Buttercross vintage market

I attended the Buttercross Vintage Market on Saturday. Once again I had my usual spot on the stage. There were workshops advertised, so I made sure to take lots of vintage fabric fat quarters in case the work shoppers wanted to stock up on fabric to make more corsages or pincushions.

I'm so lucky to have such a great fair just a few miles from my home and shop! It was so busy that I hardly left my stall.

I have lots of rolls of vintage wallpaper and this month decided to open them up and cut off metre lengths to take to fairs and sell. Buttercross was my 4th fair this April, and although the wallpaper got lots of attention at the Hello Bygones Retro Bash in Yeovil on the 1st of the month, and I sold a piece at Bridport Vintage Fair last week, it was the Buttercross crowd who really took to it.

Those knee high letters spelling hope were nearly sold once, but I didn't take the customers offer. I was left wondering why I didn't want to let them go until I sold them to a nice lady. After she paid she told me where they were going and I felt glad that I didn't sell them earlier.

Cupboard love

 

That little cupboard has sold. I have always wanted to recreate a little cupboard with mesh in the doors. This is what it started out as:

I didn't get outside for the whole of the fair, so it's been nice looking at other peoples pictures on blogs and facebook. I managed to take one picture of Bubs Bears

 I have a van to unload and a shop to restock now. It is great to update my blog after such a long time. I was inspired to do so by Isabelle of Suzy's Vintage Attic who was taking  photos for her blog. She has a lovely blog post about the Buttercross vintage fair.

Buttercross Vintage Market is held twice a year at the parish rooms in Somerton Somerset England.

Tea and doughnut packaging waiting to be made into tags

Cup of tea and a doughnut.
This is how I'm preparing for this weekend's fair at Sherbourne in Dorset. There's going to be a Vintage fabric, textiles and retro fair at Digby Hall from 10 until 4. It's £1 to get in. The new year is starting with this new fair, and it's going to be a regular monthly event.




After eating and drinking I can get started on making price tags out of the packaging. Pricing items beforehand has become essential to me, because I like to nip into town to snoop, while leaving my assistants in charge! It also helps to think prices out before hand, so I'm not put on the spot by enthusiastic customers.



I always favour Krispy Kremes boxes, because of the spots, but the Christmas packaging is extra nice. The red with white spots have much more impact than the regular white with green.



Tea boxes are just the right thickness for my hole punches. Anything thicker would kill them. When I have a pile of tags I find string to finish them off.

This is just one of the jobs to be done. I've got loads of fabric to select, measure and price. I'm still thinking out the layout of my stall. I like a bit of height, and usually use shelves and various stands.

It's been years since I've done a fair at Digby Church Hall in Sherbourne. I used to make and sell baby clothes at craft fairs there when the girls were tiny, so that's almost 20 years ago! I'm off to find it this morning to make sure I can remember where it is and haven't got the wrong Digby Hall! I think there's two.

I'll make sure I take my camera and report back after the event.

Tamsyn G shop in Wincanton

A Week ago I got a text saying; "Have you seen the Tamsyn G make and mend shop at the top of Wincanton?" While on the Berrys to London my eldest daughter spotted a shop she thought I'd like. On Thursday Mc and I went to Wincanton before opening my shop. We had our fingers crossed that the shop would be open, and we were lucky. At present Tamsyn G is open Wed, Thurs and Fri.

Look what I found inside. Lots of handmade and making things. Lovely vintage haberdashery, and a work area. I got the OK for taking these photo's, from Tamsyn herself.

Missing from my photos is the yarn display. A colourful array of some of the great yarns available for the creative knitter, crocheter etc. Including some mixed yarns wound by Tamsyn and her youngest son who is shown here at the work table. They are each individual using different textures and colours on one ball.

I bought the round basket tin. It is embossed with a basket weave texture.

Look more tins and lovely vintage fabric. Ooh and buttons. There is a good well presented selection of buttons.

Handmade items including Tamsyn's photography and artwork.

Tamsyn's button jewelery.

Buttons!

This is a great little shop (actually it's a T.A.R.D.I.S) offering not just goods, but services too. Tamsyn does workshops in anything from teaching one or two of you to crochet, to craft parties . This busy lady has craft items in exhibitions and for sale in other shops and on Foksy and Etsy. http://tamsyng.blogspot.com is the place to visit for all the latest.

If you're in Wincanton it is well worth walking up the hill to 59 High Street.

Vintage China Hire

After coffee in a Portuguese cafe we returned to one of Wincanton's charity shops to pick up a pair of wooden headboards, but they were to be 'BACK in 20 Mins'. We wondered two doors up the road and found this!

A window display and tablescape of vintage china and glass.

It's times like this that I wish I had a polarizing filter.

Very enticing. The 'shop' was closed, but there was a small sign announcing Vintage China Hire with two phone numbers. I am pleased with the photo, only because the window was very dusty and there was so much reflection. I studied the table recognising some of the pieces. Did they buy them from me? Do I know these people? There were lot of details in the room that made me want to go in. There was a standard lamp redecorated with decoupage/collage. Unupholstered deckchairs.

There are quite a few Vintage China Hire options in my area. Wincanton, Castle Cary and Somerton all have people providing a service. What a lovely job to have. Helping to set the scene (or table) for an event, seeing your lovely china gracing someones party and getting to keep it and do it again! I took a photo of the phone numbers, so if my curiosity gets the better of me I will just have to pick up the phone....

Growing sucess

Wow most things in the allotment are doing really well. First I had spinach coming out of my ears, then broad beans galore and now courgettes everywhere.

The only thing I'm short of is water. The lovely iron pump that I prefer to use at is almost dry. A family of mice moved in and I got two drowned ones swirling round in my watering can!

Lots of things have come and gone, but I took photos. We inherited some lovely large double poppies. We worked around them leaving them where they were. At first of course we didn't know what they would look like, but we weren,t disappointed.

Some storm damage was sustained, but Mc put that right before I could see the disappointing devastation. My beautiful sunflower was propped up and and the beans reorganised.

Something has been eating the runners as the flowers are fading, but we do have some left.

The shop is going well as it does in the summer. A trip to Taunton resulted in some lovely charity shop buys. I carried the heavy enamel sign all the way from Station Rd to the carpark behind the bus station while pulling everything else in my wicker shopping trolley!

I got lots of quilting supplies and some sheet music. The bell jars are from Sainsbury's! I got an identification of the vintage Welsh blanket from here http://www.welshblankets.co.uk/index.php . The roses are long crisp lined cotton curtains.

Vintage Toys
A customer and his Japanese wife sold me a part auction lot of a dolls pram and some toys. He only wanted a few books and sold me the rest. His main interest was Sooty and Sweep and he kept a Noddy puzzle. Long after they had gone I found a puzzle piece that looked like part of a Beek illustration. Was it from his puzzle? Also he collected Sooty and Sweep and one of the my puzzles hiding in a chocolate box was Sooty and Sweep in the kitchen!

The pram sold the next day before I could photograph it, but I took some pics of the toys, which have now sold on eBay.

After watching Mary Queen of Shops I have decided I agree with her idea of painting furniture and reselling it. I have been selling items for customers to paint and have painted a few small pieces myself which have sold well. These are my current projects. I liked the colour the shelves were when I bought them from last weekends car boot, but the finish was not good and you could tell the preparation was hurried.

I often pass an empty shop in my village. It was already spoken for when I got mine, but has remained empty due to unsuccessful planning app. As Mc and I walked past it this week we noticed the windows where whitewashed. I said "That would be a great place to sell painted furniture. You could do the work in the lean-to at the back" Well guess what? Yes a new shop in Ilchester!!! opening in mid August selling painted furniture. With the proper antique shop not closed yet down, my junk shop and this new shop Ilchester is moving to become somewhere to actually go to shop instead of stumble on.

A glorious weekend and Donna's open house

I have often tried to get to one of Donna Flower's open days and have always been thwarted. Double booking, prior commitments, freak weather etc have always got in the way. Not this time though. I finally made it albeit at the last minute on the last day. Mc drove me and Sophie all the way through scenic Somerset and Devon ( I was doing crochet, so I didn't actually see any of the scenery. I had to unravel most of it though, because I was reading out the google map directions and kept getting the octagonal pattern wrong.)

We discovered that we had matching cloth tape measures!!! I often wear mine when I'm doing shows as there is a place to keep your scissors and pins.




I was tempted by all the lovely fabric, but what I had my eye on was the lovely twine that Donna sells. It comes in a variety of colour-ways, but I was after the white with red to go with my vintage twine holder. I should have measured it or taken it with me to insure a good fit, but look it fits perfectly! With 300 mtrs I should have enough for parcels, and making price tags for items in my shop. I might even try crochet or macrame and make a string bag.





















By the time I arrived stock was depleted, but there was still plenty to feast my eyes on. Look at these snugly quilts, blankets and eiderdowns. I'm surprised I didn't find one of Donna's cats sleeping in here.


















I've seen Donna's gorgeous kitchen in a few magazines, and it was lovely to see it first hand. It is huge in real life.


Sophie took the photos in this blog post. After choosing a dress and a pair of shoes from the clothing section.

When we first arrived in the village and I popped in to tell Donna we were there, but on our way to lunch. She sent us to Tea on the Green a lovely vintage themed cafe in Westward Ho! We popped back to Westward Ho! to visit the beach after we left Donna's

Then it was back home to Ilchester where the glorious weather continued. Sunday morning's car boot sale was a big one with sellers happy to get up on a warm morning with no sign of rain, and sell their unwanted stuff.


I went home with quite a stash. I bought a box of knitting needles without looking through them. I was thrilled to find an illusive afghan crochet hook in there. Here it's pictured here against an amazing pouffe that is hiding behind everything else in the picture. Also hiding is a cute little folding wooden step stool. Oh yes that is a pair of purple Dr. Martins - size 6 which means they might even make it into my shop as we are all (including No1 son, but except Mc) size 4/5

Rook Lane Retro Review

I've been visiting other blogs reading about Rook Lane Retro Fair. Even though I was as there selling it's still nice to see things through other's eyes and camera's. I've seen some lovely photo's of my stall and items people have bought from me. Also I've seen pictures of other stalls showing stuff I bought home with me! Alan's photo's on Suzy's Vintage Attic are wonderful. I took along a Mexican themed tin to keep my Toni Raymond Mexican Man sugar shaker company and it is now in the celestral company of a dog named Tog. I haven't seen the photo's Sophie (pictured here) took of the fair yet, she is busy with course work, so I won't distract her. I was going to just use everyone elses, but I do have some of my own. Look....








My stall was just inside the door with light from one of the large stained glass windows illuminating my stuff. The little doll behind one of the oxo tins now lives here

Toni Raymon Mexican Man sugar shaker renewing his aquaintance with the Toni Raymond Owl scissor and string holder.

I usually leave something or things behind (this time I left lots). I usually forget the airing rack, but not this time. I love things that unfold and can be put to many different uses.
Visiting this fair was just as much fun as last time perhaps even more fun. #1 son didn't come along this time, so I didn't have to keep nipping to the car park to see if he was still waiting in the camper. I just have to thank my two helpers Sophie and Mc and of course all the customers, organisers and café staff. I welcome cup of coffee and melting moment was provided at set-up. I'm beginning to think this treatment is normal. Stall holders got similar treatment at Bridport rag market. I'm sure it wasn't like this when I used to do craft fairs in the Taunton area...

New Diary

I'm very disorganised, but I like an interesting diary. Last year I had a Dodo diary and the year before I had a Benrik Diary This year I only have a basic supermarket own label affair. The first thing I do when I get a new diary is stick a pocket in the back if it doesn't already have one, so I was pleased when I found next years diary. It has a very substantial pouch fitted inside the back cover.

I don't usualy order the next years diary in March, but while I was ordering limited edition Liberty fabric from the V&A I noticed that they had a diary celerbrating their impending quilt exhibition. The photo's are sumptuous. Lovely shots of the back of quilts, haberdashery etc.


Of course I had to buy fabric . To make lovely things with.

There are great advantages to being prepared I can enter next years dates for the cat's flea treatment!!! I'm only worried that I might loose the diary before next year.

Rook Lane Retro 27th March 2010

I had a lovely time in Bridport at the Rag Market. I said good bye to lots of lovely fabric. The venue and facilities were wonderful, with tea, biscuits and cakes readily available for the stall holders. I didn't take my camera, sadly, so I have no pictures to show you.

Apart from the flea at the Bath & West weather permitting, the next fair I'm doing will be the fabulous Rook Lane Retro in Frome. These photo's are of my last visit there which was as long ago as September 2008!

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