Turning Japanese

Morning all. I was woken up early this morning by one boy with a toothache and a small girl who just wanted to be up and about. So, stumbling into the kitchen to sort little people out I decide to tackle the huge amount of ironing that is making its way across the kitchen floor. I put on the kettle, whilst waiting for it to boil I switch on the computer. Major mistake, whoops! Oh to hell with it, who needs uncrumpled clothes anyway? I shall just pretend that they are a Yohji Yamamoto creation! I am currently into all things Japanese. For example take these beautiful little wooden dolls that I found in a charity shop yesterday. They are called Kokeshi but I know little more than that. I just loved their little faces. There were about 6 more but I left those for someone else to buy. The brightly coloured one on the end I already had, I bought it at another charity shop months ago, and she has sat by my computer ever since. Her sisters are much older but I think they look just wonderful as a set.




Whilst on the Japanese theme, I got these beautiful little Japanese lunch bags from Tasha. We were involved in a swap where I sent her some vintage fabrics and she made me a bag from one of the pieces. I was totally surprised when I got three of her gorgeous little bags! They are so well made. Just how lucky am I?


Pin It

If you're wondering why I am looking so darned good it's because I have gone Beta babies! I pushed that darned orange button, threw caution to the wind and went for it. Hell, you only live once ;-) Pin It

Back to life, back to reality

Well I came back on Friday but have been so busy since then I just don't get five minutes to blog! I have also been making some crocheted corsages, which I shall show over at my crafty blog soon, so that has kept me very busy most evenings. I made these a few years ago and sold many at a craft fair and on ebay but this time I want to change them slightly, add leaves and a vintage button middle. Anyway............ I had a great time in Essex. Saffron Walden is a gorgeous little town and I had a whole morning to kill as Paul was busy with a business client and Amanda had her Italian class. Saffron Walden has the loveliest shops, lots of nice charity shops, antiques centres, an old fashioned toy shop and a traditional sweet shop amongst others, so I was in my element. I had some great thrifty finds.

A 1950's money tin, a vintage christmas biscuit tin and a vintage highland shortbread tin




Some vintage Christmassy fabric, an old polka dot darning mushroom and 2 vintage books




and my favourite, a Gabriella Miller jug for £2.25. I saw the same one at the Country Living Fair the next day for £45.00! Perfect for my bathroom.




Then I took the kids to the park for some fun on the swings and a little run around...........




before meeting up with Amanda and having lunch together. Then on to her house that she moved into 2 years ago. I hadn't seen it before as Amanda always comes down to see us as she often drops her 2 eldest boys off at their dad's, in Cornwall. She lives in a beautiful big rambling Georgian Town House right in the heart of Saffron Walden. The pub is 2 doors down, the shops a mere hop and skip away, Waitrose is practically in her garden, so convenient.

We had such a great few days catching up. We never run out of things to say, in fact Amanda is one of the finest raconteurs I have ever met, her stories about her friends, family, neighbours and life in general are always fascinating. Her husband is the funniest man ever so I spent a lot of time in his company crying with laughter. He has the most subtle, dry sense of humour that if you didn't know him you may not realise that he is being funny, once you click into it he has you in stitches! Alfie and Elliott, her youngest son, are great mates and you hardly knew they were there once they were together (actually you did because Alf is pretty noisy but he and Elliott were in their own world) and Lizzy was just happy pootling around finding little things on Amanda's shelves that she could redistribute around the house! We had great food, lots (and lots) of wine and great company. Who could ask for more?

Anyhow, here they are, that lovely pair, outside their house (where a random, passing, old lady shouted out 'say SEX' when I was trying to photograph them!)

And here's one of all of us

I met up with Tatty, Lettuce and RW at the Country Living Fair. It was wonderful but so rushed! We need another meeting so I proposed a Thelma and Louise type roadtrip for RW and Letty, I think they're up for it, and Tatty will be coming to stay in February so I will have her all to myself then.





Thanks to Lettuce for the photo x


Right I must be off. I have been to an antique textile fair today and found many many beautiful fabrics. My website is about to go 'live', hold onto your hats!!! But that's for another day! Pin It

Essex bound

I don't know why I am sat here, I should be packing and tidying up before leaving, but I feel the need to say goodbye! We're off today to stay in a wacky sounding B&B and then with friends who live in the lovely town of Saffron Walden in Essex, then a day out in London later this week to attend the Country Living Christmas Fair and meet up with some fellow bloggers. It's an annual event for me and my friend Amanda and I am due for a child-free adult orientated day! See you all when I get back. Be good now x


Pin It

Unexpected

.



The internet is a wonderful thing and blogging especially. You can hook up with some great like-minded people. One such person is Wendy, or as I know her, Woo. Although I have never met her I definately think of her as a friend. I have sold fabrics to Wendy for years now and she is a a good customer. More recently she has started a blog and she also has a website where she makes beautiful little things from the gorgeous fabrics she buys as well as stunning handknitted items. She recently bought some fabrics from me and today I received payment for them but in addition she had added some gifts. I was so surprised and touched by the attention to detail, she knows me very well.

She sent me some beautiful hand dyed embroidery silks for my applique projects

some vintage silk fabric including some vintage kimono silk

a card of sweet vintage buttons

And a gorgeous hand knitted cobweb scarf in a soft grey mohair wool finished off with tiny red beads that look like pomegranate seeds. So beautiful, soft and warm and, of course, in this season's colour!

I felt like the luckiest girl alive. Isn't it the nicest thing to get unexpected gifts through the post? It was a wonderful surprise. Thanks Wendy, you're a gem x Pin It

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

From my little pumpkin!




And the monstrous boy! (Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side in case you were wondering!)





Off to trick or treat for the first time ever!

Pin It

The Secret Society of Fairies

My Society of Secret Fairies package turned up. How beautiful it was too. I took some awful photos, as it was evening the light was not good, so I'm sorry about the quality of these.





My swap partner, Jackie of Wren's Nest, had parcelled it up in a pretty green tissue paper with a Wren's Nest sticker and gorgeous French inspired label.




I was completely spoilt. Jackie had sent some gorgeous quilting fabrics, including a vintage feedsack fabric, some beautiful vintage buttons, ribbons and trims, some delicious diet busting chocolate in my favourite coffee flavour, a pretty vintage handkerchief and two great magazines from the US. It's so interesting to see the different takes on Country Living. It is my favourite magazine here in the UK and I am off to the CL Christmas Fair next week in London so Jackie was inspired sending that.




And last but not least I feel really honoured to have one of Jackie's beautiful pincushions. Look at this lovely strawberry shaped pincushion, the workmanship is just breathtaking. Thank you so much Jackie it was a beautiful and very thoughtful package that really made my day.


Pin It

Taking the lead from Wendz and GOW I had to have a go at this. Hmmmm fairly accurate I would say!

Your Birthdate: April 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Pin It

Yesterday

Yesterday was Paul's birthday. For 6 months of the year we are the same age, for the other 6 months he teases me for being older than him and revels in his 'toy-boy' status!! I bought him a fab gift, perfect for a vinyl junkie like him, It's a turntable that you play your vinyl on and download your sounds onto your hard drive. From there you can burn them onto cd or put them on your ipod, wonderful eh? He can now enter the 21st Century Technological age (once we've read the instructions of course).




I treated him and the rest of the family to a Thai meal and then back home where we had friends round for drinks in the bar. Very shabby as per usual, great party guests and lots of fun! I stopped drinking around midnight but went to bed at 3.30 am. This morning I got up at 8 am as I had to get Jazz to work for 9 am. The little ones, Mum and I went to Exeter on the train (I was too shattered to drive). I felt a little fragile all day mainly through lack of sleep but I managed to get my roots done at Toni and Guy and buy half of H&M! Paul is a champ (or should that be chump?!) he has gone out again this evening as he had forgotten that he promised to DJ at a Halloween party. They rang while we were eating our supper and he couldn't let them down. I'm off for a bath in a minute and an early night (alone, boo hoo). Kiss kiss xx
Pin It

The 'C' Word

I just want to say a big thank you to all of you who commented and sent me emails about my last post. If I were to unravel again I couldn't think of a nicer bunch to do it with. You're lovely, all of you.

Now I know it is still only October but I have to mention the C word. I can't think about it until after this weekend, Paul's birthday, but having a sister in the USA means I have to think of it early as presents need to be thought about and posted way in advance of Christmas (eeeeek there I have said it, so, stone me!). In fact if I wanted to send it by surface mail in time it would have to be all bought, wrapped and sent by this weekend. I don't think I am ever going to be that organised sadly! However I did buy something towards our Christmas decorations last week. When I visited Niki's lovely stall at the Honiton Textile Fair she had some beautiful stockings made from vintage quilts, lined with a deep burgundy satin and backed with a vintage paisley fabric. I was seriously tempted but having spent rather a lot of money on fabrics I decided not to buy one. Once I got home I kept thinking about them and especially one with a touch of red and white polka dot fabric on. Now anyone who reads this knows how fond I am of the red and white polka dot, I have a lot of it in my kitchen, so I emailed Niki and asked her if she still had it. She did and she sent it to me with a beautiful little card and two vintage humourous postcards from Devon that she found. Here it is, front and back view. Beautiful huh? I think it will have pride of place over our Aga.





So while we're on the subject, I would like to draw your attention to the lovely vintage Christmas swap happening over here and the Society of Secret Fairies Christmas swap going on over here and also to mention the gorgeous Christmas cards designed and printed by the lovely Gretel over here. Right that's it. No more mention of the 'C' word until after Halloween and Bonfire Night!


Pin It

Guillemots - Through the Windowpane

Here's that Guillemots track I promised you last night, enjoy!
Pin It

Morning has broken!

Pin It

Tired and emotional

It seems like a long time since I have posted anything other than swaps, crafts or thrifty finds. There is so much going on in my life that I have little or no time to blog about what is going on so I just skim over the surface with fluffy stuff, a little like dusting when a good, deep clean is needed! I am very tired today. Last night for some reason, known only to herself, little Lizzy decided that at 1am she had had enough of sleeping. She spent hours calling to me from her cot, crying, talking, shouting. I cooed back to her that everything was fine, tucked her in at least 100 times, cuddled her and in a last desperate attempt, took her into my bed but no, it was not happening. This is so out of character for her, she is normally a brilliant sleeper. After 1 1/2 hours of this I couldn't take it any more so I woke up Paul who was laying beside me (do men ever wake up? what does it take exactly?). Once he took charge the whole household was up! Alfie, delighted that it was morning already (at 3 am), switched on the TV. He protested loudly when we switched it off again, 'but it must be morning' he wailed 'Power Rangers is on'. I suspected a sore tummy as she was very windy and her crying came in waves so I gave her a homeopathic remedy. Paul stayed with her for another hour until she finally gave up and we all fell back to sleep. Too soon the alarm went off and I woke up feeling as though I had been thrown down a flight of stairs. I ached, I couldn't feel my hands and my head was pounding. I just don't do well with a lack of sleep so, today, I have bumbled around in a groggy state just thinking of how to best get through the day.




First thing this morning the Aga man came (actually 2 Aga men). Twice a year my 50 year old Aga needs a service, today was one of those days. Before they can service it it needs to be turned off so that it is cool enough for them to work on. Now this is the only cooker I have in the house so we have to plan this with military precision, making sure everyone has had enough eggs, bacon, sausages, tea etc to get them through the morning because once it is switched off there is no hot food again until it is switched on and has reached its optimum temperature (scientific stuff!). The Aga can only be cleaned thoroughly when it is cool so twice a year I get out the Astonish, wire brush and crome cleaner. So in my groggy state this morning I cleaned like a madwoman making those chrome heat covers shine.





Then a friend called to ask if she and her daughter could pop over as half term started today for us Devonians. I had to pop out for food for lunch as we were without anything decent to eat in the house and I had just got back when she arrived. I love my friend, she's a great girl, and has recently hooked up with a new man in her life, leaving her boyfriend of 18 years. They are very happy together. He is Italian and she showed me her photos of their recent visit to his family in Italy. They are a great match and I love seeing her so happy but she told me something that made me so sad. When her house is sold she will get a settlement and when her new boyfriend's divorce comes through he too will get a settlement so they will pool their resources and get a house together, all good. She said that their money will not go very far in this part of Devon so she is thinking of moving, possibly to Exeter or maybe ITALY!!!! If she moves to Italy she will leave her 7 year old daughter with her ex-boyfriend. She said that her daughter has always preferred her daddy and that she has an attitude problem with her, she is very argumentative and confrontational. I asked if that might be a reaction to her and her ex splitting up but she said no, she realises now that this has been the case for a long time. I am not a judgemental person and I try hard to see the reasoning behind why people do the things they do but I can’t get to grips with how she could leave her child here. I told her that a daughter needs her mummy and that arguing is quite normal, isn’t it? I just can't imagine how any mother could leave her little girl and start a new life with a new man in a new country. I’m crying as I write this, I feel so sad about it, am I being silly? I just couldn’t leave my children for anyone, not even, even, even, Johnny Depp. Maybe I’m just overtired.


Anyway I hope to get more sleep tonight. Paul is out, Jazz is out, my babies are asleep and I have a bottle of sparkling chardonnay for company.

When I get dressed in the mornings Lizzy is always interested in my routine watching me intently. She takes pairs of knickers out of my underwear drawer and drapes them one by one like a pashmina over her head. She then walks to the mirror for a look, ‘ahhhhhh pitty’ (pretty) she says before strutting around the house, often walking up to Dean, our decorator to show him how gorgeous she looks! Here she is, the knicker thief!




p.s. I wanted to leave you with a track from the Guillemots but Youtube isn't playing. I shall try again later.




Pin It

Thrifty finds Tuesday

This week's bootsale was great. Very small and I went on my own with the two little ones so I didn't hold out much hope. I got home, cooked dinner and put the children to bed and then unpacked my purchases. I was surprised at how many lovely things I got. Here are some of the highlights:

Firstly, this lovely retro fabric, that is so Amy Butler, who, incidently, has been buying vintage fabrics from me for years!

This gorgeous 1950's musical jewellery box. This is so me, I mean look, it has roses and polka dots!

A vintage egg cup in the shape of an ocean liner. HMS Egg!!! I'm not sure whether to put this in the kitchen or the bathroom.

Some vintage tins. The tweed in the background was also a purchase but has now been turned into a shoulder bag and will feature on my crafty blog soon.

Some vintage books, all for £1.00!!!! Just look at Robin Hood, what a hunk in tights! Speaking of which has anyone seen the new Robin Hood yet? I haven't seen it on account of me having a social life (at last) for the past few Saturdays!!!

And finally this little fellow. Just look at his face, who could possibly resist him, with a 50p sticker on his head, Oh that'll be just me then!

Pin It

Now go get that house!

Pin It

John Peel Day, Keeping it Peel!

Happy John Peel Day. Remember to play your music loud and spare a thought for the man who brought us such great music. I still miss him.

Pin It

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

For John, whever you are x Pin It

Vintage book swap

I know it isn't for another 10 weeks (only 10 weeks, eeeek) but it's like Christmas every day here! I received my lovely vintage book swap today from the lovely apron thrift girl.

The packaging was beautifully autumnal





Inside was a vintage Betty Crocker book from the 1960's, some halloween fabric, some wool felt, vintage rick rack braid, pretty book plates, a fabulous Japanese craft book, a great embroidery set from those Sublime Stitching people with a kitchen theme. I had so wanted one of these as I had bought several for other people. All such beautiful gifts and very thoughtfully put together by someone who had obviously taken time to read my blog and find out what I liked. Thank you Selena.

Fot those of you who haven't yet caught the swapping bug there is a fabulous vintage bird swap going on over at vintage swaps, so what are you waiting for? Vamoosh, skeedaddle, scram.........








Pin It

Another lovely swap

A lovely swap with Studio7 as part of the Gimme your Stuff swap. We agreed to 5 yards of fabric and a few little surprises. I got a lovely tea towel in vintage rose, some beautiful buttons, gorgeous ribbons and trim and some lace flowers. The packaging was lovely and her attention to detail (see the labels) is wonderful. Thank you Sher, I really enjoyed this.

Pin It

Fabrics and stuff

I am still here, just! I have been working on my website, gather fabrics for it, taking photos of piles of fabrics for the home page, working with the designer. It is all very exciting. Watch this space.......................





Aren't these a fab idea? Mini cards made from your prints on flickr! Check them out here


Pin It