New Finds -Margaret Tarrant

Margaret Tarrant is one of my favourite illustrators. I especially like her pictures from the series that includes 'Thoughts of Youth' and 'Summer Dreams'. In the last couple of weeks I have found a number of her pictures in local charity shops. They are some of her most well known pictures some of which were published and framed by Boots in the 1950s and 60s.

I also found a lovely pair of Goebel figures and some colourful Colclough Harlequin plates.

The next few weeks are going to be really hectic, next Saturday Debbie and I are having a bike at Northampton's Bicycle Basket Bazaar at the old fishmarket and the Saturday after that we have been invited to have a stall at the Winter Fair at Bentley Priory near London, the historic home to the Battle of Britain museum. The Saturday before Christmas I am off to New York with my lovely girl for 5 days of Christmas sightseeing and shopping. We have never been before so I have started feeling excited although a little apprehensive.

In between times I have to start adding new stock to my online shop I share with Debbie. Her clever husband has just set us up with a .com website for our American customers so I need to start adding some new items. This will also help to hopefully reduce the amount of vintage goodies which are overflowing from the spare bedroom !

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Mid Week Treat

Yesterday after work and school I dashed for the railway station with my lovely girl. We were headed to london for the gala evening of the Country Living Christmas Fair. We had never been before so didn't know what to expect. When we arrived we certainly weren't disappointed. There was so much to see and so little time !

My first purchases were this gorgeous mug from Caroline Zoob and some lovely velvet violets.

I treated myself to a gorgeous Jan constantine cushion, something I have wanted for ages. My lovely girl picked a cute mug for herself.

She also chose a lovely hand blown glass decoration in the shape of Big Ben, this was from the wonderful Bombki stand. You can read all about the company in this month's Homes and Antiques magazine.

This pretty lavender heart was from 'Vintage Inspiration'.

The christmas pud was from 'The carved Angel'. The food area was fantastic with lots of lovely food and drink to taste.

And finally these lovely original French seed packet labels were from Burgundy Brocante , also featured in this month's Homes and Antiques magazine.

If you are thinking of visiting the fair I would highly recommend it but leave yourself plenty of time. We didn't get to see everything in the couple of hours we were there and could have done with another couple of hours. The next fair is the Spring one at the end of March.

Northampton's Vintage Fair

Well what a day yesterday was ! After months of preparation the day finally arrived and then seemed to be over in a flash. There were a few sleepless nights wondering if anyone would come but in the end the hall was packed from start to finish. Everyone seemed to have a good time and there was a wonderful friendly atmosphere. It was lovely to meet up with fellow bloggers including Annie and her mum from Birdcages and Butterflies, Wendy from Ticking Stripes, Emma from Silver Pebble and Sharon from Clover cottage. Sharon took some great pictures which she has posted on her blog. We had lots of help from family and friends which was much appreciated and much needed ! Already people are asking

when we are going to do it again so we guess we will probably organise another one around Easter time. It was so busy I didn't get a chance to take many photos and the ones I took of the hall once everyone had set up have sadly turned out really dark so I can't use them. It was great that Sharon arrived with her camera and photographed so many of the lovely stalls.

Thank you to everyone that came to buy and sell. Thanks to all the lovely sellers for making such an effort to decorate their stalls so beautifully and thanks to everyone for so much support and encouragement. Debbie and I had a great day and really appreciate all the positive feedback we have received.

A Woman's Best Friend

This gorgeous calendar from 1954 arrived in the post today. It comes from Jayne's shop at country cottage chic and is even lovelier than in the photos .

My real life best friend 'Josh' has been struggling with the fire works the last few days so we have resorted to the old 'tight T shirt trick'. We heard about this a few months ago and it really seems to work for dogs frightened by fireworks. It seems to calm them in the same way as swaddling a baby. Today he is modeling another T shirt found in the bottom of my daughter's wardrobe, very Rock-n-Roll .

Today was the antiques market on the market square, there were a fair few stalls considering the weather was horrible. I seemed to find things with a pink and green theme which I love as a colour combination. This Paragon cup and saucer is very pretty.

I really like these bark cloth curtains with their original pelmet , the photos don't really show the lovely shade of green. I am not sure what to do with these yet, maybe cushion covers ?

This pair of hand worked nautical pictures are lovely.

Tomorrow is going to be very hectic. I have the day off work and will be spending the whole day on last minute preparations for Saturday's Vintage Fair here in Northampton. Fingers crossed the weather will be kind to us.

Halloween Bicycle Basket Bazaar

Today was the Halloween Bicycle Basket Bazaar in Northampton's old fish market. Deb and I had a bike between us and we gave out lots of flyers for next Saturday's Vintage Fair In Northampton. We met up with some of the stall holders who are having stalls at next Saturday's Vintage Fair.

Our Bike was next to Lindsey of Elsie Sparrow.

Just round the corner was Aileen with her Halloweeny themed bike with gourds and pumpkins and her handmade natural wreaths.

Happy Halloween Weekend

The pumpkin is ready for carving later on, we usually leave it next to our front door lit with tea lights. The chrysanths are out in force in the garden in lovely autumnal shades. Amongst all the oranges and golds there are still a few remnants of summer, the odd pink rose and other tiny splashes of pink.

Earlier in the week I spotted this old wicker sewing basket in my local charity shop. I didn't have time to inspect it too closely so took a gamble and brought it home. I was amazed to find it crammed full of buttons, needle cases, old wooden bobbins, scissors, zips and numerous other things some of which I have yet to identify !

I have a day off today so will be preparing for tomorrow's Bicycle Basket Bazaar and next Saturday's vintage fair, so much to do and I really feel like putting my feet up and having a day relaxing with my lovely girl !

Vintage Linens and Embroidery

This last week has been very busy, both on the work front and also preparing for the Northampton vintage fair. I have been sorting through all my old linens some of which I had forgotten I had. I love the wonderful colours and designs. The work that went in to some of these is incredible, I remember my grandma teaching me to embroider when I was a child. She had lots of lovely transfers and I can remember embroidering a whole table cloth. I really should give embroidery another go, I remember enjoying it all those years ago.

These two pictures below are pillowcases, hence the creases, sorry ! They are currently in use on my bed. I have never seen any like this before as they are not only embroidered but also have little padded appliqued flowers.

The two pictures below are of an enormous pale yellow linen table cloth with lovely circular designs.

This table cloth is one of my favourites , it is embroidered with very pretty hyacinths which are one of my favourite flowers.

This cloth is embroidered with lovely delicate cross stitch.

This is a cast iron doorstop I found in a charity shop this week. I have always liked the Hubley doorstops but they are rare especially in the UK and very expensive. This is an original Hubley design but sadly not an original doorstop. Hubley sold their moulds in the 1940s to another company and I believe this is one of theirs but I think it still has some age to it. It has a stamp in a rectangular box on the back at the bottom. I can't read it properly because it has been painted over. If anyone knows any more about these please let me know.