Craft, Mum, Craft!


Carly at Moopy & Me posted recently that she will be extending her shop Nest. Nest is in Queen Street, Croydon: a rare strip of old shops. I visited last week on a day that Nest was shut but I that didn’t matter. It was just lovely to peer in and see the little art aprons on pegs, tiny little sandals in the window, and children's art. It will be great to see the expanded shop.

Along from Next is One Small Room. One Small Room has three wee shopfronts and stocks fabric by Kirin Notebook, Kristen Doran, and sproutdesign; The Small Object’s stamps and note cards; Teacup's cards; Tsk Tsk's pictures; and Moopy & Me's bunny. There was also women’s and children’s clothes; and furniture and household things. A women's magazine from 1951 caught my eye (bargain at $5 – Did I buy it? No. Do I wish now that I bought it? Yes!).

Next to One Small Room is Queen Street Cafe, a fabulous mixture of furniture and art (a beautiful mural along one wall) and some cool music playing. We had tea in a pot and citrus tart with the thickest runny cream. And over the road is Hype and Seek a secondhand shop of groovy things. I’ll be going back for a proper visit (read: purchase!) while I’m on holiday this week.

Hey, has anyone noticed the US exchange rate? If it becomes level with the Aussie dollar, does that mean I can order from Hancocks / Repo Depot / Amazon with wild abandon? That's a rhetorical question! J and I are pretty conscientious about money but I do love him to death when he says, 'Go ahead, order what ever you want!' No guilt trips on this old bus! By the way, that's my new bag above. I'm very excited – can't remember the last bag I bought and they're usually pretty boring and functional. This is pretty and functional.

Overheard in the Target book section
Mother: Can't you find a book that you'll actually read?
Daugther (8-ish): No Mum! Craft, Mum, craft!
Exactly.

13 comments:

Hyena In Petticoats said...

I love Queen Street - I live just down the road from there, and a visit is always inspiring....
I can't wait to see Carly's new space - it'll be huge! Brilliant! I think she's going to do some adult classes, too, so maybe we should drag our Nanna selves down there for some crafty learning!
xxx

Jodie said...

Great bag and sounds like a great place to visit with more time on your hands !!!

Leah said...

I'm watching that dollar too - I think it *might* even be my duty to spend up while I can :)

Cosy said...

HiP: Yes, I think the Nanna within would love Carly's classes.

Jodie: Very much a great place to linger over coffee and fabric.

Leah: I think it would be unAustralian of us not to spend while the dollar is up!

Jodie said...

Is Queen st in Melbourne?? I'm going there this weekend. I must agree... this rising Aussie dollar is really making the US shopping very, very tempting...

Jade said...

It is our duty definitely! If it does equal out, it might even be cheaper to start shopping online than locally. Gah! How un-australian!

Linda said...

I am asking that same rhetorical question myself.

Cosy said...

Jelly: This Queen Street is in Adelaide. But I'd love to visit all of Melbourne's make-and-do shops (Mikes, Poppet, etc).

Jade & Linda: I'm glad we are right-minded people with respect to the US dollar.

Linda said...

I say we answer ourselves and press that paypal button.

Anonymous said...

Very cute bag :D

And go the amazon friendly currency rate I say, woo!

Anonymous said...

I must admit I have been giving Amazon a bit too much time lately and I am eagerly awaiting about FIVE books!!!! I do love your bag and it's so good to hear the mushroom fabric is good quality, I too saw it in Spotlight's catalogue and thought it must be crappy! I will have to go and check it out! oh no that means more spending

Levin said...

I'd be in on the adult classes at Carly's too!

We spent lots of time in Queen Street when Emily had her sewing class with Carly - it's a wonderful place. I grew up around the area - it's fun to see how much it has changed in the years since I moved there (1980).

I've done a bit of spending at Amazon lately. I had to stop though cause we are going on a holiday (tomorrow - yipee) but I had to save for that.

cheers
l
x

Victoria said...

"Craft, Mum, craft!" Very cool. Nice bag. It does look both pretty and very functional, a hard combination to find.