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

rainbow and green go off on a jaunt...part 1

Today I had some errands to run which could not wait, so off we went in the rain...luckily R is a cheerful little soul so jumping in puddles kept him entertained on the way.  

Yesterday was a quite different story though...both me and Lou of littlegreenshed found ourselves child free for the morning, so rather than our usual 'quick coffee then off home to do the hoovering' routine, we treated ourselves to a proper adventure!  I don't know about where you live, but our local high street has pretty much everything you need for day to day life; this is great, but it does mean that sometimes I go WEEKS without venturing out of our neighbourhood!  So we hopped in Lou's car and off we went to the OTHER SIDE OF TOWN - I was so excited!  

After a chat over coffee and a slice of delicious cake, our first stop was the delightful Flo Jo Boutique, a lovely shop and craft space which has recently been featured in Mollie Makes ...

 

 

They run fabulous workshops including knicker making parties! The shop is beautifully styled, with all the goodies displayed in 50s kitchen dressers and vintage sewing baskets.  

Just over the road we discovered an amazing charity shop, called SHOP, which was an Aladdin's cave of retro and vintage gorgeousness....

 

 

...again, it was styled really nicely, more like a vintage boutique than a charity shop. So far, Gloucester Road was proving to be a feast for the eyes!  And then we headed further down the road, and I'll show you what we found there tomorrow...

The sun has come out while I've been writing this, though knowing the weather it will start raining again just in time for the afternoon school pick up!  It's the last day of school here, I am almost hoping that it rains again tomorrow because I think what M needs more than anything is a day at home in his PJs. 

Hope you're having a nice day, 

Rachel x

spreading the love!

Wow I am feeling the blog love today, 63 followers!!! You're all totally scrummy for spending a bit of your precious time reading my musings and leaving lovely comments.  And I've been discovering some wonderful stuff as a result of popping over to your blogs to say hello - sorry if i haven't done that on your blog (if you have one), I've been having a busy week in the real world as well as the virtual one. 

I'm getting ready for a long weekend away visiting family - I'm taking the boys on a 3 hour train journey on my own tomorrow, and as R is quite prone to tantrums at the mo I feel like I need to do a lot of preparation!  But now that the toys, books and snacks are packed, I have a moment to share these 2 wonderful blogs, which have really inspired me this week....

Aren't these softies fabulous?

I love them, they're so quirky...but the best thing about them is, you can't buy them.  These are just a few examples of toys made by crafters all over the world - they call themselves The Toy Society, and they perform Random Acts of Craft - making toys and  leaving them in random places to be found by whoever comes along...

 

The blog for this amazing, generous, love-spreading project is here, please go and check it out, if only for the fuzzy feeling it will give you!  I am struggling to find time for sewing at the moment, but this has definitely made it onto my 'want to do' list.  It's just a lovely thing to do!

The other blog that has really touched my heart I discovered earlier today; my lovely friend Lou over at littlegreenshed has a new stockist (very exciting!) - the lovely looking shop/craft space Tenderfoot in Bristol (my gorgeous home town).  This is turning into a long story, but I think it's nice for you to explore all the links in the chain for yourself if you want to!

While checking out the tenderfoot blog, I read about the beautiful blog Lazy Crafternoons,  where Bristol boy Chris is co-ordinating an amazing 52 weeks, 52 crafts project.  Basically Chris and other guest makers are exploring a different craft every week of 2012, sharing tutorials and inspiration, and the results of their hard work and creativity are auctioned online in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

He has made some amazing things already, including this beautiful patchwork picnic bag ...

and these lovely seed paper gift tags...

What can I say?  Gorgeous things, and the fact that all the proceeds of Chris's hard work is going to charity is humbling and truly inspiring.  Please go and have a look, and spread the word about this wonderful project!

Well I've got a bit of a crazy day tomorrow, and then I'll be relaxing with lovely family for the weekend and I'll be back with you next week.  Don't forget about my  Vintage Fabric Rainbow Giveaway, you've still got plenty of time to enter before the Monday evening closing date.  And my first blog-related job when I get home will be putting all your names in a very pretty tin and choosing the winner!!  Very excited about that, I hope you are too.  

Welcome again if you're a new friend, I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Rachel x

what a week - peacocks and sunshine...

Wow what a week, a bit non-stop but pretty much all good thankfully.  Unbelievably I have won another treat, only a day after winning these!  

Bristol artist Rebekah Leigh Marshall had a giveaway on her Facebook page, and I was the third name out of 3 pulled out of her hat - I got to choose a print, and I have chosen this (with input from F, who has to live with a lot of things of mine that he wouldn't choose, so I thought it fair to involve him in the decision for once!) ...

Isn't it beautiful?! Go and check out her Etsy shop if you haven't seen her work before, it's got some gorgeous prints and cards in it.

And now the lovely Lou has given me a Sunshine Award, which involved answering the following questions and passing them on to another 5 fabulous sunshiney bloggers:

Colour: The point where blue and green meet, variously called teal, turquoise, or aqua depending on the tone -  
            although I'm currently very keen on yellow!

Animal: Cat or bird, depending on my mood - cat for lazing about, bird for freedom (& nest building!)

Non-Alcoholic drink:  Strong coffee in the morning, Earl Grey tea in the afternoon

Facebook or Twitter:   Facebook cause I have a lot of friends who live far away. I have never tweeted, don't think  
           I would know how (or why!).
Getting or giving presents:  Giving, I love choosing just the right thing for someone. When it comes to getting, I  
           prefer to choose for myself cause I'm such a control freak - isn't that awful?!
Flower: Apple blossom
Pattern: bold 60s floral, geometric, spots, stripes - very hard to choose this one!!
Passion: colour & kids, fabric & family, pattern & parenting - variations on a theme!
Number: 5 (same as Lou, another thing we've got in common along with mid-century mania!) 

As you can see I am no good at choosing one thing when 2 or 3 will do! and now I pass these questions onto....

Caroline, Siane, Jo, Karen and Jenny

I don't know any of you lovely ladies well, having met over t'internet through enjoying each others' blogs, so I'll be interested to see what you all answer, and who you link to next...

Hope it's sunny where you are, thanks for stopping by!

Rachel x

vintage and flea, part 2

Here's a few more pics of the Vintage market on Sunday, I got a bit carried away with my camera as you can see...

The market is held in a conference room at our local football stadium, I loved the contrast between these ladies with their pretty hats and the background picture of hairy men shouting and chasing balls!

 

a rail of pretty aprons - the fruity one was hard to resist....

I like the cheeky expressions on these 2's faces...

 

 some more lovely patterns, I was very taken with the orange, yellow and turquoise circles....

I got chatting to the lady who runs this stall, she had 2 lamp bases that need nice vintage shades, I make lampshades out of vintage fabric - hopefully we'll do a swap...could be the start of a beautiful friendship!

and finally, the curtains that couldn't be resisted....

I must take a better photo of them, but this will do for now.  Me and Lou liked the way the zig-zag pattern looks like giant ric-rac, and I'm a sucker for a daisy shaped flower, so they came home with me, along with a lovely mid-century tea towel.  My tea towel collection will be shared another day, they deserve at least one post all to themselves!

Hope today is treating you well, thanks for popping by.

Rachel x

vintage & flea - rummaging heaven!

Well much as I love my boys, I'm afraid Mother's day morning was not about me as a Mum, but about me as a vintage & retro addict.  I headed off to the Bristol Vintage & Flea Market which is held monthly just round the corner from my house, with a good friend who isn't really into that kind of thing, but loves me enough to wait with a cup of tea while I got over-excited about the stalls! 

I used to be a sucker for a box of shiny things, but nowadays I'm happy with a photo....

Love the mad expression on this deer's face!

 A lovely vintage style cat from Katie May's Bears....

 If I'd started looking through the scarves, I would have been there all day...

I found that having my camera made it easier to be restrained, if something had a gorgeous pattern on it, I could just take a photo instead of giving it a new home in my already over-crowded house.

I love these 70s M&S trays - I'm glad I already  have a matching tea towel in blues, as I really don't need any more trays but this pattern is hard to resist!

This little basket was very tempting, with its cheerful yellow and floral motif...

 

  and I love the bright concentric circles on this box...

While I was there I bumped into the lovely Lou, and we spent a bit of time ooohing and aaahing over some rather fabulous curtains, one pair of which I managed to resist (a tad too extravagant, though gorgeously scandi), and one which I didn't - a photo of them will be shared tomorrow!  After all that I allowed my friend to steer me in the direction of a nice local cafe for brunch, and then I was off home to build a den with my boys. A very good day!

Monday has rolled around all too quickly, here we are again - hope you have a good one.

Rachel x