As promised

Well I'm back from Melbourne and I have oodles to share with you all in Blog land. Firstly let me just say a very heartfelt thank you to Big, Beautiful 

(and not at all Bashful) Melbourne.

 What a Grand Old Dame she is! Without a doubt one of the most enjoyable holidays I have ever experienced.

Now I'd love to prattle (as I usually do) about all of Melbourne's delights (and there are soooo many) but I promised to post about a wonderful discovery I made at the Chapel Street Bazaar. A vintage merchant by the name of Kylie Roseman, who graciously allowed me to take some photos in order to share a mere glimpse of her wares with you. This was definitely a trip highlight for me because Melbourne is brimming with retro, antique, vintage, reworked, revamped, handcrafted (the list will go on and yet a lot of it is  not exactly what I would call "authentic". I know that's rather harsh of me to say but I struggle to find items with real "soul" and yet here in the very back corner of this Melbourne icon I stumbled upon a collection of wares that genuinely seemed like they were having a reunion of sorts

Stunning old stamps, wooden rulers, rusty scissors (Kylie assured me that, apart from cleaning her finds, everything is untainted and as found) glass bottles, wooden trays, school suitcases (sigh) flags, tickets, paper, tins, rope, string.... I was in there for more than an hour and the space is only about 3 metres long by 2 metres wide! An absolute must for all thrifty bobs...

Kylie was so sweet and we chatted about how special it is to craft a space with things that have history and purpose and meaning. Like me, she loves pondering the past of an item and muse about who owned it, where it hails from, what purpose it served and of course just how beautifully organic things can be when they are loved faults, scratches, rust and all.

Look closely, can you see the little thermometer? From England, now living happily on my work desk. I also found these old Nursery Rhyme cards...

The paper is a kind of linen finish and the illustrations are just so darn cute! (Excuse the pics - taken with my phone)

But as you can see... Just Fab-oh!

So "Thanks again" Kylie - for your encouragement as well as your dedication to bringing such lovely things to light. 

Also if you're after something specific Kylie may be able to help source an item - so it's well worth your while to bookmark her website address. Of course, if you're in Melbourne, then just get your buns down to the Chapel Street Bazaar (a place well worth a look around)Oh - and ask for the stall K7.
More to come... 
(Really, you simply cannot fit Melbourne into one post)