Things I like today

Some new Ebay Purchases :)



My husband is a drummer so I'm going to make him one of these toy drums for Christmas. I know it will make him laugh :)



I love Jane Foster's screen printing!

Day 28 of the 30 day vegan challenge

Here's today's dinner which I enjoyed with some ginger beer:




Tofu sausage roll, salad, avocado and chickpeas :) You can read more about my vegan adventures here

My Creative Space

Spending lots of time when I'm not at work making lots of these:



And these:

Iv'e been a bit slow as I've had a virus to make me woefully tired. Argh Christmas is coming! xx Read about more creative spaces here

Things I like today

Love the use of sewing patterns to make paper flowers.


Cool Christmas cards (with free worldwide shipping) by Inaluxe


What a glorious quilt by Pins and Needles!





How cute are these drawings by Kate Wilson? Love love love them!




Love heart tights! via MelbourneGirl

Northside Maker's Market this saturday!

What are you doing on saturday? If you have any free time, pop along to the Northside marker's market. There's loads of crafty stalls, yummy food and even massages!

I'll be selling Polka Dot Rabbit goodies (including some new products not available elsewhere) as well as a wide range of materials, buttons and vintage crafty ephemera that I no longer use (decluttering the craft room)!

Would love to see you there, please come up and say hello!

Things I like today

I have a terrible weakness for retro crafty robots


This wonderful illustration is a bit like my brain....I love the work of Krisatomic!

Adorable apple rug! It's meant for children but I want one!

Mix Tape Magazine Giveaway!

I was very excited to receive copies of Mix Tape Zine late last week. You might have seen that I have a little ad for Polka Dot Rabbit in there and also one for our Green Renters site.

It really is a most impressive publication. Gorgeous illustrations, including an amazing cover by Gemma Jones, interesting articles on all sorts of crafty things and issues such as following a raw food diet (obviously of interest to me with my vegan challenge!). Anyway, I have two copies to give away! Just comment below on why you'd like one and I'll do a random draw next monday!

hugs,

Cate

Thing I Like Today

Gorgeous bag made by Curly Pops which can be bought at Dear Gladys, a wonderful supporter of Fitted for Work.

Old vintage matchbox print from here


Giant bunny made out of carrots! Via Swiss Miss (That said, carrots are not very good for bunnies. A small piece of carrot is a very occasional treat).

If you are in Sydney, you should totally get yourself to this exhibition of artistic interpretations of fairytales, last night was the opening but it will be around for a few days only!


I've always adored pretty dresses like this one. Just the right kind of thing for Melbourne's roasting hot weather...

My first vegan dinner party!

Last night we had our first vegan dinner party! It was great fun. Four keen friends joined us to enjoy an entirely vegan meal.

On the menu was:

Entree:

-Moroccan spiced Olives

-Semi Dried Tomatoes

-Turkish Bread

-Hummus Dip

-Beetroot Dip

-Main:

-Dahl

-Garden salad (from our garden) with avocado and tomato

-Falafels

-Quinoa Tabouli

-Broad beans

-Oven desiree and sweet roast potatoes with nutritional yeast and cajun spices

Dessert: Chocolate Beetroot cake with soy icecream.

We drunk cider, Chris’ homebrew beer and some local wines including a lovely cherry wine. Great fun, can’t wait to do another one!

Things I like today

Make a gorgeous patchwork summer throw like this one from Meet Me At Mike's. Click on the link for the tutorial!







I can't remember when I found this, but I want one!





by Alistair Levy via Swiss miss

Things I like today

I'm totally in love with this Etsy shop! So much so that I've dedicated today's feature... I love the use of colour and recycled materials, and the way the photographs all tell a story...

Gorgeous aprons and teatowels...







Doily bowls, yes they've been on my list forever!





Lovely placemat!

Thing I Like Today

What a lovely kitchen! Featured here



I keep meaning to make something like these...


Gorgeous bike basket by Design House Stockholm


Adorable kitchen stickers by I Love Retro

I was also charmed to have my cross stitch badges featured on Cutable today!

Vegan Beetroot chocolate cake!

I found this recipe originally here, but i made a few changes as I found it a bit too high in sugar and fat. So this is my revised edition.

I made it for my rather conservative parents and they quite liked it which says something! It’s a great way to use any beetroots you have growing at the moment!
Vegan chocolate & beetroot cake

* 500g self raising flour (or gluten free and baking soda).
* 180g cocoa
* 100g sugar (more to taste)
* 2 medium beetroot, grated
* 100ml olive oil
* 350ml orange juice
* 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
* 250g silken tofu

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 22cm cake tin (it’s easier if you’ve got a loose-bottomed one).

Sift the flour and cocoa together into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and grated beetroot and mix to combine.

Blend together the oil, juice, baking powder and tofu, until it has a smooth texture and is well combined. Add this to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Then pour this into the cake tin and cook in the oven for 1.25 – 1.5 hours. Check the cake after 1 hour by insterting a skewer into it – if it comes out clean the cake is ready. The cake will come out of the oven slightly cracked on top, but smelling wonderful.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve with the spiced beetroot glaze.
Spiced beetroot glaze

* 1 litre water
* 1 medium beetroot, cut into 2 cm cubes
* 1 cinnamon quill
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 vanilla pod, split in 2
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then gently simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture, reserving the liquid. Add the beetroot back to the strained liquid and then blend this together. Pour the glaze back into the pan and heat for a further 2 minutes.

Christmas markets coming up!

Christmas stalls coming up! Come and get your Christmas presents!Polka Dot Rabbit will be featuring brand new goodies!


Thread Den Christmas Market: Sunday November 15, 10am-2pm

From unique vintage finds, to tasty homebaked treats, to handmade toys, clothing, stationary, textiles, homewares - theres something to keep your whole tribe happy. We even have kids craft activities & face-painting to entertain the littlies while you shop.
So lock it in your diaries. This will be the perfect kick start to your Chrissy shopping, and a date not to be missed!

@ The Melbourne Lithuanian Club
44 Errol St, North Melbourne

Northside maker’s market : Saturday November 28th 10.30-3.30

This market featured works specifically made by crafty people living in Melbourne’s North. There’s a wide range of local handmade goodies! 10.30-3.30pm Northcote Uniting Church, 251, High St Northcote.

Blackbird Summer Market : December 5th 11am-4pm

Blackbird Summer Market is a monthly event held at the wonderful Worker's Club on Brunswick St, Fitzroy.

The Market is a collection of vintage fashion, up and coming Australian designers in fashion and jewellery, a place for artists to display and sell their wares and an opportunity for a browse, shop and mingle in a relaxed, exciting atmosphere.

The bar and kitchen is always open with a delicious menu waiting for you to try! Music will always be spinning whether in the form of live band or DJ.

Crafty things...

I've been working on lots of crafty things in time for Christmas markets. I also thought I need to make some new bits and pieces for my website. I haven't got them all up yet, but here's some new badge sets I've put up in my little shop, hope you like them :)

Things I like today

Adore these, they look so effective grouped together. Part of the goodies in Jane Schouten's All the Luck in the World Store. She also is responsible for this lovely Christmas tree:






Cool lightshade via Bliss


Spanish style shirt. I think this would be a great DIY kind of outfit to make.

computer woes

still having problems with blogger, but never fear, I will post some lovely pics on the weekend! :)

Things I like today

So sweet! via here



Awesome Halloween costume-low res! From here




stunning stairs by Horst Galsker






Cutest business card by Mikey Burton

A weekend country wedding

We went to the country on the weekend for a couple of friends' wedding. It was held in Wagga Wagga which was very pretty and the whole thing (besides the heat!) was lovely.

Some random pics (didn't take many of the bride and groom as they were surrounded by photographers the whole day):








How stunning is the bride!


I made some felt flowers for my hair the night before:




Loved this sign, there were ducks everywhere!



Totally wanted to steal this garden set!


Some fingerpaint style art from our hotel room which I found interesting....


It was really hot the whole time we were there. But we still had lots of fun. We went to a exhibition on Bill Kerr on sunday and hung out at the pub drinking gin and tonics. We also went to the local market and I bought a lovely embroidered doily for brooch making! Chris bought lots of art house horror dvds which will be fun to watch.

I also started the 30 Day Vegan easy challenge on sunday! You can follow my progress here. Quite a challenge in the country!