What to do with Shutters?

I found a pair of interesting looking shutters quite sometime ago....originally stained, I've been slowly repainting them a soft shade of white. As I was painting on the trailing pink roses I was thinking of different ways you could make use of the shutters.

When I bought the shutters this is what I had in mind, the above photo is a window pane mirror I gave a revamp to in one of my previous posts. The shutters are a perfect size either side of the mirror....or maybe....

A display for Old China saucers and plates



Next to the phone as a holder for pens, glasses, notes etc.

A feature outdoors behind pot plants To display Rusty old keys and scissors

Hinged together as a little bench divider to hide bits and pieces

Do you have anymore ideas??....I'd love to hear them if you do

Thanks so much for visiting

Red Hill Market

Hope you're not getting sick of our market photos.

We had a few new ideas for this market so thought I'd post some photos to share them with you.


Tony hinged up some slatted door panels, they made a great background and were perfect as hangers.


There's Tony above, ready for a sale by the looks of things, I'm lazing in the background with my camera and sore ankle (it's nearly better)

I bought these beautiful blue hydrangeas from one of the stalls, I love hydrangeas, we used to have them growing in our garden, with the strict water restrictions and dry weather conditions they've gradually died off. They're easy to dry, but you have to pick them at the right stage, which these ones aren't.

This was a panel Tony's mounted 3 prints in and attached a cut glass handle, he's added some gold beading around the inner frame, it's so eyecatching!

These Craft Markets we sell at are very strict with their rules, absolutely everything has to be 100% home made. All the furniture you can see in my photos is made by Tony, he uses new and recycled timber, he paints and distresses or varnish and polishes all his creations. We often take it as a compliment when someone thinks its a genuine old tatty piece that could do with a new coat of paint!

Not all the furniture is distressed, the utility bench above has the most beautiful rich coloured natural timber top. We've started our beach theme up for these summer markets.

This is Tony and I at the market today......after seeing the artwork in the photos, you know all rosy and pink, would you ask the two people above "Who is the artist?" we get at least 10 people asking us that very question every single market, they think Tony is the artist, his answer is "No I'm not the artist but I taught her everything"......

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend wherever you maybe!

Some New Ideas

I've just added some quirky bits and pieces to our website. The one in the photos above and below is taken from a print from one of my original paintings, Tony's mounted it on a 12mm thick mdf board and cut around the shape of the china and cupcakes with his jigsaw. I think it would look great either hung or free standing in a bookcase or whatever, sort of a similar idea to the wonderful large size letters you see.

I don't think he'll be mass producing these quirky cut outs, just the odd "one offs" when he's feeling the urge!

The tea cups in the panel above are my creation, I had quite a few blank panels, I've specially painted some tea cups to take prints of for the panels as shown above, I'm going to add a quirky handle to this one

Here's a photo of another way I made use of the panels, Sharon from Luvs Shabby now owns this one....hers is an original

This is a Vintage Tin cabinet I'd found, I thought some simple Tea Cups hand painted on the front would give it a bit of a lift....I love it, it even has a little old key to lock your treasures safely away inside. It's that lovely soft vintage green colour, little bits of surface rust peeking through and has little hangers on the back if you wanted to hang it on the wall

I have the tin cabinet and the cut out print available on our website, you can just click here to have a peek

We are selling at Red Hill market tomorrow, it's going to be quite warm again, it's an early morning market, it's always a lot cooler up in the Hills so it should be OK.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend

Thanks for visiting

Our New Year

Welcome to my first 2008 Post

Hope you've all enjoyed the coming of the New Year

I sometimes wonder if there's a bit too much pressure put on us all to go out and celebrate in a big way. It doesn't have to be that way.

This was our celebration, it wasn't planned at all, the kids had been down the beach all afternoon, they stopped on the way home for BBQ meat and salads and organised everything.

Todd is a master BBQ cooker. No fancy table settings - an old lace tablecloth on our outdoor table, with sauces served from the bottle, yummy fresh bread served from the bread packet, salads, wine and beer of course....it was a fantastic casual night!

Our New Year's Day was just as casual and enjoyable, very very hot it was in Melbourne, once again. Tony and I were both home, no markets, no workshop for Tony and a bit of a look at the blogs for me...I must be honest and say we felt a bit disorientated, we've lazed around all day reading magazines, Tony gave Guss a bath and that's how we've spent the first day of 2008!

What have you done today?, I'd love to hear

Thanks for visiting