I DECLARE THIS SHOP OPEN

I now pronounce VINTAGE WANTS officially open – cut the ribbon and stand back proudly.


Today was the first official day of the opening of my booth in Northampton Antiques Centre. I started setting up on Sunday but being as it was England v Germany in the world cup (the less said about that the better) we had to rush off to a family BBQ and for hubby to watch the match and I did not get a chance to set it up as I would have liked.  So today I went back added more stock and did a bit of titivating.  I dont have the biggest of areas and don't want to overfill it - although I am sure I will, once I get into the swing of things I won't be able to help myself. 

To try and keep it in some sort of order I have tried to theme my items together

Some red pieces

Some green, and of course the 1930's crinoline lady and cottage pieces.

Lovely Rose themed pieces

Finally the booth itself

On Sunday the Centre is going to decamp to the Fishmarket and they are holding

So if you are at a loose end and looking for something to do why not pop along and meet up with some of the other sellers from the centre.  I won't be there as it is getting close to eldest daughter's wedding and there are lots of last minute jobs to start sorting out and I only have one pair of hands and even though I think I can do miracles - and though I think I am WonderWoman, I really know I am not- and so I am going to sit this one out.

FATHERS DAY WITH THE FAMILY

We had such a lovely Father's Day, we spent it with my eldest daughter, son-in-law-to be and the grandchildren. As it was such a lovely day before dinner we decided to take the children to our local Pocket Park.

Grandpa with the children on the bridge after playing Pooh sticks - don't let him fall grandpa!!

Wonderful water lillies on the pond

On the hunt for pine cones

After all the running around too tired to walk home "Carry me daddy" although son-in la-to be to be looked like he was more pooped than little man.

When we got home Bee put the wildflowers we had collected into a jug - I think they look so pretty as good as any bunch you can buy - if not better as they were picked with love.

ADVENTURE WITH MY NEW VENTURE

Over time Ann and I have talked about branching out and having a booth in one of our local antique centre, then we have another coffee and decide yes we will - IN THE FUTURE - The opportunity has now presented itself.  Northampton has had an antique centre for many years but I have to say it has been a bit behind the times and not really been a place you would want to spend too much time in or your pennies in.  It is now under new leadership and has new dealers who are selling the kind of items that I want to buy, vintage and retro and everyone is very excited about the new venture and so we decided to see whether we could get on board and luckily Joe the guy that is now running it accepted us and so Vintage Wants will be having a new venue http://www.northamptonantiquescentre.com/Reclamation.html.    As from Sunday 27th June (after setting up) Vintage Wants can be found there.
On Thursday Ann and I went and took photos of the area we will be selling from and decided what the booth should look like, we were like a couple of schoolgirls, giggly with excitement, we had finally done it.  Sadly Ann has a very heavy workload - she is the one with the very responsible job - and after a lot of anguish has decided that at this time she cannot give it the time and effort it needs to make it a success and so I am going to do this  ALONE!!!  We are still going to do our joint venture of the shows and Ann will still sell in the on-line shop and on Etsy but the booth is all mine.

With that in mind I suddenly thought oh my goodness do I have enough stock for a booth on my own and so had a frantic rush around the car boot this morning.  Found some goodies that are going to make their way into the booth and also some for my Etsy shop.

Great old three tier trolley that I will keep, my old one will go for display in the booth - just need to get the paint on it.  Old Pedigree doll and 1950's childrens book.  Sewing basket,

Double string pearl necklace, floral china brooch, pretty art deco glass pot with enamel lid and a pretty little cup and saucer.

A set of handpainted Crinoline lady plates and the most wonderful butterfly wing Crinoline lady picture totally original and untouched.


Anyone who knows me knows I love flowers and Roses are no exception and I found these lovely bits of china that I know will look great in the booth.

Whilst I was doing my wandering I met my new neighbour in the next booth to me who was also on the hunt for stock - talk about its a small world out of all the 100's of people that were there I bumped into him - without even knowing who he was we got chatting at a stallholder that I knows stall and lo and behold - neighbours.

Anyway that is my new venture - my knees are shaking and I am very nervous but sure that things will be OK, if you are in Northampton why not pop in and take a peek. 

GARDENING WITH ALICE

It has been such a lovely day today, I had a little tidy up in the garden, little being the operative word because we only have a postage stamp for a garden now. 

Earlier in the year I blogged about the new border I had put in and thought you might like to see how it is coming along.

It is beginning to fill out and the plants are establishing themselves nicely.

Our little veggie/salad plot is producing well although the birds have had all the Blueberries off the bush, pesky blighters they have not left one!!!  Mind you the Plum tree from next door is ful to bursting with Plums, I wonder how M & J our neighbours would feel if we scrumped some later in the year.

As it was such a nice day I decided it was to good too sit inside and craft so I took myself and my tools off into the garden to work on some Alice In Wonderland tags for my Etsy shop. 

This was not one of my better ideas as I felt just like Alice did chasing after the white rabbit as I chased bits of paper around the garden every time the wind blew up, digging paper tags out of the cracks in the decking, peering down holes.... 

 

After time I did manage to complete some and have packed them up and they are ready to go into my Etsy shop.



Later in the afternoon my neighbour from the residential home next door poked his head around the gate and in his hands he had a gift for us.  Being next to a residential home for boys to some people would  be a problem, we don't have one, in fact the boys treat us with respect and always say hello or if their football comes over they always ask "Can we get our ball back mister", the staff are great and they are good neighbours to have.  "I just thought you might like this" he said

Like it - it is the most wonderful huge hanging basket and he even came complete with a bracket to hang it up with, needless to say I set Hubby to the task of getting it up on the wall.

Thank you neighbour!!!!

FUNNY KIND OF A WEEK

It has been one of those periods in your life when you don't know if you are coming and going.  Work has been busy, Ann and I are looking at another new venture for our shop and are busy making arangements for that  and my mother is currently laid up in hospital after having a knee replacement which means trips back and forwards to the hospital.
Mind you it was not all fraught there were some nice periods my eldest daugher and I went to Birmingham on Friday to have her final fitting and pick up her wedding dress, the big day is fast approaching.  Hubby came with us as he was needed to carry it to the station and I am sure that there was a tear in his eye when he saw her standing there, mind you that could have been due to the fact that it weighs a ton and he was going to have to carry it with his bad back....

Over the weekend we had plans to do so much - you should never tell the devil too much of your mind my old Nan used to say and of course they never got done as we received a phone call from friends inviting us over to them for dinner. Of course we could not decline such a kind thought.  Lets face it is always nice when someone cooks for you and we spent the longest time just sitting in their garden,

chatting, eating and of course drinking wine. 

Then on Sunday another set of friends rang us up to see if we were in for coffee.... then it was off to the hospital again to visit the invalid.  Mind you I can think of worse ways to spend our time than with people we love.

We also went to a car boot on Saturday but it was very big and far too hot and we were defeated after getting only half way round and could not wait to get back into the car to put on the air con.  Mind you in the time we were there I managed to pick up some new items for the shop.

Hubby who complains he never sees anything he likes found a Victorian etching  by Fred Morgan, famous for his illustration used by Pears the soap company.  He was a happy chappy with that tucked under his arm.

Here it is in pride of place over the fire place in the kitchen.   It is called "The Tug of War" and shows an old grand dad playing tug of war with his grandchildren. 

I found a pair of  Victorian cherub spill vases and a pretty little Victorian milk glass jug with a girls head on it.

This little bare bottom lady came from the house of a lady that had recently passed away at the ripe old age of 102   Her daughter told me that she was made by the same lady that designed the Kewpie dolls Rose O' Neill, I am a little sceptical about that and will have to do some investigative work to find out more about her.  Even though there is so much damage to the plinth she is standing on I had to have her she is just too cute and will join my collection on minature dolls.  She was made to celebrate 100 years of Chicago becoming a city in 1933.

The shelves are just what Annie and I are looking to go on the wall of our new ventrue so had to have these together with another couple of jugs.
So as you can see even though I may not have done the jobs around the house that needed doing it was a weekend well spent.