Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Thrifted Tuesday + Blog Crush.....

Woot! I finally have my car back (mind you, $800 later....), so today I could go out for a spot of op shopping......funny how taking just a week off sends me into withdrawal symptoms.....


Today's haul was nothing too flash, but satisfying nonetheless....


A few more vintage fabrics to add to the stash...


thrifted fabrics


Including one pillowcase that is so cute it almost makes me want to vomit....


ack!


I don't normally do cutesy-poo....but I really wanted the yellow print to put into my quilt, Lord knows what to do with the mini lovers......


I also managed a good shoe day today, three pairs of brilliant, ludicrously bright 80's numbers, all too small for me, so heading to the Ebay Shop....


Thrifted shoes


I also managed to find a very cute coat for my neice....which I haven't photographed yet, because I might do some embellishments, and that will be a post all of its own....


I also scored a few vintage dresses, also destined for Ebay....


dresses


And for my partner, who is irrepressibly English, a book to add to his collection....


A Salute to British Genius


So there you have it....Thrifted Tuesday!


Now onto more important matters......


After my Internet Frustration post the other day, I got so many gorgeous emails of encouragement on the being real issue, plus the swearing when I want to! I found out that lots of us pretend we are on a TV show like Martha Stewart or Jamie Oliver, pottering around the house performing to entirely imaginary audiences, and that all of us have that Authorial Voice (kudos to Shula for the term), and that we take photos of the good bits, leave out the messy bits when we can, but in the end, we are all fucking human after all.


I can't begin to say how nice it is to recieve letters of encouragement after taking a leap of faith on a post like that. Suddenly I understand why I so often read on the blogs of people I admire posts full of admiration and gratitude to thier readers for being supportive. I extend such grateful thanks to my tiny little readership, and consider myself a pig in shit for having made such lovely aquaintances. (notice the swearing.....oh how naturally it flows.....)


Anyway, so in spirit of this gratitude, I am devising a new topic. It's called Blog Crush, and this here, it's the first one.


So you know how you'll discover a new blog, and you feel so enamoured or connected to the person who writes it that suddenly they are on your favourites list, you're checking every day to see if they've posted yet, you get excited about their projects, their new curtains, their children, their problems? So much so that you feel weird leaving them comments in case you sound like a stalker? This my dears, is a Blog Crush. And I have decided to bare my Blog Crushes to the world, semi-regularly, to let some fabulous people on the net know that I think what they do is wonderful. In a friendly non-stalkery kind of way........


And the honour of first Blog Crush has to go to Manda, of TreeFall Design. I don't know how I found Manda's blog, but it was one of the first craft blogs I started reading, and her links list has led me to a whole world of creative brilliance.




She has an impossibly cute daughter, a husband who doesn't mind how much fabric she buys, and sometimes even shops for it with her....




She makes beautiful collages and patchwork pillows and sometimes toys and things, which you can buy Here








But the best thing about Manda is that she is real, she writes about her life in a way that makes you feel included as a reader, and this, more than the fact that she makes fabulous cushions, is why I read her blog. One of the best bits of reading about the lives of other creative people is that you realise how similar we all are, whether it be a sudden hankering for all things yellow, or how we pull ourselves together after a fall, or the mini Martha Stewart in all our heads......


So thanks Manda, this one's for you.....




Cheers!


(I also should say that I totally stole the above pictures from Mandas blog.... so make sure you go visit and see them in context, and know that all copyright belongs to her......)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bloody hell! Thank you for bestowing that honour on me and thank you for saying such lovely things about me! I am actually blushing just a little.
And more importantly, good for you for being brave enough for using your own 'voice' on your blog! It's definitely the best way to write.
And thank you again!

shula said...

Nice to know I'm not the only crafter online with a mouth to make a sailor blush.

Anonymous said...

i had that green and yellow pillow case as a child. i think my mom may still have it. i adore manda's blog too. she is so very talented and such a brave person.

paper. string. cloth said...

Oh My.....I can't beleive you had the pillowslip! That's fantastic...... I'm glad you share my admiration of Manda, sometimes I think she must be the strongest person I "know"......xxx

Anonymous said...

First off- I am IN LOVE with that floral fabric in the first photo! That said, you wrote so eloquently what I had been thinking about but could not put into my own words. Blogcrush- perfect. My first one was Soulemama. She seems to be everything I always dreamed I would be- Totally natural mama, homeschools, heart-achingly connected to her kids, craft room to die for and makes the most adorable clothes and things. I have to remind myself that she probably puts off the laundry and dishes like I do to "get it all in" :)

paper. string. cloth said...

Thanks Joanna!
The fabric is a vintage single bed sheet, with lovely faded poppies all over it.....I'm not usually a floral person, but I cant go past some good poppies!

I know what you mean about Soule Mama, in fact, she may just pop up as a future Blog Crush very soon....I think with all the amazing women out there, I could dedicate an entire blog to my Blog Crushes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Leah xx