Welcome to my Blog.
Please feel free to browse my ramblings below and leave a comment if you like, they are most appreciated.
Jo xx



Tuesday 29 November 2011

A Little Festive Floristry

Hope you are all having a great week so far.  I am in the midst of getting ready for the Christmas V&H fair this coming Saturday.  I have loads of new goodies to sell as I have been busy buying and saving things ready for the fair.


I have been turning my hand to a little creative festive floristry in readiness for the fair.  I have had these two beautiful cast iron urns for ages and have decided to part with them.  They are planted up with Hyacinth bulbs and Moss, then finished with some vintage French initial tape.  The pot in the centre is just simply planted with a Hyacinth and moss and finished with a large red wooden heart in an antique Sankey pot.  The smaller two at the front are planted with moss with a fir cone wired and placed in to the moss then just finished simply with tape and small wooden hearts....very easy to do and looks quite effective.  The pots and hearts can then be used for other projects when the Hyacinths have gone over.


When we arrived home last Saturday a lovely large parcel was waiting for me.  Julie at The Cloth Shed had sent me these gorgeous presents for my forthcoming birthday...yes, it's that time of year again!  


She has sent me a beautiful shabby chic faded floral drawstring bag, a framed fragment of antique quilt, two stunning hand made lampshades and a heart made from a vintage quilt, and my name in little wooden print blocks.  The lampshades I am going to use in our bedroom when I have found two matching wooden lamp bases for the bedside tables.  Thank you Julie, it was such a wonderful surprise, and I love them all.  
Have a great week and hope to see you at the Christmas V&H fair on Saturday.
Jo xx

Sunday 20 November 2011

New Treasures

I have returned to Blog land after a bit of an absence.  To be honest nothing much has really happened in my world apart from turning painter and decorator to spruce up the kitchen which I will do a post about at a later date.  Yesterday we loaded the van and set out for Market Harborough in Leicestershire, a lovely market town.  Ann and Trevor had organised the second of their vintage fairs in the town centre.   As usual there was a wonderful mix of lovely stands with lots of temptation on offer.


This was the first lovely find of the day, a stunning Victorian Celery vase (even though I detest celery) it had to come home.  It has the word Celery etched on the front with decorative ferns around it.  The vase came from the lovely Wendy (Ticking Stripes) and would look stunning with a nightlight in for Christmas or even for it's intended purpose.  Inside are a selection of antique chandelier crystal droplets.


The silver candlestick would look stunning on a Christmas table.  I also purchased the long antique chandelier drops from Bryony who has the most stunning items for sale.


Two sweet little Victorian bisque dolls house dolls, and a miniature pin cushion from Chris.


The terrible twins, two tiny bisque dolls house dolls.  Debbie (Home thoughts from Vintage wants) who collects dolls told me that they date from the early 1900's. 


Beautiful vintage wedding shoes in their original box from Heather at Hellish Designs.


A sweet little box from Debbies sister and hubby.


Little vintage wedding cake decorations in their original box from Bryony.


Possibly my favourite purchase of the day, an antique silvered glass witches ball from Chris.  I have got the age old dilemma of 'do I sell, or do I keep?'  I must be the most rubbish antique dealer on the planet as I always do this...I want to keep everything!
Thank you to everyone who made a purchase from me yesterday and it was lovely to meet up with fellow bloggers.  Thank you to Ann and Trevor for all their hard work that went into making the fair such a lovely day for everyone.  Have a great week.
Jo xx

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Hats & Carpet Bags

As you all know I have a penchant for vintage carpet bags.  They seem to be like buses, you don't see any for months then they all come along at once.  A recent trip to Newark unearthed this beauty....


A rather unusual bag with the traditional tapestry carpet top and a leather covered wooden box underneath which has it's own key.  Both keys came with it and the locks still work perfectly.


My latest find, a large vintage carpet bag in good condition.


Hubby treated me to this beautiful cloche hat for my coming B'day.  My feeling is that this hat pre dates the 1920's and is more circa 1918 so more Downton Abbey than roaring 20's.


It is made from black velvet and decorated with the most beautiful leaves and flowers.


Clarissa is modelling it for me as I don't really 'do' hats...I'm not quite elegant enough!
Have a great week everyone.
Jo xx

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Happy Halloween

We had a fab time last night with our Halloween celebrations, I'll leave you to enjoy the pictures.


Scary Pumpkins.


Scary hanging heads!


Bodies in the garden!


Party pooper...some people can't take the pace!


The Angel of Death


Devil Pugs!



Enter if you dare.


Scariest of all, alcoholic nuns with horns!

Hope you all had a great time, we did as you can see from the pictures.  Have a wonderful week.
Jo xx