so very lucky...

Hello lovely friends!  I hope you've had a great Christmas...ours has been very nice...lots of relaxing at home in our PJs watching films and munching delicious treats.  I seem to have been living mainly on brie, mince pies and port!  I have taken a break from the computer and also apparently from my camera - realised earlier I've hardly taken any Christmas photos!  I'm a bad blogger...

But we still have festivities to come...my sister is visiting from London so we are gathering at my Mum's today for Christmas round 2, and are then heading east to Sussex for further fun and games at New Year with much-loved-not-seen-often-enough extended family.

As I have been neglecting my camera I don't have much to show you...but I would just like to share one gift with you which has made me very happy...

This is a detail of my new bedroom curtains!!  I haven't hung them yet because our bedroom needs some work...decluttering, some more shelves, a lick of paint...but when these are hanging at the window I will be beside myself with joy.  They are 60s, Swedish and stunning.  

There are many reasons why I am lucky - some deep and profound to do with love and family, some basic and fundamental to do with having a home and enough to eat...but today I feel lucky for the frivolous-but-important-to-me reason that I have beautiful new curtains.  I hope that you have also received gifts that make you feel lucky, if you share them on your blog let me know so I can pop over and have a peep!

Rachel x

I did some sewing, yay!!

Hello lovelies, how are you today?  

I have had a bit of a rollercoaster week, my Dad has been ill and urgently needed major surgery, which was really nerve wracking.  He is recovering and his health should be improved after a period of recuperation, so in the long run it's a good thing...scary though.  And then just when I was having trouble sleeping cause I was worrying about him, the rain started dripping through the ceiling...

But!  This Saturday we are collecting our new baby, Floyd the Miniature Schnauzer.  The excitement level in our house is reaching fever pitch - only 2 sleeps to go - it's like an early Christmas present for our whole family. 

In the meantime, before I bombard you all with pictures of Floyd, I thought I'd show you something I managed to make...yes, I made time for some sewing, and it felt good!   I've been playing with these bits of fabric for a while...

 

I love these fabrics so much, and some of them I've only got a little bit of - there are barkcloths, and collectible fabrics from Heals, and Scandinavian fabrics.  I wanted to try something a tad more ambitious than my usual squares or strips, so I went for a rectangular log cabin type of arrangement...and as with most things I make, I planned it carefully, but I still got to the end and saw things I might do differently if I could make it again.  But that is ok, that is how we learn...and now instead of having to open my cupboard to look at all these gorgeous patterns and colours, I get to enjoy them every day, which makes me really happy.   

Before I go I'd just like to welcome my new followers, and anyone who has popped in to read or comment...it still amazes me that people spend time here, reading my ramblings...thank you, you're all totally gorgeous. I just have to give a special welcome to my newest follower, Donna Flower(!) who if you love vintage fabric (and if you don't, what are you doing here?!) you will surely know of - she sells the most fabulous vintage fabrics and haberdashery, both online and on her stall at various vintage fairs.  I actually bought the top bit of the cushion cover above from her, and now she's following my blog! Sorry, I'll stop now...just had to get a bit excited about that!

I hope you're all having a good week, and haven't been ill, or flooded, and have maybe managed a moment or two of creative fun...

Rachel xx

a treasury of green goodness...

Hello lovelies, how are you?  I hope today is treating you well.  

I have just put together my 2nd ever Etsy treasury, hooray - why do I always think I haven't got time, it didn't take me that long!  I suppose it's just a question of what I'm in the mood for...

I'm gradually building a collection of rather lovely vintage crockery and kitchen bits,  I really must take some photos to share with you.  Most of my pieces are in my favourite palette of greens and blues, and I've been browsing Etsy for a few treats that would not look out of place in my cupboard;  here they are for your delectation and delight....

I actually already own one of these pieces, can you guess which one?  It was a favourite Pinterest pic a few months ago...and when my birthday rolled around my lovely F treated me, it was a tad extravagant but it gets used every day and I love it a lot!

Having said that curating the treasury didn't take that long, it just took me ages to figure out how to actually get it to appear here...but I did it!  A small achievement, but it has made me feel like not working for the last 8 years hasn't completely robbed me of my ability to figure out technical IT stuff.  That gives me a bit of confidence that I will be capable of setting up and maintaining my Etsy shop when R goes to nursery.  I have had to relucantly admit to myself that until I have some childcare I really can't spare the time, I don't want to look back on the years when he was small and realise I spent them staring at the computer! 

Wishing you a bright sunny day full of simple joys,

Rachel x

rainbow and green go off on a jaunt...part 2

Yippee! it's the first day of the school holiday, and we have nearly 7 weeks of freedom from routine ahead of us...this is equally exciting and daunting, but we're so tired that right now I'm enjoying the change of pace.   I doubt I'll be getting much child-free time, so I'm very glad that me and Lou managed to escape for a few hours on Tuesday and go exploring!

After all the crafty and vintage goodness of Flo-Jo and Shop (see my last post), we wandered a bit further down the road to the absolutely gorgeous independent kid's boutique, The Pippa and Ike Show...

 

  

I have been meaning to go there since it opened a year or two ago.  I don't know why it's taken me so long, but now I've been there once I'll definitely be back whenever I have spare cash to spend on my or anyone else's little ones...it's just stunning. 

 

 

It's full of stylish and colourful Scandinavian and European clothing brands including Smafolk (70s-tastic prints, my favourite!!) and Bobo Choses , and toys, prints and homewares by great designers and brands like Ingela P Arrhenius and Ferm Living. 

 

  

Again, the way the space has been styled is so pleasing.  It's bright, colourful and cheerful; me and Lou found ourselves chatting for ages to the lovely owner Lianne, while we browsed through her gorgeous stock.  Although there was loads that I liked, I'm trying very hard to be restrained at the moment so I was careful not to let myself get too keen on anything.  I thought I was going to get away without buying anything, and then I saw this...

 

R's size, the last one in the shop, and half price!  What was I supposed to do?!  My kids are generally dressed in pretty cheap clothes, often cast-offs from friends or stuff from charity shops.  But I do have a serious weakness for Smafolk prints, and R has just grown out of the only special top that he has.  So yes, my resolve weakened.  But kids need clothes, right? 

Lianne told us that she has a new Webshop due to launch next week, so the link above is to the blog rather than the shop.  They have a sale on at the moment so when the Webshop goes live there will be bargains to be had!  And most exciting for me, I showed her a few photos of my fabric palettes from the other day,  and she said she'd be interested in stocking some of my handmade vintage fabric lampshades and cushion covers.  So I'd better get busy over the summer break!

There were other shops we'd have liked to look in, but after the fun of The Pippa and Ike show, Lou had to get to an appointment so I walked home because the sun was shining(!) and I was feeling energised by a morning of adult conversation and eye candy.  I have a feeling we will be going off on another jaunt when we get a chance...I'll let you know when we do! 

Rachel x

fabric, fabric everywhere....

...no, I'm not complaining, it makes me so happy!! Saturday brought me 2 lovely parcels, both presents from lovely bloggers....

a stack of vintage sheet fat quarters and vintage wallpaper pieces from the totally delightful Ada, aka Vintage Sheet Addict...

and, totally unexpected and stunningly generous, a piece of fabulous Dekoplus from my friend Jenny of The Custards...

big thanks to both of those lovely ladies, I am one lucky blogger!!

And inspired by all this gorgeousness (and by the need to make some space in my stash cupboard for these new arrivals) I rummaged in my piles of fabric today and pulled out some summer brights to play with...

Yum!!  Looking forward to getting my sewing machine out soon.  If you feel the need for a patchwork cushion cover, send me a message on this blog or e-mail me at rainbowvintagehome@gmail.com - I love putting fabrics together in unique ways to create one-off pieces for people, maybe you'd like one for your home or as a gift for someone?

Hope you're having a nice day. 

Rachel x

scandi love

Happy Saturday lovely people!! It's not been raining, yippee! It hasn't exactly been sunny here either but I'll settle for not being soaked through.  

Today I am a tad obsessed with these lovely bits of Scandinavian goodness, all of which have been around for a while, but I've never been extravagant enough to treat myself (yet!)...

 this stunning storage jar by Sagaform, from Illustrated Living...

this lovely Ferm tea towel, also from Illustrated Living...

and this cup from Marimekko, which I have wanted for SO long...

and this one (they're both from Skandium)....

It's my birthday next month so I think the time has come for a bit of Marimekko gorgeousness to enter my home.  I just need to make sure I don't start looking at their fabrics; at nearly £40 a metre I can't even think about it (one metre wouldn't be so bad, but I can't choose my favourite!).

Hope you're all having a great weekend,

Rachel x

baby love

Happy Sunday! I hope you've had a nice weekend, mine has been up and down; F is away and I've got a vile cold which has totally messed with my sewing plans, but thankfully the boys have been generally pretty lovely so I am counting my blessings!

I'm very excited for my good friend Jo, who has just finished work because she is about to have her 2nd baby.  I think I'm going to sew something nice for the new little person, who is currently called Nipper, but if I didn't have the time or the inclination to make a gift, I think one of these would do very nicely...

one of Manda McGrory's stunning new Chevron cot quilts, from Treefall Designs on Etsy...

 

 a lovely bamboo Tree Friends mobile from Petit Collage...

this gorgeous vest by Scandinavian brand Snoozy, from Little Lollipop Kids...

or maybe one of Ellen Giggenbach's cheerful new Board Books from Templar Publishing.

So here we are, Sunday evening rolling round again, F will be back late tomorrow night and I will be one half of a parenting team again, rather than doing (or in the case of housework, mainly not doing) everything by myself.  I'll be so pleased to see him, and the boys have missed him loads.  I have coped fine without him but it's definitely easier and more fun with him here!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend,

Rachel x

Delights from Denmark

Happy day!  Yesterday the sun was out and my thoughts turned to bright simple patterns, the essence of 70s Scandinavian fabric design.  I do find that bold and joyous patterns like these brighten up even the greyest of days...

 

 

all of the above fabrics are sold by the lovely Junette Bay over in her Etsy shop, I am currently waiting excitedly for some vintage wallpaper from her (yes she sells wallpaper too, she's dangerous!).  Good to enjoy some Danish deliciousness that doesn't involve pastry, especially after all those Easter treats.

I happened to have a look at her blog yesterday, and what do you know, she's having a giveaway!! Her blog has stacks of followers so I'm sure I won't win this one, but it's got to be worth a try, no?   Good luck and have a lovely day!

Rachel x