Thursday 25 March 2010

Belated Sunday stash

I use the word stash very loosely here. Last Sunday I found this Festival of Britain Programme which I have wanted to see for a while. I swooped on it inelegantly and handed over £1. I was thrilled. If you like vintage adverts - enjoy - if not skip to the end of the post to see my other purchase!









Love seeing all these famous names...







You should be able to see more detail if you click on the picture













Why does this little magazine make me feel good? I wasn't around in 1951. I think it's that life just was so much simpler then than now...(OMG - staring to sound like a grumpy old woman!)



The i picked up this delightfully kitsch tin - on the cusp of turning rusty but maybe I can stop it going further. I love it - it reminds me of the houses of friends whose families had budgies in the 60s and 70s. Price - £1 (I know, some wouldn't give it house room!)





Finally - and not pictured because it's disgusting - I bought a dressform. I've seen lots of these on blogs and love the variety of ways that people use to "dress" them. They all look like substantial pieces (and I know they are way out of my price range.
Mine is made of polystyrene and covered with a silky fabric. Another £1 changed hands. Surely I can cover this in some way to at least make it resemble the real thing? Any ideas? - and don't anyone suggest stamps!

Love Wend

Sunday 21 March 2010

I had a great day yesterday at the Homemade and Vintage Fair in Northampton (once I'd found my way!)I thought I'd just show you a few pictures taken at the start. Hope I get everyone's name right! I didn't manage to get round all the stalls to pics but these will hopefully give you a flavour...

Debbie from Vintage Wants Not Needs (just a little bit of her stall)



Sharon - the Crafty Trundler



Tracey - of The Vintage Bothy



Lindsay - of Elsie Sparrow (with her decorated bicycle).



and Ann of Vintage at the Corner House.



Once again Ann and Debbie did a marvellous job of organising the whole event and now deserve a well earned rest. Thank you so much ladies! The hall looked great with its decorations and bunting outside. One guy said to me how fantastic it all was - he loved the ambience, the music, and was enjoying the memories jogged by so many things from his childhood. Now I might not be surprised to hear that from fellow bloggers and like minded girls but coming from a man that was great!



This item intrigued me - clearly promoting Bols, you could wind up the underside and shake it and the ballerina then performed in a snowstorm. No idea what its called but Debbie (who remembers these) - if you read this please add a note in the comment box!



These last couple of pictures were taken on the way home when I stopped off in Market Harborough.( I shouldn't have stopped - it took me 3 hours to do a one and a half hour journey - Lost in Leicester!) They are for all those people who admitted to being Marmite lovers in my last but one post! Marmite are seriously into self promotion at the moment!

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Hope you've been enjoying the lovely sunshine. Wend has been attacking the wisteria which has been seriously threatening to take over. Wend won. (She thinks!)

Love Wend

Friday 19 March 2010

All buttoned up!

It's been a busy week -partly due to moving offices at work and partly because I've been preparing for the Homemade and Vintage Fair at Northampton tomorrow. The office move has been particularly frustrating with huge skips being filled and emptied daily with stationery and office equipment - not because it couldn't be used but because "there won't be any room at the new building"! This has gone against the grain for me and I've had to be restrained from hurling myself in to raid it all to put on freecycle or give to good causes. Anyway we're in the new building now and I have the luxury of a full 18 inches in which to manoevre my chair. As someone who likes plenty of space I'm struggling with the sardine concept.



I've taken today off to prepare for the fair tomorrow and have been playing with my buttons and watch faces and making some magnets. I like them on my old rusty tin lid. Quick check to see whether they hold things as well as looking good!



Here's hoping the weather is right for bringing people to the fair. I'm looking forward to it. Pop in if you're in the area.



Hope you have a good weekend.

Love Wend

Friday 12 March 2010

If you like marmite ...

Read on

It's lovely getting things in the post - especially unsolicited giveaways.

Imagine my surprise when I received this today



I'm not a marmite lover so the thought of toothpaste lying sluglike on my toothbrush didn't excite me. I did like the packaging though, colourful and well worth the read. "Do not use if allergic to Marmite or toothpaste." - So far so good.
Possible side effects - "gagging , nausea, not understanding why people like Marmite" - "if you do experience any of these side effects do not consult your doctor or dentist", "do not store above 25C because it'll go a bit weird",

Intrigued I investigated further to find this wrapper around the purpose of the package



"Have we gone too far?" -possibly - no longer sure I fancy my evening meal! Then I spy the package "hate to be late" Marmite's new cereal bar!



Haven't decided whether to try it yet. Is this going to be the highlight of my weekend? They have considerately enclosed a voucher for 20p off Signal toothpaste should I need to dash out for some if the bar really is as disgusting as this packaging suggests it might be!

10/10 for ingenuity though - will it make it to the Opie Museum of Packaging do you think?

Has anyone else eaten one?

Have a great weekend

Love Wend

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Uggs and cropped tops?



Thank you so much for the good wishes to Niobe on her birthday. I was very touched. (not sure what went wrong with where it ended up on my blog as it seems to have buried itself in 16th February but never mind!). Niobe had a great day which ended up with what I can only describe as an UGG convention.



She called it a sleepover but as ever with these things there was very little sleep, a riot of laughter and massive consumption of unhealthy calories!

I had to smile when I looked at the table they danced round - it was covered with all manner of battery and wire based stuff - apparently used for pictures and sound. Very different from the days when all you danced round was your handbag and possibly your shoes when you couldn't move another step in them. But I look back at the shoe photo and see they all wear flat shoes - boots or ballet pumps! So hopefully they won't be beset with bunions in later life (and no Jaboopee I will not be the first in blogland to have a bunion!)

On Sunday I took myself over to the Textile Society Fair in Stockport. I had a great drive over the peak district arriving minutes afterteh fair opened and spent the next four hours wandering back and forth along the aisles full of fabrics, quilts and buttons.I wonder whether I lost a couple of hours - how I could spend that long wandering around I'm not sure. I could have spent a fortune but was disappointingly well behaved. I didn't even take many pictures and those I did are not good! This quilt was a delightful example from 1885 that would have looked lovely on my sofa had I been prepared to handover a few hundred pounds! Lots of stuff was reasonably priced and Id certainly go again. It was great to see some countryside and sunshine while snow still covered the peaks. Loved seeing a guy who at the first sight of sunshine decided he must show off his musculature while standing at a bus stop near Stockport.

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Heard this morning that crop tops are back in for 2010. Have you got yours yet?

Love Wend - avoiding both beige and cropped tops this spring!.