The Janelle Wind Collection

The story of my brown boots...

Thanks for popping back to share the story of my new brown boots - I am excited to share it with you.

Last week while email chatting with my wonderful friend Mardi, she told me that she had purchased herself some new brown boots. I LOVED her boots and got to thinking that I would really love to add some brown boots to my wardrobe too. Working within my budget, I headed straight to ebay to see what I could find.

I was super excited to find this pair of boots for auction and with only 1 hour to go till the end of the auction. I sat eagerly watching and waiting to see if they would stay within my budget and if these would become my 'new' brown boots.

The seller listed them as vintage and that appealed to me even more - I loved the laces on the front and side - instantly falling in love with them and hoping they would be mine.

I am happy to say that I won the auction and these gorgeous boots arrived on Wednesday morning - all for $15.50 AND they fit me perfectly - happy times for me and my eclectic wardrobe too. I am sure I will be wearing them lots and lots and lots.

I thought I would share one more outfit with you - so here is what I wore yesterday...

My new green top that I LOVE was a gift from Emma - thank you Emma, I love it so so much.

So there you have the story of my boots. A HUGE thank you goes to Mardi for telling me about her boots just at the right time, so I could find these boots that are just perfect for me.

Back soon to share a sneak peek of my latest pattern - I started piecing it together today and can't wait to show you. Rest assured I am still stitching - LOTS! xx Janelle

I {heart} vintage sheets...

I have a real LOVE of vintage sheets and was SO excited to be able to use one of my most favourite sheets this weekend. You see, my need for storage drove me to think outside the square a lot when moving back to this house.

I decided that I would use my BIG bookcase as a linen cupboard,  but I didn't want everyone looking at all of my folded linen, so planned to make a white fabric curtain. As time went on I decided I really wanted to add colour, so decided to make the curtain from a vintage sheet.

It took NO time at all and I didn't even cut the sheet at all, just folded about 7 inches to the wrong side, stitched two rows of straight stitching and threaded to stretchy curtain stuff though and 'presto' one pretty neat curtain (if I do say so myself LOL).

This 'new' linen cupboard sits outside the bathroom in our dining room. I LOVE that you can see hints of the baskets and curtain in the mirrors in the hallway too.

And for fun I thought I would show you the whole dining room, before and after. This is what the back sun room / now dining room looked like 2 years ago when we moved out.

And today after I finished adding my curtain...

The baskets at the top of the book case were from a budget store here in Australia, called 'The Reject Shop' and were about $10 each and the vintage sheet was a gift from a relative, so another budget makeover that was definitely within budget and brings a smile to my face. And if I decide I want to use the sheet again all I need to do is a little unpicking.

I am on the lookout for a fun light fitting or chandelier for my dining room. I love the thrill of looking for and waiting for just the 'right' thing to appear somewhere. I will definitely be back to share more again soon. x Janelle

Storage solutions...

This little house of ours was originally only three rooms when it was first built and over the years different owners have enclosed verandahs to make extra rooms. Because of this, our house lacks storage in a MAJOR way. There are no built in cupboards in any room, nor linen or broom closets either. This has sent me into a storage frenzy and I must admit I am struggling a little with where to store everything.

I thought I would share some storage solutions as I think of them and also ask you to share any clever or handy storage solutions that you may have - especially for homes like mine without cupboards.

My first little brainwave came as we were moving. I was struggling with what to do with my linen as there is no linen cupboard. I remembered my parents still had some vintage suitcases that were theirs from over 50 years ago and from their parents as well - so genuinely vintage and cute too. Mum happily agreed to let me have them - yipee. So I have popped as much linen that I can fit into these suitcases and popped them up onto one of our wardrobes, next to Emily's doll house that sadly wont fit in her room either.

In these suitcases is the linen that we don't use very often so I wont need to disturb the cases all that often and I think they add a fun vintagy look to our room as well.

Do you have a clever storage idea? Especially a way I could store the vacuum cleaner - that one has me stumped. I look forward to hearing your ideas and will share more as I unpack and get organised... xx

Vintage finds...

We have a fantatic op shop (or thrift store) not too far from where we live that has so many great finds. This week, Emily and I headed there to see what goodies were waiting for us and I was thrilled to find a few little things for me.

The first was an aqua beaded necklace - perfect colour for me. So that one went in our little shopping basket for $1. Gotta love vintage finds.

Then we headed in to look at the crocheted blankets as Emily has been using them to lay out in the sun and work on her art journal. Well she spotted one she loved in yellow, white and green for $3, so that came home with us too.

And my last little find, just before we left was a GORGEOUS crocheted cushion. Now with my recent interest in crocheting I had an even greater appreciation for the work that would have gone in to making this cushion, so it just HAD to come home with me. (the paint swatches I grabbed from the hardware store to use in art journaling - I LOVE colour!!)

I just LOVE the colours and think it is so cleverl to have a blue cushion insert inside too, so there are splashes of colours I love, and all for $3. And it looks great on my couch as well...

I did spot a few other lovelies last week that I will be heading back to take a second look at. I love breathing life into something that someone else doesn't want anymore. It is just so much fun...

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Thank you for your lovely words re 'a bluebirds welcome' - I am thrilled you like them. Once I received some patterns I will be sure to do a giveaway so pop back soon if you would like a chance to win a copy for yourself. xx Janelle