Vintage Sunday

Welcoming visitors from Vintage Inspiration Friday today!


Another Sunday, another vintage fair, this time at Watford Leisure Centre. And very well arranged it was too. Despite the high attendance it wasn't too cramped and it was possible to browse the stalls. I took the pictures with my iPhone, so apologies for any blurriness caused by the jostling customers rummaging through all the goodies...

The lovely singing trio, the Polka Dot Dolls http://thepolkadotdolls.webs.com/ brought a 40s feel to the occasion. I loved their frocks and hair-dos.

I love vintage accessories and for the girls their were lots and lots of hats

And gloves

And handbags

And some jazzy ties for the chaps

 

Some wonderfully pretty dresses - very Mad Men don't you think?

Doesn't she look amazing in this green dress?

Some full-on sequinned numbers

Vintage beauty products (I remember these from my childhood which makes me vintage I guess!)

Loads of jewellery - I really liked this colourful display.

I didn't leave empty handed. I bought this lovely brooch - can't resist diamante. It must be the magpie effect. 

A lovely way to spend a Sunday morning I think you'll agree.

Hipstamatic (and the kitchen obsession continues)

There's an iPhone app called Hipstamatic which I have been playing with that, as they describe it - 'brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras of the past'.  It certainly gave bit of an analog glow to my original vintage kitchen scales.

The problem with my kitchen scales is that the weights are in pounds and ounces and every recipe these days is in metric (unless its a US recipe and then you can't get half the ingredients). Every time I weigh something I have to google one of those conversion tables. 

So rather reluctantly this week I succumbed to buying a pair of metric scales. I just wanted some that were functional and cheap which I could hide away in a cupboard, so I popped into Morrison's supermarket and after a cursory glance at the picture on the side of the box I picked up a pair for £10. Well what a very pleasant surprise when I took them out of the box and saw that they were in a rather lovely cream enamel and vintagey looking. These won't be going in any cupboard!

My new kitchen is on order and my obsession of all things kitchen continues unabated. After selecting a gorgeous red mini range oven I've now found a beautiful retro style fridge. I love the look of Smeg fridges don't you? But apart from the eye watering price tag they are too big for my little kitchen and the customer reviews I have read say they are all style and no substance (allegedly Smeg people). I couldn't see any other fridge that would pass my style test anywhere - horrid white boxes with plastic trims, yuk -  so in desperation I googled (I do a lot of this don't I?) for 'fridges that look like Smeg' and after some detective work found this beauty of a retro style fridge freezer that made my heart sing!

It's made by Gorenje (a Slovenian make with 5 years free warranty) and is small enough to fit.  All for about £400 less than a Smeg. I'm in love.

Dream kitchen

I'm planning a new kitchen. Actually I've been planning this for about 12 years, pouring over kitchens in interior magazines with a huge folder of cuttings of kitchens I love. But, finally, it is on the verge of becoming a reality. So much so that I am eating, drinking, and sleeping kitchens. I dream of aga's, cup handles, butler sinks ... I think you get the picture.

I haven't the space (or the money - £7000!) for an aga but I have fallen in love with this mini-range cooker. Oooh, what a lovely pop of colour this will give to cream colour cabinets!

Someday soon I will have the kitchen of my dreams but for tonight join me and dream of gorgeous kitchens such as these...

Sweet dreams zzzzz

Sunny side up!

There's nothing like doing something creative to cheer yourself up is there?  I've blown away the post-Christmas blues by making these cute little egg cosies. Jolly little fellows aren't they!

 

Hope you're having a cheerful weekend too :-)

The Post-Christmas blahs

I don't know whether it's the dark days, or just the post-Christmas blahs but I've had the desire to hibernate until spring these last few days. Two whole weeks off work and I've found it so hard to drag myself out of bed. Not that I didn't have some super Christmas pressies, like this beautiful Tiffany style stained glass from my son. Isn't it pretty?

A lovely friend bought me this super Cath Kidston book - Sew! It's packed full of things to make complete with the patterns. I've had a go at making an easter chick - sadly it turned out looking more like a budgie but I'm hoping to have more luck with the egg cosy!

One of my goals for 2011 was to start selling at craft markets and I'm booked for my first stall at the Artisans, Arts & Crafts Market in Berkhamsted in March. I'm going to have to work flat out to have enough soap, cushions and crafts ready but I really needed to have an event booked to spur myself on.

I've had a lot of fun painting these dotty dolly pegs...

But I want to have some easter themed gifts -  please, I need your ideas!!

~

I love a good hardware store don't you? The smell of fire-lighters, all those wonderful bits and bobs. Last week my son and I were visiting my sister who has just moved to Bovingdon village. Walking through the village my son spotted an old hardware store. "I wonder if they still have one of those pink paraffin pumps?" he joked. Well surprise, surprise they did! And here it is ... tres vintage!

The young lad who was serving in the shop must have thought we were bonkers as we oohed and aahed over it and took photographs with our iPhones!

~

And finally. Christmas is often the time for reunions and this week I went up to Leicestershire where I grew up, to get together with some old school friends, two of whom I haven't seen for over 20 years. It was a wonderful day - how easy it was to slip back into our teenage selves! We met in a country pub in Woodhouse Eaves. Now, this part of Leicestershire is hunting, shooting and fishing territory (I've always been anti-blood sports but when in Rome...) and I was amazed when a group of men came into the pub from a days shooting wearing plus-fours! Breeches - goodness! The scene was straight out of a Hollywood style version of Ye Olde England. I could hardly believe my eyes! I guess some things, like old friends, never really change.

2011 is going to be a challenging year for so many of us around the world.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and creative New Year