Monthly Archives: February 2012

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.

 

Blog Snog

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Let’s be open, I get a little thrill out of the communal love of blog! Who can deny the little flutter that comes with a comment, or a pingback or a ‘pin’ interest..

I’ll have to admit, I seem to be more into reading blogs, blog crawling or creeping as I think its known, than posting at the moment. Its why the Salvage Sisters are a great duo, right sis! What with the Sis upping her photos another notch, the inadequacy is ever greater to be a contributor to the beautiful world of blog.

I just wanted to rave about a few blogs I’ve been creeping lately, with a focus on good old Northern Ireland for today.. and give them more a peck on the cheek, than a snog! Phew.

First up the really and truly ‘Absolutely Glorious’ by Jenny, a fellow East Belfaster, and dreamy, inspiring and i’d say romantic blogger of life. She makes the everyday into something Sugared, Spiced and irresistable. Pop over to see her world of kitsch memorabilia, perfectly placed blooms, and charming muses on life. If you’re left longing for one of her irresistable looking bakes, check out her business Silver Spoon Society.

Next we have the artiste and mad hatter Aly over at Aly McLoughlin Harte. Here you’ll pick up a a dollop of positivity and a dash of the joy in every day in her fabuously honest, and hugely creative musings on the day to day of family life..

Lately, I was given a word up on Mel Wiggins, and all the more keen to read on, when I saw she hails from the Craigavon direction, near where I grew up! Assuming you’re a blog boff if you’re here, you’ll know that comeradery, and joy that comes from having something in common with someone you dont even know and have never met! What is that. Im still not sure. But I’ve been enjoying her adept skill at actually doing the things I intend to, like home made cosmetics and cleaning your house with vinegar, Acting up against Human Trafficking, and i loooove it – ‘Crafternoon Teas‘ for the fellow craft amateur/enthusiasts to unite in a joined purpose to create.

Now for those more reflective moments, when all your inventing, crafting, and thrifting is done I’d say Tell it in Colour, will lift your spirits and poke your positivity, and Steve Stockman’s Soul Surmisewill stir you up, especially if you like to go deeper in the everyday.. his analytical view of life and love through song lyrics is an alka seltzer for the soul..

Kissing booth!

 

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!?