Vintage jumble, button addiction & blue poppies...

I thought that this update I would tell you about my weekend adventure at the
 V & H Jumble Sale in a village called Box in Wiltshire....

I was quite excited to discover it was on because I do love a delve around in jumble, picking up lots of little bits 'n' pieces that inspire or delight me  so add the word 'vintage' and it's just about the perfect combination for a leisurely browsing session!

The venue 'Selwyn Hall',  is on a steep little road leading down to the beautiful expanse of Box Park and as it was quite a bright morning and the fair was only on between 11-2pm I set out early, safe in the knowledge there is a big (free) car park that is hardly ever full.....  except for, I soon learnt, this particular Saturday when I was lucky to just squeeeeeeze into the weeniest space left! 

Still, it was worth it because, having paid my 50p entry fee I stepped inside to see a room full of wonders and immediately found myself dreaming over things like this...

'oooh.... ahhhh.....lovely textiles...what could I make...hmmmm'

and these...

'oooh look...dolly bundles.. I love them...I want one!'
(from Lucia Collectables who you can find on www.RubyLane.com)

In fact there was tables laden down with all kinds of vintage-y things lining the walls of the whole place with a row of little tea tables down the middle.

As you can see - it was already getting busy and I couldn't get near to the first few tables I passed as most were 3-4 people deep!  In the end I had to weave my way back & forth around the room, getting a look in here and a peep in there where I could.  Luckily I didn't need to be anywhere in a particular hurry so quite enjoyed my indulgent little meanderings!

The BBC Homes & Antiques stand was there, manned by the lovely Alice Roberton (H&A ambassador and a familiar face at such events around these parts)...

And this little corner of gorgeousness was courtesy of the washerwoman.blogspot.co.uk from where I picked up a piece of black & white 'dogs tooth' tweed fabric and a jar of metal buttons..

Mmmmm buttons....

This little slice of curiosities tucked away in a corner was courtesy of Sue from 'Vintage to Victorian' 

And do you see that big china bowl the lady in the scarf is looking at? Can you guess what's in it....yes, that's right - more buttons!  

And yes, I bought a little paper bag full. Well, it would have been rude not too wouldn't it?

I think I might be a little bit addicted to buttons (I appear to be growing a rather large collection...).  Although I'm not sure it's possible to have too many because they are such useful crafting embellishments - for example, on my return home I immediately picked one of the metal ones for my crochet flower idea which I wanted to make with some gorgeous petrol blue cotton yarn I picked up from Lucia Collectables 

...have wool... just add hook & scissors!

Make a flower... add a button...

then pop it on a hair grip!

This flower is made using the same pattern I used for the poppy tutorial here (scroll down the page). I just fancied a blue one and I thought the old metal button topped it off nicely. I guess you could say that re-using the pattern and adding an old button gives this make the U factor! (U as in up cycling!) 

So, all in all a thoroughly enjoyable morning. Can't wait until the next one and I am sure I will translate my other purchases into other new makes soon too.  And yes, I confess, I maybe did buy a few other bits too (...bundle of dolls, books, a brooch..)

Want a last bit of jumble eye candy before I sign off? Oh go on then..

I bought a pretty brooch from the ladies on this table...

Happy browsing :-)

xxx

Lights...Camera...Action!

Have I been quiet lately... well, that's largely down to having had a few new video projects on my 'to do' list at the end of last week. I try to make them fairly regularly for my You Tube channel 'BeadClub' which  I set up back in 2008. It originally featured just beading & jewellery tutorials aimed at those wanting to learn the basic techniques such as making simple or wrapped loops, how to string a pendant and so on because there weren't many good tutorials out there at the time and only a handful of magazines plus my bead shop customers would often ask me how to do this or that.  

When I watch my early videos it does make me cringe a bit because I think I sound very 'teacher-ish' which is not quite the same as everyday real life!  I am pretty sure my videographer skills have improved alot by now too and I seem to have helped spawn a generation of 'hands only' videos (I never felt it necessary to show my whole body when all viewers really want to see is the actual techniques!) Still,  people seemed to like them and encouraged by the response I was getting from the YT community and the increasing number of subs I have carried on adding to the library over the past few years! 

I have recently started to make other crafting technique videos which makes it a bit more challenging too. My latest videos are a continuation of my 'How to Crochet' series and I had lots of fun making up these little crochet friendship bracelets to demonstrate how double crochet stitches can be used in more ways than one (and not just for the usual yarn type projects). 

They are so simple to make - if you fancy having a go zip on over to my channel here and watch how it's done.  It's the sort of mini-make that can be very addictive....

Enjoy xxx