The Kindness of Strangers.

Evening all, I hope this bank holiday Saturday finds you bright and breezy despite the recent weather.
I want to tell you a little story about something that happened to me just a couple of weeks ago.  It was one of those dreary wet rainy April days, just after the hose pipe ban had come into effect and out of the blue a parcel landed on my door mat.  I wasn't expecting anything, so this alone added a little excitement to my day.  When I opened it I discovered a pristine copy of the Briglin book by Anthea  Arnold.

Now, if you have read my blog before, you will know that I am a huge Briglin fan and as such I already own a copy of this book thanks to my lovely sister.  As you can imagine I was quite confuddled.  I quickly checked my Amazon, Abe and eBay accounts to check I hadn't pressed the wrong button at some point, but no.  On the back of the packaging I discovered one of those little gold address labels and there was a phone number.  Moments later I had explained my confusion to a lovely lady on the telephone and she was able to explain everything to me.

A week or so before I had bought an unusual Briglin item on eBay.  It was a lamp base with a bird added, I think using the scraffito technique,  I hadn't seen one like it before.  I will show you a piccy but please excuse the shade it is a  temporary one I already had whilst I go in the search of the perfect shade.

The base arrived and it was so well cushioned I could hardly contain myself when unpacking it.  I was utterly pleased with it in every way except for the fact that there wasn't a Briglin back stamp.  I was quite  disappointed by this although I still thought it probably was Briglin, ideally I like to know if something is unmarked and I mentioned this in my Ebay feedback.

Back to the telephone call... the lady on the telephone explained to me that her husband was upset that he hadn't told me the lamp base wasn't marked and as such he had decided to send me a copy of the book.  She asked me to open the book as her husband had photocopied the first photograph in the book and popped inside for me.  The photograph was of all the potters stood outside the Briglin pottery and here is the copy...

Look closely at the picture and then it will dawn you as it did me, that I was talking to one of the Briglin Potters!  Back in Briglin days the lovely lady was Lyn Colavecchia, now she is Lyn Lovitt.  I have to admit I was slightly star struck.  We chatted for a few moments about my Briglin collection and I have to admit I began to feel quite guilty about the comment I had made on eBay.  So Mr and Mrs Lovitt just in case you read this, I believe you, I now know the lamp base is Briglin and thank you very much for the book too.  By the way Mrs Lovitt, to me you are like a Super Star!  That the kindness of strangers is what turned my day from dreary to bright!

The Spring Trundle Is On

For me Spring really springs when my tortoises hibernation ends and its been a few weeks since they woke, well actually I woke them up, you see I hibernate them in a rather artificial manner.  Instead of letting them dig down in the garden or boxing them up and putting them in my shed, I refrigerate them.  I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but it is recognised to be the safest method now days.  Many people in their late 40's and beyond often tell me that they had a tortoise as a child, but as the conversation continues they tell me that it either escaped or most frequently it died in hibernation.  This is because most people used the box method and their tortoises either died from freezing or died because they were not cool enough and thus were using vital energy that was not being replenished.  In a fridge I set my temperature to 6 degrees and I keep and eye that it doesn't go too high or low.  My thermometer even has an alarm, although it has never gone off.  

When people hear about the fridge method one of the first questions is but how do they breathe?  Good question, but how do they breathe if the have dug three feet under the ground?  I guess the answer is they need very little oxygen as long as they are in complete hibernation mode.  

Any way they are now up and about and today has been a great day for them, they have trundled around their gardens and they have eaten like pigs!

Happy Spring to you!

Happy Easter... Bunnies!

A hippy, happy and rather hoppy Easter to you all.  This week inadvertently became rather seasonal in my home.  On the dull grey day of Tuesday, I sat down to make some cushions in the style of an LP, ready to go into the Tiny Wardrobe Shop for Fathers day, like this one.  The material was dark and dull and it was doing nothing for my mood which seemed to be reflecting the weather.  I just knew the day was not going to be productive.  As I folded the black material to put it away, I spied some more exciting and seasonal fabric, which was much more appealing.  So I took some inspiration from a lovely friend and cut some triangles to make broken dishes...

  The squares were so fresh and spring like and I would say they changed my day!  In fact I well and truly got into Spring mode, honestly I was almost skipping!  I made the squares into a knitting bag and I was on a roll!!!

Then inspiration truly struck and I remembered a book I have read many a times but not made anything out of it..

I love Tilda fabrics, but have only used them for quilting and I have never made a Tilda character before.  But very soon an Easter Bunny emerged from the fat quarters that have languished in a bag for months.  Meet Floella...

Now beware, bunnies are known for their breeding capabilities and by Good Friday Phyllys and Maureen had also appeared.  Yes I am addicted to them!!!

Happy Easter One and All!

The Tiny Wardrobe Shop

Hellooo, helloo, hellooo, yes I know it has been an age, but I am not going to beat myself up about it as blogging is meant to be a fun activity and the reason I have not blogged for sometime is because I have been having lots of fun else where. 

As you can see from the last blog post my friend and I had decided to set up a mini shop or concession in the Most wonderful Most Marvellous and we did it, just like that!  Well kind of... it took a little organising and lugging and designing.  We had been given space in the new Wardrobe Room and thus all dealers were given space to place a wardrobe in which to sell vintage and handmade loveliness out of.  The first job was thus finding a wardrobe, which we  found in a charity shop within a week and within in two weeks it had been delivered to my front room and we set about decorating it.  All work was over seen and quality controlled by the Maggie dog!

 

Once the wardrobe was ready we set about making price labels and stocking it.  Over the week we were waiting for its delivery we did quite a good job at finding stock.  It is a wonderful thing you know... having a licence to shop!  

And then it was ready....

Its been such fun!  Working with my lovely friend Claire has been lovely, but on top of that I have met lots of people who are local to me and share the same interests.  I have begun to experiment a little on the handmade items that I put in the little wardrobe shop and one my biggest seller is probably the needle felted brooches.  I had a needle felting kit for Christmas and I have to say, it is simple and great fun and the results are really effective!

I have made a wider variety of brooches now and key rings too, but it seems that the toadstools are the most popular.

 

The little wardrobe space is yet to be named, but I am using the name Ditsy print tortoise designs for my handmade items.  So if you are reading this post on the Urban Tortoise blog you may want to follow the Ditsy Print Tortoise Blog too as I will eventually stop posting to Urban Tortoise.  I changed the name mainly because I felt the craft needed to be reflected as much as my tortoises and I could then add the blog address to my labels.  I will still write about the tortoises on the new blog.  In fact I am in the process of writing their emerging after the winter post at the moment.

Not only has the little wardrobe shop been great for meeting new people in the real world but also in the cyber world too.  I am beginning to discover a whole community of creative, exciting local people who also have a presence on line.  Whats more, Claire my little wardrobe partner (oooh doesn't that sound posh) discovered out little wardrobe on another blog, look.... clicky. We are the 4th picture down! Thanks Elizabeth at Rosalilum blog!

Right, I am pleased to have achieved the writing of this post and now I am off to catch up on all the blogs I follow.  Spring joy and frolics to you all!!

Treasures, Treasures, Treasures.

My friend Liz has pointed out to me that I haven't updated my blog in a little while, so here goes.  I would like to show you some of my favourite treasures and then I want to tell you about a new project inspired by a love of treasure.

About five years ago I came across this...

As you can imagine I was originally drawn to the tortoise on the plaque, but I was also really taken with it's character and style.  It was made by John Clappison in the mid 1970's at the Hornsea Pottery and the technique is know as Muramic.

Before long I was the proud owner of a few other pieces

  

 

 

Unfortunately it would seem that they have now come back into fashion and I can no longer afford to collect them, every now and then I want to kick myself for not buying more over them, but such is life.

Briglin Pottery is also a real favourite of mine and recently that too seems to have become fashionable again.  The Briglin Pottery was set up by two canny women (Brigitte and  Eileen) in the late 1940's, just after the war.  They created unusual and quirky pottery for their time and over four decades the Pottery was responsible for encouraging and show casing the work of a whole host of amazing studio potters.  

In the 70's they were producing large expensive pieces as well as smaller more affordable pieces.  Brigitte wanted people to visit their shop and be able to afford to take something away with them.  Many of the trainees as well as the eminent potters worked on creating cheap little animal figures and money boxes and I love them all.

The quality in the animals did vary somewhat and this is most noticeable in my Owls, but to me they are social history and they represent creativity and the encouragement and opportunity that Briglin provided.

Briglin Owls

 

Briglin Tortoises

Briglin Robin

I love hunting for treasure such as the pieces above and I have a wonderful friend Claire who loves it too!  We happily spend hours browsing shops, fairs and other wonderful places. When we come across a bargain we are stupidly excited.

Anyway when the New Year dawned, Claire and I decided that we wanted to be shopkeepers as well as shoppers and  so we are going into business!  We have rented a small space in Most Marvellous  and we are going to buy and sell treasure and hand made items.  Now when I say a small space, I mean tiny, we are going to have a wardrobe.  We finally found one we are happy with this week, it was in a charity shop and it was just perfect.  Claire had very specific ideas on what we should have and when we saw it, we both fell in love and knew it was the wardrobe for us.  It is being delivered at the end of this week.  We then have to decorate  it and then pictures will follow and I will ask Claire if I can share her story which influenced out choice of wardrobe.

Here are two examples of wardrobes that have already been set up in Most Marvellous, soon the whole room will be full of wardrobes.

This afternoon I got a bit excited and unpacked one of our boxes of goodies that will be going in the wardrobe, I think if I had unpacked them all my lovely friend Claire may  just have had kittens as I am rather clumsy at times, but I just wanted to see how things would look when laid out.  

It is a bit of a learning curve, buying to sell, not only do you have to learn about getting prices right, but what will and won't sell too.  I was buying just what I liked, but I am learning to broaden my criteria slightly.

I am also working on my handmade contributions, I am aiming to make some crocheted cushions, knitting bags and other bits and pieces.  I really need to get a wriggle on I think.  Pricing these type of things has also proved interesting as well as costing them.  That reminds me, if anyone knows of a cheaper version of Rowan Big wool for knitting and felting, please let me know.

Claire is a whizz at making cards and painting ceramics and glass.  She also makes lovely things with beads and I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

 Crocheted Cushions

 

 Knitted and Felted Bag with Crochet Motif, needle felted in place.

So, all tips on making to sell would be most welcome and as soon as our wardrobe arrives photos will follow, as will photos of our mini shop when we finally get it up and running!

Best wishes to you all 

Jane

New Year, New Look

Well I have been playing all day to revamp my blog as part of my New Year Resolution to be more active in the world of blogging.  Do you like it?  I had great fun I have to say.  

I am always hovering in blog land reading and gleaning ideas whilst marvelling at all the beautiful photos and crafty going ons, but I don't often comment and I don't often post on here either.  But... the only resolution I have made this year is to blog more, time will tell I suppose.

Real or Repro? That is, no... That was the Question.

I know I know, another blog entry, what ever is happening to me?  Well, last year I wrote a post Christmas blues entry, saying that I often find it a bit of a sad time between Christmas and New Year and it is so this year too.  But... I really enjoyed writing today and it gave me cheer.  There have been lots of things, topics and happenings over the past few months that I wanted to write about, but didn't, so I am going to strike whilst the iron is still hot and tell you about a few.

I would like to introduce you to Claudia...

Beautiful, don't you think? I bought her in an auction some years ago now, she had no marks and I assumed she was in the style of the Art Nouveau Jugendstil movement, the most famous of makers being WMF.

Now I love Art Nouvea pewter, but generally a mortgage is required to purchase it, so I was happy to make do with a reproduction.

In October I went to the 20th Century Antiques fair at Alexandra Palace, it's a great fair although I have to make myself treat it like a museum otherwise I would spend a fortune!  Straight away I was attracted to an Art Nouveau Pewter stall, full of lovely WMF items and I soon got chatting to the lovely stall owner, Melanie.  Suddenly I noticed that one of the ladies on one of the items was wearing the same dress and hairstyle as my Claudia!  I mentioned this to Melanie who got all excited for me, she got out her WMF book and found my exact lady.  So then she told me to go home and check for marks once more, explaining they are very hard to find.  If she was indeed WMF she could be worth up to £1000!  I have to say I wasn't hopeful as I could see she wasn't as well finished as the items on the stall.

Off home I went and would you believe it?  Yes yes there were marks and a little extra 'A' too, which when I investigated further meant that it was a reject, hence the poor quality finish!

BUT... The story does not quite end there, part of me was still not convinced, she seemed very heavy and my instinct still made me think otherwise.  So, in December I arranged to meet Melanie, back at the fair, she had kindly been emailing me information over this time and was happy to cast her expert eye over the beautiful if ungainly Claudia.  Sadly I was right, she is indeed a reproduction, if not a fake, with pretend marks on her, but you know I think I have grown to love her more, following the whole charade and fake or not, I still think she is beautiful in her own way and the closet I will come to owning real WMF pewter!