Friday 31 May 2013

Come along if you can!

Just a quickie to let you know where I will be next Saturday
I will be selling/swapping, vintage clothes, homewares, haberdashery and craft supplies.
There will be plenty of other great seller including Chorltons very own Wowie Zowie.
I reckon, and I am mostly right on these important matters, that this is going to be really good!!



Come and see us if you can and most definitely pick up some super stuff at some bargain prices.
I hope to see you there.
Thanks for reading. x

Friday 24 May 2013

Guest Post Book Review - Contemporary Upholstery by Hannah Stanton

Hello!
I feel very lucky to have this lovely lady on my blog today.
Nico aka Ophelia Button is part of the Craft Mafia and runs the Lo-Fi group in Manchester to which I go on a regular basis. Being totally honest, it is up there with my most favourite things to do. 
Nico is the queen of craft and I have discovered, over the last few months, she can turn her hand to almost anything and do it really well. The speed at which she mastered crochet was rather annoying ;)

The books Nico gets sent to review are top notch, and she often uses the ideas and skills in the books to create a Lo-Fi craft idea. The first book we are sharing is about cool furniture upholstery...might be a bit tricky to re-create in a bar in manchester in only a few hours but the second book, to be shared tomorrow, is about embroidery and that is what we will be trying at the next meeting. Right up my street!

From what I can see of this book I am defo going to order one.
I love jazzing up old furniture with funky fabrics but my skill levels leave a lot to be desired.
I have googled images of Hannah's work and popped by her website and I can tell you that she is really current and has a quirky style that I for one can really appreciate.
I love all of her ideas.  
Let us know what you think!

Contemporary Upholstery – Author – Hannah Stanton   
Published by Jacqui Small www.jacquismallpub.com 
Review by Nico Dawson 'Manchester Craft Mafia founder member' and host of Lo Fi DIY. 


A much needed book. I no longer need to scour 
shelves questioning whether I should pay out for a 
book that isn’t really quite what I wanted. I have 
two chairs in a crafting queue awaiting a new look 
and at last I have help… Thank you! 
The front cover, as you can see displays some great       
enticing retro styled examples.  
The back cover states ‘If you can sew, you can 
upholster’ this inspires me with confidence! 
The contents and resource listings are simple 
making the book easy to use and great for 
referencing. 
The book is broken down into 3 main sections;  
First is an overview of the tools and materials, the 
photographs here are essential and assist with 
understanding of the techniques. 




Second is detailed advice on choosing and working with fabric, including designing your own. This 
advice is generally very useful. 
The final section shows step by step tutorials and techniques 
which are not project specific. Perfect as our chosen pieces will 
all have their own individual shapes! Great diagrams accompany 
the instructions, and the visuals and styling are inspiring, one of 
my favourites being the retro armchair and giant ruler. I need to 
get my giant ruler on display! Yes I do have one! 
The featured pieces are inspiring and the techniques seem 
achievable. 
I have even learnt how to fix the tear in my Habitat chesterfield 
which is about 20 years old but I need it to live forever!  
The following discount has been set up especially for Manchester Craft Mafia and friends! 


To order Contemporary Upholstery (9781906417918) for £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £20.00), 
telephone 01903 828503 and quote offer code JS214. Or send a cheque made payable to: 
Littlehampton Book Services Mail Order Department, Littlehampton Book Services, PO Box 4264, 
Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3TG. Please quote the offer code JS214 and include your name and 
address details. *UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas. 

Thanks for reading. x

Wednesday 22 May 2013

I love this house - part 2


Hello!
This post is so good. I can say that because, 1, it is and 2, it has nowt to do with me other than I love to spend time in this house, and my very good friend lives within its lovely, multi coloured walls.
I know that you are going to love it as much as I do.












Colourful, quirky and most definitely, homely.
Can you imagine living in such a vibrant, happy home.
This house inspires me to be more bold and it encourages me to just go for it.

I need to talk some more people in to letting me take pics of their home.
This is defo up there with my most favourite posts.

Thanks for reading. x

Monday 20 May 2013

Thrifted Treasure

Hello!
Not done one of these posts for a while.
Suppose its because I haven't been 'athriftin' much of late, defo need to get back into it.
I did set my alarm for 6.45 on Sunday morning with the car booty in mind but, alas, my bed was just too cozy tosey so I just switched it off and went right back to sleep.
I feel no regret.

Sorry if you have seen a couple of these before ie, if you follow me on IG

vintage shopping basket - most handy for critter carrying

massive 70s breakfast tray

also massive cuckoo clock, love the colours, not sure where to put it

a keep me typewriter

already on display....and it works!
I love her
and I love him
all in all some rather happy things
I wanted to tell you what my fave thing is but I am finding it a bit tricky
At a push I will choose the red shopping basket because it looks good and it is most useful, the perfect combination.
Have you been car booting?
Found anything good, is it still possible to dig out treasure?
Please reassure me!!

Thanks for reading. x

Thursday 16 May 2013

Brighton mini break - part three (purchases)

Woohoo!
This is defo the bestest bit.
Picture heavy, again. Here are the things I bought, starting off with Tiger
How jealous I am of anyone that lives near one of these shops!!
If an award existed for 'fastest basket filler' I would be a definite contender after my trip around the aforementioned store.
Great thing is, it is really affordable.


perfect patterns

cool tape

great designs


cute kitchen stuff
50p each!!!

As I mentioned on my Brighton part 2 post, I also visited some open house shops.
My favourite one was Peggy Poppletons (her name is cool too)
You have to check out her page, oh my goodness!
I bought a couple of prints including this one by TYPEKING

for me

and another by MIBO who has some brilliant stuff., check out the website.

for the playroom
I also got these.

 my wish list for quite some time


There were a couple of independent shops that stocked Hannah Turners ceramics so I treated myself to something from her bird range. If I were a rich woman I would have bought something large or actually, just the whole lot.



This little bird egg cup is my most favourite purchase.
It will never hold an actual egg, it is far to precious for general use. It is on my fireplace so I can look at it all the time.

I also purchased a few fleamarket finds but I am going save them for my thrifted treasure post.
I think they will be happier there.

I am not usually such a 'Spendy Wendy'
I am actually of a thrifty nature, but I had saved hard for this trip, and I knew I would just HAVE to spend rather more freely than usual.
I hope you like my things.
Are you one of the lucky peeps to live near a Tiger, I won't hold it against you ;)

Thanks for reading. x

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Brighton mini break - part two



Hello!
I have been debating whether I should combine my shop post with my purchase post.
After discovering, via my lovely comments, how you either live in Brighton or have lived in Brighton I was slightly concerned that my amateur pics of a few shops might be a tad dull
However, after looking in the huge foxy laundry bag, that I, (read Mr B) lugged back from our mini-break, full of bits and bats, I decided that my purchases can wait for another day.

Therefore, this post is going to be all about the pictures.
I didn't snap all the shops I visited (millions), I just snapped away at things that I liked the look of. I hope you like them too.

Mr Betty was unwilling to sneak out in the dead of the night and steal this most attractive pig. Party pooper!!

laid back bunny

pretty shop

pretty lanes

part of a pop up food market. fresh juice and nice sandwiches


baking supplies and baking classes


open house exhibition, more about that in a min

blue sky

old and new
 As mentioned above and probably the highlight of the trip for me was the 'open house exhibitions' that were part of the festival.
What could be more perfect?
Going into a beautiful Brighton home, the sort of home I dream of, and looking at talented peoples art and craft. I was in heaven.
We picked up a brochure on arrival and selected the open house exhibitions that were of interest to us (read me). I came back utterly inspired and with a head full of ideas.
Just what the doctor ordered!

I am now off to empty my foxy laundry bag and photograph my treasures.
Thanks for reading. x

Monday 13 May 2013

Brighton mini break - part one





hello!
just back from a mini-break, just as the title suggests
oh my goodness, how damn cool is Brighton
Mr Betty and I loved it so much and yeah, we went kiddo free

the big boys were at Wembley to watch City lose
littlest stayed here with his Grandma and Uncle Boggy to be spoilt rotten

I am going to share my trip in 3 parts if that suits
If I did it in one it would be about a metre length post

part one is all about the guest house (perfect)
part two will be about the shopping (perfect)
part three is going to be 'what I bought' (a lot)

so here is the guest house, aka part one
quite possibly the best place to stay, in the world

cake and crabbies on arrival (organised by Mr B)







I am so going to paint my kitchenette orange!


our room for the first night






our room for the second night


I cannot tell you how inspiring, comfortable and friendly it was to stay at this amazing place
Mr betty and I are most defo going to pay Snooze a visit in the future.

A link to SNOOZE

and you must watch this video clip

Thanks for reading x