Floral Fun

Top of my 20p carnation tin

The carnation tin in all its glory, its such a great size too so good for a very large slab of cake, just what im going to use it for.

Small puppy tin also couldnt be left behind at the car boot maybe it was there sad looking eyes but I just had to have it for 50p

Meakin is my all time favourite I really do need to start being selective when buying it because I already have 10 of his coffee pots and I dont even drink coffee but I just cant resist them. These beautiful milk jug and gravy jug were just to nice to miss and I do have the matching coffee pot so that justified it in my head. The small one was 50p the larger one £1 so not too bad a price atall.

This weekend I have tried to be good and save some money but I did end up going out on Friday for a few cocktails, but Saturday was spent making crafty bits and cooking my world famous Thai green curry for my friends  and watching He's just not that into you. Which is such a great film because it brings back so many memories of the single scene. Then we got up bright and early to have a rummage around the local car boot sale. So these are some pics of the treasures i picked up today but also some pics of the garden because when the sun is shining it really is beautiful so I'm going to mix the two together. Vintage and floral two of my favourite things combined. I hope this week brings lots of sunshine and bountiful amounts of inspiration. These images alone make me want to go off and design a whole new interiors range.

A Thrifting trip and Adventures at Grandmas

I had the best weekend, me and Calum went to stay with my Grandmother who lives in Anglesey, its always so much fun because she is the best cook ever and always has freshly made scones, lemon meringue pie and coconut tart made for our arrival. Not the best if your on the be thin for July 12 diet (Holiday), but you have to live a little. Anglesey is great for all types of thrifting, charity shops, attic sales and car boot sales. Calum was dragged round all of them. He doesn't mind to start with but when we get up at 8.30 sat and Sunday morning to go roting around in gale force winds I think he thinks I'm barmy, but then again he did say he was glad I had a hobby. Can we call Car bootying a hobby. Maybe I should add it to my CV, avid car bootyer. We had a glorious lunch on Saturday but unfortunately no pictures to show as my phone battery died, but chips and a pint was just what I fancied. Quite a few of these pics are already on instagram but I thought I needed to put them on here in all there glory. Some of these items are for sale, some are to be used for my craft sales, and some are for my future home.

Gorgeous view while stuffing my face with chips and cider. The ship in Anglesey.

This cushions live in my Grandmothers guest room I love them original 1970s patchwork cushions and a Sylvac green rabbit.

This is me and my 78 yr Grandma doing the splits, she is amazing, she swims 3 times a week, walks every day, Tap dances and cheer leads.
These pics show a selection of some of the goodies I bought over the weekend. There is much much more which I hopefully will get round to photographing, including a lloyd loom bedside cabinet for £3, a lovely linen embroidered cushion cover, a crinoline lady embroidery. I will take pics of them all and show you the extend of my bargains.

Vintage sheets I'm going to use to make bunting and aprons from.

I fell in love with this straigh away double duvet cover £1!!!

Arcopal Pyrex soup or snack bowls, such a beautiful floral motif.

I love this knitted teddy, she has the cutest face.

Gorgeous glass lampshade, not sure where I'm going to put it, but loved the floral motif.

Pyrex gravy boat what more could you want.

This Bambi really was a bargain its really big and a planter or trinket box and it set me back a staggering 50p, I love it oh so much.

I will soon attach some pics of all the things I have made out of the beautiful vintage sheet collection ive now got. will keep you posted.

North West's Best Sugar Junction Manchester

Sorry I haven't Blogged for awhile I have been rather busy firstly visiting my boyfriend for the bank holiday weekend in the Lake district but also making things for a forthcoming craft fair I've got a stall at.
But while in Manchester last Friday picking up crafty supplies me and mum decided to go for afternoon tea, admittedly this was already partially planned and luckily a friend had mentioned how lovely Sugar Junction was in the northern quarter in Manchester's Town centre. The atmosphere and decor were gorgeous, I loved the Vintage feel without the room appearing to dark and cluttered and the cakes all well displayed on the counter definitely got me in the mood for cake. We had a good look through the menu and were thoroughly spoilt for choice, in that situation afternoon tea always seems like the appropriate thing to have to get to sample of of the lovely delights.

 Firstly a lovely jam jar of flowers arrived on the table I couldn't resist taking a photograph, I really need to start putting more flowers round the house, and they looked great done this way. The mis matched chine and floral tablecloth got my taste buds even more excited for the feast which was to come.

Gorgeous Cheese tarlet

The Full afternoon tea in all its glory!!
The finger sandwiches were really gorgeous lovely bread and filling, the mini cheese tartlet was divine I could of eaten more of those. The only disappointment was the scone which was un sweetened and very heavy, more like a bread roll than a scone but that aside very thing was gorgeous and I definitely want to go again with the girls in the summer. Overall I would give it a 7/10 and well worth a visit. 

My favourite part the gorgeous lemon drizzle cupcake, both the sponge and icing were to die for.

Off to Manchester tomorrow

Off to Manchester tomorrow so there will be a new north west's best blog post up early next week when I get back from a weekend with the boyfriend in the Lake District.

My Design Work

I thought I would put some of my Design work on my Blog I keep forgetting to mention it so today's the day. In March I finished an MA in Surface Pattern Design at UCLAN which I undertook straight after completing a BA in Textiles Innovations. Initially I was hoping to become a Surface pattern designer but as time progressed I have realised I would prefer to go into the world of styling and interiors.
Even after all this time in education I still have know real idea of what I want to do when I grow up (sadly I am already grown up), I love the creative side of textiles but I also enjoy working with others that's why I don't want to go freelance, trend prediction, styling and coming up with design concept boards. I am hoping this year I will find a job which covers some of these bases. If not I will take any job to gain experience and then keep applying. I'm currently working as a nanny which allows me to do lots of creative bits and bobs during the day and then get some paid work in
 the evenings
These photographs show work from my final third year collection entitled 'Absense and Evidence' based on a series of photographs I had taken whilst on a trip to Morocco.

Moroccan Market Photograph and colour way

Moroccan Shop and colour way



Third year degree show

Collagraph and laser cut sample

Orchid Collage

The collection shows the presence of human life without there being any people present within the imagery. The colours all come directly from my own photography. I also embellished many of my prints with laser cut vinyl to add another layer of depth to my work. Hopefully you can see the strong narrative voice within my work, a depth of colour which is different yet trend aware and designs suitable to embellish any home.

Weekend away

Little Ellie who is now off to India

Hello you pyrex beauty £1.50 bargain

Adorable Ballet shoes

My favourite buy 1970's Mustard lamp base £1.

Sorry for my lack of Blog posts I have been away for a few days catching up with my school friends down south and wishing my best friend fair well on her travels as she is off to India for a year. There was many a tear when I left her on the final day of my stay but I know she is going to have a fantastic adventure and I cherished our last few days together for awhile. I also managed to pick up some bargains while I was down south which was inevitable because there is a fantastic Charity shop, but not so good for my rather long journey including 3 trains and a tube on the way home back to Manchester. Thought Id show you a sneak peek of some things I bought. A few more to come. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, lets hope this rains stops.

Etsy Shop

Ive just started up an Etsy shop today selling off some of my vast collection of things Ive collected over the years of being a thriftaholic. I'm really trying to get an action plan together because I really feel like I need to move out, Its so hard when you have been away at Uni to get used to living at home again. So hopefully this is only the beginning for Late Night List Writer, some homemade items will be available soon.