I discovered the talented Helen Hedding through Facebook and instantly fell in love with her beautiful up-cycled softies made from retro fabrics, second-hand jumpers and clothes.
A bit about Helen
I have been sewing and recycling for as long as I can remember. I had a fabulous Mum who would let me cut up old clothes to make things out of, so I have always eyed off second hand clothing as fabric. I worked in a textile agency in the late '90's and started collecting all the (once abandoned) fabric samples and made them into handbags. When I had my daughter the need for hand bags was superseded and toys took over.
I now use a combination of saved fabric samples and recycled clothes found in thrift shops for a majority of my works. When I start a new project I don't go shopping I just use what I already have stashed in my studio. Re-using and using up old clothes and fabrics gives a certain character to my toys and also ensures that each toy is nearly always a one off original.
I did a search on "retro Christmas" and came across this wonderful collection of scanned vintage Christmas Ephemera on Flickr. I particularly love the pussy cat!
I so appreciate that "Calsidyrose" on Flickr has taken the time to scan each of these retro delights for us all to enjoy. Thank you Calsiyrose!
I had my friend Georgia over this week to do a photo shoot of her gorgeous lino cut prints for some promo material. Many of Georgia's prints feature retro styled interiors so I delved into my wooden trunk full of retro goodness, and pulled out a heap of objects to use as props alongside the prints.
Georgia has a visual merchandising background and inspired me by the way she was arranging everything. I found myself looking at my random belongings through different eyes, and now am determined to find new homes for them around my lounge room. So the wooden trunk is now called the Prop Box! The props complimented Georgia's designs so well. Georgia did say that she had Prop Envy!
Next project...we are going to do a photo shoot just for fun of all my retro collections to add to the Retro Delights Website. Maybe a fun task for the holidays.
To celebrate summer, we are planning a Retro Beach party for close friends, so for some inspiration I headed over to the Retro Beach group on Flickr.
I spotted this chair during the Henley Beach hard rubbish collection last month and straight away it reminded me of the bamboo style chairs recently featured in Real Living Magazine. I was inspired so grabbed it!
One can of yellow spray paint later and I'm pretty happy with the result. Not quite the same as the chairs featured in Real Living (above), but not the price tag either! I decided to go with yellow, a happy spring colour, also seems to be the thing at the moment in interiors - a touch of yellow here and a touch of yellow there!
My new yellow chair is going to reside in the spare bedroom, I just need to get a cushion for it now!
Now that Spring is here, I have been starting to think about the perfect picnic set. Even though you can buy modern versions of these sets, they simply just don't make them like they used to. Here is a wee collection that I found for sale on ebay and NZ TradeMe. Absolutely delightful!
"Bullet" planters take their name from their conical bowl shape. Nested in a steel tripod stand, they appear almost ready for take-off. First manufactured in mid-20th century America, the planters reflected the era's fascination with all things "space age" and "modern."
Technological advancements in the 1950’s opened up new avenues for designers, allowing them to build light, durable objects with curves, lines, and integral colors not possible with traditional materials. Fiberglass-reinforced resin was especially popular. Used early-on in crash helmets, this fire-resistant, waterproof material was introduced into a wide variety of household objects from colorful lamp shades, to the classic Eames shell chair, to the ubiquitous bullet planter. Equally suited to a Modernist urban apartment as to the era’s new crop of "atomic ranch" suburban homes, the colorful planters with were an instant classic.
Flash forward 50 years, Mid-century Modern design has earned its place history and continues to thrive in the form of high-quality reproductions. The Retro Bullet Planter by Hip Haven™ is faithful to its predecessors in shape, texture, color and quality. Available in 16 colors and three heights, these delightful retro planters provide the finishing touches to round out mid-century influenced interiors, while at the same time harmonizing with a wide range of other decorative styles.
The Nov/Dec issue of Frankie Magazine features a gorgeous dolls house collection by Georgia Smith. This caught my eye being a lover of all things miniature and retro. Georgia has furnished her dolls house with a collection of furniture sourced offshore on eBay - unfortunately this kind of thing just isn't available in Australia. Maybe there is a market there...Mmmmm!
Please shrink me so I can play in this house!
Last night Denis and I did a quick drive by the Hard Rubbish collection in Henley Beach and started a new chair collection. Once we got started we couldn't stop! Back in NZ I had a chair fetish, and at one stage owned 36 dining chairs!!! Don't ask why, I just like the design of chairs.(I am lucky I have a very patient and tolerant husband). We sold them all before moving back to Australia, and now suddenly my collection has grown again!
Anyway, I am keeping these teak chairs for a project, not sure what yet... I am considering recovering them with matching fabric for our dining room. I could design the fabric myself and have it screen printed. This delightful collection has the potential to look quite stylie.
Hard rubbish in Henley Beach today. We popped out briefly and ended up coming home with two trailer loads! I think this was the best find for the day, a solid room divider / wall unit made in South Australia still with the original makers label "Buttery's". It just needed a quick clean, then the hardest part was working out where to put it!
The chair was picked up last week from Grange Hard Rubbish, my goal being to find a special chair for our new cat Hestor. The frame is in great condition and Hestor feels right at home in his new chair.
The white tape recorder on the shelf is my original SHARP QT27 Stereo Radio Cassette Recorder that my parents gave me for my 13th Birthday back in the 80s. It certainly was the business! Remember, they also came in red, yellow, black, pink and blue! I was obviously quite a conservative child back in the 80s and chose white!
This is a rather lovely 1966 sideboard from UK furniture manufacturer Barnett Nathan.
In 1963 Barnett's eldest son Jerrold, took the brave decision to develop a Scandinavian styled range in teak - a decision that was to mould the company's future and influence the designs that are still in production today.
Under advertisements proclaiming 'Scandinavian Design by Nathan' the first range of teak furniture, called Citadel, was launched. Now considered to be a design classic, the styling was simple and elegant with no decoration other than plain recessed handles.
Citadel was an outstanding success and other teak ranges quickly followed, all beginning with the letter "C": Corinthian, Cortina and Corsica. Backed by a nationwide advertising campaign, Corsica became Nathan's best selling range of the late 1960's.
Original ad for the "Corsica" 6ft sideboard.
I just happened to come across this wonderful example of the Corsica currently for sale on New Zealands TradeMe website. Click here to read more about the history of Nathan furniture.
A true classic. Skippy is so so clever with his paws.
If you are wondering what to do with those old mags lying around then here's an idea. Melissa Gable from Austin Texas creates these wonderful paper collage/compositions using imagery from retro mags. Absolutely love it. A great inspiration!
See more at One Creative Girl Blog
I spotted this wonderful retro inspired packaging on The Dieline. Designed by an ingenious Australian firm Studio Bomba, this packaging would look absolutely gorgeous in my 1950s kitchen!
After
Before
For those of you interested here are a few pics of the Messagemark Studio renovation before and after! It was a fun project to work on with my best buddy Denis. It certainly kept the renovation bug at bay for a few months anyway! I thrive on projects like this!
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
