"s" should be for sleep...

It is just after 1am and I have pre-market insomnia. I'm sure you have experenced it too, maybe in one of it's other guises... you might have an early flight to catch or a super early appointment so you set your alarm clock for 3.30 am or some other ridiculous time. Then you put yourself to bed and spend the whole night waking up with adrenaline coursing through your body at the thought you mght have slept through the alarm! The silly thing is, that I didn't need to set set my alarm clock this morning as Joy and Sue are flying the mondocherry flag at the Mathilda's Market in Melbourne this morning and I'm up here in Brisbane. Maybe it just shows our strong bond!

Joy sent me thorugh some photos as they were packing up yesterday....

beaded fabric alphabet cards...

pretty pink artworks - grouping by colour always looks lovely...

three little Vintage Butterflies...

Love the little pictures on this one - all from our collection of damaged children's books from the 60's and 70's...

beaded fabric chick cards - perfect for a new baby...

A lot of these are too new to have made it on to our website but, as always, feel free to email us if you see something that appeals to you!

mathilda's market here we come...

We have been neglecting our blog for the last week as we have been frantically busy preparing for the upcoming Mathilda's Market in Melbourne. You'll find us there this Sunday, 27th February, and we would love you to pop along and say hello. Mathilda's is the home of unique, stylish and exquisite baby and kid's products and everything is either lovingly handmade or manufactured in small quantities, and is just too irresistible to pass up! We'll be taking some brand new artworks, along with some of our most popular designs, and Sue has even flown in from Dubai to give Joy a hand...well, she has really come to spend time with all of us and her 8 grandchildren, but the timing did work out perfectly!

dressing up...

When I was pregnant with my son, I bought a small antique wardrobe for storing his clothes in. Now, 5 years on, we are living in a home with built in cupboards in all of the bedrooms, so it really isn't needed any more. However, besides being very lovely, it holds too much sentimental value for me to part with it.

So the wardrobe now has a new life - a very girly dress up closet. As my just turned 3 year old daughter, Sienna, has hit the dressing up stage, I thought the little wardrobe would be the perfect place to stash all her tutus, bangles, scarves and tiaras. She loves it, especially the accessories hanging on "s" hooks, and gets changed a few times a day leaving a trail of discarded items behind her... she didn't inherit that from me! ;-)

that's us in Shop 4 Kids...

It is always exciting to see our mondocherry products in print. In this months Shop 4 Kids we pop up a few times! You can find a couple of our artworks in an article on precious handmade gifts, and one of our vintage tags in a section for party inspiration. If you haven't picked up this magazine before, make sure you have a look next time you are in a newsagent - it is full of gorgeous baby and kid's products, all beautifully styled so that browsing through is a real pleasure.

a very LOVE-ly dinner...

Our children love a celebration, so although we don't usually make a big deal out of Valentine's Day, both Joy and I decided to have a special family dinner this year and our kids are counting down the minutes!

To make our dinner a bit special, I cut out felt hearts for place-mats and used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine to stitch around the edges. I would have loved to embroider all our names, but since this was all very last minute and made in between school and ballet trips, I quickly personalised them using alphabet stamps on some small trips of cotton tape. Each one has a little pocket and we have all been busy writing little notes to everyone else in the family to be opened at dinner. Since I have been asked to spell "muscles" and "ordinary" and "pumpkin" I can't wait to see what they say!

Joy decorated her table with pretty place-mats made from wrapping paper purchased at Kikki K. Joy simply cut a scalloped border around the printed white heart and the plan is to let her two little ones draw pictures on them after dinner. With home made heart chocolates for desert, and pink cordial for a special treat, Joy's children think Valentine's Day is very cool indeed!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all xoxox

still need to choose a card?...

Still need to find the perfect card for your Valentine? Well, come along to the Boutique Markets tomorrow and you are sure to find something just right. And why not make a morning of it - as well as gorgeous gifts, unique clothing and handmade homewares, there is plenty of good coffee and delicious things to eat. The Boutique Markets are held at Portside Wharf, Hamilton and run from 8am to 1pm. See you there!

A selection of our vintage card range that we will be taking to market...

shades of green...

Loving this little spot of green in my house today. The adorable bunny bookends were a Christmas present from Clare - we had both been coveting them for some time so she knew they would be a popular gift! They look so cute supporting a few vintage books with interesting worn covers in different shades of green.

There is more green outside too - my Bungalow tablecloth gets a lot of use.

Shhh! The bookends were purchased from Venucci if you are interested! Clare x

rosy cheeked dolls...

I love it when Joy calls me and begins our conversation with "This morning I was bored..." because I know from experience it will end with her telling me she either had a massive cull, re-arranged a room, or got super creative ! These gorgeous dolls are the result of one of Joy's "bored mornings". She made them from her favourite felt, and worked without a pattern which I never would have been brave enough to do. My little Tilly is the lucky recipient of the dark haired little one - a very special present from a wonderful auntie.

While on the subject of dolls, this little dolly bed that Joy picked up from a market for $5 has come up a treat with a splash of white paint, a few new screws and a pretty patchwork bedspread - made on another "bored day"!

we've got the blues...

Here are two new artworks in beautiful blues - an extra large vintage butterflies and a large vintage petals. If you are not familiar with our products, we create our artworks from original vintage illustrations from our collection of damaged children's books from the '50s, '60s and '70s. All designs are handcut and stitched onto recycled card and vintage text, and each artwork is completely unique.

If blues aren't your thing, here is a preview of some of the other colourways that will be arriving on our website soon. Or you can email us to order a colour that you love. We also make these artworks in mixed colours (here and here) if you just can't choose!