"It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas"

Not really and I'm the average ostrich when it comes to buying presents, planning Christmas cooking etc but the house is being trimmed early in honour of my weekend open house. In the 90s I embraced Christmas decorating in all its excesses....Christmas cushions, lighting features, huge swags and garlands and the handmade fairies which did a lot to launch my business.

Now, however, I prefer more incidental decorating; jugs of holly and ivy, jars filled with Christmas coloured fabrics, linen sacks with a red stripe used as a table runner for instance, stone jars with hyacinths ready to bloom at Christmas and eucalyptus leaves with their great scent.

The fairies of course still feature and pop up on mantelpieces as well as the tree.

This year I've made the most of my hydrangea blooms; the colder weather has made the pink blooms turn a gorgeous deep red and they look great against spruce whether artificial or real. The pink/beige colour and great shape of this jug is a perfect foil for the flowers.

I have a great selection of enamel jugs and they are perfect for tall arrangements of holly branches. The narrow necks support the stems so you don't need a lot of foliage.

 I love both the simple white and Christmas green jugs but these blue jugs look fabulous with red berries.

I've made some Christmas stockings from a piece of patchwork quilt and trimmed them with Christmas labels.

I love the softly faded mauves and rusts, not the obvious Christmas choice but great with scarlet.

My little french cart looks perfect next to a similar coloured jug and under the red Amish star.
I couldn't resist this beautifully made toy truck..fill with small gifts for a small child

I've framed a 50s school poster which I think would work well as a centrepiece on a Christmas mantel

These small trees look good on mantels or side tables..try a pair on your frontstep. This one looks perfect in classic French confit pot

A group of Christmas coloured textiles, add a punch of bright red to your Christmas sofa or green check for the kitchen table. This beautiful French lentil sack makes an oversized cushion but is lovely as a kitchen wall hanging. Very rustic cushions from a grain sack work well on a wooden bench with jug of holly.

Do hope some of you will make it to my sale this Friday and Saturday; try your first mince pie (off to make them now) and a glass of mulled wine. Just e mail for more details of the sale and about items seen on this page

return to blogland

What a relief to return to the virtual world of blogland; I've missed composing and reading.
However ,an almost back to back succession of fairs, (including 2 running concurrently..thanks to my lovely husband who manned the stall in my absence ) has simply eaten up every waking minute.
I think I can now load, unload, pack and bring home the stock in my sleep not to mention extol the virtues of vintage fabrics but ,most tiring of all, those hours spent not selling because the customers aren't buying.
Its been a hard couple of weeks with the prevailing economic gloom palpable and I've found myself less willing to buy from other stalls because I'm unsure of my own takings.
How I wish there could be a moratorium on economic stories until Christmas is over just to see if this would kickstart the recovery.

Sorry to be so gloomy and I can't imagine not doing what I do now so its a case of getting on with it!
My current obsession is with glass jars. I've collected lovely green French confit jars for some years now but recently bought their clear equivalent.

I filled the jars with scraps of vintage fabrics, particularly in reds, greens and blues hoping they could sell as Christmas decorations..and they did.
Sadly forgot to take any photos but I've spent this afternoon filling more.

These are the beautiful turquoise Ball jars from America so I've chosen strong colours to show through the glass. The jars were used as our Kilner jars to preserve fruit,chutneys etc in rural America. They can be dated by the lettering but even the newest have survived since 1937 when production ceased.

The unusual colour was a product of the sand from Lake Michigan which was used in the glass manufacture.
Hopefully these will tempt the vintage Christmas shopper.

I've also had a relaxing few hours making lavender parcels whilst catching up with the i player; the perfect old meets new combo. These were also good sellers last weekend.
And finally that challenge to the car packer..the standard lamp. I will be taking one to Holmepierrepont Hall on Thursday; no room for passengers I'm afraid, but lovely to see anyone whos in the Nottingham area. details to the left of this piece.

Thanks for letting me have a moan!

a weekend off

Its been a very busy few weeks; a succession of sales and fairs as well as family responsibilties had precluded weekend leisure time since the beginning of September. So I was ready to slump into an unorganised weekend at home when...our younger son rang to suggest he come home for the weekend.
Obviously a lad from the capital could not be confined to base so I quickly racked my brain for interesting places to visit.

Brainwave..the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield.. which when found! proved incredibly worthwhile.
Filled both with her finished works and with models for them it brings the art of sculpture to life.

I particularly appreciated the explanation with original moulds of the preocess by which a model is cast in bronze.

It was a charming mixture of the woman and her art with domestic details such as her workbench and tools.

Most of these personal items were donated by Hepworth's daughters and they also provided a roomful of models.

These, although for the most part made from plaster, were painted and carved so as to resemble the finished piece. Apparently she occasionally gave these as presents but never sold them; I would certainly have been more than happy to house one!

The gallery itself is worthy of a mention as being the perfect foil to its contents. Its angular concrete shape perfectly reflects the sculpture and inside granite walls complement the exhibits.
On a sunny day interesting shadows cast by the windows add to the shapes within. The building set into the water appears to float when viewed from inside.

These huge rooms with their simple windows were the perfect setting for the temporary collection..An Unquiet Head by Clare Woods..huge fabulously painted representaions of the landscape and the forms to be found within.

And happily style was not at the expense of substance; a trip to the ladies revealed  beautiful taps which turned on when the hands were waved underneath but turned off when the action was repeated so as not to waste water. Standing at the hand dryer whilst water pours away down the drain is a pet hate of mine.
And last but not least a great cafe.
Hope you'll visit this fabulous free gallery, just don't rely on the postcode, sat nav or google maps.

Vintage packaging

Having just spent £100 on brown paper carrier bags for my Christmas sales I am obviously a person who values attractive packaging. I didn't realise however that German farmers from the 19th century would have been similarly interested.

I have been buying heavy duty cotton sacks with lovely stencilled names for some years now. Originally used for grain or flour, they make great cushions and bags although need serious laundering first! Last week for the first time I discovered one with a label on the inside giving details of the company which produced the sacks.

 I'm wondering how best to use this label, on a cushion maybe or bag but it will also be nice as a label for the cushions I made from the sacks.
I particularly like the sacks with the blue stripe down the middle and if they have a date so much the better.

The sacks I bought were from the years immediately before the second world war; I found myself wondering what happened to those farmers in the following years. Indeed the dealer I bought them from showed me a sack with one name crossed out and another pencilled in. "Probably a Jewish farmer's possessions which were confiscated", he said.

I'm pleased to say I'm not the only fan of these robust cushions. The last group I made sold quickly and most of those in the images are now in Julie's lovely shop in Sheffield. See an image of Vintage Home on the left and click on the link for more info.  She is hoping to feature them in her next window display.

Stocking up for winter

How I love this set of printer's shelves acquired last year.

Ideally they'd be in my kitchen stacked with piles of white china and kitchen linens but as there's no room there they are consigned to the greenhouse. I should explain that though we own a large Edwardian greenhouse and have spent time and money on restoring it there are few plants involved. Certainly even fewer following last winter's catastrophic frosts. Our greenhouse is enjoyed by both of us as a place to read, listen to music and enjoy the garden when the weather is not quite warm enough to be outside. Of course last week we never ventured in but this morning was perfect, sunny and breezy outside, cool and calm within and great light for a photoshoot.

So I loaded the shelves with the more rustic items in my stock. I have been busy stocking up for the busy lead up to Christmas, both buying items to sell and making as many cushions etc as possible.

A good selection of wooden boxes are great both for display on the stall and storage in the home; think this Pears display box is the pick of the bunch despite the fragile state of the label,

A beautifully made (with leather hinges) box runs it a close second.
Next to it an interesting kitchen item from France; a soup sieve used to push pureed vegetables through to make a soup consistency.I like to use these garden sieves to store woollen scarves rolled into tubes or socks if they're attractive enough.

Thank goodness I'm not using this to wash the linens I've bought but it goes well with the wooden ironing board and sleeveboards which I sell.

I've bought these moulds before as they are lovely for fruit bowls. From Northern France and used to make clafoutis, a fruit pudding traditionally made with cherries.

Shown with an unusual jug I found, love the shape.

A nice cream enamel jug, I've got a good collection of these at present.

My son has been buying coffee sacks from the independent coffee seller at the corner of his road. They are great for rustic outdoor cushions or informal mats; I even covered the seat of a Lloyd Loom chair in one for said son's flat.
I love jars.

 However I find I can bring others round to my idea by suggesting filling them with goodies as Christmas gifts, either homemade chutneys or biscuits. Love the Parfait jars filled with wrapped Amaretti biscuits.

Also french jamjars which make great tealight holders

Just in case you think I've forgotten about textiles...lovely new selection of Hungarian linen sacks.
Red for Christmas sacks and blue because I just love these denim blue weaves

I've bought some runners with the winter table in mind.

The last little stool I bought sold quickly so I've found a couple more as they are great to give height on a stall. Shown here with collection of jugs.

I don't usually buy cushions for obvious reasons but this one was so sweet I couldn't resist.

I will endeavour to put lots of new stock on the blogshop page over the next few days but if there's anything here you're interested in please leave a comment and I'll get straight back to you with more images and prices. Some of these items will be coming with me to Olney so let me know if you'd like me to bring a particular item. Come along to the vintage fair there which is a fun and friendly event in a pretty market town.

Now off to iron the textiles I've bought and washed! At least its been a good drying day.

Out with the old..in with some different old

I had such a good weekend and many thanks to those of you who came along and made my open house so successful and so enjoyable. Sometimes people tell me they could not imagine turning their home into a shop but I love it. Its so much better to display my finds and designs in surroundings that suit them rather than trying to cram far too much onto a stall. Often when the sale is over and an item remains unsold I find it staying and changing an arrangement that was getting stale; alternatively something will be sold and in comes a replacement from another room or a cupboard. So this weekend I bid farewell to the old man painting I had grown to love but rediscovered the lovely charcoal portrait executed by my son some years ago.

Yesterday I was off to Manchester to the textile fair which was thoroughly enjoyable and very well attended.
Although on my own I managed to dash round buying before the fair got busy and am very pleased with the goodies I will add to the pile for this weekend's sales in Chipping Sodbury and London.

Love this somewhat faded straw hat which would sit happily on a hook when not on a head.

And these very typical French child's boots, in remarkably good condition..can just imagine them teamed with woollen socks and a cotton overall.

The clogs are even smaller..toddler size..compare them with the boots... and so beautifully made although not necessarily very comfortable

I also picked up a couple of fabric covered boxes in reasonable condition; both are glove boxes so I've photographed with a pair of my vintage gloves.

I love this classic Provencal check fabric most often found in red or blue. It is often made into kitchen textiles as in this shelf edge. Its great for shelves or mantels but I think these pieces would be lovely at a window

 This is a real fresh apple green so I used it as a table runner with this bowl of cooking apples from our tree.

Neither Ken nor I can claim to be gardeners but we are feeling very pleased to have fabulous harvests of apples and pears despite our lack of work.
Finally this lovely display box for embroidery threads in great condition. I love these boxes and can even use them for threads, buttons etc but equally they are great for jewellery or stationary.

They'll be in the car on Saturday but if you'd like to buy just email for prices. Come and say hello if you come to either the Vintage & Handmade Textile Fair in Chipping Sodbury or the Textile Society's Fair in Chelsea..I'll be doing my best to display far too much in too little space.