The Vintage Magpie

SwEEt Lil' guY

This sweet little guy is one of my favourites!  He is heading off to his new home very soon!

We are all getting very excited about the Royal Wedding tomorrow.  The bunting is going up and the cake is being decorated red, white and blue!

Best wishes to everyone who is celebrating tomorrow around the world!!

xx

So much to tell...

We have had a wonderful few days away over Easter, visting friends in Oxfordshire.

And no, unfortunately, the above is not a picture of my new studio!!  It is a photograph of Witney Bear Shop in Witney, Oxford, a stockist of my bears, which we had the immense pleasure of visiting while we were there!   It was so enchanting, an old rickety shop, full of the most wonderful bears, old and new.   Aloysius from Brideshead revisited and the late Russian princess Xenia's bear, Alfonzo, whom she once took on holiday to Buckingham Palace, was there too.  And inside the shop it had a tiny room which was the bear museum.  So beautiful.  I am so thrilled to be part of that shop, and part of the next up and coming Witney Bears catalogue!

So, today is my first day of actual work in my new studio.  So I shall take more photographs for a reveal next week!

Oh, and I have plenty of photographs of the breath-taking Oxfordshire to show you too.

Meanwhile I need to get making some bears!!

xxx

 

 

Easter Greetings

Sending all my wonderful readers happy Easter wishes for the weekend.

We have been blessed with glorious weather down in the South West... happy days!

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL!!

xxxx

An oLd FriENd...

I had great fun revisting an old friend and pattern last week... and Edna's sister Violet is now looking for a new home!

She is such a sweetheart....made of the softest mohair, her saggy belly is half oatmeal colour and half pale pink, she has the soft look of a mother about her :)

Violet is one of my bigger bears... she is a whisker over 11 inches tall. 

She is a sticklar for neatness, and detests a messy house.  This has proved rather difficult whilst we have been in the process of  moving studios.... the mess has caused her brow to furrow on many occasions, so she is more than ready to find a nice tidy spot to rest her nerves.

Violet is rather excited at the prospect of being in a new house by Easter... or, if she is heading across the pond, being a special gift for Mother's Day!!

If you would like to know more, pop over and introduce yourself in my mercifully tidy little Etsy shop! 

ADOPTED, thank you xxx

 

Breathing in ....

These ranaculas have been making me smile since they bloomed.  I bought them in the market on Friday, and everytime I pass them on my dresser, I breathe in for a second and marvel at their beauty.   This post has grown since I first started it, as it made me think how many times a day I actually smell things that make me feel good.  I've discovered I sniff things all day long without actually realising it.

My childrens' heads.  I always smell my childrens' heads.... when I'm kissing them or cuddling them I take a deep breath in.  I've never stopped since they were first born.  I know each one of their smells and it makes me feel warm and tingly everytime.

The last of my mum's perfume.  I smell this when I need reassurance.  When I need her to be with me.  It feels like she is putting her arms around me.

The smell of 'snaps' .... do you remember those?  You put them in these little guns and fire, and they smell is amazing.... takes me straight back to my childhood garden and shooting my neighbour over the fence!!

and lastly...

the smell of clean bedsheets that have been hanging outside all day, soaking up the sun.

Simple pleasures :)

Have a great week everyone xx

 

Nearly There ....

I moved the last few pieces into my new studio today... this week has been spent painting, laying a new floor, planning .. more planning and sewing curtains...

I can't wait to show you the results, but for now .. this is my new front door!!

I'm so excited!!

Have a great weeekend everyone!

xx

We bought a zoo...

Well, we didn't, but Mr Mee and his family did.

We visited a rather special zoo on Tuesday.  Dartmoor Zoo.  And the story of how the Mee family came to buy the zoo is now a book and about to become a major Hollywood blockbuster called 'We Bought A Zoo' starring Matt Damon.

You can read all about it here.

What is it about zoos, no matter how old you get its always great to visit a zoo.  This zoo is gorgeous... it's not sprawling like most zoos, it's a great size, with just enough animals to keep everyone happy!  And the Mee's house is slap bang in the middle of it, so it feels almost homely.  It always fascinates me watching my kids staring at the animals.. so wide eyed and curious...

including the animals!

All just so perfect, and beautiful.

It's an amazing story.

I can't wait to see the film.

All these photographs were taken by Mr F, whilst I was off staring at the bears!....  He's good isn't he!  He has more patience than me!  You can see more of his photos here.

See you Friday xx

 

 

 

dOWn tHe RAbbit hOle....

the White Rabbit said.  It took a watch out of its waistcoat pocket, looked at it, and hurried on.  Alice had never seen a rabbit with a waistcoat pocket before, nor one with a watch to take out of it.  She jumped to her feet and ran after it, just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.  Down went Alice after it, never thinking how she was going to get out again.

The rabbit hole went on like a tunnel for some way and then it dipped suddenly.

Alice found herself falling down a very deep well. She was falling slowly so she had time to look around and see all sorts of intereesting things on shelves and in cupboards on the way.

'I wonder how many thousand miles I've fallen?' she thought  'I must be somewhere near the centre of the earth.  Perhaps I'll fall right through to the other side'

But just then, thump, thump, thump, down she came, on a heap of leaves, without hurting herself at all.  Ahead of her, at the end of a long white passage, she saw the White Rabbit hurrying along...

she heard it say, as it turned the corner...

and went to sit in my little Etsy shop waiting for his very own Alice to adopt him!!

You can open a little wooden door here and find him ready to come home with you!

 

xx

 ADOPTED, thank you xx

 

A LitTle WhiTe RaBBit ...

An very 'vintaged' Alice In Wonderland white rabbit will be up for adoption tomorrow... just in time for Easter!!!

See you then xx

New Key....

 

New key... new studio!!!

Oh I can't wait :)

My studio at Old Pottery Court has given me many happy days... but the time has come to move on to pastures new.  New studio, new concept, new opportunities.

The above picture shows the view from my new lunch area!!  And amongst my new colleagues are the sheep and their baby lambs!

I can't wait to share it with you later in the week.

Enjoy your week everyone xx