Vintage and Handmade

The Vintage and Handmade Fair was held today and was another great event.  The brainchild of Jayne and Michele, this was the 4th fair and it has become very popular with queues of eager shoppers waiting to get in.  Sadly this time I forgot my camera but 10 minutes before the crowds poured in I remembered my phone and took a few photos of my stall and the stalls just next to me.

There was the lovely Lizzie  who had her usual mix of delicious fabrics, vintage treasures and gorgeous clothes.

Next to her was Amanda Shabby Chick who was far from her home town, Totnes, with her lovely Mum.

Opposite Amanda was Daniella from Acorn and Will with her beautiful, colourful, vintage treasures and handmade goodies.

Unfortunately these are the only photos I took, and they are not very good quality,  because then it got busy and stayed busy until late in the afternoon.  Luckily there are many other bloggers who took photos so no doubt there will be some great shots posted in the next few days.

I always love to buy at these fairs but this time I was quite controlled (for me) but I will share the treasures I got.

This lovely plastic bag came home with me via the lovely Amanda.

I bought some beautiful Heals fabrics which were brought to me by a sweet customer of mine.

I also purchased this pretty eiderdown from her.

I couldn't resist this  tea towel from Claire.  I love her  elf and toadstool illustrations and she is my favourite designer being the creator of my logo!

I treated myself to this beautiful brooch made by the very talented and lovely Viv.

These delicious candy coloured cups with their contrasting floral saucers and plates were on Lucy's stall and I knew they would be perfect for my Open House teas.

One of the things I love about doing the fairs is getting to meet people that I have had contact with either on the phone or online as they buy from my website or read my blog. It is so nice to put a face to a name.  I had many people buy from me and at the end of the transaction shyly say how much they love my blog. This made me so happy  as there are times when I wonder if anyone will find it interesting!  A sweet couple over from Italy on holiday managed to tell me, in faltering English, that they always read my blog.  So for all of you lovely readers, who never leave a comment but enjoy my blog anyway, a big hello, and thank you for being here!

There were so many beautifully dressed women at the fair both customers and stallholders. On more than one occasion I had to have a stroke of someone's dress due to the gorgeous fabric and there were more Cath Kidston bags than you could shake a stick at!

A funny thing happened.  Jayne, Lizzie and I turned up in vintage dresses and coloured plimsoles.  We hadn't discussed this beforehand but it seemed to be the uniform of the day!  This is a great photo, borrowed from Jayne, taken by her husband.

 

There are some wonderful new and exciting books around and I always want to buy them.  Luckily I had a birthday recently so was treated to this gorgeous book

 

I am really looking forward to the exhibition later this year and when I go I will be wearing my Horrockses dress.

Another book that I really loved, but couldn't justify buying, was this one .

 

So imagine how pleased I was to find out that I was mentioned in the back as a supplier of fabric for anyone doing up a vintage caravan, (thanks to Sairer for the tip off).  Suddenly I could justify buying it and very glad I did too, it's a beautiful book and I want a vintage caravan now! Pin It

Slow start!

I have found it so hard to get started this year.  The snow and ice made our Christmas holidays extend by a week and by the time I got the children back to school I had a lot of catching up to do!

Once I had spent a few days organising the house, tidying, sorting, finding room for the new items that had arrived over Christmas my attentions turned to my website which has been sorely neglected since before Christmas. I hadn't added any new fabrics for weeks and the shelves were looking a little bare!

So, here is the latest additions to the website with lots more to come over the next few weeks.

(Click to enlarge)

My favourites are the Lucienne Day fabric, the saucy French burlesque dancers, the 1920's carousel horses and the Muffin the Mule  fabric. In fact I love all of them but these were some designs I have not seen before.

Today I went to see an old lady who had a roll of fabric that she had been given just after the war and always thought she would do something with it. She now realises that she probably won't and as her children are not interested in it she sold it to me. It is very pretty and I will be adding it to the site next week. She was delighted to hear that there are people who would love and use her fabric instead of it languishing in an old trunk, or worse, as her children have already said jokingly that they will be getting a skip for all her stuff once she pops her clogs!!

I had a lovely pile of books for Christmas and have been dipping in and out of them.  Some are for reference and some are crafty books.  My lovely friend Amanda bought me a bag of wool, some felting needles and a book on making cute animals. I can't wait to give it a go!  I don't think my work will ever reach the giddy heights of Gretel's beautiful art but I would love to make a few little felty friends.

I have neglected my blog of late and have found it hard to keep up with everyone elses too so I am sorry if I have not visited yours or commented for a while. I promise to find more time to do this soon.

*UPDATE*

Many of you noticed the fatal flaw in my plan and have asked about several fabrics which have not yet found their way on to the website. I was hoping to have had them all listed before I posted this entry but that wasn't to be!  I will have all fabrics up this week, sorry! Pin It

Milly Molly Mandy

I am currently reading the books of Milly Molly Mandy to my little boy as his bedtime story. I wasn't sure if he would like them as he is a biff, bang, pow, boysie-boy who is into Pokemon, Star Wars and all things Raaaaaargh! But he loves them. The wonderful stories of MMM, Billy Blunt, Little-friend Susan and Miss Muggin's niece Jilly. I am also enjoying rediscovering them. This copy is from 1946!




I used to trace my finger round this map plotting little journeys for MMM and her friends, lost in their magical innocent world where you could wander down to the village without fear of being taken away.

(click on photo to enlarge)






I think this picture may have been the early inspiration for my shop!


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Books

Here are the books I got for Christmas. A delicious pile of bedtime reading!




and a smaller pile of cookery books for the kitchen. Did anyone else get any good books? Pin It