Dinosaur Designs and Ikea goodies

I have been very slow with this post, but finally, here are the little goodies I acquired from the Dinosaur Designs Extinct store.

I resisted all the jewellery to buy a small resin plate, bowl and vase to go with the blue vase I picked up recently.

I think they're lovely, especially when the sun shines through them.

You might remember I had a quick stopover in Melbourne. I took the chance to run into Ikea for a  very quick looksee. I was hoping to pick up some more Ribba square frames but they didn't have any!

I had only about half an hour in store (how cruel). Given I also had very limited space in which to pack anything I purchased I decided on these three vases.

Those two larger ones were only $2.99 each! How crazy is that? Of course if you add in the cost of the shuttle bus to and from the airport, baggage storage and tram fare, they cost a lot more than $2.99.

Oh well.

Can you see a bit of a colour theme? I just can't help myself when it comes to blue glass. Blue anything for that matter.

ps. thinking I should have ironed my old tablecloth...

xx

Dinosaur Designs Extinct store visit

Last Friday I flew into Sydney and before I caught the train up to Newcastle I visited the Dinosaur Designs samples and seconds store called Extinct.

It was exciting. The colour was overwhelming. Look at all those bangles!

Shelves upon shelves of resiny goodness.

Necklaces galore...

It is a small store but when I was there it was filled with enthusiastic shoppers.

I was one of them :)

The prices were great, starting at $35 for rings. I found the prices of the homewares to be about half of what they are in the retail stores. Exciting!!

I treated myself to a few little pieces in the blue/green range thanks to my lovely Great Auntie Ila who gave me some spending money. I haven't taken a piccy of them yet as the light has been so crappy here due to the hideous weather. Sorry :) I will do it soon though.

So, I would highly recommend a visit here.

Up next, more Newcastle sights...

ps A couple of you mentioned catching up when I was in Sydney next. I would have absolutely loved to have caught up with my Sydney bloggy friends but knew I only had a really limited time. Hopefully next time I get back up there.

pps. a few of you also asked about my IKEA shopping. They didn't have the frames I wanted so I had to treat myself to a couple of little inexpensive trinkets. Nothing too exciting. A post coming though ...

xx

A touch of India

I thought I might share another interesting item I have had stored away for a few years. This silk runner/table mat was given to me by Lyn's mum who had it passed on  to her by a friend who's family used to travel to India many years ago.
It's heavily decorated with metal embroidery which I assume was originally gold coloured. Parts are damaged and the silk itself is very worn, even threadbare in parts. I still think it is beautiful and would be nice framed for the wall. Not sure what I might do with it yet. Please excuse the dodgy and rather uninspired images. :)

On more tedious subjects, I have been painting the skirting board, architraves and some of the picture rail in my studio room over the last couple of days. The joiner forgot to take off the back part of the picture rail profile so the hooks cannot currently grip. We need to run it through the table saw to take a bit off and then I'll be painting that too.

Just a small tip... when painting, especially white enamel paint, don't wear your favourite jeans and then sit on the paint lid. Messy. It did come off with copious amounts of turps thankfully.

ps. I just wanted to thank you for your lovely birthday wishes. I don't generally tell people ( just blab it to the world wide web instead!!!) so your thoughts were really wonderful. xx



A 'wee' vintage purchase

Last week Mum and I went to the Hobart Antique Fair. A lot of local stalls but quite a few from the mainland too. We both saw lots we liked but little we could afford, a common problem of mine.
I did find an old chamber pot for $48 which I thought was quite good. Quite decorative for a potty. It did have gold edges that have been worn of over the years (or through use???). It doesn't bear thinking about!

I also picked up these three old postcards. The top left one is celluloid. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but just thought they were pretty.