What a contrast in weather from the weekend! if this rain continues I will need to start making an Ark! August has been basically a washout here and it is such a shame.
However when I went to the Cotswold's vintage fair and wandered around some wonderful stalls I found some great things to bring back with me. I hope looking at some lovely vintage goodies will cheer you all up if you are in England and having this soggy weather we are in the South.
I bought these beautiful vintage letter cards. There were so many letters to choose from and I ended up with these to spell For The Love Of Vintage. I am really pleased with them and there is a possibility that they may be framed like this.. What do you think?
I had also pre ordered some cushions to be made by the lovely Emma of Little Wren Vintage. Her stitching is sublime and her soft furnishing making is really outstanding. I ordered two of them in the colours that you see. Emma had a photo
to work from of a vintage eiderdown that I purchased and I wanted the cushions to blend with that for one of the bedrooms for summer bedding. She has made piping from vintage linen around them and also they have zips so that they can be washed gently ... I think you will agree the cushions are stunning and I am very very pleased with them ... Thank you again Emma! In addition to the cushions I bought two vintage books from Emma and have a great project in mind for them.
I had several bits on my little list that I was actually looking for and one of the things was some old antique French hand stamps and I knew the stall that I should head for, so I went along to Liz and Jack of Washerwoman fame and to my delight there was two baskets of them so I picked out a few
for a project I have in mind to keep me busy this winter and I am really very pleased with them.
I found a lovely stall selling lots of eclectic bits and it is where I bought the small vintage cards from
in the first picture. They did not put a card in the bag and as you can imagine this stall was very busy so there were no actual photos of it. If anyone recognises this stall please let me know and I can then put a name to the lovely purchases that I made from them. I bought some inspiration packs from here as well ~ three were fabric packs with vintage pieces of blanket, fabrics, buttons and antique quilt and one pack was a paper pack with interesting bits in for me to use in my designs. I am really pleased with it all but in particular the grey blanket with blue blanket stitch edging ....
As you can see I was on a role and ticking my list down nicely. I stumbled upon a great picture
Whilst looking around outside there was a stall with some baskets for sale and I bought the most beautiful basket with drop handles which is always great for storage reasons. It is large and I fell in love with it ... again not on the list but as I have always said if you see something you love and you
can afford it then buy it because you will always regret not doing so. These things are antiques and it is not like you can go back tomorrow and choose one of them off a shelf ( thank goodness) they are vintage pure and simple and a great link to our past .... I am so pleased it has joined my little collection of wicker baskets .....
When I was chatting away to Alison of Betty and Violet about her exciting news of opening her shop
in Broadway, in the Cotswold's my husband was busily looking around her table of goodies and pointed out to me that she had some wonderful vintage mother of pearl buttons! do not know why I did not see them except I was so interested in her news and the fact that she had a some time to tell me all about it ... but thanks to my husband they came home with me for my collection to use in my designs. They are beautiful aren't they?
Yesterday when I was telling you all about the beautiful stall that was like a by gone haberdashery
shop called Retrouve and I had said that there were some vintage cotton spools from Coates, well did you really think I would not come back with a couple ... I bought a brown and a beige one and they are now nestled with my little stash of them.
It was coming to nearly the end of this fabulous vintage fair that I have to say is a must attend yearly event for me. Even if it is over two hours away I really would not miss this one. Hiding on Will and Bea stall was a very pretty china sugar bowl in blue and white and yes this little piece of china has come home safely with me. I do think this is a personal keeper for me and is waiting to be washed and found space on my kitchen dresser ( much to the despair of the dresser who is slightly groaning under the weight of it all!)
I did buy a few bits more but they are for me to either do something with or re sell at the Vintage Bazaar in October so you will have to come along for yourself and see or wait for the photos of this wonderful vintage fair a few days after.
I had a thoroughly great day and my husband really did have a great time especially at the pop up vintage café, I do not think there was a cake he did not try. I choose a piece of there chocolate cake and actually only ate half so that he could try that one as well !!
I am looking forward to the next vintage fair that I am going to on Saturday 29th August and is one of the Vintage on the Green events. There are over 50 stalls there and tea room ( just for my husband!) along with a plant stall of cottage garden plants .... I will of course be doing a blog about it next week as well as a show and tell as well.
Now I really must go and get on with my days stitching ... I may even sit in the conservatory bit on our house in my lovely Lloyd loom chair and listen to the rain tapping on the roof . I do love to listen to rain, plus the light in there is great for hand stitching on such a dull day.
Have a wonderful day whatever you are doing and try not to get too wet if you are heading out and of course as always Happy Stitching!
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