I had a great time at the Vintage fair at Northampton - photos are on lots of the other blogs. There were some great finds there and I managed to find an old leather document wallet which looked just the right size for my lap top. I took a chance and like Cinderellas slipper it was a perfect fit! The next day we went to a Camper van fair in Stafford. It was great fun looking at the camper vans and what people have done to them to make them individual



Loving the fifties china in this one...



This one was a cut above with a giant champagne glass and ice bucket and yes - you can see goldfish in the glass!



Some folk go to all lengths to impress so we followed the instrucion to look up (note the tassels around the ceiling!)...



to find a modern take on the Sistine Chapel dotted with tiny little lights in the roof!



But this one was pretty impressive with its sink and cooker in a slide out unit at the back where you could keep dry by standing under the boot lid!



I've been off work so managed to find a few goodies - these from the 20p shop! This is a basement in a very run down record shop but I keep going back and finding something else that grabs me.



This week some clean copies of Practical Householder. My mum remember this magazine - these copies are from the late fifties.



I love the front covers in particular and thought there might be some interesting adverts inside.



I didn't find much to grab me with the adverts but started to read the articles to see what I could learn. I couldn't believe some of the suggestions -



What about making your own lightbulbs by switching them on and dunking them in paint? Yep that's a good idea! Health and safety conspicuous by their absence in the fifties!



Having just paid £10.95 to have my boots re-heeled I wish I'd read this last week!



Make your own ironing board! Well it would certainly be greener and more environmentally sustainable...



Waming the soil - well that's going to be really useful this winter...



But I thought this was brilliant - make your own electric blanket. So does anyone have 85 feet of wire they can let me have to stitch to one of my old blankets please? Its getting a little chilly round here.

Have a good week!

Love Wend

Not the Horrockses Exhibition - when all is not what it seems!

The point at which I despair having realised I've I turned up at the Fashion and Textile Museum to see the Horrockses exhibition - on a day when it is closed!



Marshalsea Road - when I realise I'm not Little Dorrit walking towards the workhouse - I'm lost in London. Again. Fortunately I'm rescued by a Swedish lady lighting designer - yes we had a long chat as she returned me to where I needed to be and I'm reminded of the kindness of strangers...



Not a Vintage Yard at all!



Decided to turn the day into an opportunity to explore the parts other trips hadn't reached and wandered through the LBQ (apparently London Bridge Quarter) wondering at the massive block of glass reaching up into the sky imaginitively called The Shard.



Not a gallery



Not a normal city - a vertical city - clearly there is a vision for LBQ. I feel as if Ive been tranported into another world where all is not what it seems.



I cross the river to find Brick Lane and the confusion continues as I wander into what appeares to be lovely market building (Leadenhall Market)but it's filled, and I mean filled, with men in suits. Feeling completely out of place in jeans and a tweed jacket I scurry through neglecting to take a picture feeling very much the outsider.



I emerge into a sea of glass and sport a vacant look as I face another world I don't recognise.



Walls of glass and metal surround me with sunlight bouncing between buildings but the world is suddenly black and white and devoid of colour. I walk on traipsing along Fenchurch Street and Whitechapel. Ah - names I recognise - I'm walking around a Monopoly Board. Suddenly I'm in a different world again and rather than brandishing my camera and snapping wildly I clutch it in my pocket. Lost again I ask a lady with a vintage bike with a basket on the front for help. (I find being careful in my choice of help pays dividends). This lady also obligingly walked me to where I wanted to be. "Brick Lane" she said - "you walked way past it - its not called Brick Lane at the start but Osborne Steet". Ah that explains it! Silly me!



Brick Lane was a complete contrast with lots of colour and some great street art which I'm directed to by this helpful gentleman











Have I entered the after life?



and just look at this one - wow !



Not a parking spot! Parking in the area is clearly an issue with threats of retribution should one park in the wrong spot!





The heavens open and brollyless and dripping I tramp back to the tube and make my way to Anthropologie which I love for its ideas but which is ridiculously expensive to a thrifter like me!



Not a chandelier - but a collection of upcycled bottle tops.



She muses that the release from the strictures of timetables and letting adventure in can be quite liberating as she falls exhausted into the arms of Bacchus and Morpheus...

Thrifting thrills!

I've had some great fabric finds recently and I have to keep gazing at them but more of these later.



A few weeks ago I had a car boot to "thin out" and on the next stall to me I saw this. Intrigued I looked inside. Aha - a vintage picnic hamper!



I love the way there are little clips for the salt and pepper to slot under to stop spillages.



It wasn't complete - it had a suacer and its cutlery missing and there was a large gap whic I assumed held food containers. I wasn't too sure about the plastic tablecloth. The case was sound so I decided to buy it as we'd done well on our own stall.



I googled the name on the label - Brexton - which I now know to be one of the main hamper/picnic manufacturers. In fact when I went to the war re-enactment several vintage cars had such hampers on their back seats. I'm going to try to make mine a complete set. I will have to replace the plastic cloth with a nice checked 50s one though! One has standards!



These shots are just eye candy for the barkcloth and vintage fabric lovers amongst you...



Loving the pink flowers on the grey back ground on this one



Not sure what you call this fabric - anyone know? Its more of a "waffle" weave than the barkcloth



This is a lovely pair of curtains which I may have to upcycle into something else...



The colour in this one is still incredibly vibrant for its age...



And just look at this which I found in a charity shop recently - a real 50s gem



Now look at the price! Didn't I do well!



Spending some time now gearing up for the Vintage fair at Kingsley, Northampton this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Fun finds

Sunday was one of those mornings where the weather didn't look promising and I wondered whether it would be worth going to the car boot. As we're getting to the end of the season I decided to go and get my fix anyway.



Can anyone tell me what possessed me to buy this little guy? Explaining it to Niobe wasn't easy! I've mentioned before that she has threatened to move out if I buy any more.



Imagine her horror then when she saw this children's desk sitting in the corner of the lounge! Again - why? I can only put it down to nostalgia and my inability to pass up a bargain! Does anyone have a couple of old inkwells - I'd love to put those back in. Its actually in good condition but it does lack any sign of nicely aged graffiti by penknife!



I also picked up a few other bits for pennies - and look! Vintage baubles! Have you seen the price of these on ebay! I seem to be picking up a few bits of royalty and this tin is in perfect condition for its age. I love old battered frames and this series of paintings by I Campbell Taylor. I've seen a few of these pictures at car boots lately with Victorian ladies busy at their needlework or doing a bit of harp practise but they have been large and wouldn't be allowed in our "public rooms!" "Put them in your room Mother" would be the message.



I spotted this set of inks and quickly snapped them up imagining long winter nights learning how to use them. How annoyed was I when I got home to find the bottles were virtually empty! I'd been seduced by the lovely illustrations on the boxes which are also reproduced on the tiny little bottles. (Lesson learned - always check the contents)



More haberdashery for my collection...



My heart quickens every time I see this shade of green. Two lovely aged kitchen implements and (yet another) tin. I call it "50s green" but perhaps its more 40s - any thoughts?



Oh and not forgetting my Royal Couple tin plates. This is another collection that is growing - tin plates sometimes known as cocktail trays...



All in all a great Sunday stash!