vintage haven in Launceston

Just a quick post to show a recent buy from a local store of vintage-y goodness here in Launceston.
Squirrel and Dove is owned and run by Lisa - who has a keen eye for all things vintage, retro and interesting.

Will get myself organised soon and take some interior shots of the store to show, but for now, I am happily showing off some very funky plates I found there the other day.

I went in to buy a friends birthday present and just could not leave without these....

A set of seven sunflower plates - nearly didn't buy the matching platter but knew I'd regret it if I didn't! We've already had breakfast on our little porch this morning with them - ah...fresh made chocolate and ginger muffins......

This is how Lisa wrapped the present I bought - I thought it was a lovely touch with vintage wallpaper offcut and doiley (can't tell you what's in it though...it's a surprise!!).

upcoming Market fun in Hobart!!

What joy!

red bamboo has been invited to be part of a combined Market effort in Hobart at the end of this month!

The wonderful children and baby market, Mathilda's Market and the designer driven Boutique Markets are sharing space for one day only!

The wonderful Rachael and I got to know each other while I lived in Brisbane - I was lucky to be part of the Boutique Markets in it's earlier stages. Seeing it grow and go from strength to strength has been lovely - though somewhat bittersweet as I could no longer join in the fun!

How very exciting then to see that the Markets are now touring the country and now it's Tassie's turn!

Now, the challenge is to be ready in time!!

With our lovely wellness centre going so well, and orders from other lovely outlets (like here and here) coming in - we are starting to sweat a little with planning and ordering and making!

But it's all still fun and I can't wait to catch up with Rachael again.

Plus hubby and I will make a weekend of it and stay overnight in Hobart - never a hard thing!

Never thought you'd hear me say this.....

I'm just a little bit in love with Stephen Fry.

Mmmm... yeah.... I didn't see that coming either!

Hubby and I stumbled across a series of British Drama, based on author PG Wodehouse's work, titled 'Jeeves and Wooster'.

I think they were made in the early nineties and stars Stephen Fry and his quintissential partner, Hugh Laurie, as a incredibly intelligent Valet caring for his bumbling, hapless employer.

Perfectly cast and wonderfully written - though I get the overall impression that PG Wodehouse either hated women, was gay or at the very least had several terribly overbearing Aunts!

The women in the series are very harshly portrayed - but do their job of constantly getting Wooster (Laurie) into more trouble than he can ever handle without the aid of loyal Jeeves (Fry).

I tawled through Youtube to finds some snippets to show - this is a bit of an overview that might give you a rough idea, but it was hard to find a good snapshot that does the series justice.

the series shows the life of the 'idle rich' and the scrapes that they get into - usually by dumping someone else in the hot water.

Worth a look for the great period styling if nothing else.

We know Stephen Fry as an incredibly well spoken (if sometimes shockingly naughty) gent with amazing intelligence - he fits Jeeves pesona to a 'tee' and looks brilliant in the famed bowler hat!

So Mr Fry, I send this out with heartfelt adoration - well... just a little bit anyway!

just can't help myself......

It's an illness.... I'm sure of it...

I just can't help it..... I'm obsessed....

I swore I wouldn't.... but I did....

I bought more new fragrances!!!!!

It's partly Erin's from Inner Earth Soaps fault really - she was offering some fragrances she doesn't use anymore up for sale and led me to a whole new supplier I hadn't known about!

Based in Queensland Big Tree Supplies has a huge range of goodies for us soapers and candle makers to revel in.

So far I've bought:

Asian Pear & Lily - top notes of nashii pear, apple and leafy greens, middle notes of jasmine, lily of the valley and rose petals and finished with pear nectar, musk and peony blossoms

Green Apples - an amazing true Green Apple fragrance - tangy, sweet and delicious!!

Black Raspberry & Vanilla - delicious dark raspberries with warm vanilla - sweet, juicy and very moorish

Ginger Lime - warm, spicy ginger teamed with freshly squeezed lime

Manuka Honey & Lavender - freshly harvested lavender, with a hint of bergamot and a dash of manuka honey

Orchid Bouquet - a unique blend of fresh orchids, peony blossoms, water lily, aloe vera and bamboo

So now I have even more fragrances to play with for my candles and soaps.

Such fun.....

Local Talent

A collection of very good friends are part of a current Design Exhibition here in Tassie running as part of the 'Ten Days on the Island' program till April 4th. Such clever folks down here! It's called 'Furnished' and is being run by DOT (Design Objects Tasmania - Australia's longest running design collective). Check out the website for some wonderful design finds! Current fav's are: Isis St Pierre and her brilliant armchair! Abigayle Tett and her hand formed chandelier. Joanna Gair with Martin Vinnicombe with their combined book terminus. Loz Abberton and her light shade. The simplicity of Stuart Williams standing lamp. And the smooth lines of Belinda Winkler's vessels. Worth a look if you are in this part of the world.

forgive me...but I've just drooled on my keyboard.....

I just recieved an email from my lovely friend (and fellow book clubber!) Poppy, introducing her new venture Feigenbaum.

"Feigenbaum specialises in artisinal, European style breads, cakes and boutique catering made with the finest locally sourced ingredients."

YUM!

Check out the Feigenbaum blog for ridiculously delicious looking treats plus recipes! Just be sure to have eaten beforehand or you'll be mopping up dribble just like me!

down the rabbit hole.....

Like the ubiquitous Alice, I find myself in a wonderful, whimsical and very delightful little place. the rabbit hole is a lovely new store here in the heart of Launceston. Created by Alison Hayward along with her mother, it is full of knicks and knacks and everything in-between!Alison found me at the recent Niche market and was kind enough to place an order of candles and lip balms for her newly opened store.
So Eat Me/Drink Me and find your way to take a peek. It will be well worth your while.


the rabbit hole
Shop 4, Cuisine Lane

new treasures

Just a quick few words to show off some lovely new treasures - courtesy of Sophie from That Vintage and Rose from Foal Design, at the recent Niche market. I know it was a while back now, but I'm still catching up on lost 'computer time'!

Beautiful earrings and ring (I get comments every time I wear them - though it's becoming more and more likely to be "are those from That Vintage?)

Hmmm.....not sure about the model, but the hat is pretty neat!

This last one is a bit of a mystery object....... more soon.......

Onwards and Upwards...

We're back!
The computer trouble is being resolved and we think we have been able to save all of our files!
WHEW! Big relief there.

I know it's been a few weeks now, but here are a few 'on the run' shots from the recent Niche market at the end of August.

Ruby Victoria Paperie Stall - my neighbours on one side. Narelle had the amazing printing press (just seen bottom left of picture) going throughout the market, drawing heaps of onlookers. Hubby, Alan (pictured) was a handy man to have around - he did coffee runs for appreciative stallholders.

Yummy Mini Cupcakes (sorry girls I didn't get your name - too busy eating!!)

The beautiful Rose from Foal Design and her lustworthy cloth hats - Rose is currently showing off her engagment ring! Yay! I bought a stunning aqua blue number!

The stunning Joanna and her papercraft were my other neighbour and what good company she was. Joanna was the original creator of the famous Roo Poo paper from the Paper Mill at Burnie. She uses century old papermaking methods and all of the illustrations are her own.

Once more, Sophie from That Vintage, was innundated with keen shoppers for the entire 2 days! I don't think I saw her look up from her stall until closing time on Saturday! Yay Soph!

Sam (seen ducking down) and Maya, from Hideyo, dazzled us once more with their incredible folded art. I loved seeing almost every second person walking through the markets clutching a bunch of their beautiful flowers!

More soon......

The Nebulous Kingdom

A big Thanks goes to Tabitha Emma for introducing me to this completely wonderful french artist Anne-Julie Aubry.

In fact I was so taken with her work that five minutes after I found her through Tabitha's blog, I bought some prints from Anne's Etsy site here.

The two prints I bought are below and I am waiting with such anticipation of their arrival! Plus I am planning my next buys as I can see a wall being covered with these amazing illustrations!

Les Cocquelicots (Poppies)

The Red Room

**Photo's courtesy of artist**

all you need is love....

This is a video that I caught a snippet of on Sunrise this morning and then had to go find it to see it in full.

This is the blurb from the Channel 7 website:

"On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played "All You Need is Love" together.
Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song. Join in by lending your own voice to http://StarbucksLoveProject.com.
Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing All You Need is Love yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa."

Check out the YouTube video here. What a beautiful, brilliant idea! Have to admit I got a little teary and goosebumpy!!

Spread the word....

More from Niche

Too many great stalls to do justice to them all! This is just another snapshot of the weekend.

Apologies to all the amazing stallholders I have left out!

Life as a Bird Florist - I watched these beautiful flowers and arrangements walk out the door every day!

The Ruby Pear stall

Rebecca Roth - beautiful resin jewellery - gorgeous colours and style

Hungry Kitty - scrummy cakes, biscuits and more that kept all us other stallholders alive for the weekend! Contact Naomi here.

Susie of Black Eyed Susie

Isis, with trusty offsider Raewyn, and her brilliant recycled journals - we were side by side for the weekend (awesome company!) - also met her lovely partner Damian.

Find Your Niche

Just a quick post to pop some photos from the weekend's Niche Market. Three days of glorious handmade and design heaven.... sigh....
It was great to see some faces from the previous Niche Market and lots of new goodies as well. To all those who came along, a big thanks! Weather was a bit of a challenge, but heaps of folks braved the elements in order to bag a designer bargain and get a jump start on Christmas Shopping!

My little corner of Niche...

The always lovely Sophie from That Vintage

3 Blind Mice - 'upcycled' candles - just beautiful

Vee (The Purple Finch) and Kate (3 Blind Mice)

Sam & Maya from Hideyo - amazing origami artworks and bamboo clothing - contact them here

More soon......

Whimsical Designs

Once again, the sharp eyed Nicole from Hot Toffee has found a talented artist for us to enjoy.

Joanna Rutter is from Devon in the UK and she designs beautiful, delicate jewellery, namely in stirling silver. On her Shop site she writes; "I am inspired by the link between illustrative form and jewellery. My pieces begin life as sketches and are then rendered into metal by hand".

As well as creating such lustworthy goods, Joanna is also a dab hand at capturing eyecatching pictures of her designs.

Like this:

Or this:
Check out her Etsy Shop here. Some of my other favourite are Tiny Squirrel and Branch earrings, Very Tiny Lovebirds necklace and Tiny Lovebirds ring. Enjoy.

Titillating Toscakaka!

No.. I'm not swearing at anyone.. a Toscakaka (Tosca Cake) is a traditional Swedish cake and I came across a recipe in Sunday's Examiner newspaper. Was feeling a bit domestic and so gave it a shot... OMG!!

For a very simple cake, the result was very, very yummy!!!

Here's the recipe should anyone wish to treat their tastebuds! The topping is particularly tasty!

Tosca Cake
100g unsalted Butter
2 large Eggs
150ml Caster Sugar
200ml Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
50ml Cream (or milk if prefered)
(Topping)
100g Butter
100ml Caster Sugar
2 tbspn Plain Flour
2 tbspn Milk
100g Flaked Almonds
- Grease and flour a 24cm round springform tin
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees
- Melt butter and allow to cool
- Beat eggs and sugar till pale and fluffy. Combine dry ingredients and stir into egg mix, along with melted butter. Mix well
- Pour into pan and bake in lower part of oven for 20-25 mins
- Prepare the topping. Combine everything in a saucepan, heat and stir well until butter melted and mixture thickens
- Once cake is cooked, spread topping over top and place back in oven (moving up to middle rack) for further 15 mins, or till topping is golden and a little caramelised

The quantities of the dry ingredients are shown in mililitres - this is a European method of measuring volume and isn't a typo. I measured them out using a glass measuring jug.
Enjoy!!

Op Shop Heaven....

Hubby and I found these little gems in a local Mission store (think St Vinnies on steroids) for $2.50 each. I was totally taken with the very retro shape and even liked the colour! The full set of six are all intact, no chips or cracks, happily. Made in Japan and very, very groovy!

Tea Party anyone....?

Gypsy Hill

I have just taken some piccy's of some beautiful soaps I was incredibly thrilled to recieve in the mail a few days ago.

I met Natalie (of Gypsy Hill handmade in Tasmania) at a Women's Business E-Commerce workshop in Launceston and after a wee chat, we agreed to do a swapsie.... my candles for her soaps. Pretty sure I got the better end of the deal!

This full box of gorgeous smelling soaps arrived and suddenly my two little candles just didn't seem enough! Rest assured there will be recompense!

Natalie chooses to use no nasties in her products (palm oil, scary preservatives and such) but fills them up with yummy stuff like essential oils, botanical extracts, molasses, unpasturized goats milk, honey, jojoba and wheat germ, to name a few. She also makes a Bath Milk, (which I can't wait to try out with hubby and a bottle of bubbly) and I know she has other skin care products such as a Rosemary and Nettle Shampoo Bar. Brilliant!

Some of the soaps she sent me are: Molasses & Oats; Honey & Wheat Germ; Mugacino (with fair trade coffee grounds); Choc Mint & a Blush Complexion Bar (with rose petals and silk fibres).

Natalie is working on her website but you can contact her here for more information and pricing! I know she is being kept busy with orders which is wonderful - I know I am looking forward to sudsing up with my first bar.