Mademoiselle Rose

Updated Shabby Chic.Com

I've been a bit of a visitor to the Shabby Chic website for quite a while, and it was lovely to see it being updated recently. As always a really pretty, inspiring place to visit for a a few moments of gorgeous vision.  Still the best inspiration after all these years.  And, if you want to, you can purchase direct from the site which is new. 

Of course, just as I expected, the postage is horrendous.  Having bought hundreds of items from the US in the last few years I'm a bit of an expert in US postage (LOL!!) and the postage seems rather on the high side!  It seems to say $105 for postage, whereas I normally have always paid around $40 for insured postage for a duvet.  Kind of turns you off. 

I'd love a set of her crown hooks, so I might inquire how much it will cost to get some sent over.  I love buying from either Ebay or website sellers as they always seem to know how best to post items for the best prices as opposed to bricks and mortar shops.  Anyway, here are a few photos from the site to get you on over for a peak!  You can visit the Shabby Chic website here.

This is Boho Floral...confuses the heck out of me as it looks to me an exact copy of the retired favourite, Sugarplum Sorbet!  Is it the same, does anyone know?

Love a good table.  I've managed to fit in three inside and one outside in my small home! This one's a beauty!

You can never pass up a pretty crown.  This one is $100.  Yum!!

Now, these I want.  Not sure about the bold gold, but a bit of white paint rubbed back might be the go, I really want a set of these!

Really pretty!

And of course the dreaded couch!  This one looks really comfortable.  The sooner I get a new couch the sooner I'll get over putting pictures of couches on my blog!

Visit the Shabby Chic website here, a worthwhile exercise as always!

  

Paddington Antique Centre

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!  I sure am.  Yesterday my sister and I went to the movies to see the new Indiana Jones movie and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Anything with Harrison Ford is going to be great (I love practically all his movies) and it was action packed right from beginning to end.  Such a pleasure to see a well made movie.  The kids, Rebecca and Amy, stayed with mum, who kindly gave us the morning off!

Afterwards after having picked up the children and deposited them at a party, Jenelle and I decided, since we had just a couple of hours, to visit the Paddington Antique Centre.  I haven't been back there since I finished my shop there about last October and have been wanting to go back for a look, and my sister has been needing a bench to go in her newly decorated hallway.  The Paddington Antique Centre is the only place I know where to get them, except on the odd occasion on Ebay.  I'm a bit of a bench-aholic, so I was happy to oblige.  So off we trotted there.

Luckily, I have started carrying my trusty new camera with me just in case I find something blogworthy, and so I took a few photos of our finds today.  Unfortunately they didn't all turn out, experiencing problems with blurriness, which is really annoying me (obviously) but I got a few shots.....

This first picture is a tad blurry (sorry) but it's the bench my sister bought.  It's a cutey and will paint up well.  She's going to paint it white and put a few of my cushions on it.  She wants to keep her hallway nice and simple.  When she's finished it I'll put a few photos up as it's turning out really well.

I don't need any cupboards but I thought this one was really pretty.  My sister was interested, but we couldn't find the price tag on it, so we checked the price tag on the matching little cupboard (no picture as it was totally buried under stuff) and she lost interest really quickly!  She didn't like the little porcelain-like pictures on it, but I thought it was quite nice.

I had a picture of a little ladder I bought to put on my veranda with some plants when I can get to putting it together, but unfortunately it was one of the blurry ones.  So I've taken a photo of it on my veranda just to show you.  I thought it was really pretty and it was only $35 so I thought it was a pretty bargain.  I think I have everything I need now to put my veranda area together.  I just have to get off my rear end and do it.  It's actually coming into Winter here in Australia and I think I haven't been motivated as it's so much nicer to lay on my foofy day bed where it's warm!  Actually it's going to be a bit of work to put it all together, as one of my major pieces is a three piece metal screen I need to paint white, but it's going to be a big job as it's gone rusty.  Not quite sure how to paint it now, but I'll figure it out.  Not looking forward to that bit of work though, I can tell you!

I took a photo of this really funny telephone.  My sister dragged me over to have a look at it and I'm thinking, "Why is she showing me this ugly table," when I realised it's a phone!  The dial etc is actually built into the table.  Very strange!  But interesting!!  The things you find!!

These photos are of my favourite stall here at the Paddington Antique Centre.  I've always loved it and it seems to grow bigger every year.  I think it takes up three stalls now.  The more the better I say, as it's so pretty. I always leave this one till last as I spend the most time looking here!

As we were walking to the Centre, we happened to walk past this house and I loved it so much from the outside I just had to snap a few photos.  We were especially entranced with the front gate, so pretty!  I'm so frustrated as the moment as we have a drought here and we haven't had real rain in Brisbane for such a long time.  I want an overgrown cottage garden and I know exactly what I want to do, but I can't do a thing with the garden until the drought breaks as every time I plant anything it dies with lack of water.  We're not even allowed to bucket water our plants now.  So frustrating as it's the first time I've had a garden to work in and I know what I want to do, but it's just no use!

  

Gorgeous Pictures from the UK....The Cotswolds

My Dear One has his own computer help site which is an extension of his part-time computer business, where he puts computers together and fixes them ~ very handy for me, I can tell you!  Always picking up viruses from cruising around my lovely sites!

Anyway, Dear One has made some lovely friends from around the globe to whom he has been chatting for years ~ also handy since we are saving for an international  holiday to co-incide with my three months' long service leave in two years, and we have many lovely invitations for accommodation.  Two years is a long time to wait, I know, but how fast time flies, and I'm sure two years will pass as quickly as.

Back to the point, one of Kev's lovely  mates from the UK (who we are definitely going to stay with) is a wonderful photographer and puts together the most gorgeous slide shows of photos he's taken around his region.  He lives in the Cotswolds, which I understand from watching Back to Country (one of my all time favourite shows on pay TV on the How To Channel) is one of the loveliest regions of the UK.

Ray takes the most gorgeous photos and I love looking at them to dream about our holiday to come and the places we're going to go, so, with Ray's permission, I am going to share, today and  in the future posts, some of his work.  He really does capture the beauty of the area, and isn't he so lucky to live in such a stunning part of the world?  I've wanted to travel to the UK all my life as I've always loved old things and history and have been known to burst into tears watching Back to the Country when they've shown a house from 1200 and something, and I know I'm going to get to England and not want to go home. 

These photos represent just a small portion of the photos on the slide show which you can view here. They are so worth a look.  Not only are the photos gorgeous, but they are put together in such a lovely way, it's a joy to watch. 

When you click on the link, click on the square that says "Click here to start download." PLEASE NOTE IT MAY TAKE UP TO 10 MINUTES TO DOWNLOAD the slide show, but please do it as it is so worth it!  You can minimise it while it's downloading and do something else while it comes down and come back when it's done.  Be warned though, you might want to go there! 

I was thinking of doing some drive-bys of some houses I love around Brisbane, but now I'm not so sure!  How could I match these places?!  Isn't it just amazing how different places have such different architecture.  But I suppose that's what makes you want to travel the world and see what there is to offer.  I certainly can't wait to get over to England and I hate wishing time away, but I hope the next two years go fast!