The Vintage Magpie

Not a Plastic Bag - GIVEAWAY !!

I've been thoroughly enjoying making these bags, which I initially started due to the fantastic crackdown the shops are making on giving out plastic carrier bags.

I am fully supportive of the idea, as I'm sure we all are, but I keep flippin forgetting to take a cloth bag with me.  So, I thought I'd run a few pretty ones up to hang on the wall by the front door to remind me as I'm dashing out.

 

On the bag shown above, I used the very last scrap of a beloved flowery Cath Kidston material I had.  This one went as a gift to my friend Sharon, whom I  had a wonderful time visiting over the weekend.

And this one...

also used up the last scrap of my Cath Kidston 'Flowers' material.

However, it will be this bag....

that I shall be giving away to celebrate (albeit late) my one year of blogging.

So, if you would like to win my little bag all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.   I shall close the giveaway at midnight on Friday so you have until then to leave a comment.   Everyone welcome, bloggers and lurkerrs alike!  I will randomly pick a winner over the weekend via names in a hat, and I will then announce the result in Monday's post.

PS.  I would like to apologise to anyone who has sent me an email during the past couple of weeks that I haven't replied to.   I've been a little snowed under with a project, so please don't think I'm being rude - I just can't seem to fit it all in!  I will try to answer you by the end of the week.  Please bear with me. x

I generally avoid temptation, unless I can't resist it

Mae West's words, not mine - but oh how they ring true.  I'm meant to be tightening the purse strings at the moment, as in the words of Mr F 'I have spent rather a lot on things I don't need' just lately :o  and my justifications for my beautiful purchases have fallen on deaf ears of late. 

However,  I managed to sneak these two items into the house relatively unnoticed ;), and as they only cost £1 each I didn't feel too bad about it!  The rose fabric pictured above is actually a small thinish eiderdown, perfect for either of the girls to put on their beds or to play on, so it just couldn't not come home with me.

And this cute little jar with its little pink lid was just made for the weekend sweets (which cost a little more than a pound but had disappeared by the time Mr F got home so he was none the wiser :)

I've never been a great saver, money tends to burn a large hole in my pocket - and try as I might to be 'grown up' about it, I still need a lot of help and guidance, a strong arm to drag me away and usually someone to hide my purse before any kind of shopping excursion.   The power to resist is usually just not strong enough, especially in the bountiful charity shops - I definitely need to work on my 'power to resist'.  However, I'm not expecting any miracles on this front, and neither, I later explained to him, should Mr F.

Tomorrow I will be having a giveaway, in celebration of the anniversary of my first year of blogging (which I missed sometime in January!), so if you would like to win a little number I've whipped up, see you back here sometime on Wednesday.

Blooming

Our beautiful Tessie Lou is expecting any day now.  This will be her second litter, her sons from her first little live over the road with Asti.  She is a wonderful mother even though she is only two years old, so it is a true delight to watch her with her babies.

There is no telling what variety of cat this litter will bring as this time she has entertained a variety of suitors :o

There is a lovely fluffy tabby cat around though that would make lovely babies, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that he may have been involved!

In another of my painting frenzies, I painted this plant pot white to show off this gorgeous red geranium, which is blooming just nicely.

This weekend I visited a lovely friend of mine who recently moved from Devon to Hampshire, just by the New Forest.  The whole of our bookclub descended upon her, minibus style, and we had a wonderful time.   My face is still aching from the laughter.

And during my 24 hour absence from the fold, Daddy blatantly exploited the power of the 'bribe' to keep the children under his control.

Hope you all have a good week x

Bonus Day

The school teachers were on strike yesterday, wanting higher wages, which meant a day off for us... yeehah!

In between sun and showers we managed to fit quite a bit in..

Creating birthday cards for a well loved Uncle

Planting our seeds in grandad's shed..

And attempting to remain calm (me) whilst three children join forces to make a 'Thursday cake'.  Usually we have a 'Happy Friday cake' every Friday (if I can find the time to make it), but as we were home I thought I'd save time for tomorrow and let them make their own cake today.

I managed to remain relatively calm ...

And the end result was gorgeous..

All those years of wiping splattered cake mixture from hair and walls has paid off !!

I'm off now to finish my new set of bunnies who I am hoping to introduce to you early next week..oh and sort out a giveway for next week.  I missed my one year blog birthday, sometime in January :0 but I thought I would celebrate it anyway with a grand ol' giveaway.... stay tuned.

Have a great weekend everyone x

Appreciating the little things

Yesterday, whilst visiting friends who are lucky enough to live on Dartmoor, we were following her to her local farm shop when a beautiful little deer popped out of the hedgerow.  Can you see her in front of the car?  She bounced from left to right in front of us, just like bambi, for a couple of minutes and then disappeared back through the hedge on to a field.  It was truly a magical moment.

These friends have been kind enough to adopt our hens, as recently Woody, who is a working cocker spaniel, has decided he would quite like to eat them.   I can't really blame Woody as it is what he is trained to do, retrieve birds and such like from a shoot, so watching my girls cluck around our garden was torture for him.  So, instead of dancing with death in our garden every day, they have packed their bags and travelled to pastures new.  I miss them already, but I know they will have a grand old time in their new abode.

Farewell my feathered friends.  You will be greatly missed.

My New Baby

My new little laptop!  Oh I can't tell you how thrilled I am.  There it sits in my sewing room, and its MINE!  The fight for the computer in this house was becoming unbearable.  You literally had to book your time... well no longer my friends.  And HANDS OFF to the rest of the Frasers, mama is on her own!!

So, while James had a little creative time, I had a wonderful hour playing with my new baby.  However, computer literate I am not.  I do struggle (and am reknowned for struggling :o) so progress my be slow, but I'm determined!

Then after spending a fortune on Etsy (maybe this wasn't such a good idea) I felt the need to crack open the first crop of rhubarb from my dad's garden...

Rhubarb crumble .... you can't beat it!

Holiday Thriftiness - Part 1

I have a passion for these little beaded lace doilies, they are so pretty.  This one is relative newish, but thrifted all the same for 50p and this one...

again relatively new, in comparison to the one I have saved for tomorrow's post.  I can't give you all the thrifted goodness all at once!  I have them in several different sizes and love to have them on display.  So I was very happy when I came upon these two in a Surrey charity shop to add to my collection.

And then my brother (god love him) had thrifted these for me in time for our visit...

I just love the blossom pattern and the shape of these beautiful plates.  Thank you again, my darling brother, for knowing exactly what will make me smile!

I'm off to photograph (position and then re-position) the rest of my treasures for tomorrows post.  How I love to waste time staring at beautiful thrift!

Have a good day x

Spiderman goes vintage

On Saturday afternoon James got himself dressed up in his all-in-one Spiderman suit....

James :  Spid...er...man to the Rescuuuue...

Me :       James, ...what have you got on your head?

James :   Spiderman's hat ...

Me :          No, James, that's mama's new vintage tea cosy.

James:    Well its keeping Spiderman's head warm.

Fair enough.

A change is as good as a rest

The family tour took us from Devon to Surrey and back down through Kent.   It was lovely to see everyone, as most of our family live miles away, so its always nice to catch up and have a bit of down time.  We spent several days touring 'The Shops' in Kingston and roundabout, and it was all too much for me!  Far too much to choose from, I spent most of my time dizzy from the amount of gorgeousness!  I did however manage to pull myself together ;) and shall show you some of my further reach charity finds and treasures next week.

Then it was down to beautiful Kent, the garden of England, renowned for its oast houses, hop-picking and apple orchards.

We stayed with Mr F's dad on his equestrian farm to take in some less frantic horse riding, farm visiting and just 'being still' time in the countryside.

It was truly idyllic, the children got up to feed the horses at the crack of dawn, collect the eggs from the gaggle of hens (who laid eggs in all sorts of places), tractor rides, horse rides.. you name it.  We were so lucky.

I'm usually quite terrified of horses, I don't really know why.. just their general size I think gives me the jelly legs.  But these horses were all so beautiful and gentle, we fell in love with them all.

And apart from a little rain on the first day, the weather was glorious.

The children played 'house' in the caravan... oh how I'd love an old caravan at the bottom of the garden for them to camp out in, and to fill up with vintage curtains and cushions...

and Woody played house in the stables..

And to make it all just perfect, there were 5 four week old working cocker puppies keeping warm in a box by the Aga.

Pure bliss.

Lovely to go away, and lovely to come home again.

And, after all that you'd think I'd feel refreshed, revived and ready to go... whereas actually I think I relaxed a bit too much, and the energy surge hasn't quite hit yet.  Instead, I feel more like this..

I'm just hoping things improve by Monday!

Have a great weekend everyone, see you next week xx

The satisfaction of completion

Last weekend I did get some time to myself to start making some cushion covers that I had been desperate to do for a while.

These are the first three, all made out of thrifted materials.  For the the back I used an old vintage pink and white striped sheet, which took me a while to actually able to cut, but once started I was off.  It was a double sheet, and we don't have a double bed in the house, so I managed to persuade myself.  The top covers are made out of curtain materials and a table cloth!  Its a rather eclectic mix, but it makes me smile to see these beautiful materials in use :)

And instead of buttons or a zip I used ties at the back which was a much easier and quicker solution!  I still have another 2 or 3 I want to make in mind, but these will have to wait. 

I am taking a few days off the blog next week as I am taking the children to visit their family in London and Kent so, Mr F will be left to hold the fort at home.

Have a great weekend, and I shall be back sometime next week xx