Back to reality, with a bump!

Where the obsession began - the Sindy Dressing table!!

Well Vintage London Festival was lots of fun but really hard work. To be honest I'm pooped and I spent most of the weekend cleaning & tidying my very messy house. Mr Fabulous has been laying on the floor in the living room - just because he can. He thinks that he hasn't seen the living room floor for months!! Well it was covered in jewellery, swing tickets....

Here are a few snaps of our little Boudoir stall - dressing table chic we like to think!! Lots of jewellery made with vintage beads, dressing table sets from Art Deco to the seventies, negligees & other bits & bobs.

Paperpoms lovely stall & even lovelier Mummy

I met lots & lots of lovely people including sweetie fellow blogger & vintage lover Charlotte (sorry the photos were too terrible to add!!) who was superbly turned out each day - quite put me to shame. I had the nicest neighbours at my little stall including Juliette Paperpoms who was brilliant fun & super duper helpful. Saturday evening Mr Fabulous popped some champagne & Mummy Butterfly organised a mini party for our favourite people - we had a scream!!

Other highlights were the Chap Olympiad which was hilarious.

Louise & Sophie were our amazing organisers - they were the nicest most helpful kind girlies we could have dreamed for. Thank you sooo much to them.

Check out this duuude, I totally dig his threads!

Anyway I hope you had a great time if you popped along - and if not I hope the weather was as good to you wherever you were xx

London Calling all Vintage Lovers

Well just in case anyone missed me recently; I've been working far too hard on getting ready for Vintage London on Southbank - those who already checked out the website & gasped at the ticket prices (me included) fear not. The Vintage Village area is FREEEEEEE to get into. So if you happen to have a spare couple of hours, be nearish Londinium and loving the vintage the pop along. Loads & loads of fab stalls selling clothes, accessories, furniture...... everything vintage you can think of. There are great food stalls including a pop up tea room which does cream teas & Nicholas Creperie doing the best Breton crepes. Streamline Cocktail bar, Pimms O' Clock tent, the Chap Olympiad for fun.

Working hard eh - not actually a glass of wine in Mummy Butterflies hand though!

Anyway just a wee posting (More photos to follow) as I have to get vintaged up for today's splendor that is the Vintage Festival - and yes, our bit is totally free. Nearest tube is Waterloo.

Hope to see you there xxx Claire

Good Ole British Weather

Well can you guess where I went yesterday?

A typical glance out of the window to torrential rain.... of course, it's Wimbledon!!!

Play was rained off twice meaning we didn't get to see the gorgeous Maria Sharapova, probably best for my ego, plus my friend Al would have been a gibbering wreck!!!

Photos from the Wimbledon Website

I'm not the most sporting person, but it was easy to get drawn into the matches.

We got to see the Tsonga V Dimitrov game which was great.

The serves were up to speeds of 130mph - seriously???? It was incredible.

Of course we did the usual... strawberries & cream, Pimms & Champagne, such is life!!

Today the lurgy has finally caught up with me & I'm in on a Friday night, heating & TV on (I'm at Glasto in spirit - darn the rain but the line up is good enough to make up for it) ... no no, don't feel sorry for me - I have my medicinal bottle of wine & garlic dough balls - garlic's healthy right??

Hope you're avoiding the drizzle xxxx

Le Weekend... Night and Day

Well it's finally the weekend - hurrah!! The weather here is typically sunny first thing followed by rain rain and yes, more rain!! Last night thundered down and it was nice to be indoors with a cheeky G&T ha ha.

These beautiful candles are my purchase from the gorgeous Lisa last weekend at Teh Vintage Fair in Norwich. Their fragrance are fig & sultana - sounds ominous but they smell very diptyque . They are pressies but I would dearly like to keep them for me! Greedy I know.

Anyway to see more of her gorgeous heavenly scented candles visit Vintage Belle Candles and I think she has an Etsy shop too.

Anyway today is all about the vintage. I may have mentioned several hundred times that I'm going to be exhibiting at the Vintage Festival London - Southbank event woop woop. And I have so very much to do before this event.

I have more ideas than time - probably due to the fact that I have spend the last 2 hours having a lovely relaxing bath, swanning around in a vintage robe listening to Ella Fitzgerald & eating freshly baked croissants. Oh and then there's the reading of so many interesting blogs....

Anyway back to work plans. I found these cups & saucers - I'm not sure if they are supposed to be together, but I like the colours. These little fellas will probably end up with candles in them ... not sure what scent would suit.

And then there's the 60's & 70's fabrics I found in carboot sales & charity shops. I'm thinking cushion covers, maybe some make up bags. I'm trying desperately to keep to my Boudoir Chic theme for my stand. A celebration of dressing table chic from 1920 to 1970, dressing table sets, hand mirrors, trinket pots, handmade & up-cycled jewellery made with a mix of vintage & new buttons, beads bits & bobs.

I dropped into the conversation yesterday with Mr Fabulous that I was thinking of keeping the theme on my stand by having a vintage dressing table, chaise longue, cushions ..... and by wearing vintage negligees. Went down like a lead balloon ha ha. Oh well it's not for another month or so!!!

Right I really must start making things - wishing you all a creative & sunny (even if it's just indoors) weekend. Lots of love Claire & Ella!! xxx

Passing the baton!!

Ok I need to pass on this lovely award that I won. Imagine if it was a shiny cup with a rosette - oooh I'd never let it go!!

Anyway after much deliberation & a week I'm going for Helen’s Old Bags!! It’s no insult – just some truly fabulous bags handmade from old leather sofas, coats, jackets, trousers…

She’s super clever & very creative, I have serious talent envy. Oh and she’s lovely too (and very cool). Is sit cheating that she’s a friend of mine? I just want as many people as possible to discover her amazing bags & blogging is much easier than me buying them for Birthday pressies!! I have a small collection of 6 so far, the clutch bags are to die for (I have 3)!!

Sooo my dear Helen, apparently the rules are that you now have to pass on the Award to someone new to blogging or with less than 100 followers, who has a blog you really enjoy. You also have to list seven facts about yourself. I imagine I shall learn lots xxx

The Vintage Fair, Norwich

Well yesterday was Vintage Fair in St Andrew's Hall, Norwich. It's a rather grand building & I was rather slack on the photos, apologies. I have been to this place so many times I forgot that you lovely people may not have had the pleasure. Next time - I promise!!

Anyway I got to see some fabulous vintage loving friends & made some new ones too. This is my gorgeous neighbor. I was truly spoilt being next to the lovely Lisa. She makes scrummy candles in vintage cups, glasses, teapots.... of course I treated myself - well they are supposed to be presents. Hummm lets see! I shall have to post my purchases & a link to Lisa's gorgeous makes later i.e. when I'm more organised!!

This is a little look at my bits & bobs. An incredible turquoise dressing table set with our Bubble Gum range - 1960's beads. I think they look good enough to eat & one very cute little girl did have her eye on them - I had to tell her that they weren't real sweeties. I think they would be jaw breakers!! And of course there's the pretty pinky peach range. Some lovely 1950's beads here mixed with vintage faux pearls, crystals & anything else we find. I'm loving pressed glass dressing table sets. I collecting for Britain ha ha - well to be more specific, for the Vintage London at Southbank. (Having a small panic about not having enough stock already).
Errr this is cheesy meeee. Vintage look dress was a whole £8 in PradaPrimark sale some time ago. It's great as it's a chuck in the machine & stands up to setting up stalls etc.

Ahhhh this is the very glamorous Karen from Blue Skies Vintage Events. What a pose, I love it!!

As I had forgotten my packed lunch, I had to settle for a slice of heavenly Victoria sponge with fresh strawberries on top and a pot of lavender tea - in vintage crockery of course!! It was the first time that I didn't mind scoffing behind my stall - it was quite fitting.

Anyway it was a fun & friendly event & I didn't buy too much either. Hope you all had a great Sunday xxx

An unexpected drama

Ok I admit that my memory isn't quite able to remember everything i throw at it. Thankfully my friends are there with prompting phone calls! I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to be seeing a play featuring two of my friends.

We made it there by a whisker an managed to pick another friend up on the way, although I shouldn't have worried about the audience numbers. This Am Dram group (I hate that phrase, always makes me think of naff actors with delusions of grandeur and missed vocation!!) has a great following & it became immediately apparent why. They were superb. The playwrite, Norman Robbins has produced a great farce style comedy and it was truly hilarious.

So a little about the play... it's called "Pull The Other One" and it's set in a small Lancashire town in the late 1960's. A parallel universe to the "Swinging 60's". There is the battle axe mother-in -law, the aptly named Boadicea Hepinstall (who has a London accent to match an East Enders cast) and poor Albert the son-in-law who can do no right by her and is just not good enough for her darling daughter.

Much hilarity unfolds as poor Albert gets himself into all sorts of tricky situations. Of course things aren't going to get any better when his old best friend Hilary Armitage turns up on the doorstep dressed up as a splendidly bad drag artist. (This is my dear friend Alastair ha ha) Hilary's high heeled swagger is one of those priceless moments that will stay with me forever. Al is clearly not a guy comfortable in heels!! The look is inspired by Dolly Parton meets a pot of glitter.

There's the local Reverend Elijah Nookey - as if the word nookey isn't funny enough for me - he did make me cackle!! The 9 year old twins & myself & my papa were the comedy laughers at the front & back of the hall - same age comedy mentality!

Oh and I can't forget the nosy neighbor Wilf Turner who has more witch references & put downs than an episode of The Vampire Diaries (my latest obsession!). The funniest man I've seen in a flat cap & cardigan!

Not one but two pretty girls cast too. Muriel (the devoted & confused wife) and Virginia (the artist). They manage to fluster Albert and cause more ridiculous situations. We have hiding in cupboards & under tables, a comedy race through the house...

If you happen to be in the Norwich area & you have a spare evening tonight or tomorrow (Friday 10th & Saturday 11th June). Trust me it's £5 very well spent.

The Bramrocks production of Pull The Other One is showing at The Margaret Mack Room, School Lane, Rockland St Mary at 19:30.

I don't have a contact number for bookings but you could email me claire @butterfliesandhurricanes.co.uk

Even my professional thespian friend enjoyed it immensely, he is the ultimate critique but there's no mistaking enjoyment & laughter.