Sponsor Spotlight - Zaranne Handmade

I'd like to introduce the first post in a new series of 'Sponsor Spotlights' each Friday on the blog. I thought a few fun questions would be a lovely way to get to know the people behind the blogs and shops that sponsor my blog (thus enabling my knitting and handmade addiction). My first guest in the 'Sponsor Spotlight' chair is the sweet Zara from the blog Zaranne Handmade. Her blog is a cosy corner of the internet with an inviting, authentic, down to earth feel about it. So please welcome Zara, and do pop over to her blog for a visit and a little chat.

 

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My blog is all about... my latest baked goodies: jam drops, apple jam and brownies. Plenty of op-shop treasure showing off. My stitched creations of bunting, beanies and tea towel cushions also feature. Then there’s the still small and currently pretty bare vegie garden, the frost and minus temperatures of a Southern Tablelands winter is not really conductive to plant growth, come spring though there’ll be pumpkin vines clambering over the shed and apple tree branches, tomatoes needing staking and beans climbing the picket fence.

 

If I weren't a… nurse, I would quite like to be... the owner and manager of my own little shop filled with local, handmade and unique items. Jams, chutneys, baked treats, framed water colours, vintage suitcases filled with quilts, tea cosies and placemats, and shelves laden with vintage canisters, wooden cotton spools, tea towels and silver cutlery.  There’ll be floral bunting out the front and tin buckets filled with bunches of eucalyptus leaves, lavender and sweet peas.

 



When looking for inspiration I... often turn to my favourite blogs. To reignite my love of op-shopping after not finding any treasures for weeks I turn to Allison of Just Underneath, Lea of Life, Love and Making Stuff and Max of Blackbird has Spoken. For simple living ideas you can’t go past Ivy Nest’s Tania and Michelle of Hugo and Elsa. Vintage home styling inspiration comes from Kylie of Lucy Violet Vintage and Kim of Feather and Nest. There’s plenty of beautiful photography to get me inspired by Naomi of Look See and for my fix of country living goodness I head over to The Shady Baker by Jane and Fiona’s Cattle, Kids & Chaos.

 

My favourite season is... Winter. Where I call home is fairly cold in this season. Last winter was my first living away from the coast and the first time I got to experience the beauty that is frosty mornings and snow fall making way for beautiful mild, sunshine filled days. Living inland, I am really enjoying all the distinct four seasons.

 

The best thing I ever found op-shopping... now this is a tough one as I have many favourite thrifted pieces. My typewriter is up there, along with the pretty pink Nally Ware kitchen canisters, and the Johnson plate collection that has gotten a bit out of hand. Then there’s the milk glass collection housed in the kitchen dresser and the floral sheets and tea towels filling the vintage suitcase towers.

 

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If you are interested in being featured in a 'Sponsor Spotlight', please check out my Sponsor Info page or email me - christina-lowry@hotmail.com
Advertising spaces range from $5 - $12.

Stitch. Read. Covet. Blog.

    

Stitch: I seriously love these knitted poufs. I think Cohen and Emerson would too. Practical and fun. There is a tutorial on the Pickles blog, which also features lots of other stitchy goodness. (Like this knitted zig-zag-spread, or this Cabled cradle spread.)

Read: I am a sucker for list of books. Be it The 100 greatest novels of all time (I've only read twenty one of them), or 10 Aussie books to read before you die (I've read five), I love to see what has made the cut, which I've read and which I might like to read. So I was interested when I stumbled across the top 20 Vintage Classics of 2012. I have read seven of them. How about you?

Covet: I've heard that the rule for buying a great gift is to make sure you are buying what they want and not what you want. This is not the case with my twin sister. Instead, I buy her what I want and know she will love it. Our tastes are just so similar. Unfortunately, that means I have been coveting the Geometric Deer brooch I brought her for her (our) birthday. I'd happily settle for the Harlequin Bear though...

Blog: I have recently been reading and enjoying the lovely blog, Mother Down Under. It's written by Caitlin, an American Mother in Australia, who lives in a mindful and sustainable manner. I also follow her facebook page, and a recent post got me thinking about the chemicals in cosmetics. Despite trying to rid my home of as many chemicals as possible, I realised I hadn't given any real thought to the composition of my make up. The New York Times article that Caitlin referred to certainly made me think. I thought the days of lead in make up were long gone, but apparently not. Needless to say as the items in my bathroom cabinet get used up I will be endeavoring to replace them with products containing fewer and safer ingredients. (Sarah Wilson has a list of toxin-free cosmetics here.)

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This post has not been sponsored in any way. The above are genuine items/people/blogs that I am loving.

Care to share your own Stitch. Read. Covet. Blog? Please leave a comment or your link below so we can all check them out.

Housekeeping + Links

I put my computing skills to the test this morning. I have managed to update the Tutorials page and make some cute little mosaics with text thanks to picmonkey. There is no before shot of the tutorial page, as the whole lot was rather lack luster I'm afraid! I have also worked out how to use the 'pages' links below the blog header more effectively. Now they take you straight to the page, for instance straight to my Shop, rather than to a separate page on the blog that you need to click on once more to get you to the shop. This is probably not nearly as interesting or as exciting for anyone else as it is for me. But it has been something that has been bugging me. (If you are interested, you use the html of the linked word as your page header.) Now, if only I could work out why the spacing between the page text has gone awry...

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Also, have you seen Pip's blog school? The inspiration for this little bit of blog fixing.
I think these woven labels would be the perfect addition to a hand knit sweater as well as embroidery.

These watercolour portraits are a wonderful and clever idea.

If you are in Brisbane make haste! There are only two days left until the Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado closes.

This Tomato Jam from Food in Jars is on my to do list.
And, thank you all so much for the kind words about the ornament tutorial! You are all so sweet and make me feel special indeed.

Here's to a wonderful weekend.