Covered

After so very long I think I have finally finished the drawings for my op shop zine, and these 70s cups are going to be on the cover.  I've only taken slight liberties with the colours...the middle one I got in Thames many years ago for 40 cents I do believe and the others are recent additions from Mayfield.  Years ago my friend told me about a wonderful op shop in Mayfield with rack upon rack of velvet jackets - it achieved a sort of mythical status in my mind.  Finally I got to go there while we were on tour with The Bitter Years and it did not disappoint.  Crown Lynn room, what more can I say!

Left behind

With changing work hours and the need to declutter my house my op shop trips have been few and far between lately - I haven't had much of a chance to draw what I didn't buy!  But I want to get my "Left Behind" zine finished off so I popped up to the local St. Vinnies on Thursday and jotted down these things I left behind.  Looks like today's edition is brought to you by the colour purple!

Left behind: not what they seem

Here are some more of the things I've resisted at the op shop lately.  Even though they have double uses! 

My Creative Space: left behind in Kohukohu

 While one of the attractions for going to Kohukohu over Easter was the op shop open on a Sunday, I ended up leaving empty-handed.  I did, however, admire the jam-packed space that is Secondhand Rose, and was very tempted by a few goodies.  Here are some of the things I left behind:

I also didn't buy these teddies making a desperate bid for freedom, but they looked like they needed rescuing!

Joining in with "My Creative Space" today over here.

Happy Thursday!

Trash or treasure?

 

Here are some more things I didn't buy at the op shop, looking a bit crinkly I'm afraid from spilling a whole jar of water on my sketchbook.  Might be time for a desk clean up methinks.  

 And hooray, it's that time of year again...

 I might have to do a "Things I didn't bring home from the inorganic collection" edition of drawings. I have already resisted a beautiful '70s couch (severely broken) and a pair of knitted gold sparkly pants!

My Creative Space: stealing time for bits and pieces

Today my creative space is about stealing time.  Stealing a bit of time to jot down some "Things I didn't buy from the op shop" ideas.  The only paper I had in my bag was a scrappy old envelope.

 I'm hoping to turn that series of drawings into a zine full of things I didn't buy from the op shop (and maybe some that I did).

I've also been stealing some time to work on a blanket label painting.  This is my second version of this particular label in progress...the cross hatching has been taking aaages.  

And stealing time for a coffee, because, as they say, a day without coffee is like something without something...

Joining in with "My Creative Space" over here today. 

Happy Thursday!

Retail therapy

Last week I didn't buy from the op shop:

I drew these when we were up north last weekend.  The very next day we went to the bountiful op shops of Dargaville and I was most undisciplined in my op shop spending!  Though there were some goodies I managed to leave behind...I might have to do  "Things I didn't buy in the op shop" Dargaville edition!

Left behind again

This week I didn't buy at the op shop:

Seeing as my house is starting to resemble an op shop, I thought I should put myself onto a bit of an op shop diet.  So far I've been having fun writing down all my op shop tempations and saving them to draw in a quiet moment.  I don't think I'll be able to go cold turkey though, I'm going to Dargaville soon and have heard it's a bit of an op shop goldmine!  Any Dargaville op shop tips gladly received!

Left behind

Last week I didn't buy from the op shop:

I was tempted though.  Thinking about cutting off my toes to fit into those witchy pointy shoes made me remember how terrified Roald Dahl's The Witches made me when I was a kid.  Not the witches themselves, but the way the boy turned into a mouse...I spent a whole summer terrified I would turn into a mouse at an inopportune moment after my great aunt gave me some chocolate.  Not sure what an opportune moment to turn into a mouse would be, but I was too scared to tell anyone, and was particularly worried it might happen in the swimming pool.  I remember when the movie came out lots of people were scared of the way the witches looked, but it was always the fear of turning into a mouse for me.  Maybe that's why I'm not a big chocolate eater to this day. 

How about you, left any tempting goodies behind at the op shop lately?  Had any good op shop finds lately?  Were you similarly traumatised by that book?

The balance

I noticed that my internet banking has a function where you can get it to make a pie chart of what you spend your money on.  It reminded me of something I read...maybe in Frankie magazine...about a girl who set herself a challenge of drawing everything she purchased.  I think I like that idea better, time consuming though it would be!  For what it's worth, here's what I did and didn't buy at the op shop the other day.

I bought:

 

And I didn't buy:

 

I wonder what that says about my spending habits?  Maybe I need a pie chart. 

Embroidery

I've been having a bit of op shop embroidery luck lately.  I got this broderie anglaise embroidered top that looks kind of like sea anemones and I'm going to cut it up to make into pouches. 

 From the St. Vinnies in Onehunga I also got this giant embroidered '70s wrap skirt.  I love the bright red that matches the ranunculus in my garden.  The skirt's destined to become pouches too. 

And one not to cut up is this embroidered cardy.  It's such toasty warm cashmere that just putting it on puts me in a good mood. 

It could be the start of a very expensive cashmere habit.  Oh dear.
How about you, had any good op shop luck lately?

Orangey

My heart leapt when I found this orange enamel pot at the op shop on Saturday. It might need to be christened with a fondue! It matches my orange beads and my orchid perfectly.

Do you know any good vegetarian fondue recipes?

Bird watching

This is a treasure I've carted around through moving house many times...I can't remember where I got it, maybe the dearly departed Rainbow op shop. It's a little pack of cards for identifying birds, with beautiful watercolours and descriptions on the backs:

Aren't they gorgeous?

I really like the idea of slipping these into your pocket if you're going out birdwatching. The packet says the series also has wild flowers, British wild animals, and dogs. Now doesn't the idea of carrying around cards for identifying dogs seem creepier somehow?

Thank you

Firstly, thank you to everyone who made purchases from my Felt shop in the month of April. It meant that I was able to make a donation to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake/Tsunami appeal on Sunday night.

Thank you to the op shop gods who helped me find:

An old postcard of Dunedin...

One of Oamaru...

I love that old bus in the foreground, driving past the Waitaki Electric Power Board.

And a new fella. Sorry Mr. Millicent Crow.

I also found a mother of pearl starfish brooch to replace my other mother of pearl starfish brooch (I know) that is missing a few tentacles.

And speaking of brooches, thank you to Susie from Flowerpress who is organising a brooch swap, exciting! You can find out how to enter here or click on that button over to your right.

How about you? Had any good op shop finds lately?

Patterns

Featuring my new op shop skirt, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the tablecloth I use on my table when I do market stalls. And which I was considering making into a skirt. Nothing wrong with a bit of matching!

Duck, duck, goose

When I was in Otaki last week, I found a flock of white ducks, the nice kind that stand up really straight and have long, skinny beaks. The kind that look like the duck from the wonderful book Duck, Death and the Tulip. I tried to show them to Mr Millicent Crow that evening, but they had disappeared. On our way home, we heard quacking from a completely different field and found the white ducks and a whole lot of ducklings jumping around trying to reach the grass seed at the tops of stalks. Which is quite a boring story, but I was very happy to find them again.

Just like I was happy today to find this skirt in the op shop, which is covered in what look like the very same kind of ducks. Although the op shop woman said "oh, you're buying the goose skirt."

So this skirt has a few problems. It's a particularly gaudy shade of fluoro pinky orange (which doesn't really show up in the photos, it looks much more tasteful in them). The ducks, or geese, have beaks and feet which are a rather insipid shade of teal. The waistband is only big enough to go around my leg, but there's plenty of fabric in the rest of the skirt.

But aren't the ducks cute?

I'm wondering what to do with it. I'm thinking about taking the waistband off, painstakingly unpicking it and turning it into an A-line skirt. Or taking the waistband off and running a piece of elastic through the top and turning it into an elastic-waisted skirt. Or making it into one of those bags that you keep plastic bags in. Or cutting out the ducks, backing them with interfacing and making them into patches...

Any ideas? What would you do with such a fabulous but weird garment? I'm hoping you won't say "take it back to the op shop!"

Wolfie

Once upon a time Mr Millicent Crow came home from tour with a beard and wearing a t shirt with a wolf and an American flag on it. When I saw this giant wolf t shirt at the op shop the other day I knew I needed a wolf t shirt too! But it was huge and a bit manky, so I gave it some surgery, and now I've got a comparatively tasteful wolf singlet!

On the first day of Spring

I photographed my newest op shop acquisitions - three little bird candles, which I don't think I can bear to light; I would feel too sorry for them...
...and this gorgeous skinny coffee cup. It looks like it's for drinking coffee so strong you could stand your spoon up in it!
Pinch, punch, first of the month!

Sewing wish list fulfilled

As you can see if you look closely, I've now got a pretty good approximation of the skirt from my sewing wish list...I found it in my local op shop for a mere 4 bucks. So I can cross that one off the list, without making it. Now that's my kind of sewing!