Sparkles, Paint, Fabric and Flowers.

Sorry in advance for this post which jumps around a little, but I wanted to share with you another of my vintage collections, and also some of the things that I have been up to this week...

I have collected vintage brooches for a long time - My favourites have always been the brassy metal flowers, often with a bit of hand painting and a few sparkles. I had always thought that they were made around the 1950's in Czechoslovakia, but some say they were made in Austria.

I recently found three Handicraft magazines from the 50's and each one had an advert on the back page for a selection of these brooches. They are described as 'Continental', so I am still unsure where they were produced. (If anyone knows for sure about the origin of these pretties, then I'd love to know - thanks!)

Brooches are a fun item to collect - They take up very little space and can also be enjoyed when worn of course.

I keep all of my floral brooches in two little glass boxes on my dressing table.

Here are my flower spray Continental pieces.

The one on the right is my favourite - I love the colours.

More, of a different shape, but of a similar style...

I love all of these beauties.

Then there are my other colourful floral brooches...

These include celluloid, shell, and porcelain.

Other quirky eccentric pieces include these sweeties - some are carved Lucite, there's glass, and crocheted and embroidered ones.

Barbola paste, micro mosaic and petit point - Another of my favourites is the tiny brass hand mirror brooch with real glass.

I have a few other brooches that are modelled by my old Chil Daw mannequin in the bedroom...but that's another story...:)

Moving on to other things...

I recently bought this pretty glazed cabinet, which had already been painted a lovely dove grey.

I wasn't keen on the dark interior though...

So I first gave it a coat of pale blue paint...

And then I covered the two shelves and the back panel with a toile de jouy wallpaper.

It shall be moving into my shop tomorrow...

*

I also bought three of these lovely old dining chairs - With a simple revamp these make pretty occasional chairs.

I gave one of them a subtle blue/green eggshell finish...

And covered the seat pad in a glazed Sanderson cotton chintz fabric.

One done...two more to do!

I also painted a towel rail in the same colour, as I think both would be ideal in a bedroom or bathroom.

The chair patiently waits for a new owner in one of my shop's side windows.

Also in the shop I added this elegant mirrored sideboard.

It would also be fabulous in a bathroom or bedroom.

Sorry, I'm sold - thank you!

And talking of painting, there's lots of it going on, on the Market Place too. The gorgeous two storey shop opposite mine has been painted a classic cream...

And work has begun sprucing up the old Pickwicks Cafe too. These are two of the shops being taken by the BBC until September. (I do hope that this will encourage new business owners to consider opening up in the town, later in the year. For those who lack a bit of vision, the new paint jobs should go some way to make the town look more appealing and welcoming - fingers crossed for Shepton's successful future.)

Sorry...back inside my shop again and I'll just show you the display in my front window for Father's Day on Sunday...no mean feat to find items suitable for Daddies in my very girl's world environment! ;-))

And to end with some prettiness...Here is a delightful c1950's taffeta dress that I bought from a local lady who wore this back in the day...

Its a stunning bottle green fabric, printed with pink rose buds. It has a circular skirt, shawl collar and is of a fairly generous size, despite its age. Love it!

And my thanks to Jill who visited my shop yesterday armed with this wonderful posy of garden flowers in a glass jam jar for me.

Jewel bright colours to echo the summer season. Thank you Jill! ;-))

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Niki x