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Monday
Jul162012

What I bought at one of the biggest vintage clothing fairs in Brisbane this year ...

... a Holmegaard clear glass 'Cluck Cluck' decanter, designed by Jacob E. Bang (we have a few of these already in different sizes) and an old chippy pink enamel butter dish. Snapped these up before the day started with intentions of strolling back to the other stalls as the day wore on. Never happened. Maybe next time. Clothes? No I was never there for the clothes :)

Just had to say thank you to Mickey and Kelvin for this week's flowers. Mini sunflowers and mums. I wonder what they are hiding? Up to something I suspect. Why else are they buying me flowers? That Mickey is a sly doggie. Leading my husband astray. Come to think of it they bought me those new old Indian block print stamps. Yes more ... one is the loneliest number, three a collection and as many as I now have is just lovely. They are definitely up to something!


Sunday
Jul152012

exhausted ... or how I spent my weekend

Several months back I told my friend Grant of The Vintage Advantage that any time he needed my help at a market he could count on me. Saturday was the day. A huge vintage fair Love Vintage was in town. Friday night was covered as was Sunday but could I be his side kick on the Saturday? Lots of vintage fashion, some bric a brac and midcentury furniture. Apparently there were fashion parades, dancing and burlesque but I don't know. The moment the doors opened at 10am thousands of people poured in and an 8 hour vintage retail hell whirlwind began. It never stopped even as I was stuffing a ham topped salada biscuit in my mouth sometime around lunch time, vintage hat being stuffed in a bag, money changing hands and a muffled ham flavoured "thank you" falling out of my lips along with crumbs. I managed to snap a couple of pics before the doors opened. Then I fooled myself into thinking that I would snap the many cool customers that stopped by the stall. LOL. Yep! Right! The ravening hoards descended and whipped us out. The guys from The Vintage Advantage are known for their very, very reasonable prices. We got hammered. Here's a few shots from before hell's gates opened.

Zhushing and restocking after a busy Friday opening night. I think I folded those gloves dozens of times and I swear I never want to see another pair of cats eyes glasses again.

The big Sydney dealers were there. The stock was AMAZING but quite expensive.

There was midcentury fabulousness, vintage bric a brac and hot rods.

A rainbow of tulle skirts floated on racks and I even spotted some squaredance knickers.

The highlight were the ladies of The Lindy Charm School. Seriously hardcore and very, very glamorous.

I managed two snaps of our early customers before the camera was thrown under the table and I don't remember too much more until the end of the day.

A blur of a trip back to Ipswich, two glasses of red wine, reheated leftover pizza, fell into bed so early it is embarrassing. Today hasn't been much better. After walking w to the shops to get this week's groceries I collapsed back into bed. I am exhausted. I used to do retail for a living but it was never like this. It's bloody hard work now. I think I'll have another early night tonight ;) If I have recovered enough tomorrow I'll show you what I bought.

Tuesday
Jul102012

blah blah blah

I'd love to pretend that I took these snaps of our front veranda on the weekend but it was actually the weekend before. I found them lurking on my camera. I wanted to show you the table that Kelvin made me. He found the old timber plank in a junkyard. Nice and wide and stained and old. Just the way I like it. He had his "guy" glue and nail it together for a top then he attached the hairpin legs I found at a thrift store for $10. OK I found an ugly old laminate table attached to them but I looked beyond that. A drink of danish oil and it was done. It's great for the veranda off my office because it is beat up as it is. Doesn't matter about the dust and weather. All the better.

I don't style too much out there anymore. Too much dust and sun and occasional rain. Too much work to make it look pretty. I have started collecting old bentwood chairs. These were under $20 each. Cheap and chippy. They may just find their way into my next dining room incarnation but that's another story. Check out the neighbour's wattle tree. Loaded with yellow blossom. Love it.

I actually took these shots because the daughter of a work friend of Kelvin's was coming over to mess about with some penguin bookcover art. I meant  to take photos then I got involved ... read "I forgot". I haven't forgotten my magnolia branches though. These are from Saturday afternoon and they are getting better and better. The light fragrance is heavenly.

OK I have something to say. I need to get it off my ample chest. "My name is Jo and I am a brown retro coffee pot addict." A sorry state of affairs when any muddy coloured pottery pot with spout must come home from the thrift store with me. Unless I can off load these onto someone like Carmel (a fellow aficionado addict) then I may just have to open a pop-up shop appropriately called Brown. On a positive note this is a piece of Mikasa. I love how they never took the plastic spout guard off.

Am I able to redeem myself by sharing our new old seltzer/soda bottles? Now these are cool. Straight to the man cave I believe. Unless I can steal one and use it as a dish washing liquid dispenser sans soda nozzle. Around the 1920s we believe.

I also found this heavy bronze bracelet vaguely based on a slave anklet. For wearing and displaying. Finally our big purchase this week was this old oak captain's chair. Love the worn seat and how the wood grain is so prominent. It will live here at the table in the breezeway for a while. Did I tell you Kelvin and I are chair addicts? We have waaaaay too many. I used to be into lamps (I once had 13 lamps in a one bedroom apartment) but I got better .... or actually got a bigger house :)

Saturday
Jun302012

Same ol' same ol'

Another week another set of Hornsea. Another week another bunch of flowers. I'm so predictable. Found this coffee set and side plates for $12 and even though I don't need it I bought it. Help me I'm addicted to retro thrift. This is going straight to the giveaway cupboard. Yes I have one ... or should I say two or three. Look closely too and you can see that my bud branches are slowly opening. Yippee! I haven't killed them yet!

I love this time of year. It is a bit chilly in the morning but the days are warm. It is also the time of year that the wattle blooms and I certainly love wattle. Some can't stand the perfume and others break out in sniffles and weeping eyes, puffy faces, swollen throats and anaphylactic shock. Me? I just stalk the streets looking for trees to steal blossom from. Here it is in the breezeway ...

As bright and cheery as the sun shining in. I thought I'd show you how I keep Kelvin's retro hair clipper collection under control. I keep them coralled in this glass box.

The little round "box" with the dog's face on it (poorly captured in these photos) is a small scrimshawed piece of bone that opens to display a mirror. It was going to go in my online shop Faded Empire but I love it so much I can't part with it.

Guess what? There's more wattle blossom in the living room and beside me on my office desk as I type. I can't get enough of the stuff. It will not be so fun when the yellow balls begin to fall off the branch all over the floor but that's sometime next week. For now it is so perfectly sunny. Just like today.

Saturday
Jun232012

Black and white

 

I have a small wall space as the stairs turn, a space that needed something. The old front door (that we never use ... the door is too heavy) opens back onto it  and it is actually double height as the top landing has a strange balcony effect. Today I finally hung this set of 1920's hand painted silhouettes on glass. They fill the forgotten little space nicely and I like the contrast between the b&w 20's illustrations and the colourful 70's West German floor vase.