The Decorative Living Fair

 

Hi everybody, and a special welcome to my new followers!

Have just got back from a rather wet and muddy but satisfying morning at the Decorative Living Fair at Eridge, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, set in the middle of beautiful parkland.

Set in the gorgeous grounds of Eridge Park, there is a lovely mix of decorative antiques and painted furniture, vintage collectables, vintage and antique linens and textiles, vintage garden tools, garden plants, and beautiful clothing and accessories.


 

It was quite heavenly for me, browsing stall after stall of gorgeous vintage and antique furniture, textiles, books and collectables - I was in my element and had to be very careful not to get too carried away with my purchases. I had my good friend Jane with me to lead me astray  - we can always convince ourselves to buy when we see something gorgeous at a good price!

 

I came away with a few lovely things, such as this bundle of three pretty tea towels in a lovely vintage style cotton, two in a cream floral and one in a lovely pale duck egg floral


 

This gorgeous pink pressed glass vase or sundae dish, am not quite sure of its original purpose but I shall use it as a vase

 

Our local Annie Sloan Paints supplier Dovetails Vintage in Sevenoaks, Kent  were there with a stall full of their wonderful painted furniture and AS paints, and I bought a brush that I had been after.

Regular followers of my blog will remember that I recently went on an Annie Sloan furniture painting course there (with Jane again!) which was fabulous, and which I still need to do a post on.

But maybe I shall wait until I have had time to paint a few new things using the new paints I bought on the course, and using the techniques learnt, and therefore have something different to show you.


 

I also couldn't resist buying this lovely 1950s floral linen, atleast 2m of wide, unused vintage linen

 

The background is the most gorgeous deep warm red colour, with lovely turquoise, yellow and green flowers and leaves - I can just see these made up as simple cushions, they will be so bright and pretty!


Now don't forget to enter my Jubilee Giveaway if you haven't already

 

Just leave a comment on the Jubilee post dated 9th May 2012 to say which of the Diamond Jubilee tea towels you would like to win if your name is picked, either the Red Roses one below

 

Or the Union Jack Bunting one


 

The Giveaway  prize will also include something I have made, and I am busy trying to decide what that will be at the moment!

The Giveaway ends on Sunday May 27th 2012, so be sure to pop over and leave your comment before then, and if you would like to have a second entry please mention the Giveaway and link to it on your blog (see the button on the Giveaway post).

Diamond Jubilee Giveaway!!!!

 

In celebration of our Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year, I am having a little giveaway of one of these lovely celebratory tea towels together with a patriotic red, white and blue cathedral window pincushion that I have made especially for the giveaway.

And as if the Diamond Jubilee were not enough reason for a giveaway,  I am currently on 199 followers and hopefully will be able to celebrate having 200 lovely followers very soon!


 

 

To enter my Jubilee Giveaway, please become a follower if you are not already,
then simply leave a comment on this post saying which of these lovely tea towels,
specially made by Ulster Weavers to celebrate the Jubilee,
you would like to win if your name is picked.

You can have a second chance to win if you share this on your blog - please copy the button (first photo) announcing the Giveaway and link back to my blog post. Don't forget to leave a comment to say you have done so or I won't know to put your name in twice.


The Giveaway ends on Sunday 27th May 2012,
and is open to all followers, wherever you live.

Please make sure an email address is available (linked to your name) so that I can contact you if you are the winner!!!


The Red Roses Tea Towel

 

 

 

The first tea towel is a beautiful elegant one in shades of cream and caramel, with a beautiful silhouette of the Queen surrounded by deep red roses and gold flowers and foliage.
There is a pretty deep red traditional pattern all round the edge, and the dates and a commemoration.


The Union Jack Bunting Tea Towel

 

 

 

The second tea towel has a lovely pale blue and white background with Union Jack bunting at the top and bottom, the number 60 in Union Jack style, and an ornate design in deep pink with a crown on top.
There are pretty bunches of roses, and the whole tea towel has a vintage feel to it!

 

 

Good Luck!!!

Edited to add:
Yayyy!!!!! 
Made it to 200 followers today!!!


Thank you my 200th Follower!

 

52 Kisses

 

There were 52 kisses in my Birthday card yesterday from my daughter......

so to celebrate, like last year, I thought I'd share with you some favourite images as I can't buy you all cakes or drinks!


 

this looks a comfy corner for a cup of tea or putting your feet up for forty winks - love the country freshness of the classic large gingham curtains, the piped chair covers and the patterned paper on the dresser back

 

a cosy cavernous country kitchen with grey furniture, simple plain white curtains instead of cupboard doors and wonderful red and white chequered floor 

 

contemporary large patterned wallpaper works well with different prints on the cushions


 

love these bold painted green and white chequered floorboards for a country entrance way


 

 green and white patterned wallpaper with the sweet little retro couch, cushions and blue side table -  so fresh and spring-like!


 

bold patterned flooring works well when all the other elements are kept simple - white walls and cupboards with pine table alone standing out

 

my dream garden room/conservatory - full of plants, simple flooring (although I think I would have limestone flagstones or quarry tiles), simple white painted furniture, plenty of room to eat

 

so pretty - fresh floral pillows and contemporary patchwork cover


 

interesting mix of strong colour on wall with bold floral curtains and cushion, and elegant painted sofa upholstered in checked fabric - the grey links it all - I like this

 

pretty soft pink painted dresser with simple white walls and plain white china - cute white knobs too -fresh and pretty


 

more gentle pink, on the walls this time, but the large urn filled with garden flowers atop the painted grey chest prevents it from being too pretty pretty

 

simple white country bedroom

 

pretty pink and white country bedding in a simple white painted small country bedroom

 

wisteria starting to flower under a pretty stone windowsill filled with simple terracotta flowerpots full of cheerful yellow pansies


 

lovely flowers surrounding steps leading up to a beautiful, ornate painted veranda - I would love to have a house with a veranda! Just imagine sitting here watching the world go by and enjoying the garden, or entertaining with family or friends.


 

here's another! All comforts close to hand for settling down for a time to enjoy the gorgeous views, or if you can resist the views, curling up on the sofa with the quilt and a good book for a quiet read or indulging in an al-fresco snooze!


 

beautiful flowers with some cute painted bird houses


I hope you've enjoyed sharing these images with me.

I would love to hear which ones you like best and why!

Wishing you all a Happy Weekend - it's a long one here in the UK, so Happy May Day too!

 

all images from Vintage Home tumblr

Friday Flea

 

It's a long time since I last visited our local Friday Flea Market, but this morning I decided to pop along and see what goodies they had.


 

After a quick browse I headed for my favourite stall holder Heather. She sells old linens, buttons, lace, cashmere jumpers etc, and you never know what you will find.

 

Today I bought a huge vintage pure linen sheet, wonderfully fine and crisp, with the laundry marks and a name label still attached. To me this is one of the fascinations of vintage linens and textiles - the wondering where they have come from and who they belonged to, where they lived and what life they had.

 

I also found these pretty vintage buttons to use on some projects. Heather says she loves carding these up, selecting either a group of matching buttons that have been removed from a damaged item of clothing, or from somebody's button tin, and sometimes waiting for more old buttons to come her way before finding the right ones to go together on the card.
This is obviously a woman who loves old buttons!

I can relate to that as I remember that one of the many joy's of visiting my grandparents when I was little would be when my Granny let me look through her sewing chest, one of those large brass chests with a galleon on the front, and my favourite bit would be tipping out the pretty button tin, which was always an old toffee tin with either a cute puppy or pretty flowers on.

 

a pretty matching set of  navy blue buttons with a swirl pattern


 

and a selection of white buttons with different patterns and textures


I have lots of garden photos which I took on Monday and Tuesday afternoon when the cloudy skies cleared and we were left with stunning deep blue skies and sun.


 

Rather than bore you all with one huge post full of flower photos, as is my wont, I will post a few each time as who knows when we will get the next sunny day!

There is a lot of colour in our garden at the moment, thanks to the previous owners as we have done little yet, and the tulips and azaleas are wonderful. These orange, yellow and soft peach coloured variegated tulips are my very favourite, and we are lucky to have some clumps in both front and back gardens.

I will show you the azaleas in another post, but now my sewing room beckons as I have had little time to sew this week.

An unexpected drama on Wednesday afternoon when water spewed forth from my kitchen cupboards and drawers like waterfalls due to a burst kitchen tap hose, and within minutes flooded the floor in inches of water, put paid to the day I had set aside yesterday for sewing. Instead I spent a lot of time clearing and cleaning and dealing with plumbers and I am glad to get back to normal now its all fixed!


 

Edited to add:
I have just had a warning that due to the background I use from shabbyblogs.com there may be malware so I am having to remove my pretty patchwork background. I hope they get the problem sorted soon as they have some lovely backgrounds! So sorry to all my regular readers who may have been scared away by this, it should be sorted now by my removing it - I didn't get the warning when I accessed my page after removing it..

Yesterday

 

and Today.......

I went on an Annie Sloan painting course in the morning (was brilliant! - more in another post soon)

and had a burst pipe in the house in the afternoon (was not brilliant)