I'm a candle-aholic

I love candles! I have them burning every day in several rooms at home. My US friends that I stayed with on my trip last year, will attest to that. Everywhere I went, I was in search of "the perfect candle".

Candles (along with 7 rolls of vintage wallpaper) are probably what weighed down my suitcases!

One of my friends is lucky enough to travel to France at least once a year for work, and she buys those amazingly scented (not to mention super expensive) French candles. They are seriously good, and do make a whole room smell great, but I'm not ready to part with $80 for one candle. (gasp!)

So when my cousin started making candles, I was one of the guinea pigs, testing how long scents lasted, if they filled a room, if the candle needed more scent or less... and after a few months, he now has the formula JUST right to my fussy taste!

So I ordered some of my favourite scents that I have tried and tested and fallen in love with. I asked for clear glass simple jars with lids to keep the scent fresh when not in use (gotta love that!), and I asked for no colour. I wanted a French feel and they don't really do the colour thing. Colour-free = put this in any decor & it will complement beautifully!

I got to work sketching and designing what I wanted to be a "perfect" label for these. I aimed for a vintage rustic French feel with a floral design, but a "me" look. After going back to the drawing board several times, I'm happy with how it finally turned out.

These candles are now in my shop. You can find out more info about the high quality soy wax and all that other good stuff, in each listing description. I just wanted to give you the background story here ;)

(Oh and the prices on my website are in Aussie dollars, a quick conversion is AU$9.50 = approx US$6.90, and AU$24.95 = approx US$18.05)

I am sure there are other candle-aholics out there like me who will understand my quest for the perfect candle!

Hope you have a beautifully scented new week ahead!

Natasha xo

May we always remember them

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them"

Today, on Anzac Day, we remember the 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers' lives who were lost at Gallipoli, and those who have served and continue to serve our country, and we honour their memory.

Lest We Forget

Apron Reveal....

Remember my sneak peeks here of the apron I created for Laura?  Well, I can finally reveal the whole thing, as Laura has received it :)

(you can click on the images to enlarge to see detail better)

I made this apron from scratch ~ it's hard to find a really cute apron base here in Australia, that isn't gingham or retro funky printed ~ and though those aprons are nice, they are not really what I think of when I think of Laura's style!

So I got my grandmother's vintage linen, hand frayed the edges, added old lace trim around the edge, gathered it up onto 4" wide vintage satin with a piece of vintage broderie anglais between, and then started stitching away.  I wanted to create a rambling type happy garden, in silk ribbon, vintage millinery, vintage pearls and lots of French knots.

It was extremely fun to make, even if it did take a while.  I'm pretty happy with the end result! It was a great fun swap to be in, (thanks Heather and Stephenie!), one that really recharged my batteries.  

It also inspired me to get back into my embroidery work, and I created a few pieces over Easter that I will share with you one day soon.  Some traditional, then some with my own "twist".

Until next time,

Natasha xo

This beauty really is an apron!

(Hopefully this post won't be all weirdly formatted.... I've had to use another browser... so I apologise in advance if there are gaps everywhere!)

Hello there! I hope you had a lovely Easter! We went away for a short time and it has taken me a little while to get back to a regular routine.  

When I came home, I was greeted by a couple of things. Firstly my copy of Marie finally arrived : )

But what got me more excited was this!!!  A few posts back I shared sneak peeks of the apron I created for Laura.  Well my apron from Stephenie arrived!

I don't know if Stephenie intentionally used a box from an Australian company but it sure cracked me up, especially since I know the street  on the address!

I'll get to the apron in a minute, but first I wanted to show you  what she spoiled me rotten with!! A whole lot of the most wonderfully fabulous goodies! Talk about extras! And they are all so me, thank you so much Stephenie!!

I wasn't the only one to get spoiled! Little mister man was jumping for joy that he was sent a whole lot of wonderful stuff!  His absolute fave is that squishy blue octopus, he makes the eyes go all googly and huge and it cracks him up! Thank you again Stephenie!!!

So you want to see the apron huh?!  Well here it is!!! Seriously, this divine little beauty really is an apron!

Stephenie knows I love gowns and dresses, and made an apron using the most amazing fabric with beads, sequins and a feathery floral design.



And she used the most gorgeous millinery trims, roses and little posies

Oh and let's not forget the rhinestones and velvet ribbon!!! Wowzers!

I'm so in love with this apron Stephenie! I can't thank you enough for all the time, thought and effort you went to in making me my  most beautiful apron I've ever owned!!!

Thanks Heather and Stephenie for having such a great fun and beautiful swap!

Natasha xo

PS. For those who asked, the bunny below is not ours, he belongs to friends of ours.  Bunny's real actual name is "Easter Bunny"!!!

Happy Easter

From us xo

Apron Swap Sneaky Peeks....

It took me a while to get started, but I've finally finished the apron for Laura in the little swap hosted by friends Stephenie and Heather. I'll try not to reveal too much, until Laura receives it.

I tried to keep every element that I could, vintage. The thread above is 100% cotton and was my grandmother's. Probably from the 1960s.

The lace above was also my grandmother's. Same with the vintage linen fabric, which I hand frayed at the edges.

The ribbon at the waist is one of my faves. It's about 4" wide, and such a sweet shade of blue. And vintage. I heard Laura loves blue so I was happy to be able to put it to good use for someone who will enjoy it!

The broderie lace was also vintage. It was in pristine condition, actually very very very sharp crisp white, so I coffee dyed it very gently to soften it a little.

Probably the only non-vintage parts are the embroidery floss and those little beads, and silk embroidery ribbon.

I "signed and dated" the apron out of habit. I've done many hand embroideries over the years and I like to "archive" them.

It looks like I'm not hiding much, but you'll have to wait and see. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, I had a vision in my head and I stuck with it.


This was my first swap in goodness knows how long. I wanted to make it special and put lots of time and handwork into it. There's something so pleasing and satisfying about hand embroidery. French knots are addictive! I need to practise and learn how to do silk ribbon embroidery properly though... I was winging it here.

Hope you love it Laura! It's going to be heading your way shortly :)

Bye for now,

Natasha xo

He didn't even raise an eyebrow

Hubby knows me so well. He knows I will come home with all sorts of weird and wonderful things when I go out treasure hunting. His friend couldn't believe I paid money for this, but it didn't surprise hubby one bit. Ah, isn't it great to have a hubby who knows you so well...

This ole rust bucket just had to come home with me last week. It started bucketing down with rain (yes, we got rain!), but I spotted this colour a mile away, and nothing was going to stop me from getting to it (except some crazy price).

A bumpy, lumpy, rusty, rickety, screws missing, toolbox. But not just any toolbox...
Why, it's the pink toolbox! Fabulous! What a shade!!!

Is this the shade my US friends refer to as Pepto Bismol Pink? I love its watermelon-ness.

It needs an extremely thorough cleaning inside and out, before I put anything special near it. I'm thinking it would make a great place to store my packing materials and business cards, ribbons and trims, tape, stickers and envelopes I use when I wrap my parcels.

Would you have left this behind to rust more? Or would you have snapped it up too? Am I alone in thinking this is just sooooooo perfect?

Until next time,

Natasha xo

PS. I've drawn the winner for the Marie Day giveaway, the winner has been announced on that post and it was Zita of Mlle Magpie. Thanks everyone for joining the fun, and no, I still don't have my copy of the mag yet!!!)

Introducing....Violet Peony Rose

She's the new belle of the ball in the Burns house!
For the longest time I've been searching for a beautiful old dress form.... I contemplated buying a new one and aging her, but even the new ones are $130 here....
I wondered (and still do) where my grandmother's dress form went. I would have loved that one... And what do you know...

My grandma's sister, my great aunt, was also a dressmaker. Sadly, she is in a home now, after having a stroke last year. She won't be dressmaking again.

Her son was clearing out her fabrics and dressmaking tools and machinery...

And Mum asked if I could have the dress form. He thought that would be great!

Can you believe he was going to just get rid of this??? Oh boy....

I couldn't have found a more special one if I designed her myself! She's ALL vintage... that's for sure! And she's staying in the family.

When I got her home, she looked like this. My aunty had added bigger boobies, so she would be more like a real woman!

She also had masking tape holding torn bits together. I removed the boobies and masking tape very carefully.

I've named her Violet Peony Rose. If I ever had a girl, I would have liked to call her Violet. So now I have a Violet in my life.

She has already been put to work, modelling my new jewellery that I finally put in my shop!

Thanks for visiting, and for meeting Violet Peony Rose. I'm sure you'll see lots more of her!

Natasha xo

PS. The giveaway post is the one below this one!

Celebrate 'Marie Day' With Us ~ (and this is the giveaway post!)

If you've read my blog for a while, you might remember this project here, and here.

Today is the day we've long awaited (we, being Heather, Ginny, Holly and I).... The round robin that took us a year to do, that was started almost two years ago, is published! We're naming today 'Marie Day' in honour of the Somerset publication's release today, of 'Marie'.

When we submitted our round robin to Somerset, we had no idea that our (won't say little because they are all MASSIVELY BULKY) art journals, along with Dede and her friends' art journals, would be the inspiration for a whole publication!

At first, we thought it was "just" going to be a story on the international round robin we worked on. Then, when we submitted the actual books, we were told they would like to make a publication dedicated wholly and solely to Marie! Yippee!

What a wonderful publication it is! I'm still IMPATIENTLY waiting for my comp copy (argh, the slow mail service!), so these pics are from Heather. I am yet to see the mag in the flesh, it's killing me! I'm dying to see our work in print and everyone's magnificent Marie creations!

So the next few pics, are an assortment of photos I took of some pages I did in some of our books. You can see the details much more clearly here, and more accurate colour depiction. (Click the pics to enlarge, I've kept them big!)






I started collecting trims for this journal way back here, and haven't seen my journal since about October 2007. Yes, that is 2007, when it went on its journey after I completed my four pages. I heard the books are enormous, as you can imagine!



This round robin is so special to me. Not just for the artwork, but also for the friendships that it created and nurtured across the globe. It got four girls together who "get" each other, who have the same love for beautiful and exquisite quality trims. It made us create work for ourselves, which we don't often do. We created work for each other, using our BEST and most beautiful and precious goodies that we had been saving. And we created friendships that I will always treasure.

Thank you girls, for a most wonderful experience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To help us celebrate Marie Day, you're invited to enter this giveaway! I've created 10 greeting cards (with envelopes, and individually cello wrapped) on textured watercolour card, of photos I took just for this giveaway, of some of my favourite details around my home.

All "decadent" in theme... silk antique nightie, crystal chandeliers, rhinestone jewellery, antique perfume bottle and more....

(this pic below is missing one card, the teacup you'll see if you scroll to the bottom)
Here's a few closer shots... They'll come to you MINUS the watermark that I added to each photo here

I will ship to the winner, anywhere in the world. All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post! I will draw a winner one week from today, Wednesday April 8th, at 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.

(NOW CLOSED, winner announced below)

Be sure to visit my friends and their Marie Day giveaways!

Heather

Ginny

Holly

Happy Marie Day,

Natasha xo

UPDATE! I've drawn a winner, using random.org and the winner is #13, Zita of Mlle Magpie!