Category Archives: gemma

Goodies 2

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So my glee in Belfast’s sources continued on Sunday in the most excellent collaborative of iconic, collectible vintage and retro pieces I have ever seen under one roof, at the Retro Rooms. There are lots of great photos at this link, but here are my most covetable, jaw dropping, stamp-my-feet-i-want-it items.

I have a chair fetish, and here are two of the best samples in the best colours I have ever seen in real life!

A pair of these Vintage Danish 1970 swivel Egg Chairs in Danish Blue wool from Original Compulsive Design..

Danish 1970's Egg Chair

 

This original Eames Chair by the same people.. in my ultimate colour..

Eames Chair

 

And here is what I got.. this image care of Frock Around the Clock blog

Coupe Glasses

 

Peuter Candleabra

I was delighted to meet the lady at It’s Vintage Darling, who hales from my townland Co. Armagh, with wares from her Armagh shop, and got this long hunted for candleabra complete with pink candles, yum. And Coupe champagne glasses, a collectable for me..Cant wait to visit..

Finally no day out is complete without a few remnants..

Crochet blanket

 

This mustard crochet blanket funks up a tired old chair in the nursery..

 

And unless Im mistaken this pink and mint lace linen is quite original, or else died in the wash! Love it.

Baby pink linen

Hints of Pink

 

Picks out my touches of pink very well.

I’m tickled pink! x

Weekend Goodies 1

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Sparrow Wall decals by Olive Owl Art

I’m excited to share the abundance of Belfast’s talent and wares available this weekend. The first ever ‘Home Souk’ on Saturday was a real treat of fabulous art, uniquely crafted homey items, hand-picked treasure and memorabilia, and upcycled furniture. This swoop of swallows I got from Cassie of Olive Owl Art just give my kitchen wall a breath of fresh air, and my step a little skip when i see them. They set off my collection of kitchen finds very well too..

Sparrow Wall decals by Olive Owl Art

Here is Cassie of Olive Owl art and Liz with the rest of their wares. Liz of The Green Peach had some funkily painted crockery, love that pink cadillac! And those silhouette cushions! Check out their etsy shops for more inspiring stuff.

One of my favourite retailers at the Souk is Hola Lola.. the shop is a colourful fairly traded and ethically sourced feast.. I will have to do another post of all the fab things I have from there..

Hola Lola

And the wonderful Jenny of Hola Lola was selling these deliciously quirky hand designed plates

Jenny's plates

It was very inspiring to meet all sorts of people showcasing their business inititiatives.. people with this kind of get-up-and-go and-actually-do-it, amaze me! i think it takes a lot of confidence.

I met Roisin McCrory who will upcycle, repurpose or personalise any piece of furniture you might have a special place in your heart for.. see more on her website

And what about these lovely ladies, selling authentically African handmade goods, from repurposed plastic bottles, useful for lots of little jobs, and with all funds going to source.. lovely!

South african handmade boxes

All in all, it’s the kind of day out, that makes shopping fun, personal, and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling of voting with your banknotes in aid of all things green, pretty, unique and ethical. *happy sigh*..

Something for the weekend..

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There’s something about ‘Style magazine of the Sunday Times.. I love it, and hate it. The narcissistic, no holes barred attitude that oozes through its hedonistic, super cool pages is just, well, addictive. A dear friend kept me the 23/01 edition, to update me on a website which could be of help to any budding Salvage Sista.. www.fashism.com.

Here you ditch the unreliable advice of your sweet friends, mother, boyfriend et al who will pretty much tell you anything to get you to go away, get out of the house/shop, shut-up.. and let the self appointed fashion critics of the internet help you out..

So throwing all caution and self consciousness to the wind I thought I’d seek their advice on my little christmas present I wrote about in this post.

Check out what they said here… I must say I think I got some worthwhile, applicable, helpful advice.. my favourite comment is “no, a denim jacket does not make anything cool..” mmmmph. tart.

On a lighter style note.. Do you like these one piece ski suits I acquired for a hen do Skiing in Scotland last weekend!

 

Souk and Frock Finds..

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So a few sundays ago was profound in Belfast for any vintage loving, re-using, retro, pre-loved finder!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was out at ‘Frock around the Clock’ and ‘The Fashion Souk’.

You’ve seen lots of my Souk finds in previous posts, and here are a few of Sunday’s finds and photos.. and if this excites you.. this weekend could be EVEN jucier! Especially if you have a thing for homey vintage and retro comforts. The lovely founders of both events are running ‘home’ events..

The Home Souk launching this Saturday at the Europa hotel, by the fabulous Alyson of the Fashion Souk

The Retro Rooms Show (Vintage interiors and Design for the modern home) created by Frock around the Clock’s Becky is on this Sunday at the Holiday Inn, Ormeau Avenue

Teddy hat from the Fashion Souk

ear baby..

Treasure at Frock around the Clock

Circa Ceramics at 'Frock'

Style advise at 'frock'

MK Vintageusa at 'frock'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can’t wait for a busy foraging weekend!

Find Circa Ceramics and MKVintageusa on facebook.. Cant remember the name of the little hat creator.. does anyone know?

Frockin’ big day out..

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Oh I’m all in a ‘flapper’! It’s a shopper’s delight this sunday in Belfast.  As well as the aforementioned Fashion Souk, ‘Frock around the Clock‘ pioneered by the fabulous Becky Moore is on this week at The Holiday Inn, Ormeau Road.

You can check out sneak peaks of her stallholders on facebook.

Personally, I’m on the hunt for a 20’s/ 30’s style flapper/shift dress.. love that era! The hats, the cropped hair, the red oxblood lips! If you’re not sure what to look for, you’ll get lots of ideas from all eras from the vintage clad ladies there..

Becky explains:

We bring together Irish vintage dealers and creative-designers to sell a fabulous array of vintage clothing and fashion accessories, jewellery, furniture, homewares, textiles and lace, dolls and bears, collectables, hand made items created from recycled vintage textiles, and much more.
Nowhere else in Northern Ireland can you find such a vast collection of quality vintage items dating from the early 1900s through to the 1980s, alongside perfectly restyled and recycled designs, all under one roof.

Why not make it a big day out, and hit the Fashion Souk AND the Frock around the Clock.. you are guaranteed to be draped with original goodies, and all whilst supporting local traders and making ethcial choices with your fashion feet..

I hope to bring you photos from my day out at both events… see you there! xx

‘Souk’ it and see!

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What with so much number crunching to do these days after tax increases, exponential fuel prices.. blah blah blah, the good news is, in Belfast you can still get your fashion kicks without the guilt, self fladgelating or tesco blue stripe diets afterwards! Everyone knows, a sneaky little purchase is a stress reliever, and mood enhancer.. it’s proven! It does actually increase your ‘dopamine’ – natural high chemical in the brain!

The Fashion Souk is our very own monthly fair fashion market, and the brainchild of local green goddess Alyson McElroy Jones.

I’ll let the lovely founders explain more..

“A new year a new Souk!
The Fashion Souk is Northern Ireland’s only fair-fashion market, we continue to Build on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ethos, promoting ethical consumerism and informed shopping.
Supporting more then 50 designer/makers from across Ireland every month and with more than 60 stalls on offer The Fashion Souk offers gorgeous revamped, upcycled, previously loved and locally made fashion and has already become a monthly staple in the green fashionistas diary.”

Here I am with my some of my favourite people running a stall at the Souk’s ‘Humble Jumble’.. a fab way to weed out your wardrobe, and spend the day with good friends..

Humble Jumble

Hard work

Great for baby clothes too!

And here’s a few of my choice finds from the Souk of late..

The Christmas party dress

inspired by this Loris Doran no..

Workin it

The LBD

Work wardrobe - Classic Rouched blouse

work wardrobe - wrap dress. Chunky knit waistcoat - in!

The next Fashion Souk is at the Europa hotel on the 6th Feb 11 – 5 pm, I’m on the hunt for a vintage dress… See you there!

Find them on facebook for more details..

Christmas Woolen theme.. A salvage sisters challenge!

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Just a quick drop in from me.. the sister who seems to lose all faculties and ability to pertain to life’s usual rhythm at christmas. Yes cooking a meal becomes a 100m sprint to the till with all the other people cooking the exact same meal at the exact same time, and my proud moment of starting the presents early betrays me into a last minute dash for the ones I had left till later.. aaah. New year, my favourite festive time.. And a Happy one to all/any readers!!

So on the wool and fashion shoot theme here is a controversial little number Salvage sis stashed into my christmas box along with all the hand made delights she has been enlightening you of.

wool skirt, or is it a snood?!

anything with a denim jacket looks cool?!

yay or nay?

I also got her a thrifty skirt find, and much to the families hoots I had left the charity label proudly on to show what a good ‘find’ it was! So here I am trying to work it. It’s close to the line.. but have I made it to the cool retro side of the line, or am I hanging on the Gran side? I wore it all day and man it really keeps your bum warm, so Granny’s you know what you’re talking about!

Oh and on the wrapping front.. look at this little number from my bro in law James, an elitest in the wrapped department!

beaut eh? and proof of a white christmas!

Coming up, can’t wait to tell you about a Charity Clothes swap and fashion auction I helped to organise in December.. for a sneak peek check the album on facebook here..

Retro Vanity

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Remember my little project I adopted from East Belfast Mission, in the July post ‘A Belfast favourite for useful finds’.

Well i finally got to it.. here are some of the avenues of inspiration I got from the beautiful world of my favourite blogs..

'Grellow' dresser

mmm.. ‘grellow’.. warming, yet understated. See the whole post at Design dump.

Chest by Kfd Designs

A great ‘before and after‘ inspiration at the amazing ‘Design Sponge’ with this chest by Kfd designs which is also a great blog full of refurbing treats.

Love this vintage vanity shot I saw in this post at Bliss.

So I decided I was after quite a retro look, and the whole ‘Grellow’ thing had me feeling groovy..

And here he is finished..

I don’t love the colour, I wish I went for a grey or dusky blue for a more dramatic before and after! What do you think of the knobs? Should I choose one set keep it more uniform?

Go on and leave a comment with your thoughts.. I’m not precious, you know I love the banter, it’s only a coat of paint, and it’s my first real Salvage ‘makeover’ so be honest!  I must tell you about one of my blog heros Barb, from ‘Knack’ and her fabulous series ‘Before and After Basics‘ over on Design sponge if you’re looking for tips on this kind of thing. It’s worth reading the whole series!

One of the things I’ve always found offputting about painted furniture, is that it can look somewhat bland, or ‘flat’. Barbs super tips on staining and waxing the furniture after painting really bring your piece back to life, restoring it’s lustre and personality. And man do Barb’s pieces have personality! Thanks Barb..I think this one’s an Alfie!

I have updated this piece with some jewellery display.. I once realised that I always want more things in shops, just because they are so visual and displayed well, so I have tried to put my stuff out like a shop ever since!

it's all about the display!

update

Glamping salvage style..

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I simply have to rave about my recent girlie break.. so that you will go see it for yourself..

Tea pot lane luxury camp is just outside Bundoran, so if you happen to like jumping in the sea you have an incentive to go all year round, or maybe you need more local-ish festival action.

However an eco glamping (glamourous camping) weekend tucked up in a mongolian yurt complete with it’s own stove, bonfire area and dreamy fairy garden spaces strewn with hammocks is a package fit for any getaway, even you GHD clutching campers! We had communal use of her refurbished Irish cottage with it’s kitsch, cosy, yet sheek style, full of fabulous finds. As if that isn’t enough Derval’s pampering options in her own gorgeous home on site are a must for any glamper.. I can certainly reccommend her post surf back massage!

And if I could adopt a new salvage sister.. it would be this lady, her impeccable taste and style evident throughout the yurts, the cottage and her home had me scrutinising and smiling at every last detail all weekend.. heaven. Some piccies to get you started.. but with tipis and tree houses to stay in, on the horizon you only have once choice.. go check it out!

Salvage Wedding

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Take an engagement, a fleeting hilarious idea, a barn (well you could say shed), a family heirloom tractor, and quite a lot of enthusiasm, exertion and amazing friends and family and all their creativity, and you’ve got our Barn wedding.

It’s making me tired just browsing through all the photos of the whole process! But it was amazing to share the task with so many people dear to us, and on the day, before anyone took their seats they had all contributed in some way as their gift to us! Many hidden talents were unveiled after much initiative and lashings of humour! [slideshow]

A team of salvagers, gathered china cups busily for a few months, competing their way to the best bargain, and best design. We managed flowers ‘for free’, planting little pots of grass in advance. The dandelions to go in them were harvested well in advance, into the night actually, as their season was ending when I had the idea! I recieved a tip from a friend that hairspraying them preserves them after musing how much I loved their delicately perfect puffball form, and reminiscence of their ability to tell the time, when time mattered not a jot!

In keeping with the barn theme, my fabulous aunt created the ‘fresian frisky cow’ graphic for the stationary, and an incredible fruity fresian cake was created by a friend from uni.

The tractor which was my grandfather’s, had an excuse to be restored to it’s former glory, and was our open air carriage, and is now a family treasure! Check out the bunting in the outdoor shots which was exquisitely made by hand by my sister in law. I still look at it in awe when it is rolled out to create instant festive spirit at any event.

The dance floor was a large cutting of classic chequer print lino which is now our kitchen floor! In true salvage style, nearly all of our decor is used and re-used now in our home, at parties and for any fitting events we can find for it, but I  still need to find a fitting place in my home for the disco ball! (if you fancy more photos see www.adammcmurray.co.uk and look at Gemma and Ivan album)