THIS IS FRIGGIN' AWESOME!

There's nothing better than cheesy Swedish music
from the early 1960's. It's friggin' awesome!
Like these 3 videos with Jerry Williams.
I used to shake my diaper to these songs. *lol*

I also love The Violents and The Spotnicks.


Jerry Williams & The Violents - "Number One"


Jerry Williams & The Violents - "Savage Love"


Jerry Williams & The Violents - "Come On, Come On"

TO DAD

Since I don't have a Swedish calender I totally missed
Fathers Day the other week.
So instead of a delayed present I dedicate this video
to my nerdy but wonderful dad.

TEST RESULT

I just came back from my GP.
We got the result and I suffer from Labyrinthitis.
Another thing I don't have time for...

Me and my man planned to stay over at some friends
this weekend and see The Keytones play but now we
might stay at home.

And my birthday is next Friday and the plans were to
go and see Slim Slip & The Sliders and really have a
ball since it's the last year for me as a 20-something.

I don't wanna be housebound because it's just gonna
make the depression worse and my thighs is gonna
end up rubbing against each other. Blah!

IT WAS A 50 PENCE DAY

My man was so helpful today, he took me to the post
office so I could sent all the Tradera packages and the
birthday present to my dad, he wanted to be there if
I pass out again.

We took a short road-trip to Letchworth to browse
for gems in the charity shops around there.
I didn't feel too good so we didn't stay for long.
This is what I found.


Hourglass, 50 pence.


Lampshades, 50 pence/each.

BAD COMMUNICATION!

I hate to leave negative feedback on my customers,
so I often don't even bother, but when a customer
can't wait more than five hours for a reply before
giving me negative feedback I won't let it pass!
That's bad communication!
I would gladly have replaced the item but I didn't
even get the chance.
I don't sit by the computer all day and especially
not now when I'm ill and can't even go down the
stairs by myself just in case I pass out again.
I got medication from my GP today though.
I'm gonna shut up now, she's not even worth it.

FROM DRAB TO FAB

As you already know I'm all about revamping.
I love it, the feeling of turning something ugly into
something pretty is a real thrill to me.
I always find cheap crap at flea markets/car boot sales
that have potential to look pretty and be very useful
after some TLC.

Here's some of the things I revamped lately.
Hope you get inspired!

THE BLOUSE
I got this gingham blouse for 30 pence at a car boot sale,
the buttons were very dull and I wanted something more
girlie since the blouse has got puffy arms.
I removed the buttons and added white vintage buttons
that looks like roses. Easy!

BEFORE


AFTER


THE CIGARETTE BOX
My man gave me this old and rater rusty cigarette box.
It only cost him 50 pence and he told me to do whatever
I wanted to it.
I just cleaned it up a bit, spray painted it red and added
a piece of scarlet felt in the bottom.
It now has a Russian feel to it and I store my collection
of vintage earrings in it.

BEFORE


AFTER


THE CRAFT BOX
I found this wooden box at a charity shop for 20 pence.
It was used to store slides in the 60's (I read the index)
and I knew right away that it would be a perfect craft box
while traveling or just to have it handy by the sofa if I
get bored and want to do some craft.
I removed the slide holders and laminated two pieces of
wallpaper that I glued onto the inside.

BEFORE


AFTER


THE HELM
I found this helm at a car boot sale for just 50 pence.
Since we got a 1950's boat bar we started to collect
nautical stuff to go with it.
This helm was an old souvenir from Malta but it didn't
really work for me so I just printed out one of Elvgrens
pinups, lamintated the picture and glued it onto the
center of the helm. Much better!

BEFORE


AFTER


THE NAPKIN HOLDER
I got this napkin holder from the Hemsby car boot sale
for £1. It was in a state but I knew right away what I was
gonna do to it as soon as I got home.
I just spray painted it black!

BEFORE


AFTER


CLICK THE PICTURES FOR LARGER VERSION!

NOT CLEAR ENOUGH!!!

I've been doing researching about the ingredients in Scandinavian candy.
I feel sick and disappointed, last week I had a handful of Ahlgrens Cars.
My man is a chef so he knows a lot about what's put into things and told
me that gelatin normally comes from beef unless it says otherwise, here
in England it's very clear because they state if it comes from beef or pork
and it make it a lot easier for me as a Jew.
(Since we're not allowed to eat pork.)
As a vegetarian I try to avoid beef gelatin as much as possible but some-
times the cravings take charge.

What the Scandinavian companies (Cloetta, Fazer, Malaco, Leaf) totally
ignored is to put what kind of gelatin they use on their ingredients and
you'll only find out if you check out their friggin' websites!!!
Apparently they all use gelatin from pork in ALL their products.
I don't get it, why don't they make themselves a lot more clearer about
what's in their products?
Doesn't EU have laws that you have to be more specific what's in the
stuff you eat?

I feel so sick and angry that I'm thinking about writing them a letter to let
them know what I think about their stone age ways.

IT WAS MENT TO BE

Went to the antique market today.
Found two pair of cute vintage ear-clips and a vintage comb.
The comb goes perfect with my compact, it's also in gold and
has flowers in the same colors.

Went over to give Hannah a belated present for her vintage
clothing store, Jolly Brown, one year anniversary.
I gave her a leopard printed lamp shade in glass, she used to
have one but it exploded, I hope she'll use a bulb with lower
power this time around.


£1/pair.


30 pence.

FOR THE LOVE OF TINS

I know that some of you like tins and so do I.
My dad has a big collection and he gave me this
tin many years ago.
It's my favorite and it's Swedish, I think it's
from the late 1930's but I'm not 100% sure.

PASSING OUT

I'm going to the hospital in a couple of minutes.
I'm extremely anemic and need to take some blood tests.
I passed out twice this week so it's worse than ever.
I feel awfully dizzy as we speak and I hope I don't faint on
my way down the stairs.

I try as hard as I can to do some work, yesterday I parked
my ass on the sofa and finished 38 new hair-flowers and
today I've been packing 17 packages that I need to send
tomorrow morning.
You have no idea how nice it feels to get rid of all the crap
I've been hanging on to for years and make some money at
the same time.

MAMA'S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG

I've been looking for a black bag that are both classic and
casual, preferably a mock crock, I've been searching at both
Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood but without any luck.
Today I actually found one!

Now guess the price and the brand!


Click the image for larger version.

IF YOU'RE FEELING A BIT UNDER THE WEATHER...

Seems like all of you are a bit ill at the moment.
I got the best cure for you!
This book, Good Health Magic by Gill Farrer Halls.
It contains all the home remedies you could ever
desire and it's full of colorful pictures from the 50's
aswell, now if that doesn't perk you up, nothing will.



And here's two books from the same series, these two
are about housekeeping and cooking, they are also full
of lovely 50's pictures and good advice.

GIRLY DAY OUT

On Thursday I went into London City for a day out with
my mother in law.
I rarely go into city, it's way too busy for me, but I really
needed to get out and do something fun and girly.

First we went to The Cumberland Hotel for a cup of coffee
before shopping at Primark on Oxford Street, then we went
for a nice vegetarian lunch at Mildreds and then off to the
overrated haberdashery store MacCulloch & Wallis where
I got some hat net in the end.
Their prices is awfully high, I got 7 plain buttons and 4
rings you use as a link between the handles and the bag,
if you catch my drift, they charged £6.47, I actually asked
them if they were joking and returned it, in my local
haberdashery store I would have payed around £2!
The we ended up having coffee at Starbucks, I tried their
Gingerbread Latte.
After the coffee we took the bus to Golders Green to meet
up with my man and to have dinner at our favorite vegan
Chinese restaurant, CTV.

I rarely spend much money on clothes nowadays but on
Thursday I spent £36, I felt a bit naughty but £36 is not
much, really, if you think about how much stuff I've got.
My local Primark don't have that much of a selection so
I went mad on lingerie.
(Not that I don't have enough already to make Dita jealous.)
Got to keep the spirit up and the flame burning. He, he...

This is what I got:

Dress £5.


Bolero, £6.


Corset, £10.


Shape pantie, £6.


Set, £4.


Pantie, £1.


Pantie, £1.


Pantie, £1.


Pantie, £1.


Panties, £1/each.

I LIKE MY MAN FURRY

What preferences do you have when it comes to men?



The ideal man today is not appealing to me at all.
It's nothing interesting about them, mass produced
like a Ken doll. Plastic.
Here in England the perfect man is Becks and I don't
get what's so sexy about this guy.
Abs that looks like they've been chiseled out and a
fierce look in his eyes doesn't thrill me at all.

Thank G*d for men like Burt!
Dark, handsome and furry.
I mean, look at the picture, you might not like furry
guys but you must admit that it's something about him.

My question is - Where are men like this today?

A TASTY TREAT AT 3

Are you one of them who suffering from low blood sugar
level around 3 pm?
Here's a treat you should try:
A small bowl of natural yogurt add some Pecan nuts and
squirt some Maple syrup on top. Mmmmm...
(This also works well with some pieces of banana.)

A NEW CHALLENGE?

I borrowed a lovely book called Creating Vintage Style
from the library yesterday.
It has tons of really neat ideas and a step by step tutorials.
I fell in love with this big Victorian wire basket and I think
I will take on the challenge and make one myself when it's
getting warmer outside.


Isn't it just darling?

AUTUMN

I feel inspired and creative today.
It might be because of the weather, it's windy and cold
but sunny and the colors outside is beautiful.
I met up with my friend Angela for a hot cup of cocoa
and a chat and then I went to the post office, the library
and to look for fabrics.
I found a nice fabric with the colors of autumn that will
be perfect for a blouse.
The blouse pattern is casual and dressy, it's all about
what fabric you're using.
I've made a blouse out of this pattern before, remember?


Fabric £3/meter.


Pattern dated 1950.

IT'S GOOD TO BE HOUSE PROUD

I'm thinking about starting up an agency where handsome
rockabilly's and jazz cats can find their own little Swedish
housewife. Like a mail-order bride.
(I'm just kidding but I bet they'd love the idea.)

ON HOLD

Everything is on hold today.
We just found out this morning that we're going to a funeral.
Jewish funerals is like celebrity weddings, you get to know
about it in a very short notice in this case the deceased must
be buried within 3 days.

I'm a bit disturbed by a thing I noticed today.
I won't go into too much details but it's actually about a
potential customer.
As a Jew I don't like Nazis since they murdered a lot of
our relatives that didn't have the money or the strength to
escape from Germany back then.
I do know for a fact that neo-Nazis isn't the most intelligent
bunch of people (I went to a high school full of them), and
awfully ignorant* and paranoid* as well, but if you hate your
so called "enemy" you learn about them, right?
In this case, does this person with the nickname of a big
concentration camp and who collects Hitler memorabilia
know that kosher is a Jewish thing or that I'm Jewish?
If this person know this, is this just a piss take?
Is this yet another Nazi that gonna threaten to kill me as
soon as they get hold of my email address?
(Trust me, it's not the first time.)
All I know is that I feel a bit sick about it.

* Ignorant = goes for the stereotype that all Jews are rich,
have huge noses, wear a kippah and payots and have sex
through a sheet.
I bet they'd be surprised if they knew who's Jewish in the
entertainment industry.
(You can't really tell nowadays cos most of them have tiny
artificial noses and blond hair.)
You'd might be surprised too...
Check the list of Jewish entertainers and Jewish musicians.

* Paranoid = a lot of them believe that Jews controls the
media. Yeah, sure most major TV networks, newspapers,
magazines and publishing houses are owned by Jews but
that does not mean that they control what's been written
or broadcasted.

RATHER NICE WEEKEND

Rather nice and productive weekend.
On Friday I finished the curtains for the bedroom and in
the evening we went to IKEA, again, to get that bookcase
I wanted and some Swedish candy, after IKEA we went
over to friends for drinks.

On Saturday we tried to get plants but without luck.
I did get new flowers for hair accessories though.
They had some new exotic flowers and I can't wait to glue
them into something nice and put them up on Tradera
next week.
I assembled the bookcase myself in less than 10 minutes
(I love that stuff) and then decided to have a massive sort
out in my closets, check Tradera next week for new stuff.

This morning we had a nice English vegetarian breakfast.
Quorn bacon, scrambled eggs, white beans and toast.
I've been busy cleaning all day, the house is spotless.
I also gave my man a massage, he totally deserved it.
He is now downstairs in the kitchen making me yummy
Latkes that I will enjoy with some Lingonberry jam and a
glass of milk.
After dinner I'm gonna have a shower and start packing
the Tradera stuff that will be sent off tomorrow morning.

BEST SERVED WARM

I'm in a baking mood today...
My favorite during autumn is apple pie where you fry
the apples in a pan with butter, brown sugar and loads
of cinnamon before putting the apples in the pie.
(The fried apples are mighty good on their own with a
bit of custard or whipped cream.)
I'm not going to bake because my man is staying away
from carbs and I don't really need the sugar.
It would only be a waste of time and ingredients.

Instead I focus on making more hair-flowers, so far I've
made 25 new flowers, I ran out of clamps, my plan is to
make at least 15 more today.
I'm also gonna finish the new curtains for the bedroom.
The only thing that's missing in the bedroom is three
pots of these plants and this bookcase.
That will be sorted before the weekend is over.

This weekend is dedicated to unfinished projects.
I really need the feeling of accomplishment and to get
stuff out of the way.

By the way, I just put up some hair-flowers for reduced
prices on Tradera if someone is interested.

KUDOS FOR THE EFFORT

I love the fact that retro hairstyles getting more and
more popular by the day.
As I was flicking through the TV channels while drinking
my morning coffee I saw this video with VV Brown.
I'm not too fond of this particular fake bangs because it
looks like a hat but kudos for the effort.
And the song is rather perky as well.

I FEEL LIKE SYLVIA PLATH

Rather productive day so far.
This morning I went to the local college to sign up for another
sewing class.
The previous one was a total disaster as you might remember.
Anyway, the new class is 10 weeks long and starts in the end of
January. I can't wait!
My friend Paula might do the class as well.

My man finally called the gas company, we have had a gas leak
for quite some time now, it was very minor to begin with but
for the last couple of days I've been feeling like Sylvia Plath or
our unfortunate relatives during the WW2.
The problem got solved after the gas guy knocked down part of
a wall to turn one of the taps off.

I've got new huge boxes for all my shoes at IKEA yesterday.
I still need another one!
I felt a bit frustrated as I was trying to fit as many as I possible
could into the boxes I've got, a little bit like Gary Oldman's
character, Stansfield, in the movie Leon.
I haven't got time for this Mickey Mouse bullshit!

We actually had a very lucky day yesterday.
We were supposed to tile the fireplace and add a cool 1960's gas
heater, mostly to hide the Artex, anyway, a bit of the Artex had
come off and I started to peel some of it off just to see what was
hiding underneath.
I found a treasure...
There was these beautiful greenish gray tiles from the original
fireplace from the 1950's!
It's so beautiful and really gives the room even more character.
There's some changes that needs to be done but I promise to
post before and after pictures when it's all done.

Another lucky thing, we finally got the fabric we'd been waiting
for since the end of August!
I've been waiting for so long to give the lounge a face-lift.
And I got hold of the fabric I wanted for curtains in the bedroom
from IKEA yesterday.
The lady in the till typed in the wrong code so we saved £11!!!
Guess who's putting the old rags on the bonfire tomorrow.


The fabric for the bedroom, Inger, IKEA.

I AM NOTHING BUT A NERD

Me and my man are nerds.
We like to watch the TV program River Cottage, we really
admire Hugh for his resourcefulness, he's like the farmers
version of MacGyver.
In the last episode they were talking about a project called
Landshare - you can sign up on their site and ask for or
offer a plot of land.
We offer the top part of our front garden where someone
can come and plant veg and flowers and in return we get
some of their crop.
Perfect now in recession times and who wouldn't say yes
to free organic food?

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

I found the perfect pair of shoes to go with my tartan bag.
The shoes are from Primark and cost £12.

OK, so I feel like an accomplished housewife today...
I managed to tidy my hobby-room.
I vacuumed and mopped the whole house.
I recycled.
I made dinner.
I did two loads of washing.
I did the washing up twice.
I hugged and kissed my man.

STAYING IN

I don't feel so very good today so I decided to stay
indoors and just relax.

Yesterday we went to Hitchin for a browse at their
antique market they got going on every Friday.
I found a vintage fabric I absolutely love for only
£1.50/meter!
My man bought me a very beautiful vintage purse.
We also visited our friends at the vintage boutique
Jolly Brown.
We're going back there tonight to celebrate their 1
year anniversary. I got the perfect gift in mind.





I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, we are
going to an Art Deco fair that we missed last year.
I absolutely love Art Deco!
My man called earlier to get some more info about
the event and they said they might have some items
from the 1940's - 1950's as well.
I can't wait!