Inspired by The Elephant of the Bastille, a monument in Paris that existed between 1813 and 1846,

l’Éléphant de la Bastille (1809-1810)

Musée du Louvre, Paris

a new collection of designs rapidly began to form in my mind this week.

I love it when a inspiration strikes this way and gives birth to many new ideas.

Here are the first few designs I have now listed in my shops Café Baudelaire and Mulberry Muse.

they are available as cards and prints

l’Éléphant  cards from Mulberry Muse

Deer on French Sofa from Mulberry Muse

Saturday, we went to the flea markets at Rozelle

and then enjoyed a visit to our  local coffee shop with my husband’s Mother.

The Astor, coffee shop, was once a theatre built in the Art Deco style.

It was a venue much loved by her in her courting days with my father in law.

They would travel by tram from the city of Sydney.

This is the only image I could find of the old theatre and tram.

We also enjoyed a stroll around the South Dowling St Antique centre

where I found the lovely candelabra,

top picture, above.

I know it has rust and needs some repair work but I think it is wonderful!

Sydney Antique Centre, picture from here

….

This weekend was also a time to try Annie Sloan’s chalk paint

it transformed a lovely little table found at the markets.

The paint is so easy to use and having no odour makes it a pleasure to work with.

I am smitten and will be using it for many more pieces of furniture collected over the years.

The roses were a gift from my husband for Mother’s day,

this was my first “empty nest” Mother’s day, a little sad, but I did spend almost 3 hours on the phone

chatting to our 2 children, our daughter Tabitha is soon to be a Mother herself !!

I love teddy bears and have a small collection of precious bears some are almost as old as I am!

As we are to be Grandparents later this year, toys and baby things are on our minds quite a bit lately….

…

…..

10 years have passed since I designed the wrapping paper below for Taylorgraphics Pty Ltd

It was designed for baby boys and girls and features a teddy bear

illustrated in water colour, blue for boys and pink for girls.

Amazingly the wrapping paper and gift bags are still popular

and sold in shops and department stores around Australia today.

Marie Antoinette vintage rose wallpaper tea party invitations from Mulberry Muse

Marie Antoinette high tea invitations from Mulberry Muse

Marie Antoinette vintage wallpaper teacup invitations from Mulberry Muse

…

Marie Antoinette rose bower tea party invitations from Mulberry Muse

We have a wonderful collection of tea party invitations to choose from at Mulberry Muse.

We have Alice in Wonderland, Jane Austen and the ever popular Marie Antoinette themed cards.

Please pop in a join us for a cup of tea and piece of cake, we would love to see you…

…….

I took courage this morning, picked up the chalk and began to draw on our pristine new chalkboard wall !

After a few minutes my confidence grew and I had a lot of fun indulging in a new creative medium.

This was the wall before….

A flea market find of a gorgeous vintage glass bottle, above, inspired this new collection of

Alice in Wonderland themed “eat me”, “drink me” gift tags now available from Mulberry Muse

They would look wonderful with the tea time bunting…

…..

…………..

At Mulberry Muse we have a gorgeous selection of bunting for tea parties,

birthdays, wedding and shower tea decorations.

…..

Tea time bunting

Marie Antoinette themed bunting

Alice in Wonderland themed tea party bunting

Princess bunting

…..

 Mulberry Muse welcomes you to visit when you are planning a special tea party,

we have a beautiful selection of items for you to choose from including,

gift tags, bunting and the perfect party invitation.

All of our designs are unique, vintage style, printed in house and beautifully hand finished.

Our weekend project was to paint one of the kitchen walls with blackboard, chalkboard, paint.

We think the result is wonderful…

My only difficulty now is daring to draw something on it,

being an artist and perfectionist I just can’t decide what to do!

A vintage mirror to hang in the center would be a charming addition I think…

Alice in Wonderland ” eat me” drink me” party decoration gift tags from Mulberry Muse

Perfect decorations for any Alice themed tea party

“I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.”
 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

  Lewis Carroll

An original pencil illustration from my Alice in Wonderland series of drawings,

collaged into an ornate French frame photographed by moi