vintage embroidery transfer overload!

on my way home from dropping
my son off at pre-school
i had an overpowering desire
to check out the charity shops . . .

ooohh - what do we have here then? my little heart skipped a beat when i saw what was peeking out at the edges . . .

an antique folder full of very very vintage embroidery transfer patterns

and vintage christmas cards

the more i flicked through the folder
the more i NEEDED it!

some are over a hundred years old!

it felt almost wrong to be looking through
someone elses treasures

every now and then i'd find a little newspaper clipping from the war on how to make and mend

i think this is my favourite pattern

love these snippets too

so much treasure - such an amazing find!

right at the back was this story
saved from the paper
dated new years eve 1940

skippity skip i went off to the counter
more than happy with my find

*****
then i noticed these

vintage woman's magazines -
these are definately good for a giggle
oh i would've been so bad as a 50's wifey!

Wow it really was my lucky day . . .

and d'ya know what?
i also scored three pairs of vintage knitting needles three of which are now bangles!

yep there are only two here
pesky teenage daughter strikes again!

PhatQuarter's Anatomy embroidery swap

So i joined in with the PhatQuarter's anatomy embroidered ATC swap -
i was a little nervous as my embroidery skills were rather rusty!
But i had tonnes of ideas of what i could make - some of them much too complicated and lot's involving the female re-productive system and the human heart.

all packed up and ready to post

the backing

"too late"

tick-tock tick-tock

Anyone who knows me well will know that i'd desperately love to have another baby - unfortunately my partner doesn't want to, his arguement being i have one of each and that is enough.
Anyway my biological clock is tick-tock-ticking away and time is running out for me - so i decided to use this very loud and irritating and fictional part of my anatomy as my embroidered idea for the swap.
After receiving my wonderful russian doll/skeleton embroidery from GiddyGirlie which was sooo personalised for me i'm worrying that the ATC that i made for my swap partner Alex was too personal and i should have made something more for her, oh well it is too late to worry i sent the parcel off to America a day before the deadline which was over two-weeks ago now and have been waiting waiting waiting with baited breath to see if she likes it.

my super charged and noisy biological clock.
{soon it will be silent}


My parcel still hasn't arrived - it was sent 19 days ago so i think it has got lost
but i couldn't wait any longer to blog about it ,
i don't think my partner looks at my blog but
Alex if you are looking - i hope you like it & sorry if this has spoilt it for you
i'm keeping my fingers crossed it will eventually arrive

it's so annoying as the last couple of american etsy orders arrived in one week.

lovely goodies in the post!

i wasn't expecting anything to arrive for me in the post yesterday,
so imagine my glee to be brought two parcels !


the first i opened was from Kerry from Pennydog.com
i have been supplying Kerry with tags for her jewellery
and building up a credit!
Look at these fabulous 3-holed buttons - love 'em
and some vintage buckles

but best of all a gorgeous resin bangle
with buttons and pattern paper encased
it's great but now stuck on my wrist!

it's so hard to photograph too being clear
and my photo's don't do it justice
so you'd best go and buy one!!!
www.pennydog.com

thank-you Kerry x

*******

and in the second parcel was my fantastic gift from Mia at www.giddygirlie.com
who was my partner in the embroidery swap - isn't it all so cool?
i really love it and it was so "me"

my son really loves this because the white stitching is glow-in-the-dark!!!

thank-you Mia for making my first ever embroidery swap so fun x

time flies . . . . .

i find it very hard to resist these vintage floral buttons - the violet daisy has to be my new favourite!

i'm afraid i haven't got anything crafty to show you this week - i have made something very gorgeous BUT it is a secret for now! oh. . . . . i just can't resist showing a little glimpse of it . . . .

i have however been buying "STUFF" as my partner would call it {that's when he's being polite} so i will share my thrifty goodies with you instead!

what a sweet little face this "heidi" has, i found this lovely but battered book in the most bargain of bargain bins along with a copy of "lolita" and "good wives" and another book i'd never heard of and bought purely because it was in large print - these books are destined for re-cycling in my altered art but i'm going to have to keep the loose cover of "heidi" .

found this little stack of vintage dishes and couldn't resist them i thought they'd be great for displaying/photographing buttons in - isn't it strange how our{maybe it's just me!}tastes change with age - ten years ago i wouldn't have given these a second glance - now i may even use them to eat from!

below are two vintage aprons - one looks almost perfect and it's twin is rather worn and much more "vintage-y" lovely soft fabric.

and i also bought a couple of vintage embroidered cushion cases - i actually "know" what i'll do with these!