christmas 2010

Santa headband was back - although this year not without a little bribery and the promise of it taking less than 5 minutes.. (which it did)...phew. see how my boy has grown... 2009, 2008 and 2007

night lights

I have just uploaded a few night lights to the shop. They have all been re-wired with a new switch cord for Australia. And in other news Arthur's Circus is now also facebooking... eek technology I am a little behind the eightball.

thankyou

a quick thankyou to small magazine and lmnop... for their kind words. I think that's all for today, tho I have photographed some nightlights for the online shop, now I just need to add uploading to the list of things to do today.

super ace vintage posters

oh so delightful original old poster is in the online shop along with 2 others. You seriously better buy, buy, buy them before I change my mind and frame up and keep for myself.

I survived...

4 days at Magnolia Square... It was exhausting but fun and a big thanks to my sister and sister in law for manning our stall with me over the weekend. I met some lovely people especially my 'hood of stall holders who were all lovely and make awesome stuff. so here are some links to their websites... Knuffle Kid, Wendy June, We heart Books, Little Rivet Jeans, Mae and Little Lamb. I had a self-imposed embargo on buying whilst there, which proved to be more than just a little hard and I failed... So today our wee family played hookey and went into the city to have our annual family photo with Santa and to check out the Myer Christmas windows.... House painting to be done tomorrow and then back to the shop on wednesday where I'll be busy photographing lots of fabulous framed book illustrations and board games and more to put online.

new card designs

So here is the latest range of my card designs, which includes 'hedgie' Nick's favourite toy from his childhood. They can bought from us this weekend at Magnolia Square or at our online shop.

ready (ish) for market

Okay we are all set for tomorrow at Magnolia Square.... much making and sorting and cello bag stuffing with new card designs (photos yet to come) and a range of children's t-shirts in assorted designs and styles by me/us. I have put some on our website but at the moment they are in limited numbers until after this weekend. So the shop will be closed whilst we are at Magnolia Square - St Kilda Town Hall. The trading hours are Thurs 2 Dec 5pm-10pm, Fri 3 Dec 10am - 5pm, Sat 4 Dec 10am - 5pm and Sun 5 Dec 10am - 4pm. For more info please check their website. There is plenty of unrestricted parking in the surrounding streets as well as good ole public transport.

our creative space

Nick has managed to inadvertantly sneak in to be a part of Kirsty's my creative space this week..(too many records and random amplifier bits) in fact Arthur probably has as well. Whilst I have been packaging Christmas cards, Arthur has started packaging his own with random lego pieces. Lot's of last minute creating and organising and stand designing for next weeks Magnolia Square.

shop open

the shop is open again and I have photos to prove it. You can see over at flickr . Shop hours are 10 - 4pm Wednesday - Saturday....

christmas postcards

I bit the bullet and had a wee set of christmas postcards printed up. A great way to snazz up your gifts instead of tags or to send some Christmas cheer in the post. There are 3 designs and you receive 4 of each in a pack. head over here to buy online or come to the shop front in North Melbourne.

2 weeks in a row

I am joining Kirsty's my creative space again this week...although I have now taken over the kitchen table. Looks like it might be take-away or tv dinner for tonight.

my creative space

For the first time I am joining Kirsty's my creative space. I think I shall re-name it my messy space... though I will say in my defence that a friend is staying for a few nights, so what was resting on the spare bed is now upon my desk. Hmm no excuse really...

1960's nat geos

I've had pile of 1960's national geographic mags for years, they've moved house with us at least 3 times and every time I think, why do I keep these? So recently I decided to liberate a few and start making them into magnets. We have been busy behind the scenes of Arthur's Circus, framing, designing, printing and photographing so that we can re-open our North Melbourne shop front next week and also be a part of this market come December. So I am looking forward to receiving my order back from the printers next week and also unveiling a few other items we have been creating on this here blog next week.

flea market goodness

We posted a small box of stuff back home and it arrived today... great vintage fabric, I'm still deciding what to make / do with these, unfortunately I don't think Nick would go for the pink animals as a living room curtain and an old tin sign, which is now living in our bathroom.

photo of photos

I'm still sorting through photos of the digital kind, I wish I wasn't so fussy. In the past I'd take my film and get it developed and not umm and aah over which to get printed, how much photoshop is required on each photo, blah blah...no wonder I have a computer filled with images and not one photo album since 2006. (sorry Arthur)... I miss film and am glad I lugged my trusty old hasselblad and film away with me. If all else fails at least I have these photos printed.... in other news we will be heading to the shop next week and tackling the mess in order to re-open by Thursday I think.

spilling the beans

The real reason for our internet (and shop) hiatus was for a 5 week holiday to London and France. I'm none to keen on divulging much personal stuff on the internet but figure now that the trip is in the past I can spill the beans and also share a few of the vintage goodies we bought for ourselves whilst away...


Arthur was seriously addicted to orangina.


We lucked upon an amazing flea market in a small town square and it was so good, people very friendly and cheap. Double sided board game and roly toy for my wee collection.

Great old keyrings and absolutely ace old rubber stamps. We seriously could have bought so much more from here, tho' I think there are a few more treasures I've yet to photograph....and speaking of photographs I've over 2500 digital pics to wade through and am yet to develop 8 rolls of film from my hasselblad. We're still recovering from the flight so we'll hopefully get back to shop life once Arthur's back at school.

internet hiatus

The bath photo has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but it was to do with a lovely person who organised a wee photo expedition for myself and Nick...and speaking of expeditions we're taking a break from the internet (not that we've been here much of recent) and also our webshop will not be shipping orders until the end of September. See you on the sunnier side of winter/spring.

come and find us

This weekend sees us having a stall at Camberwell Market. I do wonder where on earth time disappears to. 3 months ago I booked the stall and now this week sees us putting together a random array of stuff to take. We're stall 214 which is near where the Salvation Army band play I think. I'm definitely not looking forward to the 5am torch brigade, so fingers crossed it's not raining as well.

you can never have too many squeaky toys

A very kind person contacted me recently to ask whether I would be interested in a few old squeaky toys and night lights... Indeed I am. Not the greatest of photos, but they arrived via post yesterday. And I have not seen the cat or elephant night light before.

a few more maps

Yesterday after a bit of rummaging and photographing I have put a few more vintage maps up in the online shop. Take a peek here.

side of the road

Would you believe that Nick found this set of drawers on the side of the road a few weeks ago. A couple of the drawers are a little stiff and in need of a bit love and the whole thing could do with a coat of oil, but other than that it's all good.

birthday pressie

During the week I had a couple of framing jobs to get done, but unfortunately the frame requested wasn't in stock, so with a wee bit of time to kill I cut some mounts. First pic is from an old nursey rhyme book that my sister and I used to read at our grandparents when we were little. I'm planning on framing up 3 of the pictures for my nieces and nephew's birthday which are all coming up.

And it's been awhile since I made any of these, but I busted out some old memory cards and have mounted them up. (Arthur actually helped pick out the cards and we arranged them together.) They are available framed or unframed from our online shop. Incidently we played with the same set of memory cards at my grandparents too. I also framed two great screenprints for myself. I'll get around to photographing, once I've hung them at home.

new cushions

I finally found some time to break out my sewing machine and a bunch of old flour, sugar and potato sacks and turn them into cushions. They're now for sale over at our website in the decor section.

big news

After much discussion and indecision, we have decided to close the shop front of Arthur's Circus in North Melbourne. There are many reasons which I won't bore you with, but the location has been a major factor. It is hard to get a shop to work in an offbeat location. We would have liked to be open longer hours but it can be pretty boring sitting in a shop waiting for people to come by and ultimately it's not for me. Nick and I have other plans and ideas a brewing and we will still be running our online shop. So we are no longer open Thurs - Sat, we will open by appointment as we still have a shop full of great artwork, vintage and new items available. We're around, just not tied down to specific shop hours. So please call us. 0408557459 or 0412713202. Oh and we may do a few one off weekend sales and that sort of thing in the near future, so please keep a lookout.

calling all housewives

How ace to see our beloved Donald Duck in this magazine (made in Melbourne) from 1972 in one of the local cafes. We were told when we bought him that he originally came from the carousel at the Melbourne Zoo.

clean out

the time has come for us to sell off a few more items which have been in our pile of "in need of cleaning/sanding/sandblasting/ painting etc" and just never seem to get done and make it to the shop. My favourite is this fabulous retro kitchen cabinet / dresser. It's got such a lovely shape and a design that's not often seen. You can find it for sale here.

dolls house for sale - Renovator's delight

Can't afford to renovate an entire home, well then look no further and renovate a lovely dolls house. 2 storeys with optional attic conversion. It's rather large and has an amazing handmade wooden staircase...hmmm trying to think of other annoying real estate speak... We've actually listed it on ebay with a few other things. You can take a peek.

show and tell

A wee while ago we had a barter exchange in the shop, a few old things in exchange for an artwork. And one of those things was a bunch of cool souvenier felt pennants. They sat on my desk for a while with me admiring them and then I bit the bullet and finally sewed them into bunting. Oh and other vintage love this week is a new cookie jar for me...

2 new paumes books

I've just added 2 of the latest Paumes books to our shop they are both my new favourites. Paris Family Style and Appartements de Garcons. Also getting adjusted to the new functions on our website. So here and there may double up on the news front.

new website

It's finally up and running our new website so please go take a peek. And to celebrate we will be giving away a few copies of the latest mixtape zine, with my design on the cover. So if you're one of the first to buy something you'll get an added bonus in the mail.

not open

This is very late notice but unfortunately we will not be able to open our shop tomorrow. (Friday 26th March)... But on a brighter note how ace is this pencil brooch by the sniffle co. It's my new favourite. When our new webshop finally opens you'll be able to see him there along with some of John's other fabulous designs such as Woody Allen and Radar from MASH. Any day now really....it's true.

while you were waiting

still waiting for our new website to be finished. I had hoped it would be ready by now, so whilst behind the scenes I am busy photographing away I have also re-arranged the shop. The garage sale is done and dusted and the shop now resembles a shop and not a jumble sale which makes me happy. No more "what on earth is that, it looks like it's an acme part from a Road Runner cartoon", followed by a phonecall to Nick, "what on earth is that orange thing?", his response "a detonator"...hmm to have a hoarder/ collector/recycler for a partner sometimes has it's lowpoints...

mixtape now out

how good is the cover...ha ha I actually made it. I was thrilled when Justine asked me to design the cover for Mixtape, especially with the theme "Life is a Circus".... You can buy it here. And in other news we are about to launch our new website... No more bigcartel shop, you'll be able to buy straight from our webby. A little more tweaking with the shopping cart function and then me uploading photos of items, so now everything you see will be available to buy. I'll let you know when it's ready. Mid next week me thinks. Have a good Labour day long weekend local folk.

train set for sale

A wee while ago we came across a big ole model train set in an op shop. Someone's hobby no longer loved. So after a little discussion (ahem arguing) between Nick and I, Nick won the battle and the train set has joined us in the shop. Sadly it takes up too much room to make it a permanent item, so I am currently photographing all the bits and pieces to upload and sell online. So if you or someone you know has a big old shed with plenty of space, free time and is a train boffin, send them our way. One of my fave models is this Kentucky Fried Chicken stand. (Not KFC)...

goes on...

unfortunately the bear dish above was left on the roof of our car and then run over by a tram...so sadly he is no longer, but on a brighter note our GARAGE SALE is still on. We have decided to keep bringing in items and running the shop as a bit of a garage sale for the next few weeks. So lots of cheap random old stuff that you normally wouldn't find at our shop. However we will not open this Labour Day weekend... as our usual back-up filler-in-er-a is away.

Arthur's GARAGE SALE

We are sorting through boxes and shelves from behind the scenes at Arthur's Circus (and Arthur is selling some of his toys - he's after some new lego)....and are having our first big GARAGE SALE. It's on this Sunday 28th February from 9am - 4pm. So come to North Melbourne and grab a bargain and then head to the Lithuania club on Errol Street, for the North Melbourne Market.

grand sale...grand sale

the sale is on and I'm currently uploading and putting items on sale in ye olde bigcartel shop too.

shop half sorted

With Arthur starting school this week, life has begun it's unescapable (is that a word?) routine... To be honest I'm not great with routine so whilst we're getting used to the school thing, tomorrow the shop will be shutting at 3pm. Saturday will be 10am - 4pm.
I am feeling better after spending the day re-arranging and cleaning and looking forward to bringing some new ideas / things into Arthur's Circus. Our sale will start next Thursday and go for the rest of February. Items will be priced at between 10-40% off. Time to make some room for new stock.

we're back

Arthur has started school so the shop is back open tomorrow... we'll be doing a little rearranging over the next few days (so that the shop isn't as messy looking as my desk) and then we will be having our first ever sale... We'll also be having a wee sale online too for those far away. Keep looking as it will be a discount code thingy me thinks

have map will travel

It's still holiday time at Arthur's Circus, no grand travelling to far away destinations but the good ole taking each day as it comes, days at the beach, hanging out with family and friends. Arthur starts school this year, so we have decided to keep the shop closed until school starts in Feb. Also North Melbourne is always a bit of a ghost town come summertime... but we have plans to change the shop around a bit and have our first big sale when we open again. The online shop is always open and we mail out once a week. It's going to be 41 degrees today so we're off to see the Fantastic Mr Fox at the cinema and eating ice cream. Hope your holidays are fun.