Monday Nights and a Giveaway

In common with (probably) a large percentage of the population, I don't like Mondays. It's that horrible back to work feeling together with a disbelief that the weekend whizzed by so quickly. Monday evenings, however, are a different matter as that's when I go to my painting class.

It's a small class - just 5 ladies and our teacher, Jayne (who is lovely!) at Jayne's house. I've been going for several years and now it's really more of a social event - we still paint of course, but we choose what to do and probably spend as much time chatting as painting, and indulging in tea and chocolate biscuits (some of us more than others ;-)).

Most of my projects end up in new homes, since I don't have room to keep it all, but I so loved this project I worked on recently that it's been found a spot in the house - for the time being at least!

It's really a combination of painting, decoupage and collage, and a bit of a departure from what we normally do - not all the ladies share my vintage tastes! I would love to say I painted the roses, they are the decoupage part, from floral gift wrap - my contribution was the corset and trellis leaves.

I ruched some pink ribbon to trim around the bust and also for the hanging loop. I then trimmed top and bottom of the board with lace, braid and pink fringe, then added tiny self-adhesive pearls as a finishing touch. Now adorning a spot on the side of my wardrobe that miraculously wasn't yet occupied.

I haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like in recent months and have been a terrible respondent to the lovely comments and emails I've received, so to say thank you to all my readers I have put together a few things for a giveaway.

Included are a selection of vintage cards:

A fat quarter of my favourite Laura Ashley fabric - Isabelle, of course in pink!

A tiny frame with a fragment of vintage wallpaper, a vintage soap, a floral tin, a vintage hanky, a tiny sprig of pink millinery flowers and a rose scented sachet.

And Blossom, one of my Lillipegs, dressed in flowers and lace with a mass of golden hair.

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere - just leave a comment, short or long, before Monday 26th October 2009.

Right, must get back to more mundane things - enjoy the rest of the week - Lucy x

Branching Out

I few months ago I took a unit at Lechlade Antiques Arcade. It was something I'd had in mind for a while and wasn't sure where I'd go but I booked it on the spur of the moment one day when we had popped out to Lechlade for lunch. I started off with a tiny unit tucked away in a corner which was a bit dark and cluttered and impossible to get a good photograph.

Recently I've moved into a larger room and although it's still quite cluttered, it means I've been able to put more stock in and get a half decent photograph. There's still no natural light, but I have a room all to myself with it's own doorway. It's looking much more how I want it now, though there are still a few finishing touches to go.

I haven't gone for any particular style, just a mixture of bits and pieces - vintage, country style and shabby chic, that I hope customers will like. It's going well and I pop in once a week to add stock and have a bit of a tidy up - customers cannot always be relied upon to leave things as they find them ;-). It's been keeping me busy for the last few months but I'm really enjoying it.

These pics are all from my unit - the other units are quite a mixture, if visiting you need to allow time for a good look around as there are two floors and many rooms. Of course, when I visit my unit a can't resist a look around the others, here are some things I have bought from there for myself:

Pretty perspex box, great for displaying sparklies.

Plus these two sparklies:

These cute steps which I showed a little while back.

A complete album of Wills Cigarettes Film Stars cards from the 30s.

Very glam!

If you are thinking about visiting Lechlade, there are three other antique shops/centres, a few gift shops and the famous Christmas shop, plus you can dine by the river and take a walk along the Thames. I'll post more about it another time.

The Antiques Arcade is on the High Street, at the junction of the A417 and A361, click here for a map. They have a website but the link is broken at the time of writing, I've put the link anyway as it might sort itself out. The arcade is open 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm.

I do hope you'll pay a visit :-)

As a result, I'm afraid my webshop has become rather neglected. I do have some pretties put away though and hope to have an update before very long.

Mr. Bloom's Birthday

Last Saturday was Mr. Bloom's birthday, so I took him out for the day - we went to Monmouth. This is a lovely historic town in the Wye Valley. An early start meant we had plenty of time to explore and relax.

We started with a fine breakfast here:

The town has two rivers running through it - this a view of the river Monmow (after which the town was named) which runs along one side of the town.

I thought I could see something in the river behind the trees so we walked down to the little bridge to investigate. I thought we had stumbled into the Wild West when I saw this herd of cows taking a communal bath in the river!



It was quite a warm day so I expect they were cooling themselves.

There's plenty of interest for those who don't care to shop - this is the military museum.

And the remains of Monmouth Castle.

For those who do like to shop, the town has a good selection of shops, this is Agincourt House which is a great junky style antique shops, packed from floor to ceiling, great for rummaging, plus there are several good independent gift/home shops.

This is Monmow Bridge -the only complete Medieval bridge of it's kind in Britain.

In the afternoon we drove along the Wye Valley and stopped at the Boat Inn for refreshments.

This is accessed on foot from the village of Redwood along this quaint iron bridge.

Lovely views from our spot in the garden.

A final stop on our way home at Tintern and the magnificent ruins of Tintern Abbey.

Now of course, no day out would be complete without a bit of thrifting (for me :-) and even though it was his birthday, Mr. Bloom was happy to allow me a bit of shopping time - there just happened to be a market that day plus several charity shops to investigate!

Cute bunny girl figurine

Rosebud china and ceramic knobs

Gorgeous and HUGE crocheted bedspread, someone must have spent months making this!

For more information about Monmouth you can visit their website here.

Kitschy Corner

This summer in an attempt to keep the flies out I bought a bead curtain for the doors in my breakfast room. I have been struggling to devise a suitable window treatment for this room, something to provide a semblance of privacy whilst not blocking out too much light.

I know bead curtains might be regarded as dated or even naff and I never would have considered one as a window dressing, but over the weeks mine has grown on me and I really rather like it.

The beads are clear with a pearlised finish, and they do rather a good job of reflecting the light and brightening the area. I think they look quite kitschy.

In the centre I have hung a wire heart into which I tucked a few bits and pieces, plus the last of the lavender from my garden to dry.

A bit of sunshine helps too - currently my favourite place to sit!

Now and Again

Last weekend, Mr. Bloom and I ventured out for a spot of bargain-hunting.

Mr. Bloom doesn't always accompany me on these trips, but I am lucky that he does like to wander around antique shops and flea markets, (and even car boot sales) now and again.

Last Saturday was one of those now-and-again days, a visit to an antiques fair and an antiques centre.

I prefer car boots and flea markets for bargains but there were a few little gems to be found.

Not quite car boot sale prices, but still very affordable.

Some are to keep and some are to sell though I'm finding it very difficult to choose which things to sell - nothing has made it into that category so far!

First day of autumn tomorrow, I don't know about you but I'm feeling rather cheated of a summer this year. Have a good week!

Lucy x