What To Do In Queensland On Another Wet Day......

The three of us, Pam from Cloth to Creation, Laura from Billie Angel & myself decided to have a workshop at Pam's studio & create miniature birdcages from wire & other found objects.  We actually managed to finish at least one each!  Pam's hubby kept up a supply of freshly brewed coffee so what more could we want on what otherwise would have been just another wet day.

My Latest Li'l Friends

These are my latest creations.  The little linen elephant on the right is a Xmas pressie for a friend.  I'm really pleased with how the wee mohair elephant turned out & am now in the process of sewing up a little girl one!

Hope you all have a wonderful Xmas & New Year.

Deer Li'l Salt & Pepper Shakers

Don't you just love these little guys.  I found them at a market in New Zealand on my recent trip home.  They are vintage salt & pepper shakers complete with holly for Christmas!

Bride in Gumboots!

On Sunday my stepson Adam married Sarah.  Well it was sooo wet up at Maleny, (SE Queensland Hinterland),  that Sarah the lovely bride had to wear some really cool polka dot gummies!

Here's Adam with a pair of rather muddy high heels on the end of his umbrella! 

Here's Sarah again hitching up a very muddy train!  It may have been wet but it was such a lovely wedding!   Congratulations to you both!  They are now honeymooning somewhere in Tasmania!

New Zealand Trip

Phew what a busy last two weeks.  A trip to NZ for my lovely Mum's 80th &  my stepson's wedding on Sunday.

This is my Mum (on the left).  After her party my brother organised a helicopter to come & pick  her &  two friends up for a ride.  What a wonderful surprise it was!

Op Shop Finds - Sweet Tablecloths

Oh my gosh I was lucky enough to find seven beautiful hand embroidered tablecloths yesterday.  Thought you might like a peek ....

I just love the one with bluebirds & grub roses.  One is yet to be finished, maybe I'll have to learn embroiderey at some time!

Have an awesome week!

New Bears

These are my latest creations.  The larger bear is made from some old velveteen I picked up at a Bear Show.  I've got fibres coming out of holes in his feet which I have then darned over.  I've tried to give him a bit of a saggy look.  The smaller bear is a Sasha Pokrass design & I've made him out of mohair.  Am yet to rough him up to look old & battered!

Brisbane Bear Show

On Sunday I attended the Doll & Bear Show in Brisbane.  This is my li'l mohair bear I made, wearing a dress I crafted from lots of vintage & antique laces.  Anyway I'm pleased to say I won the people's choice award.  

My very good friend Pam from Cloth to Creation blogspot came with me so it was a much more enjoyable time having someone to share it with & she was such a help.  We also had fun searching out lovely old laces!

Xmas Stocking Swap

Yay my lovely Xmas Stocking arrived in the mail today.  The very talented Anita from http://anitameade.typepad.com/ created this for me along with a  handcrafted card, gorgeous hand-stamped gift tags & some very yummy choccies that didn't make it to the photo shoot!

Thanks Anita. I really love it!

Home Sweet Home!!

Well since I last posted (which has been awhile), I have spent nearly 2 weeks in Vietnam, travelling from Saigon up to Hanoi.  Myself & my three lovely friends Jo, Di & Desrae head off somewhere different each year & this year we chose Vietnam & had such a great time with lots of adventures along the way. 

This photo was taken on the way to Halong Bay.  Unfortunately the rice husks were being burnt so it was rather smoky & hazey the day we went.  Nevertheless we still had an awesome time.  We got to kayak along the way as well as visit some amazing caves & eat lots of yummy food!

Now all we have to do is decide where to go next year!

Woo Hoo Off to Indonesia Tonight

Wow we're finally off again.  Back to Bandung which is two hours from Jakarta (longer if we get caught in traffic jams)!  We were there in March.  Myself, hubby Evan & Mike went.  We are the same team again this time.  After seeing the need for another van for Jesita School we came back and raised $3,000 which we will be taking with us to buy a good second hand van.  Thanks to all who supported us in this venture!

I can't wait to get back there and see what's happened since our last visit.  The biggest miracle on our last visit was my husband's healing from depression, diabetes, high cholesterol & chronic indigestion!  He now has energy and is a different person.  God is so good!

See you all in two weeks!

Joolz

Vintage Mohair Coat & Stoles

I was lucky to find this lovely old coat at an Op Shop for only $2.  It's a mixture of mohair & cotton so I'm thinking I'll be able to make some lovely bears out of it.  The stoles aren't real fur but should also make up some cute bears or the tops of some chenille Xmas Stockings!

I also found a cute li'l brown suitcase but I'm hiding it for now.  Will show my stash of them at a later date!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Vintage Style Cards...

These are the sweet cards I made today at our local scrapbooking shop.  I needed a bit of inspiration to get back into cardmaking so hopefully this will get me going again!

Old Style Bear Dress from Vintage & Antique Laces

I just thought I would show you the sweet little bear dress I have just finished!  I've patchworked the front with lots of divine old laces, some from old wedding dresses & even some old curtaining fabric.  I even made a rosette using old lace, tulle & organza with a bit of bling in the centre. 

Just need to find the right bear for it now!

I hope you're all having a lovely week!

My Furry Friend

No it's not a bear this time but my rather large cat.

In the top photo had he just caught a mouse and had it hanging out of his mouth!  In the other photo he made a bed for himself in my sewing room amongst my chenille bedspreads.  He's some sort of seal point and has rusty stripes and ears when it's cold weather.

He weighs over 6 kilos and is really tall.   He really does look like a lion at times (especially when he snarls), other times he's just a wuss puss!

Play Day At Pam's

Today Pam (http://clothtocreation.blogspot.com/) & I had a work day at her studio.  This is Pushka in one of Pam's many suitcases.    I managed to cut a lot of chenille for ebay and sew up a journal cover while Pam sewed & stuffed her little chenille bear that she's creating. 

 Pam's DH supplied us with freshly brewed coffee as well as giving my neck a massage.  What more could you want on a craft morning!

Nostalgic Vintage Lace Heart

Welcome to my new blog "Bears & Old Lace".  Just thought I would have a change from the Beary-Vintage name I've had for so long!

I've just listed this Vintage Style heart on Made-It (under my old name).  I've made a calico heart and embellished it with old laces, a crocheted flower, a vintage hatpin, diamonte bling and a gorgeous old envelope addressed to a Miss B. Carmichael from a Charles Marshall who was in the airforce.  I can't see the date but I'm guessing it was around the war time.  I had such a lot of fun making it, actually I've made three now.   Thanks Pam for the inspiration from another blog called Everything Vintage.

I love using my collection of old laces

Li'l Friends

After so long away (only because of technical probs) I thought I better show you some of my latest creations.  Ever so sweet is this little wabbit made of mohair.  I still have to finish her nose and grubby up her a bit.  Then there's this sweet little bear made from vintage velveteen fabric.  I made her dress from a vintage tablecloth dyed in parisian for a vintage look.

Online Again

I'm excited to be back online again after some probs with our provider!  I have resorted to dial-up but now that our new modem has arrived I hope to be back to normal tonight!

I have really missed being able to see what's going on out there in blogland and will have some catch up reading to do!

Stay tuned I will be listing some new creations in the next few days!

More Goodies for TCCT and my online shop

Tatty Old Ted

This little guy is my item this month for The Chocolate Crow Trader which has its changeover for the 15th of this month.

Old Wooden Shoe Stretchers

You will find these for $10 + postage in my shop.

Vintage Buttons In Old Lolly Tin

These can also be found in my shop.

Vintage Bathing Beauties

My lovely sister-in-law Jo has come to stay for a few days while my DH is away and this is what I've created while she's been here.  I'm just a novice with all this card making so it's been great to be able to learn some of the ins and outs from her!  Besides she has all these special tools which has just made it much more fun!

I bought the picture card from Paperlicious studio on the Sunshine Coast and then added my own pieces of vintage laces, buttons and pages from an old book.  I love doing these vintage looking cards.

Old Buttons....

Don't you just love old buttons.  I was lucky enough to find these at a garage sale on Saturday.  They belonged to the young lady's Grandmother and she used to play with them as a child. 

They were such a bargain at only $2.  One of my better finds for the day!

Molly in Vintage Style Lace Dress

Visit my online store (link in right hand coloumn) to view my latest creation.

Vintage Finds ...

Just thought I'd show you a few treasures I have found over the last couple of weeks at garage sales. First is a lovely little wooden set of drawers. I have made it home to a lot of my vintage jewellery. What a bargain, it was only $5. I couldn't believe it! On Saturday I found this lovely set of embroidered doileys, a lovely large piece of white cotton lace and these divine vintage buttons. Also a lovely old lace covered coathanger.

Isn't it just great when you find those special treasures!

Vintage Wedding

Just thought I would show you the vintage layout I have done for this photo of my husband's grandparents.

Lillian Kruger married Malcom Duncan on 18 December 1929 at Kilcoy Methodist Church.

Don't you just love her wedding dress and the lovely head piece.

I still have to add a few vintage pearls and then it's finished.

Oops and now for the photo.....

A Sneek Peek....

Here's a little look at the latest dress I've made for this sweet little bear. She will be for sale on The Chocolate Crow Trader on the 15th May under Cloth to Creation (I share with Pam). I have patchworked the front of this dress using lots of lovely vintage lace. Some from wedding dresses. The bodice features the corner of an old hanky. The bottom border is a lovely piece of antique lace. I have dyed the laces in Parisan Essence for a lovely aged look.

New Girls

Well after a rather unproductive last two weeks (having a cat scratch which got infected and then a cold on top of that I am back on deck), and here are some of my girls in various stages of having their finishing touches added. I love the wee one in the lovely old china cup that has Mother written on it.

Pin Cushion Swap

Here's the piccy of the pincushion I made for the Fox's Lane Swap. To view the lovely one I received yesterday visit Alex at Buds & Bells Blogspot. Her wrapping was also really sweet. Thanks Alex.

Home Sweet Home

Hi Everyone,

I'm back after a very exciting 12 days away. We had a lovely time away, met some wonderful people & got to stay in some interesting places. I wasn't very adventurous with the food tho and preferred to stay on the safe side. I did try some of the different fruits, even durian!

Now that hubby is back at work I'm looking forward to crafting again.

I received my lovely pincushion swap today & will post some pics tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Off to Indonesia .....

Tonight my husband & I leave for Indonesia. We'll be staying in a town called Bandung (two hours away from Jakarta) with a local family. So if you don't hear from me for awhile it's because I'm probably no-where near a computer or I'm having too much fun!

Have a Happy & Safe Easter everyone!

Vintage Bear Frocks

I made these two sweet little white cotton dresses out of Vintage tablecloths (one older than the other and very pretty with little flowers embroidered on it). The second one has flowers and leaves embroidered on it. They fit approximately a 30cm bear. They tie at the neck with ribbon. The first one measures 55cm in length and the second one is approx 58cm. I'm selling them for $30 each.

Handmade Bears & Dresses

These bears are some of my creations. The small mohair bear is the first mohair bear I ever made & I just love him! I created the long dresses on the other two bears out of vintage doileys, laces & embellishments. I dyed the natural coloured one with parisian essence for an aged look. (I didn't make those bears though).

Vintage Cards

I decided to have a play with all my vintage laces, embellishments & old pics out of vintage mags & came up with these lovely cards. Very addictive they are but it's such a nice way to use up all those little bits & pieces that are too small for anything else.

Wow Look What Came In The Post ....

A fantastic bag of Antique laces and even this divine old dress. A very kind friend in New Zealand who has a collectables shop sent them over to me. I can't wait to start using them!

Goodies from Collectorama

Thought you may like to take a peek at some of the goodies I scored at a very wet Collectorama last Saturday.

It was the very first time I'd been to one so it was a wee bit disappointing being so wet, didn't stop me having a ball though and now I can't wait for the next one!

Yay My First Blog!!

I would just like to say a big thank you to Pam from The Studio Downstairs for helping to set up my very first blog!

I would just like to wish all ladies out there a Very Happy International Womens Day!