Gorgeous Vintage Encyclopedia Pages + Other Loveliness

Two posts in one day! Woohoo!

As well as having some fab new paper packs for sale, I'm also selling some wonderful colour plates from a 1950s encyclopedia and a whole bunch of other lovely things.

 

The encylopedia pages are so delightful and are perfect for framing. I actually have some pages from the same book framed and ready to go up on the walls of my flat... when I finally get round to working out where to hang them, that is! I am so bad at those kinds of decisions.

Get in touch if you're interested in making a purchase or would like a quote for postage. I'm charging the exact postage costs! As I said in my previous post, I'm happy to ship internationally at the moment if you're prepared to wait for your parcel as there may be long delays due to COVID-19 disruption.

First up, those lovely encylopedia pages. All the pages are approx 17.2 x 24.8 cm. Some have sold already but at the time of posting this lot are still available...

"Chrysanthemums of many kinds", illustrated by E.C. Mansell.

Jaguars this time! "Stealthy prowlers of the Amazon forests", painted by Herman Rountree. N.B. this image is darker in real life. It has a lovely moody richness to it! £3 + postage.

I just adore these nature illustrations, and jellyfish are so cool, aren't they? "Jelly-fish: floating invertebrates of the ocean", illustrated by E.C. Mansell. £4 + postage. 

 
Next up: APPLES. This would look so nice framed in a kitchen! "Choice apples for dessert, cooking, or cider". £4 + postage.

I love this one so much: loads of beautiful birds eggs, beautifully illustrated. Just wonderful. "Eggs of thirty-six British birds", painted by Percy J. Billinghurst. N.B. there are some slight marks at the bottom of this page. £3 + postage.

Then here's the last of the bookplates for now... (I've got a few more but need to find the time to take photos of them!) "Delicate forms and colours of the rose", illustrated by E.C. Mansell. On the back: "Climbing, rambling, and cluster roses". £4 + postage.

As well as the book pages, I'm also selling some other nice bits and bobs.

To start us off there's a fab book full of flowers: Floral Designs and Motifs for Artists, Needleworkers and Craftspeople (1984). 136 copyright-free floral motifs in one book! These are all really lovely and could be used for so many different projects. Approx 21 x 28 cm, 80 pages, 260 grams. £5 + postage.

 

 

 

 
Next I've got a really lovely jigsaw puzzle for anyone (like me) who's a big fan of birds! I really enjoyed doing this puzzle, and I love a round puzzle - always an interesting challenge. Vintage birds jigsaw puzzle (1980s). 300 pieces, ONE PIECE MISSING, some damage / old sticky tape / writing on the box. The finished puzzle is approx 41cm in diameter. 320 grams. £2.50 + postage.

 

 

 
This book is so delightful! A great slab of a book to dip into when you fancy it, or to work through slowly soaking it all up bit by fascinating bit. Funny, sad, charming, moving, there's a great mix of stuff in here. Letters of Note: correspondence deserving of a wider audience. A compilation of 125 letters, telegrams, memos and other bits of interesting correspondence! Paperback edition (2016), in nice condition. 368 pages. Approx 1 kilo. 18 x 23 cm. £3 + postage.

 

 

I bought this puzzle because my boyfriend loves lifeboats... but it turns out he's not interested in doing jigsaw puzzles, so I had to do this myself! RNLI jigsaw puzzle, featuring an Arun Class lifeboat at Weymouth in Dorset. 500 pieces, ONE PIECE MISSING (see photos). Some damage ,/ old sticky tape / writing on the box. The finished puzzle is 51 x 35 cm. £2.50 plus postage. 360 grams.

 

 

 
Last but by no means least: a gorgeous big bits of vintage Sanderson fabric, salvaged from some handmade curtains. Some fading at the edges but otherwise in great condition. I think it's 100% cotton. There is loads of gorgeous quality floral fabric here, and Sanderson fabrics are very pricey when bought new!

I've got two sections of this to sell. A: 2 pieces measuring approx 190cm high and 114cm wide, stitched together to make one width (over 228cm) 1050 grams. £30 + postage. B: 2 pieces measuring approx 175cm high and 108 cm wide stitched together to make one width (over 216 cm). 950 grams. £26 + postage.

(Please note I've not washed this but am happy to do so before sending it, let me know xx)

 

 

You can see everything that's currently available over at my Instagram sale account or in my Facebook sale group, and send me a message via my contact form if you'd like to make a purchase. Remember I can post a shoebox sized parcel weighing up to two kilos for just £3.10 in the UK!

Recent(ish) Additions to My Instagram Sale

As I mentioned the other day, I've come up with a plan so I can post parcels without having to go to the Post Office: I've found a parcel postbox near me, I've ordered lots of stamps online, and a wonderful friend has offered to send me a roll of customs labels - hurrah!

This means I can start sending out orders from my Instagram sale page again. I'm in the middle of stocking up on packaging supplies so you may have to wait for me to ship some larger items, but if there's anything you've got your eye on please get in touch.

Here's a selection of the items still available from the sales I held in March...

A couple of gorgeous vintage atlases, perfect for framing and/or using in paper crafts.

 

A very pretty jigsaw puzzle (so soothing!).

A selection of craft books.

 

 

Some lovely First Day Covers featuring gorgeous stamps. These would look really nice framed or propped up on a bookshelf or picture ledge.

 

 

A brand new Leuchtturm notebook, still in its packaging.

Some floral fabric, including a vintage Laura Ashley print!

A charming brooch to pin to your jacket.

A colouring book full of birds.

And an absolutely fabulous vintage bedspread.

 
Click here to view everything I've got listed!

If it's not marked as "sold" or "sold pending payment", it's almost certainly still available. You can message me on Instagram or get in touch via my contact form and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

How To: Sew Some Easy Letter Bunting!

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for sewing pretty bunting!

I designed this project to re-use the WELCOME lettering templates from my rainbow wreath tutorial. I think some welcome bunting would look lovely in a hallway, but you could easily adapt this tutorial by drawing your own letter templates to spell out any word(s) or name(s) you fancy.

This would be a lovely sewing project for a birthday party, wedding, or other special occasion, or for making a decoration for a child's nursery (make sure to hang the bunting well out of reach of little fingers!).

This tutorial was originally designed for The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness!

You will need:

* The bunting template from my easy papercrafts post.
* The template sheet from my rainbow wreath tutorial.
* Quilting cotton (I used “Posies in Aqua” from Sugar Pie by Lella Boutique for Moda).
* Felt in two contrasting colours (I used a pretty aqua blue and a candy pink).
* Coordinating ribbon, ricrac or mini pompom trim.
* Sewing thread to match the felt lettering and the ribbon / ricrac / pompom trim.
* Coordinating stranded embroidery thread, to contrast with the inner felt circle.
* Sewing needles and pins.
* Sewing scissors.
* Embroidery scissors (these are ideal for cutting out small or fiddly felt shapes!).

To make the bunting:

1. Use the bunting template to cut out seven triangular “flags” from your chosen fabric (one per letter). If you're adding more than one word to your bunting, remember you'll need an extra flag for the gaps between the words.

2. Use the lettering and circle templates to cut out the felt pieces.

3. Sew each small circle to a backing large circle with whip stitch and your chosen embroidery thread (use half the strands only – so for six-stranded thread just use three strands). I used cream embroidery thread to match my pompom trim.

Then add the letters, sewing them in place with running stitch and matching sewing thread.

4. Position each letter on one of the bunting flags, just below the centre of the flag (remember you’ll be adding the ribbon or trim later!). Sew each letter in place with running stitch in matching (pink) sewing thread, sewing flush with the edge of the smaller circle so your stitching is hidden.

5. Add the bunting flags to your chosen ribbon or trim. Leave a length of ribbon/trim unstitched (so you can tie the bunting in place when you come to display it) then add the flags one by one. Pin or hold the ribbon/trim along the top edge of each flag then sew it in place with running stitch and matching sewing thread.

Leave a length of unstitched ribbon/trim at the other end of the bunting then cut away any excess. If you’re using ribbon, cut the ends at an angle to help prevent fraying.

And you're done! Now you just need to hang the bunting up and go put the kettle on and admire your work.

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April in Pictures: Fabric Shopping, Neglected Cups of Tea, a Sleepy Assistant and Crazy British Weather.

It's been a hectic few weeks here! I've been busy with tight deadlines and exciting travels and boring paperwork and all sorts of other stuff that has collectively got in the way of blogging!

Though I've not had time to sit down and put together a proper blog post for ages (as those of you who are bloggers yourselves will know, this stuff takes time! Take the photos, edit them, resize them, label them, upload them, write something interesting, proofread it, etc...) I have been sharing some snaps over on my new Instagram account.

I thought it would be nice to do a monthly round-up of the photos I shared on Instagram that didn't make it onto my blog. This way those of you who don't follow me on Instagram won't miss out, and I can waffle to my heart's content about what I've been up to instead of having to confine myself to a short and snappy caption that I've slooooowly typed on my smartphone keyboard (it's taking me a while to get used to that thing!!).

So, what did I get up to at the end of April?

I can rarely resist a nice bit of stationery and fell head over heels with this "Enchanting Forest" letter-writing set designed by Helen Dardik for Roger la Borde. Isn't it lush? As well as using it to write letters (of course) I've also been using the stickers to decorate other bits of post. So much prettiness.

Walking to the postbox a few days later, floral-sticker-covered-post in hand, it was lovely to spot these wildflowers growing along a fence. All those little specks of blue! Delightful.

 

Talking of flowers... I finally stitched the last few flowers onto this cushion which has been a work in progress for a while now. Have I found the time to take photos of the finished cushion? I have not. I must remember to actually do that because I am really rather chuffed with how this turned out. Although - I have to confess - I'm actually thinking about maybe adding some embroidery to this as well. I might leave it for a few months and see how I feel as that will be yet another time-consuming project to add to my To Make list!

When I'm sewing or doing other non-writing work, I listen to the same albums over and over. In late April I was listening to this one on repeat. I've had this tape for 25 years and still love it!

Escaping from my studio/office for a morning, I took a trip to Fabric Land to buy supplies for a couple of work projects. Fabric Land is not (sadly) a magical Narnia-esque world of fabric and enchanted haberdashery creatures but is actually a really great chain of sewing shops. They're an absolute treasure trove of stitch-y supplies and have helpful staff and a legendary website that's straight out of 1998. While I was in town I also popped into the knitting shop next door to buy some white yarn for my mini patchwork squares blanket. Online shopping is super convenient but nothing beats being able to buy what you need in a local shop.

 

I do a lot of working on things behind the scenes that I can't talk about, so it's always a joy when I get to finally spill the beans on a project. The six projects I contributed to Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants were so much fun to make!

I gave one of these copies to my mum (she has a whole collection of books featuring my work) and the other now sits on what I half-jokingly refer to as "my ego shelf". The shelf is an ego-boosting collection of books by me, books featuring my projects, plus other nice things like the first magazine to ever feature my work in print and the photo book I made filled with six years of crafty photos.

I was completely obsessed with books when I was a kid, I spent so much time reading and dreamt of a day when I would have a house of my own with its own library (a whole room! filled with books!). Now I'm a grown up, I may not have the library I hoped for when I was a kid but a shelf of books I've been involved in creating is possibly even better.

My inner book nerd was also thrilled to spot myself (and the other contributors) listed in the index of Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants. I've never been in an index before!

I work from the sofa a lot when I've got a large amount of sewing to do - it's so comfy, and my assistant keeps me company while I sew...

You can tell I was busy with work as I kept making tea and forgetting to drink it! This was the third cup that had gone cold that day as I rushed around drawing and stitching and writing and taking photos.

Part of the reason I was rushing about was to get ready for a trip to Northumberland with my mum. Planning trips in advance is very necessary, but they don't always fit in well around deadlines when the time rolls round!

We had some craaaazy weather on our trip, even for England. It hailed, it snowed, it rained, it was sunny, it hailed again! All the weather, all crammed into a few days. This was the view from our hotel room one afternoon...

 

... and this was the view on the coast just a couple of days later! Chilly, yes, but gorgeously bright and clear.

I will, of course, be blogging about our visit to Northumberland as soon as I've got the photos edited. We were only there for a few days but we visited so many great places, I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you guys.

P.S. Follow me on Instagram for regular, colourful updates!