Flowers and Fairs...

A lovely, thoughtful friend gave me the most beautiful hand~tied bouquet of flowers on Friday ~ the perfect combination of soft antique coloured roses, with large blousey heads and crinkled petals. They are just right for my entrance room where I have recently placed an old painted firescreen in front of the open fireplace for the summer ~ the colours couldn't be more appropriate...

On Saturday I finally managed to get to the Vintage & Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury ~ my very first visit and I wasn't disappointed! I think the colours from my floral bouquet were very much in my mind, as when I got home to photograph my purchases I realised everything just went together very naturally...

Gorgeous floral fabric and glass bead fringe from Sue at Vintage to Victorian...

Along with some beautiful ribbon corsages from Clare at Daisy Darling ~ this one is in shades of pink and green and I also bought another in shades of plum & violet which has already found a new home in the guest bedroom...

A pretty padded coat hanger with lace and vintage brooch trim from Niki at Nostalgia at the Stonehouse ~ this is destined for my wardrobe door when I eventually re~decorate our bedroom ~ I just want to find a delicate 1930's satin nightgown to hang on it for display...

Some bundles of old ribbon with original paper labels ~ I can't remember the name of the stall, but it was full of wonderful small treasures. I also bought some large old linen mangle cloths from Liz at The Washerwoman ~ but very appropriately they have just been laundered and are still damp waiting to be ironed!

I could quite easily have bought everything I looked at ~ some really beautiful and unusual things, but Gorgeous Girl was with me this time and it is not so easy to concentrate with a mischievous four year old whose only interest was in the cakes! Maybe next time...

Have a lovely week everyone...

Until next time
Ali
x

How Collections Grow...

They normally start with just one innocent item that somehow calls to us ~ something about it that fills a gap in our hearts and homes. Then (for me at least) an obsession starts and the need to find more of the same or similar in order to create little families of objects that all belong together grows and grows. Sometimes, collections happen quickly and others take years to gradually come together. As both a dealer and personal collector it is often hard to decide which of those precious finds to keep and which to pass on ~ but often it is equally easy to make the choice ~ and last weekend I found a treasure that is a keeper....

Edwardian silk wedding shoes ~ the bows are still perfect...

I love all that is wedding related ~ many moons ago I had my own small business styling and organising weddings and the fascination for this romantic occasion has remained. I wonder who would have worn these shoes?

So...I thought that I would put together a small display for my stall at the Vintage Fashion & Textile Fair in Bath this Sunday. Brace yourselves ~ lots of photos (might want to make a cup of coffee!)

glass diamante tiaras from the 1950's/1960's

a selection of lace trims, old flower corsages and fabrics

c. 1920's French florist's silk posy holder

lustrous ivory silk satin ribbon still on its shabby reel

one of my own handmade miniature pillows ~ an antique French silk brocade with old silk ribbon and a carved mother of pearl button

old wedding photos ~ a perfect reference for fashions of the day

handbags always feature heavily in my displays as they are one of my favourite accessories ~ both old and new!

this one is a little shabby ~ but perfect for display

a rarely found original 1930's large cake topper ~ still in its original box...

as were these 1950's wedding shoes...

...complete with their matching handbag

more shoes ~ much later dating to c.1990 ~ handmade and a collector's item for the future!

I am a button hoarder ~ my evenings are spent sewing them onto little cards for display...

My mother will be with me as usual with her wonderful collection of original vintage costume jewellery dating mostly from the 1950's & 60's ~ something blue for the bride?

handmade lavender filled hanging heart with a Swiss embroidered monogram c.1900 on vintage white linen

the perfect sentiment...

Until next time...
Ali
x

Textile Heaven...

...at Dairy House Antiques. For fabric lovers, the Vintage Costume & Textiles event yesterday was indeed ~ heavenly! This was the first time I had made it to the Dairy House and it certainly won't be the last ~ in fact I am already planning a visit so that I can sit quietly and look through every single drawer that Sue at Vintage to Victorian has bursting with glorious fabrics and trims ~ some Scheurer pieces had to come home with me but I seriously could have bought the whole lot! These are destined for little pillows and hearts when I can find some extra hours in the day...

I found a gorgeously shaped vintage chocolate box with little drawers at Liz's stand ~ which I think I will recover in a different fabric, something a bit more faded floral to fit in my own workroom as I don't think I can part with this treasure ~ it is ideal for storing buttons. I also found a large shabby piece of old French fabric with a great pattern for cutting into smaller pieces.

I was also lucky enough to find a great selection of fabrics from Donna Flower ~ and so beautifully and temptingly displayed on her stall...

Floral delights...

I discovered a handful of fabric flowers in a cabinet belonging to one of the permanent sellers at Dairy House ~ this one is the largest and made of a soft linen with velvet leaves in a delicate natural creamy colour ~ just how I like them...

And a couple of lengths of old satin ribbon...


I went back to my car after shopping to get my camera, so didn't manage to take photos inside (besides which it was so busy!) but had to include these from Niki's (Nostalgia at the Stonehouse) outside stand ~ Niki has an amazing ability to style her wares so beautifully ~ I aspire to achieve this level of gorgeousity!

It was also a lovely opportunity to put more faces to names ~ this time I met Isabelle, so nice to meet like minded people who share the same passion for vintage fabrics!

Impossible to show photos of everything but suffice to say it was a fabulous event and hopefully there will be more to come...

Ali
x

Another Gorgeous Girl in My Life...

In addition to my four year old gorgeous girl, I have a new 'old' gorgeous girl now living with us. She is probably about a hundred years older but just as beautiful (and a lot better behaved!)

I have wanted an original Stockman Paris mannequin forever. I have longed and wished for a companion in my workroom for a long time and now she is here and meant to be...

Last year, my Grandmother Violet passed away at the amazing age of 95 and left me a small amount of money in her will. This little nest egg has been sitting in my savings account until such a time that I found for sale just the right 'gorgeous girl'. I wanted a lasting reminder of my Grandmother ~ something that I could keep forever and pass on to my own daughter and I am so delighted that I finally found her. Perfect in every way ~ proportion, colour and patina with just the right amount of shabbiness around the edges that give away her real age and purpose over the last century.

She has already been dressed up a little with some pretty vintage flower corsages that I bought recently in Amsterdam along with some old pearls, but I can't quite decide where to put her in my workroom yet. I think I shall move her around for a change of view for both of us from time to time...

Where to stand for the best view?

Grandmother Violet is now gone with many many memories to cherish and a dream has been fulfilled ~ thank you Nanna...

Until next time,
Ali

x

I'm Late, I'm Late....

For a very important date...

Happy Easter and sincere apologies for my absence during the past months. I promise to be a good blogger from now on! I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter break.

Back soon...

Ali
x

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