Pretty Tole Rose & Glamorous Rhinestone Brooch

Yesterday I popped into one of my favourite places to go treasure hunting and found 3 very pretty finds!!!

First up I found a little Victoriana Rose Vase made by Paragon, England...I thought it was really sweet and I could find a place for it somewhere...???


Thinking, thinking, thinking...hmmm??? What can I put in this little vase??? Then I found a PRETTY vintage metal tole rose complete with chips and little rust...I must say I think it is just perfect the way it is. I put it straight into the vase and is fit like a charm...like it was meant to be or something!


Then I decided to have a look in the jewellery cabinet where I found the most GLAMOROUS rhinestone brooch in pinks, lavender blue and clear stones. OMG!!! I just had to have it there and then!!! When I turned it over it even has a makers mark - Jewel Crest and came in the original box as well. It was originally purchased at J. Shaw Watchmaker & Jewellers, 170-72 Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe. How cool to have this history!!!


I have also been playing around with my chandelier shades and changed my gold pleated ones to these pink ones as you can see below. I'm sure I will change them back again but the pink shades looked sweeter with the treasures I was taking photos of today :)

A Cottage Garden with Stunning Granny Bonnets

I love my roses but my all time favourite flower would have to be the old fashion Granny Bonnets by far. Last night I bought some beautiful seeds to add to my garden from the lovely Helen at THE COTTAGE GARDEN. I think granny bonnets would have to be the most pretty and dainty cottage flower ever and oh so very stunning to say the least. These flowers require a nice moist garden bed and a bit of shade which my backyard is full of. They seem to self seed and multiply so you end up with a whole lot of pretty flowers which I just love!

These are the beautiful granny bonnets I bought....

NORA BARLOW AQUILEGIA (BEAUTIFUL!!!)

BALLERINA PINK AQUILEGIA (HOW SWEET ARE THESE?)

SENSATIONAL SNOW WHITE AQUILEGIA (LOVE THE WHITES!)


BRILLIANT BLUE AQUILEGIA (I HAD TO HAVE SOME BLUE!!!)

PRETTY PINKY MAUVE AQUILEGIA (VERY DAINTY!)

LEMON & WHITE AQUILEGIA (THESE REMIND ME OF DAFFODILS BUT THEY LAST LONGER!)

You have to see Helen's garden...OH MY!!! You can see more of Helen's garden by viewing her ABOUT ME PAGE.


Dont forget to check out Helen's eBay Store THE COTTAGE GARDEN for more beauitful seeds. I would like to say a special thankyou to Helen for the use of her lovely photography and her garden.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE COTTAGE GARDEN COPYRIGHT 2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Jake Says WOOHOO To Jump Mania!

It is just past midnight and I have just finished putting Jake to bed after such a full on night at Rod Laver Arena where we watched Jump Mania...oh Jake was so funny...he could not sit still being so excited by all the motorbikes, smash up cars, monster trucks and all that boy stuff!

It started at 6pm and went for 4hrs so I think it was well worth the money. It was full of so much action I took so many photos as you never know which ones are going to turn out plus you only get one go at it while you are there.


We ended up getting in the doors at 6.30 as the traffic was so very bad trying to get in...felt like we were not moving so Jake and I got out and walked over the bridge and up the entrance while Cane went and parked the car....he got in at 7pm although he didn't really miss anything exciting which was good. Boy...what a photo of Jake...you sure can see the excitement there!!!

We saw lots of motor bike stunts...


Mini Monster Cars which had a little accident...no one was hurt thank god.


MONSTER CARS...



more MONSTER CARS...


and more MONSTER CARS!!!

Jakes favourite was the Scooby Doo Truck (of course)


Sadly the Batman Truck broke down after the first jump as it tipped one of the cars it was jumping which caused it to leak a whole lot of something on the floor...don't ask me what...I have no idea...ask my hubby lol.


Here are the cars before they were jumped on...

And here they are after the Monster Trucks finished with them!!! What a mess!!!


One of the motorbike riders even proposed to his girlfriend on the top of the truck...the photo is hard to see as they turned most of the lights off but it was cute...he got down on his knee and gave her a bunch of flowers and a ring...ahhhh!

To finish it all off they had a smash up derby...oh my...I have never seen anything as crazy as this before...


MAD!!!


Number 92 was the last man standing...I still think this sort of thing is mad and very dangerous!!!


This last photo is of my beautiful Jake...I like this one!


We had a great night tonight...something a bit different to what I am used to but I am the only woman living in this house so something's got to give at times...it was a fun filled night without any roses or china lol.

Sweet Little Wall Shelf

I bought the cutest little wall shelf from the wonderful Sharon - shabbyform in the U.S. which my hubby just finished mounting on the wall this morning. I Just finished popping some of my little treasures on it and thought I would share my newest find with you all.

I just LOVE it!!!

The perfume bottle has the cutest little cherub and the words Double Extra....Roger & Gallet, Paris. This little bottle has so much history to it...I would love to see what it saw back in the days when the beautiful lady splashed themselves with it!

I also added a little painting in the best vintage frame which I originally bought with intentions to remove the painting and add a photo but I just can not bring myself to pull the little watercolour painting out. I think it looks cute in its new home. And my little china roses...the one on the left is German and the one of the right is English. I love using these in my eBay photos.

On the top shelf I decided to put my little Sadler creamer that I use for a vase as I am missing the lid...not a big deal because I prefer it this way with fresh roses sitting inside.

And here is my display in full with my little drawer below that sits in my bedroom corner with a family photo in one of my mosaic frames and also a pair of limoges candlesticks. You have got to love Limoges China!!!

Jump Mania Tomorrow

My little Jake is so very excited today, last night Cane & I told him we are off to watch Jump Mania featuring Monster Trucks at Rod Laver Arena tomorrow evening (Saturday). My son and hubby are two car FREAKS so I am sure we will have the best time! I just found the Scooby Doo truck that will be there tomorrow so I thought I would post it below. I will be taking my camera tomorrow so I will post some photos soon.

I just noticed the song in the background of the clip above...I can just see my son singing along with that one! lol. Which little boy wouldn't?

Stolen Words!

I am a little mad at the moment and sick of everything that comes with eBay...I have had a person on eBay copy one of my listings word for word oh...sorry I forgot...changed one sentence!!! I am not happy to say the least! I have reported them to eBay and hopefully it gets removed as it is not nice when you spend all your time writing your own words down only for someone to come and copy it to their listing! I am sure I am not the first person this has happened to and will not be the last...it is very sad!

***UPDATE***
eBay has just removed the copied listing!

My Beautiful Painting

A few people have been asking about the painting I bought from Gail at Flemington Market (see a few posts back for details) so I thought I would post a quick photo of where it sits in my home. I must say, as soon as I got home I annoyed hubby till he put it up...I just could not wait!!! Anyway, here it is hanging above my front door in our entrance. Thanks Gail for another beautiful piece, it is just perfect! xo

I Found My Side Table at Last!

I have been looking...and...looking for a little side table to go in my spare room...or as I call it my eBay room. Anyway, last week I was picking up some lamps and I decided to take a little trip to the local antique centre where I found just what I had been looking for! I love the hand carved antique furniture in the old cream colour but I never seem to find it anywhere. As soon as I saw it I said I would take it without even looking at the price tag...something's you just can not say no to no matter what the price is. It ended up costing me $200...not sure if it was a good price or not but I love it to bits!

Here are some of my favourite treasures...my lovely pink rhinestone clock, gorgeous oroton rhinestone bag, huge german display plate as well as my beautiful roses I bought from Flemington Market that are sitting in my Royal Winton Jug.

Sunday Market at Flemington Racecourse & Beauiful Roses

Today I attended the Flemington Art and Craft Market at Flemington Racecourse. I had not been for a little while so it was nice to get out there especially with the gardens all in full bloom for the Melbourne Cup!

Lucky me got to pick up a new painting from Gail which you can see HERE and also brought home some wonderful Christmas cards and magnets from her...she is so cleaver! I could have taken home everything as I love it all!!! Make sure you watch out for those cards on Gail's website...they are the best!!!

Gail and I had a nice day browsing and sampling some yummy goodies....especially the yummy pudding!!! I bought my Christmas pudding and Butterscotch today...I don't like running around last minute looking for things and these ones are just yummo!

With all the roses in bloom we just had to take some home for ourselves.

Gail bought....you guessed it....PINK roses!

While I bought a mixed bunch of roses.

Look at the beautiful floating roses!!!

At the end of the day we went for a walk to pop all my bits in the car and found ourselves standing in the middle of the road taking photos of the beautiful arrangements that are featured all the way up the main car park...really funny now I think of it...people must have thought we were weird lol. Well we got some beautiful photos which is the main thing.

How beautiful!!!


My favourite combination...pink and blue!

On the way out I noticed on the corner of my eye a little hidden section of the garden so I decided to take a little look since I had my camera...I found a lovely statue of Phar Lap which my son is so into at the moment. We went to the Melbourne Museum and since then Jake has keep on about him. Now he has the book and watched the movie...mind you he cried all night because Phar Lap died! he was so happy I got this shot for him but I will probably take him back to see it himself next weekend. Phar Lap was very much loved down here in Melbourne and I think they those the best coloured roses to surround him! RED 4 LOVE.

I am going to finish off this post with the best of the best roses that were on display in the gardens and don't forget to check out Gail's Blog to see more lovely pics from today.

So delicate and very pretty!

In one word...Elegance!

OOH LA LA!!!

WOW, what a statement!

Happy Birthday Puppies!!!

I know I have already posted today but I am so excited and wanted to share with you all...We have been speaking about getting a friend for Rocky our little Jack Russell who is 6mth old. Our friend breads Jake Russells and today she called me to tell me her female was having puppies as we spoke and that I should come see. She usually only has 4 per litter but she ended up having 7 puppies, 3 girls and 4 boys!!! We are talking about a little dog here too...not a large bread at all. Gee...I am so glad we do not carry babies in large numbers like this!!! Anyway, Jake and I have convinced Cane that Rocky needs a little girlfriend so our family will be getting a puppy for Christmas...woohoo! I am not sure which little girl we will be getting until Cane and Jake have a look at them but this one below took my fancy with all the tan markings.

We will be going to visit again next week so I will post a photo of the whole litter then...I did not want to upset them today...the mother was pretty exhausted after giving birth to all 7 puppies as you can imagine! I have never seen puppies be born into our world so it was a nice experience.

Newly Listed Lighting This Week & My Front Entrance

I have listed a few more lamps and lighting on eBay this week and also bought another for myself!!! I can't seem to help myself can I?


This is the beautiful cranberry chandelier lamp I bought the other day. I was not sure if the deep cranberry would be too deep in colour for my home when I first bought it but with the contrast of the soft pink crystal drops I think it fits in ok.

The lamp sits in our entrance on a scrolly iron hall table and above is the most beautiful and very large chippy mirror which I just love! I have a little butterfly stuck to the top corner of the mirror which Jake gave me this Mother's Day...he is so very sweet and thoughtful! With the lamp being in our entrance it is pretty much always on at night and seems to give out the softest shade and pink light on the walls which is very calm and relaxing. Just what I need lately!

This key holder hangs on the wall beside the little table, my lovely friend Gail McCormack painted her pretty roses on it for me...so pretty isn't it? This little key holder goes way back and is very old. I can remeber it hanging on our walls when I was a child...it used to have a handpainted country sceen on it, from what I can remember it was purchased by my beloved Nanny Daphney who lived with us. Sadly she is no longer with us but I like to believe I take after my Nanny. She was always very honest, true to herself as well as to her family and friends (which is a big thing to me!), she never called black - white and always worried about her family before herself. A real lady with a huge heart! I consider her a second Mother in my eyes and always will!

Here are the listings for the week...a beautiful 6 arm chandelier floor lamp

An elegant and very dainty chandelier table lamp

OOH LA LA....look at this cherub chandelier...what a stunner!!!

And here is the antique basket I spoke about cleaning a little while ago...you should have seen the way it looked before...oh my! What a dirty thing it was! You would not think that now would you? I took every single crystal off and popped them all into the dishwasher...yes...you read right...the dishwasher! It seems to get all the little bits of dirt off which are sometimes impossible to get to. I just pop them into a salad strainer and into the dishwasher on normal wash. They come out like brand new and sparkling clean! So next time you have to clean the crystals on your chandelier remember to give it a go. If you would like to take a look at the current auctions you can click on the photos for more info.

Pretty Summer Colours in the Garden

I have been busy in my yard the last few days...planting lots of pretty colours so they are all in full bloom come Christmas (I like to have my house colourful at Christmas time, inside and out!) Today I dropped Jake off at school and went to my local nursery to pick up some potted colour so I could make two nice arrangements either side of my vintage love seat. I decided to go for purple petunias, pink and lemon snapdragons and white alyssums. I can not wait till they establish themselves and all grow together!

Rocky kept me busy, every time I took one plant out of the pot he would run off with the pot and try to eat it!!! Not the yummiest taste for his mouth so I gave him a nice bone to chew on instead.

I also had hubby put up a nice little feature on the wall of our courtyard which I added little purple and white violas...it will look lovely once the violas start to spill out of the clamshell.

And here are my pansy's that I planted a little while ago now...they add so much colour to the backyard! Love them!!!

Oh...it looks like all that playing and planting in the garden was too much for little Rocky...he decided to go lay on top of Jake's sand pit and have a little nap in the sun...I think he looks very relaxed here. What a life!!!

My cheeky husband just called me up while I was posting and said he had to tell me something...then asked if I was sitting down and told me I better...then he told me he won tattslotto...I did not believe him but he promised me it was true...then he said he won 4 straight which was $54.00!!!! LOL. I could have killed him! It is usually me playing jokes on him but this time he got me and got me good! :)

Vintage Cherub Lighting

Today I bought yet another chandelier...it was suppose to go on eBay but when I saw it I just had to have it for myself! The lamp is so dainty and elegant with lots of dripping crystals, a cherub stem and a beautiful base.

Love the shades on it too which I recieved today from England! I must say, I took this lamp home knowing I did not have a spot for it (but when did that ever stop me?) so then I needed to give up one of mine which is now available on eBay with some other chandelier lamps I listed yesterday and today.

So cute!

It seem I am developing a bit of a passion for the cherubs as a little while ago I also bought this chandlier lamp that sits on my sideboard in the kitchen and meals area.

It lights up like a Christmas Tree...REALLY! It has all swarovski crystals from top to toe...the colour that comes out of it is just amazing! I like having it on at dinner time even if it is just Cane, Jake and I. What is the use of having pretty things like these if you can not enjoy them?

Anyway, I must be off...I am very tired as I have been spending so much time on this computer the last few days with all the listings but it fells good to get back into the swing of things as a friend of mine says! :)

Yesterday's Market Finds

I have been busy taking photos, editing and doing some eBay listings that I hope to list today if all goes well. I had the best time at the market yesterday...I found so many pretty treasures that I am going to offer this week so I thought I would share...

The vintage tray above is something I have never seen before...the ladies dresses has foil under them to give of a nice metalic shine. It is also stamped made in Germany.

Well...I am not sure if I am feeling ok considering I am letting this rhinestone evening bag go...hmmm??? I am going to stop looking at the photos before I change my mind!!!

This is the sweetest vintage musical clock which looks to be european.

A huge 1950's print of the most wonderful pink and red roses resting in a sweet bowl.

And last but not least vintage retro bathroom scales in everyones all time favourite colour 'PINK' I also have a basket chandelier similar to the ones I have in my home but I am in the process of cleaning it as we speak. I will update this post with links on each photo once I have them listed. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their day!

UPDATE - ALL ITEMS ARE NOW LISTED ON EBAY...YOU CAN CLICK ON EACH PHOTO TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE AUCTION.

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