Utility China Jackpot

Hello!

Ooh I am in such a good mood today, I couldn't wait to share my huge utility china find.

Discovered in a lovely hospice shop in Berkhamsted, its from the Meakin Rosa collection and there was no way I was leaving it there.

It consists of seven large plates, seven small plates, three bowls, two cups and saucers, two gravy boats and a vinaigrette pourer which may or may not actually be part of the set, but it matches.

And I am so glad to have given it a home, it will be used regularly, and loved for years to come.

Thank you charity shop gods for shining down on me :)

XG

Emporium

At Big Girls Craft Club last week I took some snaps of Emporium for my blog, as there are sooo many lovely bits and bobs and little details that I wanted to share :)

Pretty Cath Kidston oilcloth topped tables

Little handmade bunting strung across a dresser

One off art pieces and vintage crockery

Cute little applique t-shirts for little people

Gorgeous mugs and artwork

Lovely little vintage trios and Jan Constantine mugs

Handknitted bags, and vintage glasswear

oooh and more lovely china

And this gorgeous fireplace with handsewn artwork on the walls...

...oh and there I am in the mirror!

XG

The Collection So Far...

Hello my lovelies :)

Time for my weekly round up of Utility China 

(well, it seems to be weekly at the moment. I have a problem, a serious problem!)

Say hello to these newbies:

4 yellow saucers - sadly no cups :( 

(10p each)

One little yellow stamp-less jug

(£1.50)

And its nice to bring the colours together...

The Yellows

The Blues

The Pinks

The Greens

And the whole collection which, lets be honest, has rather spiraled out of control!

Ahhh it does look lovely though doesn't it?

All the colours brought together (need more green!!)

Its so strange how the different styles all match even though they are by different pottery companies

So I'd like to know...what are you collecting?

*Collecting - also know as "hunting down like a madwoman"

XG

Fridays Tops II

Hi all, hope you have had a fabulous Friday. Its been so nice having some sunshine! People have actually ventured outside without a coat! Anyway, after your lovely comments on my Fridays Tops post last week I thought I would (try to) make this a regular on my blog.

So here is Fridays Tops II

This cute little vintage style sweater was a birthday present from the BFs mum (she and I have very similar taste, she always choses things I love!) Its grey with little machine embroidered hearts in red, blue, black, pastel pink and white and I've teamed it with this bright red plastic beady necklace which I've had for ages, but always forget about. 

Its quite nice for a bold flash of colour, as are these Joules beady bracelets which match really nicely with the sweater, and the red necklace.

So with that goes a pair of jeans (its not a long enough top to wear leggings - number one rule when wearing leggings - cover your bum with a long top!!) and these little grey ruffled shoes (Primark) and a little navy polka dot bag (borrowed from my sister!)

And, as its still pretty chilly around here, I'll wear it with my bright blue jacket - I think its called a swing jacket - anyone enlighten me? Its 3/4 sleeves and is prettied up with a cheapy corsage from Primark.

So there we have week 2 of Fridays Tops!

Feel free to join in and share your tops/frocks/shoes...anything goes!

xG

Today I...

...Wore my new multi coloured polka dot pumps...

...they put a spring in my step...

...they made me feel 'spring like'...

...Baked a yummy plum and orange cake...

...my very favourite cake at Emporium...

...what have you done today?...

XG

Still Loving...

The other week I had the afternoon off from work so went for a little wander through Crouch End which is just down the road from me. I hadn't been down there for a while, but had to get a birthday card for the BF so I popped into the card/gift shop and found these little lovelies. The blue one is obviously for him. Surprisingly, he actually is a fan of all the Keep Calm and Britainia stuff, so I think he'll like this one.

The other one, well I think I may just frame it :)

This popped into the basket as it was something I was admiring on a tea towel in John Lewis the other week and almost bought, but this is much nicer than a tea towel that will just get mucky and faded. This is pretty apt for me, especially as I am really enjoying my cooking at the moment, more and more is made completely from scratch, and that makes me very happy indeed.

After finishing up in the card shop I dropped into the charity shop and spotted this mug at the back of a shelf, I almost didn't reach to get it out, expecting it to be overpriced as a 'new' item. But I turned the tag around and saw that little number, just ONE pound. One pound!!

I've also seen this mug in John Lewis, and its on their website priced at £10! 

So all in all a pretty good buy.

Funny how they all matched though...

And the love affair with all things 'Keep Calm' and Union Jacks continues.

I do love a nice mug, especially one with a nice retro twist.

X

Fridays Tops!

Inspired by the lovely Charl over at Pretty Vintage and her brilliant Friday Frocks blog post I thought I'd do a little Fridays Tops (probably just for today, but I suppose I could make it a new weekly thing, any thoughts?) I chose tops over frocks as although I do wear dresses, I don't have loads to share. Tops on the other hand are my weakness. I currently have about two pairs of jeans that I can actually squeeze into these days, and a handful of dresses, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in my leggings collection would you?!

So this is the Top for today, its a sheer chocolate blouse from Primark with a lovely lace panel across the neckline. Its got nice length sleeves too, 3/4s but a little bit too short for this weather were having this week(rain? again! I thought it was spring!)

I wear this with a little peachy coloured vest underneath, and with some dark blue jeans and have accessorized it with a long white rosey necklace.

And this cute little over the body bag from Primark (again! Yes, I'd love to do the vintage clothes thing, but I have little to no patience when it comes to searching the rails. How do you find good stuff that is also the right size!!??) Anyway, the bag:

Cute - check

Floral - check

Bargain - check! 

£3!

So there is my Fridays Top.

Would you like to see more?

Your thoughts please

xxx

G

Little Details

I just have some pretty photos to share today :)

Sparkles and Roses

Turquoise Butterfly

Floral Pumps

Rosy Candle

Green Patriotism 

Hope you don't mind?

:)

XG

Blue and Yellow

The other week at Big Girls Craft Club I was presented with this gorgeous retro/vintage style recipe box from Sandy as a thank you for teaching one of her children's classes when she was unable to make it.

 I was so surprised and so chuffed as its lovely, and just the thing for storing all those recipes torn from magazines and printed off the internet.

Sandy reads my blog and says she thought of me when she saw it. Well it is very me! Pretty, retro, and foodie! And its got six fab sections for starters, veggies, fish, meat, baking and puddings (the last two are of course my faves!) So here is another thank you for Sandy!! :)

Other new blue and yellow lovelies brought home were these two utility china finds:

Johnson Bros Greydawn plate £1

Meakin Sunshine bowl £2

Happy Days 

:)

x

Big Girl's Craft Club First Night!

Wednesday 2nd March saw the evening launch of the new Big Girl's Craft Club at Emporium Tearooms. I made up some little brooch craft kits for the evening for people to purchase and make during the class if they didn't have a project on the go!   

These are the little colourful kits all made up in advance. I love making up things like this, although it does take a long time its so nice seeing them all finished! 

The lovely Sandy (who organised the whole night) made some really great and unique little kits too, from cute Easter Bunny Embroidery kits, to greeting cards, vintage beaded hearts, pretty decoupage pictures, and cute lavender cupcakes and birds.

Some of the kits all lined up...

So there were lovely Emporium style refreshments to be had (including a naughty piece of cake!!) and the evening went really well;  

I am pleased to say I made some progress on my hexagon quilt!

We had a great little John Lewis pink sewing machine and the bag from Cath Kidston 'Sew' book was started during the evening! 

Here I am with my little quilt (notice the cake has already disappeared!!)

We had both hand and machine sewing, some wonderful knitting, embroidery and crochet.

All crafts welcome!

(how clever is this knitting!?!)

Easter Bunny embroidery by Sandy!

So we are very much looking forward to the second meeting on Wednesday 16th March 8-10pm

and if anyone is interested in joining the club, the more the merrier!

Click here to find out more about the class, and about Emporium too!

XG