Visiting...(No peeping Mum!)

I am off to visit my parents for a few days. They live in Norfolk, so a bit of a trek, but it will be good to see them. I like to take my Mum a few gifts, to show she is appreciated! I have made her one of my postcard decorated handbags, using vintage fabrics. I buy china hatpin holders whenever I see them at carboot sales, as she likes to collect these to display her old hatpins in. (I recently managed to find three!) The blue fabric is a tablecloth decorated with chickens- she keeps hens like me!!- so thought this would be fun.

Speak to you all soon, on my return- have a great week, love Niki.xx

Flea Market Finds.

Yesterday I had a wonderful time rooting through boxes and under tables at our local flea market. Here are my finds...

A fifties shoe box covered in rose printed oilcloth- great for storage. Some yummy buttons for my handmade bags. I always buy pretty vintage greetings cards when I see them- they are a great prop to link items together in a display. (nice to send too!)

I love the little china dolls. I am going to make them some little vintage fabric dresses! Pretty beaded flowers from France, more buttons, a lovely chocolate box and some more greetings cards- this time handpainted ones.

Next I found a green glass posy bowl, some Devon Violets perfume, a handpainted trinket box and some embroidered mats that I intend to make bags from.

A huge and beautiful 'Sanderson's' floral curtain and an original Barbola mirror....

another Barbola mirror, a mohair scarf to make another bag from, and some more lovely cards!

Vintage fashions and dress patterns.

This is an old wooden, mirrored door- I shall add some hooks and a coat of paint for a key rack. A French fabric pelmet will make some great lampshades and the glass bowl will look wonderful at Christmas, filled with pink baubles.

I treated myself to this lovely lady- I think she is gorgeous!


More pretty cards and photographs!!

A cutter quilt (It's seen better days!!)
(Click to enlarge the photos if you are interested!)

Nothing was terribly expensive and it's a wonderful way to spend a day!

Roses.

I don't have anything profound or clever to say, I just wanted to indulge my passion for Roses!

On eiderdowns....

on china...

handpainted roses...

on vintage fabrics....

sculptured roses...

printed on packaging...

I do have a few of the real thing too!!!

..... I am off to a large Flea market tomorrow, so hope to find some great vintage items to show you in my next post....(possibly with a rose connection!!)

Seeing Red....

Having painted my little wall cupboard red, I have been moving some of my possessions around to create more of a red theme within the room. (I see them afresh when they are in a new situation.) The cloth on top of the cupboard is a vintage curtain- it was lined in lime gingham, which I think is fun. There is nothing precious or expensive here- just things that appeal to me.

I painted the little set of shelves in the same red as the wall cupboard.


Our old wooden bench now has our red eiderdown on it as a seat pad.

On the wall is a piece of my favourite French fabric in a white painted frame. We hope to have the small painted cupboard on the wall soon, to complete the room. Paint is a wonderful invention!- the look of a room can change quickly and cheaply!....So when I tire of red....

Cupboard Make-Over

I bought this little French wall cupboard a few weeks ago. It was very scruffy and had a mirror in the door. In a Bathroom this would have been useful, but I wanted to put it in our sitting room, so a make-over was called for!

After giving it a good clean and removing the mirror, I gave it a coat of Ruby Red paint. I love red and use it a lot in our home. All I needed for this project was one of those small tester pots of emulsion paint.
I had some scraps of vintage wallpaper, which I used to line the inside of the cupboard....

Finally, I made a little patchwork curtain, using some of my vintage Rose print fabrics. I backed it in some red ticking, as it will be seen when the door is opened. This was then threaded on some sprung curtain wire and fixed behind the opening in the door.

This is the finished result. I shall post another photo when it is up on the wall and in use!

My Hat Collection ...Continued Again!

Sorry, not that I am obsessed or anything, but here are the rest of my hats!! Promise that's all of them!! Hehe!