Getting Ready for Chiswick School Car Boot ....

I've had a day off work today and no car because it's in the garage getting itself (very expensively) mended.  So my thoughts turned to the weekend and, in order to off set some of the car expense, I think I shall go along to the Chiswick Community School Car Boot Sale on Sunday.  This has two advantages - getting rid of the things I wonder why I bought in the first place and hopefully raising some money.  Of course, there are disadvantages.  When I tried this boot out in February (yes, February) I arrived to join the queue at 4.10 am and I was in 54th place!   I must say that I doubted the hype I've heard about this boot.  A lovely lady, Julie,  who buys from me quite often (she has impeccable taste) does it every time and swears by it.  She arrives at 3.30 am.  My neighbour, who deals in vintage and designer wear, says the people she knows who go there queue overnight.  Anyway, I must say that despite the early start and the horrible loos, it was worth going along so roll on Sunday.

I had to have a trial run as I will not have as much space as I would at Kempton Park Antiques Fair or Shepton Mallet Flea, so I pulled everything I thought I might take out of the garage and did a mock up.  Here it is ....

Wish me luck!

Back to reality ....

Northern man and I are back home complete with sun tans, jet lag and presents for the deserted offspring who had to survive on ready meals and do their own washing.  This is where we went ...

and then here ...

and then here ...

What do you mean 'Where's that?'.  This is the Governer's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, a place I've been wanting to visit for the last 30-odd years.   It's part original, part re-construction, of the capital of colonial Virginia dated about 1775 and it is a wonderful place to spend a few days.  Many of the buildings can only be seen on a guided tour but as these go in every 10 to 15 minutes that's not a hardship.  The guides are knowledgeable and very willing to answer questions.  Many other buildings are set up as shops or workshops of the period - silversmith, apothecery, milliners, blacksmiths, and so on.  My particular favourite was, of course, the milliners.  

This lovely piece of embroidery, based on an original design in the Williamsburg collection, is an underskirt and was stitched by the lady doing the talks in the milliner's shop.

But, as we all know, other people's holiday photos can be very boring and I'm sure all of you, regular readers or visitors who have wandered into this blog by mistake,  want to see what I've been doing craft-wise. This is something I painted before we went away ..

It's a modern butler's tray and started off painted in white gloss with a plasticky base.  A little sandpaper and some paint have, I hope, improved it considerably.  The base coat is a mixture of the ends of several pots of emulsion which made a rather nice green colour and I gave it a crackle effect ...

For anybody who doesn't know how to do this cheaply and effectively you simply base coat your article with a water-based paint, slap on a thick layer of PVA children's glue (the thicker the glue, the bigger the crackles) which you leave to dry and then top off with another coat of water-based paint in the same or another colour.  You can then paint it, decoupage it, or leave it plain.  You will need to seal the paint with a varnish before you polish it as the PVA is not waterproof. Simples.

An early Happy Easter ....

Northern Man and I are off on our travels again over Easter so I'm sending my greetings to you all early.  I have, or course, been knitting for the occasion - Easter chicks this time ...

Knitted Easter chicks

There is a similar pattern here.  I found this pattern through a lovely blog called Knot Garden which you should visit if you are a knitter.

Last year I knitted some Easter eggs from this pattern and I'd love to show them to you.  But, as so often happens to me these days, I have lost them or, to be more accurate,  have forgotten where I put them.  If I can't walk from one room to another without forgetting why I've done it what chance do I have with things I did a year ago?

While we are on the subject of knitting I want to show you some lovely things I found at the car boot sale last weekend ....

Vintage knitting bag, needles and gauges

I bought this lovely vintage knitting bag which contained a splendid collection of old knitting needles and gauges.  The gauges are objects of fascination to me ...

Vintage knitting gauges

The one that looks like a score board allows you to record increases and rows, measures your needles, and has a built-in ruler!  

Strawberries for Kempton Park ....

Tomorrow is Kempton Park Antiques fair and, as the school holidays have arrived, I can go and browse to my heart's content.  I also have to go to deliver some strawberries I have been busy stitching over the last week or so.  If you ever get a chance to visit Kempton Park Antiques Fair, which is held on the 2nd and last Tuesdays of each month you really should visit Lynn's stall.  She is in the Paddock Hall by the ladies' loo (not a very glamorous address).  Her stall is packed with lovely things which are a feast for the eyes and bring joy to my heart: toys, flowers, decorative bits, fabrics and of course, velvet strawberries. 

Velvet strawberries

If you fancy trying some velvet strawberries of your own there is a pattern here.

 

As well as the strawberries I have had another go at producing felt rabbits with mixed success.   I'll show them to you if you promise to do any sniggering behind your hands so that I can't see or hear you.

This one was an improvised pattern ...

Felt rabbit or hare?

With his nose in the air like that he reminds me a little of the hare in 'Guess How Much I Love You'.

This one is based on another of my mother's old toy patterns.  I don't actually have this pattern but I based my version on a photo of the original that I found advertised on ebay.  It was part of a set which included a cockeral, an elephant and a flamingo.  An interesting mix!  There is a similar pattern here.

Felt rabbit 3 with vintage wooden money box

I also wanted to show you this lovely vintage wooden money box grabbed from under the noses of other buyers at the car boot sale yesterday.  The old lady, who probably owned it in her childhood, was going into a home and her things were being sold.  I don't think I could have parted with it myself.  The front door opens to get the money out.  There wasn't any in there - I checked.

New Garden Entrance ...

I cannot resist showing you my new garden entrance (porch, gazebo, pergola, arbour - I'm not sure which).  This replaces a very rustic structure formed of old branches all of which were either riddled with woodworm or rotten.  It was only a matter of time before it collapsed on the head of some visitor so it had to be replaced.  This is a much simpler structure and looks far neater.  Soon honeysuckle and variagated ivy will soon be creeping over the roof.

Just the rest of the garden to do work on now!

This week I have been painting ....

This will come as a relief to any reader who cannot tell knit from purl and is fed up with posts about knitting.  Our car boot sale season started last weekend and thousands turned out to welcome their return.  Hence, though I walked miles in an effort to buy beautiful and interesting things, pickings were thin.  However, I did come home with some things which I have been working on this week.  I'll show them to you on a colour theme.  First, pink ....

Painted box and butter pats with vintage painting of anemones

I love this vintage painting of anemones.  The box painted with roses and the butter pats are my work.

Secondly, blue ...

 

Painted box with silk embroidered picture.

Another lovely picture in this photo, this time embroidered in silk.  The colours are beautiful muted shades of blues, greens and greys.  I may keep it for a while just to enjoy it properly. 

And, lastly, green ...

Painted bentwood box, vintage tray and painted birdhouse

Another buy was this lovely bridal party of felt mice.   There is a bride, groom, vicar, two bridesmaids and an elderly relative.  They are in a terrible condition with lost bases, missing hats and stuffing escaping from their bottoms.  But I thought the detail on them wonderful and they were too lovely for me to leave behind.

Felt mice bridal party

I also bought this charming bit of glass work - two tiny birds sitting on a twig with some forget-me-nots.  Amazingly there is no damage on this piece which is less than two inches end to end.  Again, something I shall be holding on to for a while.

Glass birds

Already looking forward to next week's outing to a muddy field!