'Show & Tell' and a Swap.

The 'Show & Tell' topic for today, organised by Cerri, is 'Jewels', to include our vintage costume jewelery collections and where they are stored.

I have some necklaces displayed around the neck of my antique French bust.

Teeny brooches are pinned to a miniature Stockman mannequin.....

....and larger pieces are displayed on my full sized one!

A French fabric covered box holds some more brooches and buckles waiting to be added to my hand made bags.

This very old glass box with ribbon trimmed edges keeps these brooches on my dressing table.

My favourite collection is the Czechoslovakian and Austrian brooches, which I store to overflowing in this small glass casket, lined in satin.

I love the colours and assorted designs and look for these wherever I go.

And this is my most favourite mirror, created by a friend using broken jewellery, beads and sea shells.

****************************************

I got up early this morning to visit a local car boot sale. It was such a dismal foggy day that very few traders had turned up, so unfortunately I came away empty handed.

Luckily, I had something to look forward to when I came home. I had saved a parcel that had arrived for me yesterday, so made a hot cup of tea and settled down to open my surprise.

The beautifully wrapped wooden sewing machine drawer had been sent to me by the VERY generous Heather of Pretty Petals, as my gift for the 'Junque in my Trunk' swap. BIG thank you Heather for putting together such a truly wonderful collection of pretties. I love EVERYTHING and feel so blessed to have had you as my partner.

The drawer was wrapped in pretty vintage handkerchiefs - so inspired - and held in place with ribbons and a rose. Inside, the trunk was tightly packed with aqua (my favourite colour!), purple and peachy pink treasures.

Rolls of stunning wallpapers, ledger pages and papers dated 1872. The adorable powder box was filled with lace and diamante jewels.

LOVE the roses and the matchbox. Matching silken thread, buttons and Victorian scraps.

A panel of 50's Barkcloth lined the base.

Ribbons, lace and millinery buds all beautifully tied with flair.

And still more discoveries....a bottle filled with vintage pink glitter, packets of bias tape and sweet flowers.

Wrapped inside a square of fabric was this tiny half doll - I've always wanted one!

This was the first big swap that I have participated in and I am SO glad that I did!

Thank you again Heather, for not only organising the swap, but for my wonderful treasure box of delights. I can't wait to have a play with all the delicious items.

****************************************

Finally, sometimes real life has to get in the way of Blogging! Lol.

The builders have finished working on our basement, so I now have lots of decorating to do and then the moving in of my furniture and supplies into my new workspace. I will then need to get my business back on track, as well as deal with other commitments that I have going on just now.

Please forgive me if I am not around for a while, but I need to get down to these important tasks.

Be back soon, (the roses are for you!)

Niki x

Historical Bath.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend - we were blessed with some beautiful spring sunshine here in the west country, which was very welcome, as we had my sister-in-law staying with us for a few days. We decided to take her on a tour of some of Bath's best tourist attractions.

We started at No.1 Royal Crescent (the far right in the photo above)- the best address in Bath and is a restored town-house with rooms decorated in the finest Georgian style. Photography wasn't allowed inside but you can catch a glimpse here.

We then went on to Bath's most famous landmark, The Roman Baths.

The genuine Roman parts are the lower levels, the statues and raised walkways were added in Victorian times.

A wonderful view with the Bath abbey in the background.

Sunlight glistening on the hot mineral waters.

The must-stop for lunch is Sally Lunns. It is the oldest house in Bath and home to the Sally Lunn Bun!

We then walked off the buns in the botanical gardens......

....stopping every few minutes to enjoy the spring blooms.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I have some more decorating to get on with this week in my daughter's bedroom, so may be away from my blog for a while. She is still off school for the spring break too, so I need to keep her entertained.

Have a great week,

Niki x

The Kindness of 'Strangers'.

I received a wonderful parcel the other day from one of my website customers in Italy. It was totally unexpected and I was so surprised - Monica had ordered several items from my on-line shop which I had sent out to her - the last thing I expected was a present in return!!

Monica hand painted the china plate with pretty flowers. And the Italian copy of 'Little Women' was printed the year that I was born - so it's VERY old! Lol! Love the pictures! Thank you so much Monica, you are such a kind girl!

I've also been shopping. I couldn't resist this beautifully embellished purse, made by Lilla, which was for sale in her etsy shop.

It has a wonderfully nostalgic look to it, which I just love.

And inside the parcel was another surprise. Lilla had included a kit to make one of her hand painted dolls.

Well I set to work on this little project one evening and here is the result. I added a few extra flowers and things and have stood her up on a vintage reel of thread.

I also went shopping at Louise's wonderful etsy shop too. She has been creating some beautiful vintage inspired collages just recently and so I needed to treat myself to one of her artworks! Thank you Louise - I love this.

The musical collage has a very special story behind it, which was Louise's inspiration and one that I found so charming.

I am going to hang it in my new workroom when the decorating is done, so that I can look at it every day....

And talking of the workroom.......the building work is virtually complete! There will be a lot of painting and decorating ahead for me, but this weekend I have my sister-in-law coming to stay....so some trips out and some time-off are what's planned for now.

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you get up to!

Niki x

Hello, Dolly!

If you travel around Blogland today, you will discover lots of posts about vintage dolls. Lori at 'Faerie Window' organised a doll challenge for bloggers to share photos of their doll collections.

The dust here at the Stone House is horrendous today - the builder has been blasting the floor of the basement ready for the leveling compound to go down. So again I have to share some archive photos with you, as I have had to cover everything to protect it from the dusty atmosphere......so I'm sorry if you've seen these before....

This rag doll sits on top of the dresser in our living room.

A sophisticated lady poses in the downstairs loo!

Dolls amongst my millinery collection.

A cute little French doll.

*********************

I have received an email from Heather today to say that she has received my swap parcel for the 'Junque in my Trunk Swap', so I have posted some photos of the box of goodies that I sent to her on Flickr.

Hope you enjoyed opening your box of 'junque', Heather!!!

****************************************

I'm off to hem some curtains in my daughters bedroom now.

Have a great week,

Niki x