We came, we saw and now we're back home

Melbourne was brilliant! 

I had so much playing tourist in a town that I had lived in for the last 11years.
Bubba Joe loved it too, he loved the lights, the trams and all the people!

We saw lots & lots of sculptures....

and we even saw a penny-farthing at a bike rack 

- do you think someone rode it to work!?!

We stayed at the Novotel on Collins Street which is awesome because it
connects with Australia on Collins, 

so even when it was bucketing down with rain,
we could go shopping without getting wet!  

We went to Clegs (on Elizabeth St),
they are an awesome fabric shop
but I didn't get to check out the fabric as they stock yarn now
& well, I didn't make it past the yarn.
Check out the colour of the yarn that I bought below...

We shopped at Lincraft and perused Morris & Sons. 

We walked up to Tessuti but it was raining & up some stairs - not pram friendly at all.
We also wanted to go Craft Victoria, but it's not designed for prams just like EG Etal too.
Oh well.

But we did go to the NGV at Federation Square.
Bubba Joe loved all the art, we only went to the free exhibits but that was ok.
He loved all the paintings, photos & scultpures & commented on them all
& when he saw a painting that looked like his mum (dark brown long hair, white pasty face & was a girl) he looked at it, looked at me, looked at it then put his hand to my face........ Awwwwwwwwwww!!!

Joe upon seeing his first tram!

We stopped by The Block Arcade and admired the mosaics,

then purchased & then quickly munched all of our choccies from Haigh's.
We checked out the new Myer and bought myself a treat from KIT cosmetics.

Do you like Fed Square?
I have to admit it that when it was first built, I didn't like it but then one day,
I saw it full of people having fun, relaxing & just generally enjoying themselves,
that's when I fell in love with Fed Square & now it's awesome!!!
(especially when they have The Designers Market or Mark-it markets there!).

What's your favourite places in Melbourne city?  
I'm going back in June & would love the chance to check out more places.

Joe in the Bourke St Mall

Me, this week.

Tonight I'm heading on a red-eye flight with bubba Joe & my Mr and we're headed back to Melbourne for a few days... Yay!!!!!!
So now, I finally get to do all those things I wanted to do before we moved away.
Here's a list of some of the places that I'm dragging Joe too....
..... Craft Victoria
..... Morris & Sons
..... Lincraft
..... NGV both Fed Sq & St Kilda Rd
..... that fabric shop around the corner from Tiffany's - it has fancy fabric but can't remember the name of the place
...... the pretty arcade with the beautiful mosaic floors
...... Mr Turds... ok, that's not it's name it's actually called Mr Tulk's but I think but Mr Turds sounds funnier
...... the shoe shop that I saw near the art store - it had really funky shoes
...... the art store near the shoe shop
...... that Japanese store where I bought the big box of nice incense
...... the french restaurant on the river
...... the little shop near the laneway with all the fun amber jewellery in it
...... the newly renovated Myer


Where else should I go? I want to stick to Melbourne city itself and want to visit all the fun crafty & arty places that I can.


And OMG - they had all better be Pram Friendly.... Any ideas on what I should do if I can't actually get the pram in the door way? Is it polite or rude to move the display a little to get the pram in????

Spoonflower... do you?

Have you heard of Spoonflower?

Spoonflower is a website where you can design then print your own fabric! 

How cool is that! 

Have you used it? 

Is it hard to do?

Did you know that you can also buy this designer fabric! 

Yep, you can purchase designer limited edition fabrics! 

I was going to buy some but the different types of fabric confused me,
so I purchased a sample card of the fabric.

Now, I just have to some time to peruse the fantastic store to make my selections.

Have you ever purchased fabric from Spoonflower?

My april stash-bust swap

Do you swap-bot?
I signed up a couple of years ago but never got around to swapping. BUT of course, now that I'm trying to unpack a house with a teething bub, I suddenly find myself committing to several swaps! Arghh!!
Anyway, I managed to meet my swap deadlines and just received my first one in the post.
It was for a Stash-bust swap - perfect for me as I was discovering all of these hidden craft stuffs as I was unpacking. 

Check out the goodies I got in the post.

And the beads, I love the beads!

Worship me....

Ok, so maybe don't worship me but if you are looking for a place to worship your family or perhaps start your own religion, I came across these churches for sale....
I wasn't looking for a church to buy, I was just looking for property and I kept coming across churches for sale & it kind intrigued me from there.....

I love the internet... you can find all sorts of weird stuff!

Great web find...

Have you seen this website, there is an online store with some great yarn for sale as well as some really cool free patterns to download.

I'm loving this sarong...  there are also some really great scarves & cardi's too.

image via Jo Sharp

Great idea

Check out this great idea that I found in a magazine - suitcase tables!!

It makes me want to go out & find old suitcases!