pepper loves: May 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

A sweet secret from PostSecret

would you come and visit?

so I have been dreaming (again) of how I would like to spend my days.. Then I came across this retail property for rent across the road from one of my favourite parks.

there it is, the red one. And yes, that's a yellow bus stop right out the front.

Do you see what I see?
.
I see...

barstools at the counter for little crafting stations. A long table for crafty meetings, and crafty tutorials

seasonal window displays, starting maybe with fabric clouds and rain drops for winter with monsters wrapped in warm scarves

armchairs next to shelves of pre-loved craft books like this one or this one. Big prints framed on the (maybe green?) walls.

.
teapots with cosies and coffee plungers, rows of hooks under the counter for mugs and teacups, and a jar for spare change

a wall of embroidery thread of every colour. Big jars of buttons. Racks of ribbons, threads, notions. Bundles of soft wool, rolls of felt, boxes of vintage sewing patterns. Tall cube shelves with vintage suitcases on top to hold extra stock.

a big noticeboard for this months sewing project, upcoming tutorial dates, brown owls meeting times, markets, second-hand sewing machines, giveaways

A clipboard for people to join the mailing list. A little e-zine for the shop with upcoming projects, and craft tips, and the tutorials, what's on-sale, and blogger profiles

Shelves like tiny market stalls for people (like those damn talented people on etsy and so many of you crafty bloggers) to sell their gorgeous creations

.
me in the corner chatting, sipping tea, creating, knitting, typing, smiling.

That's what I see. Would you come and visit?

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

appreciating the awesome

1000 Awesome things, chronicles, well, awesome things! It's counting down from 1000, and is almost at 750, last count. This blog never fails to put a smile on my face.

image credit

My Personal favourites include

#762 The moment at a Resteraunt after you see your food coming from the kitchen and before it lands on your table.

#765 Thinking it's Thursday when it's Friday

#788 The first squeeze from a new tube of toothpaste

#794 People you don't clean up for when they visit

#810 Returning to your warm and comfy bed after getting up to pee in the middle of the night

#828 Remembering what movie that guy came from

There's so much gold, but don't take my word for it, go! explore! Appreciate the awesome!

am I what you wanted?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

the-sweetest-thing

Jayne from The Little Passenger has made me a mix cd! What an awesomely sweet thing to do! I am so excited! Look at this supremely awesome goodness! (can you tell that I am excited?! Is it the liberal use of exclamation marks that gives it away?!)

image credit

the pepper compilation

(1) "i love you, awesome" - the phoenix foundation

(2) "funny shadow" - age pryor & tessa rain

(3) "blood and peanut butter" - bc camplight

(4) "parentheses" - the blow

(5) "emmawood" - buildings breeding

(6) "bruises" - chairlift

(7) "it's my own cheating heart that makes me cry" - glasvegas

(8) "you and i" - ingrid michaelson

(9) "you are the light {by which i travel i travel into this and that}" - jens lekman

(10) "cha cha cha" - the little ones

(11) "daylight" - matt & kim

(12) "little drummer girl" - buildings breeding

(13) "all the wine" - the national

(14) "people got a lotta nerve" - neko case

(15) "calling and not calling my ex" - okkervil river

(16) "life on a chain" - pete yorn

(17) "apples and tangerines" - the phoenix foundation

(18) "sentimental heart" - she & him

(19) "awkward kisser" - telekinesis

(20) "this is the one" - the stone roses

An unexpected bonus of this blogging business, reading inspiring stories and meeting such incredible people that just make my day! Thank you so much Jayne, I can't wait to lie upside down with a glass of wine and listen to this baby.

remember this guy?

for this project. Well here he is, hanging out on the stove (it's got good lighting, ok?)

Still some stitching to do around his eyes, and I don't know about the beanie, what do you think? It would have to be a bloody big beanie! (Plus I could use the lovely green wool for a scarf for me..) His tattooed arms are ready to sew up and attach- but I'm out of pillows! (also my first attempt at embroidering tattoos, I started simple but I think it's pretty uh-huh.)

I ransacked my bed and gutted two pillows and two cushions to stuff him; I ran out of the nice firm pillow stuffing in his giant head, and had to use squishy cushion filling that has made his bum all squishy and unstable and mushy. I like my monsters with nice firm bums thank.you.

I don't have a car, I don't relish the thought of balancing bags of stuffing on my bike- does anyone know who you can order delivered stuffing from in Sydney?

careful!

For Pip's words and pictures, I seem to be running late lately but here we go! These guys lived in the fomerly-duck-bath-turned-into-garden-bed at my old house. To this day I have no idea how he lost his head (although I suspect the green one did it). More words and pictures here.

woohoo!

image credit

This morning I am sitting snugly with my cup of tea, having arrived cheerfully and earlier than I expected because I got every green light! And intersection! All the way to work! I glided here on my bike like a freakin’ superstar.

This phenomenon is known all around the world. My sister likes to call it ‘Running the Gauntlet’ down a particular stretch of road in Brisbane littered with lights. Also known as ‘The Green Mile’, or ‘Green Run’, or just plain ‘Miraculous’.

No matter where you are, getting to where you’re going unencumbered is like winning a victory. You smile, you punch the air, you feel, well, victorious!

When was your last perfect run? (and what do you call it?) Do tell!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Good Night Wishes

Textural and sweet limited edition prints by artist Ashley Goldberg

Sunday, May 24, 2009

She looks like ET doesn't she

the doll for this project. . Do you think some eyebrows would help?

listening to the songs of loves past

(The unspoken rule; I want you to be happy, but I get to be happy first, mm-kay?)

Guerrilla Knitting Part 3

A while back I found knitting on sign poles around the place (also here), and thought it whimsical and lovely. Here's some more from my neighbourhood, courtesy of 'Nosy in Newtown', a blog inscribing the goings-on and surprises around the Newtown area, which I love, because I recognize and go 'yeah, I saw that too!'

Oh guerrilla knitters, you bring sweet randomness and smiles to my day.

Friday, May 22, 2009

family portraits

From Awkward Family Photos. A website entirely dedicated to awkward and funny family portraits. Look out for matching knitted sweaters, bad poses, inappropriateness, mullets and disturbing family traits.

My worst family portrait may have been when I was 5. My Mum had just cut my fringe (crooked, so I had a tandy about it) my eyes are all red and swollen, and I'm not really smiling than lifting a lip a little. Or maybe when I was 17 and had a shaved head and wore hoop earrings. Like a nazi pirate look. Yes...

What was your worst portrait?

love...

Love Stamps from Kikki-K

Thursday, May 21, 2009

remember when

Remember when red frogs were 5 cents, and finding 2 dollars on the street meant an afternoon of sugary bliss? Remember seeing your mum and your sisters every single day and having trouble imagining otherwise?

Remember days spent running under the sprinkler, or spraying soap on a tarpaulin on a hill and sliding down, or washing the car with a big bucket and sponge and getting wetter than the car?

Remember rushing home because you were expecting a phone call, and practicing your typing on a typewriter?

Remember playing snake and pacman and thinking it was AMAZING? Remember thinking how cool robots would be? Remember drawing your dream house and it had slippery dips and unlimited icecream involved?

Remember afternoons playing cricket or building elaborate lego towns? Remember cubbies of wood, of chairs, of sheets and cushions?

Remember sleepovers and declarations of friendship forever and giggling for no reason into the night? Remember imagining that anything was actually possible and rather probable actually?

Remember when you imagined that grown-ups had it all figured out and ruled the world?

Remember when you found out that actually you never figure it out and this isn’t true?

Remember dreaming about what you would be when you grew up? Do you still dream about it now?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Fast Eddy winked at me today.

Yes he did. I know, I know, he is married but he is also a tall, cute, laid-back chef. CHEF. TALL. CUTE. He writes cookbooks and appears on tv shows and was almost the last person I expected to wink at me today. Almost.

He was in a meeting in the boardroom 2 metres from my desk. I kept hearing his voice and thinking it's not Friday night, I'm not on the couch, this voice doesn't belong here.

(Lordy I'll probably see him again if he's working with our company for something. NOW is the time to mentally prepare and not do the -you're-a-bit-famous-and-cute-so-I'll-blush-and-stammer-like-an-idiot thing. Really.)

Then on the way out he winked at me. Granted, it was a conspiracial friendly how-you-goin' kind of wink, not a you-saucy-thing-let's-go-at-it-in-the-pantry kind of wink, but still.

He can whip up something in my kitchen any.time.

to my lemon tree

I bought you months ago and potted you on the porch. I was so excited; you had such potential in your curled leaves and young slender branches.

The first few weeks were so exciting. I would look at you admiringly as I came through the gate each day. I reveled in the smell of your leaves when I sat on the yellow chair with a cup of tea and watched the street. When you flowered the little white buds filled me with promise and contentment.

But enthusiasm fades (or comes in sporadic bursts, in my case) and soon I no longer noticed you when I checked the letterbox. Your flowers fell without fanfare. I forgot to water you. You developed a magnesium deficiency, some kind of mould, and a droop. Weeds have sprouted at your base, and insects hide in your leaves. I have neglected you.

Yesterday from the corner of my eye I noticed a spot of yellow that wasn’t a fungal disease. You have grown lovely lemons. Four of them. I remembered them this morning and I twisted one from your droopy branch and squeezed it in my tea. It was delicious.

So thank you, lemon tree. Your generosity has rekindled my love for you. I will dig out my garden books, diagnose you, and water you more often. I promise.

yes please!

The Best of Instructables Volume 1 would look so good on my bookshelf. Spotted with glue, slightly torn from use and earmarked.

If you haven't visited instructables yet- and I can't begin to describe the stuff you will find, just go! do it! make it! love it!

Monday, May 18, 2009

get your skates on and

Happy Monday everyone x

Sunday, May 17, 2009

sunday lovely sunday

I start uni soon, and am, um, looking forward to it. Do you sense my hesitation? Only a little bit. My friend has been mentally preparing me. You know that spare time you think you have? Yeah, you won't. You know how you can handle things at work and are usually pretty smart? Yeah, be ready to feel really stupid. You know those people who can't go out because they have to finish an assignment? Yeah, that's gonna be you. Dangnammit.

So I tried to really savour this sunday. I may not have too many more left to spend so leisurely. Things I like about sundays:

Getting up slowly. Ducking outside in my undies to grab the paper and hoping the neighbours didn't notice. Drinking tea in bed.

The option of wearing ugg boots all day. Hanging up laundry slowly in the sun.

Watching movies in the middle of the day. Big breakfasts at noon.

Meandering, Sauntering, wandering. Sitting in the park. Browsing at Markets. Trips to the shops.

Finding a unicorn in an alleyway and adopting it. (yes this photo is a bit special. My camera was dropped last week while the zoom was out, and now it fractates every 10th photo or so. Interesting. Also check out my new green cardigan and brooch from markets. I loves them.)

Making things. Starting new things, thinking about new things to make.

Also cooking, meeting friends, drinking in the sun, long baths, reading whole books, fresh sheets.

*sigh* Oh Sunday, we have such history. Don't forget me.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

mmm.. books...

Wandering around newtown yesterday, stumbled across the.loveliest.bookstore. Berkelouw Books.

New books downstairs, handpainted tree mural, brick walls, moleskin notebooks, armchairs. The smell of new books.

Upstairs secondhand books stacked on pine board shelves and piled on the mezzanine. Soft couches, natural light, warm coffee, relaxed people lounging with pastries and books and notepads. The smell of old books.

There are lots of bookstores in newtown and around, but this one I felt like you could really settle in. The kind of place to browse, run your fingertips across book spines, flick through old pages and look at pictures. The kind of place to collect armfulls of books, settle in an armchair and learn something new, or start a novel. The kind of place to sip tea, write in a journal or draw in a sketchbook or just sit. I will be back.

first scarf finished ever

for my friend Zana. She loved it. Yay!

a lovely beast

I had my first cello lesson in over a year a few days ago, and it was lovely. My new teacher is bubbly and not-intimidating-at-all. She has played since she was 4 and is studying at the conservatorium. (I am always nervous when I use that word in case I accidentally use the other one, the garden one- conservatory, and sound a bit silly.)

So I have new pieces to practice, notes in the margins and more enthusiasm than you can poke a stick at. Now I'm just trying to coordinate practice times when no housemates are home; as soon as I know someone can hear me, every mistake is amplified and echoes and I have the overwhelming urge to yell out 'sorry 'bout that!'

My cello is a lovely beast. She is pretty and vibrates around the room and fits me well, I think.

My new teacher also lives about 5 minutes from my house (and through this tunnel under the train tracks). Excellent.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

also on my desk

Or, 'Why I've been a slack blogger'

plans for melancholy monster for this exhibition

playing with new watercolours

almost-finished-scarf and bigger-than-I-meant shawl

a doll-in-the-making

On my desk at the moment, the beginnings of a little doll with a summer dress. She's destined for adventures, this girl, she's part of the Craft Hope Project#2.

Craft Hope is a lovely blog, 'spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time'.

(image courtesy of Craft Hope blog)

Their current project is for the casa berne orphange; Craft Hope is working with Eren and the ORPHANetwork to provide handmade, soft-bodied dolls for the children. They're asking for participants to sew a simple doll, with dark skin and hair, to be collected and distributed and loved to bits!

(image courtesy of Craft Hope blog)

Dolls are already arriving, visit the Craft Hope blog for more info on the children, the project and how you can participate too! Go on!

e=mc2 yarn

How great is it? Free printable cards like this one, and heaps of free knitting patterns at lion brand yarn.

I have almost finished my scarf, first knitting project completed ever! Now I know how to knit, purl, increase, decrease AND cast on/off, the challenge of a pattern is tempting me. Baby booties perhaps. A beanie for a monster, a jumper even. How hard could it be? (famous last words if ever I've uttered them..)

I like knitting. It is (one of) my new things. I curl up on the couch, with a cup of tea, and a cat, and knit away and chat. And my housemates look at me and smile, and shake their head. I am in my mid-twenties. I love nanna-styles now, where can I go from here? Perhaps I will have a mid-life crises and take up skydiving and extreme adventures.. Perhaps I will keep on knitting.

Greatest Stack Ever (Of People That I Know)

My friend stacked it this week. I mean really stacked it. It's the biggest stack I ever heard of. She was running to catch the train to work, slipped and tripped... and ripped off the top of her toes. Really. She limped in, 10 minutes after leaving, with blood dripping and saying 'wow, I can't feel it..'

If we were in primary school, everyone would totally be going 'Corr! Ooooorrrrggh!' and screwing up their faces but secretly really impressed and she would be quietly proud of such impressive war wounds. From tripping.

Tha Catalogue of Injuries (if your eating now probably don't read this)

Big toe had a large chunk missing and got infected immediately. Second toe has no toenail left. at all. Third toe somehow managed to sever nerves in itself. It's purple and every now again it send backwards radial shock up her leg (also has a suspected fracture). For the fourth toe she was referred to a surgeon to stitch her nail bed back on, lest it never grows back and she is afflicted with deformed toenail or none-at-all. And the pinkie, well it's just a bit grazed. Plus her elbow is grazed. Um, that's all.

Now she's wrapped like a mummy and limping around and not kickboxing.at.all. This is going down for me as The Greatest Stack Ever (Of People That I Know).