Join the Circus!

'Join the Circus' is the theme for the May ATC swap over at Kimberly's ArtJoyStuff blog. This just had to be a really colourful ATC, and I had such fun searching out circus themed images. A few hours spent in the craftavan, and the ATCs were ready to go -

I love my baby elephant holding the flower!

Enjoy your day wherever you are. Toodlepip xxx

Postage People

I had such a blast last year, taking part in Marion's Bird People ATC swap, and therefore was delighted to hear that she was once again hosting an ATC swap, this time with the theme POSTAGE PEOPLE REVISITED. The idea is to use postage stamps to create people with. For a while I thought I wouldn't be able to take part because I had no postage stamps in my little craftavan. But, last Sunday I came across a postage stamp stall at a brocante! How lucky was that? I managed to get some stamps with heads on, yay. It took me ages to find bodies to go with the stamps though, I think I may have added a few more grey hairs, lol.

Here are my POSTAGE PEOPLE -

I hope you all had a great weekend, filled with fun and laughter, lots of crafting and treasure hunting, and I also hope that the new week will bring you lots of pleasure.

Toodlepip xxx

ATCs

Today, I have the pleasure of showing you the fabulous ATCs I received from Alexandra in our recent swap. Dang, that girl is creative! I love the ATCs she sent me.

Of course, they came beautifully presented in this gorgeous card, accompanied by this vintage handkerchief wrapped around a cute little envelope full of gogeous labels and some very pretty lilac lace -

Three ATCs for the GEOMETRICS swap -

And six ATCs for the LILAC swap -

I am thrilled to bits with them.

Still haven't found the time to get into my craftavan and mess around with papers and fabrics and bits and pieces. Got to get in there this weekend though, lots of things to catch up on.

Toodlepip xxx

Brocante Finds

I can't believe it has taken me this long to show you the first lot of brocante finds. From weeks ago! Ah well, here they are at long last -

Galvanised zinc bed warmer, I love these on display under the French bedside tables -

Set of three small blue and white storage tins, they are so cute -

I found two adorable little baby bonnets as well. They are tiny as you can see, for newborn babies. I don't have any dolls, so I used a candle to photograph them on :-) -

This one is delicate crochet -

This one is the most delicate fine cotton fabric, beautifully embroidered and in fabulous condition -

A boxed set of 12 mid century cake forks -

This next one is one of my favourite finds, a really early 19th Century ( possibly 18th Century ) ornate iron coat hook. I think it is fabulous and I wish I knew in what beautiful places it was used in the past -

This quite large cross is beautifully inlaid with brass and has lovely banding ( I think satinwood but I am not sure ) -

I am not sure what this little pouch was used for, perhaps handkerchiefs or silk stockings, but it is such a sweet little thing, embroidered with butterflies -

This old spirit lamp made me giggle, part of the inscription says it is guaranteed not to explode! -

I can never walk past these beautiful little benitiers ( Holy Water fonts ). This one bears a medal of St. Therese -

Could you have left this box of threads in lovely shades of grey behind? Nope, me neither ;-) -

Three gorgeous red striped monogrammed linen towels -

Oh, and this sweet embroidered shelf trim, I love the cute little sporty figures! -

These old needle keep/thread winders are so tactile, so smooth from years of being handled I suppose -

Lace is getting so difficult to find in our area, I only managed to get a few small lengths -

And last, but most definitely not least, my two favourites. OMG, I adore these so much! 
A fabulous 1950s hat covered in delicious white flowers, never used it seems, as it still has an original paper price label inside -

and this utterly gorgeous Holy Communion head dress in equally fabulous condition -

There you have it, a rather eclectic, but much loved, collection of brocante finds.

Oh, I did get one more thing, a sweet little child sized basket, but I thought it would look perfect filled with Easter chocolates for our neighbours two boys, so that is what happened to it -

Thanks for stopping by! Toodlepip xxx

Ah, and because for me, the French brocantes are so full of vintage inspiration, I am linking this post to My Salvaged Treasures Vintage Inspiration Party No. 185.

ATC Swap part 2

I showed you the first part of the ATC swap with my friend Alexandra a little while ago HERE. OMG, I just realised that was almost ten days ago! It has been a very hectic couple of weeks over Easter, as most of the 'part-timers' were staying at their cottages during the vacation and there were many gatherings for 'apero' :-).

But back to the ATC swap with Xela. We picked 'Geometrics' for the second theme and this is what I came up with -

Circles, Squares and Triangles

CIRCLES -

SQUARES -

TRIANGLES -

I blended many Treasure Gold waxes together on the Circles and Squares and also used Treasure Gold on crushed alu foil for the Triangles. The backgrounds are mostly blended Distress Inks and the little paper tags came from a very old French Larousse dictionary.

Here they are wrapped and ready to go ( and already received, gosh that was quick ) -

I am so looking forward to receiving Xela's, she is so awesomely creative!

Complete change of subject, lol - we went to a brocante yesterday, and I am happy to say, I found a few lovely things which I am hoping to share with you this week. I have to get my veggie seeds into seed trays today though, so I probably won't have time to photograph them today. Dang, just remembered I haven't even shared the pics from the first brocante with you, have I? Bad me. I'll try and get those edited tonight. I will. Really I will. Try, that is :-).

Hugs from a very sunny France, thank you for being here, and of course ...
Toodlepip xxx

Fliederfarbene ( lilac ) ATCs, Don't look, XELA!!

I know I should really wait until after we have swapped the ATCs, but, because I don't create much at the moment, when I do, I want to share it with you straight away.

My darling friend Alexandra and I agreed on an ATC swap, and I have finished the first set of ATCs with the theme ' the colour lilac '. The photos are pretty dull, it has been such a horribly dark and dank day, and our 150 year old cottage has the typical small windows.

I thoroughly enjoyed my hours in the craftavan making these. Geometrics tomorrow, yikes!

Happy Easter, toodlepip xxx