Tag Archives: vintage

Besotted with: A lovely Swedish flat

Posted on May 10, 2012 | 3 Comments

The little flat we rented in Stockholm was a-maz-ing. We found it on City Living Apt. If you’re going on holiday somewhere soon check it out, there are loads of gorgeous places on there.

Having a little rest.

Roller skates, a lovely jug and books. It was filled with lovely vintage finds and gorgeous parquet floors.

As I mentioned in this post – I LOVED these lamps.

A peacock rug and parquet floors.

Mirrors in the kitchen.

A globe lamp! Can I go back now instead of going to work tomorrow? Please?

Have you ever fallen in love with someone else home?

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Posted in Besotted with, Travel, Vintage

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Bits and pieces: Chanel, beetroot and a vintage slip..

Posted on March 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

Gee whiz it’s been busy lately. Some days it seems I barely have time to breathe let alone write a coherent sentence (and I write for a living).

I’ve decided that a few treats are the only way to get by. I’m making this month brighter with:

1. New make up, and Chanel’s new spring nail colour called ‘April’.

2. Actually finding the time and will to paint my nails.

3. Beetroot for dinner. The bright pink vegetable that truly is the sweetest of them all. Roasted, boiled, raw, grated or baked in a chocolate cake: I adore it all. Especially when the mister cooks it for me and when it’s in all shades of gold and pink.

4. A green vintage slip I bought on a day trip to Brighton recently. It’s currently soaking in a bucket in my bathtub. A few minor amends and it will be as good as new in no time.

5. Breakfast. I’ve been making an effort to actually eat breakfast at home before work these days. This is apple, pecans, soy yoghurt and oats. Deliciousness in a bowl.

How do you cope when you are too busy to think? What little things do you do to cheer yourself up?

All photos by me.

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Posted in Bits & pieces, Food, Lovely things, Places to visit, Thrifting, Vintage

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More Bread & Butter

Posted on October 4, 2010 | 2 Comments

Here are some more photos taken on my recent weekend in Bruges, staying at the wonderful B&B  - Bread & Butter. You can see my last post about our weekend away here.

Belgium chocolate for breakfast? Yes please! Fresh melon and peaches, cheeses, pastries, homemade museli and yoghurt was all served on gorgeous mismatched china, including Zara home, Wedgewood and hand made pottery pieces. Multigrain and rye breads were served in mini wooden boxes. A giant glass jar of homemade museli  sat at the end of table. All glowing golden in soft candlelight, it looked like it was straight from the pages of an interiors magazine. We sat down to a  gloriously beautiful feast each morning. Breakfast at my work desk is just not the same!

Kitty!

The resident cat was a bit shy but would sit safely on the other side of the doors to the back garden and watch us drinking our coffee through the glass.

This is unfortunately the only shot I have of the amazing vintage wallpaper that was in our loft bedroom.

I couldn’t resist adding another shot of the bath tub.

We had amazing perfect blue skies.

We spent many hours getting happily lost in the winding cobbled streets along the pretty canals, fuelled by the delicious breakfast and strong coffee at the Bread & Butter.

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Posted in Food, Places to visit, Teapot love, Travel

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Always room for one more cake stand.

Posted on September 24, 2010 | 2 Comments

My big sister arrives for a visit next week.  All the way from New Zealand. This a very small selection of her very large collection of vintage depression glass cake stands. Obviously collecting stuff runs in the family.

I know we’ll be doing lots of shopping, eating and drinking cocktails.  There’ll be many visits to the V&A (where she worked for a little while) and Liberty for afternoon tea.  And I may have found a junk shop with a bit of a collection of cake stands just like these… how many do you think she might fit in her hand luggage back home?

See you soon Sarah. x

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Posted in Bits & pieces, Rambles, Vintage

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Floral needlepoint 1950s bag

Posted on July 27, 2010 | 4 Comments

I was reading about online vintage seller Allen Company Inc over at the lovely Wish Wish Wish and accidentally made my first purchase from Etsy.

So right now I have in my hot little hands this wonderful embroidered 1950s bag…

Photo: Allen Company Inc

Isn’t it gorgeous?  Bought on Friday, waiting on my kitchen table when I came home from work on Monday. Talk about speedy.  This lovely purse will be going on its first outing to a wedding in Northumberland this coming weekend. Goes quite nicely with my pale gold silk frock. I love the embroidered Pansy faces. I’ll be saving my pennies for one of the beautiful fifties frocks the Etsy based Allen Company Inc next.

I also had another package waiting at home for me yesterday – birthday present from a friend back home. A beautiful Witchery black cuff. But more on that another time. Such lovely things made my Monday so much better.

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Posted in Floral fantasy, Vintage

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Perfect picnic at Epping Forest

Posted on July 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

I love a good picnic on a hot day. Even though the lovely summery weather we had for a bit now seems a distant memory after this week’s blustery rain.

Still, I’m hoping to get a lot more use out of my vintage picnic/chilly basket before Winter is back knocking on the door. We went to Epping Forest to christen my basket, get away from the heaving London masses and get out of the city. Perfect.  There was hardly anyone around, a mere 20 minutes on the overland from Liverpool St and we were in what seemed to be the countryside with only wild life for company.

My new basket buddying up with another vintage picnic case

The new Mexican blanket

There really is nothing like a good picnic in a forest on a hot day to wash away all memories of winter. It’s amazing how quickly you forget the negative temperatures and snow.

Epping forest is truly a wonderful place – all 6000 acres of it. Well the small part we explored anyway. We managed not to get lost and even saw a bunny, a pony, cattle, a deer and plenty of cyclists. I highly recommend a visit – but don’t tell too many people, I’d rather the masses stuck to Hampstead Heath.

I’m very jealous of my friend’s floral picnic set that she found on eBay which came complete with green Thermos.

You can read more about our picnic over at in the Sweetness of Passing Time, who also took the lovely photos on this post.

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Posted in Lifestyle, London, Places to visit, Vintage

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Tea with Susie

Posted on July 13, 2010 | 3 Comments

I’m back on a self-imposed teacup buying ban at the moment. My shelves are overflowing with china and each time I take down a vase or book I’m terrified something is gonna bite the dust.

But gifts are okay right? One of the recent additions to my collection is a beautiful 1930′s Susie Cooper trio. A pale greenish-grey and cream number with delicate burgundy decoration.

The trio was a 30th birthday present and considering it’s age, is in almost immaculate condition. There’s just a bit of light crazing on the bottom of the plates, which is hardly noticeable. I like to think it used to belong to a dark-haired, elegant lady called Elisa.  A thin woman who drank her tea unsweetened, black and never with cake.

According to Wikipedia, Susie Cooper (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stroke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s. She worked for many firms, including Wedgwood, and was even awarded an OBE in 1979.

Her work is pretty and very collectable. This is labelled (on the plates not the cup as shown above) ‘A Susie Cooper Production, Crown Works, Buslem’  so dates back to when she was running her own business that she started in 1929. There’s a good site here, which has loads of information about collecting Susie Cooper.

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Posted in Lovely things, Teapot love, Vintage

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Liberated and looking lovely

Posted on July 8, 2010 | 5 Comments

I finally got around to recovering my chair at the weekend with the Liberty fabric from the V&A’s Quilt exhibition.

And my new gun stapler from eBay, while quite tough to use, gave the finished product quite a professional look –  if I do say so myself.

Much folding and stapling required…

I adore the fabric. The peachy roses and blue bows and leaves compliment the wooden frame beautifully.  And voila! My much loved and well used £5 chair from Broadway Market has been given a well deserved makeover.

What can I attempt to reupholster properly next? More old furniture required and suggestions are welcome…

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Posted in Floral fantasy, Things I've made

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The perfect picnic hamper

Posted on June 30, 2010 | 3 Comments

On Monday I spied a what I thought was a lovely old picnic basket with birds printed on the lid in a charity shop near my work. After thinking about it for three days I went back today and it was still there.

These photos don’t really do it justice but I will try and get a better shot of it sitting a lush green field with picnic rug and mighty picnic feast to post.

And… it’s not just a picnic hamper with birds on top…. it’s a kool bin (or a chilly bin as we call it back home). Brilliant –  the wine and treats will stay cold. I can’t wait to christen it. The only con is that I can’t fit it into my bike basket as it’s too big.

I was quite inspired by this morning’s issue of Stylist  with its Rob Ryan designed picnic theme. Time to break out the new Ottolenghi cookbook (Plenty) and make some treats for this weekend’s planned adventure to Epping Forest.

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Posted in Lovely things, Thrifting, Vintage

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Sweet Violets

Posted on June 18, 2010 | 2 Comments

I seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with Violets lately. The flower not the colour, although I am not opposed to a lovely purple frock. Here are some of the bits and bobs I’ve collected in my travels:

Old Violet postcard picked up for less than a Euro in Ghent, Belgium. Always thought this would be a good tattoo design with the ol’ anchor there. Wish I could understand what was written on the back.

A Violet pin/spray (slightly blurry) but perfect on a coat.

Lovely tin from Columbia Road markets. Bit dented but pretty all the same.

Violets growing wildly on the cliff tops at St Ives.

A pressed (squashed) violet from the cliff tops in St Ives. It now lives on a Susie Cooper cup and saucer.

I also have a ‘Sweet Devonshire Violet’ cloth bought for a pound from a Cornwall junkshop – but it badly needs an iron before it features here.

Violets seemed to be in full bloom everywhere during  Spring. Even spied growing all around Kings Cross, the least green place I’ve ever lived. Read more about that here.

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Posted in Floral fantasy, Vintage

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