tasty morsels makes yummy burgers that anyone would love.

That's all for this week folks.
You all have a great week and see if you can find some joy everyday....or most days.

Sewing baskets - HELP!

I need a new sewing basket.
No, I really do.
You see I'm decluttering - BIG TIME! and I just pulled out my old sewing basket - a yellow plastic thing a bit like this

vintage sewing basket from auntdoilies on etsy

But a cheaper version, that I think I got for free with a sewing machine over 20 years ago....or more.

Its lid had broken off.
And it was dusty and smelly.
So I threw it out.
Maybe I regret that now.....maybe it could have been saved? Reborn somehow?

Too bad.
It's gone.

So I started looking for a new one....first of all on etsy.

from FrenchVintageLife on etsy

from 3x1Vintage on etsy

from Farmhousesupply on etsy

from itrend on etsy

Disappointingly non of the above ship to Australia. BOO!

This one does -

from verifiedvintageNL

....but the shipping is nearly as much as the cost of the box....and I'm not that crazy-have-to-have-it.

Or I could make one -

pattern by TreeTopThreadsStudio

But, gawd, it looks complicated and do I really have the time?

Looking locally I could go for a nice wooden one -

from Morris &Sons

Or one like this -

I'll have to go and have a look.

Or I could just use an old shoe box?

Have you got a swing box or basket?
What do you use?

Any helpful suggestions gratefully received....any suggestions at all really.