The Vintage Magpie

The Fete Weekend

It was the school's Summer Fete this weekend.  It always amazes me how excited the children get about The Summer Fete!!  Counting down the days the week before, and making lists of what they are going to eat and do when they get there!

So, come Saturday morning they were whipped up into a frenzy of excitement whilst making scones for the 'Cream Teas' (a staple food in Devon :) involving lots of scones, lashings of clotted cream and spoonfuls of strawberry jam, all washed down with a cup or two of builders tea - total heaven).  Then clearing out their cupboards of old toys for the toy stall.

It was all hands on deck as they whipped up several batches of scones... which was just as well as James dropped half of his batch on the floor just as we went through the school gates :o !!

They then spent the afternoon filling themselves with candy floss, icecream, cakes, more cakes and then bouncing around on bouncy castles, winning several times at the coconut shy, having their faces painted and tearing around the playground like lunatics.  And I wonder what the all the excitement was about! 

I headed off to the plant stall, which is always a winner, and then bagged several thank you card packs for Lotta Jansdotter and the like for 50p a piece.  Very jolly.

Needless to say, there were some sore tummies and some tired smudged up faces come 5pm Saturday afternoon, me included! 

I don't think I want to see another stick of candy floss for quite a while :( !!

Hope you have a good week x

Sorry... is this June??

We're somewhat confused.  One minute we are basking in the warm sunshine....

and the next we are huddled by the fire.

Have a great weekend come rain or shine xx

Look who arrived in the post this week!

Meet Audrey and her little friend Barbara.  I am over the moon as I have been after one of these little beauties for ages from Little Cotton Rabbits, but have never quite quick enough ..as soon as they go into Julie's shop they are all sold!  And it is no surprise, because they are absolutely gorgeous.

We decided after an argument unanimously, that she would be very happy sitting in my 'Violets of England' bowl on top of four gorgeous smelling french soaps, on my dresser.. which still remains as yet unpainted.

If you can try and bag yourself one of these, they are truly delightful x

All About Bags

It was my lovely friend Asti's birthday last Friday, and as she is a fantastic knitter/crocheter I thought a knitting bag would make a good pressie, with some vouchers for a lovely local wool shop inside.  I love this print as it is vintage and fresh at the same time.  I don't recall what make it is, I think I rummaged it out at the Totnes flea market a while ago.

And I lined it with an olivey green taffeta given to me by my aunt... who I think lined some curtains with it.  Oh how I love other peoples left overs!!

I bought the handles for the bag from here, and the pattern I made up myself, as it was fairly straight forward.

We managed to get out and party at the weekend to celebrate, and due to my age and general degeneration it has taken me until round about now to recover!   Gone are days when I could party four nights a week and still get up for a full days work :(

Anyway, Happy Birthday Asti, you are a treasured friend xx

The Best Part of Father's Day

Lauren     'Do you know the best part of Father's Day mama?'
Me          'Nope, tell me....'
Lauren     'The Cake'.

Mmm, I think she's slightly missed the point here... or maybe not!  Two generations of Dads sharing chocolate cake and celebrating their children, and even though it was a shop bought cake it was still quite a moment!

 

When we got in the car to head out to Dartmoor it was raining.  We got to Dartmeet and it was still raining so we had our picnic in the car whilst watching the sky clear.  You can never really predict what the weather is going to be like on Dartmoor and it invariably isnt the same as it is when you set out.

Once the sun came out it was glorious.

The children all ran off doing their own thing.  Issy is taking after her dad in her interest in photography.  She watches him intently as he chooses his subject and asks question after question. 

 

This is one of her photos.  The foxgloves are growing wild all over Dartmoor at the moment.  Just the pink colour, they are so beautiful.

Its wonderful to see her iinterest develop, and a special bond form between them.  Issy has now set up her own Flickr account, pop over and have a look if you get the chance.. I'm sure she would love some feedback!

Lolly is going for the more old fashioned approach of foraging and collecting nature for her scrapbook

Then back home for some Dartmoor roast lamb.

I hope you had a great day celebrating with all your Fathers Day xx

The winner pulled out of the hat for the bag giveaway over the weekend was Jo from French Knots.  Thank you to everyone who entered.  xx

New Bag Giveaway

Early this week I took delivery of some magical printing fabric.  Oh my... a whole new world has opened up.   My purpose of buying this was to make Issy a birthday book from her party photos, as described in Amanda's book.  However, in need of a more instant fix I whipped up a bag using one of my favourite images.

Then sewed it to some favourite spotty fabric and added some vintage lace and a buckle found in a flea market.  What do you think?

Well, if you like it leave a comment because I'm in the mood to get this weekend off to a good start with a giveaway!  The giveaway will be open to all you lovely people and will close at midnight on Sunday.  I'd love to hear from you all... please come and play!!

Have wonderful weekend.

Nickyx

Fresh As A Daisy

I rescued these wild daisies from the side of Ness Cove, after James had attacked them with his spade :o

After some tlc and water they revived to their previous splendour.  A gift from mother nature. Fresh wild daisies in my sewing room, I can't help but smile everytime I see them.

Am I supposed to be able to give these away??

No, I think if anyone comes for them I shall lock us all in understairs cupboard until they've gone.

Liberated!

I had the most wonderful weekend here.  The glorious weather, the 3 day craft show and the workshops were an absolute dream.

 

My first workshop was Skirt Making with Alison Willoughby.  I had not done my research on this wonderful lady which meant that I was expecting to 'make a skirt' when infact we were designing a skirt.  After a quick introduction on her work, and some innovative stitching, we were shown a sewing machine and a pile of fabrics, and left to get on a design a skirt.  As the machines around me started whirring and scissors started snipping,  I sat like a rabbit caught in the headlights for quite a while. 

"Off you go" said Alison

"Umm, ....what right now?" said I

"Yep, just start what comes out of your imagination and work with it".

Umm.  This is not how I work.  I have to sit for several hours, if not days, thinking about the piece of work before I start.  So, I sat for quite a while, picking up fabrics and putting them down again, and watching other people firing away at their pieces of art.  But, once I started, finally actually started... I was off.  It was so liberating, not having to think about matching colours or limited designs. 

"I don't want twee"... said Alison .. to the group, but it hit a resonating note with me...'Oh god, twee comes second nature to me....  :o !'

Anyway, after an hour and a half of whizzing the sewing machine, not worrying about what worked with what and generally having a ball.. this was my final result.

I was like a kid in a sweetie shop.  So thrilled.  I suddenly realised how blinkered I had become in my way of working, and it was so lovely to be able to just do something without all the planning.

Alison's work is amazing.  She is currently displaying some of her skirts at The Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey.

Talking of wonderful craftmanship, see my string of crocheted hearts?  These were sent to me as a gift from the very talented Rosie at Under The Hedgerow.  They have finally made it back into my sewing room, after the girls have swapped them from bedroom to bedroom, fighting over who was going to have them.  So I've claimed them back and that is that.  Rosie is a true crochet genius.  Man I wish I could crochet like her.  Don't they look gorgeous!   They make me so happy just to look at them, they are so colourful and bright. Thanks Rosie x

So, now I'm off to just 'make something' from all my scraps of fabric strewn across the sewing room!

Elizabeth

 
Introducing sweet Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is made of 100% pure mohair, which has been distressed and hand-dyed in parts for a
more well-loved appearance.   I have part-filled her with sand to add weight
and shape.  

She is fully jointed and her ears and pads are made of an old
Sanderson fabric, which I hand-dyed to for a more time-worn look.   She has
a vintage key and tag round her neck which once belonged to an old suitcase
found in a flea market, as well as a rusty bell, which hang on a hand-dyed
ribbon. 

I have made her more 'saggy' than my previous rabbits, and slightly
larger too - she measures 12 inches tall from head to toe.

Elizabeth will be playing in my Etsy shop awaiting and new and loving home. 

SOLD, thank you x

Have a great weekend everyone, I've got a three day ticket over the weekend for this wonderful event... and am going to three workshops... Making Skirts, Felt Making and Indigo Dyeing... can't tell you how excited I am. 

See you next week xx