Wednesday 18 May 2016

The Decorative Living Fair Weekend! ..... Wow!






Treasure hunting at its best &
all under one roof! ...
It was like walking around the best
high street in the world.  Everything vintage & stall after stall brimming with beautiful goodies to purchase.











For those of you who were unable to make it or just want to relive some of it again, here we go! There were 70 Stalls so this literally is a taster for you as I am afraid the day went so fast I actually did not have time to look at every stall...

Well as you all know we travelled up the day before and stayed in a hotel with some friends who actually were stalling at vintage fair, which was so much fun as we had dinner together and laughed a great deal over some wine.  So good for the soul.  It was such a great start to a great weekend.

The next day we set off eagerly to have a look around and see what we could see.  There were so many people that I knew which was fantastic and I met some people for the first time as well.  We got there when it opened at 10 am and did not leave until it closed at 5 pm .. What a fabulous day!

Every stall was dressed to perfection the stall holders had gone all out with armoirs and units filled with fabrics, china, buttons, ribbons or anything that they were selling.  They had all bought gorgeous props to make their space look like walking into a shop.  It was not just cloth covered tables.  Some of the furniture was for sale as well if you were on the look for a piece, it was probably there.

The day started slightly cloudy but the sun came out and it was hot.  Apart from the fair you could walk about the grounds and enjoy them and of course there was a pop up vintage cafe as well. There were some stalls in the house and others in marques and every little detail had been thought out perfectly.

In no order what so ever I went looking around and I found Donna Flower Vintage and her other half Johnnie who as you will see modelled a rather dapper looking gents travel top hat! for me.  Donna's stall as always was delicious with even a rug on the floor as you walked into her space.  Fabrics, embroidery threads, clothes, hats, quilts, buttons and I could go on and on.  I knew
it was going to be a fabulous day! Several times throughout the day we had chats and catch ups but everyone was very busy.

I had to go find someone next because we have been friends for over a year now but not actually met face to face and Sarah had contacted me saying she would be there with her wonderful work and so I went to find her Sarah J Perry Designs .... be prepared to be amazed at her work.  Sarah embroiders
and she is beyond talented with her raised nature embroidery.  Birds, dogs, cats, fish you name it this lady can make a photo of you pet look like it has a doppelganger ...  It was wonderful to have a hug and catch up and meet Sarah's husband John.  To stop and stare at her work and to actually watch her work whilst she was there was, to me, a dream come true.  If you have never seen any of her beautiful embroideries, apart from my photos, look her up on F
acebook because Sarah takes classes and it is something I would love to attend for a day .....

I had one eye open for my friend Nicki of Quilterdown fame who I said I would meet up with and to my delight she was at Donna Flowers stall buying scrummy fabric.  There was some beautiful paisley in her hand and I know that is going into a stunning quilt ... I can not wait to see what she designs and makes.  We said hello and we would meet later for coffee after our mad treasure hunt morning ...





It was getting lovely and busy and so I decided to carry on and see what I could see and I found the lovely Christine from The Sea Garden.  Oh always her stall looks quite amazing with not only beautiful fabric packs but sea shell pictures, cards and shell bunting for want of a better description.
The show was open on the Friday and this was the Saturday ... Christine had sold her shell pictures the day before! We chatted and it goes without saying I bought some lovely fabrics there (show and tell later in the week) and we talked about her shop and I am going to visit there this Summer without a doubt.







Will & Bea was there sharing a stall with The Vintage Blanket Company and they had merged their stock beautifully.  It was so lovely to see them and catch up a little and as always the stand looked so
beautiful.  The design and the staging of stalls at this beautiful fair was actually breath taking.  The artistry of making beautiful things look so very inviting and as I say like a shop in the best high street you have ever seen!








Ali of Betty & Violet was there and we
eventually caught up as every time I saw her she was busy talking to customers.  This lady knows how to make people stop in their tracks and stare at her products.  Her stall was incredible as usual and had such unusual and beautiful things.  Ali has a shop in the Cotswold's and had left her mum there and come along to this show with such beautiful stock, one wonders what was left in the shop to buy!








Of course I went and found Jo and Andy of Hesta Nesta .. our partners in crime from the night before.
They have an eye for beauty and I was taken aback how beautiful it all looked.  They had sold so much the day before I wondered how it would be but most people keep things back for the next day at a two day event to restock and that is what they had done.  I spied a beautiful basket full of fabrics and so I was in there straight away.  It was lucky because later in the day Jo looked after my shopping bags that I had already gathered leaving my hands free once more to keep going...







The Old Haberdashery was there and it was lovely to see Sonia and wander around her beautiful products.  It felt like you were in her
shop with added additions that she had put aside for this show so that if any of her regular customers came in they had new items to look at.  Sonia was selling beautiful inspiration packs, embroidery threads, buttons, vintage bottles, linens draped over an old ladder so that you could see each piece and so so much more.  If we were nearer I would be in her shop weekly at least ....










Emma of Little Wren Vintage was next to Sonia and again my vintage fabric hunt was fruitful, well it would be here.  Emma makes the most stunning cushions apart from other items and then when she has made something the rest of the fabrics get tied into bundles to sell.  I always but always find some fabric that I have never seen before and so I look through all that she has, and never come away empty handed. I purposely look for Emma at every big event I attend ..  I love to see her and catch up and love her taste in fabrics, cushions and quilts, oh and china!!











To my joy Velvet Ribbon was in attendance and always there are beautiful old fabrics here too.  I
was not disappointed I can tell you.  Of course there were other treasures there as well and again a beautiful dressed stall... I would really like to stay that each person who was selling here made their space look just like a shop and I was there some time looking around and choosing.  There is a shop in Totnes which her mum owns and I am making my way there Bank Holiday weekend!










Then I met Sara of Tray Bon who was making beautiful trays and garden domes for flowers from willow and I watched amazed for a while and had a little chat.  I love it when artists are working to give you an insight to their talents. It was so interesting to watch as she worked and luckily she allowed me to take some photos for you to see for yourself.







Opposite her was a lady making, well flower arrangements with succulent plants in shoes, handbags,
wreaths or in china objects .. it was incredible.  Called Heavy Petal and getting a lot of admirers as well.  I did come home with a wreath for our door for the summer and a gift for our friends too.  I bought some vintage high black shoes that had been filled up and I knew they would love them and they did.

It was time to get a coffee and cake with Nicki so we met up with her and a lovely friend that was at the show with her and we sat on the outside tables looking at the most wonderful view and chatting and having a little show & tell of our own! Sat in the sun, chatting and laughing with coffee and cake we all agreed what a wonderful event this was and how lucky we were there on such a great summer's day with bags of vintage loveliness each....

Time waits for no man so we all went off again hunting for our own forms of treasure and I decided to look inside the house at some stalls in a little room ... Oh I am glad I went in because I met some great people in here.

Firstly Emma of Forget Me Knot Originals who covered vintage books in vintage fabrics ... Oh they were lovely with titles like Alice in Wonderland a 1926 copy and Children's books, notebooks,
gardening books and other classic titles.  I love books, calligraphy and general handwriting as you all know so it was such a lovely time talking to her about it.  I have some books I want to cover of my own mainly notebooks.  I have covered some in vintage blanket and embroidery already but there are a couple of vintage books that would be better if I covered them as their spines are a little fragile,  but I bought one from her which is a favourite of mine ( Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the looking glass).  She was also telling me that some of her stock is in a shop in Lyme Regis as well and that it is a stationery and writing shop called The Writing Shop which I will be visiting very soon indeed.  It sells beautiful stationery and is on Facebook if you would like a peek.





Then next door to Emma  by chance was Helen of Rosie's Armoire and boy there was some gorgeous
packs of fabric so of course I dived in straight away along with some great antique papers such as French marriage certificates, letters and envelopes and more.  I love the originals and if you are stitching a picture that is to be framed well you can incorporated paper and it sits safely behind glass for ever.  As you can see from the photos this was a particularly beautiful and very popular stall indeed.  The two together complimented each other perfectly indeed.









Outside there was a wonderful garden tool stand and it was called Rustic Garden Things .. amazing.  My husband spent a great deal of time in there and came to find me after I had taken photos there as Michael Ristic who's stall it was, was happy for me to do so.  He proudly showed me a purchase for us.  A fruit picker for things like apples and pears.  Its amazing and I will show you a photo later in the week.  We have a pear tree here where we are but when we move we are hoping for apples too and if they are not there already they will be planted and this great antique gadget will help pick high ones and catch them so they do not fall and bruise.......







Etoile Brocante had some beautiful bits and I did buy some beautiful knives from here which you will see later in the week.  There was an eclectic array of home goods and it was such pretty set out stall that every time you turned about you saw something different and exciting. The knives have
mother of pearl handles and are for fruits and there were six.  When I got home I went to my dresser as I thought I had one of these particular knives at home .. and I did so I happily have seven so am now on the hunt for one more to balance out a table of eight ....

A fabulous stall was outside in the galleried tents and had some stunning French antiques on offer from furniture to smaller objects to make your home look stunning. I could not see a card or indeed the name of this stall and it was v v busy and I could not see the owner of it so ask more unfortunately. There was a particular glass cabinet that took my heart but until we move I am not buying furniture .... so I had to pass it by.









Then I found Weathered and Worn .. Oh my some stunning vintage bits on here, Donna had directed me after showing me some treasures she had bought and I must say I founds some great treasures to take home for my sewing including some rather gorgeous buttons and rosettes ... I spent some time looking here and having a chat.












There was stall called Rosebud Decorative who had some amazing things on offer for your home.
From china to galvanised pails for outside in your garden or indeed would have looked fabulous inside the right home as well or a Summer house maybe.  There was so much to choose from where ever you looked.













Last but certainly not least I was able to snap some photos of  Sarah Kingston The Vintage Hunter  stall and it was an array of eclectic beauty and especially for kitchens I felt with original little jam labels and ice cream cartons along with wooden rolling pins and chairs ... Stunning!  We had a quick hello as she was very busy also.  I normally see Sarah and Sarah Moores --- as you can see there are lots of us Sarah's!!











Well as I said this is just a taste of what and who was there and there were lots of exhibitors there including Caroline Zoob who is also one of the organisers of the beautiful event and I would like to say thank you to her and Hetty who made such a great job of putting together such a wonderful vintage fair.

When I spoke to Caroline and asked about her work and embroidery she told me she had sold it all on the Friday except for one piece that had just been sold so I missed out on having a look and taking some photos for you all to see how beautiful her work is.  Caroline does take embroidery classes so if you are interested check out her website.

I really needed to be there for both days to talk to all the stall holders and ask about photos so I only got a handful because I had run out of time and did not see everything by any way of the imagination.  Next year I will get a two day ticket to do this show justice and name everyone who is there hopefully but make them smaller photos to fit them in.  We had a wonderful day and everybody who I have been in touch with since our return has said the same including the people who had stalls there.

Well I will do a show and tell of the plunder that came home with me but for now it is away to my stitchery and sewing room to take some photos, put away and get down to the business of stitching.  I have lots to do.

Have a wonderful day and as always Happy Stitching!












2 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a great time
    Julie xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julie It was such a great fair and a wonderful weekend ...

    Sarah xxx

    ReplyDelete