Country Fair

I found these little gems hiding in a charity shop . They date from 1950/51 and are primarily aimed at farmers and other country gentry. Although not of the huntin' shootin' and fishin' persuasion myself there's quite a lot of interesting information relating to all things country - as the title suggests. There's also lots of 1950s adverts which, as I'm sure we're all aware, are usually game for a laugh. Some are for odd contraptions which wouldn't look out of place in the "innovations" catalogue. However, I did just buy these because I like the covers. There's actually some black and white illustrations inside which are also pretty good. Although I've only shown some of them here, I have 12 issues each featuring animals with a different main colour. I particularly like the one with the black lamb, although I wouldn't want to bump into it on a dark night - it looks mean!

Happy Bunny

I was extremely excited last week when I heard that I had won a Tweed Bunny purse in a giveaway over at the linen cat blog. The said bunny arrived very swiftly despite the snow and I must say it was a real joy to receive. These bunnies are quality items with amazing attention to detail-beautifully packaged as well. I had wanted one for a while, so it was an early Christmas prezzie.It also coincides with a bit of a tweed craze currently going on in this household. 'Im indoors has recently purchased a couple of tweed jackets on ebay. The jackets are made of Harris tweed and the history of Harris tweed is quite interesting - we watched a TV documentary about it a year or so ago. It also goes back to Rick's ancestral roots as his one half of his family originates from there.

Spamtastic Day

I must admit I do like a bit of kitsch now and again and at one time owned a collection of snow domes, which I have a bit of a penchant for. I inadvertently stumbled across this one which made me smile. When I first saw it I thought it was a joke but it seems like its a real item that you can actually buy here. Its what I think of as a classic snowdome in terms of shape and format. Looking through the rest of the website which is strangely captivating, it seems that spam consumption is alive and well. It has a fan club as well as a museum. You can even listen to a charming country and western ditty called "Pam don't take my Spam" So, if you're ever at a loose end in Austin, Minnesota you'll know where to go. Personally, I can't believe people still eat it and I certainly haven't touched it since the dreaded spam fritters (yes - deep fried spam in batter) were force fed to me at school . Just as well Jamie Oliver didn't exist then.

Nice Type

Here are a few more matchbox labels from eastern Europe.These always make me want to rush out and do some screen printing! I seem to be having trouble with focusing on things for longer than about 5 seconds though at the moment. I keep having more and more ideas and as a result I'm probably spreading myself a bit too thinly. And with the Christmas headless chicken factor thrown in its all getting a bit frenzied. When I look at some people's blogs they seem mega-organised and focused. However, out of the chaos things will emerge. (I hope).

Seasalt Bag Competition

Here is my entry for the "Design a Jute " competition run by local clothing company Seasalt. I do like their clothes and had high hopes of winning. However, my plans were foiled by none other than my six year old son who has gone on to snaffle the top prize! Doohhh, I knew should never have let him enter...Here also is his winning design which will appear on their jute bags sometime in the new year. Exciting stuff! By the way, mine is the seagull one, Dan's is the boat.Read all about it here

Egg Cup Army on the March!

The egg cup army are on the march and hoping to invade your home sometime soon....
This is a self initiated project which just happened after an overwhelming urge to paint some egg cups overtook me. Not entirely sure why. Possibly a distant childhood memory - I think I may have had a soldier one. They were quite satisfying to paint, but getting them ready to list in the shop has taken me an age as the packaging,labels,photographs, and id cards, etc all had to be thought about.
They are now, however, finally ready for re-homing, so check out my shops if you think you'd like one.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

I forgot about these pictures taken at promenade park in Maldon long long ago during the summer holidays until downloading some other photos onto the computer. There's some ice cream related signage which always seems to have a certain charm. I've always wanted to own an ice cream van complete with lightey-up cones on the front. The image of the man in the gates of the bowling club is quite a gem too.