Kitsch and Curious

Come Fly With Me

2012-01-21T19:17:00.000Z

It's 1969 and Swinging London is buzzing about the glamorous jetset arrivals at Heathrow airport. Wait, who's this? Is it Liz Taylor and Richard Burton with their entourage? Not quite. Me, my mum and dad and one of my brothers on holiday in London. We weren't at the airport to fly anywhere, you understand, we just went to the observation terrace to look at the planes. With my three transport-mad brothers (not sure where the others were), we always ended up going somewhere where you could see planes, trains, cars, buses, or some such boring nonsense.

I love this photo, not least for my cape (which my mum sewed herself), but also for my mum rocking the sunglasses-and-fur-coat look. The coat was fake fur, and I inherited it when I went to art college. My wrinkly-kneed tights are rather less cool, though.

My brother got some of my dad's old slides transferred to CD, and I thought I'd share some of these vintage classics. They say if you can remember the sixties, then you weren't really there. That's certainly true for me and these pictures. I have no recollection of most of them.

That's me on our front lawn, but when, I have no idea. I suspect it may be my birthday, as that looks like a party frock. There are several pictures where my brothers and I all have these severe fringes. Presumably, my mum at work with a pudding bowl and the kitchen scissors!

This one looks like some sort of Enid Blyton-style seaside holiday, with buckets and spades. I've no idea where. Devon or Cornwall, I expect. My sister (the eldest, and 12 years older than me) has decided to go with a comedy hat. The rest of us have opted for comedy shorts, it appears.

That's all for now. Sorry I haven't been blogging much here (over a month since my last blog, tsk!). I hope to remedy that soon, but thanks to all of you who have followed me over to Curious Objects.

Festive Frolics

2011-12-08T00:47:00.000Z

As you can see, I went a little overboard buying old toys at the Vintage & Handmade Fair last Saturday (a wonderful day, as always). But look at those wonderful old packets! I also got some barmy kittens...

...and I got quite a few vintage kitschmas decorations too. When I was photographing them, a tragic scenario appeared.

Snowbaby forgot to look both ways while he was crossing, and was knocked over by a a reckless reindeer. He was very nearly trampled underfoot! Fortunately, Santa was able to pull up in time, and the poor little snowbaby escaped with just a few bruises. Phew!

Good Grief, it's December!

2011-12-02T17:09:00.000Z

December seems to have appeared all of a sudden. I suppose that mild autumn confused me into thinking that Christmas was a long way off. That, and becoming increasingly senile.

So it's time for advent calendars (just because I'm old and senile doesn't mean I can't have an advent calendar). Mr Kitsch and I have one each, and I've got an extra one I wrote about in my Curious Objects blog. Two windows open already!

December also brings us the Christmas Vintage & Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury tomorrow. I have been busily packing up all sorts of kitsch nonsense to take along, including the ever-popular chenille robins. Tweet tweet!

Day of the Dead exhibition

2011-11-01T10:16:00.001Z

Work by Hannah Dymond

The Mexican Day of the Dead is celebrated on the 1st and 2nd November, and over the years, it has become more well-known in this country. One of my dreams is to go to Mexico and experience it at first hand. Until that happens, I am more than happy to enjoy the work produced by artists in this country who are inspired by these celebrations.

Last Thursday, I went to the opening night of a Day of the Dead exhibition here in Bristol. Mr Kitsch's paintings are part of the exhibition, and the whole thing looks amazing.

On Saturday, they were doing face painting, and guess who got his face done?

Mr Kitsch with his work

Although it's a small gallery, the exhibition is rather marvellous, so if you're anywhere near College Greeen in Bristol this week, and you like looking at skulls, do go and have a look!

Work by Lou Gray

Skull design by Sam Bevington

Day of the Dead exhibition, The Showroom, College Green, Bristol. Open daily 11.30 - 6.30 until 6th November.

The Art of Cactus County

2011-10-05T19:21:00.000+01:00

Last night Mr Kitsch (otherwise known as Gary Smith) launched his new exhibition at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. It was a great evening, with live music, tequila, lots of friends showing their support, and of course, his amazing art. The exhibition is on for the whole of October, in The Green Room, just off the main cafe bar of the Tobacco Factory, and as you can see, looks wonderful on the deep red walls!

I'm very proud of what Gary's achieved with his painting, in a relatively short period. He has only been painting for a couple of years with no formal training, but has developed a bold, naive style inspired by the Mexican folk art of the Day of the Dead. Into that, he has woven stories of a fictional place called Cactus County, where science and rationalism are celebrated, rather than religion. You can find out more at http://www.flickr.com/people/cactuscounty/

It was great to see it up on the walls, to be appreciated by so many other people. Let's just hope he gets lots of buyers!

My lovely man with his lovely art!

Catching up on Summer

2011-10-02T20:28:00.003+01:00

Time for a bit of a catch-up. I haven't been posting much on this blog, as I've been having so much fun with my other blog - Curious Objects. I'd love you to take a look, if you haven't already. It's all about the strange and silly stuff I find myself collecting.

Michele's charming menagerie at the Vintage & Handmade Textile Fair

I'm afraid I had to control my collecting instincts when I popped in to the Vintage and Handmade Textile Fair on Saturday. I'm trying to stop spending, and although I sighed over many a piece of vintage fabric, I didn't allow myself to buy. Much to my chagrin, Mr Kitsch was the one to spend money, as he bought some buttons because he liked the card they were on. (Should that really be allowed? It's okay for him to follow one pace behind me at vintage fairs, but to go around buying stuff? Hrrumph.)

It was a textile-y weekend, as we went to the American Museum on Friday. The folk art and textile collections there were as marvellous as ever, and their temporary exhibition this year is 'Marilyn - Hollywood Icon', which is full of outfits that were actually worn by Marilyn Monroe in films. There were jewellery and other small possessions too (but no photography allowed). It was interesting, but the displays were rather lifeless, somehow. It think it would have helped if the mannequins had been Marilyn-shaped - some of the dresses hung rather sadly on the standard-sized dummies. It just seemed to underline the fact that all the glamour came from her. The dress from 'Niagara' was very plain, but in the photo it looks fantastic on her.

Hooked rug at the American Museum

I spent ages looking at the quilts in the museum (but didn't get any good photos). Every time I look at those old quilts all sewn by hand, I am stunned by the amount of work in them. I'd love to try my hand at a quilt one day, but it would have to be a very simple one!

Beadwork is another craft I'd like to have a proper go at. There are some great examples of native American beadwork in the museum. And lots of great folk art and artefacts.

Although the photos look like we were indoors all the time, we spent plenty of time enjoying the grounds in the sunshine. I think it's jolly nice of the weather to make up for my missing so much of the summer. These hot days have felt like some recompense for all the summer days I felt were passing me by!

Woman 1968

2011-09-19T21:37:00.000+01:00

I've been buying quite a few vintage women's magazines lately. I love the old adverts and fashions. This 'Woman' magazine from 1968 is one of my recent purchases, and I love that stripey mini dress on the cover, and the way they've picked out the colours in the side headings.

As I leafed through, I came across an offer for a little girl's dress, 'cut-out and ready to sew'. After a looking at it for a while, it gradually dawned on me that it was a bit familiar. In fact it was remarkably similar to a photo of myself I'd come across recently, when I was putting some old photos away.

I'm the one on the right.

It all fitted. The photo of me is from our summer holiday in Wales in 1968, just a few months after the magazine came out. I could tell it was a dress that my Mum had sewn for me, because of that crazy pink ruffle. I've no idea why she added that. Knowing her, it was probably to add a bit more colour. Maybe we were disappointed with the fabric, because the colourway was called 'Rainbow Pink', but is actually predominantly green. I can well imagine the 6 year-old me, being grumpy about a dress 'not being pink enough'. I look a little grumpy in the photo. My hair is wet, because we'd just had a day on the beach (possibly Barmouth?), and the picture makes me think of the feeling of getting dressed on the beach, still damp and sandy, with clothes sticking, and my mum trying to sort us all out.

Here are a couple more pages from the magazine, to take you back to 1968...

Oh yeah, I bet she knitted those jumpers for the whole family. And has a pet deer.

Blogging about stuff

2011-09-05T15:28:00.000+01:00

This week I am a guest editor on 'four for the day' blog. This will give me a chance to share some of my random collections. It's a simple idea that works very nicely - four things every day.

I've started off with four elephants. I don't exactly collect elephants, I just happen to have a few. By coincidence, I discovered Peter Blake's collection of elephants, in his exhibition at the Holbourne Museum last week.

I took this photo, after checking with an attendant that I could. I was just getting started, when another attendant came in and told me photography was NOT allowed. So I have just three photos of random objects, and none of the really good stuff. The exhibition has closed now, but I'm very glad we managed to get to see it. (My thanks to Jane of Things to Make and Do, for reminding me about this exhibition, and also for discovering 'four for the day'.)

I've been focussing a lot recently on my various collections of kitsch and curious objects. Partly I suppose, because I haven't been able to get out and about much, and partly because I've been going through stuff to try to bring some order to it all and get rid of the things I don't really love any more. It's reminded me of what I love about kitsch and weird stuff, and also of some of the great stuff I own!

With that in mind, I've resurrected an old blog of mine - Curious Objects. This is where I share the weirder items from my collections, or that I've seen on my travels. I hope to add something every weekday. It's a chance to focus on the object, with less chat. I hope you take a look and let me know if you like it.

In Progress

2011-08-29T23:46:00.001+01:00

This is a crochet throw I've been working on for a little while now. I'm not quite sure how much bigger to make it, but there's definitely some way to go before it's finished. I'm enjoying the candy-bright colours, and I was able to work on it, even when I was lying on my back!

I haven't really made anything else to speak of lately. I've been in a sort of creative limbo for quite a while now, feeling frustrated about all the things I can't do during my recovery, but not really pursuing the things I can do.

I had a bit of a setback when my slipped disc got worse again a few weeks ago. A second operation was ruled out for now, thank goodness, but I have to be careful for a while. This has meant no car-booting and very little vintage-hunting at all (although Ebay is my boon companion). I couldn't even get to the Vintage Jumble a couple of weeks ago, which was bitterly disappointing!

But I'm able to do a bit more compootering, and so I want to catch up with stocking my Etsy shop, and blogging. Getting there slowly.
I'm a work in progress at the moment.

Mind How You Go

2011-07-13T16:55:00.000+01:00

I have a few photos to share with you of some stuff I picked up at a car boot sale and photographed before 'You Know What' happened. This was when I was trying to be gung-ho about keeping active, and decided to 'fight the pain'. How wrong can you be? I should have taken the advice of this cute card of the Squirrel family, which says 'Mind How You Go'!

However, today I'm still feeling very well, and have ventured outside for a short walk round the block. I know! How brave am I? It was a very short walk - just a few hundred yards on our housing estate, but nice to start making progress.

I was so chuffed to find some vintage cards - they are my current obsession.

Thanks again for all the good wishes. For those of you who were slightly freaked out by my medical details yesterday, here is a picture of a kitten... and a puppy and a chimp in a nappy. God, I love weird postcards like this!

Not too bad, thank you

2011-07-12T16:44:00.000+01:00

I'm afraid this is another blog about my 'op', to explain a little more about what happened and where I am now. Thanks to all of you who have sent get well messages - it's very much appreciated. This may get a bit medical in places, so if you're squeamish, you may want to walk away and look at pictures of kittens instead...

So, I was diagnosed with a slipped disc seven weeks ago, and was told that it should get better by itself. It didn't, and I was in a lot of pain, despite lots of painkillers. It seemed as if someone had set fire to my leg, and this leg arsonist was not going to allow me to move anywhere. About 10 days ago, after three particularly debilitating days, I finally thought it was getting better. There was less pain and I could finally do something as normal as standing in the shower.

However, one of the danger signs my doctor kept checking for was incontinence, and numbness in the groin. Thankfully, I did not become incontinent, but I did get numbness in the groin, thigh and bottom. It was as if my bottom had gone to sleep after sitting in a hard chair for too long. So last Sunday saw us in the A & E department of the Bristol Royal Infirmary waiting for hours for a doctor to come and look at my bottom!

He said I needed a scan in the next couple of days, but the request got lost, and I didn't get the scan until Wednesday morning, when it was arranged for me to go A&E at Frenchay Hospital. Mr Kitsch was with me, and after the scan, we were told to go and wait in a ward, as 'they needed the bed in A&E'. I think they knew at this point I was going to have surgery, but the final decision hadn't been made. So, as I said in my previous post, the next thing was that I was told they had a bed on ward 2 and would operate that evening.

In the end, the op was the following morning. Apparently my slipped disc (it doesn't actually slip, but bulges out and presses on the nerves) was extremely large. "Huge", in the words of one of the doctors! As Mr Kitsch said, 'If you're gonna have one, have a big one!'. I also had (have?) Cauda Equina Syndrome, which accounts for the numbness. I was also pretty unique in having had the pain in one leg and the numbness in the other leg. How nice to feel so special...

The scary thing about the numbness is that there was a 50% chance that it would spread and make me incontinent, possibly permanently. Hence the emergency of the operation. I had to have a microdiscetomy and a hemilaminectomy to decompress my spine. (Again, probably best NOT to follow the link if you are squeamish!)

I am so grateful to all the medical staff for their prompt action. From my GP who made me aware of the danger signals to look out for, to the surgeon who performed the operation, and explained everything so well. I am very lucky to live reasonably close to Frenchay Hospital, whose neurosurgery department is excellent, and although I was only on the ward for less than two days, I was so impressed by how friendly and helpful all the staff were.

I was very grateful too, at having had so much hospital experience visiting my mum and my sister in the last few years. Although I'd never stayed in hospital before, I was used to what goes on and how things work, so I wasn't upset by all the weird things they have to do. So when a nurse came to give me an ECG at 6am, I could just relax and let her put stickers and wires all over me without worrying in the least.

In fact, I was surprised by how calmly I took it all. I think the speed of it gave me no time to think, and all I could do was concentrate on what was going to happen next. I think poor Mr Kitsch has had the hardest time by far. He had to dash to and fro across Bristol to get the things I needed, and then all he could do was to go home and worry.

And now I'm back home, the poor man has to look after me. I'm really only allowed to lie down and stand up, and walk to and from the bathroom for the next week. I've been up and down stairs for meals, but I have to be careful not to overdo it. I've written this blog post in many instalments over a couple of days, standing up. In the next couple of weeks I can start to walk a bit further, and sit for short periods in an upright chair. Yesterday was exciting as I had a shower, and was able to wash my hair for the first time in a week! Boy, that feels better!

Amazingly, I am in virtually no pain now. Keyhole surgery really is amazing, isn't it? I hardly feel like I've had a scratch on my back. Frustratingly, I still have the numbness, and this will take months to go, as the nerves have to regrow. The sensation might never fully return, but hopefully I will get rid of the 'numb bum' eventually!

I can only keep thinking about how lucky I've been, and how wonderful everyone has been to me. And of course, how lucky I am to have Mr Kitsch to look after me. He has had an incredibly difficult week, with other things going on, apart from my troubles, and he has been uncomplaining and cheerful, and ready with a cup of a tea at the right moment. Which is always Very Important...

Back - just about!

2011-07-09T18:46:00.000+01:00

This is just a quick blog to explain my absence in the last couple of weeks. My back did not get better. In fact it got worse, with some symptons that were alarming enough to necessitate a visit to the hospital A&E. After an emergency MRI scan, I waited to be told the results. After hours of waiting, the next thing I was told was that they'd 'got me a bed on Ward 2'. A bed? I wasn't going home, and was going to have an emergency operation on my spine that evening. In the end, the operation was scheduled for first thing the next morning, but I still found myself unexpectedly in hospital and having an operation for the first time in my life.

The operation was on Thursday, all was successful, and I came home yesterday (Friday). The wonderful thing is that most of the pain has gone. Less wonderful is that I can't do much for a while, and have to spend most of the time lying down. Standing and walking is okay but sitting is not allowed. I have put my laptop on a tall chest of drawers and am writing this standing up.

That's all for today, I think, but I thought I'd let you know I'm still here - just about!.

Impatient Patient

2011-06-14T21:42:00.001+01:00

A brighter day today, than it's been for a while. I'm not just talking about the weather, but the fact that I'm finally starting to feel a bit better.

I have to admit I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately. My slipped disc has been stubbornly painful and my cold improved for a day or two only to get worse than ever over the weekend. I spent most of yesterday lying down, but I think that may have helped, as I felt rather better this morning. Yay! So today I'm up to blogging, and I'm sharing some of my Get Well cards from my ever-increasing vintage card collection.

Many thanks for all your kind comments and get-well wishes on my previous posts. I've been a pretty miserable, moany invalid this last week. I can be stoical for a day or two, but a longer illness makes me feel "It's just not fair!". Of course, my slipped disc is my own fault for not keeping fit enough, so I shouldn't complain. But I will anyway.

I decided last night that my cold was probably flu. If it lasts longer than a week, it's got to be flu, right? And I think that gives me a right to be miserable and whiney, doesn't it? OK... possibly I was getting a bit carried away when I suggested to Mr Kitsch that I might be dying of consumption. I told him he should buy me camellias, so I could fade wistfully away on a chaise longue, like Greta Garbo in 'Camille'. He just muttered "Camellias, right." and carried on watching Midsomer Murders.

He's had a lot to put up with. Like my endless complaining about the cold. Over the weekend I was thinking of putting the heating on! It's supposed to be summer, isn't it? I didn't put the heating on, of course. I just can't bring myself to do it. There's no logical reason to it, but it's just very wrong, somehow.

The trouble is that our house gets very cold. It's often warmer outside than inside. The front of our house doesn't get any sunshine, and is always in the deepest shadow. Well, I say 'always', but I think on an early midsummer morning, it might just catch a ray or two. Like Stonehenge or a Mayan temple, I expect the alignment of the sun at dawn on the summer solstice will light up the whole house. Hmmm, I doubt I'll get up in time for that, though.

So a bit of sunshine today has been very welcome, and I even got out of the house (only Sainsbury's, but it's a start). Maybe I was literally 'under the weather'? Well, I'm very glad of a warmer, brighter day today. Let's hope it stays that way!

Yay for Pattern!

2011-06-09T17:51:00.000+01:00

Hooray, hooray! I love my post today! Because I got a copy of Orla Kiely's book, which I won in the giveaway on Kitschen Pink. It's even better than I remembered from when I leafed through it in Waterstones (as you do). A huge, huge thank you to Teena, for this generous giveaway. (I'm not sure how you were able to part with it!) Do check out her wonderful blog, if you're not already familiar with it.

I've photographed it with a small piece of Orla Kiely goodness that I bought in Cornwall - a face flannel. I can't really afford/justify anything else, much as I covet her designs!

I've already spent quite a lot of time going through the book, and it's nice to see some of the less well-known patterns, and to read about her design process.

And try to decide which handbag I would have, if I was rich enough. Answer - all of them!

Collection - My Rubber Duckies

2011-06-09T17:20:00.001+01:00

Once again, this is not a deliberate collection, just some toys that have been acquired, but I do like the icon of the yellow duck. Although these are plastic, they always make me think of Ernie's 'rubber ducky' in Sesame Street.

Not really a collection - Novelty Erasers

2011-06-06T23:55:00.001+01:00

Another random collection - novelty erasers. This is not really a collection, as I certainly don't collect these, but just discovered that I had a few, when I was looking round my workroom. I really like the word 'novelty'. Don't you think any object is so much better if it's a novelty version?

Anyway, I appear to have a small collection of novelty erasers. I'm particularly fond of the japanese figures, as I remember having a similar one when I was little. I was delighted when I found them on Etsy. The heads are made of wood, and are just spiked into the triangular eraser.

I'm only photographing things I have to hand at the moment, as my back is still limiting what I can do. I have a slipped disc, and have now got some industrial strength painkillers from the doctor. I can move around, but I can't really go rummaging through cupboards and boxes. Nor can I sit at the computer for very long before I have to go and have a lie down. To add to the joy, I developed a streaming cold over the weekend. In case you were in any doubt, sneezing when you have a slipped disc is a Bad Thing. You know it's coming, but there's nothing you can do about it....until....aagh! Perhaps I could stuff a novelty eraser up my nose....

Collection - Children's Buttons

2011-06-02T19:09:00.003+01:00

Another collection to share - children's buttons. Once again, this is not all of them, but there are probably too many to photograph! Jane is still sharing her wonderful collections, and in today's post is also sharing some of the collecting 'madness'!

Collections - Brooches and Bunnies

2011-05-31T23:50:00.002+01:00

I have been itching to join in the sharing of collections that Lesley started and Jane has been continuing so brilliantly, but wasn't really up to taking photos this last week. However, a slight improvement in my back has allowed me to put a few things together today.

The main problem was where to start. Even if you say you need six of anything to make a collection, then I have a huge number of collections. I can even sub-divide. So my collection of china animal ornaments, say, can be broken down into many collections - rabbits, deer, cats, elephants, birds, dogs, and so on. Or my collection of rabbits could be broken down into china ones, wooden ones, plastic ones. And this is without actually looking very far. These are things I don't even consciously 'collect'!

So I'm sharing two small collections today. Brooches and pins with people on, above, and the china rabbits, below. (I actually have more china rabbits than this...I don't know why.)

Colour and Curiosities (Stroud Part Two)

2011-05-26T22:39:00.003+01:00

'Kitsch Blogs would like to apologise for the late arrival of this blogpost, owing to staff sickness.' I've had a bad back and haven't been able to spend much time at my desk in the last week. I'm hoping that, with copious amounts of ibuprofen, I can start getting back to normal now.

Thanks for the comments on my last post. I might have guessed that when I called it 'Part One', something would interfere with my posting 'Part Two'. Well, the second part of our day in Stroud was not quite as exciting as the first. We went to the Museum in the Park, to see part of the Stroud Textile Festival there.

I loved the 1950s textiles in the foyer by Jane Edgar, who designed for Heals. Some great geometric designs, and some charming chickens, too.

After all that colour and style, I have to say I found the main textile exhibition there rather disappointing. I don't have any photos; I don't know if photography was allowed, but I just wasn't inspired to take any.

Moving swiftly on, we had a look round the Museum itself. It's quite small and contains a nice random mix of all sorts of stuff. I particularly enjoyed the toys and games.

Can you solve the anagrams? I did a few, but didn't have the patience to do them all. You might like to know that RED NUTS AND GIN is an anagram of UNDERSTANDING. But of course you knew that.

This animal alphabet merits a second look. B is for Baa Lamb? Well, I might have overlooked that, if they hadn't added this -

L is for Love Birds? What was wrong with B for Bird and L for Lamb? You might also be able to spot Q for Quacking Duck and Y for Yellow Canary. And they ignored X completely.

The museum also had some other very curious objects.

The textile festival is over now, but I will just mention another exhibition which we visited. The South West Textile Group, had a lively, enjoyable exhibition with the theme of 'Talisman'. You can see photos on Facebook.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cash (Stroud, Part One)

2011-05-17T16:50:00.002+01:00

When Mr Kitsch and I go on an outing, we often call it 'an adventure'. It doesn't mean that we do anything particularly adventurous, but means that we approach the day with the outlook that things might not turn out exactly as we plan, but whatever happens it will be fun. There might be disappointments, but there might also be wonderful surprises - things you only get from taking things as they come. And so long as you accept it's 'an adventure', then you can enjoy it all.

Saturday was one of those days. I wanted to visit the Stroud Textile Festival. I've wanted to visit it for about four years running, but somehow never managed it. I had a look at what was going on, and there was a World Textile Fair at the village of Bisley on Saturday, as well as all the exhibitions in Stroud, so it seemed like a good day to go.

To get to Bisley, you have to drive all the way through Stroud (getting lost and doubling back on yourself - optional) and then go through some beautiful countryside. The road was lined with frothy cow parsley and lush fields and trees on either side. Because we were finding our way, and looking at the scenery, it seemed like we were driving miles into the heart of the rural idyll. In fact it's only a few miles from Stroud, but it felt like a long way from anywhere.

The fair was in the village hall, and although small, it was marvellous, with vivid embroideries from China and India, crisp French linen, Turkish kilims and Japanese kimonos. I like the setting of the English countryside for exotic textiles. Despite the contrast, it actually feels very traditional, and makes me think of retired colonels and tweedy ladies from the British Raj. I browsed the stalls, knowing I couldn't afford to buy anything, but just revelling in the colour, pattern and texture.

But then Mr Kitsch found this little cap.

It's one of the wonderful things about Mr Kitsch that he has started to appreciate embroidery. He's also started to do it, for his 'Day of the Dead' inspired pictures, and annoyingly, he's very good at it too. So he understands my love of textiles and my love of quirky things and he knew I would love this piece. He loved it too. We had to have it.

It was £40. Too much, really, but we justified it by deciding it was an anniversary present to ourselves (our anniversary was the next day, Sunday). Stupidly, we hadn't brought any cash with us. We had about a fiver in change between us. No problem - Mr Kitsch volunteered to go and find a cash machine, while I stayed at the fair. I asked the man on the stall to put it aside for me, and he told me it was a baby's cap from the Bai people. The face on the top is a tiger, who is there to protect the baby from harm. Wonderful! I carried on looking round and taking photos.

I took A LOT of photos. The minutes ticked past. I went and asked the girl on the door if she'd directed a man to a cashpoint. Yes, she showed me the map directing the way to a Londis shop in the village. Maybe he's walked there, I thought, and went to wait outside. Our car was not in the car park. Oh well, he won't be long then, and I went back in. More minutes ticked past. I tried to ring him, but couldn't get a signal in the hall. I went outside again and walked all round the hall. Still no signal. I saw a woman using a mobile phone, but even when I surreptitiously tried to stand right behind her, I still couldn't get a signal. I went back inside again. It was small village hall and I was starting to feel conspicuous.

After another long wait, I finally saw the car returning and went outside to meet Mr K. The poor man had been on an expedition. He had followed the map, but had not found a Londis shop in Bisley. After driving round and round and checking every turning, he finally found a shop, and went in and asked if they had a cash machine. 'Yes....,' said the assistant, '...but it only works on weekdays.' Weekdays?? I know we were in deepest, darkest Gloucestershire, but a part-time cash machine? So Mr Kitsch drove on through the country lanes. It probably would have been quicker to go back to Stroud, but by this time he probably wouldn't have found it, so he just drove on and on to the next village, looking for a shop. Eventually he found a little post office.
'Can I get cash here?' No cash machine, but he could get cashback if he spent £5. He looked round the shop and in desperation he picked up a large Christmas box of Maltesers. Three pounds something. He added a large bag of toffee popcorn. Five pounds exactly.
'Forty pounds cashback, please.'
'I'm afraid our maximum is thirty pounds.'
Disaster! At this point Mr Kitsch remembered that he had a £10 note in his wallet. It would be okay. The shopkeeper opened his till.
'Oh dear, I haven't got enough cash in this till. Hang on.' Fortunately, there was another till in a tea shop at the back of the shop, and the man got the cash from his wife who was serving there.
Hoorah! Finally, clutching the essential cash, Mr Kitsch starts to leave the shop.
'Oh. Um...How do I get back to Bisley?'

He found his way, we had the cash, and the wonderful embroidered cap was ours. So now, as well as having a great piece of embroidered art, we'll remember the small adventure to buy it.

We carried on to Stroud to look at the textile exhibitions and the museum (parking in Stroud is an adventure, too), but I'll keep the photos for my next blog post. We had a brilliant day - it was just one of those days when we kept making each other laugh. I love that we can still do that after 22 years together. Mind you, after 22 years, you have to be able to take a joke (Boom! Boom!). So on Sunday, we decided we didn't need to go out for a posh meal for our anniversary, but had a Chinese takeaway (with a bottle of champagne that someone gave us as a present ages ago), and, now that I come to think about it, that was a perfect match for the mad embroidered tiger cap. Oh, and we had a box of Maltesers too.

More Falmouth Fun

2011-05-12T01:00:00.000+01:00

I'm quite sure you've heard enough about my exhibition by now, but I would just like to thank you for the kind comments on my last post. I know my art is a bit weird, and some people think some of it is a bit scary, so I really appreciate every ounce of encouragement!

But you'll be glad to hear that this post is on safer ground. The pictures above and below are of some of the cute stuff I found while I was away.(Another pair of clogs? How did that happen?)

Yes, even on a short trip to the seaside, I have to check out any available charity shop/car boot sale/flea market. I didn't think I'd been tempted by much - until I got it home and unpacked it. There was quite a bit more than you can see in this photo - books mainly...

However, we did do a bit of communing with nature as well. We went for a walk on the beach at Falmouth, and were fascinated by the rockpools - so many amazing, beautiful colours in them. We sat for a while and started to watch the little fellas in the photo above (I think they're periwinkles). These apparently motionless shells were rushing about the place at a hell of a lick, once you stopped and watched them.

I could sit and watch the sea for hours, and, come to think of it, I pretty much did. It was great to see so much life on the beaches - loads of seaweed too, some of it washed in by the storm that was raging the evening we arrived. (Typical holiday weather - the sun was shining brightly when we left Bristol.)

I found the colours and shapes in the rockpools very inspiring - you might just see some seaweed crochet or shell assemblage in the future.

Up and Running

2011-05-09T23:41:00.000+01:00

'Tokens and Totems', my exhibition at the Here and Now Gallery, in Falmouth is up! Hoorah! We had a lovely stay in Falmouth, a place I'd never been to before. Camilla helped me to set everything up, and after many bent nails and snapped picture hooks, we finally got it all up on the walls! I kept reminding her that she was the one studying to be to be a curator, and therefore she should be doing all the hard work, but I'm not sure it really works like that...

Although it's only a small space, we crammed a lot in, and I'm pleased that I had enough work to show. I included some of the work that was in the exhibition last year, some other work from last year that hadn't been shown before, and some new work.

I worry that there are too many different styles and techniques, and that it doesn't really all work together. I imagine there will probably be some visitors who think it's an exhibition by six different artists, but I'm going to call it 'versatility', and not worry about it too much.

These are some of my newer 'totem dolls'. All the newer ones are mounted on wooden plinths, which I really like, as I can give them spindly wire legs and they still stand up.

I can see myself doing a lot more work with wire. This how the wire and sequin weaving ended up - mounted in a box frame. Alongside it is a little doll I put in a glass dome, which is not for sale, but included just for its weirdness.

Many thanks to Camilla, and Kate at the Here and Now Gallery who has put photos of all the work on Flickr.

It's All Going On

2011-05-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

Just a quick round-up, as I feel like I've hardly had time to stop for a cup of tea, let alone write a blog. I've been busy trying to get everything together for my exhibition in Falmouth, but, as ever, I'm a slow and distracted worker, and I've still managed to leave an awful lot to the last minute.

The distractions have been fun, though. My good friend Katy had her birthday last week (the sewn teacup above, is the card I made her). She decided to postpone her celebrations until Friday, and have a get-together watching the Royal Wedding with tea, cake, triangular sandwiches, and even a glass of champagne. As we didn't all get together until after 11am, she recorded it and we were able to fast forward through great chunks of the coverage - even through bits of the ceremony itself. You may think that shows a lack of proper respect, but to be honest, I was mainly interested in the hats, and ticking off the words and phrases on my Royal Wedding Bingo card (an inspired idea from Boden).

Then yesterday I was selling at the Vintage Bazaar in Frome. Lots of wonderful stalls of vintage fabulousness as usual, and lots of lovely people too, both customers and stallholders. Well done to Lizzie for her great organisation.

Finally, I thought I'd share one of my new pieces of work with you - 'The Tablecloth of Good and Evil'. It's filet crochet, and I've been working on it on and off since Christmas. I was pleased to get it finished in time for the exhibition. I took these photos before I blocked it, but my blocking skills are not great as I'm discovering, as I try to attach it to a square backing cloth!

I'm not entirely sure where the inspiration came from, but I like the idea of including words in textiles.

So...which side of the table do you sit at?

Weaving

2011-04-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

I've been experimenting with using wire again. Always a favourite of mine, because it's easy to use, and has a rigidity and sculptural quality that thread sometimes lacks. I'm not entirely sure why I felt compelled to start weaving wire and sequins together last week, but once I had the idea, I had to try it out. The end result isn't exactly what I expected, but I quite like it, anyway. I can't decide whether to add more to this piece, or finish it in a different way. I'll keep looking at it, and hopefully the solution will come to me.

Tokens and Totems

2011-04-17T19:56:00.000+01:00

Excitement is mounting here at Kitsch Mansions. In just over two weeks we will be taking a quick trip to Cornwall in order to set up my new exhibition at the Here and Now Gallery in Falmouth. After a lot of ~~indecision~~ deep thought, I've called it Tokens and Totems.

A friend called my weird dolls 'totemic', which I really like. Although I affectionately refer to them as 'my dollies', that can be misleading, so maybe Totem Dolls would be a better way of describing them. A totem is symbolic or emblematic, and has connotations of tribal art, so that seems appropriate.

Tokens are also symbolic, or representations of something else. My dolls are representations of the human figure, but 'token' also makes me think of little plastic toys, coins and charms, which I use on the dolls and on other pieces. Think also of love tokens, tokens of office, bus tokens, token female. I love all the layers of meaning, although there might possibly be too much meaning in that little word!

This exhibition has all come about through the talented Camilla. She set up the wonderful Here Shop in Bristol, and is now studying down in Falmouth. She manages to find time to work at the Here and Now Gallery there, and she invited me to exhibit. A solo exhibition is incredibly exciting for me, and I'm so pleased to have this opportunity. I cannot thank Camilla enough for being so encouraging about my work. I only hope I can live up to her opinion!

So now I'm busy finishing work and wondering if there will be enough. I also have huge wobbles about whether it's good enough. Why are exciting things so scary? Does this happen to everyone or is it just me?

Happiness is a Kitsch Pink Cat

2011-04-11T18:48:00.000+01:00

Look at this wonderful kitschy kitty! It was a present from the lovely, talented and generous Viv of Hens' Teeth. I had seen this kitty on her stall.. ooh, last year, come to think of it. I really wanted it but decided I couldn't justify buying it for myself at the time. When I popped by her stall for a chat at the Vintage & Handmade Fair on Saturday, she just gave it to me! I nearly screamed with joy, I was so excited and pleased. I love it!!! It's just brilliant! Thank you so much, Viv!

I couldn't resist spending some money on Saturday, mainly concentrating on the small and cheap! Yes, yes, alright, that is another clog, but this blue one is pretty special, and has 'Belgium 1945' written on the side. Lovely floral painting on it too.

I never got round to taking any photos, as usual, but Mr Kitsch took a couple of photos of my stall for me, so at least I have some photos of the day to show you. There's always such a great atmosphere there, and I managed to have quite a bit of chat with other sellers. All the stalls were full of fun things, and I enjoyed myself just looking at some of the amazing vintage textiles. I have bulging crates of fabrics, so I have forbidden myself to buy more. However, that won't stop me visiting the Vintage Fashion and Textile Fair in Chipping Sodbury in June.

My next fair for selling is the Vintage Bazaar in Frome on 30th April. Should be another great day. Hope to see you there!

Creative Wednesday - Nick Cave Soundsuits

2011-04-06T23:50:00.001+01:00

(Photo from Seattle Art Museum)

I just saw this amazing exhibition on the Doe-c-doe blog, and was stunned. Nick Cave (no, not that one, a different one) creates these wonderful costumes called 'Soundsuits'. I love that they reference African tribal costumes, Cornish hobby horses, traditional textile crafts, thrift store finds, and a bit of Liberace to boot. Everything I love, in fact!

He is a performance artist and dancer too, and you can see the costumes in action in the video below. Sadly the exhibition is in Seattle, and so I won't be going for a day trip any time soon.
Ah well, thank goodness for the interweb!

Vintage Shelves

2011-04-05T00:08:00.000+01:00

Isn't it fun playing with stuff on new (old) shelves? I bought this little bookcase from the charity shop last week, and Mr Kitsch very kindly volunteered to repaint it for me. Today I added some vintage wallpaper at the back of the shelves. The plan is to use it at the Vintage & Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury on Saturday, so I thought I'd try adding some kitsch bits and pieces to see what it looks like. I have a plan to put together a cute Easter display, once I get everything sorted out. I hope I'll see you there!

Creative Wednesday - Illustration Friday with Sindy

2011-03-30T05:00:00.003+01:00

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is 'Toy'. Well, I couldn't let that one pass me by, could I?
I did this painting of Sindy a couple of years ago, but I was never happy with it, as there was too much of the canvas texture showing through. So I scanned it, cropped it, and reworked it in Photoshop with the smudge tool. The effect reminds me of a 1960s illustration - like on a Mills & Boon book cover, or a romance story in a woman's magazine - that sort of bold, commercial painting. I definitely like it better now.

I've been meaning to update you on what happened to my Illustration Friday efforts. After 'Dusty', I submitted this piece for the next theme - 'Surrender'

But then I started to struggle with the themes - Reverse, Sweater, Layer, Swarm etc.. None of these really led to anything worthwhile. I nearly came up with something for 'Sweater', when I started to think about 1950s sweater girls, and thought I could draw a portrait of Diana Dors. Here are some of my sketches.

Not sure if I captured her,exactly.

It's probably better to just submit pieces to Illustration Friday on an occasional basis, in any case. For me, it got me drawing again, and I rediscovered portrait drawing - something I hadn't really done for a while. I like the idea of doing a series of illustrations of my favourite actresses. However, that will have to wait, as I'm focussing on my textile pieces at the moment. I have an exhibition in the pipeline, and will be able to tell you about it very soon!

Postcard Swap

2011-03-27T23:30:00.002+01:00

I've just done a quick postcard swap with Jane of Things to Make and Do. I'm a complete novice at art swaps. I like the idea, but there's always the worry that a recipient might not 'get' my weird creations. Or that I will make something quick, and they will make some wonderfully elaborate artwork and feel cheated. But when I suggested a swap with Jane, I was pretty confident that we would be be on the same wavelength, as we seem to share so many tastes. She has already posted about it, so you may have seen these images already.

We sent each other a commercial postcard to act as starting point. I sent Jane this card

She was inspired to think about all the must-have items for the modern bride, and sent me this great double-sided collaged card.

A close look at the household paraphenalia reveals a slightly twisted view of what a bride might find handy! (And not just the 'Refrigerator Polish'.) Also, I'm guessing the 'Bride to Be' badge is one of Jane's many lucky pavement finds. Such great vintage images - I love it, of course!

Her starting point for me was a postcard of the swimming pool at Butlins. I have to say, I now think all pools should have fake tropical greenery suspended above them - by law!

I knew had some vintage illustrations from a swimming instruction manual in my big box of clippings, and I wanted to combine it with some bold graphics. I was thinking of vintage packaging to start with, but as I played with the typography my drawn font became a bit 1970s. And now that I say that, I'm thinking of those public information films with Rolf Harris in a swimming pool. Damn! I could have drawn Rolf....

Many thanks to Jane for an inspiring, fun swap.

Flora and Fauna

2011-03-21T23:30:00.001Z

I was in Jersey last week, and had rather a lovely time. It was all thanks to Mr Kitsch's generous brother, who was working over there and decided to take me and Mr Kitsch with him. We had a marvellous time. It was the first time I'd been to the Channel Islands, so it was interesting to see this little bit of Not-Quite-Britain. The first thing that struck me was that there are daffodils everywhere at this time of year.

There are fields of them, banks of them, woods full of them. I guess that as they are cultivated there, they seed freely all over the place.

There are also some beautiful, huge, sandy beaches, pretty much empty at this time of year. When the sun shone, the sea was blue, the waves lapped, and we breathed in the tonic of the salty sea smell.

The flip side of the off-season's wonderful empty beaches,was discovering the number of places that were closed until April. Most disappointingly, the Shell Garden, which looked very enticing from the bits we were able to see from the road.

But it didn't matter, as we were able to visit lots of other places, eat in some great restaurants, and spend time in the hotel's mini spa, swimming, steaming and jacuzzi-ing. Aaah!

One place we visited was the charmingly eccentric Reg's Garden, with an enormous carp pond, and aviaries of parrots, cockatiels, and the very entertaining Charlie the Cockatoo. I have to admit that we spent a ridiculous amount of time chatting to Charlie (admittedly his conversation is somewhat limited - mainly 'Hello' and 'Bye-bye'), stroking his feathers, jumping up and down with him, and letting him gently bite our fingers. I have to admit that if I could have smuggled him home, he would been in my bag in an instant! What a charmer...

We also went to Gerald Durrell's zoo, which concentrates on the conservation of endangered species. Again there were benefits to visiting in the off-season, as many of the animals were indoors, and therefore easier to see at close quarters. This little macaque looked rather sad and wistful, though.

These lemurs were all cuddled up, dozing and cleaning themselves. I love ring-tailed lemurs, ever since seeing Dotty on 'Animal Magic', sitting on Johnny Morris's shoulder. I could have watched them all day.

If I can't have a cockatoo, can I have a pet lemur, please?

Giving the Bird

2011-03-11T22:32:00.001Z

Here's my little bird I'm giving to the Little Bird installation. (See previous post for more details) In truth, she's more of a big fat bird. I posted her off today. She couldn't fly there, as she has no wings. I'm not sure why my birds have feet, but no wings, but that's just the way it is. Tweety-tweet!

Birds

2011-03-08T23:37:00.004Z

Is it very naughty to have a blog post called 'Birds' on International Women's Day? Well, it's only because I wanted to tell you about an art project called 'Little Bird' I'm going to contribute to.

A flock of handmade birds by different artists will be gathered together for an installation at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster from 22 March to 17 April. After the exhibition, all the birds will be sold in aid of Women for Women International.

I received an email invitation last week, but I gather from the website that it is open to everybody. They also have a suggested template, but you can use any medium you wish. The birds have to be delivered by 15th March, so there's not much time! I haven't finished mine yet, but will post a photo when I have. It's a larger version of the crochet amigurumi bird in the photo above.

Also, I thought it was a good opportunity to share this video. I can't remember whose blog I saw it on, so apologies if it was yours. It's from a US TV spoof of the creative craftsters of Portland, Oregon

Jumble Sailing

2011-03-06T23:30:00.002Z

Look at all the lovely stuff I brought home with me from the Vintage Jumble Sale on Saturday! There were so many irresistible bargains. I know the idea was to clear out some stuff, and I did, a bit, but there's always room for a few new things (and a couple more that didn't get into the photo). Especially when they're nearly all in the £1 or 50p price range.

I'm afraid I forgot to take any photos (I don't appear to have got to grips with this blogging lark, at all...). Fortunately, Mr Kitsch took a few photos of our stall. Poor tail-less Dobbin was looking for a new owner, and happily found one.

I can't say the same for all the dollies, but a few of them found new homes,notably 'Lottie' who has gone to serve in a shop with Ingrid, apparently (that's what her new owner told me!).

I must say thank you to Niki for giving me a beautiful old poster I kept dithering over. And big thanks as ever, to Jayne and Michele for their brilliant organisational skills that made it such a success. I gather another Vintage Jumble is likely....

P.S. 'Jumble Sailing' is a wonderful, poignant track by Clearlake, that I thoroughly recommend to anyone who has ever bought a treasure for 10p.

Bargains, Bargains, Bargains!

2011-03-02T23:30:00.002Z

Here are a few of my latest acquisitions from the Salisbury charity shops and a rather fine table-top sale last Saturday. Believe it or not, I am still being very restrained these days, and limiting what I allow myself to pick up. But I couldn't leave these little dogs behind, and I adore that guitar-playing rabbit tin (which Mr Kitsch found for 10p!). However I steeled myself and said no to the lovely vintage Poole coffee set for £3... And those 1920s plates, which were a real bargain, but I absolutely do NOT have any room for....

But....

... Sometimes when you see a bargain, you just have to go for it. Like these boxes of lovely old cotton reels. What is it about haberdashery that makes my heart skip? And I was even more excited to find that they were cheap enough for me to say "I'll take the lot.". I wasn't sure what I was getting, but about half of them are vintage wooden ones - even the labels are a delight. And then when I got them home, I saw the labels on the boxes - they once contained 'Fry's Crunchies' and 'Cadbury's Milk Fudge' (with a 'Controlled Price of 2½d').

I have to say I'm rather pleased with myself, as just lately I've been very envious of other people's bargain finds. I had started to think I wasn't going to find anything good any more.

Of course, the more I buy, the more I have to turn out of the house, so it's just as well that I've booked a stall at the Vintage Jumble Sale at Rangeworthy Village Hall on Saturday. I expect there will be lots of bargains there, as we're all having a good old clear-out. I'd better get on with sorting out! And talking of putting off chores, what do you think of the rhyme on this mug I picked up last week?

Coral and Choral

2011-02-26T18:32:00.000Z

On Thursday, we had a lovely day out in Salisbury. I know 'lovely' is an over-used word, but it really was. Look at the photo - there was sunshine and everything! After my January inactivity, I felt like a grumpy grizzly bear coming out of hibernation to sniff the spring air. It was warm enough to sit outside on a bench to eat sandwiches, and feed the swans.

It was definitely time to get out and about again, as I find it all too easy to stay at home and go nowhere, (literally and metaphorically). So a day out was ordered, and I chose Salisbury. It was partly because we hadn't been there in a long time (the last time Mr Kitsch and I visited, I think John Major was still in power!), and partly because the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef was on display in the Arts Centre.

I was fascinated when I heard about this project last year, and tried a bit of hyperbolic crochet myself. It can be quite time-consuming, as you double the stitches on each row. This means that even if you start small, you are soon crocheting hundreds of stitches on the row. This creates the ruffled shapes that grow in the same way as coral.

I really enjoyed seeing the display, although I think it might have been more impressive in one large 'reef'', instead of the smaller sections that it was split into. I added my own small contribution (with permission, of course!), and was very pleased to have contributed my bit.

Of course, you can't visit Salisbury without taking a trip to see the cathedral, and we were delighted to discover a wonderful light installation there by Bruce Munro. The cathedral cloisters have been taken over by his Water Towers, large structures made of water-filled bottles, with fibre-optic lights inside. The coloured lights are more visible at night, but I really liked the clear bottles anyway, and thought it was a wonderful response to the space, echoing the columns, and the light. It also had something other-worldly or alien about it, heightened by some eerily beautiful music that was being played.

In the cathedral itself is another light installation (which I didn't photograph). As we sat there to contemplate the art and architecture (but mainly to rest our feet), we were lucky enough to hear some choir practice. Choral music is always so beautiful, and wonderful in the huge space of a cathedral.

And if all that wasn't enough, I managed to find some fun things in the charity shops too. (I'll share those with you next time.) See - I told you it was a lovely day!

Say Cheese!

2011-02-13T23:30:00.001Z

I can't tell you how much I love this tin I got recently. It's just perfect - a photo of a doll, in a chalet style window, with very artificial flowers. And on a biscuit tin. Love. It. I was so excited when I saw it on ebay, and so delighted when nobody else bid on it!

Here's another splendidly kitsch photo of a doll. I've been collecting vintage postcards and greeting cards with kitschy photos of dolls and toys for many years. I really prefer them if they're quite badly executed and the props are all to different scales.

This mad-looking moustachioed teddy is a classic. Teddies in general seem to feature a lot. Like this card...

I love all the little details in this. I've wanted to try to take some kitschy doll photos for ages. So the other week, I finally did some little set-ups of my own. I posted them on my Flickr photostream, so apologies if you've already seen these. The first one was a Mexican doughnut shop. (Because I like the Mexican doll and his moustache.) Here's one corner of it.

The second is a more traditional afternoon tea. Hmm, I think that wallpaper is a bit too 'busy'. I'll have to change it. I'm definitely going to try some more!

(By coincidence, Jane over at Things to Make and Do has been taking doll photos too, but in a slightly more sensible way!)

Creative Wednesday - Illustration Friday

2011-01-26T14:40:00.000Z

In an attempt to get some finished drawings done, I have decided to have a go at 'Illustration Friday'. A nice, simple idea - a topic is announced every Friday, and you add a link to your illustration of the subject (which doesn't have to be drawn specially - you can use existing work too).

The topic this week was 'dusty', so I've drawn Dusty Springfield, (the woman mascara was invented for!). I added a background in Photoshop. I love using Photoshop, and I love drawing by hand on paper - I'm just trying to work out how to combine them. I'm not sure my scanner is up to the job. Anyway, I'm happy to have produced something.

I think I need deadlines to get things done, otherwise I leave things unfinished. (Like leaving my tax return until the very last minute - finally submitted it last night!) So I have given myself until the end of February to produce some finished work with the intention of creating prints from it. Not sure if I'll create anything worth reproducing, but if anyone has any hints and tips on digital art prints, I'd love to know.

Ah, It's a Girl Thing

2011-01-21T23:54:00.000Z

This post is a follow-up inspired by the comments on my last post. Thank you all - it was very heartening to know that I'm not alone with my nostalgia for those kitschy flower-power cards. I particularly liked Sue's comment about being in the local newsagent, looking at cards and gift wrap. That certainly struck a nostalgic chord. (Although I always had to cover my school books in odd ends of wallpaper.)

Anyway, it got me thinking about why these images have such an emotional pull. It often seems to be connected to memories of my mum. For me, it's all about the late 1960s and very early 1970s, when I was about 8 to 10 years old. Certainly an age when I was young enough to still like the things my mum liked. And also, I think, an age when I was probably becoming more interested in 'feminine', 'grown-up' things.

I didn't have particularly girly toys or books, and I played all my brothers' games, so maybe this was my point of difference. At that age, I got cute floral birthday cards that looked like this, whereas my brothers got cards with god-awful paintings of fishermen, or a photo of some books and a model plane.

I also think at that time I was identifying with all those feminine things that my brothers didn't share, like going through my mum's jewellery box (I loved that), and getting interested in my mum's clothes, make-up and magazines. The bright colours and bold designs of 1960s florals obviously appealed to my childish sense of design! My sister is 12 years older than me, so was already grown-up by then, and had fashionable clothes, like the memorably wild, lime-green, psychedelic floral bell-bottoms with matching tie-front top. (Do you remember how they were called bell-bottoms, before they were called flared trousers?)

Colourful wallpaper was another favourite of my mum's, and I vividly remember some of the wallpaper we had. I was delighted to salvage some odd rolls of vintage wallpaper from the family house. This very 1970s design I chose for my bedroom as a teenager, and have now used on the front of these Ikea drawers.

My mum really liked all these bold, floral designs. As in so many things, I find I am, as ever, my mother's daughter.

Start as you mean to go on

2011-01-19T23:32:00.000Z

My first weekend of bargain hunting this year was a good one, and I'm especially pleased with this wonderfully kitsch Spanish bag. I love it! I managed to go to a table top sale, a jumble sale and several charity shops.

I don't really go in for New Year Resolutions, but I am always trying to kick bad habits and plan how The Rest of My Life (starting tomorrow) will be so much better. So I came up with a plan for my new streamlined life. Step One - cut back on buying vintage stuff. I want to spend less time buying and selling vintage and devote more time to making stuff. Obviously I still like vintage, but I'll only buy the really good stuff that I really really want.

Apparently I really, really want an awful lot of stuff, as these pictures of the weekend's haul demonstrate. This doesn't seem to be going according to plan...

Although I have to say that it was Mr Kitsch who thought we should keep this tiny little biscuit tin. I just wanted to keep this cute tin of Mary and her lamb...oh, and all the other stuff (including more clogs - how did that happen?)

I am also trying to collect things which take up less room, like vintage greeting cards and other paper ephemera. However, I'm getting a bit obsessed with collecting cards, and ended up ordering a couple of bundles from Etsy. This group of cards and wrapping paper scraps came from the States.

At the moment I'm particularly interested in these kitsch 1960s floral cards. This style of illustration makes me strangely nostalgic. It seems to tap into my memory and emotions in a way I can't quite fathom. I keep thinking about exploring it by trying to paint in that style, but I'm not sure I can. I tried a few drawings, and I know there's something there I want to use, but I'm just not sure how.

Creative Wednesday - Christmas Oddments

2010-12-22T02:15:00.000Z

I haven't done a 'Creative Wednesday' post for a while, but here are a couple of little festive makes I thought I'd share.

I was making some Christmas shortbread biscuits for a friend of mine, and Mr Kitsch, in a stroke of genius, suggested that I make them into buttons. I pressed a smaller circle with a mini jam jar, and poked the holes through with a skewer. Hey presto - cute button biscuits for my button-loving friend!

Last year I made some tree decorations from plastic Hama beads (a.k.a.Pyssla beads or Perler beads). I wasn't sure about them. I liked them, but they didn't seem to look right on our tinsel tree (we're so classy). This year, I realised that they were waterproof and could therefore be hung on the conifer outside our front door. I was pretty pleased with the result, even though I could probably have done with a couple more. As you can see they have survived the snow, and still look festive.

And finally, more Hama beads, on my Christmas cards (which you may also have seen last year). These are tiny Mini Hama beads, so this little tree is only about an inch and a half tall. And I love old Dymo tape!

Kind Thoughts

2010-12-19T01:50:00.000Z

More scans from my card collection for you. Today's theme is snow-covered cottages. Apologies if you are currently stranded in a snow-covered dwelling of any kind. They might not seem so appealing to you, under the circumstances.

Cottages appear quite a lot on greeting cards of the 1940s, sometimes surrounded by summery flowers, and sometimes in snow scenes like these. I'm not one of these people who long to live in a country cottage. I've spent time in cottages, and generally found them to be cold and dark, and not somewhere I want to live in real life.

However, I find these sort of illustrations to be very charming, and almost unbearably sweet, in their portrayal of idyllic country scenes. Who wouldn't want to walk home in the snow to these cosy cottages, with their smoking chimneys telling of warm firesides and home baking?

I find vintage Christmas cards have an surprisingly strong emotional impact on me, if I let them. Something to do with that impossibly perfect Christmas that we've all been brought up to believe in? A vision of the happy home and endless contentment? They just seem so... sweet. I can't think of a better word.

I don't why these old cards seem so much sweeter and more innocent that today. People are not really any different, and the sender of those 'Kind Thoughts' might have been an insincere neighbour who kicked your cat. Or the one who wished you 'Happy Days' might have been a grumpy aunt who picked the first card out of the box.

But I just see the pictures, and enjoy the idyll.

Robins and Snow

2010-12-17T02:06:00.000Z

I'm feeling pretty Christmassy now, as I have no more fairs and markets to attend, and have sent out all the orders from my shop. Yay!! Now all I have to do is to get my Christmas shopping done and the cards sent! I hope I'm not too late, like poor Mrs Robin on the card above. These are from a lovely set of Happy Families I got earlier in the year. The illustrations are delightful, with details like Master Robin's hot water bottle (I know how he feels!).

The pictures below are from my ever-growing collection of vintage greeting cards. I do love a good snow scene, and as I'm in a holiday mood, I'll try to share a few more with you over the next week. (Judging from the forecast, we might have some real snow scenes too....)

Still Life with Tunnocks

2010-12-10T23:57:00.000Z

I know it's a bit late for the frosty pictures, but I've just got around to uploading these, and thought I'd share. These were taken from the bedroom window.

This was a day later when the sun was shining and making the treetops sparkle like Christmas cliches.

What with the weather and all, it's felt very Christmassy, and last weekend we went to a few Christmas fairs, and then popped in to see a craft fair at Ashton Court. In the park there, they have deer, and from a distance, I think you can pretend they're reindeer...

We've also had the fun of starting our advent calenders. Unfortunately, I went shopping a bit too late, and I couldn't find a nice one that I liked. So I ended up with this one.

I got it from a pound shop for 38p. Even in a pound shop, they didn't have the nerve to charge a pound for it. They didn't even have the nerve to charge 39p for it. Just 38p. 38p's worth of fun. It is huge - about two feet tall, but the art work is possibly the worst drawing I have ever seen. It's so bad, it made me laugh, which is why I got it.

I wondered if it had been drawn by a child, but I don't think so. And why is it such a complicated cut-out shape? Look carefully - the outline of the clock actually bulges out around the figures on it.

Look at the creature below. Is it a monkey or a bear? Why is there a lump of wood behind his head?

The drawings inside the windows are actually quite normal, which is a slight disappointment.

And my last piece of random nonsense - a photo I took at snack time in the afternoon, a visual poem in praise of Tunnocks Caramel Wafers. I particularly love that on every packet it says that they make 5 million of these wafers every week! Five million??? I can account for part of that, but who is eating the other four million?

Winter Afternoon or Still Life with Tunnocks

Oh, and a quick, very late reminder that I will be selling at the Folk House on Saturday 11th December!

Rest & Recreation

2010-11-29T18:19:00.000Z

I hope you're all keeping warm in this chilly weather. I quite like the look of the little girl above. I think that I might start using a muff. Could I rock that look?

If only... I'm actually sporting a sniffy red nose, and a blanket over my knees, as I sit on the sofa (hooray for the laptop!). I thought I was getting over my cold, but it's laying me low again.

At least I managed to sleep last night, thanks to a good dose of some evil-looking, bright green, Night Nurse-type stuff from Boots. A definite improvement on the three hours that I managed the night before. This lack of sleep left me a bit befuddled by the time I got to the Vintage & Handmade Fair yesterday. I must apologise to anyone who spoke to me and was answered by a complete load of nonsense!

As ever, the fair was marvellous, and I met lots of lovely people, including the charming Jane from Things to Make and Do, and Cathy from Menopausal Musing, who brought me a wonderful gift of 'chalet chic' ribbons. It was so kind of her - I love them, and will have to take a photo as soon as I sort myself out.

I don't have any photos of the fair, as I forgot to take my camera. This was especially stupid, as I'd taken some photos of my 'dry run' at setting up my new shelves, and my cunning plan was to use the photos as a guide in arranging my wares.

I don't know if that would have worked, but without the camera there was no way to find out! Ho hum... Every fair, I think I'm going to do all sorts of wonderful things for the next one, but somehow, it never works out. Shall I tell you about all the Christmas decorations I never finished sewing? Or the elaborate display that never got made?

Ah, well, never mind, I had a very good day anyway, and I think I've earned my 'sick day' today. Let's get back under that blanket...

Cabin Fever

2010-11-25T23:15:00.000Z

I still haven't quite got back into the groove of regular blogging, but I have to say, I was really cheered up to read the lovely comments on my last blog post. It brightened my day to feel at least a little back in touch with the world. That's the trouble when you work at home - you can feel really out of touch, and to add to it, I've been in a bit of an autumnal slump recently. So I'm sorry I haven't been able to spread sweetness and light by commenting on other blogs. Hopefully I will have some time to catch up soon.

This week, I'm busy preparing for the Vintage & Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury. I got a bit carried away and started making things, which was probably a bit over-ambitious, seeing as I have now caught Mr Kitsch's cold, and feel like the shadow of a wet rag, and in no mood for festive sewing.

And on the subject of sewing (smooth link, huh?), isn't this bag gorgeous? Not my work, but a wonderful gift from Jenny of The Custards. I cannot tell you happy I was when I opened the package to find not only the much coveted bag, but a cute little lavender bag too! It really made my day to receive something so wonderful. Thank you Jenny! The Custards Flickr photostream is always full of the most perfect vintage loveliness, and she sells gorgeous handmade bags and vintage stuff on Ebay.

So thanks to the encouragement of others, I am slowly emerging from my metaphorical cabin in the woods....
Mind you, it does look nice and cosy, doesn't it?

Accumulation and Speculation

2010-11-18T23:30:00.000Z

I wish I wasn't a putter-off of things.

Sometimes I put off emailing a friend because I think I must spend some time on a 'proper' reply, and then I end up not sending any kind of reply for days or even weeks. Sometimes the housework piles up until it seems to be this daunting, enormous task that I can hardly contemplate. And sometimes I stop blogging for a while, and it gets harder and harder to start again.

But here I am, deciding to just get on with things, for a change. One task I have been tackling in a fairly undaunted manner is the attempt to reduce the amount of vintage 'stuff', piling up in the house. It was getting hard to move in the place, but just over a month ago, I did A Bad Thing. I went to an auction at a props company that was closing down, and I went a bit crazy, and bought even more stuff. Far too much stuff. I have to admit that, in places, our house now looks (and smells!) like a seedy old charity shop...

But there's some really great stuff in there, and I just need to get selling! So the creative side of my work has been taking second place, and I've been focussing on selling vintage. It's been nice to concentrate on the one thing for a few weeks, but I'm not sure that vintage selling is really my forte.

I'd never call myself an entrepreneur, but I now have an even lower opinion of my business acumen after my experience selling at a local flea market last weekend. I thought it would be okay, as it's a monthly event that has been going on for years, with regular traders who seem to do okay. Surely I could sell a bit there? Well, I sold a bit. By the end of the day we had taken a grand total of £20. By a lucky coincidence, the cost of the table was ... £20. My profits were nil, nada, zilch. A big fat zero. I could have speeded up the whole process by just throwing twenty pounds worth of stock into the bin. Oh well. Oddly enough, I didn't mind that much - I was happy just to consider it 'a learning experience'. You never know unless you try, do you?

That experience also made me even more appreciative of the great events organised by other bloggers. A few weeks ago, I went to the Vintage Bazaar at Frome, which was a super event, with lots of fantastic stalls, and lots of visitors. (If you didn't get a chance to visit, I recommend going to the next one in April.) And in just 10 days time on Sunday 28th November, there is the Vintage & Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury. I have been saving lots of great stuff for that one!

However, even with these great events, the mountain of vintage stock is so large, that I am also selling stuff on Ebay at the moment. (I also have my Etsy shop, but buyers in the UK don't seem to use it, so I'm selling some stuff on Ebay.) I currently have some very kitsch Christmas ornaments for sale, and some vintage toys and dolls, so please take a look if you're interested. If you mention this blog when you buy anything, I'll include a small free gift with your purchase!

Teacups and Tiaras

2010-10-26T23:30:00.000+01:00

Long time, no blog. I'll try to do some recapping this week, as there have been all sorts of events to relate.
On Saturday, we went to the wedding of our very good friends Katy and Mark. It was a lovely day, and so wonderful to see the two of them so happy together. I came over all soppy, I have to admit.

Katy had added some beautiful touches to the tables, including small vintage glass vases for the flowers, and gorgeous candles she'd made in vintage teacups. I'd contributed a few teacups, and I had fun spotting the ones I recognised. Katy loves buttons, and I had made her tiara (to her specifications) from old mother-of-pearl buttons. I'd never made a tiara before, so I was quite pleased that I'd made something wearable, not to say extremely proud to make something for her to wear on such a special day.

I also made a fascinator for her bridesmaid, and it was only when her dad thanked me in his speech that I was reminded that I'd also designed the invitations too! (To be fair, it was a long time ago, and I'd only done a bit of design to copy some typography that Katy had seen and liked.) It was so great to be able to contribute to the wedding.

One of the things I never got around to blogging about was Katy's hen weekend. If a hen weekend conjures up tequila slammers and male strippers, then think again. We spent the weekend in a thatched cottage in the Cotswolds, and our activities included cake decorating and country walks. No outrageous costumes, either, although we did all get matching aprons, courtesy of the bride's mum! That's far more my sort of thing!

However, in case you think it was all civilised, I should confess that I was slightly undone by a lethal pre-dinner cocktail. At that point, I was supposed to be keeping everyone busy with a craft activity. I'd laid out an assortment of fabric, buttons, beads etc. for everyone to play with, and hopefully make something fun to wear at dinner. As everyone got stuck in with glue and thread, I downed my cocktail and started to relax. Suddenly I wasn't feeling all that creative.

As the other hens created jewelled bracelets, gorgeous ribbon brooches and pretty flower hair clips, I stabbed a needle tipsily at a misshapen bit of felt, plonked a 'jewel' on with a massive glue dot, and attached it to a hair clip along with a wonky feather. Classy. As the evening wore on and more wine was drunk, my feather drooped at all angles, and fell out completely at one point. In the face of that, it seems to defy all reason that Katy still asked me to make her tiara.
But hey, that's real friendship.

Creative Wednesday - Grid Collage

2010-09-29T23:55:00.002+01:00

Just a brief show-and-tell today. This is a collage I did a few months ago, but never got round to showing in this blog. (Although it was on Flickr, so apologies to those of you who have seen it already.)

I like the idea of things in boxes, so keeping to a square grid for a collage seemed like a good idea. I also like the idea of random collections of things, so it's a way of providing an orderly framework for otherwise unrelated images and objects. I embroidered and machine stitched between the pictures & drawn squares. (During the course of this endeavour, I discovered that doing chain stitch on a thick piece of paper is a laborious task that any sensible person should avoid.) Thinking about the stitching has just made me realise that it's a bit like a patchwork quilt, too.

I have also been experimenting with photo collages, also in a grid pattern. Maybe I'm being unimaginative, but I think I like this rigid framework.

The Happy House - Lucie Smailes

2010-09-27T20:11:00.001+01:00

Wow! I went to see the house and art of Lucie Smailes yesterday. Her house was open as part of the St Werburghs Art Trail in Bristol. (Bristol has several art trails, where artists in a particular area open their houses to the public, and display their art.) I have met Lucie a few times now, and I knew she has wonderful taste in vintage kitsch, and colourful 1950s clothes, but I hadn't seen her art in real life, only in photos.

I knew I was going to like it, (assemblages with dolls and vintage stuff - Hellooo!) but I had no idea quite how wonderful it would be. Mr Kitsch and I walked into her front room, converted into an art gallery for the occasion, and just stood there with our mouths open. Then, 'Look at that!', 'Did you see this?', 'Look at this amazing thing!'

The amazing thing above was a cabinet from an amusement arcade, with the mannequin head going round and round on a turntable, brushing noisily against the opticians lenses suspended around it.

Many of the pieces had lights incorporated into them, like these two. I wish my photos could do them justice, but I only had a phone to take pictures with, and I think I was shaking with excitement!

It wasn't just the art that was wonderful - Lucie's house is a shrine to colourful and kitsch ornaments of the 1950s, and I loved every inch of it.

One final and rather wonderful discovery was that Lucie had featured in and help to style photos for one of my favourite kitsch books - 'Kitsch Deluxe'

No longer available new it appears, but well worth seeking out if you like kitsch interiors.
Do take a look at Lucie's website for much better photos of her wonderful art.

Creative Wednesday - Crazy Dolls

2010-09-22T23:07:00.002+01:00

As you've seen rather a lot of my crazy dolls recently, I thought I'd show you someone else's crazy dolls. These pictures are from a splendid book I bought a few weeks ago, called 'How to Make Soft Toys and Dolls'. It was published in 1977, as you can probably guess from these pictures.

I love the happy gals in the picture above, and the worried look of this unlikely trio of pets. A cat, a rabbit and ... a beaver? That mealtime is not going to end well, I'd say.

These big cushions based on children's drawings are delightful.

This gingerbread man might want to consider cosmetic dentistry...

OK, this one is a bit weird - a fried egg and vegetable mobile....

But not as weird as the naked beardy man in the bath.....

Last word

2010-09-21T23:54:00.003+01:00

Our exhibition ended on Saturday, with another day full of lovely visitors and kind comments. Big thanks to everyone who came and wished us well. You can see a video tour of the gallery on the Smith & Jones blog

We had to take everything down and pack up on Saturday evening, so as to leave the gallery ready for the next exhibitors, so we were absolutely shattered. It's taken a few days to even start to get back to normal. Hopefully I will get up to date with blogs, etsy, flickr and everything else very soon.

Creative Wednesday - Pictures at an exhibition

2010-09-15T23:45:00.002+01:00

No prizes for guessing what I'm going to show this week - a few photos from The Smith and Jones Museum of Folk Art, our exhibition at Room 212 in Bristol.

Mr Kitsch's side of the room looks fantastic, and he is already having a very successful week, having sold several paintings. It's amazing that he has only been painting for a year and this is his first exhibition. I'm so proud and pleased for him. You can read more on his blog.

One of my ideas for the show was to put together my own version of 'Field for the British Isles',the Antony Gormley sculpture installation. My version is made of scores of British costume dolls, all decked out in their Welsh hats, kilts, busbies, and beefeater costumes. I love seeing them all together with their crazy eyes!

We've had some great feedback, and it certainly seems to be eye-catching!

Creative Wednesday - Only 4 days to go!!!

2010-09-08T23:51:00.000+01:00

There are only four days to go until our exhibition. Our preview evening is on Sunday between 6.30-8.30pm. If you're in the Bristol area, please do come along and say hello.

Today we went and had another look at the gallery space. It's slightly bigger than both of us remembered, which is good, as in our minds we had started to visualise something smaller than a phone box. Now I have to worry about having enough stuff.

My business cards and postcards arrived today, which makes me feel a little bit more professional. However, there are a lot of things I don't have sorted yet. Like how to display some of my work which won't go on the wall. In an ideal world, I might have a plinth ot two, but sadly, I am not a plinth owner. Hmm... I will have to improvise.

I do have some pictures to go on the wall, like my slightly barmy Barbie collage. It's about A2 size and covered in girly stickers, jewels and sequins.

I'm sorry I haven't had time to do much blogging lately. It's an inevitable irony that when you're busy, and have lots to report, you have the least time for blogging. Hopefully I'll get back to it in a week or two, when I'll have nothing interesting to say!

Creative Wednesday - More weird dolls

2010-09-01T23:59:00.000+01:00

A little late today, as I have been sorting out and photographing some of my work that I want to include in the 'Folk Art' exhibition. I hadn't looked at these two crochet dolls since I made them last year. In fact, I'd nearly forgotten about this second one.

It was quite nice to rediscover it, and find a few aspects that I rather like. On the whole, I don't like my work once I've made it. I'm never satisfied with how things turn out. Also, and this will sound weird, the things I enjoy creating are not really the things I enjoy looking at. I suppose in a fine art context, this would make more sense. A lot of artists create work for the gallery, which they would not want to live with. I don't suppose Damien Hirst thought 'Hmm, that shark would really brighten up the corner of my lounge.' But I'm not making that kind of art, and I keep wondering if I should be focussing on stuff I like more.

One of the few exceptions is this yellow doll, which I do like. It has become a sort of mascot for me, which is why I used it in the publicity material for the exhibition. Sorry if you're a bit fed up with seeing it now....

Creative Wednesday - The Dolls Have Eyes (and other names)

2010-08-25T19:31:00.000+01:00

Full steam ahead this week for the exhibition I'm putting on with Mr Kitsch. I have just designed some publicity material and set up a blog for The Smith & Jones Museum of Folk Art. I think it gives a good flavour of what we're up to. Mr Kitsch has been busy sending out information to all his many contacts.

My part of the exhibition is called 'The Dolls Have Eyes', a name which some of you will recognise. And, as you may also know, I have a lot of trouble with names.

When I was just dreaming about spending more time on making art, one of the things I wanted to do was to make dolls. Not dolls as you would know them, but small figures, in a folk art or primitive style. I was very influenced by masks, costumes and sculptures from around the world, like the wonderful collections in the Pitt Rivers Museum. Along the way, I also started to discover (or re-discover) mass-produced vintage dolls, and I wanted to combine all these interests and influences. Looking for a suitable name to cover both the cute and the creepy, I came up with 'The Dolls Have Eyes'.

However, whilst 'The Dolls Have Eyes' is suitable for some of my 'art' pieces, it does not cover everything I do. So I became 'Kitsch and Curious' for selling vintage stuff. But I needed to put a name to the things I make, something suitable for stuff that wasn't about dolls OR kitsch (yes, there are a few things!). As some of you will know, I tried 'Nearly Teatime' as a shop name, but it wasn't quite right when I wanted to put my name to a piece of work.

I've been reluctant to use my real name, because there is a very good artist with the same name, and although it might benefit me to trade on her success, it could get confusing! After toying with various names and anagrams, I've decided to use the name Elsie (which was my grandmother's name). So my new professional persona is Elsie Jones, and as you can see I'm using it for this exhibition.

[The photos I've included are some of my older doll-related pieces. There will be lots of new things in the exhibition, but I've yet to take photos of them.]

Buying, selling, and getting stuff for free

2010-08-24T23:53:00.002+01:00

I really enjoyed my weekend. On Saturday, I was invited to a sale by Camilla of Made by Milla. She had organised the sale in the basement of the Here shop in Bristol, to raise money for her MA fees (in Curatorial Practice). She was a bit worried she might be sitting there on her own all day, so asked me if I'd like to set up a stall alongside her. She needn't have worried. An endless stream of her friends and supporters came in all day, and her things were flying off the shelves.

Despite my being there to sell, I bought rather a lot, as she had so much wonderful stuff. Like the ornaments in the pic above, and the fab craft magazines and plaques below.

And these packets of 'nylons' are wonderful! Why don't they have pictures like that any more?

She has also organised a brilliant art raffle, with some fantastic prizes donated by her many talented friends. Go to the Madebymilla blog for info and tickets and you could have a chance of winning some beautiful artworks (Even better art than the nylons packets!).

And if that wasn't incentive enough, I can tell you that Milla has organised (without pay) many wonderful art events in Bristol over the years. She will doubtless be a superb curator, and this is a great opportunity for her, so please help. I think it says a lot about her that artists of such high calibre have donated their work to support her.

Our other weekend activity was scrumping for apples and pears. There are some abandoned gardens near us, with lots of fruit trees, and when we went for a walk on Sunday, we collected a couple of bags. Free organic fruit!

The Computer is dead. Long live the Computer!

2010-08-23T23:57:00.000+01:00

Well, computers do rule our lives, don't they? And like monarchs, when one dies, you have find a successor straight away.

I am now the possessor (or should it be loyal subject?) of a shiny new laptop. My computer gave up the ghost last week. It's always a traumatic experience, and I still don't know if I can get all the data retrieved.

I've also switched from an iMac to a Windows laptop. (If you're technophobic, you may want to stop reading now.) I decided I couldn't justify the extra money for another Mac, but as I started to use Mr Kitsch's laptop last week, I began to realise that I'm a Windows user at heart, anyway. I just don't get why people rave about Macs. There's very little that works better on a Mac, and a lot that works better on Windows.

Now that I have my new laptop with Windows 7, it feels like coming home. Even the fact that they fail to put 'proper' email software on Windows 7 (yes really!), hasn't put me off. The main problem is that I only had half my data backed up, so if Dr McApple can't get it for me I'm a bit stuck. Main problem at the moment is not having anybody's email addresses. Oh well.

So that was why there was no blogging from me last week (did anyone notice?). I've actually got lots to tell you about, but that'll have to wait until next time.

Creative Wednesday - Pebbles on the Beach

2010-08-11T21:07:00.000+01:00

Some 'land art' I created on the rocks at Ilfracombe. Or just arranging pebbles, if you prefer. It's always great looking at all the different shapes, colours, and patterns of pebbles. This beach had lots of disc-shaped stones, and I started looking for the most circular ones.

OK - it's not exactly Andy Goldsworthy, but I enjoyed myself!

We've gone on holiday by mistake

2010-08-09T14:29:00.001+01:00

I have just returned from a few days away in the dark heart of Somerset. Knowing we had no holiday planned, Mr Kitsch's parents kindly suggested we could stay in their house in Wiveliscombe, while they were away on holiday. London Friend was due to visit us at the same time, so after checking with all parties, we arranged to take her there for a couple of nights, and take a day trip to the North Devon coast. I had visions of Famous Five-style picnics and idyllic country charm...

As a non-driver, I am always navigator, and am generally told I do a pretty bang-up job. However, on this trip, I failed to take into account some of the local hazards. To start with, it seemed as if the drivers of every kind of large vehicle had collectively decided to test their skills in very narrow roads. We encountered dustbin lorries, caravans, buses, coaches, tractors, wide loads of hay, a cement mixer and even a vintage steam roller on tow.

By the time we got there, Mr Kitsch was already a bit frazzled. But after a short rest, he said he was up for a jaunt, and as it was the middle of the afternoon by this time, we decided not to go far - just to the local sights of Clatworthy Reservoir and Wimbleball Lake. At first, driving through all the country lanes was a joy - rosebay willow herb in flower on the high hedges, and the occasional glimpse of a valley through a gate.

The reservoir had a dam, and the lake was... lake-y. Perfectly adequate as large bodies of water go, but nothing to put on a postcard home. So, thrill-seekers as we are, we decided to carry on in a circle round the lake on a 'scenic' route down the country lanes. Unfortunately, I had underestimated the twistiness and up-and-down-iness of the roads, and what appeared to be a short round trip actually turned into a never-ending roller-coaster of narrow lanes with nothing to see except hedges so tall they blocked out the ever-diminishing daylight. And endless, endless rosebay-bloody-willow-herb.

Every millimetre on the map turned into miles. As I was map-reader, the others kept asking hopefully if we were near home, and I had to reply, "No... just a little bit further," and watch their tired and wan faces collapse back into hopelessness. The sun started sinking and we thought wistfully of the Chinese takeaway we planned to have, as we toiled round each blind bend and 1-in-5 hill. When we finally got back to Wiveliscombe, you would think we had completed a round-the-world trip, the relief was so immense.

It says a lot for the resilience of the human spirit, that the next day, Mr Kitsch was still willing to drive the hour and a half to Woolacombe and then to Ilfracombe. "The roads are much better" I told him, and he believed me. To be fair, a lot of the roads were better, but there are still a lot of A-roads that shrink to a bus width in places. It was still a roller-coaster, and this time we were coming back in total darkness.

Our day at the coast was grey and dull and unbroken by any sunshine whatsoever. Both London Friend and I have injuries to our feet at the moment, so walking is not ideal. Trudging round in light drizzle does not make for happy campers. And I will gloss over the incident where I fell off a pavement giving myself a light smattering of grazes and bruises and damaging a brand new pair of trousers.

But there were good moments. There must have been, ooh... very nearly several times we enjoyed ourselves. They mostly involved food - cream tea, fudge, chips, the aforementioned Chinese takeaway...

And if you are a country-dweller snorting in derision at the lack of stamina of us townies, I challenge you to make your way through the centre of Bristol in a Friday rush hour. Child's play in comparison!

Creative Wednesday - Colourful Crochet Doodle

2010-08-05T01:05:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd have a go at some colourful crochet in the style of my 'doodles', which usually consist of radiating patterns and shapes that sort of overlap. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and I think I'll try some more like this. In real life the colours are even zingier than this, but it was a bit cloudy today.

It was just a random large square, with no particular purpose, but I put it on a cushion to photograph it, and then decided it looked rather good on my blue chair. So I might leave it there.

Birthday, Party, Trifle, Older

2010-08-02T23:59:00.002+01:00

The Garden Party wasn't quite like this...

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my last blog post. It made me feel a lot better to know I'm not alone. And guess what? I turned 49 yesterday and I still don't need a zimmer frame or stair lift! (The jury's still out on the Tena Lady though!)

I had a lovely, if quiet, day. We postponed a planned meal out as I had a dodgy tummy (hmmm, that does sound old...). But we did go to the annual Garden Party, organised by the Residents' Committee on our estate. (oh dear that sounds even MORE middle-aged!). Mr Kitsch made a gorgeous trifle for the garden party, with jelly and hundreds and thousands on top. (Now that sounds like a kids party...)

I had some lovely presents and cards. You can see how my loved ones understand my love of 'Chalet Chic'...

And Mr Kitsch got me some kitschy cute stationery that doesn't look at all suitable for a middle-aged woman...

I was feeling a lot happier by the weekend anyway, as I had managed to improve my mood by a carefully balanced combination of positive thinking, affirmations, crochet and shopping. I realised that I hadn't had enough fun lately, so I decided that I would spend my birthday money (yes, a middle-aged woman can still have birthday money from relatives!) on some clothes. I had planned to get a new printer, but to hell with that. Some new clothes are going to make me a lot happier.

For help with the positive thinking, I turned to my old favourite, 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway'. It's such a great book, and full of advice that really works for me. I know self-help books can seem a bit trite, but this was published nearly 30 years ago, and has stood the test of time. I go back to it often, as keeping positive is like keeping fit - you have to keep exercising. I'm not terribly good at keeping up either of them, but I'm determined to do better!

I'm experimenting with adding links to Amazon. I should disclose that if you click on this link to Amazon and then buy anything from them, I will get some small revenue. I'm only going to recommend books that I really like, but you can click on the link and buy anything at all.

This is no time for a crisis

2010-07-30T00:17:00.001+01:00

I think I may be having a mid-life crisis. Actually, I've been having one for at least five years. Is there an age limit on mid-life crises? (crisisses?) I only ask because I'm going to be 49 on Sunday, and it's freaking me out!

I'm being quite brave even mentioning it, as I'm normally reluctant to give my age on the internet. People have so many preconceptions. If you think I sound 30 or 70, so be it - I don't want to change your impression. However, I've decided to come clean and 'fess up. I am nearly 49 and I don't much like it.

Apart from the usual problems - aches & pains, wrinkles, feeling frumpy, and trying to avoid wearing reading glasses - I think I'm having a bit of a crisis because I feel I have yet to sort my life out. I left my 'proper job' five years ago and have managed to avoid being employed since. Instead I've been trying to find a way of earning a living from the things I enjoy. In practice, this means not earning a living, but having little or no income whatsoever. Mr Kitsch is in a similar situation, so we know we're going to have improve the situation pretty soon.

Just lately I've been getting a bit confused, because I don't think I'm very good at combining the vintage selling with the art/craft making. Whilst they do complement each other, I'm not very good at dividing my time effectively. I keep wondering if I spent more time on making things, whether I'd be able to find a more coherent style. Or at least pick a favourite medium. As it is, I find myself full of ideas, wanting to try so many things and not achieving half of them. At the same time, I'm filling the house with vintage things I don't have room for and am slow to sell. Do other people do this?

Well, I'm going to have spend some time on Art with a capital A now, as we had some exciting news this week. We've managed to book a small gallery called Room 212, for a week's exhibition in September. Mr Kitsch has been painting for a while now, and we decided to have a joint show. So I guess there's no time for introspection and crises - I need to get busy!

Creative Wednesday - Pink Box

2010-07-28T23:59:00.000+01:00

This is a tiny little box of cute stuff - just 3 inches high. I made the 'shelves' from lolly sticks (from the craft shop - no actual lollies involved, sadly!).

Creative Wednesday - Button Trees and Embroidered Flower

2010-07-21T23:10:00.000+01:00

As promised in my previous post, here are some of my creative endeavours, which also fit into the unfinished projects category. The idea is to do a creative post every Wednesday, but we'll see how that goes!

This piece of embroidery above was started with the intention of making it into something larger and more 'arty'. That probably won't happen now, so I think I'll try to make something smaller with it. Maybe just a padded ornament, but that sounds a bit dull, now I'm writing it. Hmm...

The second piece is a button tree. I made a few of these, months ago, but never finished them, because I couldn't decide how to stand them up. This one is just plonked into an old cotton reel. I'm not sure if that works or not. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Finding & Finishing

2010-07-19T21:53:00.000+01:00

Every day, I get an email from Etsy called 'Etsy Finds', which showcases items from the handmade and vintage shops on Etsy. Every day I look through it to see what's been featured, always with a small glimmer of hope that one of my items might just make it on there. It never happens.

But then, on a busy Sunday when I didn't even have time to look at the email, one of my items, the Swedish Dala horse, pictured above, makes it on to 'Etsy Finds'! Someone reserved it, along with some other stuff, and then I got two more emails asking to buy it. And 30 people had made it a favourite item. In my dopey way, I just thought 'Goodness me, those Swedish horses are popular nowadays!', and it was only when I saw the email that I realised why. (You can see the selection of finds here.)

Needless to say, my shop was not as well-stocked as I would have liked, so I haven't been inundated with other sales, but many thanks to Etsy for including my shop. Interesting that they go for the 'tasteful' end of my offerings, rather than the kitsch stuff, like this crazy cowboy! Maybe I should have put him on the Swedish horse...

I also discovered my Flickr photostream was getting some hits over the weekend, thanks to the picture of my hallway being included on Desire to Inspire, a rather lovely interiors blog. I'm starting to feel famous!

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Two blogging projects have come to my attention this week. They're both about making things, and chime in very well with what I've been thinking about lately.

(Don't be put off by this pic from an old Sindy annual, which features some of the worst craft ideas ever! Click on it to see a large view.)

First was from a Thrifty Mrs, who has launched her 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge. The idea is to make something you enjoy making, each week for a year.

I had been thinking I should try to make my blogging more regular, and include things that I've made, and so the idea of a weekly 'make' sounds great. I'm not sure I can manage to make something for fun every week, so I might cheat a bit and show you some old projects.

And on the subject of old projects, I recently wrote a list of all the crafty projects I'd started and not finished. There were 18 I could think of, straight away. If I dared to look at the bottom of some bags and boxes, I know I'd find more. Sewing, crochet, art, - I start things and then move on to something new. I've sometimes tried to analyse why I do this, but quite honestly, I can't afford that much therapy! I decided recently that I should try to finish some, if only to get rid of those annoying bags of yarn/fabric/thread etc,

So it was perfect timing to find the next blogging project on Joys Quilts. It's called 'Finishing Stitches'. The idea is to get on and finish some unfinished projects that have been hanging around for too long. The deadline is the end of July, so I'd better get a move on.
Now where's my needle?

Nature Ramble

2010-07-14T22:37:00.001+01:00

I have to say I'm not really the outdoorsy type. But in the recent glorious summer sunshine, even I wanted to get out and enjoy it. So on the past two Sunday mornings, I've been getting out to the countryside and going for a walk in the fields.

While I was out, I was lucky enough to spot these timid creatures.

And I was delighted to see so many flowers...

The country people have quaint customs...

And I walked so far, I started to wonder just which country I was in...

I was certainly glad I had a stout pair of boots...

Yes, okay, you've guessed it. When I say 'countryside', I mean just on the outskirts of the city, and the 'fields' in question are scattered with cars and their boots full of old junk. But I did do a lot of walking - over three hours to get around the whole thing! I might take a flask of tea and pack of Kendal Mint Cake with me next time!

Long and Lovely and Lush

2010-07-02T19:01:00.000+01:00

If you recognise the words of the title above, then it's just possible you studied the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins at school, as we did. I can't say I 'got it' back then, but the words of his poems often come back to me, when I see a bit of the old Nature being particularly splendid.

The words come from 'Spring'

"Nothing is so beautiful as spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;"

They often pop into my head now in early summer, when I see exuberant hedgerows, bursting with long grass and wildflowers.

"What is all this juice and all this joy?"

Our English teacher told us it was sap rising, which for some reason, we thought hilarious at the time, and tried to use the word 'sap' as often as possible in lessons.

This hot midsummer is definitely long and lovely and lush round here, and I've managed to spend some quality time lying around looking at green grass and blue sky. A very summery occupation, and a little bit unexpected.

Despite the freedom of not having a 'proper job', Mr Kitsch and I don't always take 'days off' as such. Our work time and fun time is quite confused and intermingled. And like most people, 'free' time often involves doing chores or essential shopping. Also the lack of a 'proper' job means the lack of funds for a 'proper' holiday. So when all this good weather started, Mr Kitsch suggested a 'staycation'. In other words, stay at home, but act like you're on holiday, going out on day trips and visiting places you haven't been or don't often go to. (And not worrying about chores when you get home!)

I'm not sure we actually succeeded in having a 'staycation', but we did take some proper days off. We went to Bath, we spent a wonderfully lazy afternoon having a picnic on The Downs in Bristol, near where we live. Last week we went to the Gower, and spent the afternoon on the beach at Oxwich. I even swam in the sea (very briefly!). The Gower is where we had our first holiday together, and is always lovely. The beaches are huge and sandy and generally uncrowded.

This week we went to Clevedon Court. I don't know why, but we never managed to visit it when we belonged to the National Trust, despite it being so nearby. It's a small place, but a delight to visit. The front facade is very impressive, but I totally failed to get a picture of that, so this is the back garden with palm tree

There is also a room full of 'Nailsea Glass', which apparently doesn't come from Nailsea at all. On the way home, we got Greek kebabs, which didn't come from Greece, either. Lovely and Lush!

Getting clogged up

2010-06-21T23:56:00.000+01:00

I don't why, but just lately I can't seem to go out of the house without returning with a souvenir clog or two.
And when I say something like that, I know the vintage thing is possibly... getting out of hand?

But new obsessions keep gripping me. Right now, it's what I'm calling 'Chalet Chic' - a particular kind of folk art style that encompasses clogs, cuckoo clocks, Russian dolls, gingham aprons, Heidi and reindeer. And in this particular photo, a llama.

The llama is typical of the way that things have a habit of creeping into the house unexpectedly. I didn't know I wanted a souvenir llama until I saw his little furry face winking up at me from a box under someone's stall on Saturday. In fact, all these little knick-knacks I got at car boot sales over the weekend were unexpectedly essential to buy.

I suppose some foolish people might think that going to five carboot sales on Saturday is asking for trouble (oh, and there was another one on Sunday....). But quite frankly these people are poor misguided souls who have no appreciation of the finer things in life.

I grant you, buying more vintage buttons might, on the face of it, seem a tad bonkers, but really you only have to look at how lovely they are to know that I'm perfectly justified in buying them and the lovely fabric they're sitting on. The fact that a lot of this stuff is still cluttering up the living room floor until I find a place for it, isn't a problem, surely? Just step over it, can't you?

Folk House Flea Market tomorrow

2010-06-11T15:25:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post at the last minute to remind anyone in the Bristol area that the Folk House Flea Market is being held tomorrow. It generally has a bit of everything, vintage, handmade, new and old. If you've never discovered the Folk House, it is something of a hidden treasure. The entrance is on Park Street, a busy shopping street in the centre of Bristol. It looks very unprepossessing, but when you walk down the little alleyway/corridor, you come out into a sunny little courtyard, where you can sit and have a cup of tea, with the entrance to the Folk House behind. It's main purpose is for adult education, and they have a great range of art and craft evening classes and workshops.

If you can make it, please come and say hello, as I will have a stall there. I can recommend the cafe too!

Must dash and finish packing my boxes!

Catching Worms?

2010-06-03T01:47:00.001+01:00

Why do car boot sales start so early in the morning? At 7am, for pete's sake! I'm not a morning person. More one of 'the children of the night', to be honest. So it was a huge effort to get up on Sunday morning to get to a car boot sale even by 8am. But the lure of a field full of kitsch tat managed to get me out of bed. And despite having told myself I mustn't fill the house with more rubbish, I managed to buy rather a lot.

The miniatures in the first picture still have their contents. Anyone for a 40 year-old Chianti?

'Specially for little girls'... and big ones too! If you're as old as me, you might remember Twinkle comic. I remember it first coming out and having a free gift of a charm bracelet. So I had to get these old annuals. Not sure if I have any excuse for the china....

Ahoy me hearties! Some nautical needlepoint, and and a flower loom for 'casting off my craft' (do you see what I did there?).

Toro! How could anyone not want a plastic Spanish bull's head on their wall? I think it looks rather fine with our Day of the Dead collection and matador tambourine.

Well, I think it was all worth getting up for!

Pieces of Paper

2010-05-26T01:24:00.000+01:00

Today I'm just going to show you pictures of paper.
Blank paper.
Many pictures.

You see, it all started when I saw this book, on Cathy's blog. It was made and given to her by Lesley, and I found it very inspiring. I don't have a wonderful stash of printed paper like Lesley's, but I went to the drawer where I stash all those bits of paper that 'I'm going to do something with'. (You know the one... What do you mean, you don't have one?) I started to sort through, and found various bits of old wrapping paper, chinese paper, mulberry paper, coloured paper, vintage wallpaper, textured paper. I cut them to size, and sewed them into a book.

My sewing technique was pretty random, I must admit. I was actually taught bookbinding when I was at art college, but that was twenty-heavens-to-betsy years ago, so I really don't remember very much.

I found an online tutorial, and started to follow it, but it was only when I got to the third segment that I realised the tutorial only covered sewing two segments together. D'oh!

So I winged it, and it's worked well enough for my purposes. Actually, I'm not entirely sure what my purposes are, but I think I will be collaging in there, maybe. (Collaging - is that a word? Oh yes, I remember - it's a skin treatment...) Although my completed book is nowhere near as beautiful as the original, I was rather pleased with the experiment, all the same.

Sorting through the paper gave me other inspirations, and I cut out some circles to use.

It was like having a pile of treasure to run through my fingers... Mine, all mine!

The Wonder of Woolies

2010-05-21T22:30:00.002+01:00

I've been meaning to tell you about Woolies for ages. The picture above is one of my recent dolls' china pincushions, and these are now for sale in Woolies. (Also available in my Nearly Teatime online shop) This is Woolies -

Probably not quite how you remember it? When our local branch of Woolworths closed, it was empty for a quite a while. Then last autumn, an indoor market opened there, and they kept the name 'Woolies'.

From the start, the best stall for me has been this one called Home Birds. It's run by Joanna Rose, whose ceramics I really love (and have mentioned briefly here before). Just look at all these gorgeous plates she makes, using vintage style transfers.

She runs the stall with a few other talented women, including Chez Williams, who makes these fabulous, cute cushions, which are also sold in some very posh shops in Bath and London.

They mix it all up with to-die-for vintage goodies like these -

If I could buy it all, I would! I am so pleased to have my pincushions sold here, amongst such great company.

The market itself has some other lovely stalls, including a few other vintage and handmade stalls, a wonderfully chosen secondhand book stall, a cafe, and food stalls, including the wonderful Pie Minister (now a Bristol institution!

Woolies market is on Blackboy Hill in Bristol. If you're in the area, do pop in and have a look!

Threads that bind us

2010-05-16T23:45:00.005+01:00

Yesterday Mr Kitsch and I celebrated our 21st anniversary. Amongst other presents, he gave me this wonderful old book. I can't tell you how much I love it. This 'Encyclopedia of Needlework' is a small, chunky book, with over 800 pages packed with dense type, beautiful engraved illustrations and colour plates. There's no date on it, but I would guess it was published in the early 1900s, perhaps.

It covers sewing, mending, embroidery, applique, knitting, crochet, tatting, macrame, netting, tapestry, lace-making and trimmings.

As I started to leaf through it, I got more and more excited by the sheer number of different techniques. Italian embroidery, Moroccan embroidery, Persian, Serbian, Hungarian and Maltese embroidery.

I know of Tunisian crochet, but Bosnian crochet and hairpin crochet? I always thought tapestry was a bit dull - cross stitch and petit point, and maybe a few more, but this book has 40 different tapestry stitches.

And then there's the language -
"The mending of wearing apparel and house and under-linen, though often a wearisome task, is yet a necessity to which every feminine hand ought to be carefully trained."
"Tattted trimmings worked in coarse materials may be classed rather among gimps and galoons than among laces."

and the rather scary advice -
"To preserve needles from rust, put a little asbestos powder in the packets. People with damp hands which make needles sticky in usage, will do well to keep a small box of the powder by them, and dip their fingers occasionally in it."

The list of thread colours at the back of the book is poetry. Just look at those shades of grey -

I want to try out so many of the patterns and techniques, but I don't suppose I can produce anything as exquisite as these illustrations.

I think Mr Kitsch was rather taken aback at just how excited and delighted I was by this little book. I got him books about space, so I think he was very pleased too (he seems so in his blog). They may not seem like the most romantic presents, but I think it's loving and thoughtful to understand each other's interests and obsessions. And so we're both very happy.

Doing it by Numbers

2010-05-12T01:25:00.005+01:00

It's been a funny old week. For some reason, I've mostly wanted to sleep. (I'll try not to nod off in the middle of this post, but I'm promising nothing.) It may be a reaction to a few early (for me) mornings. I seem to function better late at night, and can concentrate better after dark. Perhaps I am part owl. Or maybe it's psychological, as I've been feeling a bit low as well.

Whatever the reason, I seem to have no energy. I lack lustre. I have no spark. I can barely glimmer. I admit, I'm not exactly a dancing sunbeam at the best of times, and even close friends probably haven't noticed the difference, but life is A Bit Of An Effort this week.

The thing I can never decide in these situations is whether it's better to push yourself onwards, or just give up and rest. If it is just psychological, then maybe exercise and action will make me feel better. Or worse, if I get stressed about doing it. Or I might just be coming down with some lurgy, and the extra sleep will do me good. Or not. Oh, it's very hard to decide, isn't it?

Well, I managed to walk to the postbox yesterday, and felt a bit revived to see all the lilac and wisteria coming out in the neighbourhood. The bluebells are coming out in our garden, and there are buds and blossoms everywhere. Mr Kitsch has bought live mealworms for the birds, and they love them. The great tits (Tommy and Babs) have been especially industrious, so they must have young to feed somewhere.

My general doziness at the moment, means that I also find it hard to concentrate, so... Ooh, look! Poodles!

Nice aren't they? Anyway... where was I? Oh yes, well, I decided it wasn't wise to try to do anything too demanding that might involve scissors or needles - I'd have probably cut an artery or something. So last night, I settled down with a paint-by-numbers set. Yes, I know, but I've been hoping to find an old paint by numbers picture for ages, with no luck. I've seen some fab crafty ideas using them, like this and this. And anyway they're just wonderfully kitsch.

I'm quite pleased with the end result, although those are possibly the most evil-looking horses you've ever seen. Brilliant!

Zzzzzz....

Awards, Rewards and Recognition

2010-05-05T23:32:00.004+01:00

This week I'm trying to make up for my very sporadic blogging of late. I can't remember the last time I did a shopping-show-and-tell. Well, what with the V&H fair, the Redland May Fair, and going kitsch-hiking round the charity shops yesterday, I now have some lovely collections of junk and treasure to show you.

I also wanted to thank those of you who left such encouraging comments on my post last week about blogging. Don't worry - I was never intending to stop blogging completely. I'm far too addicted for that! It's so great to get comments, and I wish I had time to leave lots of comments on everyone's blogs. But, hey, let's not get me started on lack of time again.

Although I do have to apologise for my thanks being long overdue for some awards. A couple of weeks ago, I was given this award by ted and bunny.

And several months ago (I'm too ashamed to admit exactly how long) I was given this Splash award by Bumble Bee Cottage.
Thank you both, ladies - I really appreciate it, and I hope you didn't think I'd forgotten you.

I have also been honoured by having our downstairs loo featured in this wonderful blog, Eklektick. Many thanks to Kristin for appreciating my taste in religious kitsch!

(Fantastic kitschiness from the V&H Fair)

I'm not very good at following the rules of passing on awards to x number of people, but the usual cop-out of saying 'Please take this award if you want it' seems to defeat the object of the exercise.

So I have devised my own award, 'The Giddy Kipper'. The name and design are from a wonderfully bonkers piece of Blackpool rock I found (blogged here).

To me, this is a fine example of kitsch. So I'm going to bestow this award on bloggers who show a true appreciation of kitsch. I'm awarding three today. There may be others later. There are no rules, you don't need to pass it on to other bloggers. Just bask in the glory, gals...

First recipient is Kristin of Eklektick, not just because she featured my loo, but because she has great taste in the bizarre.

Second we have doe-c-doe, who finds and makes the coolest stuff that is also just that little bit kitsch.

Thirdly, there's Candy Pop. She's only just started her blog, but has been posting fantastic kitsch on Flickr for ages.

I appreciate that you may not want to feature the barmy logo on your blogs, or indeed admit to having received such an odd accolade. I won't be offended if you ignore it completely!

Quality, Quilty Time

2010-05-04T23:59:00.002+01:00

Another big gap between blogs. This time it's more about being busy in the real world rather than anything else. And when I say 'being busy', what I really mean is 'managing my time badly'. However, I really was busy on Saturday, selling my wares at the Vintage and Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury. Many thanks as ever to Jayne and Michele for making it such an enjoyable event.

My big, huge thanks also go to Mr Kitsch, for all his help and support. He's even written about the day in his own blog, if you'd like to read about it from the man's perspective. As we were sitting behind the stall, he was telling me how much he enjoyed the vintage fairs, "I like all these vintage women. They're all slightly dotty...but that's a good thing." Hmm. Thanks, babe. I've known for some time that I am "slightly dotty", but I hope the rest of you will take it as "the good thing" it's intended to be.

Despite the thrown-together appearance of my stall, I did spend some time last week preparing for the fair, so I didn't have time to blog about some of my other activities. The previous weekend, we went on a day trip to London, mainly for Mr Kitsch to go the Science Museum and look at space stuff. However, I did manage to sneak in an unplanned visit to the V&A, to see 'Quilts: 1700 - 2010'. It's an excellent exhibition, and I can thoroughly recommend it, even if you're not interested in textiles. You can appreciate the quilts as historical artefacts, and read some of the fascinating stories behind them. Or you can just marvel at the hours of work in each meticulously hand-stitched work of art.

You weren't allowed to take photos, but there weren't any signs to say so, and nobody told me until after I'd taken half a dozen, so strictly speaking, these last two might be considered 'illegal'. But worth sharing, I thought.

It was nice that some of the quilts were displayed as if on a bed, but a bit frustrating as you couldn't get close enough to see the detail. Probably just as well, as my feet were aching by this point, and I might have just had a lie-down...

Delay and Decisions

2010-04-23T21:20:00.000+01:00

Well you might have noticed there's been a bit of a blog hiatus around here lately. Do I have an excuse? Or even a reason? Nah... not really. Mainly, I just wasn't in the mood.

I'm not sure why. The springtime sunshine? Possibly. The feeling I should concentrate on my work instead? Maybe. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by life? Well, that's a permanent state of affairs. Not sure what to write? Kinda.

I've had lots of ideas for blogs - things I want to write about, or show you. Probably a few too many. Every blogger has to edit herself. You can't include everything you do, or every thought you have, or these ramblings would be even longer and more boring than they are. So that means making decisions. Decision-making is not one of my strengths. I ponder. I over-analyse. I dither. I vacillate. (I've actually just spent some time trying to decide whether to even use the word 'vacillate'.)

So beneath this apparently simple blog of "stuff I made" and "stuff I bought", there is a seething mass of indecision. Should I even spend time on a blog? Because it's not just the writing time - I can lose hours looking at other people's blogs. I think most creative bloggers find that a hard one. If you're writing, you're not creating art.

So what's a reasonable amount of time to spend on a blog? Is the networking aspect more important than self-promotion? Do I write for myself or for others? Is it boring for readers to endure a load of introspection and analysis? Are a lot of rhetorical questions really quite irritating? Would you rather just look at pretty pictures? Do you want me to stop now?

Oh. Okay. No need to shout.

Here are some pics of stuff I made.

And a great book I bought

And a Basil Brush on a roundabout

And now I'll fly away.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-06T17:59:00.007+01:00

I made an Easter display - or is it a shrine to the god of chocolate?
I finished embroidering some crochet eggs that I made
I had a go at a new (to me) kind of crochet square....
A kind friend gave me a dolly-sized Easter egg.
We went to '52' - an exhibition of work by 52 artists, curated by Calm Air All Ice (Camilla and Claire)
Oh, and did I mention the chocolate?

Tog Love Frome

2010-03-29T21:15:00.006+01:00

Wasn't it a lovely day on Saturday? Well, it was down here. And it was all the lovelier because we went to a great vintage fair. It was the Rook Lane Vintage Fair in Frome. I got some wonderful trinkets from Leonore (a.k.a International Quality Kitsch). I also went a bit wild with the buttons and ricrac, but I have creative plans for those!

There were some great stalls to browse and enjoy, including Lizzie's. I found out about this fair from her blog, which I thoroughly recommend, especially if you want to know about fab vintage events in the South West.

Do you see that blue floral chopping board in the picture above? I was rather drawn to that, but I wasn't sure I could justify buying it, just because I liked the pattern. But the gods of vintage shopping were smiling on me, because I went to charity shop later in the afternoon and guess what I found? A cute little pot in the same design! Well, you can't argue with Fate!

Mr Kitsch really enjoyed himself too, even to the extent of writing about the things he bought in his own blog. (This blogging lark is very addictive.) He got so far into the spirit of the thing, he dressed in vintage clothes, so he got into the fair free. No this photo isn't Mr Kitsch...

And why is this post called something about Tog? Well, several years ago, I made Mr Kitsch a funny animal toy as a present. It was meant to be wonky and odd, so when I embroidered a message on the back, I made that wonky too. It said " To G Love from E". (He's Gary, I'm Elaine.) Unfortunately, when Mr Kitsch saw it, he read it as "TOG LOVE FROME". So the toy was known as Tog, and he loves to go Frome. So he came with us on Saturday too!

After I took the photos of Tog, he got hold of the camera and started messing about, taking photos of himself. Naughty Tog!

Knit a Neuron

2010-03-24T23:47:00.005Z

A second very quick post today, with a scientific twist to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day - a day for bloggers to celebrate women in science.

My contribution is to highlight the Knit a Neuron project being organised by two scientists in Bristol. They say:
"In an attempt to combine our love of science and yarn we came up with Knit a Neuron project. We hope that by garnering the support of hundreds of knitters and crocheters we can create a beautiful artwork which illustrates what happens to the brain when it is injured by a stroke."

If you'd like to take part, you can find patterns on their blog. There have also been some events locally (I missed them, unfortunately!), and I think they are planning more. I will be crocheting my neuron soon...

Delightful Designs

2010-03-24T20:05:00.005Z

Mostly pictures today, to show you my latest collecting obsession - vintage greeting cards. I've been collecting odd cards here and there for quite a while. At first I concentrated on the kitschy 1960s cards, but then I got some older ones and was just charmed by their sweet illustrations.

I've now bought a few large bundles of cards. The cards I'm showing you today come from the first bundle I bought, many of which are addressed to a little boy called Ian. A lot of them date from the early 1930s. I noticed that some, like the postcard of bunnies above, came to Ian from 'Diana', and a few had pictures of dogs. Then I saw the inside of this card, where a thoughtful relative had labelled the children 'Ian' and 'Diana', and the dog 'Timmy'. So now I have a picture of the brother and sister and their pet dog.

Some of the cards are just ridiculously cute...

Others are just very sweet. The crinoline ladies and cottage gardens appear very regularly in these old cards. I don't know why they were such a popular motif in the 1930s and 1940s, but you see them in embroideries and on biscuit tins as well. Mr Kitsch said they always make him think of the film 'Singin' in the Rain', where Jean Hagen, in powdered wig and huge dress, gratingly screeches "...and I cain't staind 'im!".

Well, now that's all I can think of too!

Collage and Collections

2010-03-16T20:03:00.004Z

I have been itching to do some more embroidery, and have also been inspired by a lot of vintage graphics lately. I have lots of ideas mashing up in my brain, but I thought I'd show you my first attempt - an embroidered collage (well, that's what I'm calling it). By a happy coincidence, I managed to find some embroidery hoops and frames in charity shop a couple of weeks ago, which gave me a nice little format to work in.

This frame is actually a kind of flexible plastic, rather than wood, but I think I'll use the favourite Etsy term, "faux bois" to describe it. Yep, that's it - 'an embroidered collage in a faux bois frame'. I'm looking forward to making more.

Luckily, I found some more hoops and frames at a flea market this weekend. The lovely sewing lady there also had big bags of vintage buttons for 50p each. I bought four, and I told her I'd have fun going through them. I did!

Mishaps, Mistakes and Misapprehension

2010-03-08T22:44:00.005Z

I haven't had the best week in my Etsy shop (located, of course, in the luxurious Kitsch & Curious Plaza). Plenty of orders, yes, but I managed to foul up half of them.

A customer asked about several items, mostly dolls, and wanted to know the combined shipping price. It was over the previous weekend, and I couldn't get to weigh them until Tuesday. Unfortunately, by that time, three of the items had been sold to someone else. I felt really bad that she'd missed out, so I found some similar dolls from my stock and took some quick photos to let her choose which ones she liked. I felt I was doing quite well on the customer service front. She chose some, but that was when I started to realise that English was not her first language, as her emails became increasingly cryptic.
Unfortunately, I then discovered that in my hurry, I hadn't noticed that one of the dolls she chose had a missing leg. (In my defence, she had a very long skirt!) I cursed my stupidity and set about sending her another email to explain, and to apologise. I offered it to her for free, as I'd messed her about so much. Then, still trying to please, I found another similar doll, in mint condition, for her to buy if she wanted.

This is when it got a bit complicated.

I'll spare you any more long explanations. Several emails went to and fro. We both did our best, but confused each other. In the end, I think I sent her what she wanted. I hope she's pleased when it arrives...
In the middle of all this, I received another order and payment for a previously reserved item, and I rushed to post it promptly. Then last night I got an email from the customer asking why the item she'd reserved had been sold. My heart sank. In my haste and stupidity, I'd just assumed the buyer was the same person who'd reserved it. It wasn't. I hadn't checked, and it turned out to be someone completely different. There were a couple of things that helped in that assumption, but in the end, it was just my big fat mistake.

(If you're not familiar with Etsy, the only way to reserve items is just to write "Reserved for X" on the listing. You then have to hope that everyone else pays attention and obeys. I've now learnt the hard way that doesn't always happen.)
As if all that wasn't enough to make me doubt my aptitude as an online shopkeeper, I then got very frustrated by having to answer a series of questions from a customer who'd managed to forget that she'd asked me the same questions about the same item two weeks previously!

OK. Deep breath. At times like this, I try to console myself with the thought, 'The person who never made a mistake, never made anything.' Back in the days when I had a 'proper job' and was a manager, I said this to one of my team, to make her feel better about something she'd done. She'd never heard it before, and it was a huge revelation to her. It made me realise it's a powerful thought, and I try to keep it in mind when I drop these enormous clangers.
I don't like making mistakes, but I can admit to them. It's harder though, to accept that they can be beneficial. You can't always learn to get things right, until you've got things wrong a few times. So I try not to mind when I have to undo ten rows of crochet, or unpick a badly-sewn seam, or apologise profusely for my own stupidity. It's all learning.

Hmm... I do try to think like that, but not without a lot of swearing first. And I try to accept other people's mistakes too. But yes, that can also involve swearing.

And, I'm still a little cloudy about what I've been learning from the cock-ups this week. More haste, less speed? Check everything properly? Stop using Etsy? Become a lighthouse keeper?
Oh well.

Finally, I wanted to thank you all for the brilliant comments you left on my last post. Really interesting stuff. I feel reassured about concentrating on safe packaging, and not worrying over much about free gifts and bows. However, given my performance this week, the phrase "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic" springs to mind...

Niceness and Networking

2010-03-06T01:01:00.007Z

In my blogospheric wanderings, I have come across a couple of articles lately about the importance of niceness. Well, they didn't actually say that's what they were about, but I think they were.

One blogger wrote about recommending an online shop to a friend and feeling bad because the package arrived with no extras, no note. No 'niceness', in fact. It struck me as odd to complain about just getting what you ordered. But I must admit, I've felt the same when buying on Etsy. There is a culture of sending little extras, and when I placed a multiple order with a vintage seller, I felt a bit let down when I opened the parcel and just got my order. I wouldn't expect it with single items, but if I'm placing a large order, it's a nice 'thank you' gesture. (I always include a little extra with my Etsy orders - a badge or sweets or some pretty ribbon, whatever I think is appropriate.)

Pretty packaging is another expectation, I've found. (The disappointing package I received from Etsy was tied up prettily with thread. But I have to say I just found that mildly irritating. I'd rather have a free gift! Or a cool business card, at least.) I struggle with packaging. Sometimes literally, but mainly just with the appearance of what I'm sending out. Even if I try hard, I can never get my packages to look neat. I always try to keep postage costs down for my customers, so I use the lightest packaging possible - usually bubble wrap. It's practical rather than pretty.

For myself, I'm very uncertain about the value of a lot of pretty packaging. So long as what I buy is safely wrapped, I'm not sure I care. Certain packaging will appeal to me, but it's not a deal-breaker. However, I know a lot of people find it hugely important, so I'm trying to improve the look of my packaging for my new shop. Apologies to those of you who have received my lumpy parcels in the past - they were packaged with love and care, if not with beauty...

The other aspect of niceness I've been considering is about how to network. A blogger wrote an article about Twitter which advised how to tweet. Her advice is not to send too many tweets (makes sense), and not make them all about yourself, with links to your site. As an example of how-not-to, she gave an example of an Etsy seller who didn't respond to questions. However, she also said this person had over 30 000 followers. Apart from the logistics (how many questions might this person get in a day?). this number of followers seems to indicate that a lot of people were quite happy just to get updates about this seller's products, and weren't bothered whether they responded or not.

I'm in two minds about this one. I'm not a natural networker. I don't use Twitter (yet?). I'm addicted to Flickr and I enjoy reading blogs, but I don't always feel the need to comment. Sometimes I only comment, because I think it's about time I did! I can think of blogs and Flickr photostreams that I follow with interest to see what work someone has produced, but I have no need or desire to interact with that person. And I think that's okay.

On the other hand, I know that I like receiving comments, and I know that the blogosphere can only work through links and networking. This last fact has been preying on my mind for a while, because I never got round to having a list of blog links on my page. For one thing, I couldn't decide how to do it, what to include, etc. Shops I like? Other kinds of sites? The other thing was that I thought people could just look at my profile to see what blogs I follow. And the final thing was that I'm just rubbish at networking, like I said.

Anyway, I'm in the process of giving the site a bit of a facelift, and I finally got round to adding a list. It's fairly arbitary, but I've focussed on vintage/textile/craft blogs. I might look at other subjects later. How do you find blogs? Is it usually from other bloggers' lists? Or from blog posts about a particular person and their work? I want to do more on this, and I plan to start more regular posts about other people's work. However, for the time being, I seem to have just talked about myself again. Oops.

Photo tag

2010-02-28T23:02:00.003Z

I was tagged by Camilla of Made by Milla
This is what it means to play the game.

1. open your first photo folder in your computer library.
2. scroll to the 10th photo
3. post the photo and the story behind it
4. tag 5 or more people to continue the thread

So I found the photo above. It was one of a series of photos I took (and still take) of tree branches. I had this idea of doing a semi-abstract painting based on tree branches. As well as finding them endlessly pleasing, I'm also fascinated by the way they echo other natural forms, such as blood vessels in the body, or river tributaries. I like the pattern of the large branch diverging into smaller branches, and getting smaller and smaller down to twigs and buds.
I thought I would include some others from the series which illustrate better what I was trying to capture. That top one was a fairly poor example. It's made me think about it again. It might make a good subject for embroidery too. Hmm...

I think rather than tag anyone else, I'm going to wimp out and just invite you to try this tag game if you'd like to. (Some of my previous attempts at tagging have not appeared very successful, so I'm rather shy of trying it.)
If you do have a go, please leave a comment with a link, so we can see what you found...

Nearly There

2010-02-24T15:36:00.004Z

My new Etsy shop for my handmade items is starting to take shape. There are about a dozen items so far, but I hope to keep listing more in the next few days. I think the term for what I've done so far is 'Repurposed Vintage', as I've taken old vintage china eggcups and things and made them into pincushions, and also made badges from old children's illustrations.

Regular readers will remember my quandary about shop names last year. At the time I was trying to decide between 'Hey Tiger!' and 'Nearly Teatime'. I put it to a vote (how democratic), and got a small majority in favour of 'Hey Tiger!'. But I still ummmed and ahhed.

At last, I decided to go with 'Hey Tiger!', because I felt it was fresher. I even started to create an Etsy shop, but somehow, I wasn't happy... I started to rethink. Then I discovered several other shops and blogs with similar, tigery names, and I lost confidence completely. Oh dear.
So now I have gone back to 'Nearly Teatime'. I keep having doubts about that too, but I decided I should just do it, or I'll never get this shop open! I've considered several other names in the meantime, but nothing is quite right.

I hope you like the shop. Or just go window shopping - Etsy is a great place to look for gifts generally, so don't be put off by dealing in dollars - it's very easy, as Paypal sorts it all for you anyway. (However for Etsy-phobics, I intend to set up a shop in UK sterling soon too.)

Dreams of Treasure

2010-02-22T00:30:00.005Z

Do you have dreams about finding vintage treasures? Real dreams, at night when you're asleep, and your subconscious takes you to the perfect shop where they have shelves stacked full of beautiful old things for 10p a time? It's usually toys and clothes for me. In these dreams, I usually end up with armfuls of beautiful vintage fabric, cool toys and kitsch ornaments. Well this weekend... No, it didn't quite come true, not that dream, but another lovely vintage-hunting dream came true. I got to go round a jumble sale before it opened to the public.

You see, earlier in the week, London Friend had come to visit us, and we'd taken her over to her parents. I think I've mentioned her mum's wonderful homemade cakes and jam, and her dad's home-grown vegetables, in a previous post. There was chocolate cake time this time. Oh yes. Anyway, they are involved with every activity you can imagine at the village church, and it just so happened that this week there was a jumble sale at the church hall. " Come to the side door, and we can let you in early." Let me in early? To a jumble sale at a village hall? Aren't those about the sweetest words you've ever heard?

And so, twenty minutes before the jumble began, I was able to saunter around and take my pick. My chief worry beforehand was that there might be a lot of stuff I wanted, and I'd clean them out before they started. Of course that didn't happen. There was just enough to keep me happy, without making me feel too greedy. I paid more than they asked, and I still felt I got bargains. So it was a very happy and excited treasure hunter who took her swag home.

Best of all was a tatty and cracked Ferrero Rocher box with lots of buttons in it. It didn't seem too promising, but it looked like there were a couple of interesting things in there. All the way home I was looking forward to going through that box of buttons. And I wasn't disappointed. As I sorted them, I discovered beautiful buttons in mother-of-pearl, glass, art deco plastic, flower shapes, and so on.

Looking at them again, later on, I started to wonder at the seemingly endless variety of designs for such a simple object. There's something very beautiful about each little variation. I love the process of sorting - examining, comparing, grouping. It's quite a meditative process. A moment of zen in a button box?

Introducing Mr Nuts

2010-02-15T17:25:00.004Z

A quick post to show off my latest piece of work. It's not for sale, and is in the possession of a private collector, who is my biggest patron. Yes, well, alright. I'm talking about Mr Kitsch, and this is what I made him as a valentine's present.

We have so much fun watching Mr Nuts, the squirrel, in the garden, and all his furry friends, that I knew Mr K would love it if I made one. I'd been meaning to have a go at an amigurumi (cute little crochet animals) for ages. Couldn't find a suitable pattern, so I just did my own thing. Making the basic shape wasn't too difficult, but getting him to look like a cute squirrel was a lot harder. So in certain lights, he looks more like a cross between a cat and a koala, and an un-cute one to boot!

I have this nagging doubt that giving my loved one a soft toy on Valentine's Day gives the impression that I would quite like a teddy bear holding a big red heart embroidered with "I WUV YOU" or some other sickening message. I am not that person. Honestly.

The Joy of Textiles

2010-02-10T22:40:00.002Z

I've been meaning to do this post all week, to share the loveliness I got at a jumble sale on Saturday. I haven't been to a jumble sale for ages, so it was a real treat, and Mr Kitsch got up out of his sick bed to drive me there, bless him. But it was DEFINITELY worth it. As well as the rather cute clock you can see above, and the groovy elephant, who I think will be rather splendid after a good wash, I got all the stuff in the next picture.
Did you look closely? Can you see it? Yes, it's a real stuffed crocodile! I'm sorry if you disapprove, and I would not want anyone doing this nowadays, but vintage taxidermy is somehow appealing to me. And to find a stuffed crocodile for 10p at a jumble sale just had me dancing up and down.

I was also doing a very gleeful dance after picking up so much fantastic vintage fabric. A pair of gorgeous curtains, loads of groovy, flower-power pillowcases, some napkins and five tablecloths. I just can't resist vintage textiles, and I'm getting better at using them these days too. I also got a couple of old trays, and this horse design was on one of them.
Isn't it cool? It would make a fabulous fabric design.

My textile love has also resulted in my doing lots more crochet, and despite my enormous stash of yarn, I decided I needed to buy an enormous bundle of cotton yarn from Ebay. Well, it was a bargain...

I also managed to win a large lot of mending yarn on cards from the same seller. Vintage haberdashery also makes me very happy...