✽ draw! pilgrim ✽: 7by7

when i left you last week i was picking up the keys to my studio in the nicholas building. this is very exciting and i’m going to tell you more next week, but in the meantime look who i met! its an urban mid-city grassless hopper!

a couple of floors below my studio is one of melbourne’s biggest vintage clothing boutiques, retrostar. while it does have lots of groovy stuff, its stupidly priced (sorry retrostar, but its true. and after vintaging in the US my suspicions were confirmed) so its only for special occasions. their dressing rooms are papered with charming vintage magazines. spot the 40 year old iced vovo!

oops i bought a dress at retrostar. but like i said, its an ‘only for special occasions shop’ and so here is my celebratory ‘i got a studio’ dress.

and here are my ‘i’ve got hair clips to go with that dress!’ hair clips

stop. candy time. haribo starmix is my gummi candy of choice.

when i got home someone had put the cat upside down on a tram ticket.. i thought it best not to ask questions.

and lastly, here is a detail of my pinboard. i took a few fresh shots of my desk this week before some of it gets moved to my studio, and this vignette stood out as one that seemed to sum things up.

i hope your weekend is nice. you should make some lemonade with real lemons. its refreshing when its hot weather, and when its cold weather its so soothing with lots of honey. i’ve been dying for some lemonade all week so maybe i’ll go find a lemony neighbor.

7by7: march 10th 2011

Last modified on 2011-03-10 10:33:33 GMT. 6 comments. Top.

what. a. week! i had to pinch myself at some points to check i wasn’t dreaming, and at other times i was checking to see if i was strapped into this rollercoaster! the highs were high and the lows were.. thankfully in the minority. but let’s see the photo finish, shallll weeeee?

because you awesome readers had bought stuff through my amazon associate link i got a little voucher to use! thank you sweet people – i used it well i promise. i bought ‘lifestyle illustrations of the 60s’ and ‘custom lettering of the 60s and 70s’ (IT’S A TRAP! if you purchase those i get more amazon funbucks so only click through if you like helping out poor starving artists who like buying nice books and sharing them with their attractive and intelligent readers) both by the super-fantastiche rian hughes. holy cow these books are incredible inspiration! my mind suffered a blow out just flicking through, and i had to go lie down. i promise i’ll show you a couple of pages inside because people, you need to own these books.

yes, sausages, i know its blurry. my camera’s timer decided to censor my outfit photo – but you know, i like this version better. its dreamy, and impressionistic. its monet on LSD, its carol brady without her contacts in, its what it looks like to lay down all thought and surrender to the void.

i think perhaps i inadvertently started a new thing, with shoe photo friday. no turquoise patent leather this week, here i’m wearing melissa jelly slingbacks. i adore melissas – they smell like bubblegum, they’re all crazy and cute and they’re jellies so you could gnaw on them for days and they’d be fine (i’m looking at you mr kitty.. one too many pair or chewed leather ballet flats and i may have got your point). my point is, i have many pairs, so you should too!

step in to the glittery universe. i’ve been transfixed by the lucite bangle i wore to the roxy music gig last week. can i holiday in lucite, please?

how’s this for a nifty gift: the unkillable cactus. in search of a cute hostess gift i popped in to the little shop of handmade *cough* stockist *cough* and emerged triumphantly with that cute guy pictured up there. it was well received and you’re all getting knitted cacti now. that sounded like oprah: YOU GET A CACTI, AND YOU GET A CACTI*

* cacti only valid with special occasion in-person visits.

brutal scenes from a child’s party. the unicorn got strung up on the clothes line and beaten until its sweet, sweet interior gave out.

if i can’t holiday in lucite, can i vacation in sprinkles? please? c’mon! you can come with..

finally, my son is old enough to appreciate the ways of the stylophone. if you’re unfamiliar, the stylophone is a pocket sized, battery run synthesizer. you can hear it in space oddity by david bowie, and styloroc: nights in suburbia by pulp, amongst other songs. next week: baby’s first moog. i wish. mama needs herself a mellotron first! hey if you’re interested in these synthesizer type things, check out the new sound of music, from 1979.

hope your weekend is filled with sparkles, synths and sprinkles

7by7: march 4th, 2010

Last modified on 2011-03-04 01:17:05 GMT. 4 comments. Top.

hey you! want to see what my week (and a bit) looked like?

i’m spending my wednesdays at a cutie pie store called do re me, in horne st right by elsternwick train station (you should pop in and visit!). anyway not working at home means i have an excuse to get dressed! on wednesday i dragged out one of my many (yes seriously) pairs of turquoise shoes. they’re patents from quick brown fox a few years old. cute, right?

if you caught my last post you’d have noticed i mentioned i’m going to japan for a couple of weeks in june. let the plotting and planning and excited giggling COMMENCE!

now let us marvel on the most delicious and adorable picnic food ever: poached chicken sandwiches made by cintia. there is nothing that girl can’t do well: yes those are chive bows around each sandwich!

pencils at my son’s kindergarten look like candy, don’t you think? they made me want to pull up a painfully tiny chair and go bananas on some reams of butchers paper.

speaking of the kiddo, i finally hung one of my favourite LA souvenirs: a vintage felt pennant from the moon landing. my son loves space stuff and it looks groovy above his moon wall light, don’t you think? it came from the unbelievably amazing shine gallery.

i took a break from staring at the glowing computer screen last weekend to whip up a little pretty pony present for a party. the recipient loved it, and it was lots of fun to make. having a boy is ace, but its nice to vicariously live through other people’s girly girls. the fabric is japanese, the pattern was vintage and i crocheted a ruffle mane.

last night i lived out a teenage dream: i saw roxy music live in person. i was hugely into glam rock as a teenager, sneakily wearing sparkle tights under my school uniform and pretending i lived in the video clip of virginia plain. i got all glammed up, raised some eye brows on the train there, and then danced myself silly. good times. they even played my favorite song of theirs: pyjamarama. next i want to do it all again at a bowie concert. hint HINT DAVID!! (because you know bowie is reading my blog haha)

wishing you all a glamtastic weekend of boogying and feeling like you’re 16 all over.

7by7: december 17th 2010

Last modified on 2010-12-16 13:28:00 GMT. 5 comments. Top.

cute as a button! i’m reeeeeally excited to share with you some new button badge treats in the draw! pilgrim store. there are four different sets, each containing four different designs, and all with many adorable uses. head to the store to see the range, i think you’ll like them!

this week i visited do re me, a really delicious new store (and stockist of mine!) in elsternwick. i spotted these quilts there and had to snap them. such pretty fabrics. i think they’re my poppet treasures because such gorgeous fabric must come from the hallowed poppet fabric vault!

mmmmmmm our christmas tree. i’m sorry it isn’t scratch and sniff.

and here it is, decoration in progress. our tree decorating helper did a great job and was so respectful to the old glass ornaments. now to train him to un-decorate the tree and pack everything away nicely. little virgo guy will be an expert in a few years for sure!

i got this amazing color wheel necklace from yellow owl workshop. it arrived last week and i’ve barely taken it off since. isn’t that little glass vial cute? such fun packaging. speaking of magical color amulets of power…

i looked up from my desk and realized i had a nice little apple green tableau going on. its a very fresh, energizing color to be around and that corner is the source of ALL my power. also i frequently eat green apples there so its extra powerful. and appley.

and lastly i wanted to share with you a quiet moment. i had the house to myself, everything was quiet and tidy and cool. i did some work, and then i took a break and enjoyed a mango. it probably doesn’t translate, but it was just kind of blissful. and yes, i like to work from the floor occasionally. i also derive power from sitting cross legged.

i hope you have a weekend of blissful moments. don’t forget to grab a festive angel printable for your christmas table!

7by7: december 3rd, 2010

Last modified on 2010-12-02 12:43:26 GMT. 6 comments. Top.

i’ll be totally honest with you, these aren’t all from this week. i know, i know – its an intricate web of lies, but this week has been so rainy and rubbish i’ve had no opportunity to get snap happy. so this is more like a summary of my past month instead…

first and foremost i really must give thanks to the god of shopping who has smiled on me lately. turquoise swedish hasbeens boots, purple tory burch reva jelly flats and possibly the best dress ever. just looking at that dress makes me excited beyond belief!

and a new treasure that deserves a picture all of its own – this 60′s dekka plastics bird tray. what a fabulous bird that is, and its new home is my lounge room wall.

maybe all that luck is from this little guy? my boyfriend found it on the way home from work last week.

i adore this photo. there needs to be more adult-life situations that call for haring around a park with a bunch of balloons. in fact just more balloons in general!

Photobucket

look, i found a rainbow on the wall. the wall texture almost makes it look like a magic eye picture. can you see the schooner? (that’s a ‘mallrats’ joke)

we made puddings! narrowly missing “stir up sunday” miss cintia, miss shelley, and miss kirstie and i gathered to observe uh, “mix up monday”. mixtures were mixed, puddings were steamed, company was enjoyed and now we all have lovely puddings for christmas day. don’t they look cute sitting on the counter so plump?

and finally i leave you literally with a slice of australian christmas… “white christmas slice”. candied fruit, rice bubbles and white chocolate together in one convenient festive treat. deliciously tooth melting.

have a fabulous weekend and don’t forget that my yard sale is wrapping up at 12am melbourne time sunday december 5th.

7by7: october 29th, 2010

Last modified on 2010-10-28 10:36:00 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

last weekend we flew to the capital city of australia: canberra. if you’re not from australia – i bet you thought our capital was sydney, right? well canberra is a couple of hours drive from sydney and is quite a charming little city. even if it is a bit labyrinthine what with all those roundabouts and such. the reasons we visited was for my boyfriend’s family reunion. i was a bit nervous – i’m from a very small family (the only child of an only child of an only child on one side!) so the thought of meeting dozens of aunts and cousins and such was overwhelming. thankfully everyone was really lovely and it was so special to see my son with his father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

one of the first things i noticed about canberra was their kerrraaaazy bus shelters! isn’t it amazing?! its so mod it looks like a space ship will pass by. i also appreciated the bus company in canberra was called ACTION, or Australian Capital Territory (that’s the “state” canberra is in) Internal Omnibus Network. best acronym ever or what! personally i feel the use of ‘omnibus’ is stretching it a bit but, whatevs. sit in your space pod and get on the next ACTIO that passes by.

before we left we vaguely discussed the attractions we’d visit while in canberra and i was happy with what was on offer. then, on the plane there my boyfriend drops the bomb that there is a miniature village just out of town. *record scratch sound effect* WHAT? no body keeps miniature towns secret from me! so after dropping our bags we headed straight to “cockington green”. i’ll share more pictures next week because people, cockington green is worthy of its own post! when we discovered this wishing fountain with dyed blue water i wished for every holiday to include kitschy miniatures.

what’s that, the breakfast they served on the plane? nope. its a rock. from THE moon. yeah, earth’s moon. you may recall i have a space obsessed son (and boyfriend actually… one time we had a tiff because he was spending more time with a meteor than with me) so a visit to the deep space communication complex at tidbinbilla was a given. i was pretty excited to go too i admit and it was really exciting to see the huge radio telescope dishes there, including the original dish used to transmit the first images of man landing on the moon. staring up at the huge white dishes was humbling and the fact that we got ourselves on to the moon with computer’s that are probably now out-run by calculators is just incredible. go team space! and yay! look at the ROCK from THE MOON! you know, the moon up there!

i’m not sure i was supposed to be taking photos in the space centre, but i’m shutter-happy so i furtively took some snaps. these patches from various missions were neat i thought but there were better ones i really wanted to snap. unfortunately they were continually blocked by an enthusiastic guide who would trap anyone approaching in an intense conversation. my love of not being talked to death over ran my love of a good embroidered patch photo. i wish i was clever enough to work for nasa and get groovy space patches. *cough* hear that nasa – i’d like a patch or two. and in case you were wondering, my favourite missions were the pre-gemini-suit mercury missions when they got to wear silvery space suits. now that’s a spaceman!

while the boy’s checked out the questacon science museum i got to spend a leisurely morning strolling through the national gallery of australia. it really was bliss and the gallery has a fabulous 20th century collection, and now a vast series of galleries of indigenous art. i saw sidney nolan’s ned kelly series, and i sat in front of the infamous blue poles by jackson pollock. i really enjoyed the little exhibition of anton bruehl’s photography form 1920-1950. how groovy is this ceiling? the national gallery was officially opened in 1982 (just like me!) and a huge new wing has just opened as of last month. i got a bit of a thrill when i saw a book by my mum’s dear friend in the book shop, there was a moment of ‘hmm is it appropriate to run around a fancy store pointing to a book and shouting “i know who wrote this! i did work experience for her! she’s ace”. i decided to play it cool and just move it to the middle of the shelf instead – so no one missed it.

in the grounds of the gallery is an amazing sculpture garden. it was so cool and quiet to wander amongst the trees and enjoy the works. opposite the sculpture garden is a huge lake with an island that houses the carillion: a bell tower. as i was wandering they started playing the bells, and it was pretty special to be amongst nature and the art (including a fog sculpture by fujiko nakaya!) this photo shows part of james turrel’s mesmerizing installation ‘within without’. i’ll leave you to meditate on those surfaces and wish you an excellent weekend as full of priceless experiences as mine was last weekend.

7by7: october 15th 2010

Last modified on 2010-10-14 05:17:57 GMT. 11 comments. Top.

excuse the less-than amazing mirror photo, but i was just so excited to show you that vintage dreams can come TRUE! yes, that dress i’m wearing is the exact same one as a dress i swooned over when i showed you snippets from the early-70s sears catalog! during one of my many etsy vintage expeditions to round up my ‘as seen on etsy’ posts i stumbled upon this dress and just about fell off the sofa. now it’s mine and i love it very, very, much.

meet barbara. i actually met her a couple of weeks back but she charmed me so i must include her. she’s a lovely gal who lives in a lovely home her chicken-mum dani made. i really liked the way she gave me a number of poses while i took her picture and then she retired to her quarters and started telling the other chooks off for not coming to bed early too! even hens need their beauty sleep, right barbara?

i’m starting to feel like there are flowers all through my 7by7 posts. maybe i’ll have to include “gratuitous flower shot” warnings! i just really like flowers, and i want to share the pretty flowers i find with you. aren’t these wisteria spectacular? there was a whole shower of them along the fence. it was like a big purple cloud was hovering there.

other people’s inspiration boards are always fascinating aren’t they? this is a peek at peta pledger’s pin board. you know she has some insane bargains available during her frocktober special. check it out because her clothes are beautifully made! i’m so excited to be working with her on a very cool dress of my own right now.

there is really no way to segue into this photo. perhaps just an explanation? one date night a while ago the boy and i were killing time at the mall waiting for the movie to start. we played skeeball and people watched and then decided to try our luck with the bouncy-ball gumball machine. there was loads of different kinds of balls but i saw one single faceted ball like this on the top of the pile and thought it was awesome. “i hope we get a faceted one…. but i only see that one on top” i said as i put our $2 in and turned the crank and out came…. this faceted ball. i was pretty excited. now it hangs around the house and every now and then will surface and enchant me once again. isn’t it cool? it looks like its a gem from some mystical temple or something. but bouncy!

we’ve had deliciously warm days here earlier in the week and i’m so happy to be able to toss together delicious impromptu salads. this refreshing concoction accompanied some chilli, rice and sweet corn and it was goooooood. are you digging that 50′s bowl? that was my grandma rowie’s and many a fine waldorf salad was served in it’s groovy atomic curves.

and one final gratuitous flower shot to end the week. i can’t walk by a daisy bush without taking one. this one made it home and demanded i take pictures of its gloriously sunny self. i love that yellow in the centre!

on that note, have a sunny and glorious weekend and i’ll see you back here next week with more details on my online yard sale that you should join in with too. and stop by be a fun mum to see an interview with me about my house & decorating.

7by7: october 1st 2010

Last modified on 2010-09-30 11:58:33 GMT. 9 comments. Top.

after the other week’s as seen on etsy featuring mugs, a commenter asked about my own mugs. well, here some of the are. i have lots of pedestal mugs made in japan in the 60s! they really do make me very happy, and each time i have a drink from one it gives me a little thrill, truly. i think its important to surround yourself with things that give you that reaction. you should truly love the things you buy.

and sometimes its the contents of the mugs that give me a thrill: i found a smiley guy in my latte! isn’t that funny? it was purely accidental – and purely delicious! i’m afraid he didn’t survive too long after this picture was taken. but we’ll always have the picture, won’t we latte guy.

as mentioned on tuesday, we went to our fair and much fun was had by all. we brought home a little fun with us, because who can resist pinwheels. normally we get a dolly on a stick, but i only just binned last year’s! oh and the fairy floss didn’t last long enough for a photo!

while waiting for the train home from the fair i noticed my son is getting his first few freckles across his nose! my freckles have faded along with my childhood loathing of them, but when i was smaller i was quite the freckle face. no surprise my fair boy is taking after his mama.

i don’t believe i’ve ever shown my garden, but here it is! freshly tidied by some extremely super people. you see, i’m trying to be a grown up. and grown ups like things like gardens, so i asked many questions of the experts who took away the prickly bushy thing, and pulled up the wrong green parts. now i know i need some seaweed fertilizer and i should probably go out there once in a while to weed, rather than drink campari in the (just out of shot) hammock.

grown ups like gardening and cooking too, so it only makes sense that i, as a grown up, should grow my own herbs to cook with. even having them here in proximity to me has made me cook slightly better!

and lastly, i bought a pretty flower to put by my door. apparently a dead poinsettia from last christmas and a shrivelled cobwebbed cactus aren’t the best feng shui or somesuch. and this is why you rarely see photos of the outside of my house! so keep me in check – ask about the herbs and garden etc and hopefully it will motivate me to not neglect them!

in other “i’m being an adult” news, i’ve eaten at least one piece of fruit each day (sometimes two though) and i’ve tried my best to drink eight glasses of water each day too (though mostly i can only fit seven). i feel a lot better for it, no wonder its the foundation of good health. now excuse me, but i have to pee again for the 475th time. see you monday!

7by7: september 24th 2010

Last modified on 2010-09-23 12:26:32 GMT. 8 comments. Top.

i’m still a bit obsessed with the holographic ribbon curtain we had at the space birthday. its long gone, but i could stare at this photos for hours. its hypnotic and kaleidoscopic.

kaaaaa-uuuuute!! boing boing boing. ms peta pledger gave this vintage birthday card. its so adorable, and so special to have received a vintage card. look at the happy bunnies and frogs!

nothing like having your very own kid to bring the excitement back to birthday mornings. he was even excited about opening his card! and that one wasn’t even the groovy vintage one.

while tidying up for the party i found a bunch of these guys hangin’ out on my desk. i should remind you it was not i who just turned four, however i like plastic toys a lot. these little chaps are all tiny charms from decole bath fizzies etc. the red petit baby deer i bought separately.

those of you who’ve read for a while know how much i love my list making and my filofax. i also like to color-code my daily tasks for quick-glance reading. so, i’ve tried using the zippered pocket that came with the filofax but it got on my nerves and the pen holder on the side doesn’t fit most regular pens, so i decided to make my own penholder that i could store all my pens in, and access one without needing to pull them aaaaall out. i was inspired by the crayon wallets dannielle made for my son’s party favours. as you can see, its fabric with five pockets – one for each pen. it’s impossible to see in this photo, but it has a clear plastic strip that clips into the folder, so everything stays put! it was all very cheap, the fabric i had, the clear plastic is an overhead projector sheet that i cut to size and punched holes into and the whole thing is stuffed with a bit of cardboard to stop it flopping about! necessity is the mother of invention, and i’m pretty proud of my filo-hack! filofaxes are the BEST!

speaking of the best.. my nail varnish this week matches my filofax. hawt. its 60 seconds “sky high” by rimmel. the opal ring was my grandma rowie’s and i wear it everyday. its an amazing color and a groovy 60s style. i think its very her, but also very me and i like that its a bridge between us.

speaking of hands, these are my boy’s hands. i think he has really lovely hands, they’re the well manicured hands of a musician, but still masculine enough to feel safe around my girly hands.

wishing you all a fab weekend. we’re off to the melbourne show (carnival) so i’ll see you on monday with a sugar-hangover the size of a prize winning bull!

7by7: september 3rd

Last modified on 2010-09-02 04:33:01 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

helloooo september! i see you’ve brought the sun back with you, ever so briefly. well then how about i share some peeks into my week?

oh its been such a long and bitter winter here. especially bad since our heating stopped working and i’ve spent the last month virtually living on top of the tiny radiator! i took this photo on our vacation and looking at it thaws me just a little bit. here comes the sun…

sigh. i spent a dreamy afternoon relaxing in front of the fire and watching the sun move across the carpet. the house we stayed at had cut glass windows and at certain times it cast rainbows on the floor. i have a pretty spectacular pedicure at the moment (OPI’s coronation, with a few topcoats of napoleon’s las vegas lights – so its silver holographic topped with more holographic glitter. yep my toes are from the year 2525) and i took a picture of my toes in this rainbow but i thought i’d spare you all an ultra close shot of my toes.

while on vacation i took my guy to one of my favourite haunts from back in the day. this place remains virtually unchanged since it opened in the late 60′s and though the ambience and clientele may be questionable, its still charming and awesome in a very special way. are you diggin’ that mirror? i love the greatful dead-esque type – not to mention that little bacchanalian tableau in the blue section. goats and cider and babies?! they just don’t make ‘em like they used to!

another old-skool eatery we visited has this amazing ceiling. its like a huge inverted ice cube tray. i love thinking back to my mum telling me how she and her 60s art school cohorts would come here to drink fancy “cappucino” and eat that new fangled “spaghetti bolognaise”. australia in the 60s was a funny place! influxes of european immigrants shook it into a new multicultural age and it must have been so exciting. i feel i need to confess to sharing SIX scoops of gelato here. the ceiling made me do it! oh but it was the best.

isn’t this spectacular?! i just can’t get over how perfect this camellia is. and there was just this one on the plant. it took all its plant power to make this one perfectly formed flower. thank you, plant. i know i’ve killed a lot of your kind, but i do appreciate you.

oh, and this! this, my friends, is what haigh’s toasted marshmallows look like. years ago my dad worked for haigh’s as their head chocolatier. he was something of a genius when it came to confectionary and he could temper chocolate like a wizard. i remember making these at home with him, so when i pass by haighs i treat myself to a packet. mmm the toasted coconut goes everywhere but who cares! before he died, my dad gave me his confectioners thermometer. its such a silly thing but it means so much to me. i need to get it out and make some nougat, toffees and boiled sweets for christmas this year, i think.

last of all, i’d like to introduce the newest member of my bedroom art wall family. i found this tray on etsy and it was too good to pass up. after all, love is all you need!

i hope you’ve had a good week and you’re enjoying the seasonal transitions wherever you are. got anything exciting planned for the weekend? i have some work to do and a movie to see and some friends to eat (with). see you monday, lovelies!

7by7: august 6th 2010

Last modified on 2010-08-05 23:33:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

a couple of days following after my birthday, it was my boyfriend’s birthday. pictured above is one of the little presents i bought him: an original 60′s beatles patch to sew on his beloved jacket. gift giving in the age of the internet is thee best thing, don’t you agree?

one of my friends is a jehovah’s witness, and because they celebrate neither birthdays or christmas, anniversaries get all the attention – which is pretty lovely when you think about it because its very personal. so for our friendship anniversary she came bearing an array of tiny cakes! and hooo boy were these cakes ever good. closest to the front is a flourless orange cake that was so so moist it was almost like eating a custard or mousse. behind that, to the left slightly is a lemon and lime curd tart. yum. at the very back almost out of shot is a mud cake which was virtually solid chocolate. and then on the right was the most delicious pistachio mousse covered in dark chocolate. looking at this photo again has me salivating. if you’re a local reader, the cakes were from amici on chapel street. you’d have jehovah’s witness friends too if they all took cake with them when they went door knocking!

this guy likes to help out. here he is helping to clear out the car boot/trunk. he’s very good at picking out the trash and choosing a new car air freshener – but it kind of smells like apple mentos.

this little corner is in the walk-thru arcade of our local shopping centre. previously it was the dingiest, most uninspiring space. but the green light pizza bar has opened up and transformed the space into such a great dining area. there’s heating and communal seating and those lanterns look fab! and how great is that wallpaper? great work greenlight, i look forward to eating your wholesome looking pizza soon.

do you live in melbourne? do you pass through flinders street station? how often have you passed under this beautiful art nouveau glass window and not noticed it? i’m guilty of it, but on sunday i looked up and admired the grandeur of our beautiful old station. now would whoever owns the station please run tours of the behind the scenes? i want to see the ballroom!

i’m very lucky to get flowers quite a lot. i love having fresh flowers around, and i love indoor plants. but i feel less guilty about the cut flowers dying than i do about killing off yet another plant. eheh. black thumb! anyway, aren’t the colors fab?

while i was washing the dishes these two bowl caught my eye. stacked together they looked so good! both belonged to my grandma rowie. on the bottom is the kaj franck arabia enamel bowl, and stacked inside is a ceramic bowl thats black on the outside and the inside is white with very 50′s black zig-zags. washing dishes is a lot more inspiring when theres graphic interplay afoot!

so thats what my life is looking like! how about you? do you have colorful plans for the weekend? if you’re after something fun, why not join the birthday swap going on at calico & co.

see you next week.

7by7: July 16th, 2010

Last modified on 2010-07-16 01:09:24 GMT. 12 comments. Top.

i haven’t done a 7by7 post in forever, but what better opportunity is there to show off some of my birthday presents?! if you’re new to these parts, 7by7 was a weekly feature i did for a while where i would share seven photos from my week. unfortunately i got a bit busy and its winter now in australia so its mostly too cold and dark for photo taking. but this was no ordinary week…

my gorgeous boyfriend picked out this print for my present. isn’t it charming? its called ‘count abernathy was an avid bird watcher’ and its by matte stephens. now to find a spot on the wall for it so that i may become an avid count abernathy watcher..

also from my boy was Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon. oh! i love, love, love this book so much. its such a treasure trove of inspiration. i’ve adored vera neumann ever since i noticed that sweet little ladybird on one of my grandma’s scarves, so to finally have a copy of this book is so exciting. i feel like stimpy the cartoon cat: OH JOY! *hugs book*

cake! of course there had to be a cake and of course it had to have a draw! pilgrim topper on it. i practice what i preach, people. and thank goodness for friends who come bearing cake, am i right?

and speaking of friends, boy do i have some gorgeous ones! a certain lovely person had a sneaky peek in my etsy favourites and bought me a couple of presents… a happy birdy plate, above. and a pencil mug for my desk, below.

i was SO surprised, and so touched by their thoughtful gesture. pencil mug will live on my desk and serve as a reminder for how lucky i am to call such sweet and generous people as friends.

those of you who remember my love of scheduling and to-do lists will appreciate how excited i was to unwrap this turquoise beauty! its my first filofax, and i never thought i’d have one – but i really am enjoying it! its nice doing my nightly brain dump on paper, and seeing everything laid out there. this is a finsbury, personal size and it also came with a travel organization pack that i’m really looking forward to using next january on our second annual californian adventure!

and last but not least, my present to myself! because if you don’t treat yourself, who will? this is the very pretty lining of a kate spade bag featuring an alexander girard sun design. i know, its like two of my favorite things: together at last! don’t worry, my beloved orla kiely bag won’t be retired, just alternated. sometimes i want a small but equally amazing bag, y’know? and thank you, gods of ebay, for sending this pre-loved but excellently cared for bag to me.

so that was my amazing haul! i’m certainly a lucky lady. but best of all i got to spend my birthday with fabulous people – in person and online too. merry birthday to all and to all a good weekend!

7by7: 28th may 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-27 13:13:51 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

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not last weekend but the weekend before, i had the honor of having my bedroom featured in the lifestyle lift-out of a local saturday newspaper. if you’re interested in what was written click here to see a close-up of the text. big big thanks to karen for being lovely and writing real good!

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a birdie! isn’t it a beauty! it flew to live with me from the very lovely etsy seller kultur (they have very nice things). aren’t the patterns and colors gorgeous? it reminded me so much of visiting some german-born friends of my parents who had beautiful paper lanterns in their house and us children would love it when they would be lit for parties in the garden. birdie is hanging above my desk and inspiring me with his whimsical nostalgia.

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when all else fails? build a cushion fort. this lasted for a whole day and there were certain ‘rooms’ for dining in and other for drawing in, watching tv (pictured) etc. lucky i have a billion cushions to make into a spacious fort!

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this is the dawning of the season of feverish enamel flower brooch wearing. you heard it here first when i devoted an as seen on etsy to the hot and flowery topic!

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meet autumn. crisp and frosty mornings, cool days and early darkness. soup. the smell of woodfires. pears. rubarb. the return of ‘pudding season’. these are a few of my favorite things.

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i got some new postcards to send along with items i sell! this is just one style, the others remain top secret unless you buy, in which case you get hugs and kisses and a cute card.

i hope you all have a fab weekend! see you next week for action, adventure and intrigue! also, pretty things.

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7by7: 14th May 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-14 03:13:35 GMT. 12 comments. Top.

7by7
last sunday was mother’s day, and look at these beauties i was treated to! haigh’s are my favourite chocolate makers. i grew up around the corner from their factory and for a time my dad was the head chocolatier there. pictured are my favourite cream centres, from left to right: lemon myrtle (a native australian plant that is like the zestiest lemon flavor), rose cream, violet cream, and almon cream. mmm! sad to say they’re all gone now.

more pom pom flowers! chrysanthemums are the official mother’s day flowers in australia (i guess they’re in season and they get called ‘mums’ so it makes some kind of sideways marketing sense) so thats why i’ve taken so many pictures of them lately. no more, next week i promise! you’re all kind of pom-pom’ed out, right?

ooooh look into the marble… its a self portrait of the artist reflected in a marble at arthur’s circus. psychedelic!

a rare picture of my boyfriend at work. hard at work. workin’ it up like an old dog. honestly.. some people get the best jobs! you should see how hard he’s working when he gets to talk to rock stars. i pity him, i really do!

i got all martha stewart and made some carrot cupcakes. with carrots. i like carrot cake, but really its just a cream cheese frosting delivery system. and if theres a marzipan carrot involved, all the better! are you in the pro-marzipan camp or not? it seems to be a great divider.

yeah this week is a bit gonzo.. perhaps the chocolate creams sugar coated my brain? anyway i was tidying up the toys and these two things came together and i laughed out loud. all on my own. laughing at toys. surely a giveaway about my mental health?

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and inspired by the bloggers without makeup day thing, here is me au natural. pale and uninteresting! oy, look at those freckles.. australia is really not a place to be with skin like mine!

so thats what my week looked like. if you’re a melbourne person and would like to spend breakfast with me tomorrow, my bedroom is being featured in the saturday Herald Sun lifestyley housey section. i will be asleep in said room at breakfast time, but i’m looking forward to seeing it sometime around 11am!

happy weekend!

7by7: may 7th 2010

Last modified on 2010-09-26 12:10:46 GMT. 4 comments. Top.

helloooo friday! how has your week been? mine has been average, but bookended with fun days, which is not a bad way to have a week. let’s look at the photographic evidence, shall we?

first up, my make up case caught my eye this week and i had to take some photos of its lovely pattern. it really is this musk-candy pink, and its plastic paisley covered! pretty fabulous. i bought it about ten years ago and for a while it held the overflow from my everyday makeup bag, but i’ve recently restored it to pride of place as the main bag. fascinating information. maybe just look at the pretty picture.

while visiting my friend yesterday i snapped this picture of all the cool vintage products she has displayed in her kitchen. isn’t the box of ‘clover’ soda bulbs sweet?

i’ve loved orla kiely’s products ever since i saw them in a UK newspaper in 2002 and pinned the article on my tiny bedsit wall, dreaming of one day in the distant future i could have a bit of it! so i’ve bought a couple of her bags from ebay, and i’ve pined over all the other products i couldn’t afford or get … until now! yay! triumphant fanfare! its pretty rare i buy a ‘luxury product’ but i bought some sheets to use for visitors staying with us. after opening the box i think i almost would’ve bought them for the packaging alone. isn’t it gorgeous? on the right is the complete package: a sturdy box with a cardboard band to keep it closed and show product info (it says on this paper that the packaging is designed to be re-used and who could resist?!). in the middle is the package contents: a card explaining what this pretty thing is, then a plastic cover ‘etched’ with the stem design to keep the sheets nice. on the left is the inside of the lid, with the orla kiely logo. the boxes are really nice and sturdy and i can’t wait to find new life for them on my desk! if only all packaging were this nicely considered.

another purchase that arrived this week was the cutest of cutie pie shirts i found on etsy. the kid doesn’t get any vintage clothing because, well, he decimates every pair of trousers that pass his way, and any tops end up with spaghetti stains even if we don’t even eat spaghetti!! but i saw this shirt and fell in love. it worked out cheaper than the ‘nice, going out’ shirts i’ve bought for him previously anyway and how could i pass up some ‘sturdy togs’ for my junior?!

pom poms! words just can’t express how great i think these flowers are.. no words. pom poms!

yesterday was really fun, my friend and i visited a few very cool shops (and took some pictures to show you next week!) and then stopped for afternoon tea at ‘grigons & orr corner store’ cafe in north melbourne. australia’s corner stores are referred to as deli’s or milk bar’s, and this cafe is styled to be like an old style milk bar, where you could by shakes and bags of mixed candy as well as milk, eggs, bread and other staples. on their counter was this jar of australian childhood favourites ’100′s & 1000′s’ cookies. mmm lurid pink icing! this cafe was such a sweet mixture of vintage charm and modern deliciousness, though i did giggle at their menu when i saw SPAM served with truffle oil!

here is a view of the shelves behind the counter at grigons & orr, i love that there are old display items mixed with fresh, modern items you can purchase. how cool is the old pepsi six-pack?! if you’re in melbourne pop in for some tea and an incredible portuguese custard tart (seriously the best i’ve ever had!).

wishing you all a very lovely and relaxing weekend. i’ve decided to stop work, and pack away the computer for the weekend. here’s hoping it’s a good decision!

7by7: April 30th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 17:01:10 GMT. 5 comments. Top.

ta-da! we made if to friday! how is everyone? did you all keep your arms inside of the vehicle at all times, and remember that objects in the overhead cabins may have shifted during the flight? good. well, this has been the most fun and happy whirlwind of a week in some time so let’s review:

lets start with something pretty, some pom pom flowers! i walked past these chrysanthemum and couldn’t resist them. i love how fresh the white and green centre is. they’re sitting here next to me as i type and i want to scruff their raggedy heads.

i made another banana cake, because we always seem to have bananas around and i can’t stand to waste them (and yet also forget to eat them). i think i’m obsessed with not wasting them after i remembered a romanian girl at school telling me that one year, before they emigrated to australia, she wished for and got a single banana for christmas. as long as there are children wishing for bananas for christmas: i will be making banana cake from soggy bananas rather than throw them away. now if only i could apply this thriftiness to everything..

the other baking jaunt last weekend was making a batch of ANZAC cookies. they’re made from the same simple recipe the wives and mothers of world war 1 soldier’s used. al the ingredients are things that would have been staple items in any early 20th century australian kitchen, and they’re basically oat muesli cookies. i add sultanas because i’m a rebel who bakes banana loaves in bundt tins. damn the cookbook man!

and the best time of the day to enjoy a cookie (aside from post-breakfast, pre-lunch or post-dinner) would be afternoon tea, that most civilized of hours. i’m really enjoying the cool days and stopping for a moment in the afternoons to have a cup of tea from my favourite mug. it sounds so cliche but small things like this really elevate my mood and make me appreciate things.

get a load of this castle my son and i built! its kind of the template for our next house, but i’m thinking it might need a roof. i’m all for high ceilings, but i really think he’s pushing the boundaries of what’s functional. i told him to get back to the drawing board and not over conceptualize. he’s a good kid, but you know what they’re like, always form over function! and the minimalist furniture was a little too “blocky” for my taste. thats what you get for explaining who mies van der rohe is!

doodle-doooo! this is what it looks like when i pick up a pencil. yes, it happens occasionally. mostly during power outages and phone calls.

ooh c’est moi! i had to send a picture of ‘me at work’ to my son’s kindergarten so they can all talk about what everyone’s parents do all day. i was tempted to stage a sort of photo play about me lying around smoking opium and gambling but i couldn’t find my special opium smoking kimono. so here i am at my desk. generally i face the computer and do work, but that wouldn’t have made such a great photo because i tend to make embarrassing thinking faces. you may notice my hair is a different color now, i had it done last week after getting sick of not being able to wear pink or red without clashing with my hair. its a nice change and i tend to mix it up quarterly, so if you liked the red or hate the blondey bits, don’t worry.. it will change soon haha

as a side note, isn’t it interesting seeing a 27 year old designer now (me, above) and in 1978 (my mum at 27, working).

have a lovely weekend, wherever you are, and come back monday to see what vintage treasures i have to brighten your working week!

7by7: April 16th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:57:59 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

TGIF? or maybe its just TGIThursday where you are. either way kick back and take a peek at my week. it was a week spent moving piles of stuff from one room to another. you know when you decided to shift a few things around and then all of a sudden every surface in the house is covered in stuff? thats what my week has been like. and to be honest, its still not all put back. its like a big game of chess, with three rooms getting reorganized at once. i’ve enjoyed unearthing a few forgotten treasures, and in breaks from shifting and sifting i’ve done some baking, and some hardcore ‘sitting down’ too.

drawpilgrim.com 7by7: charley harper calendar

i’m really enjoying this month’s page of my charley harper calendar. the colors are so crisp and mid-century! that turquoise and olive green might just be my new favorite color combination and i’ll be sad to turn the page in a couple of weeks. maybe it can go in a frame on may 1st.

drawpilgrim.com 7by7: design as art by Bruno Munari

speaking of good design, my current read, ‘design as art’ by bruno munari is really interesting and i highly recommend any designers reading pick up a copy. its thought provoking and inspiring without being overly dry and academic.

in amongst the tidying i found these scented pens. i bought them from the sanrio store in melbourne mainly for their packaging, but as soon as i sniffed them i remembered being so excited about ‘smelly pens” in grade 1. smelly pens and stickers were like the currency of the classroom back then! oh and little bitty bins… anyone else remember the small plastic trash-bin-shaped containers? i remember being crushed with disappointment when my dad picked me up from school and told me he had a surprise for me. i was convinced i was getting a bitty bin and immediately worked myself into a frenzy of excitement, but it turned out he’d bought a new car. i was unimpressed! sure it was a surprise, but it was the bad kind (the kind thats not a bitty bin!) man, was i ever a spoiled brat!

drawpilgrim.com 7by7: meat chart stickers

another bit of cute i found were these hysterical meat-cut stickers. they’re by ‘mindwave’ a japanese kawaii brand. i don’t know if its a cultural thing, but are kids into meat cuts?! i must be getting old. anyway i thought they were so fabulously bizarre i had to have them, hidden away in a drawer, only to be discovered and amuse me aaaaall over again!

drawpilgrim.com 7by7: fresh baked banana cake

so as i mentioned the cleaning frenzy has been interspersed with some domestic activities such as baking. saturday was just me and the kid home so i thought we’d kill time and some over ripe bananas. this cake turned out sooo good. sometimes banana cake is heavy and stodgy but this one turned out really fluffy. i credit any success to the kitchenaid mixer!!

drawpilgrim.com 7by7: tomatoes for roasting

and while the oven was going we got to work preparing some roasted tomato soup. these babies got quartered, then bathed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and studded with garlic cloves and left to slow roast. mmm! they made the house smell so good. i pureed them and mixed in some fried onion, herbs, bacon and stock and have enjoyed soup all week. i forget how rewarding a little bit of effort can be. remind me of that next time i’m skipping proper lunch in favor of a creme egg…

finally, check out this awesome cubist dog picture by my son. i love a dog with angles! its definitely a dog though i’m not sure what breed, i was informed by the artist himself (he’s 3 and a half) that it has an ear, an eye and a nose, so bidding starts at $500. can someone get me the phone number for MOMA?

i hope you have a great weekend wherever you are! anyone got any grand adventures planned? take care and i hope you’ll swing by on monday to check out next week’s vintage etsy finds!

7by7: April 9th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:56:45 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

eep! this is going up a bit late, but the last few days have been pretty busy and spent just dithering around the house. here’s what’s been going on:

have you seen my house? actually its not mine. but its near mine, and on easter sunday we went and had a picnic in the grounds of ripponlea estate. it was very idyllic.. except for the 200 other families doing the same thing!

this is the boating lake in ripponlea’s grounds. isn’t it pretty? imagine having a boating lake in your yard! sounds like too much work.. i’d have to feel guilty about not going boating. just as well i’ll never need to worry about boating-lake-guilt in this lifetime!

and across a section of the boating lake is this pretty bridge. its all too much really. we crossed it and birds came and landed on us and we sang a song and then deers and other woodland creatures gamboled about with us, but when we got back to our picnic we found seven dwarves had eaten it. i guess thats the downside of having a fairy tale bridge in your garden.

extreme daisy close up!! it was such a sunny day a lot of the eggs hidden for the easter egg hunt had melted by the time the kids found them.

and the last precious stash of my favorite eggs. these used to be called ‘noggi eggs’ and were available in bags when i was a kid, but now they only come in a little kinder assortment box at easter. so when i get some they are very treasured. mmmm praline filled!

i can’t remember if i’ve mentioned the kids room re-do i’ve been working on for far too long, but this rug is part of that. it arrived from urban outfitters a totally different color (grrr!) but after two rounds of fabric lightening and one nerve wracking die job its exaaaactly the color i wanted. satisfying!

hmmm what’s going on here? you’ll have to wait until next week to find out. can you stand the antici…………….pation?

7by7: March 26th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:53:12 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

aaaaand i’m back on the horse! back to a 7by7 at last!

best way to start the day? mickey mouse pancakes, but of course! yep, sometimes i can muster the effort to cook breakfast and try and impress a three and a half year old food critic. my only failing was not having any fruit to make poor mickey a face. oops. hopefully that will help me avoid any copyright law suits.

in other parenting news, i’m in the process of updating the nursery to a proper big kid’s room. isn’t this sheet SO cute? it came from etsy, and i’ve got plans to turn it into a duvet cover.

and another cute etsy parcel i received were these vintage circus cards. my son and i like talking about what each person does and how good they are at their job. aren’t they pretty? its kind of bizarre that a ‘fat woman’ is a circus attraction! aren’t the colors pretty though?

pretty fruit in a pretty box. i like catching these moments for 7by7, it makes me appreciate the mundane daily tasks if i spot a spontaneous pretty picture opportunity. i love crisp green apples – but only if they’re cut up! i knocked my front teeth out when i was seven and have had the same caps on my teeth since then = lots of very tentative biting.

mmmm forgotten fabrics. how on earth did i forget i bought these fat quarters at purl’s palace in daylesford?! they were in a paper bag that mysteriously fell down behind a chair. but i found them and it was like discovering buried treasure in the lounge room! aren’t they gorgeous colors and patterns? i’m not sure what to do with them, what would you do?

i got my hair cut and recolored on wednesday, not really big news but ooooh the blow dry! people, the blow dry was. so. good. i love my salon, they have a ruched gold curtain and they never fail me but i’m pretty sure i’ve met my blow-drying soulmate. maxine is an absolute fox with a true appreciation of vintage style. she’s a pin-up queen with quite a way with a brush. any lovers of retro styling should pay her a visit so she can make her dream tiki inspired salon dreams come true! i asked for something kinda sixties, expecting the usual tame flick and half hearted back combing and what i got was incroiablé.

this photo really doesn’t do justice to the height of the back combing, it was epic. and i had curls which i’ve never had before. i left very happy and me and my hair bounced all the way home!

have a lovely weekend. relax, have fun, and come back on monday y’hear!

7by7: March 12th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:48:24 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

for an explanation of the ever so witty image above, click here

this is a bit of a cheeky 7by7, i know its my ‘week in pictures’ but the truth is… there are no pictures this week! naughty. this week has gone so fast i’ve barely caught my breath and when i was out and about i’d forgotten to take my camera. epic 7by7 fail. but, rules were made to be broken (especially the rules i make) so rather than my pictures painting you a thousand words… let my thousand words paint you a thousand pictures. wait, that can’t be right. ah well, maths isn’t my strong suit.

last friday started with a bang when my son’s bookcase collapsed. no one was injured (unless snow globes count) and only the bookcase itself was badly damaged. being the opportunist that i am, i took this to be divine intervention that it was time to update the babyish nursery into an adventuresome little boy’s room. so far so good. we did the ikea thing to get new shelves, the thrifted bed frame is getting stripped and repainted, and a mood board is keeping me from going bananas and painting everything a different shade of yellow. stay tuned for the final result, if i’m not crushed by any new wayward bookshelves before i finish.

wednesday was 100% lovely. i got to have a boy date and a lady date! my boy date involved lunch at one of our favourite cafes and a peaceful afternoon nap! this is what parents do when they have time alone away from their child: eat in peace, and sleep. pretty rock’n'roll, eh?

lady date on wednesday night involved more delicious food, and more delicious company. i had amazing sorbet and then we saw a single man at the fancypants cinema (that’s the one with crushed velvet and brocade and popcorn cooked in olive oil) and it was really beautiful. a beautiful story, beautifully executed. i hope tom ford makes more movies, but i felt like a single man was so perfectly him i can’t imagine how he could better himself. but if anyone can, tom ford can.

the rest of the week has been work, child, make, plan, and ouch (i’ve messed up my foot wearing terrible shoes and have to wait another week to see a podiatrist. blurg!) so i’ll spare you the mundane details and leave you with the promise that next week on draw! pilgrim is going to be knock-your-socks-off-balls-to-the-wall-amazingtastic-a-go-go to the power of seven! so, there’s that to look forward to!

have a great weekend, any exciting plans? tell me! let me live vicariously through your adventures while i pathetically lounge around with my foot up, in a nurofen daze!

7by7: March 5th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:46:43 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

happy weekend eve! its friday, and therefore 7by7 day here on draw! pilgrim. how was your week? thanks for stopping by, and if you commented, thank so much for taking the time, it really means a lot to me that you take the time to share your thoughts and opinions with me. warm fuzzies!! so shall we take a look at my week, in pictures?

here i am, waitin‘ for the man train, into the city last saturday night. we went to see john water’s ‘this filthy world’ show at the art’s centre (if you don’t know melbourne, check out our arts centre: pointy). the show was excellent, it was such a thrill to see john waters speak, in person, and hear some of his crazy and filthy anecdotes. before the show we went to dinner and i had THE most delicious blackthorn cocktail (sweet vermouth, sloe gin, lemon peel) and yay! look, i got to show off my peta pledger heart bag. go snap one up right now! they’re vintage fabric so you don’t wanna miss out.

how fabulous is this chrome lettering on my friend’s car?! and even better is that fact that this car’s driver is a minx. and a vixen. and a doll. she’s from beyond the valley of the minxy vixen dolls.

my boyfriend and i had a special anniversary this week, and look what i got: jonathan adler salt & pepper whales! aww i’m so lucky. and even better, the card accompanying this gift didn’t have a single whale pun in it, what restraint! i love jonathan adler!

mm-mmmm! is there anything as inspiring as a fresh set of paints? my son and i did some painting on the weekend and we’ll be doing some more this weekend. he made a plaster volcano that i know he is dying to paint so stay tuned for the undoubtedly colorful results!

we’ve been having such gorgeous weather lately. this summer has been vary mild and not nearly as burny as australian summers can get, which is excellent news to english roses like me! also good news for pretty flowers flourishing in my neighbour’s garden. isn’t this hibiscus luscious?

one of my favorite summer treats is wandering around the corner to the milk bar (that’s a deli, or corner shop) to buy an after dinner ice cream. its so dreamy to be out when its starting to cool, and so refreshing to calmly stroll there and back. its hard to explain, but spontaneous summer evening fun is one of my summer bliss-outs. and now that its late summer its even sweeter to savour these more mellow evenings.

and last of all, how cool is this old brick ad painted on the side of an auto repair place on carlisle street?! i love these ads. there were a lot of varieties around the area i grew up in, and i think they established a fondness for that ‘nostalgia of a time you never experienced’. is there a word for that?

well, i hope you have a lovely weekend. i recommend a picnic, or maybe if that’s too cold have one on the lounge room floor. a picnic knows no meteorological restrictions! have fun whatever you do.

7by7: February 26th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:44:20 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

are you getting the hang of this 7by7 routine yet? 7by7 is seven days, seven photos. its an overview of what i’ve been up to this week. so what have i been busy with this week? the usual, espionage, seduction, mystery, adventure. and also these things:

now that its finally not so darned hot all the time i’ve had that urge to get back to my roots, as a hooker: crochet, dears, crochet! i’m continuing work on a mega afghan for our bed. i’ve given up the squares for now and i’m working on circles from ‘beyond the square crochet motifs’ by edie eckman

i went to visit my friend at her shop and she showed me this pocket shrine she’s had for years. i’d never seen one before, but its so tiny and fascinating! i’m pretty sure it would’ve blown my mind completely had i seen it when i was eight years old, oh how i loved making miniatures! the photo is pretty much actual size.

hey kids! try delicious and nutritious SPACE BURRITOS! actually it was just my delicious falafel wrap i had for lunch at a really great organic cafe in daylesford. the only interstellar thing being my garlic breath after lunch. totally. worth. it. yum!

also spotted in daylesford at ‘lost in the 50′s’, were these old fashioned soda bottles. here we see fanta with a groovy ridged bottle and ‘cottee’s passiona’. cottee’s is a staple of every australian childhood, they make cordial that’s powered many a sugar high, for generations. the upstairs level of this shop was an amazing trove of magazines from the 30s-70s.

isn’t it just divine when your snack of choice matches up with your current reading? i’m sure my family is grateful i’m not reading ‘the electric koolaid acid test’ next week.

wedged in between my welcoming little ‘friends with you’ figures is a mysterious new wooden stranger! she’s a DIY kokeshi doll, and i’m looking forward to customizing her as soon as i can pry those colorful two away from her. maybe they’re having a friendship convention?

and get a load of this! another one of my ‘friends with you’ figures tried to get involved with my lark purchases photoshoot! i think he was starting to feel threatened by all those colors and just needed to make his presence felt. what a cutie though! i love ‘friends with you’

well that was my week, chickens! how was yours? did you eat space burritos? did toys infiltrate your photos?

i hope you have a great weekend and see you back here on monday!

7by7: February 19th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:41:48 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

i don’t know if its just coincidence but i think this 7×7 ‘week in pictures’ type feature holds magical powers. it makes weeks go very, very fast!

first off, lets talk about the new header! if you’re reading this via an rss reader come on over to the site and tell me what you think of the new scheme. its a little bit toy-town, a little bit mary blair, and a little bit alexander girard.

to people in cooler climates, this photo isn’t very inspiring but did we get some rain or what?! there was thunder and lightening and the concreted area in front of our porch turned into an impromptu wading pool! but its good news, because we’re in a constant state of drought here. we have serious water restrictions in place – the most difficult to live with is limiting shower time. how i long for an obscenely long shower!

i had a lovely valentines day! i got flowers, and breakfast and hugs. the ladies working at the florist where my flowers were bought gave my son his own valentines day rose. what a ladykiller!

and these were my stunning flowers! a whole big pink mess of orchids! my boyfriend is so funny, he was telling me how he went to a bunch of florists, but he has a particular florist for each kind of flower he usually buys me: one is good for lillies, another does great roses etc. i’m a very lucky girl!

on thursday i got to take a day off: hip hip hooray! so my friend and i caught up for some coffee and lunch and i got presents and home made jam! and i got to eat this delicious toasted pide, filled with roasted pumpkin, chickpease, baby spinach, goats cheese and caramalised onions. yep, it was deeeeelicious!

after our deicious lunch we decided if this was going to be a lady date, then we really should go and do something silly like get a pedicure. so my toes are now ‘purple with a purpose’. i wish i had the job to think up color names!

tonight i made a big batch of chilli, and while i was chopping up the peppers i was struck by how awesomely colorful they are. maybe i can make a nailpolish color called ‘pepper with a purpose’? or maybe not haha

i hope you have a really great weekend. does anyone have anything exciting planned? our weekend looks a bit fragmented with work, and gigs, but i’m sure with the batch of chilli, and the perfect weather we’re having we will have some nice late summer fun. til monday, take care lovlies!

7by7: February 12th 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:39:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

this week has been quiet. between keeping busy with home life, work life and blog life, there wasn’t much time for adventures, and thats reflected in this mostly home-centered week of photos. so enjoy this peek into my week!

breakfast is a lot sunnier when you notice your stuff matches! i should’ve fried up some eggs to drape over the teapot and chucked some yellow colored juice around to give it a bit of a ‘salvidor dali does breakfast’ thing. the pedestal mug reads ‘young lovers’ on the base, isn’t that sweet?

i was dusting my shelves, and overcome with lust for my coveted olivetti valentine typewriter. so it got its own little photoshoot. there should be a rule that everyone gets a valentine typewriter on valentine’s day, don’t you think?

this is the ‘chunky move’ dace company’s theatre. isn’t it a great building? i was actually visiting my friend at the contemporary art centre next door. shame there was no blue sky, that oxidized metal would’ve really popped against our roaring blue sky!

since coming home, i’m having to come to terms with the fact that no one is going to bring me room service. so i’ve turned to the trusty collection of recipe books i inherited. they’re a great source of inspiration, though rarely its dinner-related inspiration!

look who i found lurking in my kitchen cupboard! i told him to go away because we hadn’t even had valentine’s day yet and when i looked the following day he was gone! i asked my boyfriend if he’d seen the bunny but he just mumbled something to me through a mouthful of chocolate. very mysterious!

7b7 book: "diners, bowling alleys & trailer parks"

at the start of the year i made a pledge to read a book a fortnight, and so far i’m ahead of schedule! i’m really looking forward to getting stuck into my current reading “diners, bowling alleys & trailer parks: chasing the american dream in postwar consumer culture”. i ordered mine from here.

look what i found in my fabric stash! isn’t it cute? i’ve been holding on to it because its so cute i don’t want to cut it! any ideas on what to do with it?

i hope you have a great weekend, don’t forget my valentine’s day treasures for a last minute idea, and see you on monday.

7by7: February 3rd 2010

Last modified on 2010-05-01 16:34:19 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

welcome to 7×7, a new weekly feature on draw! pilgrim, its a ‘week in pictures’ type round up of snippets from my life designed to encourage me to share more of what i’m up to, and take more photos even when i’m not on holiday. as socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living, while that sounds a bit drastic, i’m terrible at taking photos generally and i’d like to have more to look back on.

i miss room service breakfast! i could eat that plate pictured everyday, forever. i’m normally terrible with breakfast, but having a proper breakfast makes so much difference to how i feel throughout the day. but has that motivated me to make a plate of fruit up like that now i’m home? no. no it hasn’t.

on our last day in LA we had breakfast at swingers diner on beverly blvd and then walked around to melrose ave to cruise shops. we passed by canter’s deli which was on my list of places to visit, but we seriously ran out of time. peeking in the window convinced me we need to visit with empty stomachs next time!

i don’t know what strange gasses they pump through airplanes, but i always seem to forget what’s in my suitcase between point A and point B. so unpacking is especially exciting for me, and as soon as i pull everything out of the case it all comes flooding back- “ah! remember that time we went to amoeba records and thought we’d died and gone to heaven?” “hey look! there’s that crooked street we went down!” etc etc for 3 hours. sigh…

homework is much more fun when you’re doing it in candy colors! it feels so fun to hand write stuff after being conjoined to the keyboard so much of the time! i’m into week 3 of the BYW course with the lovely holly becker, so this notebook is filling up with all kinds of treasures.

i’m not sure if our cat, pringle, is happy we’re home or not… what do you think?

this guys is nuts about stealing my foreign chocolate stash! lucky he’s so cute. how lucky am i to have a boyfriend who buys me jonathan adler for christmas? very.

here’s a little bit of a sneak peak of a work in progress. i hope you like it, the flowers sure are cheering me through the post holiday blues.

i know its been very holiday snap heavy lately, and i promise this ‘slide night’ won’t be lasting too much longer, so in future weeks, real live photos will be more ‘exotic’ posting material.