Buying, Selling and Learning.

It's been a busy couple of weeks here, my stall at the mill has been going really well however l've found it a struggle to keep it fully stocked, and have had to step out of my comfort zone and go to a couple of auctions.....since l've only ever been once to an auction to buy, l was a bit stress pumped and stuffed up a few things, but still l managed to bring home a couple of boxes of sellable "junk"and what's been good is there's been no time to get "attached" to any of it, l've just priced it up and taken it to be sold:-)

Can you believe this chandy was only the glint of a lustre away from being tossed in the bin....NOO.... l'll take it says l.....what may have once been the shabbiest chandy in the chateau (and not CHIC shabby:-) is now ready to sparkle again after a sand, scrub and white spray paint.






A couple of weeks ago my Sister and l visited a pretty little shop in the small township of Bunninyong called Divine Vintage. Wendy who owns the shop was so lovely and didn't even seem to care that we wigged her ear for ages.....she also graciously gave me free rein to photograph her wonderful wares.

 

 Many of the lovelies in the shop have been upcycled by her creative hands, including the apothecary bottles in the pic above. The picture frame on the shelf was created using fabric that once belonged to her grandmother.

 

It was a happy meeting of like minds since we both share a love of  all things vintage and handmade. Her shop is stocked with beautiful crockery, glassware and sewing accessories....Wendy's collections are in bright, funky colour waves that makes her unique shop feel like everyday is Spring.  

 

Cute doily dressed doll surrounded by vintage cottons, fabrics and handmade bags.  

 

 

 

One of my favourite things was this original Victorian planter, chock full of handmade cushions.

Thanks heaps Wendy for an awesome shopping experience.



 

 



 

 

 Love this 60's beaded belt......every inch has been smothered in diamentes and pearls....it must have taken someone (way more patient than me:-) ages to complete.

A girlfriend gave me this large decorative wire bowl, instead of filling it with fruit which was it's intended use l figured it would look great hanging on the wall, like an inspiration board....but without the board..lol.

  

 

A few things l've found for my little shop....chalkware Madonna and child....vintage hat, brass candlesticks and Florentine coasters.

 

Hope the weekends' an interesting and fun filled one for you.... Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind and uplifting comments....stay safe,

 

Til next time.

 

Bron. 

 

Flowers, Frocks and Hats.

My Mums house is a joy to visit anytime.....every nook and cranny is filled with interesting, colourful, collectible and handmade items. l just can't help doing the old head swivel in every direction each time l visit...but last week l hit the jackpot as she'd decided in the interest of helping me stock my stall we should go through the massive cane basket that's sat on top of a cupboard for more than 30 years....she's added to this collection if anything "special" caught her eye. 

 Mum and l both have a big love of vintage clothing which is what the basket mostly contained.

l tried to stay classy as we inspected all the bags, but it was HARD l tell ya....haha..

One of the real treasures we found is the dress l've shown above....the tag reveals it as a designer piece made in Melbourne... probably as a wedding dress in the 60's.

We also found old shawls, boho peasant skirts and dresses, beaded cardi's, evening gowns my Mum used to wear dancing and cutwork lace bali dresses almost everyone wore back in the late 70's.

Not everything was saleable or reusable but hopefully the opshop will be glad of the sudden boost to their racks and Mum says she's glad to have the whole lot gone, as she was over it all sitting there for so long..... now that's what l call a win win for everyone.

    As anyone who has a permanent collectible stall, or does markets regularly knows.... it's a real effort to maintain quality items and knowing what to invest in isn't always easy....then pricing those items for resale is also a tricksy business.... if you sell your stuff (too?) cheap it'll be picked by all the other "dealers" around you and they'll take those items and put them on their stall for 3 or 4 times the price and let's face it, they're well within their rights to use their knowledge and experience to their advantage. l'm just starting to realise how little l know....l'm hoping l can learn fast enough to make it this game.

 



 

A little head piece l created by starching some hat base fabric which was dried to shape. The hydrangea flowers were made by handpainting and starching a lightweight fabric. After it was dry l cut out hydrangea flower shapes and pierced them in the centre to allow for a stamen, the flowers were then randomly glued onto the base. l didn't make enough hydrangeas to fully cover the piece so l glued on dark pink daisy flowers to fill in the spaces.

It was Mothers' day here on Sunday but since Mum had chemotherapy the week before she wasn't up to celebrating on the day, (though thankfully she's doing very well overall), so Tuesday, which was also my Birthday, us girls were all able to finally get together and enjoy a meal out, pressies were exchanged and spirits were high....we're all just happy and grateful to still be here...with and for each other:-)

l found some pretty paper and guillotined a slice to wrap around this candle..

 

 

 

Beautiful..........marymcshane. via pinterest.

 

Thanks so much for reading and for popping in here. Enjoy your week.

 

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 

Week One - As a Picker.

l'm excited to tell you my stall in the collectible centre is up and running and new adventures as a picker have begun.....On Tuesday l called a lady about a suitcase FULL of linen she had advertised for sale in the local paper....Oh she says you'll be VERY happy with what you're getting... crocheted tablecloths and lovely linens all in excellent condition, and the suitcase which belonged to her grandmother came with the deal. Since she lived about half an hour out of town l asked plenty of questions to be sure l wasn't on a bum steer...... totally satisfied l set off a happy woman

 

It started to rain just before l left, so l picked the last of the roses before they were ruined and popped them in the car to give to the lady l was meeting....but when l eventually got there (after getting lost and wet:-) l have to say bum steer doesn't quite cut it....It was clear the suitcase was pretty much empty and her idea of lovely linens was definitely NOT my idea of lovely linens.... not to mention the suitcase that "once belonged to my grandmother" was circa 1960.(and she was NOT five)



Sure..... I'd been stooged:-) but to be honest l felt really sorry for her and l don't mean that in a patronising way, it's just that it was clear she was a heavy smoker since the entire living area was in a grey haze and she was prob'ly selling her dodgy linen to buy cigarettes, which l know isn't good but l get it....she needed cigarettes a LOT.....so we did negotiate a price which l think leaned favourably in her direction. On the way home, one smoky suitcase and a couple of tablecloths later, l was shaking my head thinking struth, what just happened there.....l thought that was the end of it....BUT...

Later that evening l got a phone call and it was the lady ringing to thank me for paying her what l paid and to say (while puffing up big on a fag no doubt... haha) that since she didn't have any vases she'd put the roses in a large cup and was really enjoying looking at them....what no vases.... she almost had me buckling up to head out there with a couple....does the word sucker come to mind, l think l could be in trouble if l ever want to win a trick in this game :-))...but wasn't it lovely and thoughtful of  her to ring me and tell me that.

 

 

Now that much of my stuff has gone out to my stall l've had the chance to arrange a few new vignettes which was kinda fun, though l confess l'm having more than a few anxious pangs at parting with all my favourite things.....rationally l know it's just stuff, but my heart's not convinced:-) It's different from when l used to have the occasional market stall.....that was mostly to get rid of things l didn't want any more, now l'm trying to sell only what l LOVE, which is another thing entirely..

 

  

 Found this old window at the market last week, which l thought was great....of course it'll be moving on after a little mending... l'm sure someone else will love it too.  

These prints were found at the market in a box along with pieces of unglazed china, palettes and paints. They're patterns used for hand painting china and come complete with instructions on how to paint them exactly as shown. The lady selling them kindly sold me these few prints separately, there were still heaps more for someone keen to take up the cause....

 

Finally got around to making some new slipcovers for my chairs as l was sick and tired of having to re-tuck and de-wrinkle the small tablecloths that were there previously, after anyone sat on them. Being velvet they stay in place much better, but best of all they're so warm and comfy....good for Winter on it's  way.

 

               

   Decorating the decorations....little birds as bottle toppers....and a wee Mary in a tube.

  

A few pics l put together of my space at the The Millmarkets...my home away from home:-))
The space is surprisingly big and is nowhere near full yet, but l'm getting there:-)


Thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovely and much appreciated comments.
l wish you all an awesome weekend coming up and let's hope there's at least a little bit of sunshine around, it's been annoyingly cold here even though Winter's still officially a month away.

Take care...til next time,

Bron.

 

 

Happy Easter Break.

l hope your Easter is full of happiness........

l don't even have an Easter pic for you guys...SOZ....but it's been a bit crazy around here. (Sure...it could be just me:-))



The job l've been working in for the past year or so came to an end yesterday. l knew it was going to....and although l'm not able to give up my current career straight away, l've been thinking a LOT about how l want to spend my future working days..... and l'm thinking NOW might be the time for a change.

So a couple of weeks ago (thanks to my Sis:-) l rang the large collectible centre in our town to see if they had any spare site's.... at that time there was nothing available, though he did say there was a chance that one might be coming up after Easter, but that he'd ring me and let me know if, and when...... l was sitting on the couch with very mixed feelings, wondering about how to move forward when the phone rang.....it was the manager of the mill markets to tell me that the site he'd mentioned WAS available and that l could move in next week!!!

So...decision made:-)....but l've really gotta move, there's so much to organise....and not the least is working out what "treasures" to sell and l know it's gonna be a wrench parting with lots of them.....but l had a bit of an AHAH moment recently when l read something written by Christina Strutt (Cabbages and Roses.) who said she only ever sold what she loved, and l can see that has to be my goal too...... no trying to hang on to all the good stuff...and even then, there's no guarantee this venture will work but l'm excited for the chance to try....and kinda scared too:-)

This little side table had a bad case of the wobbles when l found it, and (thankfully) wasn't beyond my limited skills to fix, the timber was stained a typical yuck brown so out came the paint to add a little colour. On the wall above the bedhead are circular mirrors that were once part of an antique brass bed.

These lovely old frames were produced around the turn of the last century and some forward thinking people must have been into upcycling even then, as apparently they were made from old piano keys.



 

l hope you've enjoyed the "boudoir" pics:-) lsn't it amazing how just putting a few different linens on the bed can completely transform the appearance of your room. The damask doona cover in the first pic was overdyed with Rit (teal) dye...the mismatched pillowcases were also dyed in the same colour, but not the same dye lot. The pink cut velvet quilt was an opshop find and the pink cushion was made to match.

bellanottelinens..............Sweet and lovely Springtime linens.

someecards.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.....wishing you all a relaxed, happy and most of all safe Easter break...

 

Til next time,

 

Bron.

 

 

Pretty China Salvage.

 l think most of us can relate to a bit of a weakness for old bits of china....

 

The pheasant plate (below) was found at the market and the matching cup and saucer (above) l found at a garage sale the following weekend which was just a bit weird since l'd never seen that pattern before and here were matching pieces two weeks in row....it's like they all wanted to be together:-))

 

 

Mixing a little old with a little new. Ladybird cup and saucer were made by the Franz company which was established in San Francisco in 2002 by Francis Chen, who was inspired by nature to produce his artistic range of porcelain and jewellery.

Even though the china patterns are quite different from each other and have been collected over a long time, the pieces somehow seem to work in a mismatchy way. (Or am l just pattern challenged:-)

 

  

 

 

 SO cute.... bluebird pattern china with matching embroidered tablecloth. The bluebird motif was the height of fashion around 1920, you may have seen the bluebird necklaces or brooches from this time as well...the china's not something you see around much, but l've seen it listed on ebay.
There was also a revival of the bluebird pattern around 1970.





Awesome collection.

Aren't these amazing.... rare old fortune telling cups.

Tasseography is the name for the art of reading tea leaves....to do this you need to make a teapot of tea using loose tealeaves, after you've drunk the tea, you may be asked to swirl or shake the cup to reveal a pattern and then the reader is supposedly able to foretell your future by reading the shapes of these patterns......read more here.



 

 

The four pics above are from thevintagetable. via my daughter's pinterest page.

 

 

 

Another weekend coming up, hope you have lots of good stuff planned, the weeks are flying as usual....thanks so much for stopping by.

 

Til next time

 

Bron.