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Another make-over and a great day out!!!

Another makeover???....well this time ...no cupboard or crafting project....it is in fact a blog make-over!

You probably noticed that I gave my blog a bit of a "once-over" a couple of weeks back, although it is only now that I have had a chance to write a post about it...or as a matter of fact ...about anything else...lol. Apart from my little plug on Tuesday about the crafting sale we have on at work I have been a bit quiet in my own little "blogland"...lol

So,...the blog make-over...Why you ask??...well it all has to do with me wanting to be a little different. I have noticed a few blogs of late with the same graphics or backgrounds so decided it was high time to change things up a bit....so I changed the colours and added one of my own pictures.

The picture at the top is of some favourite prim pieces of mine, taken in front of my old faithful cupboard and chair (some of you will recognise these props from the background of my website listings). The cupboard is a gem...old and flaky on the outside and interesting...youno with higgeldy-piggeldy shelves on the inside.....one of my impulse purchases from some time ago...and I am sooo happy that I splurged the $60 bucks for the old beauty!

Hanging from the front of the cupboard are a pair of long johns I purchased from the States. They are way cool and as you can see have the mandatory button up flap on the back... oh if life were only that simple nowadays...lol

In the front of the display are a grouping of $5 purchases.....Sitting on a favourite old chair (don't exhale too hard or bump it... or it will fall in a heap of pieces on the ground...lol) is an old timber sieve puchased some years ago and a roll of rusty wire.

Whack em all together, grab a camera, some fiddling round with the blog settings and hey-presto....new blog logo!!

Well enough about the blog facelift......onto my day out.........

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to have a day out with a lovely friend of mine and we did the round trip of the antique stores in the lower Blue Mountains....and what a day we had indeed.

Firstly let me tell you about my friend. I was lucky enough to meet Karen through my Countin' Crows business and over the past few years via emails and friendly chats at my market stalls we have become friends.... like-minded friends who share the love of all things old, rusty and dusty....oooh and did I forget to mention the love of spending money????...simply burns a hole in our pockets it does...lol !!!

The day started when I picked Karen up at around 9-30am ( a mean feat after my 2-30am arrival home after travelling down the coast to watch my hubby race in his series final ...which I must add he and his team partner ran 1st and 2nd...woohoo!!). After having the pleasure of getting to have a look around her beautifully decorated home we set off on the frog and toad...first stop....the shop I work at so Karen could have a look around.

From there we began to travel up the mountains stopping at each and every little antique shop we could find. (Did I mention that we took my ute....coz we planned to fill it...lol)

At the first stop we both scored....Karen some old tins and for me an old tin and an old bible I plan to use for crafting. Well ..... two stops down and many more to go.... we thought we had better fuel our tanks so it was into the nearby little quaint cafe for a coffee fix.

Back in the car we headed further up the hill to our second antique store for the day...and thats where I saw it!!!....

We all have our illusive dream item (don't we???...well I know I do)...well I spotted mine! Hardly able to believe my eyes I think I squealed a little and made a beeline for it. Holding my breath I looked for the price tag..only I couldn't find one!...Oh no maybe it isn't for sale I thought....so with a squeaky and somewhat anticipating voice I asked our host  "Can you tell me if this is for sale?". His reply ..."Sure is love". OMG I thought ...."howmuchisit?" I squeaked.....he told me the price and I thought I was going to pass out as it was waaaay less than I expected it to be!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG I thought...."can you put my name on this while I look around some more pleeeeeeease" almost squealing with excitement at this stage...... then....... he replied that he could do it for me for $20 less that he had originally quoted!!!...someone pinch me I think I'm dreaming!!!

I walked around a bit more not really caring if I didn't buy anything else all day after that little purchase...but lo and behold I went on to find a rusty old wire washing basket....so cool. Karen found a nice old meatsafe and we made our way to the counter to pay for our goodies, where the storeowner proceeded to give me another $5-00 off my dream item!!!.....it was my lucky day!

We stashed our goodies in the back of the ute and bid our farewells to this lovely man...they just dont make em like that anymore do they?....lol

So...what was it I got so excited and "squeaky" about.......well see for yourself.. A timber sled ...what a little beauty!! (the picture really doesn't do it justice). The dealer told me that it was originally from the states . I have looked at getting one of these for ages but the freight to bring it over would have been ridiculous.....and as for the price I paid ...I would have expected (and probably would have been prepared to pay) double what I did.
Can't you just see me?....sitting in my sled, beanie, scarf and mittens at the ready, with my fat old Kelpie teathered to the front...yelling "mush" (truthfully?... in our case it would be "get up fatty" )...ready to take a ride (albeit a very slow one) around my front lawn...lol. OMG the mind just boggles at the thought doesn't it...hee hee. But fear not.... I can assure you I will NOT be doing that...lol (unless it's dark and no-one is watching...tee-hee!)....although I will be rearranging my loungeroom this weekend to try and find the perfect spot to put it!
Okay enough of the sillyness....back to my story......
We went on to have a yummy lunch and visited lots more antique stores before arriving home about
6-30pm. The day was great....lots of goodies and lots of laughs!.
Here are some pics of some of the other old goodies I found during the course of the day. The Glucose tin is a beauty...it stands at about10" tall...haven't seen one this size before...only the small ones. The butter pats are big wide ones and the little red packet is a packet of "Little Liver Pills" (constipation pills...lol), which I will add to my littke medicine shelf that I blogged about some time ago. As for the crystal dressing table bowl...that is to replace the one I broke while dusting mine a month or so back (I knew there was a reason one shouldn't dust!!!) This rusty and crusty old washing basket will be popped in my old washing trolley...its just awesome!!!
I have also included a picture of the old butter churn I purchased from where I work. It's not a piece of my haul from that particular day out but it is so nice I thought I would share it with you...lol. It stands around 3 0r so feet tall...."very noice indeed!!!" So there you have it....our big day out.
Plans have already been made to do this on a more regular basis, hopefully once every couple of months. It was so great to have had a chance to spend a lovely day in great company doing one of my favourite things.........looking at old wares or spending money???......hmmm...which one you ask?....well I'll leave that up to your imagination...lol..either way I strongly recommend it to everyone!!!
Until next time....... Posted by Chris at 1:54 AM 10 of my friends said 

A big COO-EE to all you Aussie prim crafters out there..

The store I work at (situated in Glenbrook NSW) is currently looking to clear it's stock of prim crafting supplies and it is currently at 30% of the regular retail price!!
Stocks include:-
Hand Dyed Wool Roving (1ft lengths) Were $3-95 per piece NOW $2-75
Woolen Rug Punch Striplets (18" x 12 strips) Were $2-95 NOW $2-05
Hand Dyed Woolfelt pieces (12" x 9") Were $9-00 NOW $6.30
Homespun Fabric (44" wide) Was $11-50 p/mtr NOW $8-05 p/mtr
Osnaberg (44" wide) Was $13-50 p/mtr NOW $9-45 p/mtr
Weavers Cloth (44" wide) Was $30-00 p/mtr NOW $21-00 p/mtr
Valdani Threads (various) Were $4-65 NOW $3-25 each
Black Woolfelt (60" wide) Was $73-00 p/mtr NOW $51-10 p/mtr
PieceMaker Needle packs Were $4-25 NOW $2-95
Boxed Rug Hooking Tools Were $69-95 NOW $48-95
Moda 3/4" Rick Rack Was $2-95 p/mtr NOW $2-05 p/mtr
Plaid Woolfelt pieces (4 1/2" x 9") Were $9-80 NOW $6-85

Simply Shaker Hand dyed thread Were $5-50 NOW $3-85
ThreadWork Hand dyed thread Were $6-60 NOW $4-60
Morgan 9" No-Slip Embroidery hoop Was $29-95 NOW $20-95

Morgan 7" No-Slip Embroidery Hoop Was $22-95 NOW $16-05
....plus much much more!!!! (ALL American Prim Punchneedle, Craft and Embroidery Patterns (paper patterns) are 30% off also).

We are more than happy to send via mail to anywhere in Australia and are open to further discounts on larger purchases!!!.

So if you are interested or want some more information you can contact us at the store on 0247 394223 or email us at email@example.com ......or if you are in the lower mountains area why not pop in and see it all for yourself!!

Our hours are:-
Mon-Fri  9am to 5pm (you'll usually find me there every weekday bar Thursday)
Saturdays 9am to 4pm
Subdays 10am to 2pm
 Posted by Chris at 9:15 PM 1 of my friends said 
A bit of a make-over!

I have had a shelf hanging on the wall in my entry for a few years now and even though I quite liked it...I felt it needed a bit of a make-over...youno a freshen up...a new lease on life...
Here is what it looked like (once I had removed its contents)...a bit boring I am afraid! So I set about painting it up and giving it the old prim-over.
First I painted the whole thing in buttermilk and once dried gave it a second coat with mustard....let that dry off and gave it a final coat with black. I then set about sanding and distressing it and then gave it a good going over with dark stained beeswax.
A good old polish .... a few little nic-nacs later ....
and here you have it!.... Perfectly prim and much less boring!
Til next time .... Posted by Chris at 8:15 PM 7 of my friends said