Totnes comes to Shepton Mallet & Award Time & Cath Kidston 15% off discount

On Saturday I went to the Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair. Once there, I headed straight to Amanda's stall. Amanda, as many of you already know has a stall at the Totnes Market on a Friday. I have seen her beautiful stall featured on many of your blogs and when Jane told me that Amanda also sells at the Shepton Mallet Fair, I simply had to go.

Amanda was not there but her parents were. They were very friendly and helpful as I spent ages going through all the sheets and table cloths, spoiling their neat displays... The stall was beautifully displayed. So annoying that I forgot to take my camera with me! As you can see, I came back with quite a few things. Several candy stripes sheets, candy stripes pillowcases, a picture, two tablecloths, a handkerchief and some cards.

More candy stripes....

The pink and white tablecloth I used yesterday for our lunch in the garden.

Such pretty embroidery

Card I am keeping to put on display somewhere in the kitchen

My next stop was to visit Liz who was just a few stalls further up. Liz's stall is always a pleasure to look at, so many things to tempt you!

I came back with a picture, an apron and a tablecloth with matching napkins.

My time was very limited on Saturday morning so did not spend any where near as much time there as I usually would.
On my way out, it was lovely to stop and have a chat with Niki who spotted me walking by.

BLOG SHOPPING
Over the past few weeks, I have bought some lovely items from various bloggers' websites. Here are some of them, others will be featured in my next post.

Such a beautiful picture from A Vintage Mood

Rosie from The Vintage Magpie has found a new home here

Lottie arrived at the same time. These bunnies are so sweet. I have bought 3 so far and can see the family of bunnies increasing in time...

All these goodies came from Elfie & Me (Made in Pixieland)

The book box is a great idea!

I love this plaque, so pretty! It came from Vintage Home

OTHER RECENT FINDS

This sweet little baby doll, I spotted whilst out and about in Shepton Mallet last week.

I have also had some new additions to my vintage book collection

I love the style and colourful covers of these 1950's books

Phoebe enjoys reading some of them, she has started taking an interest in my vintage children's books.

AWARD TIME!

I was lucky enough to be given an award by Pink Feather Paradise.

THANK YOU Alex it is very much appreciated!

I am now passing it on to 7 lovely ladies in no particular order:

Lisa from Knitty Vintage & Rosy

Lesley from This'n'that

Sall from Sal's Snippets

Sonia from Vintage Rose Designs

Debbie from Debbie's English Treasures

Pat from The Sewing Room

Sal from Doolallysally

To the winners of this award, it is entirely up to you if you wish to pass this award on to another 7 blogs.

FINALLY, for those of you who are thinking of shopping at Cath kidston soon you may be interested in this:

EASY LIVING Magazine June 2009 Issue has a copy of Cath Kidston catalogue. There is a 15% off discount offer as well a free plastic wash bag included with the magazines. I don't normally buy this magazine. I bought it to get the wash bag and the discount but then was pleasantly surprised with the contents of the Easy Living magazine. Well worth buying.

Happy shopping!

A bientôt!

Isabelle x

Isle of Wight trip and What happens when you get up to childhood antics!...

The Needles - Isle Of Wight

On Saturday we took the ferry from Lymington (Hampshire) to Yarmouth (Isle of Wight).

We went there for a family get together. My sister has 3 children, it was their 1st communion and confirmation on Sunday. They live in the south of the Island nr Ventnor. We always enjoy visiting them, Phoebe loves seeing her cousins and in the run up to visiting them, that is all we heard about. Sunday also happened to be my sister's birthday which we also celebrated.


St Catherine's Lighthouse, Niton



View from St Catherine's lighthouse

On the Sunday we went to a church in Carisbrook for the confirmations. On the way to the church guess what I saw. A vintage shop called Oh So Vintage! The next day I went back to Carisbrook to see if it was open but being Bank holiday Monday, it was closed. Just as I was about to take a photo of the shop, a Morris minor pulled up at the traffic lights, I couldn't believe my luck and took a picture of the Morris minor with the vintage shop in the background.


My favourite car!

I wondered if it belonged to Ruth from Oh So Vintage but looking at the contact info it does not appear to be the same.

After the confirmation, we all went back to one of my sister's friends house where the children played and the grown ups exchanged conversation. My sister called me in to the garden and suggested it would be a great idea if I had a go on a swing attached to a tree. As I was wearing a fitted vintage dress you can understand my initial reluctance. As I climbed up the ladder, everyone came out to have a look! The pressure... After getting a feel for it, I decided that my dress would not stretch enough for me to leap on to the wooden seat. I decided not to go ahead saying that if I had worn trousers it would have been a different matter.

Seconds later, my sister's friend 'kindly' gave me some shorts for me to put on. After a quick change I came out with my dress pulled up to my waist and wearing the shorts. It was such a fetching look! As you will see from the photos...

Up and away!

Oh dear, that's where it went all wrong...

Holding on for dear life!

Ouch! Rope burn and a bruised ego.... (How un-lady like!)

My sister to the rescue...

My sister feeling bad as she had suggested it

Mummy are you alright? Said Phoebe, in between giggling her head off

As you can see, I couldn't stop laughing about it and quickly regained my dignity...

On Monday it was time to make our way back home. We all had a fantastic time and did not want to leave!

Yarmouth, this picture taken last time we went to the Isle of Wight


As we waited for the ferry, Phoebe asked to have a look at the'ladybird' with ugly teeth.

Explanation of what it is.

I hope that you all had a good bank holiday weekend. Another weekend coming up! Here is hoping that it will be a good one for you.

Thanks to all of you who entered the poll. The results have been interesting.

Still catching up with blogging and if I haven't visited your blog for a while, I will get there soon!

Larry seems to be getting better, not what the vet had expected! We need to go vet again soon though to make quite sure it is not just the antibiotics covering up something else! Fingers crossed, he does seem his normal self again which is so wonderful to see.

A bientôt!

Isabelle x

Add colour to your life

Over the past few months we have been gradually redecorating the whole house. Choosing a colour scheme, curtains, decorative touches such as cushions and pictures is something that I LOVE doing, as many of you am sure do too.

In planning a colour scheme for each room, I have sometimes found myself torn between having a very plain light & airy look using whites with touches of grey/blue or going for something more colourful all round. Whites would give the room a peaceful and relaxed feel but these colours could also look cold in the winter... Sometimes I feel like having colours to brighten up the feel of the house as it rains quite a lot here. I have been waiting for a while before making a decision since I kept going from one option to another. Do you find that?

Yesterday, it suddenly fell in to place. I knew what I wanted for the kitchen, finally! I have decided that the kitchen needs colour so that it feels like a sunny happy room the minute you walk in to it. I have been inspired by stocks & lupins and 1950's colourful books on gardening, children's & home books. It won't have the look of a modern retro 1950's kitchen, it will just have some 1950's touches mixed in. I am looking forward to getting started! I will be using a mixture of vintage and modern fabrics.

Front cover of a French vintage gardening magazine. I like collecting them, the covers are so beautiful.

I firmly believe that colour affects your mood. I always feel so much better on a sunny day when the sky is blue and colourful flowers are swaying in a gentle breeze. I have more energy and drive to do things. I do the housework with more enthusiasm. Somerset is a beautiful county but in the past couple of years we seem to have had more grey skies than blue so that is why I have decided to bring some sunshine & colour into the house to make up for those grey days...

This afternoon, I popped into Frome and had a look around a really pretty haberdashery boutique called Millie Moon. If you live too far way to visit them, you can browse their website as they have an online shop (Click on Millie Moon link). The colours in the shop are fantastic, so vibrant. I really like the way the buttons are displayed. They look like sweets! I went there last week and had planned on taking some photos but a message on my camera said 'No memory card found' I had left it behind.

This time, I went prepared. I also popped in to Bea & Evie, photos on one of my next posts.

Just like sweets!

I love these patterns

I bought some embroidery thread and some blue pure wool felt

Those colours work so well together!

Tomorrow, I am on my way to the Isle of Wight via a quick stop in Salisbury to visit an antiques centre which sells vintage clothes and accessories . I will be on the IOW for a couple of nights to visit my sister and family. My sister has 3 children and they will all have their 1st communion/confirmation on Sunday.

Wishing you a bright and happy weekend!

Larry has shown signs of improvement! He is regaining his strength and normal walk. The vet is now not so sure if a MRI scan is required after all. We are going to look into it more and get a second opinion to be on safe side. The vets were so sure he would need a scan and now they appear to be backing down on that. I will keep you posted. Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. Could well be that they are working!!! Fingers crossed... :o)

A bientôt!

Isabelle x