february? already?

now, i can't speak for everyone, but it seems that the general consensus is, 'wait? january is over?'
i'm definitely feeling the same!
so do you have any grand february plans?
i do! i do!
i've got grand organising intentions, and look, i even started this morning!
the teaspoon section of my drawer was er, a little hard to find a teaspoon in...


after a bit of a throw out of old takeaway implements, a reorganize of some of the cooking tools in there, and a good wipe out with a cloth (it was full of crumbs for some reason, no idea why...) you can now find a teaspoon! huzzah!


i've also got plans to finish off my coffee table revamp, perhaps start revamping the poor stool i found in hard rubbish yesterday and hopefully buy a new bed!

on top of those things, hopefully i'll be sharing with you my scarf collection as i play along with sophie in her february scarf challenge!
this is the first box on the retro scarf chart.


so yes, er, that's done...


that's not particularly wearable though is it? after having a look over the rest of the chart, i don't really want to do anything twice, so how about this?


an adorned door handle! this is actually how i keep most of my scarves, they're all tied around door/drawer/cupboard handles/knobs. they make the place look a bit more colourful :D

at my house...

today at my house...
i'm not really spending much time at home at all!



i'm at the gym.


and at the hair salon. do you like my new 'do?



and then to work.



i did manage to pick up a little something from someones hard rubbish pile on the way to work too... it's broken and horrid looking but not for long!



maybe when i'm done i'll come home and knit :D
my teddy bear is nearly finished! soon it'll just need some sewing stitches and stuffing then it'll be flying up to queensland for a quick visit to steph and then onto a new home.
what did you get up to at your house on monday?

flea market finds.

so i've had blog posts floating around in my brain all weekend but just haven't had the time or means to get the words down and the pictures taken, be prepared for the avalanche of posts to come!

i was completely stoked this week to actually get a chance to pop into one of my local opshops. it feels like it's been forever! normally when i'm opping, i just hang around the edges of the shop. i look at the bags and shoes and haberdashery and books and crockery and pans and such, but on this day, i went straight to the clothes racks and BOY was i rewarded :D



i found this amazing green, lacy, light and floaty dress AND a lacy black camisole to go underneath the dress as it's a little see-through. i did however underestimate the transparency of the skirt, it's completely see through!! i think i may need to invest in a half slip, or perhaps i'll invest some time and pop one together (feeling a little inspired thanks to liesl...)
i also found a cotton lace top, very cute and very summery, however i currently can't find it! probably says a lot about the state of my house at the moment... blogging definitely trumps housework!

as well as my op-shop finds this week, i was also gifted a massive bag of second-hand clothes from my lovely friends who were moving house so had an epic closet de-stash! it's like i've got a whole new wardrobe! now if i could just get some time off work so i could wear some of it ha ha!

there are wayyyyyy more flea market finds over with sophie!

my creative space.

or my cleaning space?



today i'm mostly just cleaning up after the little get together we had yesterday. in a bid to be a bit ''green" we used actual plates and glasses and cutlery which was great (except when we ran out of plates and cutlery) except now i've got a whole bunch of dishes to do!
never fear however, my brother gave me the first season of kitchen nightmares (it's disturbingly great), which will keep me company throughout my cleaning adventures.
did you have a good australia day? i surely did :D



i've also got a little bit of creativity happening (after all those dishes are done), i'm making a hope softie! i'm making a cute little teddy bear, just like i made back here. you can make one too, just make one up and send it on to steph!

for some more creative spaces, pop over and visit kirsty!

at my house.

today at my house, i'm ticking some things off my list.


i'm filling something that shouldn't have been empty for this long.



and i'm going to attempt to make an unhappy plant, happy again.



i'm doing some more sanding, maybe i'll get one of the sides done today...



well i'll get to this stuff, if this weather lets me...

by the way, my auction finished last night. the winning bid of $150 was made by lea! as soon as lea lets me know of her colour scheme plans i'll get started with my hook and will have some more lovely vertical stripes to show to you all! stay tuned!
thanks so much to everyone who bid, it was quite exciting watching them come in and the money will hopefully help someone get back on their feet!

also, i know this meme was lou's thing and she's not blogging anymore but i missed it. i like mondays at my house :D

auction time.

it's auction day! a massive list is currently available on the make it perfect blog. this list also includes some of the crafters who are donating proceeds from their etsy stores if you're not sure that you want to auction.



but anywho, would you like to hear what i'm auctioning off????
i was trying to figure out something i could make, something small and quick, because i'm still working on this and there was nothing that i felt i could make to auction off that i would be happy with.
so i looked down at what i was making and i had a bit of a think, could i do that? yes, yes i think i can.
if you haven't quite got it from my (probably batty) thought process, i decided to auction off a nice handmade crocheted blankie.
now there's no pictures yet, because i haven't made it yet, because you get to choose!
a choose your own adventure handmade crocheted blanket!


so yesterday i went into spotlight and took a photo of alllllllll the colours they had in the range of wool i'll be using (moda vera pure, 8ply, 100% wool). don't they look pretty sitting there all together?
there's also two patterns to choose from, the vintage vertical stripe or the granny stripe. everything is open to negotiation though so have a chat to me! my email is dabblingallday(at)gmail(dot)com. shoot me a quick message and let me know what you're thinking :D

now to get down to business, how this thing will work.
this will work as an auction, leave a comment with the amount that you're willing to bid, the highest bid at the end of this week (sunday 23rd january at 8pm, melbourne time) will be the overall winner!


i will cover postage costs within australia, however if you're based overseas and you really want to bid, contact me and we can work something out :D

if, on sunday, you are the winner, i will contact you to let you know (so everyone please leave a way for me to contact you!). payment will then need to be paid to the premier's relief fund and you'll need to send me the receipt number. then we can get to work on designing your blankie and i'll get to work on it! the blankie will be finished and posted before winter of 2011 (southern hemisphere) so you'll be able to have full use of it on cold wintery days and nights.

if you're still with me, thanks for reading through all of those words!
thanks to toni and carli for thinking up this wonderful idea and implementing it like the amazing women they are!

may the bidding commence!!!

ps. if my instructions are wayyyyyy difficult to understand (sometimes i DON'T have a way with words), kate has explained it amazingly. she is also auctioning an amazing cushion! very cute!

flea market finds. slightly illegal edition.

so this isn't a new flea market find, it's not even technically a 'flea market' find.
it's a stolen from hard rubbish find. why let something go to landfill when you can find a use for it yourself?



i picked up this large and lovely specimen last year just before the last hard rubbish pickup.
i love it because it's so solid and heavy, unlike most of my other ikea furniture...
anywho, the reason i'm talking about my table today is that it's in pretty bad nick. i'm almost certain that before it got turfed onto the nature strip, it was an outdoor table, used by someone's grandkids as a painting palette.
while i'm sure it served it's purpose quite well as a palette/footrest/pot stand/whatever else, it's time for it to serve it's purpose as my beautiful coffee table.
today is renovation day!
i've got my reno clothes on, my hair tied back and my protective eye wear on (sunglasses).

after 30 minutes of sanding with my* orbital sander, this is how far i've gotten. could be a very long afternoon...



while i'm slaving away, sanding away years of glass rings and acrylic paint mixes, you should do two things:
1) visit the home of flea market finds. sophie is having a giveaway today too, so you should join in!
2) bid on my flood relief auction. you could win an amazing handmade crochet blanket, designed by you! it also ENDS TODAY! get on it!


* technically, it's my dad's sander. having actually used it more than he has, i'm claiming it as my own.