Tying the knot this Valentines? You betcha!
For the cutest his & her looks, snap up a pair of mix n match vintage bow ties!
Or perhaps to set the mood some vintage nylons, darling 50s cigarette holder, cute vintage dusting face powder box, feel good hair bows and yummy lollypop heart soap!
Love, love, love…
I love blues music, sad eye vintage pictures, moody broody guys peeping out from their long locks, grouping together on Monday mornings, sharing gripes… but I’ve been doing so recently with a bit of a giggle. I know its so fashionably chic to pout and practice runway scowls but I guess I’ve just got a case of the Happy January Blues!
January has traditionally for most been a depressing month, cue the cold weather and the post Christmas chocolate come downs, new council tax bills (OK bleurgh.. even I can’t get too happy ’bout that) but I am just so happy and grateful to start this new year.
I feel like I’ve been give a fresh new start, new diary, new lists and new lovely phone have all helped but I guess the biggest help and lifter upper (that is a new phrase for 2010 – oh yes it is!) has been to make time to meditate and listen to some wonderful hypnosis… calming, relaxing and blissfully reviving…
Try New Life Catalyst where the soft tones of skilled Hypnotherapist, Zofie Kucia, will have you overcoming your fears, feeling great about your body and self, sleeping better and generally feeling good about life!
Highly recommended.
You can find time for that right?
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I love the feeling of looking at something so well designed it inspires me to greater more well designed err designs…
Like this simple ceramic carton milk jug from Heals!
Ok maybe there are better examples out there, but I love this. So simple and for me beautiful.
HEAL’s are celebrating 200 years of just that this year, whereas I’m celebrating my first purchase from there! Eeep!
I remember a time as a young impressionable teenager venturing into the daunting glass temple of design wonder, my scratchy second-hand boots echoing loudly around their beautiful Kings Road store boutique, (silently vowing to myself that I must return someday in Pretty Women style and buy millions of pounds worth of items) It would of been some sort of gesture to show I wasn’t this uncouth youth now dwarfed by the beauty that surrounded me, that I some how understood the design and how important it was. Not that any of the staff would of cared, that’s not to say they wouldn’t of cared, I guess it was just more to do with me… I mean who really does care?
How I loved everything in there, such style and class. This love for design has always burned in me since watching old movies with my dad from the 60s and loving the pictures, the patterns, the wallpapers and rugs. An endless cornucopia of colour that made my eyes bulge. I knew then I was a gonna, a sucker, a true fanatic and would probably wind up collecting and hoarding as many of these items as I could get my mitts on…
Over the years that has proved to be the case, passing some on, selling some and eventually starting Extinct.
Sharing with you my love for design from such explosive eras as the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
“Ohhh tooo mUch”
*If double sided interfacing is not available your design can be stitched by using a close zig-zag on your machine or hand stitch with buttonhole stitch.
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Make sure you get your copy of Sew Magazine for your FREE dressmakers pattern of the rather gorgeous High Waisted Trousers (sizes 8-16)
Really enjoyed this weeks Make-it Friday. Its been ages since I’ve made a small patchwork item. With a colourful mix of vintage materials and remnants I really like the way they all blend together.
The lovely Donna popped round too, it’s always nice to chat about colours and different ways the patchwork can work out.
This is Buster. A beautiful 1985 B Reg Toyota High Ace Camping Vehicle.
…and he needs some love and mending
Its almost too sad to look at Buster like this but an amazing transformation awaits… After all the holes are patched up, there’s a spraypaint job booked in to make him all shiny again, the insides will get a fresh coat of paint and maybe even some curtains!
I find during the odd spare moment I have comparing camping toilets on various online sites… its a perverse world this camping, but I’ve been biten by the bug again and in a big way!
Ok here is my shopping list so far:
1. New side slide door (I’ve been reliably informed we can pick one up quite easily)
2. Paint for the inside of the toilet – I want something bright in here, may stick with white, but I have been drawn to the idea of some retro wallpaper (something unexpected, which I’m not sure is a good thing or not for a toilet)
3. New bit of sponge for the long side bed piece (this will all make sense when I post some inside shots)
4. Materials for curtains and recovering the seating.
5. Some new tyres.
With design and beauty high on the agenda I want to use as many recycled, preloved, second-hand, vintage, and eco-friendly products as possible (I welcome any links!) in his transformation.
I forsee many lovely times to be had this year and lots of travelling, festivals, fetes and new found lands to discover…
This is what I worked on this Friday. I’ve been wanting to make up some Alphabet letters for some time now. I LOVE that I can use these Friday Make-it days to really concentrate and get on with some unfinished projects and explore new ideas.
I LOVE the vintage fabrics but would LOVE to have some more (see what I did there)
Its so easy to do too. The bigger and chunkier the letters the better. Using easy to cut materials that don’t fray help too, like this left over pink soft brushed cotton and heavy upholstery material.
1. Either using a template or freehand (don’t be scared!! Just try you’ll be surprised how easy it can be) draw out your letter.
2. Fold your chosen material and cut out 2 of the shape (Sharp scissors are a must always – a good sewsmith knows you can blame your tools) Remember to cut 2 notches* -V shaped cuts in a straight part of the letter to help you line up the 2 pieces when stitching together.
3. Rights sides together pin & stitch leaving a gap between the 2 notches.
4. Turn letter right way round, stuff and sew!
5. Finish off the rest of your letters to make up a word or a name and you are good to go!
*A Notch is another word for a narrow pass between the mountains – s0 you can see where the shape comes from. I love knowing the origin of these words, especially if it gives me a visual as its easier to remember!
As its too icey on the roads, snow stops play tonight. Brrrr.
So instead I think I’ll catch up on some reading in the bath. Mmm.
And as with most things in my life – I’ve got a couple of things on the go… (pertaining only to projects, books, ideas, hair-styles) Heh, heh… Not sure if G would be reading this… thought I’d better cover my tracks and with that in mind the first book:
The Vortex by Jerry & Esther Hicks. All about aligning positive relationships. Its a really uplifting book and great for bathtime.
Second is a book that was just handed to me (isn’t that nice when that happens and by getting in the Vortex that is usually what does just happen!)
A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern. I’ve only read the back so far. Front tagline reads ‘ Ever wondered where the lost things go?’
Which aptly brings me onto my third book:
Infinite Possibilities by Mike Dooley
As a ‘UGE fan of his notes from the universe I promptly bought his book, but have lost it. Ahem. Cue the second book to help me find the third! I think it must be because for a long time, I just carried it round in different bags trying to catch a second here or a minute there to read it…
Mike will make you laugh, he writes in such a heart warmingly way, its like watching a film that you don’t want to end, just want to keep reading his words forever… well at least until his next book.
Hmm – I wonder where you are, maybe you have found yourself in the hands of someone who needed you more than I… will buy another copy.
What are your favourite bedtime/bathtime/on the bus reads?
UPDATE!
So heres the pic of the finished Cabbage Wreath – I’m really please with it and it was so much fun to make.
I found this fabulous vintage dressing gown tie in a second hand shop the other week – my mind busy buzzing working its way through my wardrobe trying it on with different dresses and pant suits…
It’s in the shop now! Dressing Gown Tassle Belt
Happened to click on the Russian online edition of Vogue and found these similar curtain tie back belts all over the Dolce & Gabbana runway shows for 2009/2010!
© image D&G
Got an iphone? Download the D&G app.
This app offers customers a more direct communication with the company. Such a beautiful way to connect with all you fashionistas and I think the way forward to connect instantly.
I am pretty much glued to my laptop but we take our phones with us everywhere!
Such a beautiful collection of vintage, Victorian and military mix with more than a frilly dollop of femininity!
Would love to see a vintage library showcasing a new dress and its story each day… mmm I wonder if there is an app for that…
Happy New Year!
Was so excited this year to go away for New Years to Cardiff !
We took in the tantalizing tonsils and tassels of Johnny Cage & The Voodoogroove with their Burlesque Troop of beauties at the Globe and met up with old friends – bliss!
Me and G posed as Norma & John Sykes with our matching Vintage Samsonite Pinky-Red hard shell suitcases. I loved dreaming of their road trips, journeys and the fun they must of had…
Having spotted this matching set on ebay and in a whirl of “must-need-got-to-have-it” moment promptly bid and won them.
Shipped from the foregin shores of the US they landed in perfect vintage well travelled condition, each knock and scrap telling a tale of motels, hotels, stay-overs and self caterings…. got me hitched well and truly on the highway of travel.
And when I saw that they still had their original tags – big one reads: ‘John Sykes’ with his accompanying address and the little “lady” one ‘Norma Sykes’… OH! Well you can just imagine my sheer delight and joy! What a gift, a real insight into the previous owners.
I never tire of dreaming about the glamorous begone lives of the dresses, kitchenalia, beads, buttons and bobs that pass through my hands – some 70s disco doll living it up in one of the dresses or checking their look in a vintage pill box hat – where did they go? who did they meet? what was said? what secrets were told… That to me is what collecting Vintage pieces have always been about. Recapturing stories and moments in time and re-laying new stories for a new generation of fashionistas.
….and it just so happens looks like 2010 will be a travel delight spectacular – I’ve already bagged (if you pardon the pun) a trip to Paris in the late Spring and with the promise of more to come I will be keeping these suitcases well versed in new exciting adventures with more stories to tell…
