Lilly Cottage, a shop of ones own by Laura and Linda.

I like too many pretty things!

I am having an identity crisis of sorts, I mean to say I do know who I am, it tells me on my drivers license and my children frequently call out to me in a volume I could never miss, but my problem is trying to describe what I like or what I do to other people.  Of course I know you all 'get' Laura and I  but when we try and describe what we do we end up sounding like we have a room in a old house selling granny craft not at all like the glamorous professional women we are! Yeah right!  I don't think they can see our sitting out the back of the shop surrounded in Lindt chocolate, coffee, glitter and a bit a fluffy wool from Laura's knitting. 

 

I have no idea how we can say that will make us sound a bit more professional and I hate the term 'Gift Shop' because I don't think that describes us at all.  I think we are really a come and see sort of place, because once you have been to Lilly Cottage you know what we 'feel' like. My identity crisis is that I like so many different things, eclectic is a really good word for me I think not to be confused with eccentric. Take all these beautiful pictures for instance, this lovely lady in red was a doll that I had to have and I bought it for myself for my birthday.  She is one of those gorgeous stocking dolls that I am sure we all had when we were growing up, I know I had two, one was on a lamp and had this lovely flouncy skirt.  Laura said she had one and hated it...oh how we regret those things now.  This one has the best red hot pants outfit with feathers on her toosh and on her head piece. I think I have even had hair this colour, no I am sure I have had hair this colour.

These two other ladies are canvas prints that I have embellished with some feathers, sequins and dimensional paint.. they are living at Lilly Cottage now.  She didn't come with the gaudy 40 sparkly thing of course, that was a gift and I tucked it in for the photos.  Check out those shapely legs and tights....I can honestly say I have never had legs like that. Though come to think of it maybe I did have stocking filled legs and I wet them too much and they swelled up..yes that is was happened, so glad it wasn't all that chocolate and cake!  Speaking of cake I will draw the lucky cake painting winner this afternoon. 

Love these wonderful pink roses darling husband bought for my birthday and hid in my daughters room overnight...I am so surprised they survived until morning in there.  They are lovely and I have done a huge eBay update and these lovelies feature in most of the pictures.

Above  is a little sneak preview of some new arrivals at Lilly Cottage this week ( these pink roses aren't real though), more later and in the meantime I will try and work out how to describe my style, though I am sort of liking eclectic, that covers so much doesn't it?  Oh well I better go and pay some eclectic bills and do some eclectic washing and then some eclectic tidying of my 'studio' where I will try not to get distracted by my pretties....TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.

Fairytale Glass Slippers are ready and waiting!

OK lets try this post again... The glass slippers on their beautiful pillows are finished and up for sale.  We have one at Lilly Cottage under a glass dome ( thanks for the idea Connie) and it looks spectacular...forgot to take a photo Sunday sorry, one is on eBay right now as we speak and I start it at 99cents, so you might get a bargain!! I have others that I was debating whether to put them on etsy or keep putting them on eBay, what do you think??  Of course if you want one all you have to do here is just send me a message and I will Paypal invoice you.  yeah yeah less blabbing on, here are some pictures... For some reason now the text is going above the photos but hey lets work with it.

Imagine the fun you could have trying to find who fits this lovely little slipper?  You do know though that is actually plastic so quite safe to play with ( I am not actually thinking of children playing with it here, i am thinking of us grown ups and dreaming of the possiblity of Prince charming and mice that actually do housework!!) Hmm I just remembered that those little birds could sew a fine seam too...I do need some help, might be popping one under my pillow tonight, a slipper that is not a little bird, that would just be silly!!

I have a heap of wonderful things ( besides the slippers) to go on EBay and Etsy over the next week or so, so please drop in often to check them out.

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT IN THE PREVIOUS POST TO GO IN THE DRAW FOR ONE GROOVY CUPCAKE PAINTING, JUST LEAVE ONE CAKEY COMMENT ON THAT POST AND I WILL DRAW IT ON THE 25TH.

TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.

 

It's my birthday and you can have a present!! ( if you are lucky)

I don't know about you but I really prefer to give presents than receive them. I love to surprise people with a gift and I feel all awkward and embarrassed when someone does that to me.  Of course I do really appreciate presents ( I didn't say don't give them to me, I just said I prefer to give them!).  Anyhoo I am celebrating a big wonderful birthday this week and as I feel so good I thought I would share  and  have a little giveaway.And this is part of your present...a cupcake painting by yours truly ( Linda).  There will be other little goodies in with this little painting but that will be a surprise!!  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what 'your' special birthday cake is. My request is always the same, I love carrot cake made with pecans and pineapple and cream cheese frosting.  For the last few years I have requested these be made into fantabulous cupcakes so I could share them around.  My mum makes these for me and they are yum!! As it is also strawberry season this time of year, they are also accompanied by a couple of strawberries on the side.  Oh and a glass of champagne and/or coffee as well.  Now it is your turn...leave a comment on this post between now and the 24th and I will pick a winner out of the cake tin.

We have had a busy busy week at Lilly Cottage selecting some new goodies for the shop and Tuesday Laura and I became expert wrought iron market cart and french  bicycle construction workers...all the time grumbling about how dirty our hands felt and how hard it was to do whilst trying to drink a cup of coffee.  Laura even tried to take out her eye and squish a finger a couple of times and I did what ever good friend does and giggled. We shall show pictures of our handiwork later until then you shall have to remain in suspenders.

 I will post about my little fairytale slippers soon, until then here is the soon to be changed current display ( well a little bit of it) at Lilly Cottage....do you see anything you like?

Love that blue colour!

"Bootiful' beauty accessories..get it..

Don't forget to leave your cake comment to go in the draw (whether you have a blog or not please leave a comment), until then TTFN Kiss noises Linda Lilly Cottage. 

Winter holiday fun!

Now I know the picture some of you would have thinking about winter holidays but it is probably a little different to our sort of winter.  I have been away for the past week, did you miss me?  I really missed you...talk about lots of catching up to do, not to mention the sewing to be done and the paintings to be finished but my children had a wonderful time so that is what really matters...making memories.... now picture a winter wonderland...then scrap that thought and look at our winter wonderland on the Gold Coast..

These beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets were our first visitors much to the excitement of the children who were then quickly disappointed when they discovered the birds much preferred the bread on offer at the next unit than the strawberries we had...how could they not like strawberries???

Such wonderful colours...not at all wintery..

Of course sandcastle building is never quite the same when I am around and as well as the usual buckets and spades, I also packed a few little trinkets in the same bag and gave the children free reign with whatever they wanted to do...not bad...

Very proud of her creation...hers is the bottom bit, with the four corners...she added a string of pearl beads later on...

Here is her big sisters creation, it was a bit of all hands on deck trying to get water into the moat for at least the picture.

 

I wish I could say that I drank lots of cocktails to get these sweet umbrellas but alas no, we do have packets of these umbrellas for sale though if anyone wants any for their own sandcastles...

The children also befriended a lovely old gentleman who entrusted them with his fishing rods to look after and wind them in if they got a fish...I don't fish...I sat and sketched mermaids...this is the only fish we got to take home...cheeky one too! Enough of my frivolous week...I have finished my glass slippers, I will show them in the next post and they will be on etsy and eBay soon.  TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.

Wedding Love

Hi, Laura here this time.  Just thought I'd do a blog entry with what I've been up to lately.  I attended a mini Wedding Expo at the Tom Petrie Resturant and Bar right here on the parklands where Lilly Cottage is situated.  It ran over two days (Saturday and Sunday) and was alot of fun.  We even had free food!  No wine though.  That would really have made it a perfect weekend.  I had a small display of some of my hand painted glassware, ring cushions, and a small selection of some of the jewellery I make.  I just love weddings, well not the actual ceremony so much as all the prettiness and glamour that goes along with it....the dress, the diamonds, shoes, flowers, silk, tulle....I could go on and on.  One of my favorite magazines is Martha Stewart Weddings.  It's just so full on gorgeous images and photography, and always gorgeous things to make.  I'll leave you with a couple of photos I took. 

Have a great day, Laura, Lilly Cottage.

Little houses, glass slippers and getting back into the groove.

Gosh that title was a post within itself!! Feeling a bit better,( can at least sit and stand) so I am back with some pretties and projects in progress.

Firstly grab yourself a cup of tea (or coffee of course)..just ignore the garish price tags at my tea table, I haven't had a chance to take them off yet...too busy creating...you know this photos is really from Lilly Cottage right??

Inspired by Little cottages and little houses I have been creating part of me own village..come take a peek...

I have the best critics at home at the moment for school holidays and they have been very helpful...maybe...

I love to sit and stitch into the early morning hours ( the kids can't stay awake that long) and as I stitch I dream up new collections and projects to attack and then become a one woman creating machine.  As I was stitching and beading these last night, they have extended to wall hangings, paintings and t-shirts in my head and they look pretty good there...wonder what they will look like???

Hmm now I appear to have put the same photo in twice and can't remove it, just in case you were wondering and because I am scared of losing the whole post it will stay there.

I am fairly sure these little houses will end up as cushions but a lot could happen between then and now.

One of the other little projects I am tackling today is/are? these lovely little glass slippers..they need a little bit more tissing up and of course they have a special pillow to follow, but I thought you might like a sneak peek..

I am really hoping these photos come out much smaller on the blog because they are huge!!! on the draft. I also have some very small and some very big canvases on the go at the moment, how typical of me, heres a little look see but you know they are so not going to look like this when they are finished...

This picture was too big to stay in the house so it has been relegated outside, lucky I got a shot without the exercise bike in it...you would have been able to see the dust and cobwebs on it from here. Oh I really can't get my head around  these big photos...Oh and I have a new girl to keep me company from the talented Penny ( still can't get the link to work). Well now I had better go and do something constructive before the children get home from 'Kids Games'. TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.

Don't count your chickens...

 OK so I know this is not a chicken, it is a wombat but I am having a bad day and I had thought the quiet one sided feud between me and typepad was over but no...it appears not so this is just a post to finish off the one before and say TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.....speak to you again soon..

It's supposed to be good for you!!!

Well as I am sitting here typing this I am living proof that exercise and even dare I say it physio is NOT good for you.  I went to my MS physio during the week and I must say it is more like a gym workout out than a physio session and after I did half an hour on the treadmill and then 30 sitting to standing to sitting very slowly exercises the ability to walk left me instantly and dramatically!! My poor quads and calfs turned to complete jelly and whilst before I went to physio I could run and jump puddles..well sort of kind of.. now I couldn't even walk!! The physio was a little indifferent and simply said that was probably enough for today...YOU THINK?? I had said previously that I thought half an hour was too long on the treadmill for me and she said 'see how you go, it says that in your notes ' and then encouraged me to keep going once I reached 20 minutes.  Later as I told her how I can not stand up if I shut my eyes she admitted she hadn't fully read my assessment!!! My darling husband said I should have stood up for myself a bit more but I did not want to seem like a cry baby weakling and was trying to prove that yes I could do it!  Two days later and i can not go from sitting to standing, roll over in bed, take a step up or down or walk with out excruciating pain and when I am walking my legs wobble and give way.  I tell you I am sooooooo completely peeved about this all and I am desperate not to be sick again, I have been sooo well and it is school holidays and you know I have only just been allowed to drive again...no driving now when I can not stand is there!?!!

I had to go for my hospital treatment yesterday and I asked the physio there ( because she knows me well and I trust her) and she said it was just a huge collection of lactic acid from those muscles and therefore inflammation and the only think to do is to have complete rest!!!! AAAARrrrgghhh I have so much to do, paintings half finished, sewing to do you name it is half finished and lying around my studio/living room. 

It has been a horrid week all around and you know sometimes it is hard to see the bright spot so I have admitted to myself that this week there is no bright spot and I shall look ahead to next week when hopefully I can walk and take my kids to all those fun things I had planned, like the library and the movies and the art gallery.  I want these holidays to be wonderful because for the last 4 sets of school holidays ( a whole year) I haven't been able to take them anywhere or do anything extra special. Oh well enough of my whining and on to what this post was going to be about...spreading the love... and sharing with you some of my recent buys and favourite sellers.

This week...I shall try and do this weekly...not the whining bit I promise....I want to tell you about these gorgeous dolls..  You have probably seen some of these photos before and wow!! all of a sudden they are larger and Typepad seems to have got its stuff together again...but I will still hold my breath...Anyhoo these are two of my gorgeous girls that are made by a lady here in Brisbane and who sells them on eBay.  I take them out to Lilly Cottage to spice up a display and I absolutely love there made-up faces and that hair and their jewels...I realise that now I have told you it is going to be even harder for me to win this on Auction, it is hard enough now but she is soo talented I just have to share her work. Her eBay site is obviously not going to work in the linky thing now......see I told you I wouldn't hold me breath over the typepad thing..but it is here...Fabulous Art dolls by Penny and Dot try this link http://stores.ebay.com.au/Fabulous-Art-Dolls-by-Penny-and-Dot see if that works.  Go vist you will love her stuff, her auctions usually end on Sunday morning..go have a look.

The other site that I frequent very often is the lovely Jamie of Simply Me Art here is her etsy link http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5151356 She makes the most divine jewellery using a little bit of this and that, vintage jewells new sparkle, just beautiful things.  I love it when my little Fleur De Lys box arrives with this months sparkly choice and I will wear it all day, Pajamas or nice clothes it doesn't matter, it goes on and stays on.  She has a lovely blog also, in the words of MM do yourself a favour...go visit.

My third gorgeous thing for this week has nothing to do with this photo at all I just threw it in there because it looks pretty. ( it is a bit of one of my paintings).

The other thing is actually a wonderful wonderful book that is my current favourite called Bazaar Style by Selina Lake and Joanna Simmons.  It is all about decorating with market and vintage finds....my favourite things!!! It is full of gorgeous photos with heaps of wonderful things in each one and yu can stare at it for hours and if you are like me can go..oh I have one of those.etc etc and if you don't have anything like these things the text is very very helpful in directing you to the sort of places that you might find things rather than giving you an exact recipe to follow.  You can find it here at the wonderful Amazon, I might have to go and write a review too..

 

It's winter you know!!!

I know that in comparison to lots of places where we live in Queensland...Brisbane winter is not that cold...but I am really chilly today!! it must be at least 12 degrees...oh stop snickering, it is cold for me OK? Just to prove it is really wintery look at these photos taken at Lilly Cottage on the weekend...positively chilly I tell you...

Yes well they do not really prove my point do they?

It was a beautiful day on Saturday for the shortest day of the year and the winter solstice.....but it was cold.....

Now I am going to be organized and do this Meme from Linda..

What was I doing 10 years ago?.......

10 years ago I was on Maternity leave from Nursing in the Recovery unit of a major hospital and was enjoying life with a gorgeous baby girl who could vomit up an entire bottle of milk from one side of the room to another...we used to feed her with a beach towel on hand.....oh those were the days....

Five things on my to do list..........

1.  Sew something anything, anything at all, except for mending and putting up hems that is boring!!!

2.  Sort out those gorgeous high heel shoes I own and get rid of them because I shall never wear them again.

3.  Cut out another 94 butterflies for the huge canvas I am working on..hope it looks as good as it does in my head!!!

4. Try and fold and iron at least one of the five baskets ( no I am not joking!) of clothes/tablecloths and uniforms that currently in my lounge room...you know you put them there so that you have to do something in order to be able to watch TV etc but what really happens is the baskets get moved around so that people actually view the TV over the top of them and then uses them as comfy foot stools....or the cat nestles down in the one with all the black clothes in it...typical!!

5. Write the newsletter for Lilly Cottages VIP list...it will have a Christmas Card with it soon if I don't hurry up!

Snacks I enjoy.......

Well that would be chocolate and then chocolate, with nice coffee and then there is chocolate and I suppose I don't mind cashews and Camembert cheese and crackers....and chocolate..  Hey they all start with C....

Things I would do if I were a millionaire......

I am not really sure, besides pay off all my debts and maybe buy a new car ( now that I can drive again  don't forget).  What I do know is that we would still have Lilly Cottage and enjoy the thrill of discovery at a Garage sale or flea market.  I don't think it would make me any happier, just a little less stressed over those bills that like to arrive at exactly the same time!

Places I have lived....

I have lived in the heat...Brisbane, Qld Australia,  in the cold....London ( Ealing and Clapham South) and often in my own little world in my 'studio' or at Lilly Cottage.

Not so exciting but at least I have done it now and if you would like to take the challenge to complete the list, leave a comment and we would love to come and visit you...other peoples lives always seem so much more interesting than your own sometimes don't you think??

Have a wonderful, spectacular day, TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.

Thanks Girls, here are some flowers for you!!!

Well thank you girls for all your kind, encouraging and downright amusing comments about my trade embargo debacle...well that is what it was in my eyes, that and funny too!

So in honor of your wonderful words of wisdom here are some flowers fro you, fresh from the 'garden' of Lilly Cottage ( read that as they are fake flowers...oh I mean faux flowers).We had a little flowers in the garden type display last Sunday, I wonder what I shall do this week...I suppose I will make up my mind tomorrow...here are some more flowers in bloom...

Hey guess what?? I am sure that this will excite you...but it is big news in this household... Guess who can drive again.....no not Brittany, Paris or Lindsay...ME!! I am finally 'well' enough to be allowed to drive again...woohoo!! It has been exactly a year, numerous MS exacerbations and drug changes and appointments and physio but finally something has kicked in and I feel soooo much better, it could be this new whiz bang drug or the vitamins or just that I have driven everyone insane with my whining, but the end result is that I can drive again!!  For those who have never driven it really doesn't seem a big deal but when you have been a busy socialite driving everywhere and anywhere all the time, to suddenly be unable to do that is like having your independence and 'freedom' taken away from you.  Just to be able to pop down the road to get milk for the coffee had become a drama as I had to ask a favour of someone or what until my husband got home and then send the poor soul out again, or I would just pout and stamp my feet at the injustice of it all. 

OK I so understand the reason as to why I couldn't drive and when I feel crappy believe me that is the last thing I wanted to do was drive but I would get so cross at seeing people who could barely walk without having a rest, climb into their normal car and then drive away.  I always felt that I was so much better and more capable to drive than those people and yet I still had my goody two shoes on and waited patiently ( OK maybe not patiently) to be told I could drive again and finally I can!! I now have a whole year of shopping and popping out for coffee to catch up on, so if you are looking for me and can't find me sewing or painting I will be on the road baby!

Don't you just love these lovely bears that our friend Julie makes with her huge stash of vintage linens..they are very popular and in honor of our 'flower' day they are called, Violet, Rose and what else but Lilly.

Have a wonderful weekend, I will be back soon to share that long awaited tag Meme and some of my absolute favourite artists with you.  I am sitting here listening too and loving  a CD my friend Leanne ( Queen of the Mills and Boon trivia friend) lent me, by Eva Cassidy, I really needed some new music and this is wonderful.  What music do you love? I would love to know so I can have a listen as the recommendations of others are always better than pot luck at the store.

TTFN KN Linda Lilly Cottage.