Toastandcupcakes.

Seeing as I've been increasingly slack at this whole blogging thing I thought I would just do a bit of a picture post and show you some of the things which have brightened my week!
Last Saturday I drove to Tauranga (yes! I drove!) which is about an hour or so from here, to pick up this lovely little cabinet. I won the auction on trademe and we'd hoped that abraham's Dad, who lives closer, could pick it up but I may have underestimated it's size and it didn't fit in his station wagon. So Abraham, Aesop, my mum and I went on a road trip and picked her up. Isn't she lovely? Cheap as chips too! You can't see in this picture but she also has little ornate handles and a lovely old key.

While in Tauranga we stopped off at the mall for a spot of shopping and some lunch.
As most of you know by now, I have huge feet. Did you also know I appear to have huge calves too? I've been looking for boots for almost three years now, to no avail. It seems the only boots made for women with large feet and substantial legs are ones with hideous large strips of elastic which make your legs look 100x larger, and still cost a few hundred dollars.
You can guess where this is leading.. I found some boots! I wasn't really planning on spending a small fortune on footwear, but I also couldn't leave them in the store! They're a really good brand, and this photo does them no justice but they're really, really nice. It sounds a little weird, and I don't expect many of you to understand, but somehow owning boots makes me feel like more of a woman. More normal. I feel like I could conquer the world in these boots. It's a feeling very hard to describe.
What else do I have to show? hmm..

I added a few things to my etsy tonight. Three hoodies, and loads of brooches. There's a lot of vintage flower brooches and also a few stuffed mini applique brooches. I'm still waiting for the darned blind hemming foot so the cardis and skirts aren't available yet, but they're close. I've been buying some lovely sweatshirting lately and have great plans for more cardis, and lots more hoodies. I was going to make some summer things, but to be honest the sleeveless things hanging on the rack in my studio just make me feel cold. So I've decided to see if I can get rid of them. I've taken US$15 off the price (nz$20) of anything without sleeves (singlets and hoodies..) for the rest of the month in hopes they'll find new homes and stop making me shiver!
It's sort of in fitting with my trying to sell more locally as well, it's hard work trying to please everyone when we're in different seasons. So I'm going to stick to my own season mostly this Winter and see how I go. Fear not though, there'll be bags and brooches galore which can be worn all year long, of course.
And finally..

All of our Monarch butterflies have hatched! Some of them didn't make it through the rain we've had recently. We found half a dozen of them, soggy and lifeless, scattered on our front lawn which was really sad. But thankfully when the rain dried the trees were also scattered, with live butterflies drying their wings and preparing themselves for whatever adventures they were heading off on. It's been so good to watch their little life cycle with Aesop, even though he's not quite old enough to understand it completely. I hope we can do it all again next year!

These were taken last weekend, but they really sum up how I feel this afternoon.
All this dark, grey and wet weather tires me out somehow. It's very draining.
Perhaps that has something to do with how little I seem to be achieving at the moment?
I've been going to bed early without doing any sewing, I've washed the same load of washing at least three times (we don't have a dryer...) and I've tried a dozen times to take half decent photos for Etsy to no avail. The only thing I do seem to succeed at this week is sitting on my bottom in front of the computer.
GAH! HELP!
I triple, quadruple dare you all to post a link for me.
A link to something so inspiring that I jump out of my chair and run to the studio.
It can be any sort of thing, a news article about something sweet (like this ), a photograph of something beautiful (like this or this or this) or maybe a list if songs that will make my heart sing (like this ).
And what do you get out if this? Well, other than feeling like you're helping out a damsel in distress, you can rest assured that as soon as this bloomin' rain clears I will be posting up a huge batch of flower brooches on my etsy site and I'll be snapping up pictures left right and centre of other things to ramble about on here! Lucky you! haha.

This week is just flying by, with very little productivity and thus very little to really show for myself.
But like usual, I do have a whole hoard of op shop treasures to boast about. (what can I say, the higher powers of thrift have been good to me lately..) So without further ado, I bring you the last two days worth of op shopping (from just two op shops too!):

That dress looks a hundred times better in real life. It's that lovely heavy lycra type fabric that just drapes perfectly and feels like you're just wearing a t-shirt. And it's all gathered at the front (perfect for hopefully expending bellies of the future) and you want to know the absolute best bit?  It's a dress by George, an Australian designer label that makes mostly evening dresses and graces the pages of such magazines as vogue etc and it still had the swingtag and price label on it!! I almost fell over when I saw three digits. And it's all mine oh mine for a mere $6.
The rain coat is because I have never been able to find one that I like and that doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing on of those bright yellow plastic ponchos. This one even has a hood! and the jumper I actually bought for Aesop when he's bigger, good luck to me trying to get him to wear it though, I doubt it will be 'trendy' enough by the time it fits him.

Op shop shoes! I have NEVER ever ever bought a pair of shoes at the op shop before (although I did once find a pair of roller skates..). When you have giant feet such as mine it's a rare occasion to find any thin other than hideous manlike sandals or the odd stinky sneaker. These shoes look a little retro, but they're actually from the no1 shoe warehouse this past summer! They've got a heel so I won't get to wear them much, but at least now I can finally say I got some hot shoes second hand!

I got this wee celluloid doll, and another, for a a mere one dollar. Sure she's got a wee crack on her face, and her clothes are a tad faded but seriously, who could resist the sweet woolly hair, the handmade blouse with crochet collar, the mini bloomers and those amazing shiny black legs. So sweet!

And the jewel? This, my friends, is a vintage ironing board. But wait! There's more. It's also a step ladder aaaand a seat. How genius, and how beautiful too. I saw one of these in someone's flickr photos recently (which I of course cannot find again..) and when I saw this yesterday I knew it was meant to be mine, even if I did have to lug it all the way home! ha ha.

So yes, good week for op shopping, a bit slow on the sewing front, and very slow on all other fronts. I'm okay with it though, taking things as they come this week. I'm sure they'll be completely different next week again.

You know what's cool? Twins. The idea weirds me out quite alot, like the actual physical workings especially for identical twins, but can you imagine how neat it must be to have someone so similar to you? Well, I'm not a twin (but it would be a good surprise if I was, huh? You wouldn't have seen that coming!) but I've recently met someone who is almost spookily similar to me in so, so many ways.
Back when I lived in Nelson I'd often be in town and see a girl who looked a lot like me. She was a slightly slimmer and much stylier version of how I saw myself. I would always stand there in awe of her and her styley art school friends wishing Id somehow find a reason to have to talk to them ( a little stalkery I know.). Then other people started noticing she looked like me too and I realised it wasn't all in my head! I used to call her 'hot twin'.
A few weeks ago I posted a picture of me trying to fit into my too small jeans, in hopes it would help my weightloss efforts (hmm.. not so much) and got lots of delightful comments and offers of slimming buddies and support. One of the commentors said she lived in Nelson, and we messaged back and fourth to figure out how we could help each other out. Then I looked through her pictures and realised she looked familiar and she e-mailed and said that her and her art school friends used to think I was really styley! Oh my goodness! It was in true crazy-fate fashion, 'hot twin'!
After multiple e-mails (and not much weight loss so far.. but we're trying.. hah) it turns out we have a very crazy amount in common and we're well on our way to being fantastical friends. Isn't it weird how life works out? If I had followed through with my art school enrolment ( I was accepted, but decided to do something else) we would have been on the same course and would have met about 4 years ago, but somehow fate still managed to get us to together!

Okay, enough gushing. The reason I'm sharing this lovely story (other than it just being lovely) is because Amy and I decided to do an op shop swap recently. So I got together a huge box of things for her, and she in return sent me a big box of loveliness.
I woke up late the morning it arrived, and was stumbling around the house getting breakfast and pottering around when someone knocked at the door. So after showing the courier lady exactly how wild my hair looks in the morning and how scungey my dressing gown is,I took my sweetly wrapped parcel and ran, jumped on my bed and opened it up with Abraham and Aesop watching.
It contained an awesome brown vinyl camera bag, lots of adorable cross-stitched brooches, a lovely wee zip pouch, some retro jewellery, loads of vintage linen and doilies, some ribbing and fabric, a sweet skirt and belt, some homemade cards and my favourite of all, a wee map-jigsaw brooch featuring my home town! Awww. Thank you so, so much Amy! I can't wait for you to get mine and I hope you like it as much as I like mine. Thanks for being my hot doppelganger friend and my weightloss buddy. (we'll get there...) Eeee love!

Anyone who knows me knows that I go on and on and on about how much I despise people buying vintage things to sell online. I'm sorry, but it's true. I'm really sad about the fact that op shopping is a dying trend, and as close minded as it is, to me it's almost on par with global warming for me. I'm terrified that my absolutely favourite hobby, that I've been doing at least once a week for the last ten years is slowly but surely coming to a close. and most of this has to do with our dear friend the 'net.
But you know what? You have to move with the times. So the last few months I've been slowly building a pile of clothes, some retro, some vintage and some just not wanted, ready to list on Nz's equivalent to Ebay, Trademe .
I didn't want to be one of those people who has blatantly bought things just to sell (I haven't by the way,  this is all stuff I bought for myself or was given when my friend moved..) and price them really high so everything is starting under $5.
I spent yesterday taking some photos and listing the first batch (23 items.. I have at least that many again to do in the next little while.) and I'd forgotten how long that listing process takes. Phew.

My heart is still a little unsure about the whole thing and I feel a little like a traitor to my beloved oppies, but that said, these clothes might just pay off a big chunk of my remaining debt, and we all know that money is more important than ethics, right?
sigh.

Pretending that the last post was yesterday's (because I wrote it yesterday, just didn't have the pictures taken to put with it) here's my post for today! Because I've not written for a little while I have a whole lot of photos about different things, so if you'll allow me I'm going to mostly just show off some pictures and explain them rather than write anything much..

On Tuesday night we had out little birthday celebration for Abraham. I made vegetarian spring rolls (his favourite!) and sourcream lemon cake with crunchy lemon topping (which was so nice I would have eaten all the leftovers the next day, had Abraham not reminded me I'm trying to be good), then when Aesop had gone to bed we watched a dvd (American gangster, which I found pretty ho-hum) and sat in bed nattering and laughing. It was a really nice birthday, and I think Abraham enjoyed it too. Thank you all for your birthday wishes and kind words!

I had some gorgeous mail today from a very sweet lady named Lyndie who works as a visual merchandiser in a big dept store. Lyndie wrote me an e-mail a week ago asking if she could send me a parcel (how could one refuse a parcel? heh) and we've been e-mailling back and fourth. She's ever-so-sweet and oh my was the parcel good! It had the fabric, which is all embroidered or shiny and lovely, a whole lot of fake flowers, a gorgeous little dress form, a ball for Aesop, make-up samples, jandals, a gorgeous photo montage of her little family, and even some chocolate for Abraham! I am totally blown away. Thank you Lyndie x

I picked up these brooches at the op shop today. I gasped out loud when I saw the cat one. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but it's big, it's wooden and well, it's a grey, white and green cat! How often do you see one of those? The pearly one is really old, it looks hand crafted and the base bit is all copper. And the bird is hand crafted too, I love the little shell detail under the chin.

Phew! Did anyone last through all of that? I think that'll do me for today, see you tomorrow loves.

Following on from the maternity wear talk, on the same day I found those cardis I also found these erm, lovely dresses. I mean, maybe if I was some tiny little thing I would actually think about wearing the stripey one. It might actually look okay dressed up with a cardi, tights and boots or something. But as you can see ( the mannequin is set to my measurements, although her boobs are larger because that's it's smallest setting! I'm so disproportionate.) 80's sweater dresses don't suit my body shape or size. But I snapped them up knowing I'd do something with them.

I hardly ever make clothing for myself, but I'm so happy with how these turned out. I'm feeling a little inspired to try out some other ideas for myself, now to find some more time! I barely have enough to do everything I need to do now!

Abraham turned 26 yesterday!
In the seven years I've known Abraham we've been through a lot.
We've separated and gotten back together multiple times, we've shared some pretty intense tears and some incredible laughs, we've been through thickness,through thinness, through sickness, through poorness and through health ( although we're still waiting on the wealth...)
Abraham has stuck by me through the times where I was so close to not even sticking by myself and he's forgiven me for things I will never forgive myself for. He's given more back massages than most masseurs, he's mopped up after me, held the bowl and dabbed my brow, he's given into my (usually bad) dvd choices, put up with my whiney folk music, educated me in the world of hiphop, gotten used to my eccentric style and obsessive thrifting, learned to put up with my parents (who are lovely, but rather complicated) and always told me I'm beautiful no matter how large my bottom was.
Oh, and did I mention he's the most amazing Dad? From the moment he caught that child he's been besotted. And the feeling is very mutual.
He is (you are) my soulmate and the most incredibly human being I've ever met and I'm so very blessed to have you.
Happy Birthday baby!

I scored these two gorgeous cardis this week at the op shop, brand new with tags! They're by my favourite ever cardigan makers Glengyle. They're 100% pure virgin lambswool (aren't all lambs virgin?) and they're made in New Zealand which is awesomely awesome. I have quite a number of cardis by these fantastic people now, after inheriting some from my nana when she passed. So good, I really recommend them.
I recently went on a bit of shopping spree and bought a few 'new' things for Winter (plain black cardi, plain black skirt etc.. basics.) and from now on I've decided I'm going to try and only buy things which will see me through the first few months of a pregnancy. No, no I'm not pregnant yet but I'm doing some positive thinking (or is it wishful thinking?) and hoping that it's not going to take us too long to conceive and I don't really want to be left with a whole bunch of stuff I can't wear until afterwards.
It's been talked about a fair bit in the blogging realm lately, how lacking in style the current maternity scene is. Since the ever-lovely Tricia became pregnant she has been looking into it and is working on changing this and I love that. (and I love this new flickr group!)
 
I, for one, was hideously style-challenged during my terms. I was as big as a house and dressed accordingly. I think alot of it has to do with the lack of motivation during pregnancy, the tiredness and the generally feeling huge, bloated and gross. But I've made a solemn promise to myself that should we have some luck and fall pregnant again, that I'll not resort to wearing the same full stretch yoga pants and tshirts everyday, but will endeavour to make and buy things which will result in me still looking as good as ever. Any thoughts ladies? What did you/would you wear (or what are you wearing?) and what would you do differently?

My grand plans for the week have unfortunately been a little mislaid due to Aesop's case of the pox and his subsequent time off from preschool (or work as he would have you call it.) I had hoped to get some serious sewing done, and have another lot of things listed by this weekend, but it's looking more and more like it'll have to be before next weekend. These things happen, huh?
The poxed boy seems to be feeling just fine though. The itching is yet to start and the mood is fairly chipper for someone so spotty. And I'm pleased to report we've done pretty darn well stuck inside together the last two days which would normally have been spent apart. We're both such strong personalities that it doesn't take much time for us to drive each other completely nutty.
I have, however, managed to cut out another pile of the (very successful! thank you!) brooches, and nearly finish two cardigan/hoodie hybrids. And of course post off the piles of orders I received after the last update. I'm very humbled by how much interest there is in my work at the moment. Thank you!
A few said things occurred yesterday though. My trip to the post office was the final straw for me, and I had to give in and put up my postage prices after ending up $15 out of pocket once everything was sent. I despise the fact I have to charge such ridiculous prices, but I really just don't have any choice. I hope people understand.
And the other sad thing? I realised I'm running out of cotton, and felt and that I need a blind hemming foot for my machine. Not the end of the world, right? Yeah.. except when you look into how much these things cost, and how much they've gone up in the short time since I last bought felt and thread! Shivers!
Looks like I'll be buying a lotto ticket this weekend.