new stock

Even though I've been quiet on the blog front, I have been busy making new stock and hunting out vintage treasures! I had a good week in my studio-shed, printing, dyeing and sewing while Chris took time off to look after Hesper. Bliss. The result is a range of larger sized lampshades (30cm Diameter), some cushions with my "foxy" design that I had only used on kids clothes before and some dip-dyed cloud cushions. I also replenished my smaller cushions and tea towels. Most of this has been put into my space at My Little Vintage, with some left for the next fair.

Did I take any decent photos before I took them away? of course not. Have I got to rely on Facebook photos?...yep.

I have found a new fabric for my lampshades, I am now using an off-white medium-weight power loom cotton. Still organic and ethically made, it is a lighter, smoother fabric than the linen and heavier cottons I used before. It creates a better finish when rolled into a shade and lets more light through. 

I have used the last of my lovely linen for some small cushions. I printed this Foxy design and backed with a lovely woollen check - remnants from a Derbyshire mill. Sadly, this linen is no longer available, so I experimented with an organic cotton twill - I'm so-so about this. The next lot will be made with a heavier weight grainy cotton, hopefully in different colours.

I've also been accumulating lots of vintage pieces and furniture to restyle. I finally got the opportunity to photograph and list in my Etsy shop. My favourite is this Yellow Hornsea Jardiniere, which is not only stunning but apparently scarce.

  

Check out my Etsy shop here.

Thank you

x

ps: I will have a table at the My Little Vintage Fair at The Granary at Fawsley, 22nd June 11-4!

New shop space

 I am very pleased to announce that as of today, Hesperoo now has a spot at My Little Vintage, Earls Barton! 

Ta dah...

It may only be a small spot but I think it is perfect for my stuff. I have decided to concentrate on my textiles, furniture and a few larger vintage pieces that complement the rest...

...like these vintage bottles and decanters. I have held onto these for a while because I LOVE them and they look really good in my home, plus they are great props for photographs. But, I cannot keep everything that I like (although I did keep one amber oil bottle for myself).As I have decided to only sell what I truly like, this may present a problem.

Fingers crossed it does well... need to stock up on more stuff now, how exciting!

buy, keep, sell

A couple of recent purchases... one sold before I had got around to blogging about it!
Excuse the dismal photos of the first one, taken on a grey day in my dark little house, but if I hadn't taken these, I would have no pics at all:

I found this outside a charity shop, with a pile of manky old plant pots all collecting rain. This caught my eye, it was covered in soil but there was just something about it... and I was right! It has the name "Vetter" underneath and the mark of West German pottery.  I'm used to seeing West German pottery with rich coloured glazes - browns, reds oranges. This had a stone base with a mottled white glaze on top, so it still has the texture of the "Fat Lava" pottery but in clean, neutral colours. It has a lovely, contemporary shape too. It was a good spot, because it sold within days!

This one's the keeper:

I found this in the same shop for £5. I think the frame is plastic and I thought it might look a bit too Disney-ish, but once on the wall I think I get away with it. 

I was thinking about antiquing the glass... will I ruin it? we shall see....

My Little Vintage Fair

Yesterday was our second ever attempt at having a stall at a vintage & handmade fair. Again, organised by My Little Vintage in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire. It was held in the Methodist Church next door to the MLV shop itself. Our first fair was before Christmas and although we did well, I wasn't expecting to do as well this time round. But I was wrong! The venue, or in particular our spot was fantastic, we had plenty of room to arrange our stock and there was a good stream of people through all day. 

We sold loads of stuff and received lots of positive comments which never do any harm! 

I wasn't organised enough to take any decent pics of my stall, but thankfully Chris took some with his iphone:

Recently I had been thinking about giving up on my handmade & screen printed textiles because I felt that they weren't doing as well as the vintage pieces. The materials are quite costly and it takes me so long to get a decent selection together, as I have such limited time. But as I sold several handmade pieces and received lots of encouragement, I have decided not to be so hasty and I'm now looking forward to getting creative again. 

My Little Vintage have lots of fairs planned throughout 2014 so do check out their Facebook page for news. Thank you!

...more pom pom cushions

...a few more cushions made, getting ready for my stall at the My Little Vintage fair on 23 November in Wellingborough!

new (and sold) in my shop

I've been experimenting lately with hand dyed fabrics and screen printing. I always like to play around with different materials and techniques as when I try to follow one way of thinking too rigidly, I get a bit stuck. I had the idea a long while back to experiment with dyeing techniques and print. Recently, I've managed to give it a go and a couple of pieces have sold! I have been dip dyeing fabric to create an 'ombre' effect...I know it is EVERYWHERE at the moment and I don't like to normally make something that is so ubiquitous but I do really like the effect. So far I have tried orange and blue dyes. The orange worked wonderfully as a lampshade as it really glowed when lit... like a bright sunset. This lampshade sold along with the small orange ombre cushion that I made without screenprinting.

I still have a rectangle cushion to match the lampshade in my Etsy shop: 

 ... And I have just listed this lampshade in linen with blue dye and a white cow parsley screen print. Co-ordinating cushions to be listed soon.