Vintage Market

Yesterday my daughter and I visited Boscombe Vintage Market near where she lives.  We'd never been before and were pleasantly surprised at the lovely things for sale. 

I only bought one thing (and for myself, not re-sale).  I love these mosaic ear clips which I shall wear as dress clips on a dress or jumper. 

We then went into Christchurch

for some lunch (her treat) and a bit of shopping at Kiki's boutique.  It's a lovely shop and I usually find something to buy there.

Dilemma

I love painted furniture if it is done well but sometimes when I walk around some antique centres it seems that anything and every piece of wood has been painted and I don't think this is always right.  I also like wood particularly oak and mahogany to be left looking like wood!

I recently bought these two pieces - a sewing box/stand which I have decided should be left as it is but I am unsure about this screen.  There are two panels of embroidery but would it look better given the Farrow & Ball treatment and with this lovely Kate Forman fabric.  What do you think?

I also bought these two silver brooches which would be lovely to give for a Valentine's present.  Both have horseshoes and ivy on them.  Ivy leaves were used on jewellery as a symbol of fidelity and, of course, horseshoes bring good luck so these may have been given to a bride on her wedding day.

Vintage Clothes

I have been doing quite a lot of buying for the website recently.  I had a visit to Ardingly and bought twelve of these lovely French dessert glasses - no wonder the French ladies are so slim looking at the size of these if this is all the dessert they eat!

I love these two mosaic brooches I bought.

At the weekend I went to an auction and bought lots of linen so this week it's been like a Chinese laundry in my home.  I like to wash and starch everything before it goes on the website.  Luckily I don't mind ironing!

I also bought a box of vintage clothes which I don't usually sell but these took my fancy.  This is a Victorian dress which is too small to fit on any of my mannequins unfortunately so difficult to display.

 There was also a wedding dress and veil.  Someone has cut off the bottom of the dress and it needs some tlc on the lace.

This Chinese coat is reversible and beautifully made.

I will post some photos of the linens when I can see over the mountain of ironing!

Morning Walk

Well after an awful 2011, 2012 has not started well.  Two days ago my father in law was out walking with my mother in law and suddenly collapsed with a heart attack and died.  It has been such a shock to us all.

I went for a lovely walk along the beach this morning; it doesn't even feel like winter the past few days and there were so many people out enjoying this mild weather.  Nearly everyone seemed to have a dog and this one was certainly enjoying his morning dip.

Fishermen were out

and gliders

Then it was home to scrambled eggs on toast.

This week I have been trying to get to grips with my new camera and all the effects it can do.

and more felting this weekend but I'll post photos of this another time.

Belated Happy New Year

A belated Happy New Year to you all.  I have been very remiss in my postings and comments of late and I must try harder in 2012!

I wish you all a very happy and peaceful 2012.

This was the first Christmas since my Mum died.  One of the best Christmas presents I ever received was this antique Maltese scarf she gave me about 30 years ago.  I used to, and still do, wear it a lot.  The amethyst 'necklace' is the last present she gave me.

Felted Flowers

I haven't done any felting for months but having joined Pinterest and finding some wonderful felted items on there I was once more inspired to root out my stash of merino wools, order some more and get felting.

 I can't show some of the things I have made as they will be Christmas presents and the recipients may read this but here are two flower corsages I have made.

Of course I am still a relative beginner and aspire to be able to make such lovely things as these shown below.

Source: ley-art.livejournal.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

The items below are what is called nuno felting where merino wool is laid on top of silk and the wool fuses into the fabric to give different textures.  I haven't tried this yet but am very excited about having a go at it.  I absolutely love this scarf.

Source: flickr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Christmas Chutney

My kitchen smelt very Christmassy yesterday when I was making chutney as the recipe used ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger.  I've never made any before but thought I would try Nigellas's Christmas Chutney as my first attempt.  I halved the recipe in case it all went wrong but I was really pleased with both the look and, more importantly, the taste of the chutney.

These little jars from Ikea, at 99p for 3, are ideal for small quantities and I will definitely be making more to give as presents.