Otley Craft Fair This Sunday!

On Sunday 26th April I will be at the craft fair at Otley Courthouse. The fair is organised to coincide with the rather fabulous Otley Farmer's Market pictured above. The farmer's market is probably one of the best in West Yorkshire. Both the fair and the market run from 9am 'til 1pm well worth getting up early for!

Vintage Fair!

I've never been the most prolific blogger but trying to keep up over the Easter hols has been tough! We have had lots of visits from friends and family, Easter egg hunts, lots of gardening and generally enjoying the weather.
Last Saturday we visited a Vintage Fair at Saltaire (I know its become a regular haunt!) it was organised by Rose and Brown who have a wonderful little vintage boutique in the village. I went a little crazy buying buttons which I want to use in a new little project.

I absolutely love the burgundy ones with the tiny painted flowers.

I also picked up these lovely side plates for a snip. And I just couldn't resist the teeny tiny black buttons on the red card. They are unbelievably small, the lady I bought them from said they are doll buttons. I have plans for these too.

I found a few pieces of lace for my books but the best piece is this collar for a mere 50p! It is so big I had to photograph it on the hall floor.
I will certainly be visiting here again!
Finally I had to include this pic of my son painting a wooden egg decoration. Usually he doesn't have much patience with craft activities but he loved this! He sat for about half an hour choosing his colours and very carefully painting the top of the egg. That's my boy.

Haworth 1940s weekend

Here in Haworth preparations are under way for the 1940s weekend. This year it will be held on the 16th and 17th of May. It really takes over the whole village! You can see lots of photos by clicking here There is so much to see, hundreds of people visit over the two days many wearing 1940s clothes. Vintage vehicles are all around the village, there will be a fly over, the home guard set up road blocks, and soldiers march the streets. There are dance events in the evenings which are selling out fast!
The shop owners wear 1940s dress and there will be lots of vintage clothing and memorabilia on sale.

This year I have been asked to make a series of 1940s Art-ccordion Picture Books.

Each book contains original 1940s imagery including advertisments, pictures, buttons, coins and music

Blue Birds

This pic shows a close up of the locket set in the cover of the book. The locket is half open and contains a photo of a young man.

40s Fashion

Set in the cover of this book are vintage buttons, pins and original hook and eye fastenings. The photo below, one of my favourites, shows a page from the book. It is from a film showing a man drawing a seam line on the woman's leg - stockings were hard to come by!

Glamour

All of the images in here are from 1940s magazine ads. You know how we complain about the nonsense that is touted to young women today? It seems it was no different then! Try 'SLIM on the famous BREAD AND BUTTER DIET with the National Slimming Campaign (?!) I had great fun putting this together!

Glamour (cover)

All of the books pictured here are for sale at Oh La La vintage boutique.

Spring Time...

I love this time of year. In the garden we have been concentrating on starting off our veggie patch. In my eagerness to learn about growing fruits and vegtables I bought a lovely looking gardening book from the 1950s. All of our window sills are crowded with pots of seedlings which are showered daily with TLC (so very different from DDT which the gardening book recommended). In the veggie patch the leaves of the potato plants are just poking through the soil as are the vibrant green shoots of the onions.

In all of this excitement it is so easy to forget to really look around. But when we did we found this beautiful Snakes Head Fritillary.

We planted a few bulbs a couple of years ago. I think they may be one of my very favourite flowers. The petals are impossibly beautiful they do look as though they have been painted. I would love to see great banks of them, I only wish they multiplied in the way of Snow Drops and Blue Bells so instead we will stock up on more bulbs. This way our garden can feed our eyes as well as our bellies.

Moulin Rouge Art-ccordion Picture Book

Here's my new Art-ccordion Picture Book 'Moulin Rouge'. I love the cover of this one! It is covered with a beautiful Japanese paper and coated with a glossy resin finish. Set in the resin are coral pink vintage flowers.
We honeymooned in Paris so it is an extra special place for us. This book harks back to the hay days for the Moulin Rouge.




Inside the back cover hangs a tiny silver coloured key.

Have a lovely weekend!