MY NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

So it's the last day of 2009.
I guess many of you have started dolling up
or cooking for your parties by now.
I myself is still in my PJ, flicking through the
three books that arrived today and working
on my last 1940's style tie top of the year.

Everyone rocking is going to Boston Arms in
North London tonight, I hate that place so me
and my lovely man's staying in, making some
nice food and strawberry Daiquiris.
We got like 3 kilos of fresh strawberries in the
fridge, better use them for something, right?



Anyway, little old me was thinking about new
years resolutions, I never make any but since
we're entering a brand new decade I'm gonna
make 3 of them!
I'm not gonna say that I'm gonna loose weight,
stop eating carbs and all that jazz, that never
works for anyone anyway.
I already working on a better health since I
joined the wellbeing centre in November.
OK, so my new year resolutions will be...

* To be more creative, I plan to make at least
2-3 new things a week and finish old projects.

* To be more social (I'm actually pretty shy at
times, especially when I don't feel to good) and
to keep in contact with people I like.

* To make more of an effort.
Use more makeup, work on vintage hair styles,
use false nails and experiment with eye shadows
and such.
I should also start wearing my vintage clothes a
bit more often.

What's yours?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

NOSE ART

Here's another 1940's tie top.
I finished it last night and it turned out pretty nice.
I really love this fabric, mostly because I have a soft
spot for WW2 military air-crafts and nose art.
It must have arisen after my dad took me to vintage
aircraft shows as a little girl.




Beautiful nose art from WW2.


Pinup's were a very common form of nose art.

I got two WW2 planes with nose art tattooed on my
right sleeve, they are not very well done so pleeease
spare me your negative comments. :))
(The guy was a friend and an apprentice.)

BELATED BIRTHDAY PRESENT

I totally forgot to post about this last week.
There was a knock on the door and a package
for me, from Sweden.
It was a rather belated birthday present from
my favorite cousin and her family.
Spot on! Moomin stuff!
I used to love the stories when I was a little girl,
and I still do, you never get too old for Moomin.
I also think they look like English Bull Terriers.

CLOSING DOWN

I think I cougth some really bad luck lately.
What are the odds that your email stop working
completely in the middle of a very busy period
AND the postal service doesn't give the service
you pay for!
I feel extremely down right now because my
customers are unhappy, it makes me look bad
when all I've done is my best.
I always post items 1-2 days after they've been
paid for, I'm quick in MY service, it took 14-30
days for some to get their items, nothing I can
do anything about, unfortunatley, my job was
done at the post office.
They were very well aware about a possible
delay in the item description, my personal info
AND in my emails (before it died).
I told them that it might take a while since Royal
Mail has been on strike for 18 weeks and have a
bit of catching up to do and it's absolutely manic
before X-mas.

As a buyer I actually read sellers personal info
for news and updates, you never know, they
might get ill or go away on vacation, there can
be a computer problem an allsorts of things.
I keep my customers up to date in my personal
info but no one seems to read it even though
I urge them to in my item descriptions.
I did update my info just before X-mas, that
I've changed my email address and plead them
to contact me.
I'm sorry to say no one did and decided to give
me negative feedback.
So after 6 years as a seller I'm closing down, it's
not fun anymore.
I've heard that Royal Mail plan to go on another
strike after new years so maybe it's for the best.

DEAR DRESS...

I hope you're not lost out there somewhere, just belated.

This dress was supposed to be a gift from my man on our
3 year anniversary the 19th of December but it has still
not yet arrived.
There's nothing I don't love about this dress, it's perfect.


I'm a sucker for fold-over bust...


Sarong skirt with beautiful butterflies...


Elasticized sides and adjustable straps...


It also got sewn in knickers!

Pictures borrowed from Rockin' Ruby's Vintage.

USEFUL?

I still had some money left from what I got from father
in law on my birthday so I purchased these three books
yesterday.
I spent £13 in total, including shipping. (155 kr/$20/€14)
I hope they will come in handy, I didn't do any research,
which I probably should have done.
Does any of you have them and have they been useful?

FISHBOWL

I was looking through some old photo CD's yesterday
and found this picture of my old fishbowl.
I found this huge Brandy Balloon glass at a flea market
in Stockholm a long time ago.
I think I paid like 65 kr (approx £5/$8/€6) for it.
I was told that it used to stand on top of a grand piano
at a fancy hotel in Stockholm back in the days.
It was used as a tip bowl for the piano player.
I'm still amazed that it didn't break during my move to
England.


My two black Moor Goldfish Selma and Wilma.

MATCHY MATCHY

I realized the other day that my outfit matched my dessert...




Cardigan: Charity shop, £4.
Dress: Car boot sale, 50 pence.
Belt: Car boot sale, 20 pence.

MELE KALIKIMAKA

If I have to choose a favorite out of all X-mas
songs out there, this would be the one.
Who doesn't like Hawaiian tunes and the voices
of Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters?



Hope you all got some nice gifts and a lot of joy
with your loved ones.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

BAD ODOR?

We all love vintage handbags, don't we?
What we don't like is that some has got a bad odor.
Here's a few clever tips I've learned over the years,
hope they work as well for you as they've done for me.

Baking Soda
Baking soda is a perfect odor remover.
Make a baking-soda sachet to keep your bag smelling fresh.
To make a sachet, cut off the foot portions of one pair of
new knee-high stockings, fill the toes with baking soda, and
knot to close.
This also works wonders in your closet!

Soap Bars
My mother in law always brings me organic lavender soap
bars but I rarely use them since I prefer liquid soap.
They do come in handy in my handbags though.
I just cut off one of the sides of the plastic wrapper (do not
remove the wrapper) and put it in my bag and let the bar
stay in there until I need to use the bag.
Put the soap back after use.
Lavender is such a classic and delightful scent but you can
use a soap with your favorite scent, of course.





Good luck!

I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS...

I'm up early this morning.
I'm going into Westminster to have laser eye surgery
in an hour, can't wait to be able to see without any
glasses or contact lenses.
I might not be able to blog for a couple of days so
I leave you with this, my latest creation.
I was inspired by the white fur collar Marilyn Monroe
wore when she married Joe Dimaggio 1954.
When I'm feeling better I might pose in it for you. :))



Have a nice day you all!

STILL GOING STRONG

Me and my man celebrated our 3 year anniversary yesterday.
That might not be a very long time but we feel like we'd been
together for ten. In a good way.
I moved in the same day I came to visit, my man just couldn't
live without me. I'm that wonderful. *lol*

I was in the mood for vintage yesterday after my visit at the
eye clinic for my last check up before surgery tomorrow, so we
went to a few charity shops and then we found this huge vintage
store, it was like walking into Etsy if they weren't a website.
I got myself some bargains, of course.

Click on images for larger and better view.


1930's glass bowls, £.50. 1950's handbag, £4.


1950's lamp, £4.50. Cardigan, £4.

When we came home my man made a very nice dinner with a
selection of yummy bits.
Garlic bread, grilled pepper hummus, halloumi, crispy potato
slices, tomatoes, avocado and cucumber.



We spent the rest of the evening watching the second season of
True Blood and cuddle on the sofa.

LIKE A CANDY CANE

I finished this yesterday morning!


I know it's the wrong season to blog about summer wear
but this top does look like a candy cane so I might get away
with it. :))
I don't know about you but I can't hardly wait to sit by the
pool drinking colorful cocktails and work on an even tan.
Or to go and look for a Rock Lobster on the beach...


I love this song!

NICE DOGGIE

I made this Scottie pin last week and I think he turned
out to be a really cute one if I'm allowed to say so myself.
What do you think?

HANUKKAH GELT

I got these very funky shoes from my mas as Hanukkah gelt.
This is my fifth pair of red glittery shoes, Yes, I know I'm nuts.

AWW...

I want these Moomin cookie cutters, they are so cute!
Where can I get them for a decent price?

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

I love Hanukkah.
It's a good excuse to eat fried food. :D
(Fried food reminds us of the miracle of the oil that burned
for eight days when the Maccabees purified and rededicated
the holy Temple in Jerusalem.)
I've already stuffed myself with two delicious Sufganiyot.
Me and my man are staying in tonight, relaxing, light the
first candle in the Hanukiah and eating Latkes.

I've been to the optician today for my second check up and
we finally set a date to have my eyes done.
No more glasses or lenses for me! Woho!


Picture borrowed from Whipped Bakeshop on Flickr.

I LOVE TASCHEN

This is porn for us vintage (fashion) loving gals!


TASCHEN 20th Century Fashion - 100 Years of Apparel Ads
by Jim Heimann and Alison A. Nieder

I'm a huge fan of Taschen and I've had my eyes on this
one for a while but the bookstore didn't want me to flick
through it and I didn't want to give them my money, since
they weren't very nice towards me as a potential buyer, so
I borrowed from my local library instead.
The book contains 100 years of apparel ads and a lot of
history too, as most Taschen books, this one is a really
great resource.
Make sure you borrow it or get a copy of your own as a
Xmas/Hanukkah gift this year.


This is one of my many favorite ads!

THE HOLY GRAIL

Yesterday must have been the longest day in history.
Mixed feelings.
Gary Day, Morrissey's former bass player, came over
for a little jam session and a cup of coffee but left just
before the party started.
He showed me his new baby, a Volvo Amazon estate
from 1964, I love Amazon's, I used to have one.
He even offered me a ride around the neighbourhood.

I was pretty miserable for a while.
It wasn't just because of the lost handbag, some of my
man's so called friends that was invited to my party were
lying about working that evening but it turned out that
they were going to another party instead!
Gee, thanks...
If you're gonna be false and lie about something , don't
write about your other plans on Facebook!
OK, enough ranting.
As I was crying over this my man felt so sorry for me that
he put another package in front of me and said he didn't
have the heart to wait until the party.
It turned out to be the handbag! It wasn't lost after all!

The party was fun.
My man had cooked all day, bless him.
A small but yet lovely bunch of friends came over and I
cheered up, relaxed and had a good time.


This is my Holy Grail.
It was made in America in the 1950's.
It's made out of acetate instead of Lucite.
This particular one is nowadays very rare.


The lid got studded metal butterflies.


My lovely man gave me the white one two years ago
for my birthday.
It used to belong to a Hollywood producer's wife back
in the 1950's.
I'm so happy to have them both, they are a really cool
addition to my growing collection of rare and unusual
vintage handbags.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I can't really believe I turned 30 today.
I do like the thought that age is just a number,
guess I'll be 23 forever.
Childish to say but I'm a bit sad that I haven't
got a single present so far...

Not long ago my man got hold of the Holy Grail
of handbags (really cheap too!) that I wanted
for so long, he said it got lost on the way here but
I didn't believe him because he pulls that stunt
pretty often. Had my hopes up but it turned out
that he told me the truth and I'm pretty sad right
now. Silly me.

BARGAIN!

My father in law came over for lunch yesterday and
he gave me an envelope with some good ol' cash for
my birthday.
I used some of it on something I wanted for many
years, Charley Harper - An Illustrated Life.
I got it from The Book Depository for less than £28
and they have free shipping world wide.
(Amazon.co.uk is selling it for £78!)
Now that's a bargain!

REHAB

I'm going to rehab next week.
No, no, no, I do not have a drinking or drug problem
and I won't be locked up for weeks.
I suffer badly from Seasonal Affective Disorder and I've
been having deep depressions since I was 11 years old.
Nowadays I'm not as bad as I used to be and I don't use
any medications (they've done more damage than good)
so to prevent a huge depression I'm entering a wellbeing
program where I can go swimming, play badminton, go
bowling, use a gym and attend pilates and yoga classes.
I'll be living at home as usual but I can come and go to
the center as I please until March.
Best of all, for me it's free.

FINISHED!

I thought I would be finished with the tie tops by now but
my local haberdashery shop had run out of white and dark
green bias, they only had enough white bias for me to finish
one of the tops, I hope they got more in tomorrow because I
really don't want more unfinished projects laying around.

I also finished another butterfly fascinator.
I'm working on a red one at the moment, just waiting for the
red veiling to arrive.

Here's the results:

TO DAD

You might not have been the best of dads over the
years but you're the only one I got.
You're the one who let me sit on your shoulders on
my very first gig when I was two or three years old.
You're the one who drove me around in your old Saab
to point out haunted houses.
Thanks to you I got a good sense of culture, an ear
for music and an eye for architecture.
I love you and wish you a very happy birthday today.

This video is dedicated to you...

This is the Swedish doo wop/rockabilly band called
The Boppers that I saw with my dad back in the early
1980's.

KOSHER TIN

Look what I found for £1 in a charity shop
in Golders Green (north London) yesterday!
It's a tin from Barton's and it used to contain
chocolates that was kosher for Passover.
The illustrations around the tin shows the
story of Moses, the ten plagues, the escape from
enslavement in Egypt, Mount Sinai, the wander
in the desert, etc.
I didn't see it at the time I was in the shop but the
tin dates back to 1954.

Click the images for larger versions!








May you all have a restful and pleasant weekend.
Gut Shabes!

I'M GOING FOR A WALK...

I felt really low yesterday, not even my dear sewing
machine was enough escapism for me, so I decided
to go for a walk in beautiful Benington Village with
my camera to see if I could capture the pretty colors
of the English autumn.

Click the images for a larger version.

The duck pond.


Curious ducks.


Probably not a good idea to eat.


Ivy hugging a tree stump.


That's how I roll, baby!


A whole lot of horseshoes.


Pretty flower on a doorstep.