A rare visit to the local boot fair

Boot fairs in our part of the UK are a summer thing, and as we spend most of the summer at our cottage in France, I don't get to visit them very often these days. But I did manage a quick visit the other Sunday and these are the little treasures I found - 

This is a really beautiful 19th Century Victorian powder box, laquered and hand painted  papier mache, and I so adore it -

A few lovely little metal bits -

This two-handled silver plated bowl is gorgeous -

Not sure what this tiny little thing is, but it is so adorable -

This is a face powder compact, and it has a very precise patent date on the side, Dec 19 - 1916 

I was really attracted to the shape of this box. It is rather solid and heavy, and I had no idea that it was made for cigarettes. Love the elegant, understated design. I couldn't get the colour right when taking the photos, it is much nicer in real life -

I had never seen a soap dish like this one before, I love it, even though the silver plate need a heck of a lot of elbow grease -

Apart from the above, I also bought a few bits of fabric, but I haven't photographed them yet.

I took some time out from Etsy stuff and made the ATCs for Kimberly's new ATC swap ' MASKED BEAUTIES '. I'll post the photos tomorrow.

Until then, toodlepip xxx

Last Boot Fair of the year?

I don't often go to indoor boot fairs, as they are usually very much lacking in vintage things, and I really don't want piles of clothes, heaps of toys or general household stuff. But I was suffering brocante withdrawal symptoms so I went to the last Tesco indoor ( carpark ) boot fair of the year.

I bought stacks of books, crime, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, but not much else. A little heavily tarnished silver dish and some bling. Can't have been all that bad, lol, if I came away with bling, right?

The sweet little silver dish -

Faux pearls with sparkling crystals -

And brooches, lovely vintage brooches -

I also made my Tag Tuesday challenge tag on time, woohoo. The theme was Black and White. I used scrunched up tissue paper over a white tag and highlighted the raised bits with a silver ink pad. I thought the black lace rose would be perfect for this tag, I had it quite a while and it had been patiently waiting to be used. I added a little bit of bling, some pearls and that was the tag done -

Toodlepip xxx

Nothing better than a boot fair on a Sunday morning

Usually during the summer months, we have two boot fairs on a Sunday morning, in fields, one which starts around 6am ( yaaawn, too early for me, we normally get there around 7ish ), and one which starts around 9am. Because we had a little bit of rain on Friday night, the early Sunday morning one was cancelled, boo hiss, but the later one was on, hurrah! My DS Nick kindly went with me, he doesn't particularly like it but bless him, he drives me anyway.

The first few rows were very disappointing, just clothes, toys, dvds, modern household stuff, and more clothes and toys. By the time I had worked my way through 3/4s of the boot sale, I had only bought two little stamps, a battered silver jug, a book and a bit of trim, which is modern, but quite country/cottagy, because of the jute used in it -

And then, I turned into the second from last row, and there it was, the sort of stall we all dream of! Fabrics, buttons, ribbons, trims, lace, my heart really skipped a beat, but I did just about stop myself from drooling, lol. I dove straight into a box with bits and pieces of lace, and sorted out a handful of lengths. Gorgeous, very vintage lace, a couple of antique lengths as well. Then I stopped for a minute and looked at all the other women at the stall and the expressions on their faces. I am sure my face went through exactly the same sort of emotions............. intense concentration, frowns, delight, secret little smiles, disappointment, huge joyful smiles.......... and then it was head back in the boxes looking for other stuff. This is what I came away with from that stall, having spent most of my money there -

Gorgeously soft chenille trim -


Ricrac in the sweetest shade of robin egg blue, gently faded in places -


A roll of vintage white seam binding and a cone of pink satin ribbon -

Then there is the LACE !!! I just pulled out some pieces to show you close ups -


I wasn't sure about this knotted cotton netting, but then I thought I would be great for pockets on fabric collages for example -


And the best thing about it, it is FRENCH LACE! The guy bought a whole bunch of stuff from a shop in France which had closed down. Sigh, why I don't ever see shops closing down in France? And why didn't I come across this guy earlier when he still had loads of stock instead of just this one box full of lacy bits, sigh?

I fell in love with these very vintage wooden spools of fine wool thread, beautiful vintage colours, and despite their age, the threads are still very strong -


The wooden spools are quite large, approx 15cm long. I wonder whether I will ever use up the thread to actually get to the wooden spool, lol. I doubt it. I do love them though -


I also adore big bold fringeing trims, they look fabulous on cushions and bags and even make great fringes on tags and cards, so these two had to come home with me as well -


The next one is probably my favourite trim ever, the colours are so gorgeous, shades of peach and salmon and golden wheat -



I have to use this one straight away on something, it is way too pretty to just leave lying around. Any ideas what I could use it on? Feel free to let me know, lol.

Well, that was just about it, I had spent most of my money at that stall, so I rushed through the last couple of rows and only stopped once when my radar bleeped! I just quickly homed in on this richly embellished tablecloth, -


and this beautifully embroidered mystery cloth, and then went home-

I am not entirely sure what it was used for. It is quite large, larger even than the usual antique French linen or cotton towels, but too small to be a sheet, unless it was a sheet for a crib ( hmm, possible ). It could even be used to cover a small window or glass in a door. The embroidery is first class and just look at the darling little cherub, so sweet.

Thats it, folks, I am off to try and catch up on all the posts I have missed during the last 10 days or so.

I am linking this post to Blue Creek's Treasure Hunt Party HERE. Have fun visiting all the other participants as well.

Have a lovely Sunday, especially if you are in Europe or the States or anywhere else where Mothering Sunday is celebrated today.

Toodlepip xxx