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Tuesday 31 August 2010

Collecting Doilies


I have been collecting crochet and embroidered doilies now for the past three weeks and have managed to get 26 doilies, 3 aprons and two table cloths. They are all so vintage and very pretty as you can see by the photos, I have a craft plan which i will hopefully share very soon just need to find about another 50 doilies. So hopefully I will be able to find some more at garage sales and collectors markets this weekend in Geraldton, WA.







What I love the most about the doilies is that they are hand made and every one would have taken time and love to make. Each time I am lucky enough to find one I just wonder who made them and where would they have been placed in the home, maybe a side board or a dressing table.

Saturday 28 August 2010

Dotty for polka dots


Hand painted hearts I bought at Spirit of Christmas last year for Faye, Christian and myself.

Simply loving polka dots from wellington boots to sugar bowls at the moment, so very cute. I was given a lovely cream jug and sugar bowl from Wendy's Mum, Carol for my 40th and they in my kitchen looking lovely, which I must include in a photo shoot maybe next week.......

Apron from Aunt Ruthies


1. dress- Kadoodle
2. swimsuit by Oli
3. handbag 'Motty' By Dune
4. wellies

Images of darling kitchen accessories of a range by cookware shop from Torie Jayne, Torie has a giveaway going on at the moment so pop over and check it out.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

New Scarf Collection

Cavania corsages and scarves

New Cavania scarf collection now available to order for our stockists simply log into 'Cavania Trade' to preorder, delivery from 5th September.

Monday 23 August 2010

A Touch of Cream

More dreamy images to ponder over, all is going well here at the beach house. The furniture painting has stopped for a little while as I have design work to concentrate on, so hopefully by the end of this week a few photos will be able to be posted.

via home.uk

Photo credit Sang An

Photo credit Steve Gross & Sue Daley

Friday 20 August 2010

A Country Life

Lovely fresh eggs from Wendy, my sister in law, she has about 30 chickens and ducks of different breads. They have a lovely big coop and are very happy hens and produce lots of eggs daily. We are certainly living a much healthier lifestyle over here in Australia, both faye and I have fallen in love with a 'country life'.
Thank you Wendy, cupcakes on their way over xxx






Linen tea towels from Spotlight.

Enjoy your weekend xxx

Trade Shows

Cavania will be attending both the Autumn trade shows next month in the UK. So if you are a store and have not registered yet for your free tickets then follow the links below, see you there.

www.autumnfair.com


www.topdrawer.co.uk

Thursday 19 August 2010

A Pretty Little Cottage


I found this divine little cottage on the The New York Times website and instantly feel in love with it, I so want to build one of these.
Sandra turned a simple rectangle hunting cabin into this romantic hide away by using vintage flooring, columns, and salvage finds.




The chandelier over the bed was from Target, as is the Simply Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell bedding.


Sandra bought this sweet mirror for $22 and painted it with Ralph Lauren's Cove Point in flat white, the same color she used on the cottage walls. For the floors, she used Benjamin Moore's China White paint.



You must take a visit and see more of this stunning cottage on Sandra's Blog http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com
Credit: Trevor Tondro for The New York Times

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Cavania 's Nomination



Fabulous news Cavania's 'Silver Wishes' greeting card range has been nominated for a Henrie, which is a greeting card industry award, we are so thrilled to have made it to the top four in the UK. The category is Best Occasions or Relations Range and the big awards night is on 7th October at The Lancaster, London, so we will have to keep our fingers crossed for a little while.



Tuesday 17 August 2010

A Country Life

Hello and what a few weeks it has been sorry for not posting but we have not had internet connection in the house yet so when we did manage to get to the coffee shop Christian was communicating with the office and working so no room for me on the laptop.


View from the beach houses back garden, the grass leads to the sand dunes and down to the beach, so we don't have too far to walk for our lunch time picnic.
Jumping on a plane to the other side of the world and then trying to set up a home for five months on a shoe string and what a small shoe it is, has been a challenge. The exchange rate is not in our favor and to our fun and amazement this country town has garage sales..... oh my goodness it's like a giant treasure hunt around the town. On a Friday the local paper has a list of the sales for the weekend and armed with a map you plan your loop around town. They start at 8am so the early bird catches the worm or in our case a coffee table, baskets, dressing table, monopoly game, candle stick, side lamp, back gammon case and so much more. It certainly has helped me navigate my way around town and meet lots of people.


Collection of just some of the treasures we have found to decorate the Beach House.
On every saturday the farmers come to town from the surrounding areas to attend the farmers market with all their wares. A perfect setting in the park, lush green grass surrounded by gorgeous Eucalyptus trees by the cathedral in the centre of town. The size of the vegetables and the quality was fantastic, and of course I used a couple of the baskets I had found at a garage sale earlier that morning. I felt so happy with my baskets of vegetables and fruit I could have skipped across the park, this will be my weekly destination from now on.





All the furniture we have collected so far has been sanded and the mammoth paint-a-thon has begun each needing three coats so it has taken quite a few days. Another stroke of luck was the 'Spotlight' sale, this is a store like I have never seen before, just about every imaginable craft material you could ever need under one roof, it makes Hobbycraft look like a part timer. They had a sale on their fabrics if you bought the whole roll is was a $1 a meter.. yes a $1, I knew exactly what I was looking for and there was a perfect match buried under a pile of upholstery fabrics. We had managed to find a three piece lounge suit for just $270 in a second hand store that with a coat of white paint on its tied wooden frame and a blue stripe for some new fabric covers would give me the Ralph lauren beach house look I want for the house. Using just 10 meters of fabric to cover the cushions and unpicking the existing covers for the zips I was away. But what about a sewing machine I hear you say, well my little guardian angle has been working overtime in the last week as a lovely gentleman called Sean from Castlemart which was a secondhand furniture store gave me a vintage Singer sewing machine. We purchased a number of bits of furniture in his last week of trading before he closed his store after it had been open for 36 years and simply gave me the sewing machine as a welcome gesture to town. After a while of trying to work out this old machine I had managed to wind a bobbin spool but just couldn't get the tension right, so me and my new sewing machine headed into town the very next day to see the Geraldton Sewing Center. There I found Sharon who gave me a quick lesson on how to use this lovely old machine, I love country towns it would seem that nothing is too much trouble.



View from the beach house I could sit all day sewing and watching the ships in the distance slowly edge along the horizon.

Sunday 8 August 2010

New Beginnings



Today has been a new beginning not only was it the first day that we woke to see the sea through the window of our new home in Australia, but it is also my 40th birthday!!! Wasn't too sure as to how I would feel but so many distractions and family fun has certainly kept me from thinking about the big number..... We managed to get to Geraldton WA 25mins before the last furniture store closed in town and bought two mattresses(not the most comfortable, my back has confirmed that this morning) a dash to the supermarket again before it closed for a few supplies then off to get the keys to what is now our new home for the next five months. Full of butterflies was my tummy as we walked through the door, once we had worked out which key it was. But what a view how would I ever do anything again as all I want to do is gaze at the sea.



A morning stroll along the beach the perfect way to start my 40 years.