Category Archives: collections

Vignettes 3

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This week, i am taking pictures of things that i like. So no change there.

Enamel, of course, features highly in my house. This french salt holder came from a wee stall at St. George’s market in Belfast. Its got a big hole in the bottom so needless to say, not much actual use for salt. The enamel candle holder behind is one of many…

I found this amazing old shoe polish box in a skip. Those are the absolute best salvage finds! As i don’t ever polish shoes, this holds other little trinkets, but is really all about display.

I love old tins of any description. This kitsch biscuit tin came from the salvage yard. I was a bit disappointed initially as it didn’t have a lid, but the next time i went back i recognised it instantly and was quite pleased with myself for reuniting the two.

Old quality street or roses tins are a big yes for me.

I have noticed that all vintage fans seem to have some kind of typewriter lurking around in their houses. I spied this one today for £3 in a charity shop on my way to the dentist (the dentist was probably wondering why i brought a typewriter to the appointment). A bit of research tells me the ‘petite’ range were actually made as toys, meaning that i probably won’t be able to get replacement tape. It is plastic but i was sold by the colour and retro look!

Anything involving birds has instant appeal to me at the moment. These china plates came from the salvage yard.

This Tala flour sifter came from a stall at the annual Meadows Festival in edinburgh. As you can see, it makes a great container for egg cups. (my purchases often end up fulfilling some other purpose, simply by being set on the shelf and then finding themselves happily housing some random collection of things.)

Plates racks are great inventions. I bought this one for a few pounds at Shelter charity shop (the really great one in Morningside). it had a lucky escape from being abandoned on the street outside tesco shortly after i bought it, as salvage sis and i were too busy sharing tips and ideas, and walked off without it.

 

Vignettes 2

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Its my day off and i’m fiddling around with the camera again. Today’s set of loved items come once again from around and about my home.

My vintage battered suitcase collection continues to grow. the middle one i picked out of a skip, to my delight i opened it to find a vintage eiderdown. it needed a bit of cleaning obviously but that is up there in my ‘best ever skip finds’ category. i have so many of these suitcases now that i have no idea where the other two came from exactly.

These vintage tiles came from the latest clear out at tullyroan, and i LOVE them! especially this birdie one. i remember mum had a huge collection of these tiles lined up along the conservatory. I am using them at the moment for heat mats, coasters etc, but the possibilites are endless….

This original Brownie camera belonged to my grandfather dalzell. Nanny let me take it away on the proviso that i would find it to be worth loads of money. Every time i go home she asks me how much it is worth, i always tell her not a lot (this is true) but i think she is finding it hard to accept. I was never interested in the funds but the vintage aesthetic, of course.

Whilst planning our wedding on the farm in 2005, i realised that each of the fields are named with beautifully evocative titles. So i used them to name each of the tables, and my auntie gladys painted these stones for us. They now sit one a piece on our stairwell and as i run up and down each day i am reminded of the sense of history behind our family farm. I wonder who thought up such mysterious names? I also have stones for Tam’s garden, Lawson’s meadow, and The tal.

My housemate kathryn made this french memo board for me at christmas. Isn’t it fab?

I am known to have a cushion problem. But i’m ok with that. Here we have another tullyroan salvaged item, i love this cover and have a vast collection of vintage floral cushions. The slip cover was made very amateurishly by me a few years ago. My advice – use a pattern if you ever think to attempt such a complicated task. (i didn’t).

Vignettes 1

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I have had a bit of time recently to browse the wonderful.worldwide.web in search of some creative inspiration. i seem to always end up getting sidetracked down a photography rabbit hole, where i dream of being able to take pictures like those i see on blogs. having recently upgraded my camera to canon 5d mk II, i suddenly am feeling the need to ‘up my game’ so to speak in the photo department. there is so much to learn and it takes time and patience, and a lot of trial and error, to develop one’s own style and understanding of the technical side of things, the latter of which has never come naturally to me. So in this my latest blog series, i am simply going to be enjoying and experimenting with the process of taking pictures in my own home of the things i love. Sometimes digital slr photography can easily become a bit lazy, as the camera can do so much intuitively without the person behind the lens having to think too much. so bear with me as i experiment a bit in the next few posts.

Silhouette pictures seem to be enjoying a rising popularity at the moment. i picked these little ones up in a great edinburgh charity shop called St. Columba’s Hospice.

These french-style glass storage jars came from…you got it…a charity shop, this time in Crieff.

There was something about this clock when i first saw it, upturned on the rain-soaked trestle tables at my favourite salvage yard. And there’s something about the time too being 10.30 (from which it never moves). its a great time of the day at both ends, where you are either sitting down to morning tea, or considering the home straight to bed via a few fiddly jobs that invariably take about an hour…

i found these interesting little paintings when clearing out what was known as ‘nanny’s cubby hole’ at Tullyroan, sort of like bits n bobs heaven. the second one has no frame but i quite like the mis-match.

I’ve got a notion for dainty bird images at the moment (see my pinterest birdie board). This toast rack, now a letter holder, came from the country living christmas fair a few years ago in glasgow.

Ahhh the crochet blanket collection. the must-have vintage accessory (in addition to the enamel bread bin). most of these have been collected up from charity shops.

this picture hangs above our bed. its a very clever canvas, painted black with a photo stitched on. its by my friend miriam mcwilliam.

 

Magpie moments 5: Vintage bread bins

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Things have been a bit barren on the creative front this month, perhaps owing to the december rush for making christmas presents (of which i forgot to take any pictures this year). So my series on collections will continue for now, this time moving gracefully away from tea and its associates, to bread bins. This is a kind of ‘sub-section’ of my wider enamelware collection, more of which to follow. However the bread bin is a good place to start as i think it represents the quintessential enamel piece, the cornerstone item of any self-respecting vintage aficionado. Of course, given their generous size and effortless style, they make great containers for all sorts of things aside from the lowly loaf….

This was my first enamel purchase, back in the early collecting days of 2004. It was from a great vintage shop on Gilmore place which seemed to vanish not long after gemma and i discovered it. Napkins hide in here.

This one is from my old faithful salvage yard near Musselburgh, but came minus the lid. One day i’ll hopefully find a replacement. We store extra cereal in here…..wait a second! is that coco pops i see??! must be from Ivan’s visit last week.

This is a true salvage find – a bread bin belonging to my granny, plucked from the ashes of her abandoned kitchen before my brother could cart it off to the scrap yard. When i first opened it, i found a perfectly formed little mouse skeleton, so i’m guessing she hadn’t been using it for while. What better place to store surplus tea cups?

This one i inadvertently purchased at an auction for £5, i had no idea the auctioneer had tipped me for the bid (i wasn’t bidding) but i ended up with it somehow. Being also of a lid-less affliction, this one comes to life in summer at the front door, housing some lovely calendula to greet our visitors.

This is probably my favourite one, though not strictly speaking of the vintage era. I have a red theme in the kitchen department, hence this is the one we use for actual bread (or, as it seems at present, crisp) storage. But the main reason i love it is because it came straight from a skip, covered with a thick layer of grease and in need of some love. It washed up beautifully! Who on earth would throw such a lovely thing away!?

Magpie Moments 4: teapot friends

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At the risk of this ‘collections’ series being only about tea and related paraphernalia, please bear with me for one more post whilst i pay homage to my dear teapot collection. Begun many years ago, my teapots are all dear to me and have been carefully selected/gifted by various special people and places. Unlike many of my other pointless but endearing collections, this lot actually get an awful lot of use….

A good place to start is the backbone of the series, the staple daily pot that houses a multiplicity of teabags across the daily grind.

This was given to me by my friend Lora, after my original chrome-covered and insulated one belonging to Granny K was sadly smashed to smithereens. These teapots were first produced during the art deco period, and were manufactured under the British makers Everhot and Heatmaster. The ones with Bakelite knobs are very traditional, and worth more.

I have a growing collection of Cornish Blue crockery, and this teapot is the crowning jewel, given to be me by my pal Julie. It was previously my staple daily pot until it sadly got chipped at the spout, hence the rubber appendage as seen in the picture to remedy the resultant wonky pour.

I picked up this Cornish Blue teapot (domino spot range) last weekend in an antique shop in London for £5. Its got a crack at the bottom hence the bargain price, but still holds it’s tea splendidly well!

This little dinky enamel pot was also a gift from Julie, paired with a perfectly fitting vintage tea-cosy all the way from New Zealand. Whilst this little friend gets plenty of use, it has an unfortunate habit of delivering minor burns to the hand of the pourer, enamel being a rapid heat conductor. But a small price to pay for the use of a lovely little traditional pot with a very fine pour…

When it comes to leaf tea, this Avoca pot from sister is just the ticket. Two-tone pink, perfect friends with many of my cosies, and a quality fine filter inside for those sophisticated tea moments.

The most recent addition to the family, this Suki teapot was a gift from my sister-in-law this Christmas. I love the Japanese design, and its stackable! How many teapots can boast such a versatile feature?

Ok, so strictly speaking this is a coffee pot, but i just wanted to highlight the increasing popularity of these Picquotware items, which are going for a pretty penny on ebay at the moment, especially a full set of tea, coffee, cream and sugar pots on an original tray. The line was originally created mainly in the 40s with production continuing to this day, with a full set now retailing at around £500.

Rarely used but important nonetheless, this little one pot Spode ‘flemish green’ series fills a gap in the smaller end of the teapot spectrum. Rarely used because tea for one is an uncommon event around here.

Mentioned in a previous post, this teapot ignited my interest in Catherineholm enamelware. So far my only item, owing to the extreme difficulty of getting ones hands on any of it, this is an ode the charity shop trawl, having picked this up for £1 in a village charity shop in the borders during an idle moment. Too good to use!

More enamelware! This is one of a pair of traditional enamel teapots, the other being bright orange yet still managing to evade me in some unsuspecting corner of the house meaning i haven’t photographed it.

Here endeth the teapot tour!

Magpie Moments 3: Tea Tins

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Back to my little series on collections…and remaining in the tea theme, allow me to showcase my tea tins. Here they are stacked haphazardly in the cupboard. Shame to hide them away but one can only have so many things on display. As you can see one has to practical sometimes, and thus i have labelled them on the outside, though not aesthetically pleasing, pretty necessary in a busy tea-fuelled household.

Lets have some close ups. The easiest ones to find are the chinese style black and red tins, some older than others. Others have all manner of scenes and styles, check out the gold and turquoise number in the background! Very kitsch.

I recently came across these Jacksons of Piccadilly vintage tins. Definitely too pretty to actually use. I am currently bidding on a nice red version on ebay – wonder how many others there are out there to find?!

Magpie moments 2: Tea cosies

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I am a big fan of all things tea, and many of my veritable collections relate to tea. So my next magpie moment post is about the ever-expanding collection of tea cosies. With vintage revival in full swing, these linen embroidered types are re-emerging all over the place.

The one on the right was the inspiration that begun the collection, a tea cosy belonging to the original salvager, our lovely mama. These ones are actually a bit too small to be of any actual use…Moving on to some more modern examples, the pink was a recent christmas present, and i made the coffee cosy for my husband last year (now obsolete as he has now transitioned to a Nespresso man from a cafetiere kinda guy).

The floral & tweed one was a gift from a fellow sewing guru. I loved the embroidery scene on the other one – the most recent addition to the collection via the usual route (charity shop).
Some other embroidered examples from the large cosy end of the spectrum.

This little beauty came from an antique shop in New Zealand; we were in need of some warmer conditions for out little teapot in the camper van (not to mention our little selves but that’s another matter). I was delighted to come back and find that it fitted snugly onto my favourite but completely impractical enamel tea pot (3rd degree finger burns after each contact).

And here they all are, nice and cosy together and basking in display glory…

Magpie Moments 1: Brooke Bond Teacards

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It has been noted by many that i am an avid collector of an assortment of things. This is the first in a little series celebrating what i am now calling my ‘magpie moments’.

I picked up a bundle of these little cards a few years ago at a car boot sale, intrigued by the eclectic range of delicately painted animals. I’m not sure if i could call myself a collector, but i have since gathered up a few other ranges, my favourite being ‘Wild Birds in Britain’, printed in 1965 as part of a 50-card set. The british wildlife painter Charles Tunnicliffe did most of the bird sets. I’m currently on the hunt for some of the very pretty Wildflower sets.

Although i didn’t realise it at the time, the cards were distributed in Brooke Bond tea packs, later known as the familiar PG Tips. Similar to cigarette cards, although with a much shorter history, they became very collectable particularly in the 50’s and 60’s, with the last cards being issued as late as 1999.

1. Robin 2. Nuthatch 3. Redshank

I recently decided they were too good to hide away in a box, and thus started my latest greeting card range, the most labour-free design i have come up with yet. Apply a few sticky foam pads to the beautiful birdies, mount with some dark background card and hey presto! Here are a few of my ornithologic highlights…

The Glory Hole

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I was delighted to recently discover a new place to forage for finds. The Glory Hole in Innerleithen, Scottish Borders, is the source of these latest treasures – a selection of collector’s Cornishware, and a beautiful vintage embroidered tea-cosy to add to the respective collections. To get into the shop, the owner had to come out the front door, there being only one passage though the precarious piles of suitcases, door-knobs, lettering stamps, china, carpets, silverware and furniture. I know where I’ll be spending my lunch break these days…