Just letting you know that this Sunday I'll be at the brilliant Bridport Vintage Market!!
I love this one, it has a great vibe, cool fellow traders and is in a fantastic location.
Right next to the amazing Alleyways Antiques Centre on the St Michael's Trading Estate, in the heart of Bridport in Dorset.
So if you find yourself down Dorset way at the weekend, then pop in for some vintage shopping!
I'm really looking forward to this one, as I have some exciting new stock to show for the first time.
See you there!!!
What is it about boxes ...?!
Whenever you see one at a vintage fair or market, you feel compelled to pick it up and look inside!!
Of course, then you discover that it's empty, but it's still oddly satisfying isn't it?!
In case you are like me, then I've got a little selection of boxes to show you, that will soon be appearing at vintage fairs.
First up is this beautiful Chinese or Japanese box, which has a delicate bird and the branches of a tree. It has a gorgeous deep reddy brown colour and is painted black inside.
Another wooden box, all inlaid and decorated with little Scottie dogs, one black and one white.
It's a little bashed, but is a charming object, and probably dates to the 1930s.
What appears to be a rather unassuming pale yellow bakelite box, is actually a rather stylish Art Deco cigarette case.
It would fit easily into a handbag, and would have been the perfect accompaniment to a glamorous night out in 30s London. Just imagine!
Apologies for the out-of-focus picture of the inside of the box.
I'll sack the staff photographer (me)!!!
And now the 'Mystery Box' ...!!
It looks like it's from the 1950s, and could possibly have been a gift box of some sort, or maybe it held some chocolates?
I'm not 100% sure, but it's a gorgeous box, made of card, and is possibly quite rare as most people would have thrown it away.
So look out for these boxes at my next few vintage fairs and markets, starting with Wimborne Market, in the Dorset town of Wimborne Minster, this Saturday!!
As the year is progressing, I'm starting to book more and more fairs and markets ...
Check out my list so far ...
I'm also hoping to do a few art shows this year, which is actually where it all began with my ArtPix venture.
Before I started this antique selling malarky, I was displaying my digital collages and stuff at art shows around Essex.
I'm going to check out a couple in Dorset that might be good options, so watch this space!!
All things ArtPix have ground to a halt this week, after water got into the ArtPix Studio!!
During an outrageously heavy rain shower, I developed a bit of an indoor swimming pool, so all work has ceased and there has been a lot of moving furniture and stock!!
All a bit of a pain of course, as I was hoping to get back out doing markets, starting at Wimborne this Saturday.
I'd also begun working on more driftwood art ideas, so hopefully I can get back on these very soon as well.
I do have one market booked for March though, and that's the brilliant BRIDPORT VINTAGE MARKET on 31st March, so catch me there if you can!
All you have to do is rush down to the St Michael's Trading Estate in the lovely Dorset town of Bridport.
Just recently I've started to play around with some ideas for driftwood art, the well-known practice of picking up bits from beaches and creating things out of them.
Had always liked the idea of it, but for years I lived in Southend-on-Sea, and you didn't really want to go poking around the Thames Estuary looking for things washed up!
However, now I've moved to the Isle of Portland, I've got Chesil Cove as my local beach.
Here you often find bits of wood and all sorts of strange things washed up, especially after a big storm.
So after collecting a few bits of flotsam and jetsam, I made this little boat sitting on a wooden block ...
All made from things found at Chesil Cove.
I absolutely love the idea of recycling bits to make them into something new. I already do a lot of 'upcycling' of furniture, so this can be another strand!
Both wood and plastic have been used. The right-hand sail is actually a bit of painted wood from a boat.
As all the bits were washed up on Portland, there could only be one name to use!
And of course reminding everyone that it's in Dorset!!
Love the worn, rusty nail and the natural patterns in the wooden block.
I haven't actually attached the boat to the block yet, so it can be a portable boat as well!
When I've made a few more things, I'll start to put them on sale. First in my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset, then perhaps at some art fairs.
Stay tuned!
Totally shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Keith Flint today ....
A free spirit, one-of-a-kind, and fabulous performer.
Anyone who has an ounce of passion for music, especially alternative sounds, will have been moved by The Prodigy in some form.
When the band finally hit the mainstream in the mid-90s, it was Keith who was boomed into every living room in Britain belting out Firestarter.
He became the focal point of the band from then on, and their live shows just got better and better.
With their music crossing so many boundaries, all tribes came to gather at their gigs, and mainly to see Keef, as he was such an incredible performer.
I've seen The Prodigy so many times and he was always fantastic. I even hugged him at one gig as he paraded along the front row at Brixton Academy!
I also saw him play with his short-lived and much underrated side-project, Flint, at the Scala in London.
He will be so missed ....
