Vintage Delights... come and relax at my house...

 There's me - craning my neck to show off a very cute Swedish style messy braid (now you know i need a haricut) but i bought this very cute little denim waistcoat which was 'Cheap as Chips' and i am loving re-styling the vintage dresses with a hint of the modern.

 Not vintage at all but i got this tin of theee cutest postcards - found in a bookshop sale. Reduced from £10.00 (i know, pretty cards but seriously, TEN hard earned pounds?) I paid £2.50 so all good and i can save them for the next festive season.... or just leave them on the side looking pretty....

 Been leafing through my parents Wedding Photo Album.

Well it is my album in fact, as it was my Nanna's but i inherited (amongst other crazy amounts of STUFF that we all love to hoarde) this photo fell out of the back. Taken on a pre-marriage holiday. So bloomin cute - they have attached themselves to each other, on a jewelery chain.

 Just how young were they?

I admire them so much.

Still married after 40yrs - children have come into their life, and also sadly gone.

Money and work have been a lifelong success of building a wage from nothing.

They are the story / stories that you bring into your home when you enjoy the treasures of vintage lifestyle.

 It isn't just about how pretty things are.... But trust me, i am a sucker for something easy-on-the-eye. I find prettiness inspiring and calming and joyful. Handmade and Vintage do this for me. I don't feel silly indulging this side of me. It is my favourite side of me!!

 A handmade patchwork throw to cover a well worn, inherited, ArmChair. It isn't really hard to 'colour up' your home. Give things a try - live with it for a week or so - change it if you don't like it....

 This was an indulgence (as most purchases are, if we are truly honest with ourselves)

I could have lived without this huge wooden chest of drawers but i knew it would make my home:

 nicer - prettier - tidier!

Now filled with pyjamas, walking kit, gymwear....

It was from my FAV antiques store and is a creamy yellow colour (not apparant in this photo) with bits of peeling paint and the smell of mothballs masked by sprays of random essential oils and cleaning products.

 Giant Vintage Spool.

Sometimes i dream, at night (if i am struggling to get off to sleep) that i walk into my local Tip Shop.... and there.... i spy a box in the corner.... i stroll over.... and my heart stops a beat.... a box FULL of GIANT wooden spools.... OMG!!

 i tentaively scan the old barn shop making sure that no-one else has spotted it.

I scan for the Man in the High-Vis vest that works there *must not let him see in my face that i think this is the find of the century*

My mouth is dry as i mumble something about 'how much for this ole Tat'

I wake up - at some point i did fall asleep and i now i remember. There was no box. No bargain. Just the one, Giant Wooden Spool

Vintage Delights indeed.

It's an obsession.

There are worse things to obsess about...

My family think i am Bonkers.

Reels of Ribbon, Oh My!

I did warn you.... lots of yummy new things arriving.
I cannot help myself - i feel like i should be apologising? But i go through my little imagination and i wonder "if i didn't sell craft supplies, what is it i would like to be buying?"

Reels of Ribbon would certainly be on my list.

Each mini reel is just shy of 2metres per colour. Sold in a pack of 5... about 9 metres in total.

And *ugghhhh* i love the colours!

Grossgrain. 6mm wide. 6ft long. Non-washable. £7.00

5 reels of utter Spring cuteness - bring on the sunshine.... i am READY!

I Woz Ere...cold air and sunshine

Cold enough for a warm pink coat...
(charity shop £5.00) But not 'too cold' to sit outside and drink Pret Coffee, yum.

Warm enough to stroll past the freshly painted Sun Huts...

But too cold to sit outside with a beer

(just loved the cute little 'table and chairs on the side of a pub' idea here)

Warm enough to run around taking "me and my sisteeerrrr" style photos...

But too cold to linger long in any one place
(raaaa, cool shop!)

Definately warm enough to sit and look out at the sea whilst eating lunch...

But chilly enough to need to keep your gloves on and save the orange till you get home

(have you tried peeling an orange whilst wearing gloves?)

Still so cold you need several socks and stolen UGG boots...

(stolen from my sister of course)

Warm enough, cozy enough, relaxed enough, for an afternoon snooze on the sofa.

Fishes in Brighton for a wee holiday.

Cold air and glorious sunshine :)

Pretty Christmas Angel...

Hey! Look who's in the WINTER UK HANDMADE online magazine....? Me n' Her: I was asked if i would like to do a "How to" for the Winter edition... and i was making this angel so, thought she would be a pretty thing to share.

All the instructions and templates and full photos are in the last few pages (save the best till last *wink*) of the UK HANDMADE magazine, if you fancy making one for yourself.

I really enjoyed making something Chrsitmassy 'just for fun' - there are lots of other Christmas ideas and makes / bakes over in the magazine so why not take a look for yourselves and put your name on the email mailing list. It is a really good quality crafty read.

P.S If you do have a go at making this angel for yourself, feel free to email me if you have any questions.

xxx Read on further to see my HOLLY DECO too.....

Some *new* supplies...

It was about time I feel!?
A few new supplies for the BigFish shop... I couldn't wait till i played with them myself - i had to put them up straight away!
Cute pom-poms, in 'mini' size...

Oh GOSH and DARN i love these Berry Buttons soooo much - i didn't want to sell them but i do get a certain joy from sharing my finds and saying "LOOK - these ROCK!"

I wish they had these in different colours too :(

Packs of wooden buttons - i am using these for some Folky Christmas decorations soooo i bought a few extra and bagged them up for anyone else who wants a bit of a woodland feel button.

Mother of Pearl - now, these are not made in the UK and I am not sure I ethically approve of MOP being harvested... the supplier said these were second hand from a closing down warehouse so i bought some thinking there was an element of the 'thrift' about them. Please don't shoot me....

Buttony love x x x

I have to talk about Julie Arkell...

There are lots of things that I love.....
Dressing up - Being with my Baby - Walking the dog - Tea - Sewing... (that list continues for an age and is evergrowing...) ...and on that list, very near the top, there is the work of Julie Arkell....

I don't even know what to say about her work.

It leaves me speechless.

I am utterly compelled by it. I look at this book alllllll the time. I think about her alllll the time. Images of her work pop into my head day and evening. I am so envious that I am not her but I am so grateful she is who she is otherwise she would never have produced such craft.

All i can do is show you a few images from the small booklet i have. Even if the quality of these photos were better or brighter, they still can't match up to the 'real thing'.

I'll try to tell you what her work makes me feel of:

Think about an eldery lady who has sadly passed away, and you have been asked if there is anything you'd like from her attic before they clear it all and sell the house. There are dusty trunks filled with old lace, postcards and buttons.... there are toys, handmade from paper, wearing woolly hats. There are rabbits - on wheels! that you can pull along with string. There are wooden block clowns with frightening inter-changable heads... you find old letters and postcards from seaside towns and brown-edged photographs of a slim man whose name has carelessly been forgotten. There is a whole world of childhood all huddled and stored in paper. The stories of Summer days spill onto the wooden floorboards as you remember the taste of home-made lemonade and the smell of someones old house-coat.

Twee? maybe. But i think there is also a sinister or 'sad' edge to her work that i fail to capture in words. The sadness is a sort of frustration, like when you can't remember the name of something and it 'kills' you to rack your brain!!

You might also think I am mad, and you know Julie Arkell's work and it isn't at all how I have described... maybe my descriptions say more about me than they do about the artist?
Ah well, look her up and see for yourself. Decide if you like her too?

Julie Arkell.

Born in London 1955

more stuff: http://www.earthangelstoys.com/html/julie_arkell_-_paper_mache.html

and here: http://theconstantgatherer.blogspot.com/2008/04/julie-arkell.html

and look at her here: http://lovelytextiles.blogspot.com/2008/06/julie-arkell-knit-to-embroidery_25.html she herself is beautiful... damn my envy of her brilliance.

Ahhh Julie Arkell, thanks so much for making the world a better place to be x