Finding my voice...

It has been such a long time since I was last here; and now putting ‘pen to paper’ again, I realise how much I have missed following all of my favourite blogs and of course writing my own. Thank you so much to those that have emailed and left messages for me asking how I am and if everything was OK ~ this really means a lot to me!

I lost my voice.

Then I lost my inner voice…

I got tonsillitis followed by the flu (of the piglet variety that everyone is talking about). Add to that a few family issues and the result was that not only did I lose my speaking voice; but the natural rhythm of writing and finding words ~ my inner voice ~ that I share via this blog also seemed to abandon me. I haven’t sewn a stitch during this time ~ I actually think that I lost more than my voice, I also lost my sense of direction and purpose.

I think I have come to realise that ‘big plans’ don’t actually really matter, it is just the happiness we can find in day to day living which is most important. So now, I shall not only be nurturing my relationships with family and friends, I shall be looking after my creative self, and continuing to make, sell, restore and collect the vintage & antique treasures that I love so much, just because it makes me happy…

We were lucky enough to take a wonderful family holiday in the Loire region of France (more of which later...) which has given me the much needed boost to get back on track . Like a door that has been opened for the first time to reveal something new behind it I now feel refreshed and energised and thankfully have discovered my voice again…

Doorway in Candes St Martin, France ~ a secret glimpse into another world...

Springtime Garden

Lily of the Valley arrived just in time for the 1st May...

I love this time of year in the garden ~ not that I can claim to be a gardener...I am to gardening what a back seat driver is to driving ~ I can imagine how I would like the garden to look, but not sure exactly how to get there! I can just about tell the difference between a weed and something more valuable that should be left alone (or perhaps watered occasionally!) I always start the year off with great enthusiasm for cottage style gatherings of pots and containers filled with lavender, geraniums and the like, but sadly by the end of summer my promises of watering every evening have quietly fallen by the wayside and mutterings from my husband of 'I told you so' which makes me so mad I could go and trample across his azaleas (if we actually had any!) This year no doubt, will be no different because already I am teetering on the edge of a shopping precipice to purchase some more floral lovelies...

I do have a husband that thankfully loves gardening (giving him a very valid reason why he cannot be inside doing any other kind of jobs...) and is good at it, which in return lets me off the hook a bit...I am better in a more supervisory role, explaining that of course the garden is an extension of the house and therefore colour schemes, planning and design all come under the main heading of 'This Is What The Wife Wants'.

The latest project has been a small decked area on which to place a bench we have had for ages and recently painted white. Husband made a raised deck as this small patch of garden is on a bit of a slope and created some little steps at one end. He painted the deck a soft sage green colour and here it is in all its glory...it just needs a pot or two with maybe some hydrangeas?

We wanted a bench in this little spot as it faces the sun in the evening and looks out across our rose garden ~ I am imagining the month of June sitting here peacefully after gorgeous girl has gone to bed slowly sipping a glass or two of fine wine and taking in the wonderful aroma of the fragrant roses.

I am of course romanticising ~ in reality gorgeous girl will have probably got to bed later than hoped after a mad day all ending in tears (mine not hers) and I will be clutching a much needed extra large gin and tonic. The sun will have all but disappeared behind the trees and with flailing arms; having forgotten that I was standing on a raised deck will lurch backwards into aforementioned roses. The following morning will be spent contorted into some ungainly pose whilst poor husband has the unenviable task of removing the thorns from my perforated derriere with a pair of eyebrow tweezers. Ho hum, well it wouldn't be the first time...

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend everyone ~ I promise to do some more catching up with your blogs over the next few days...

Ali x

Makeover Madness

I hope that everyone had a nice Easter break ~ it all seems such a long time ago now, and I have been absent from blogging for too long!

It's amazing how a deadline focuses the mind isn't it? I have a stall at a local antiques fair in Hungerford tomorrow and wanted some new (old) items for displaying buttons, ribbons & fabrics etc. I had some pieces under the bed waiting for a makeover and I finally decided that now was the time to get the paint out and try and work some magic. My motto recently has been; 'if in doubt paint it white' ~ which is essentially what I did!

I have had this miniature vintage trug on my desk for ages holding pens & pencils etc.

Three coats of Chalk White later, with a bit of rubbing back with a sanding block to give it a timeworn feel it now looks like this...

Months ago, I bought a large sized jewellery stand in the shape of a mannequin (a modern one, with lots of glitzy decoration, not my style ~ but I wanted a larger size and couldn't find anything else) so I stripped her bare, took it all apart and then covered the body with scraps cut from an original vintage French embroidery magazine. I didn't want to photocopy the magazine as I like the flimsyness of the paper on the original and the worn texture, so I cut it up into varying sized pieces and slowly covered her in a decoupage manner, overlapping as I went until the resin base was completely covered. I then coated her with PVA glue which works just as well as any varnish and let her dry. I am sharing the stall at the fair with my Mum who specializes in 1950's costume jewellery, so I expect she will be adorned with beads and baubles along with a little bit of lace and silk. I forgot to take any 'before' photos, but here she is now...

Next for the white paint treatment was a little old wooden box with compartments that I bought on ebay for next to nothing ~ this time I used Joa's White from Farrow & Ball which is a creamy aged white. After a bit of scuffing on the edges with the sanding block and lining the little compartments with some of the same old French paper it now looks like this...

Using the same colour, I overpainted an mdf trug that I had painted red about 5 years ago! After a couple of coats and some rough treatment, I managed to get some of the old red paint showing through which I was quite pleased with ~ and it is a perfect size for displaying some small pieces of vintage fabric...

Gorgeous girl felt that she was missing out on the painting action and had to join in ~ the kitchen table was a busy little area, I just managed to stop her from painting everything green!

I found this lovely vintage Terry's chocolate box with drawers for a song with the thought in my mind of covering it with old fabric. Firstly, I had to paint it with a coat of white as the fabric I had chosen was quite thin and the dark pattern showed through.

The fabric is French c.1900 and pretty shabby ~ very faded florals, my favourite kind ~ with a few holes here and there so I knew that I couldn't really use it for much else ~ but it covered the box like a dream...

Last on the list was a peculiar little single drawer also bought on ebay that looked like an old tool box drawer ~ very dirty and odd looking, but I have a thing about miniature drawers (nothing to do with lingerie!).

I used some leftover paint from my Easter egg project in another Farrow & Ball colour called Pale Powder which has the merest hint of duck egg blue and then covered the top with another piece of 1950's French paper, I love the typography and graphics! The little vintage brass drawer knob I already had in my box of treasures just waiting for the right project.

Phew! That was my week of makeover madness ~ I think I will put the paintbrush away for a little while ~ until I can work up some energy to tackle the stack of old picture frames under the bed. ('Under my bed' works in the same way that Mary Poppins' bag does!)

Have a great weekend, until next time...

Ali x

A Vintage Easter...

Easter Greetings to everyone ~ I hope that you all have a lovely weekend!

Firstly I must say a big thank you to LissyLou (lissylouandthe2littleboys) for such a thoughtful and generous giveaway prize. LissyLou had put together a lovely springtime theme of flowers & butterflies in my favourite shades of duck egg blue & pink! A little pocket sized mirror in its own embroidered pouch, a beautiful address book (for my desk) an enamel butterfly necklace (gorgeous girl has already noticed this!) and a big bar of chocolate, which I am ashamed to say didn't last much longer than it took to download this photo! This really started my week off with a big smile on my face...

I finally got around to setting up an Easter themed vignette ~ not sure that this will be it's final resting place, but for now it is in the guest bedroom as we have friends coming to stay...I used a shabby vintage miniature armoire that I use when out and about at craft fairs, that I roughly painted in off white. I had collected a few old egg cups, which I filled with shredded brown paper (I am one of those mad women who has difficulty in throwing away useful packaging materials and have a hoard of rubbish like this under the bed!). I made the eggs a few weeks ago, using German glass glitter and other vintage trimmings on wooden eggs that I painted in shades of duck egg & white ~ and a few mini chocolate eggs (the ones that got away!) In the wooden bowl is a hand~pierced goose egg bought in Hungary years ago that I love as it goes with my creamware collection in the kitchen.

Gorgeous girl in her 'Easter Bonnet' ~ her favourite dressing up hat...

More 'Easter Bonnets'...

These are more examples of the beautiful original fashion prints I found dating to 1913. I think the hats are fabulous! I have managed to photograph most of them now and have started offering a few for sale in my shop.

Have a wonderful Easter break everyone ~ don't eat too much chocolate (how much exactly is too much I wonder?)

Until next time...
Ali x

Fashionably Late...

It's been a while I'm afraid. I really enjoy posting once a week but juggling ordinary life seems to take up so much time lately...

However, I have managed to get out and about and be a real life human (albeit frazzled) person for a few hours (in addition to Mummy and Wife) and make a few vintage purchases that got my heart racing...

An old toffee tin with gorgeous colours and floral motifs ~ destined for holding buttons or notions of some kind...

A wonderful 1950's clock in perfect working order that I bought with the intention of selling on, but I'm not sure that I can part with it as at the moment I am enjoying the gentle tic~tock in my workroom...

It is nestled on a 1930's eiderdown also bought last week, with the most wonderful floral & roses pattern of the like that I hadn't witnessed before and will be perfect for the end of our bed after I have decorated our bedroom...

A gentle, beautiful Victorian print of a Maude Goodman painting ~ the frame is chipped and discoloured but I won't touch it as I like it this way...

And finally, something to share with everyone ~ a superb collection of original vintage fashion prints, rescued from a book that was all but falling apart called 'Dame Fashion 1786 ~ 1912' by Julius M Price printed in 1913. I have taken some photographs of a small selection of the colour plates, and over the coming weeks will offer them for sale via my website in groups or singles. I have about 140 altogether and each plate features an English or French fashion drawing from a given year between 1786 and 1912. They are so gorgeous and will frame beautifully or would also be perfect for other paper craft projects. I admit that I will have to keep some for myself as I probably will never see anything like them again, I just can't stop browsing through them...

This colour plate is a copy of a painting by the author Julius M Price ~ isn't she beautiful?

Until next time,
Ali x

...and the winners are...

The first name gorgeous girl pulled out of her 'Easter Bonnet' (favourite dressing up hat!) was Bonnie (Bonjade) who wins the lavender filled heart and 3 co~ordinating painted eggs.

The second name pulled out was Jayne at Country Cottage Chic who wins a set of 3 painted eggs.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments ~ I really wish I had painted enough eggs to send some to all of you that entered. I've enjoyed making them especially for the event, so will think up some more ideas for giveaways and make them a regular feature!

I'll be back again soon!
Ali x

Easter Egg Parade ~ Giveaway!

I have been having some creative fun this week making vintage style decorative Easter eggs...

These are wooden eggs that I have painted in shades of the palest duck egg, cream and white, then decorated with my favourite kinds of vintage treasures ~ ribbons, buckles, buttons, beads & trims. They have a little hole in the base of the egg, which allows them to either stand (balance) on their own, can be fixed into other displays or of course placed into egg cups as I have done for the photos! They are all hand~made by me and completely unique one~off little items created especially for my first giveaway (and a few extra for me to keep!)

So ~ for my very first giveaway I wanted to share a taste of vintage Springtime! For the first winner (yes, there will be 2 giveaway winners!) there is one of my signature hand~made lavender filled large heart pillows made from vintage textiles and trims. I featured this one in a previous post here. Then to go with it, there are 3 decorative eggs in colours that complement the heart pillow...

Giveaway No.1

And for the second winner ~ a set of 3 co~ordinating vintage style decorative eggs...

Giveaway No.2

I do hope that you like them! Since this is my first go at a giveaway, just as I was uploading the photographs, I had a bit of a confidence crisis! To enter your name in the giveaway draw simply make a comment on this post before the end of Tuesday 31st March and the first 2 names picked out by my gorgeous girl from an Easter bonnet will win. To have your name entered twice, copy and paste the giveaway invitation at the top of this post onto your own blog, then leave a second comment to let me know!

Until next time,
Ali x