Feeling a little lighter...

On this road to simplifying my life, my home, and my workload, I have been thinning down the clutter  collections and decor around here. 

On facebook, Ive mentioned a few piles drawers full of magazines I have kept for years.

I obviously thought I would never change my style, country all the way...

But of course, tastes do change, some more than others ;)  , and flicking through the years '90 to '12, I have really integrated all of the trends to what I would call 'my style'!

It was kind of sad to see these go, but with Pinterest and Facebook, I think my home decor fetish is taken care of. 

Everyday I can just turn on the laptop, and browse anytime, and at no cost....to think how much I have spent over the years on magazines,wow!

I will still buy them but in a more controlled manner!

I must have been in a fenzy at times, as quite often doubled up on the same mag in the same month!

So now these drawers are empty....what will I fill them with?

Largest collection to date!!

Hello fellow junkers!!

It's been a while, and Im not sure if Ive fully recovered from the holidays, but stepping into the New Year always gives me that sense of the unknown ya know?

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

I feel I need to go back to my comfort zone of yesterday, and more familiar surroundings....

So Ive been working through the piles of mine and my family's life around the home, sorting, culling, and reminiscing. I guess when another child is leaving the nest in two weeks, it tends to do that to a person....

With one other flying the coop last November, Im starting to ask myself the question...'why are they leaving me?'

It seems it is time. Time for them to grow, explore, and become the best they can be! Well, I already think they are, but who am I to stop them!

My son Ryan is more than happy to stay a bit longer, and is moving out to Cara's room the day she has gone! Her room  will become the 'mancave'.

So with all of this happening, I cant help think of the changes it will make to myself , the business, and my priorities in life....So Im surrounding myself with what I know best...distraction!!

Collecting, junking, theyre certainly related, and definitely my close relations!

And well, if you have followed me for a while, you would know I have a collection or two, or 50, but I have discovered that my largest collection to date is the huge volume of photos on my computer, cds, dvds, albums, walls, theyre everywhere!

I havent got the heart to delete or part with them...

Unfortunately, it has come to the crunch , my computer is so full, it is having trouble coping with the masses of folders of photos I need to burn to cds. 

I must say, I have improved with my photography immensely over the years, and I think this blog has something to do with it, I have been clicking away for many years, and I think I will be taking my camera to my grave, haha!

So with all that said.....I thought Id put together some favourite photos over the years from my collection.

, starting with 'Junkstudio gardens'.

I will be back soon with a slideshow or two!

a collection that doesnt seem to stop!

If you have followed me from the beginning of my blog, you would know that I have many collections, and some I dont tell anyone about...but I have stopped buying,(I think), my home is full!

Well there is one that seems to grow, and that is my hat collection...

They are just scattered around my office/craft room carelessly, with no purpose.

I love them, the flowers and colours are devine. They would look better in my bedroom, as they seem to be all blues and creams...

I have at least nine now with the two latest additions here.

Any ideas on how I can display them, so I feel I deserve to have them?

New start, new decor, new beginning....

Wouldnt you just like to clear out your home and start again, new start, new decor???

As much as I love all of my 'stuff', and the mix of styles we live with, on occasion, I daydream about a huge change.

I guess that is why I moved alot throughout the years, I absolutely loved redecorating, and the challenge of making everything fit and work in a new space.

A dear friend of mine is doing 'just that', and downsizing from a 4 bedroom home filled to the brim with country style decor, scattered antiques, and craft oozing out of her creative room! Jules has found a quaint little apartment, and has decided to change and minimize her decor drastically!

I still cant believe it, as we always compared ourselves with our collections and dare I say, dust! My heart was breaking while helping her pack, she ruthlessly tossed kitchenalia, furniture, and whatever else, my way!

Im helping Jules out, and will be selling alot of her treasures at my studio sale on the 30th. If I can part with them, and they dont find their way into my home, that is!

Jules is 'one strong junker', and has decided on more of the clean , white lines of shabby, vintage chic. Becoming a minimalist will be a challenge for her, but an adventure and a new beginning. 

This fainting lounge, as Jules calls it, will get a recover.  I was also lucky enough to buy off her the most gorgeous antique dressing table, which I will show you soon When I can fit it in its new place!)

So it makes me wonder..... can you take the collecting gene out of a  hoarder  collector, or are we destined to re-offend?? I may have to keep a close eye on Jules, just in case she needs to purge again!

So please, if you are local, come along to the studio sale, and pickup some great treasures, lots of interesting finds to be found!

So here is just a sneekpeek of specials piling in, it will be a tight squeeze!

The feeble thimble...

(Image...Graphic Fairy)

Oh yes, this is a collection with purpose!

My first overseas trip was six years ago, travelling to the UK, covering England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.We stopped over in Singapore, and overall, about six weeks away.

I was thinking of a souvenir to bring back, that was small, and easy to travel with.

Since I like to sew, thimbles came to mind!

I filled a whole suitcase with souvenirs, mainly for everyone else, but I managed to find quite a few thimbles for myself. I found the perfect way to display them too, an old printers drawer, before they became popular here, wish I bought more of them at the time!

So then , of course, I needed to fill it, you cant leave a shelf half full...I apologise for the dust, hope you can see the thimbles ok!

Mmm, I thought Id be travelling a bit more than I actually have, so most of these are from friends and family.

Last year, I went to Vietnam, but they didnt have thimbles, so I bought this pair of statues.

I still have a few spare spots left, I hope I can personally fill them with my own travel experiences, but if not, it is nice to know that this is a collection my friends and family have shared with me!
**Ive nearly finished the change table transformation, sharing with you soon!

Is it just me??

I seem to be oblivious to what I buy these days...how is it I have another collection I was unaware of?

Who would have thought I liked these?

I dont even remember buying most of them.I bought the little 'green ball' one cause they are my favourite colours...

When Sue was here a couple of weeks ago, she noticed a couple of birds in my home, the decorative kind. She asked if I am collecting them now, and I said no, I dont think so.I mean, Ive always liked them.It got me thinking,so I'll do a count and get back to you on that one!Lol!

Are some people destined to collect, is it in their genes?

Does it come under the hoarding umbrella, or are we in a class of our own?

My family and I were discussing this over Easter, and some people have addictions,whether it be eating, drinking, smoking etc,and some can be addicted to collecting, apparently!

Can I say, much of the conversation was directed at me....( I dont drink, smoke or eat alot, so I guess they were talking about collecting,mmm)

And so the decision has been made...Why wait for Spring, I mean it is Spring somewhere in the world right?

Junkstudio is having a cleanout , a 'Spring clean' in Autumn!

Come on, I might need some help here, some encouragement from you guys! Im out to prove a point here, I can do this...HELP!

Australia Day, and Enough is enough!!

Happy Australia Day on the 26th January, for all the aussies out there! Some are enjoying a long weekend, and some of us have to work today, but tomorrow, we celebrate like there is no tomorrow!

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And the saga continues! I have nearly completed the room swap, and will share the after photos soon....

My new office

Ryan's new room

So when is enough, enough?

 When do you draw the line at collecting, after 3? 10? Or maybe when you have filled a room and then some! Well as you know I have a few collections, (a few hundred to be honest), and I didnt include fabric. I wouldnt consider it to be a prized collection I would hold dear to my heart, but it has been confirmed as of today....Im seriously having to cull some of the 'not so favourite', which would be in a few of my 8 suitcases. I dont like to throw away any scraps leftover from projects, you never know when you might need them! But I managed to wittle down to 6 cases, phew!

Oh, and did I mention the cupboard full??

These vintage fabrics I adore, and love to have them where I can see them daily. I found this perfect 'oldie', and knew they would look gorgeous displayed in there.So I cleaned it up, removed the door and painted it to match the room.But somehow I got distracted and never fitted the shelves! I thought I might do it after the room-move, but couldnt resist filling it straight away! Mmm, hopefully I will get to them eventually!

Here they are for you to admire....

1.The cupboard, with cute queen anne feet.2.Selection of fabrics I have quilted with.3.Barkcloth.4.Polished cotton, curtain remnants.5.Soft velvets.6.Vintage theatre curtains.7.bedspreads and covers.8.quilts I have made.9.Ta-da!

Note to self...If I put shelfs in, I will fit more fabrics in!!

A smashing morning......

With so many dust collectors in my home, cleaning is a constant chore. Some need cleaning weekly, some will wait for a month!

My kitchen / dining area (the blue side), has a few shelves filled with allsorts I have had for many years. Mostly collections of Grindley china, sets of plates, sugar and creamers, odd pieces, and a few pieces from my grandmother. They are dusted occasionally, and washed a few times a year, afterall, most of them are only on display. It is nearly time for that enduring job, Im not looking forward to it, but it gives me a chance to change the displays around.

As I sit at my dining table, finishing some paperwork for my business course Im struggling with, I cant concentrate, and am ready to pack it all in..........when suddenly, a huge crashing sound that seemed to go on for minutes , made me look up to find my timber shelf, holding some of my precious collections, has just fallen off the wall. It was in slow motion, and after the initial shock, I just burst into tears. Why, after all these years, did it just fall off the wall? Was there just too much dust? Did a fly land on a plate? I tried to tell myself,' well it is only crockery, and I still have more', but then it started to sink in. My grandmother's and mother's blue and white Willow pieces, Grindley tea and coffee pots,and jugs, special pieces you just cant go up to the corner shop and replace. My lamp survived, just, and amazingly some plates with just a chip or two.

This is the collapsing shelf.....
As the shelf came down, it knocked most of the things off this shelf too, thankfully only a couple of plates broken and chipped.

Well, I have a bucket full , so I guess mosaics are on the cards!

To put this in perspective, I have lost a shelf of special things. But many people in Melbourne with the fires ( which are still burning) have lost their whole home, and too many have lost their lives. So in my little bubble , I am reminded, these possessions are only expressions of myself. Im still here, my family is still here, and hey, now I have some room for another collection! I will be getting a professional to reinstall the shelf!

....And this is what survived!

A POSITIVE INFLUENCE...

Im sitting in my Junk-it room, isolated from the real world, in the bliss of silence, ready for a blizzard in my winter woollens, not even my dog Toby dares to speak...

There is dripping , from the pathetic drizzle they call rain, and it is still seeping in, slowly making its way along the window sill, and then down the wall to a very wet patch on my carpet!

Can I tell you the aroma this damp , closed ,cold room is filled with??
But on a positive note....I had a wonderful day yesterday out junking, filling the ute, filling the trailer, twice, had a blast!

It is amazing what a positive influence all this junking therapy has on me!
My family are either asleep, or out doing their thing, and Im in here doing my thing, my life as a junker is complete...

Here are some of my many collections, which are a positive influence on me. One of my very first collections are my cows, I just love them, especially the brown and cream jersey cows!You may see one in each of my photos...

Doilies, blue jugs, mannequins, tassles, the list goes on....

I love birdhouses too, and have them scattered around the garden and in the house!