Suitcase Project and Tuesdays Treasure!

Evening folks!

Just a few pic's of the Suitcase Project! - at last its finished!

A few of you have been rather curious, especially those of you who have seen me trawling the bootsales for suitcases, one or two of you have said 'what Another suitcase!!'

Well as you can see we have used them all - and can perhaps fit in another one or two!

It all started when I asked Hubby P if he could build me some open shelves on which I could store/stack suitcases to use as storage for all my 'stuff'. Mostly sewing, crafty stuff that I do use on a regular basis. Hubby P suggested we make a dresser type thing (that 'we' is he does all the work - I stand around holding tools and giving 'constructive' comments).

So we did - its quite an open sort of affair - the main aim of it being a place to stack nice, pretty, brown, vintage suitcases

We used some old drawers from an old dressing table in the sides of the dresser - to store things like candles, napkins and other everyday stuff.

There are two big areas for the cases and in the middle a handy shelf arrangement to hold a few everyday bits and bobs - drinking glasses, wine, wineglasses, wine, fruit, sherry, sweeties, wine - you get the picture! All that's needed - and handy, for a pleasant evening!




I have started filling the cases and have put my luggage labels on each one - then I can find everything easily. I have a case for beads, buttons, greetings cards, wrapping paper, fabric trim etc etc...

Hubby P suggested the old clock face on the top - a bit like you would have at an old railway station, he calls it the Lost Luggage Area!

I hope to find more - perhaps smaller, old battered clock faces to join the one that sits all alone watching over our 'luggage'.

The walls of the hall were already papered in an unusual mix of my vintage papery finds - old newspapers, children's books, some Latin, old music - allsorts of random interesting stuff. We like it - it gives our tiny cottage warmth, and texture, and a generally 'cool' as the boys might say - a cool vibe!!

I think these little cases are just so cute!

So what do you think ? Cool? or not really for you? - it works well for us, at least I can find that elusive, particular button or trim!!

Today's Carboot -y Treasure - just has to be this 1960's record rack! Just the thing I needed to hold the raggedy stack of LP's heaped by the record player.

Gave it a good wash - and bobs your watsit!

Just the job!

And all for a couple of pounds.

Off to listen to the Inkspots now - glass of wine in hand!

xx Well take care xxx

xxx let me know what you are thinking its nice to get feedback - are you still being Thrifty? xxx

Awards, Treasures, and Prertty, Pretty Flowers!

Hi - here's me just catching up!

Where do the days go - or weeks for that matter!

First of all a Big, Big Thankyou to my good bloggy friend Twiggypeasticks for not just one but two Awards!( theworldoftwiggypeasticks.blogspot.com/)

What must I have done to deserve this!

This lovely Sunshine Award - such a boost of sunshiny colour on a grey February day.

I know I am supposed to pass this on, so I will pass it on to all of you that feel in need of a boost of nice warm sunshine - so that's everyone then?

And the second Award is this rather special Circle of Friends Award - how nice is that.

So to accept this award - which I do with much grace, I must list five things I enjoy doing, and pass it on to five other people. So here goes -

Things I like to do *****

* Sew, sew, sew, create, make things, generally mess about with bits of fabric, ribbon and the odd button or two!

*Play in my garden, grow pretty colourful flowers and encourage wildlife to share our little haven with us.

*Spend the weekends musing around the carboot sales with my Hubby P - he's my best friend, and one of the few who can see 'potential' in some of my dodgy, shabby finds!

*Spend time with my boys - the most special gift I have ever been blessed with.

* Sit of an evening and listen to our old records, glass of wine in hand!


And I would like to pass this on to -

Ramblings From an Artist on Anglesey (angleseyartsandcrafts.blogspot.com/)

Serenity, Serendipity and Stitches (serenityserendipityandstitches.blogspot.com/)

Gigibird (gigibird.blogspot.com)

The Balancing Kiwi (thebalancingkiwi.blogspot.com/)

Anna The Hat Junkie (hatjunkie.blogspot.com/)

So there you go - do take a peek at these lovely ladies blogs - its nice to visit new and interesting people.

~~~~~~~~~~

And what of treasure hunting - well, we managed to fit in two carboot sales today. Not that I found a great deal, lots of nice things, but I am trying to be careful with my pennies, liked everyone else I should think.

I did get these rather lovely old glass jars, they have Easiwork pressed into their metal screw tops, and the most delightful little indentation where the label should be stuck - cute.
I had thought I would use them to house my sewing stuff - I do have , as you know, one or two buttons.

But once I had washed them, I decided they simply must be sweetie jars! Not that as a rule I buy sweets, but for some reason - right when we were at the till in the supermarket - I picked up a bag of sweets. Hubby P looked twice - I never buy sweets - but I just fancied a sweetie!

They look jolly in the little jar - and nice to have in for when the younger people visit - as a treat. I want to get some lollies next for the other jar - when I was a small child my Gran use to have a sweetie jar and there were always lollipops!

When we got home at lunchtime we were so relieved to see that Charlie Cat had spent the entire morning guarding the fireplace! No one was going to get past him! lol!

He has an easy life!

I did pick up some very pretty primulas and polyanthus - they looked so bright and cheerful, and for a tray of 4 only £1! who could resist.

They are not all for me, a friend asked me to get some to brighten their garden too.

The afternoon saw us dashing off to pick up some free wood from a building site - I go as 'overseer' - useless at lifting/carrying anything, but great at giving instruction, and 'constructive' comments - not that Hubby P can always appreciate my skills!

So when we got back Hubby P set to sawing his wood whilst I faffed about with my pretty flowers - dotting them about the front path, to make it a bit more cheery.

I have a few pairs of old work boots, Hubby P's and the lads - Will is a tree surgeon, so his old work boots are huge heavy leather things, and they make interesting artistic features hidden amongst the plants in the garden.

So this pair had a makeover with a couple of jolly plants.

And my little wire basket by the door.

And a Po full to greet the Milkman and other visitor's!

Hope you all had a nice weekend - lets just hope we don't get this cold weather they are predicting - more sunshiny days would be good.

xxx Take care xxx

New Earrings! Ethical Presents!

Everyone ready for the weekend? Gooood!

Nice parcels in the Post this morning - a parcel - always cheers a Girl up!

New Earrings! I treated myself - well - because 'I'm Worth It' or so the advertisements tell us!

Anyway these were special earrings made by women in the Philippines from recycled magazines - how cool is that! and they are so pretty!

I was browsing on the www.myzerowaste.com/ website when I came across this blog about an organisation founded by two British women, which aims to help (educate, health, feed etc) the little children in the Philippines that work on/in the rubbish tips looking for recyclable stuff - metals, plastics etc.

The organisation/charity - The Philippine Community Fund www.p-c-f.org - very basically (visit the site and read for yourselves) trains the mothers to sew and create wonderful bags and jewelry and allsorts really, from the recycled stuff. This in turn means they can afford to feed themselves, and their children don't have to work on the tip, and can go to school.

There are lots of lovely things for sale, and I thought it fits right in with my idea of buying this year - for Birthdays, Christmas and whatnot - all handmade/ethical goods or making them myself.
And of course I am helping support their very good work.

Not only do they train the young mothers, they are building a school - from old steel lorry containers - its amazing! And they help out with food parcels, and school meals - a lot of the children are malnourished, and provide health care.

And the prices! so very reasonable - it means I bought a few things, all squirreled away in the present box!

The bags look quite trendy too, I do believe they are made from toothpaste tubes!

Nothing it seems is wasted - on the back of the newsletter they are asking for people to collect toothpaste tubes, and drinks can ring pulls - who would have thought you could do anything with an old toothpaste tube!

Amazing!


On a different note - been a lovely day here - sunshiny and quite mild. Mild enough for me to have all the windows open wide to let some fresh air into the place, chase away those wintry vibes!

Backwards and forwards to the chickens I spotted this lovely bit of green moss growing on the Elder tree so jewel like in its freshness.

And the snowdrops - happily bobbing about in the light breeze!

And of course our resident Celebrity happily bustling about, Hubby P thinks he is getting use to the camera - quite media savvy now!

He wants to watch out - Charlie cat will give him 'savvy' if he catches him!

I've been so very lucky and recieved a couple of Awards - I will save them for another day - I've waffled on long enough for now!

xxx Take care xxx

Geoffrey Update and Pink Treasure!

Just another pic of Geoffrey, I think he is becoming more aware of Hubby P hovering with the camera - he must feel like a Celebrity being 'Papped' !!

Thrifty Snippets!!

Hubby P came home with this yesterday - Pink Treasure!

It came into work - used as packing for something or other, now as you know he is super well trained in spotting potential wrapping paper, fabric, or other crafty stuff. So he snaffled it before it could be put in the paper recycling skip.

Its lovely stuff - he did tell me it was pink tissue paper - and I was mightily excited, but it turns out it is heavier stuff - good wrapping paper weight. I know its so very sad' that these are the things that fill my mind!!???* - but well - you know !!!!

So there was a box full - and a handy box!

Good clean stuff - I simple roughly straighted it, and ran the iron over it - I did have the ironing board up - I have done a basket of ironing - some housework, not totally 'messed about' all day!





I found an old cardboard tube (from the tinfoil) and wound it/rolled it around the tube to keep it good and uncreased.

It was in good long lengths.

I fished out some basic stamps from my craft boxes, and the one stamp pad that I had left, and had a bit of a play.

Quite effective I thought in a rough and ready, hippy dippy way. Be nice used as wrapping paper with a nice rustic ribbon.

I wanted to see how the paper took the ink - just fine. I want to try it with some of my more intricate wooden printing block, I think they are usually used for batik work, but I've just printed with them using water based poster paint - its all I had, and it looked great. I like things to look simple, rustic - honest handmade-y stuff!

And I am sure its better living on as pretty wrapping than being thrown in the recycling!

xx Take Care xx

This Evenings Excitement!

Just thought I would share this evenings excitement with you.

For days, or should I say evenings now, Hubby P has been stalking Geoffrey the Mouse.

We have always has a Geoffrey - probably several over the years. They live under one of the stone sinks that I have as mini gardens. This one in particular is near the apple tree, and often on quiet evenings, if we sit quietly, we can watch Geoffrey come out and eat the seed spilled by the birds from the bird feeders hanging in the apple tree. He may have a little jaunt to the pond for a drink, and lately he has been scaling the apple tree to sit inside the fat ball holder, on top of the fat balls - feasting away.

Now we have the tree house (bird house) - but it reminds me a bit of Tarzan and Jane - so I call it a tree house - I know!!*?

Anyway he has been visiting the tree house, and helping himself to the goodies on offer there - Soooooo much more convenient, less drafty, and sheltered from the rain. A most desirous eating house!

So Hubby P has been obsessed with getting photo evidence of this - and as you can see - after endless shots of the garden - we have a couple of Geoffrey!

Not brilliant I know - but it has spurred Hubby P on - hes in and out that door, camera in hand - well - like - I don't know what!

And there is even talk of a Geoffrey cam!!

Live on this Blog!

We would never get anything done - sat watching a mouse eat his supper all evening!!

Is it Me!!????

xxx

Harris Tweed on a Sunday!

Hope you are all fit and well, and had a good weekend.

Just thought I would show you a little something I found at the carboot sale on Sunday.

One stall that is always there is just row upon row of cardboard boxes containing all manner of things - Household Clearance stuff. You have to have a good rummage - there are usually new boxes every week, and on a Sunday its 'fill a bag for £1' - so you pay your £1, are given a plastic carrier bag, and you can fill it right up with things that take your fancy.

I always have a good look first - make sure there is something I could use - heaven forbid! that I should waste my £1!

There is usually some bits and bobs, even if its just knitting wool or needles, the other week I got a lot of Christmas ribbon for wrapping next years presents, or maybe I will find a couple of china mugs - allsorts of everything!

Well this week I found a whole heap of squares of Harris tweed! I think they are samples - they were a book of samples. They have a little sticker printed with the Harris Tweed logo and are numbered - identification of logo courtesy of Hubby P who seems to have endless knowledge of this sort of thing - doesn't yet remember where we keep the corkscrew, but knows random things about Harris Tweed!

I thought they were lovely - all those muted Heathery colours, ideal for small crafty projects - or bigger ones if I sewed them together!

I had a go today- made a couple into little purses. It was more an experiment to try out my sewing machine really - Hubby P had to mend it over the weekend - I was Horror struck! never before has my darling machine broken down. Luckily there is not a lot to go wrong with a treadle sewing machine - the belt has snapped - Hubby P mended it! Its as good as new - just a bit stiffer on the old legs!

Can you see the wonderful bright yellow cotton fabric underneath the purses. Hubby P found it in a Charity Shop - its Vintage I would say but new/never been used. And there is loads of it, enough I should think for a dress - someone was intending a largish garment - to make a 'Largish Statement' I should think with that bright pattern!





I used a bit to line one of the purses - I thought it was quite the jolly thing!




Yes, one of the purses is for Rosie!

Hope you are all having a jolly crafting time!

A bit of creativity does you a world of good!


xx Take care xx

Carbooty Treasure and Freebies!

Woke up to a bitterly cold day with a crisp coating of the most enormous hailstones!

Little patches of white throughout the garden, but nothing much. Certainly not enough to put us off our Treasure Hunting at the local Car Boot Sale!

It did seem a bit quiet at the carboot sale, not too many people about, but we had a good morning - we found one or two things.

How about this - inner cleanliness as advocated by the Daily Mail Newspaper 1937!

There were lots of these old papers 40p each (3 for £1) but I contented myself with just a couple - I mean - just how many does a girl need! Unless i do as Twiggypeasticks suggests and decoupage the chicken shed with it! Do you think the chickens will be interested in the events of 1937?

It would certainly keep me busy and out of mischief!

I found a little part box of Manila tags - so cute! You know me and anything vaguely paper-ish!
And they are the very thing to help with the 'Suitcase Project'!

Enough said!

More suitcases too - just waiting for a good clean up and polish. The little ones are so sweet - they have children's names in them, I think they were perhaps used by children being evacuated during the war.

We came home via Asda and a hot cooked chicken, to warm up with chicken sandwiches and nice hot tea.

Hubby P was in a 'go go' mood - wanting to get lots done, remember its freezing outside and trying to hailstone on us. Still he set to cutting wood for the fire with me as trusty assistant (mainly making cups of fortifying tea). Next appears a ladder! and up on the roof he goes - it must be said, that for weeks he has wanted to do this little job. He just wanted to take down the now redundant TV Ariel and sky dish (we no longer have a TV - choosing to do other activities in our spare time) - surprisingly it didn't take that long, and Hubby P said he felt that much better, he never did like the sky dish - too modern looking for our humble little cottage - it offended him!

So we loaded the trusty van with the wires and sky dish and whatnot (I kept the big long pole the ariel was on, I want to use it for/to hold my washing line) - and headed for the recycling centre - my weekend excursion, my weekend fix!

Look what I found in the metal skip!

A complete patio set - cast aluminium (needing a rub down and a paint), a table and 4 chairs, all in perfect order. And I must say pretty heavy weight - I felt it as I tried to hoyk them out of the skip!

I did ask permission to take them first of course - but who's going to refuse a batty old woman, they are quite use to me now.

So I have stacked them in the yard for now, I will have to wait until the weathers a bit better before I can rub them down and give them a coat of shiny new paint.

What a good find - what a good afternoon.

Hubby P did murmur something about us taking more away - weight for weight, than we ever take to the tip. But he won't be moaning when we have nice new seats for summer - and it means he won't have to build another garden bench!

Take care xx Keep warm !