Down The yard

I've had a lovely day at The Yard...the sun was shining, it didn't rain, my fellow stallholders were lovely...Here's a few pictures to let you know what you were missing!
This is me - well not me obviously because I'm taking the picture - but here's the stall. I've been tinkering with the things to take... I can't decide whether it's too early for Christmas stuff...

The view down The Yard from my stall...

Just one of the fabulous prizes on Tom's Trauma Tombola stall...

and here's Tom with a selection of others

These are Max's gorgeous lights

Amazing hairclips from Cuttlefishlove Kanzashi

and here's a taster from some of the stalls...

I haven't even mentioned the vintage clothes, shoes, bags, furniture.
There's another one in a couple of weeks (13th November) so, if you find yourself in the vicinity of Brighton - come on down and say hello!

Vintage, Tintin and Mabel

Here's a spooky little thing.... all that talk about the new Tintin film and look what I've found ...

Tintin on fabric - not only that but Tintin, on fabric, taken from The Secret of the Unicorn! Ooh er...

I found some Magic Roundabout cotton too which I'm thinking probably dates from the seventies.

We were reminiscing here about the time that we (me and the kids) watched the classic Dougal and the Blue Cat feature film.

The kids complained at the time that they had no idea what was going on...which of course is true. Not because they were too young, just because none of us knew what was happening or why. It didn't matter though!

On the other hand, the 85 minutes of my life that I gave to Thomas and the Magic Railroad is 85 minutes I'll never get back. I saw it in 2000 and I'm still resentful. However, I digress!

On a cheerier note, I spent considerably more than 85 minutes on Mabel, but rather enjoyed it and now...she's...finished! Ta Da!

Lovely Day For It

My first trip to a car boot sale for ages. I wandered about aimlessly thinking there was nothing to be had (as you do) but then ... I bought these tins...

4 lovely side plates to fit in a hamper...

An unused set of talc and bath cubes by Bourgois - bizarely called "Ashes of Lavender" - oh and a big bag of doilies, lace and traycloths...

Two suitcases with lovely interiors which I'm thinking will be good for displaying things and transporting them to and from fairs and events...

and... my favourites... two lovely, heavy thirties bedspreads with printed flowers. Now I just have to get washing and cleaning.

Practically Perfect Prints

I recently acquired a big pile of school posters from the 1930's - 1950's. I've been going through them and trying to find out more about their origins and the artists. About 9 of the prints are by Eileen Soper, whose name I knew only because she had illustrated the Famous Five books.

The portraits in these prints are very reminiscent of those and they conjure up the era perfectly. A bit of research has revealed that Eileen Soper in fact illustrated over 50 of Enid Blyton's books including all of the Nature Lover's Series from which these illustrations come. For more pictures and information I recommend the Enid Blyton Society website, a splendidly well-informed place.

The picture at the top is called "Down Willow Way". Then there's the tale of "The Bad Bluebottle Fly"...

The "Very Queer Home"...

"Gloves for the Party"...

and my favourite - "The Clever Weathercock". (Actually I don't know if I can part with this!)

The attention to detail in all of the plants, trees and animals is fantastic and the colours are so soft and soothing. There's more of them on the website as well as a bit more information about each one and the story it comes from.

Now I've done the Eileen Soper ones I'm moving on. I haven't researched them yet but these two are my out and out favourites of the next batch. I never knew carpet making was so glamorous and languid. But look at that airport - mine's a Martini - on the rocks.

Norwegian Wood

We went to Norway this summer and it was absolutely beautiful. I've got hundereds of photos but as my machine embroidery group restarts this month (Hurrah!) I've dug out these pictures of wood and water that I took one day.

When I took them I was thinking about texture - which they have. But now I'm really liking the colours and tones too.

Of course the challenge will come when I try to do justice to them with thread... I'll let you know!