Lazing On a Sunny Afternoon.

I spent last weekend catching up with old uni friends in Nottingham. My ex- housemate drove and we managed to give ourselves minor whiplash in trying to follow the sat nav/keep it from falling off her dashboard (Ford may have thought it unique and quirky to design it in a curved shape but it’s majorly inconvenient!) It was my second visit to Orla and Marty’s new house, the first being on Halloween when we transformed ourselves into a raven in a flapper dress (she looked fab), a bat and a black widow, complete with a spider covered burlesque hat. I spent a whole day spray painting plastic spiders silver in order for them to stand out against the black of my hat and then unsuccessfully attempted to turn some into brooches. This time was a much less gothic affair. Marty has gone away for the weekend and us girls spent most of the day sitting in the sunshine drinking Schloer and eating galaxy, lemon slices and Haribo, all rounded off with mash potato and fish fingers. Yum.

After some more galaxy and a bit of Grand Designs I had a re-tour of Orla’s house, checking out all the new amazing carboot sale finds she’d had since my last visit. Her vintage bird collection had grown and she’d bough the most beautiful freestanding kitchen units in baby blue from an end of line sale. She’d even dismantled most of the kitchen herself while her boyfriend was at work, having already sanded and repainted the floorboards in the study and repainted the banisters ... is there no end to this woman’s DIY skills? Although she did admit, in a rather irritated tone, that they’d have to get someone in to do the re-plastering. I’m not so sure to be honest. I can see her attempting it herself and somehow pulling it off.

While admiring one of her new kitchen cabinets I spotted a gorgeous vintage tea set amongst the other curios and me being me, whipped it out on to the side, positioned the set in trios and pretended to be drinking tea from one of the cups (yes I’m a child) while saying how much I looooved the bright colours and art deco design. Apparently Orla had discovered it in the loft of her old house and didn’t like it, so after protests from me and her insisting it needed to be somewhere where it was loved, it was packed into a shoe box for me to take home and add to my ever growing vintage crockery collection. I’m now in search of a matching tea pot for the set so that I can use it to serve afternoon tea rather than keep it cooped up in my china cabinet (once I’ve finally moved house and everything can come out of newspaper!)....oooh, I think I’ve spied a matching tea pot having ended with no bids on Ebay...I’m off to message the seller.

Handmade Gifts

This month I’ve been on a pretty tight budget due to solicitor’s fees and my expensive taste in curtains, and slight panic set in when I realised I had three friends birthday’s to buy for. So, I decided to get my sewing box out and mix small bought gifts with handmade birthday badges. Why birthday badges? Well, on my birthday I always feel the need to announce it to the world, particularly on a drunken night out, but have never seen a nice birthday badge, ever. So I decided that since my friends are ‘announce my birthday to the world’ kind of people too, I’d attempt to make them pretty, non plastic, birthday badges. For my best friend Jess I made a circular pink felt badge, covered in sequins, with ‘25’ embroidered on it. She’s Indian and loved the sequin detailing as she said it had a very ‘Indian’ influence. I wrapped the badge up in tissue paper along with a pack of glow sticks (she has a strange love of them), some punky style bangles that she’s been jingle jangling about in since she opened them, and a cute friendship bracelet from Ebay, handmade by the seller and beautifully presented.

From ebay seller once-upon-a-wish.

After making my first badge I felt a bit more creative and decided to make my next one a star. I embroidered ‘22’ on to it and then gave it a sprinkling of sequins. On Jess’s badge I couldn’t decide how to cover up my stitching on the back and in the end decided to leave it as it was, but on this one I decided to back it with contrasting felt. This made the general look of the badge much neater and meant that the brooch fitting was much more secure. Here’s a pic of the finished product. My stitching is definitely not perfect, but as my Mum says, if it was perfect it may have well been made in a factory somewhere.

For Mother’s Day I not only saved some pennies, but gave handmade gifts that meant much more than shop bought ones. I hope so anyway, since my hands and arms were about to fall off by the time I’d finished them! For my Mum I made a felt star, covered in sequins and embroidered with ‘I Love You’ on the back, and embroidered a cotton handkerchief with a cute Scottie from my Sublime Stitching book. For my Nan I also embroidered a handkerchief with a Sublime Stitching design, this time an orange lily, as they’re associated with the 12th July Orange parades (My Nan having been part of the Orange Lodge and an Orange Queen when she was younger).

 

The Bicycle Bazaar, Ebay and carboot sales

I haven’t blogged for a while and this one attempts to make up for it by being especially long. The last few weeks have been a flurry of paperwork and phone calls and if all goes according to plan I will soon be moving from my rented apartment into my own home, complete with a garden and loft. With my collecting habits I’m particularly excited about the loft part! So with the costs of legal fees looming and my month long trip to America creeping nearer I’ve been sorting through yet more things for The Bicycle Basket Bazaar, Ebay and a carboot sale. My first ever Bicycle Basket Bazaar was really fun and after me being absolutely terrified, everyone was really lovely. I sold quite a few things and now I’ve done my first one I’ll be much more prepared for next time, taking more suitcases and vanity cases to display items in. My old house mate and her Mum came along and bought some jewellery made from vintage components and a silver 80s quilted bag. It was really lovely to see a college friend who my housemate and I hadn’t seen in nearly three years (she admitted to circling us three times before confirming it was us and heading over) and she left with some  earrings made from vintage floral cabochons.

I’ve booked a pitch at the next Bazaar on Saturday 27th March and I’ve been sorting through even more of my vintage collection, managing to part with items that I’ve clung onto for years, much to my friends delight. No doubt I will have sold lots of bits and pieces before the next Bazaar with friends rifling through my boxes and bags of things to sell each time they come round. My friend in London has been sending me texts with the general gist being, ‘save me some beautiful things!’ since she can’t get here to have a rummage. I’ve also been sorting through my general mass of things ready for Ebay and a carboot sale. In fact the weekend of the 27th is going to be a busy one, with me doing the Bazaar on the Saturday and a carboot sale on the Sunday. I love doing carboot sales as my aunt and I club all our stuff together and split the profits, making it much easier and much more fun. Once we’ve set up we spend most of our time people watching, creating imaginary lives for people and deciding whether people look like their dogs; most of the time they do. I also allow myself a quick walk around and try to limit myself to spending no more than £5. Last time I staggered back to our stall with an old battered cabinet as my aunt looked on bemused. She doesn’t really ‘get’ buying at carboot sales. In fact the cabinet is still in my mum’s shed waiting for some love and attention. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a place for it in my new house.

With me being unable to resist buying even the largest of items there are a number of pieces of furniture in my mum’s shed/garage/loft awaiting some love and attention, and a place to live. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I can’t offer them all a home, so instead I’ve settled for offering them a makeover and finding them a loving home via Ebay. Well it’s more my stepdad giving them a makeover and me choosing paint colours. One items that’s now finished and will be on Ebay by tomorrow evening is a gorgeous vintage kitchen cabinet. I’ve got one really similar in my spare bedroom and use it as a much more attractive alternative to a computer desk. My laptop sits on the pull down top and my many pens and general stationary items are kept neatly in the cupboards. Hopefully it will sell well (since the original handles had broken I insisted on finishing it off with 8 Bombay Duck handles at £4.95 a pop) and quite quickly since we have two vintage ottomans, another kitchen cabinet and a dressing table to move onto. I’m also formulating a plan to fight my way to the back of the garage to get to my vintage basket hanging chair so that can also be found a loving home. When I bought it I had visions of me casually swinging in it while reading poetry or something, hmmm, but since my house is nowhere near big enough for it and I don’t tend to spend my days reading poetry, it must too be found a new home.

Ebay I.D: lilythepinkscurios

My First Bicycle Basket Bazaar

I’ve spent much of the last two weeks preparing for my first pitch at The Bicycle Basket Bazaar. The Bazaar is a vintage and handmade fair that takes place on the last Saturday of every month in the old Fish Market in Northampton. Every stall has to have a bicycle, as when it was the Fish Market all goods were sold from bikes, hence the name. I’m a firm believer in over-preparing and have been washing, drying, polishing, pricing, wrapping and packing a massive amount of vintage tea sets, ornaments, clothing, shoes, accessories and linen. In fact more than I can possibly fit on my small pitch! I’ve also made some jewellery from vintage brooches, cake toppers and cabochons. I’ve roped my cousin into helping me and I’m hoping that with my month long May trip to America fast approaching I’ll sell enough to be able to go mad in the Graceland gift shop. I’m sure I’ll end up returning to the UK with an extra suitcase and a ridiculous amount of useless, but amazing, American kitsch.

In sorting through my massive vintage collection I’ve not only cleared a massive space in my mum’s loft, but have also discovered all sorts of things I never even knew I had. My collection is massively varied. As I think I’ve mentioned before, if something is ‘beautiful’ or unusual then I just have to have it, which is probably the reason why I’ve ended up with a collection of clothes, shoes and coats that have never, and will never, fit me and over four typewriters. I was recently watching a period drama with a friend who commented how much she liked the 1940s/50s mirror in one scene, and who burst out laughing when I casually mentioned I had over 15 of them. It would have been funny, except I wasn’t joking.

Yes, my collection has got a bit out of hand over the years and I have reluctantly started to empty various family members’ lofts and garages of the things they’ve let me squirrel away over the years. The America trip has proved the perfect catalyst for this clear out and has made me review whether I really need that pair of 80s slouch boots I have never worn since I have three similar pairs....although they’re not that similar, they’re not lipstick red with tassels at the back. As I keep reminding myself, ‘if you sell the boots you could buy a suitably tacky I Heart Elvis souvenir, or indulge in some lush cosmetics while in the US’.

So this Saturday, 12 until 4, I’ll be donning three pairs of socks, mittens and a big leopard print coat to sell off some of my 12 year vintage collection at Northampton’s old Fish Market, now the gallery of Northampton Arts Collective. Hopefully I’ll make lots of pretty pennies, or dollars infact, for America. That’s if I manage not to snatch things back off people as they try to hand me their money!

http://www.bicyclebasketbazaar.com/
http://www.northamptonarts.org/

Huuuge New Spangly Earrings

I’ve just received my order from Lady Luck Rules OK; a fabulously huge (2.5 inches) pair of red glitter heart earrings. I’m having a belated birthday night out on Friday and these will fit right in with the 80s theme and my cool navy and white polka dot dress.

Ladyluckrulesok.com is run by designer/maker Leona Baker and I’ve bought all sorts from her collections over the years, including the items pictured below. I used to wear my huuuuge acrylic strawberry necklace to lectures all of the time while at uni but had to start taking it off during lectures as it clatter loudly against the table every time I moved!

The website’s jam packed with cute and kitsch jewellery and in the past it has stocked items by other designer/makers. One of my favourites was a collection by Kandy Diamond (pictured below) of Knit and Destroy. She designs and makes the most amazingly kitsch ‘novelty’ knitted accessorise, including scarves, necklaces and rings. I bought a tape measure inspired scarf from Knitanddestroy.com a few years ago for a friend’s birthday and she adores it.

One of the best bits on the Lady Luck site (apart from the poptastic jewellery!) is Leona’s events page and journal. I love the write ups on different events, fayres and general goings on and often hear of other websites I end up falling in love with through these write ups. So, back to the 80’s themed night out... I best start practising the blue eyeliner and bouffant hair if I’m to look more ‘fancy dress’ than ‘crazy lady in a headband and white stilettos’ xxx

*Update* Sob Sob, Lady Luck is closing her online shop to spend more time on other projects. Can't wait to see what she moves onto!

Birthday Week

It was my birthday last week and my mum and I spent the day charity shopping and visiting recycling shops in search of anything old, beautiful, or useful. We came back with more than either of us had room for, including a Welsh wool cape, some beautiful pictures, blue 1980s heels, 1500 leather “Grandad buttons” (as my mum calls them), children’s lamps, lemonade glasses, a houndstooth cardigan, 80s earrings, old children’s annuals and Ladybird books...the list goes on.

By our third charity shop I’d filled my leopard print shopping trolley and we still had another seven to go to! After driving to another town to rummage in yet more charity shops we popped to the tip recycling shop and picked up some chipped vintage china. I love the delicate patterns on old china and tend to use mine to display earrings, brooches or badges so that I can appreciate not only the china, but also see exactly what I’ve got in terms of accessorise. It’s easy to lose track when you’re obsessed with anything ‘beautiful’!

My birthday week finished up with my first trip to Northampton’s Bicycle Basket Bazaar, held in the old fish market. The market wasn’t as large as I’d expected but there was a fantastic mixture of handmade goodies and vintage treasures. I left with a pair of hand knitted mittens, two cake stands, a bag of homemade malteser fudge, a tiny cute toadstool and three amazing handmade cards. I picked one for myself and two for friends but I like them far too much to part with them at the moment. Afterwards my mum expertly spotted a couple of charity shops across the road and I emerged 5 minutes later with a French style triple dressing table mirror for only £2 (Madness!), and a couple of pretty vintage lemonade glasses with brightly coloured birds on. We then stopped off at a furniture recycling shop on the way home where my mum bought an old wooden office stationary drawer. The compartments are amazing! She has no idea where it’s going to go but if you love something you just have to have it.