Where have I been?

Sorry!

I have plenty of excuses for my poor blogging rate. Mr Betty being away, 3 boys taking up my time, new job, new pets, but in all honesty, maybe I have just not felt in the mood.

I decided, on waking this morning, that I would get back to it.

Lets see how it goes!

I though I would start with a few new additions to the home.

(not incl pets).

My son plays rugby so I can quite often find myself in some faraway village on a Sunday morning.

Very often there is nothing to do whilst they train for an hour pre match (why??). A couple of weeks ago he had a match over in Congleton. Not a million miles away but a nice little jaunt.

I parked up, looked to my right, a car boot no less. All of a sudden I was wishing for more than an hour.

After a nice mooch around the car boot, I decided I would attempt to park nearer the rugby pitch, only to find myself parked up outside an Antiques shop. Three floors of treasures to investigate. It was ace.

I watched Joe getting caked in mud for an hour, then hit the antiques once more. I purchased 3 glass jelly moulds….the start of a collection, and a lovely advertising tray. You will see that shortly.

  

These little Rice espresso cups were a gift from Ms Beth Taylor.

I have always had a love for espresso cups, anything mini right?

As luck would have it, now Mr Betty is on a health kick (has been for a while), he has espresso, no milk of course. I can now embrace the purchase of lovely little cups and these have become a permanent fixture in my coffee making zone.

As you may know, I had a new kitchen about 18 months ago. I love it, but it just wasn't working.

You know how kitchens have to have that layout design that stops one walking 4 miles whilst chucking together a hotpot, well, we sort of had that problem.

I was forever moving my table around (ask the kids), trying to get the feeling right.

In the end I just new we needed to go to Ikea….again!

We bought the Stenstorp kitchen island and things are now pretty much perfect.

Of course then I needed some barstools.

I found these online and I absolutely love them.

Just lately I have been collecting theses Observer books.

It is a bit of a trend I know, but I am a sucker for trends and one can quite often find me jumping on passing bandwagons. The lovely thing about this little collection is that people keep gifting me new additions ( thanks Kristy, Emzy and Searsons).

Mr Betty loves Automobiles, Aircraft and Commercial Vehicles. Littlest loves all the nature ones. I love Cacti because it is yellow.

I purchased these in/out trays at Vintage Village. I am now the Vintage Village administrator, I bought these with my new position in mind. They are now housing part of my rather ridiculous magazine collection. I will just have to find some more for my more important paperwork.

I love my new job. I work from home and my boss is also my friend. 

Perfect.

The mini Kewpie is another Vintage Village purchase, couldn't resist.

This is my favourite corner. I am always taking pictures of it and it is always changing.

I am forever rearranging it's contents or adding new finds.

The standard lamp base was bought at the charity shop for £6.

I like the shape of it and it is a welcome addition to my corner of joy.

Here is the tray I was telling you about, purchased from the antiques centre in Congleton.

It is a little bit rusty but I love it.

I have a thing for trays but have recently given myself an 'only round ones' rule. At least they can all be stacked on my new handy kitchen island!!

Thanks for reading. xx

guess who's back

just added these old faces to my Etsy shelves

here's one I made earlier

the kits come gift packaged

slightly simplified ingredients

hair already firmly set in place

two different facial expressions, one rather like mine when I realised 2 of my boys would be at home today ;-)

they are just fab as a little stocking filler

also, check out my cushions

I am offering any cushion from my Etsy shelves, to my blog readers, for the bargain price of £20 plus postage

you can find them all HERE

thanks for popping by x

Vintage Village pre-fair sneaky peep

Hello!

I am more than a touch giddy.

This weekend will see me and my stall returning to Vintage Village.

I have had rather an extended break, I always feel my stall has to be just right.

As it is nearing Christmas I have tried to include something for everyone.

the bestest wool ties for the stylish man

travelling over the Christmas break….

travel in style

the perfect gift for a crafty friend

and if but he end of it, like myself, you find you need to rock in a corner…..
the most perfectly compact rocker
the cushion is obviously essential too!

This is merely a taster 

As I price, sort, titivate throughout tomorrow I will be posting more teasers,

watch this space…

Anything you fancy so far?

I hope to see you there. It promises to be fab as always.

Pop over to the VV Facebook page for all the latest news.

Thanks for reading . x

Vintage Village treasures of the most special kind

Hello!

What a day I had yesterday.

 I had lie in including coffee in bed (delivered by Mr Betty), I had dinner out with the men in my life, and I even enjoyed coffee and cake with a special lady. 

BUT, and this is not saying that all the above were not extremely special, the time I had at Vintage Village held at Stockport's victorian market hall was beyond brill.

Oh my goodness did I spend some pennies on some special treasures.

I think this must be my best haul yet.

that'll be 1 pence please sir

Crystal Waterfall is desperate to move in to her new nest
she has been after a house with shutters for quite some time

the decor is right up her (and my) street
music is essential, Perry Como is on as I type

the phone is already installed, she does like to chat on the phone ALOT

the furniture, oh the furniture...no preloved furniture for Crystal

she has some kiddos, not sure she will make such a good mother ;-0

another Staffordshire jar to add to my collection

Are you well jel ?

I bought the doll house, the furniture, the cash register and the Little Betty from Waynes 'All Our Yesterdays' stall. He had been lucky enough to purchase stock from a toy shop that had closed down in the 70's. All its most wonderful, pristine stock, had been preserved in the stockroom for all those years.

I already knew that the house would be for sale on Sunday, I was so determined not to buy it. Obviously my resolve soon flew out of the door when I saw it in real life.

It is absolutely perfect.

It is a Danish house made by Danse and apparently was the cheaper alternative to the Lundby.

I can kind of see that it is a budget model, no staircase, no window frames etc but I just love the decor.

I had wanted a toy sewing machine for quite a while....don't we all.

When I saw that there was a Little Betty it just had to be mine. It is perfect, it is a lovely blue and it's original box is almost as pretty as the actual machine.

I can't wait to furnish my new house with all my fave furniture and the new bits I bought yesterday. It is going to look fab. I will share it later in the week.

I have a few blog posts lined up for this week. I have a 'Smile Post' that includes new equipment and some very exciting news.

I also want to do a post on miniatures that will include my doll house....furnished and the Lundby house I recently renovated for my friend Ms Beth.

Thanks for reading and don't be too jel ;-) x

Nice Things

Hello!

I was going to have a weeks break from this here blog, just so I can sunbathe (not really), but things have got the better of me, I just cannot stay away too long.

Don't you think everything looks and feels better when the sun is a shining?

Everything is so vibrant and pretty.

My body clock has gone a bit off kilter, you know when you sleep early and wake early?

I think it is nice to fall asleep whilst it is lovely and cool, and then rise before it gets too hot.

The early mornings are just beautiful and I am enjoying hanging out the washing and sipping a cup of tea on the decking....simple things and all that.

I decided to grab my camera this morning and catch the pretty morning light.

1) my beautiful Show Us Your Threads cake stand

2) love the top tier

3) I love this boy cat so much

4)Mr Betty built me a trellis room

5) the question that gets asked every night by every boy

6) vintage utensils

7) a little purple clock

8) flowers in the window

9) vintage ice bucket

10) a pretty little face

11) thrifted foot stool

12) a new cushion

13) Hamma time

14) ......and a bit of fun with FIMO

15) vintage tray

16) whilst everyone does the 'black and white thing', I seem to be going the other way (and fast)

170 my new/old sideboard

Thanks for reading x

Bedroom Snapshots

Hello!

This post has been a long time coming.

Sad thing is, the boudouir is not even really finished...how slow am I (read Mr Betty).

I am awaiting the hanging of shelves and I am still pondering suitable bedroom artwork.

As I mentioned, when first discussing my bedroom make-over, 10 years ago (not that much of an exaggeration, lets be honest), I wanted a calm, almost minimalist room.

At night I suffer with a terribly overactive mind and anything that stimulates my busy head is to be avoided. 

I have decided to bite the bullet and share a few snaps and then when complete I can thrill you with some shelves and maybe a picture or two...bet you can hardly contain yourself!

So here is my attempt at calm..

As always, this room was made over on a very tight budget.

I updated the existing furniture using a B&Q emulsion and then added a top coat of Farrow & Ball eggshell gloss to prevent scratches. The original furniture was a black Hemnes chest of drawers from Ikea and the paint has worked really well.

I treated myself to a string of Cable and Cotton lights to make my not very loved bed a little more likeable. They look fantastic at night. I bought the 35 string in Morrocco at £32.95.

The floor was the biggest outlay getting in a professional to sand, fill, and wax but it looks ace and it is so smooth under bare feet.

The fireplace was a Gumtree find at £60 and I painted it using a Hammerite gloss.

I am so in love with yellow this year.

The curtains were purchased at John Lewis for what I think is a good price of £90.

Not my usual thing but I fell in love with the orange pansies.

I would like to add a couple of plants in the near future and of course, the much needed shelves.

And yes, I have been sleeping quite well but I think that could  have something to do with the new memory foam mattress or maybe it is down to the summer time evening beers I have been guzzling.....who knows ;)

Thanks for reading. x