*NEW* & *MENTIONS* & *THANKS*

Oh, how nice! Some new people over here, hello! *waves* Do budge up and make space for them. Thank you all for reading and commenting, old and new!

Speaking of old and new, here are some *new* *old* things in the shop.





I am happy to report that the cups have gone to a fine home, although they were going to emigrate for a while.

Oh! I have had some very cheery and jolly mentions recently including two happy giveaway winners, thank you very much Elisabeth, Deborah, Nell and Anna! I am going to be be selling some of my block printed illustrations soon, nicely mounted & ready to frame.



Finally, taaaa-daaah! I am very pleased and excited to say that my plates are currently on display (and for sale) at The Maisonette in Glasgow, which I am really thrilled about.



The plates look great with all the rest of their carefully chosen beautiful, covetable treasures.

Doing anything nice this weekend? We're going to a party!

The Real Reason

I put my Acapulco cups in the shop..



Yeeeees, well last week when we were confined to the house, I spent rather a lot of time over the course of a couple of evenings, bidding on things on ebay.



Having loved this design for rather a long time, or at least since earlier this year when my friend Katie came down to visit and scored the same tea-set (different colour & teapot) in a junk shop I introduced her too. I was so horribly jealous. And crestfallen. I know, how unpleasant of me.



Add to this, seeing this post over at Francesca's, well, you could say my interest was piqued or my dander was up or some such thing. I HAD to have it. I put a singe bid on and then told myself that was ALL I was going to do. And I won it! Obvs! It came this morning! LOOK at it! RAWR!



And weirdly last night I made these..





We are meant to be. And we're gonna live happily ever after.

Acapulco!

New in the shop!

I'm Back and A Petit Sale

Hello, have you missed me? Well, I've certainly missed you.

The internet has been broken for the last week or so, since the wild weather of the previous post. Darlings, it has been HELL.

Actually, it was fine, I spent all of last week making things for the Winter Fayre at Monkton Wylde to raise money for our kindergarten, so in the end I had plenty of time, with no distractions, to devote to that.

I made tiny felt hearts for the visiting Snow Queen to give to the children. Which gave me ample opportunity to practice my fairy stitching. You know, really tiny perfect stitches. Hmmm. I achieved partial success.





Look at this example of real-life fairy stitching. I found some embroidered linens at a charity shop last week and was so amazed at the level of work, care and detail. Lovely, eh? Oh, I wish fervently that I could sew like this.





So, back to my rather more haphazard brand of crafting - I also made a batch of mincemeat (very delicious), some dried fruit truffles (I'll be posting the recipe later this month) and some reindeer food. I'm sure you all know what that is. No? Well, it's the traditional recipe of oats and glitter, reindeer love it.

But this new week, I have to turn my attention fully toward Iris's third birthday, which is on Saturday!



I have a birthday crown and Bambi (current obsession of hers) card to make, presents to wrap and then on Friday, the mother of all cooking and baking sessions ahead of her party on Saturday. It truly is the calm before the storm! I am steeling my nerve.

So, I hope to be back a bit more this week - but until then I am happy to tell you that there's a 15% sale in both of the shops for the next two weeks or thereabouts. Orders will be shipped promptly so there's still time for a bit of Christmas shopping!

For le petit boutique and all the vintage goodness that lies within - add this code at the checkout - LEPETITCHRISTMAS and the 15% will be automatically deducted.

And then over in the etsy branch - I will refund 15% via Paypal.

Lastly, I was really thrilled to see that I had been featured over at A Beat My Heart Skipped (thanks to The Mad House for tipping me off) and as it turns out, one of my plates was featured in their Christmas Gift Guide last month! Double the warm glow!

A Weekend Revised (And Finds)

Well, we bailed on the camping trip as the weather report was so dire and camping in the rain is hardly any fun. Never mind, we do have two or three more trips coming up and hopefully summer will resume any time now, fingers crossed.

So what did we do to fill those empty camping hours? We went to the market, where I tried on vintage dresses (all too big or too small) and bought a bunch of magnificent early dahlias.



We went for afternoon tea with Iris's grandparents. We ate delicious food - I made pesto which we had with pasta and homegrown peas, Paul made pizza and bread and banana cake. We played hide and seek and read Mr Men books. We carbooted, I found lots of tiny curios. So it wasn't too bad really!

Here are some of the treasures, but there's more (of course); I found a whole heap of vintage baby clothes that are so darling, I'm going to be adding them to the shop as they're all too small for Iris! Pictures to follow!

A startled looking wooden bottle stopper.





Wooden dolls..



I was drawn to this little 1950s book by the bright and pretty cover.



And when I looked inside and saw this girl, I immediately handed over my 50p. Isn't she a beauty? And yes, Daughters Are The Thing.





Owls, owls, owls (well, three, although I can't find the third one).



A tiny brass ship.



An even tinier mouse with leather ears and tail. Squeak!



An apple (or pear) cutter in its original box.



Some brooches.. including some bows which I have been on the lookout for..



Crazy 1970s Irish linen tea towels, the colours are so juicily bright and the subject matter completely bonkers..



The elephant has a cold and is taking a mustard foot bath. (!)

Flea Market Finds

Here's a little round up of my finds from the last week or so. I have been trying to rein it in a tad, not sure how successful I am in the general field of reining-it-in, but it's an attempt nevertheless.

Buying books for their covers. That's a bit naughty isn't it? I bought three yesterday.



Pretty pertinent, eh?





Anne Bancroft smouldering, impossible to resist.



A vintage Cadburys tin, for storing odd and ends in Iris's room.



A pair of cowboy drinking glasses. We're well catered for the glasses department as you might expect, but I could hardly be expected to walk past these could I?



A pair of pom-pom adorned slippers. I already have a pair of these, which I bought in the full knowledge that they were too small for Iris, I bought them because I thought them beautiful. So when I saw these in the window of one of our many charity shops, my heart went *skip* with excitement. But alas! They are also too small! A new collection in the making, perhaps?



A part of a child's teaset in a fetching shade of blue. As it's plastic (although from the 1950s I might add) it'll be perfect for playing with in the garden.



A diecast model of a man riding a white horse. The man is minus his head and one arm but that was really why I bought it. A curiosity, no?



And a little china deer.

p.s. I'm still canvassing opinion on the post below, do let me know what you think about my shop idea!

In The City, It's Alright - Part 2

So, naturally over the weekend, I did a bit of shopping.

We helped Dicky find some clothes for his Bearcraft video which he'll be shooting in a couple of weeks. We madly shopped in a vintage shop minutes before it closed on Saturday evening and then returned to Brick Lane for another go on Sunday. All of which was highly enjoyable. And I was lucky enough to be given a beautiful owl by Jessica.

Here's what came home with me...



Bright paper garlands from a party shop.



Pinata blindfold, also from the party shop. So pretty, it was impossible to resist.



Ric Rac and red & white trim from a wonderful haberdashers round the corner from Jessica's flat.



Groovy stickers & exercise book from a proper traditional stationers. And some Sharpies from American Apparel! Excitement!



A Miffy clog money box from a street seller on Brick Lane. For Iris naturally.



My beautiful new owl. I love him, he has such an owlish expression.

And lastly, another gratuitous blossom shot, because, well, just because...

In The City, It's Alright - Part 1

We're back from our little jaunt to London, staying with dear and talented friends, Jessica and Dicky. It wasn't long enough, of course, it never is.

But there was fun to be had and by jove, we had it.

Highlights included, late night feasts, a morning walk, Vietnamese food, too much cake, excitable shopping, stationery shops, new pens, haberdashers, paper garlands, vintage dresses, a picnic, lots of laughing, cheese and a dog with mango on his head (you can see more of everything here) - thank you for having us, it was wonderful.

I'll post Part 2 - the shopping tomorrow...









Jessica made the Tory Wives Nesting Doll Set seen here, Christine's my fave...