Citrus and Orange's Vintage Christmas tree ornaments

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some more gorgeous Vintage Christmas decorations, this time from Citrus and Orange. To see more of Susana's beautiful work check out her blog, Citrus and orange.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

• The pretty painted Vintage baubles in My favourite
• The glitter decorated baubles in Vintage ornaments on my collection
• The multi coloured pinecones in Ornaments display
• The floral painted bauble in Vintage teacups for Christmas decor

Have a sweet day!

Loretoidas Vintage Christmas

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the gorgeous Vintage Christmas decoartions from Loretoidas. To see more of Loreta's gorgeous work check out her blog, All the Beautiful things by Loreta.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

• The beautiful coloured Vintage baubles in Vintage ♥
• The glitter topped pinecone in Vintage Christmas
• The ornate silver bauble in Merry Christmas!
• The delicate bauble in Silver Christmas

Have a sweet day!

Original gift - Vintage Playing Cards

Looking for an original, design conscious gift? Look no further!

I had been looking for a gift for my sister, who is the proud mum to my adorable nephew Samuel. When the sweet folks at Vintage Playing Cards offered me the opportunity to review one of their creations, I jumped at the chance and asked for the word "SAMUEL". I love it and my sister was delighted with her stylish gift, hanging it in Samuel's new room.

The name is spelled out in individual cards sourced from a 1930s spelling game. The cards are double mounted with cream and black, and presented in a stylish black wooden box frame. I love how it is very sleek and timeless and I am sure Samuel will love it when he is older. A real conversation piece that had 'Gramps' telling us all how the 1930s game was played! So, today I am sharing it with you as a great gift.

As well as bespoke names, they also do vintage playing cards framed clocks that spell out ‘time’ and ‘tick tock’ and a VPC teatime range of stylish clocks made from vintage china. They also have a vast collection of stylish greeting cards that feature vintage playing cards. My favourite for Christmas is the Deers under the Tree greeting card made from an original art deco playing card depicting deers under a tree.




Have a sweet day!

Home-made Vintage

Last month a lovely lady from illustrated lifestyle publishers, Ryland Peters &
Small and CICO Books, contacted me to ask if I would be interested in receiving review copies of their books. So, I headed over to their site where I was greeted with titles like The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and Romantic Style by Selina Lake. How exciting!

I will be reading and reviewing a book a month from amongst their titles. Please note that my opinions are my own and I am not paid for these reviews (apart from receiving a free book, of course!).

This month I am reviewing Home-made Vintage by Christina Strutt. The author is the founder of country-chic lifestyle store, Cabbages & Roses, started in 2008, and Christina worked in interior design and styling before that. I chose this craft book as I love Cabbage & Roses' style, which is nostalgic, romantic and subtly eccentric.



In my opinion this is a charming book adorned with a wealth of fabulous inspirational photographs. From using scraps of fabrics to beads and ribbons, it inspires you to create an individual country cottage style home with a mix of modern and vintage.

It contains over 40 quick and easy sewing projects. Each item is beautifully styled by Christina Strutt and photographed by Lucinda Symons, with dedicated home sections for making beautiful accessories for your living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen which will brighten up any dull space and add some vintage chic. There are also clothes and accessories and a section for gifts, including stylish kitchen aprons, darling rabbit dolls, kitsch bunting and treasured pencil cups.

Not only is it a gorgeous looking book, but it is filled with great original ideas you'll want to make. The adorable hand illustrated instructions by Kate Simunek are clear and easy to understand and with sewing instructions by Jane Bolsover you can't go wrong! In addition to the illustrations and instructions the back is filled with useful templates and stockists.

If you, like myself, are a hoarder of fabrics and trims there are also creative ways to display your delicious collections.

At a recommended retail price of £12.99, it is good value for money as it contains so many great ideas. A perfect gift for those who are taking their first steps into the world of sewing.

Some of the delightful projects I'd like to have a go at are:



Seat Pillow - I would like to make a pretty duck egg blue seat pillow for my office chair, and I'm loving the big bows that secure it in place.



Cutlery roll - With some of the fabric I have left from my outdoor cushions, I think it would be super cute to make a cutlery roll to hold my pink and blue cutlery for summertime picnics.



Garden tool apron - I have some scraps of stone and white spot oilcloth that would be great for the garden tool apron. It would also match my garden shed curtains! The book suggests using the eyelets from the straps to hang it up.



Hot water bottle cover - As the nights draw in and the temperature drops, I will be giving a warm welcome to my hot water bottle by giving it a new sage green cover to match my bedroom.
Tied pillow cover - I wish I had seen this earlier, as I would have done my outdoor cushions with ties instead of buttons.

To summarise, Home-made Vintage by Christina Strutt is a beautiful book full of quick and easy ways to transform your home and delight your friends with a touch of vintage charm. You will want to pick up a needle and thread and get started, even if you have never given it a go before!

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Cream

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the wonderful work of design and colour consutant Frances Tobin. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The beautifully serene White bedroom
• The delightful print and texture in Frame detail
• The delicate Crochet bedspread
• The charming composition in Picture frames

Have a sweet day!

Mrs Stokes

I recently discovered Mrs Stokes at Vintage at Goodwood. What a pleasure it was having a peek at her beautifully presented pretty vintage tea sets.

Her passion for vintage china shines through and she gave up her job at a national newspaper at the end of last year to pursue her obsession, by selling vintage teacups and saucers at Portobello market in London, England. She has since moved to Bath for a more idyllic life where she sells them at the local Green Park Station market and also on her online shop.

If you live in London, don't forget to look out for her once a month at Portobello Market. It will be well worth the visit!

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Mint

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, in keeping with my Vintage week, I bring you a vintage mint palette with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The pretty dress in Untitled by Bonjour Hello
  
• The gorgeous crochet lace in Untitled by Cori Kindred
  
• The wonderful telephone in Mint Green Calls by Krista Palmu
  
• The great colour of the sofa in front porch style by papernstitch

Have a sweet day!

Vintage at Goodwood

Yesterday I went to the UK’s first vintage festival "Vintage at Goodwood", tucked away in the simply stunning surroundings of the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Billed as fashion's answer to Glastonbury, it is the brainchild of Red or Dead founder/designer Wayne Hemmingway and his wife Geraldine, and is a celebration of five decades of British music, fashion, film, art and design, from the 1940's to the 1980's.

After being fitted with our retro watch wrist tags we walked through an almost magical woodland with twinkling lights hanging from the trees. I could feel the excitement building inside me. As one teenage girl beside me declared, "I love it already!". Upon entering the festival arch we were greeted by an array of gorgeous vintage cars and the cute film set-style "High Street" at the hub of the Town. We headed over to the Yellow Brick Road in the vintage marketplace, passing teams of girls swanning around with gorgeous vintage-style hair do's that they had had done at the aptly named Beauty Bar.



There was stand after stand full of gorgeous vintage and vintage-inspired treasures. My favorite stand was Acorn and Will. In fact, I loved it so much that I will have to dedicate a whole post to them later, including their pretty bird brooches, reels of fabulous polka dot ribbons and an array of pastel kitchenware.



From the Yellow Brick Road we strolled down Eclectic Avenue, admiring the pretty lace dresses in hues of washed out pastels adorned with feathers and gems.



At the end of Eclectic Avenue there was plenty for the kids to do at the vintage Butlins camp.



After having a peek around a few of the beautifully presented display caravans and Airstreams that were decorated with lots of bunting and kitsch florals, curiosity got the better of us and we headed over to the group of photographers who had assembled at the Beach BBQ.



Aha, you can see what all the fuss was about! Who could resist these bathing belles in their cute swimsuits!



As we meandered around the fairground, I got distracted by the Vintage Food Quarter.




I couldn't help myself and bought a quarter of strawberry bonbons at the Candy Camper. The draw of the film set High Street became too much and we headed up South Street towards the clock tower.




Mingling around the shops with the perfectly dressed revelers.



Watching festival-goers getting vintage make overs and enjoying all the eye candy and tunes the festival had to offer.

Have a sweet day!

Vintage interiors

A few weeks ago I showed you the gorgeous houses in Appach Road and Stradella Road, used for still location shots and bookable through 1st option. The last house I have to show you is Myddelton house. It is full of gorgeous finds like the tailors dummy, vintage bird cages and radiators. I know, radiators! But I just love the look of them. And how whimsically gorgeous is that flamingo wallpaper!

Have a sweet day!

Portobello tea cups

I recently went to the famous Portobello Market early one Friday morning and bought the adorable tea set above. The colours were so me and I love how you can mix and match them!

The above set are from The Colclough China Company from the Harlequin range.

The Colclough China Company was founded in 1890 by Herbert Joseph Colclough, who was an ex-Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent. Mr Colclough was a very conscientious man who loved his pottery and was known on occasion to stay up all night next to his kilns, which he had packed, so that he could be the first to see the new designs when they emerged.

After expanding his company, he moved to the Vale potteries in Longton and was honoured when in 1913 he was visited by King George V and Queen Mary who gave royal licence for the company to produce Royal Vale china.

In the 1930's Colclough China Limited was expanding fast and it was then that they started to produce the tea and dinner ware that we know today. They were the first company to produce fine bone china for the every day market which was marketed by the piece, ruling out the need for large sets to be purchased first.

In 1948, Colclough China Limited took over Booths and Adderley and then in the early 1950's merged with the Ridgeway Company. Colclough and Ridgeway became part of the Royal Doulton Group in the early 1970's. However, in 1996, Colclough production discontinued and manufacture ceased.

You can buy Colclough Chinaware online from Focus on Colclough. They have a similar set to the above called "Ballet", which is £35 for a 21 Piece Set.



I bought the above to keep trinkets in on my dressing room table, which match some lovely pink glass dressing table pieces my dear Nanny left me.

Vintage vacations

All images above from Vintage Vacations

I recently saw gorgeous pics of Airstream travel trailers on the adorable Slices of Beauty blog so I wanted to share with you Vintage Vacations, a great campsite in the Isle of Wight where you can stay in imported Airstreams. They are decked out 50's style with floral prints, crochet blankets, and old games like tiddlywinks and dominoes. They have ten of the vintage travel trailers in total, from the 40's, 50's and 60's.

My favorite is the 1965 'Tradewind' in the first pic.

Vintage lunchboxes

My cardboard mini suitcases are based on vintage lunch boxes, like the one above, which got me thinking that it would be great to find some old lunch boxes to keep bits and bobs in.



The one above is a beautiful Corsage Metal Lunchbox dated 1973, made by King-Seeley Thermos Company and sold at Ruby Lane.com.