Birthday Goodies For A Very Special Birthday

       My Mum celebrated a very special birthday on Tuesday, which called for some extra special presents.
     My Mum's favourite designer is Vivienne Westwood but she had yet to own one of her bags. So I knew that was the first thing I was going to buy. I went for this gorgeous Yasmin bag in winter tartan.

        My Mum is a very talented sewer who has a love of vintage. She also loves wooden boxes. So I found a wooden drinks crate from the 1960's and filled it with vintage sewing supplies.

Vintage needlebooks.  Complete and unused.

A variety a French vintage sewing supplies.

My Mum can't get enough of these vintage wooden spools of thread.

Vintage Nodding Poodle Pin Cushion, Vintage Apple Tape Measure Complete with stalk and original box and a vintage thimble.

A selection of uncut vintage doll patterns from the 1960's. Including Betty Boop, Felix The Cat and Popeye. 

Apart from the fact that my poor Mum managed to catch a bug on her birthday, she did enjoy her day and loved her presents.

Etsy Buys And Finds

    I have been clearing out once again. And I have been trapped in a sea of ebay items. I am now up to a total of 81 sold items. I still have plenty of stuff to go but I think it's time for a little break.       
     It's quite strange to have gone from somebody who loved shopping to somebody who loves getting rid of stuff.
    I no longer look at shops in the town centre and I never even look at websites I used to buy from all the time (ASOS, Topshop etc.)  When I decided to go on a shopping ban at the beginning of the year, I didn't think I would manage to stick to it so well and end up wanting to get rid of most of the things I own!
      It hasn't been a complete ban and I have still been buying a few things from Etsy. Most of these things have been gifts. But I have still been adding to my favourite collection (I always will).  
     One of the other things I have bought is a doll from Boopsiedaisy. I have liked a lot of the dolls from this shop but had never bought one. So I decided to make my first purchase a custom order. And I asked for (you guessed it) a black cat doll. I'm so glad I decided to get this doll made (her name is Pawlie), she is so cute. I would recommend this shop if you are looking for something cute and quirky.

Pictures belong to Boopsiedaisy you can find her shop here.

I thought I share a few other cute finds that I love but won't be buying!

I really like these anthropomorphic macarons and cookies from SandraArteagA. You can find her Etsy shop here.

And I have been quite tempted by these gorgeous vintage French knife rests in the form of cute little cats. They are From LaManche and you can find her Etsy shop here.

My Favourite Collection

     If you read this blog regularly you will know that I am a bit of an Etsy addict. And although I was doing very well on my shopping ban, that has now gone out the window.
     My collection of needle felted items from Miss Bumbles has continued to grow and about a month ago, I decided I needed a cabinet to display them in. I couldn't just display them all out in the open because both of my cats are prone to eating things!
       A couple of weeks ago after what felt like looking round the whole town, the perfect cabinet popped up at a local auction. It had an estimate of £20-£40 but I knew it would go for more than that and I was prepared to go up a bit. In the end it went for a whopping £130! Needless to say I didn't get it.
        The very next day my Mum found one for me at a recycling centre (which we had tried the week before but were out of luck). It was a bargain at £35. This is what it looked like when I first got it home.

The key was missing and it  had awful mustard fabric on the back. But it had potential.  But since my Mum has worked her magic on it, it looks great. The lock works and I managed to find a replacement key on ebay.

Now that it's pure white and has the vibrant wallpaper on the back (I was going for a retro feel) it looks like a different piece of furniture.

     The collection looks amazing in it. And the best thing is, it is safe from those mischievous little kitties of mine! The way I'm going I will soon need another cabinet to display them all!

        I thought that I had gotten rid of the collecting bug (obviously not!)  What do you collect? I'd love to hear about all your different collections.

Easter Eggs Go Retro

        Peoples' passion for vintage and retro just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I must admit I am a big fan of vintage myself.
       And when I went into my local supermarket and saw these Easter eggs, I just thought they were great.

This Lion Bar egg was by far my favourite. The box is just gorgeous, I have never seen anything quite like it before. My Mum remembers eggs like these from when she was young, in the 70s.

This Smarties egg is very similar to the ones that were around in the 90's when I was growing up.

This Yorkie egg would be a great Easter gift for any little (or big) boy.

Valentine's Day 2012

      I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day. Even though I am single this year, I still like to get into the spirit. I like to buy little gifts for family members and of course that means my kittens too.
      I started the day off with a lovely hot bath using one of the beautiful products from the Lush Valentine's range.

      Then I slipped into one of my red dresses, black glittery leggings and my trusty boots. I finished the outfit with various pieces of heart themed jewellery (including my red chunky perspex heart bangle).

     Then it was present time.

          My Mum made these gorgeous Love Hearts just like the sweets but full of catnip instead. To make it even better they are personalised.  The are pictured with the Limited Edition Love Hearts tin given to me by my Gran.

        My kittens also got these matching Princess bowls by Mason Cash. Also this sweet lollipop card from Moonpig.

               My Mum gave me three wonderful gifts for Valentine's Day.

          This lovely heart shaped box is topped with a pretty handmade bow. It contains my favourite gift of the day which was lovingly and painstakingly made by my very talented Mum.

    My Mum knows better than anyone that I have a great love of French things. So she knew that this enamel plaque would be right up my street. And the thing that really makes it  brilliant is that the black splat in the middle can be used as a blackboard. I am going to use it for my French word of the day.

     And last but not least is this fantastic lips chocolate mould. I love making my own chocolates and I can't wait to use this mould.

                                      I also gave my Mum three gifts.

    First is these red leather driving gloves. My Mum loves polka dots. And I like the fact they have hearts and they fit in with the theme of the day.

       This reproduction Spangles sign was purchased from Ebay. I'm too young to remember them but my Mum remembers them fondly.

        My Mum loves vintage and she really likes tins (she has lots of ribbon and buttons that she can fill them with). So when I saw this vintage Smarties van tin on Ebay, it seemed a good buy. The wheels move which is a nice touch.

          This picture shows the things my Gran bought for Ruby & Violet. They love Dreamies. I think they would eat their own weight in Dreamies if you let them. The advert where the cat jumps through the wall isn't much of an exaggeration! They really enjoy watching their wind up walking heart and love to swipe at it.

     After a lovely day, I sat down to one of my favourite meals (a burrito). To finish the day off I watched a good film and made a dent in a very tasty box of these...

          Maybe next year I will find myself a dashing Frenchman. Oh well... a girl can dream can't she?