M.I.A

Hello my lovelies, well just a quick post from me as my laptop has died, I've only had the blasted thing since November and the power socket has been pushed in  - have no idea how that's happened but anyway I will be M.I.A until its fixed. 

I've taken it to PC world this evening and they have sent it off and it may take 14 days!!!!  I really don't know how I'm going to cope, I've borrowed this prehistoric desk PC to write this post but I'll then be on laptop rehab - I can feel the shakes coming on already....I may have to turn into the "lets have lots of educational fun mummy" eek!

I would love to tell you all about the cowboy service I received from one member of staff in the store this evening but I wont as they have my computer and I didn't get time to wipe my browsing history so who knows Mr technician might be having a gander at my blog....Hello Mr technician, please do a good job on fixing it and you will be rewarded with mucho bargain hunting hair dye winning luck ;o)

 I will try and steal some internet time to keep up with your blogs and at least you all know why I am not able to comment, and just think of all the bumper photos posts there will be when I'm back in the game (that's 'in' and not 'on'!).

So ta ta for now

Scarlett x

A 'Who done it' Story

Ok so I was supposed to do a post with all my weeks finds but something else came up....

I was having a good old rummage in the scarf box at the charity shop yesterday and a little bit of blue caught my eye:

I pulled it out and had a closer look at the horse racing design:

Then I spied this:

Oooh now that's what I like to see printed on a scarf!  I checked the price tag - 99p :o))  So I took it to the till and made my getaway.

So the question my lovelies is this a real one or a fake?

I've been searching the Internet and cant find this design anywhere.  I would assume that the fakes are more likely to be the popular designs.  I've checked the edging and it is rolled and hand stitched on the front of the design which according to Hermes collectors sites is a sign of a genuine scarf.  I feels like it has some age to it also.  I've looked for the copyright symbol but I cant find it but then again according to these sites some of the 1950s scarves didn't have the copyright logo and it was introduced back a bit later.   The plot thickens...

So I'm now passing my detective deerstalker hat and pipe over to you to see if anyone can shed any light on this design, can anyone find out what it is called?  I'll send a little prize to the first person who manages to find the name of this design.

...but real or fake I still think this is a fun quirky scarf :o)

Oh and a little update on the ebay drama, paypal gave me the money back - hoorah!

Scarlett x

Linking to twice-owned-tuesday and nifty-thrifty-tuesday

All the fun of the Fair

Summer Fair/fete season is upon us, cue lots of tatty bunting, dodgy dad run barbecue stalls, tins of vegetables passed off as tombola prizes and children being made to dress up and perfect country dancing routines in the 'arena'.  Oh yes there is nothing more British than the rain soaked church or school fete. I was lucky enough to visit two such summer fetes on Saturday due to the dire turn out at the boot sale.

One main draw of the fete is the Bric a Brac stalls as they tend to have a lot of vintage goodies and as the sellers have no emotional attachment to the items you usually get them cheap.  These two fetes however were a bit lacking on the bric a brac.  I came away with just two vintage boxed hankies:

The little rose one is from New York oooooh ;o)  I paid 50p for both boxes.  I also picked up these:

Vintage Zips, loving the packaging  - 10p each.

Onto the book stall which again is a fete tradition and I picked up these two:

For 10p each you cant go wrong ;o)

Now of course I couldn't go to the summer fete and not have a go on the tombola. I must admit some of the prizes looked quite good, lots of vintage glass wear and china which I'd have been more than happy to have taken home. So I paid my £1 for 5 tickets and the first ticket out was a winner, oh yes!  Feeling chuffed that I might be the new owner of something pretty I waited for the stall holder to look through all the prizes.....

She then pulled this from the back of the table:

Oh yes just what I've always wanted, some Plum coloured hair colour ;o)  Being a blondie, the stall holder thought this was hilarious.  I'd like to thank the person from the church committee who thought a bottle of plum hair dye was a good tombola prize ;o)

So feeling lucky I ventured onto another prize stall. For 50p you got to chose a random box from the table and keep the contents.  I thought I'd play it smart and choose a small jewellery box hoping that inside would be someone Grandma's vintage brooch, necklace or earrings. 

With box in hand and feeling lucky I opened the box.  Inside was a small little laminated token which said 'STAR PRIZE'!  The stall holder whooped and passed the token to her fellow stall holder. They then went to the back of the stall and produced a plain white carrier bag.  Excitement building they walked with the bag to the table.  With a congratulations the lady put her hand in the bag and pulled out my star prize.....

Yes just what I have been waiting for all my life - a small stuffed Babe pig.  Are you all jealous? ;o)
 The ladies were so thrilled to present me with this that I put on my Oscar winning performance of being thrilled to bits of taking home the 'star prize' of the fete.  As I had bagged the biggie I wonder what was in the rest of those boxes lol!

My luck however ran out for the booty the next day, but I will share my weeks finds in my next post.

Happy Monday all.

Scarlett x

Linking to magpie-monday

What to do on a rainy day

It hasn't stopped raining here today so with my hyperactive 11 month old having an energy crash after lunch and subsequently having a 2 hour nap I decided to take the bull by the horns and learn to crochet (finally!). 

Armed with some cheap wool, my laptop, a pint glass of Pepsi max and a rather splendid and somewhat camp YouTube tutorial I got busy. I set my sights on completing my first granny square.  Cue lots of cursing and numerous attempts I finally did it...

Much like the seven stages of man, here is my 6 stages of crochet:

Yes the first five attempts at getting the crochet circle were a write off but I got there in the end:

Its not perfect but at least it somewhat resembles the granny square. Onwards and upwards now ;o) 

(I can now see what the granny blanket in the charity shop is marked at a tenner - i now understand the effort!)

Now no more rain please Mr Weather as I need to get my boot sale fix this Sunday.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend :o)

Scarlett x

This week I'm Loving....

So far this week I've been loving....

...Shopper stopping window displays:

Allsaints Spitalfields use vintage singer sewing machines in their window displays - this is their Brighton store.

A boutique in Brighton using vintage tea pots and wine glasses to display jewellery in the window :o)

...Buying pretty new fabric at cheaper prices:



All £2.99 a meter - love it! Time to get my craft back on!

...Finding another compact for the collection:



This was a bargain find at a summer fete I popped into on Saturday. Hidden on the bric a brac table and a steal for 50p :o)

...Rehoming some vintage tea cups:

Found these Grosvenor China 'Windsor' cups and side plates at the same summer fete - £1 for the bundle.

...Winning a giveaway...

I was lucky to be picked as the winner of a giveaway hosted by artsy ants. The prize was a custom illustration depicting a child doing their favorite activity. I of course had to have a pirate themed one for my little boys nautical nursery.  What a joy when this arrived in my email inbox! I love it thank you Simona :o)

...Badly taken photos:

I have been asked not to be so shy about photos of me so when finally relented at a friends to having a photo done for the 'profile' pic - the camera was in shock and decided to do it a bit more "soft focus" lol! Cheers camera buddy! Do I get a sticker for being brave? ;o)

Happy Days!

Scarlett x

Linking to: thrilling-thursday

Lovely Awards

I've been kindly awarded a couple of blog awards which I've been meaning to blog about.

The lovely Lakota of faith hope and charity shopping awarded two blog awards:

Thank you Lakota, and if you haven't already checked out her blog - where have you been?

I was also kindly awarded this award:

From vainglorysinner and Da Lama, both fabulous chicks with fabulous blogs (you have to check them out too as they are stars). This award is nominated to highlight those blogs of under 300 followers.

Now I am to nominate 5 blogs to pass these awards onto. Its really hard to choose between all the amazing blogs I read (and I love them all) so I'm going to nominate some blogs that I haven't passed an award to yet. These are:
foof and faff
madison makes
miss ginger makes
tete en l'air
tori-teacakes

Check them out! 
Now for 5 fun facts about me...

1) When I was young my dream was to be in the cast of 'Starlight Express' . I learnt every song and used to dance around on my roller skates *cringe*....

2)... Someone however stole my skating ability and I can now no longer skate, ice skate or roller blade.

3) I once broke my wrist whilst under the influence of cider - I had walked home in bare feet and decided to wash my feet in the kitchen sink.  Wet feet + tile floor + cider = ouch!

4) I hate queue jumpers  - totally pisses me off (how very British of me!) ;o)

5) Being a Elvis fan it would have been rude for me not to have visited Graceland. I have been twice and actually spent Christmas in 'Heartbreak Hotel' which is opposite the Kings house.  Yes I was in good company of some fabulous oldies and Elvis loving nut-jobs on Christmas day ;o)

Now I really should take some photos of my latest buys....

Scarlett x

If you got it flaunt it...

I'm back from a little impromptu weekend stay in Brighton.  One of my favorite places to lose myself for a few hours so a weekend away there was amazing.  Yes it was wet and windy and my hair looked like an electrified pineapple but hey its Brighton!

So what was the highlight of my stay? The shops? The architecture? The beach?.....

Hell no it was the 2011 Naked Bike Ride *naked people warning*

And they're off...



Far too many cycle helmet jokes....

 These fabulous people ride naked each year to demonstrate the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and to protest against oil dependency.  And hey if my body was as amazing as some of the these naked ladies then I'd be in my birthday suit on my bike too ;o).

Witnessed at a Naked Bike Ride

After the bike procession had gone and the traffic was moving we spotted a lone guy in just a tiny g-string come riding round the roundabout  trying to catch up with the rest of them and take the wrong turning heading away from the Brighton centre and towards the next town!  We waved him down and pointed him in the right direction, he did however look at us a bit suspiciously trying to work out if we were telling the truth. As if we would send a naked guy on a bike to Hove to be arrested for indecent exposure.... ;o)

Im off to try and catch up with all your blogs! Hope I havent scarred anyone for life with these pics ;o)

Mwah

Scarlett x

In the dead of night....

They say every cloud has a silver lining and I was in doubt of this yesterday after taking my car for its MOT and it failing for the first time ever. I now have been relieved of my car until its fixed, walking ahoy!

So on my walk back yesterday I noticed that someone had fly tipped some wood at the end of the close.  Normally things are not left out on the road side here for fear of being fined by the council so was quite curious to see what was there.  Trying to be subtle i edged over to the stash and had a sneaky peak.  I  saw this:

Now you have to look past the manky flaking varnish, the years of dirt and the missing draw to see the beauty of this one. Its solid wood and has some real age. 

 With it being day light at this point and some of my neighbours already thinking I'm a bit of a fruit loop I didn't want to hoick it over my shoulder and carry it back so decided to bide my time.  I went home and pondered the right time to launch 'operation junk retrival' all the while worrying that some one was going to pinch it.

Darkness fell and that is when I made my move, walking quickly I got to the spot as was relived it was still there.  Table in arms I rushed back only to be spied by one of my elderly neighbours, he gave me a wink and said 'Good Evening' and left it at that...he's a good 'un.

So I am now in possession of my freebie junk table and am awaiting a dry day so I can get some serious sanding and painting action done on it. I just know its going to be a beauty!

Scarlett x

A Post Of Thanks

Here is my little blog post of thanks.

Thanks to my lovely blog pal Jem of beautiful clutter fame for sending me a beautiful gift in the post:

I love the little cards and the wrapping...

Inside was a fabulous Stratton compact and 'Pow' a cute pin badge.  It now adorns my boot sale bag to 'POW' the sellers into giving me cheap stuff!  Love them both thanks Jem!

Thanks also to a fabulous blog pal Lakota of faith hope and charity shopping not only for organising an amazing blog swap but for sending me the cutest little pressie in the post:

Inside was this fabulous handmade anchor ring (of which I was eyeing up on her blog!)

I would like to thank the person who donated these two large and very old planters to the charity shop:

I bagged them on half price day for £4 the pair!

Thanks to the Fiskars' weed puller advertising team for this:

Having only seen the advert a thousand times I was forced to buy one....and I can confirm that it is in fact the BEST weed puller ever and a lot of fun to use (never will that be said from me again re weed pulling).

Thanks to Ikea for making the most fabulously crazy fabric...

...leaving me no option but to knock up this tote bag. Where else will you find a fabric printed with seaweed, strawberries and a squirrel busting a bird out of its cage. Positive comments have already been received on this bag in the supermarket...I'm awaiting an order to be placed by Tesco ;o).

Thanks to a vintage Pineapple crochet book for making me smile:

Everyone needs a gay evening bag if it makes you this happy!

And finally a MASSIVE thank you to all of you that follow my blog and for the all the lovely comments you leave on my posts.  I really have made some great pals and you all make blogging such a pleasure. I'm inspired everyday by your blogs.

Mucho love to you all

Scarlett x

Linking to thrilling-thursday

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Ebay help required

Hello my lovelies, just a quickie post as wanted a bit of eBay advise from my fellow ebayers.  I've bought and sold on eBay for many years but today something happened which I haven't had happen before...

Paypal have reversed a buyers payment!  I only posted the item a week ago and have had no contact from the buyer to say there is a problem but paypal emailed me to say the payment has been reversed and that I need to resolve it through the resolution centre on paypal. I always get proof of postage so I will be able to provide paypal with the receipt (which I'm hoping is still in hubbies car glove box!) but I was totally unaware that a buyer could do this without going through the whole eBay contact process.

Has this happened to any of you?  Any idea on what paypal will do with the proof of postage? I assume its because they havent received the item but the paypal resolution thingy doesnt tell you what the deal is.  I think its a bit cheeky that the buyer hasn't contacted me prior and sheesh its only been a week since it was posted!

Normal happy posts to resume, and thanks in advance for any advise :o)

Scarlett x

Boot Sale Buys Part 2

Not bored yet of my boot sale finds? Well here's part two for you ;o)

Another compact for the collection - this one is diddy at only 2 inches in width and comes with a needlepoint rose on the top. I've never seen one like this and was chuffed to get it for £3! The lady I bought it from said she had a lot more compacts to sell and that she was doing an antique fair that afternoon, that is how I ended up visiting an antique fair too!

Love these little china name place settings. Just use a wipe off pen and your all set for a dinner party!  Alas not being the domestic goddess my hubby would like me to be these will be used for labelling other things. I got both the sets for £1.50 :o)

Love this altered art style hinged wooden box, even more excited to open it and find this inside:

Its a little autograph/paper leaf photo album.  The joyful couple pic can be replaced with a less cheesy one ;o)  I snatched this up with the box and ran for £1.

 Vintage big eyed girl print. This was bought from the summer fete charity stall, the ladies said to me that they were desperate to get rid of it so I said I'd take it off their hands for 50p.

Zippo metal advertising sign

It made me chuckle seeing this glamour puss doing the zippo 'fan test'. I haggled hard and ended up getting it for £3.

 Baby blue casserole dish £2

Large mosaic plaque, very shabby chic and for only £1 I'm tempted to put it in my garden :o)

 Three Jack Vettriano prints new in their packets - 50p each.  I have a couple of his prints already at home and I just love his work.  My favourite of these three has to be the one at the bottom which is called 'Man in the Mirror'.  These were put down by the person next to me who didn't want to pay 50p each, I grabbed them as soon as they hit the table!

 1950s wicker and leather bag - I adore this and have a couple similar but they are not as big.  I paid £1 for it and to be honest would have paid a lot more as I love it!

Little mismatched yellow set. The cups are Jasmine Woods Ware and the saucers & side plates are Johnson Bros but they look cute together. I only paid £2.50 for the whole lot (4 cups, 6 saucers and 8 side plates).

So that's the booty what about my eavesdropping:

Witnessed at a boot sale

Skinny lanky guy talking to a person buying some clothes from his stall

Guy: "I used to work full time behind the bar in the pub"

Customer: "oh yeah"

Guy: "Yup and I used to wear a different tie every single shift"

Customer: "hmm"

Guy: "Yeah and we used to get customers come in firstly to try out the pub and then I realised they were coming in regularly to see what tie I was wearing"

Customer: "really?"

Guy: "Yeah they just couldn't wait to see what tie I had on...."

(Nothing to do with the plentiful alcohol and cheap food then)

I had a bit of fun with one ladies stall. Every time anyone picked anything up and put it down she would pick it up and rearrange the position. She did it for every item touched so of course the little devil on my shoulder led me to have a good old nose on her stall making sure I picked up nearly every item .....

The boot sale I go to also happens to be on a steep hill, I cant count the amount of times I've seen a cheap Ikea clothes rail go crashing to the ground. On this occasion, the clothes rail and contents fell on a bloke who had been walking around like he was 'the man', the clothes rail hit his back making him lose his balance and slip on the grass. Man hit the deck and was promptly covered by last years ladies fashion must haves.

Lady picking up a pair of mens trousers:

Lady " What size waist are these?"

Seller "There a 42 inch i think"

Lady "Blimey me old man is fat but not that fat"

Sellers husband appears from the van "Oi cheers love, those were mine"

Lady "Oh yeah he definitely isn't that fat..."

Have a fabulous day

Scarlett x

Linking to:

twice-owned tuesday and nifty-thrifty-tuesdays