Bump-It Up

We're just off to the local spit "n" sawdust (public house to non-Brits reading) to catch up on all the gossip we've missed over the last week over a couple of pints of India Pale Ale along with a home-made cheese, potato and onion pie and a plate of chunky chips.

As the local's a bit of a dive I thought I'd go low key tonight so as not to scare the regulars off their darts. Obviously dressing down for me doesn't mean abandoning the heels and the big hair, just donning the denim.

Just like my gorgeous Antipodean twin, Helga, I'm rocking the Bump-Its. In fact, I'm wearing two of the beauts. Despite a deep conditioning treatment my hair's so ratty from the weekend the backcombing was hardly necessary.

 Down to business, this evening's ensemble consists of:

Vintage Broderie-Anglaise blouse (50p) Car Boot Sale

Original 1970's flares (£1) Car Boot Sale

Modern wood clogs (£10) High Street

Goatskin clutch (50p) Car Boot Sale

Belt with bone buckle - Tangier, Morocco (15 years ago)

Hair Flower - Free with the bill from an Indian Restaurant

Jewellery - Inherited and India

Weather (and alcohol intake) permitting we're off car booting first thing tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to report back later with some bargains, I've missed my fix over the past week or so.

Have a fun evening, I will!

Hotter Than July

What a flipping scorcher! Glastonbury was hotter than Athens this weekend and we're back looking more tanned than we do after a month in India.

Highlights of the weekend? Hmmmm..... other than downing chilled Pinot Grigio Blush with our breakfast and large-ing it for 16 hours a day? It has to be..................

spending time with old friends, Stu and Kim...

....and Jon........................

 ...and making new ones (Donna and Dave from Bath).

Spotting the God-like Michael Eavis doing his rounds....

Watching the World Cup with 69,999 others.

Raving to Faithless as they blasted out Insomnia as the sun set over Glastonbury Tor

Wearing maxidresses, sunhats and neon pink lippie..............

..................and going topless with a hastily constructed turban.

Catching quirky musical acts and performance poetry....

basking in the Somerset sunshine....

 .....sharing the chilled, loved-up vibe.

Muse's awesome performance and surprise appearances from (amongst others) Mark E Smith, U2's The Edge, Lou Reid, Shaun Ryder and Snoop Dogg.

Reliving the 1990's with a performance from Orbital.....

....oh yep, being snapped by fellow festival goers who liked my frocks and being told I'm cool by teenagers young enough for me to have given birth to....

Oh well, only 10 days till CamperJam.....

Shine A Light

A litttle mid-Glastonbury post just to show I'm thinking of you all while I'm largeing-it down at Worthy Farm.

Here's a few shots of some of the lighting in our house. I saw this fabulous coloured glass gypsy chandelier in an interiors magazine, fell in love and treated myself with some Christmas money.

The black Bohemian crystal chandelier in our bedroom was a birthday present.

This acrylic chandelier in the hallway was a 50p boot sale buy. The flock wallpaper was 50p a roll in a Focus clearance sale.

Jon made the staircase light using a length of chain and a vintage birdcage we found in an Age Concern charity shop.

The 1950's plaster head is a lamp base we paid £2 for at a boot sale.

The horse head plaster lamp was another boot sale bargain. The kitsch pom-pom shade was 25p from a church jumble sale. I do love a pom-pom!

This wooden pendant light was £1 and hangs over the kitchen table. We painted it aged-white as it was originally a horrible gingery-coloured wood stain.

One of a pair of green glass chandeliers from Laura Ashley

1970's faux-marble standard lamp (£2.50 car boot sale) and fancy shade (50p car boot sale) in the lounge. I made the cushion covers from vintage silk scarves.

Burnished brass snakes head lamps strung with 1960's Christmas decorations. The Cole and Son hand-blocked flamingo wallpaper was an eBay steal at less than £20 for two rolls including postage.

These hang on the landing. I had the paint specially mixed to look like wet plaster, I love that subtle pinkish tinge.

See you soon!

Glastonbury Festival Here I Come!

 
We're setting off for Glastonbury at just after 10pm tonight. Gilbert's all packed and ready, there's banging tunes and sour sweets for the journey, and I've quadruple-checked that we've definately packed our clothes this year.

I'm wearing the 50p "California" gingham maxi dress I found at last Saturday's car boot sale along with my trusty cowboy boots, a fabulous hot pink Jaeger belt my gorgeous friend, Nikki sent me and a pink felt flower I made myself.

Jon always complains that I pack more clobber for a music festival than I do for a month in India but it just has to be done. 

Remember my white vinyl suitcase from last Thursday's boot sale? Well it's just perfect for my hats, makeup and jewellery. Well, a girl can never have too many accessories!

Keep your fingers crossed for luvverly sunshine (and a win for England team tomorrow afternoon).

See you soon!

Ta-Dah!

Up at 5am this morning and in a state of creative frenzy I decided to make my flamingo raincoat. The original dressmaking pattern didn't quite fit the fabric so I used a 1970 Le-Roi poncho pattern instead.

The shower curtain was quite easy to work with, I used a fine grade needle on the machine, Gutermann's polyester thread and zig-zagged the edges to prevent any fraying.

I added the tab at the collar to make the poncho more water tight and finished it off with a pair of green 1940's bakelite buttons snaffled from a vintage dress.

Check out the back.

I couldn't resist making a matching rain hat......

....not that I'll need it (fingers crossed) as the Glastonbury Festival's going to be red hot and bathed in glorious sunshine.

Cowboy boots? Oh yes! Veterans of at least 10 music festivals. Not the most fashionable of footwear but comfy and non-sweaty and just think of what's going to be squelching between your toes in those infamous Glasto porta-loos.

Fun With Curtains!

Maxi skirt (Hand-made), Vintage Broiderie-Anglaise blouse (Yesterday's car boot sale), 1980's statement earrings and assorted wood and silver bangles, Platform clogs (Local high street boutique)

I can't resist snapping up old curtains at jumble sales and car boot sales. 

As well as being cheap and versatile, 1960's screen prints are so vibrant and gorgeous, far too fabulous to confine to interior design projects.

I made this maxi skirt a couple of years ago using a 1969 dress-making pattern and a pair of vintage jumble sale curtains made from a 1960's Terence Conran (Pre-Habitat) fabric.

My completed patchwork curtains in situ. Eagle-eyed readers may spot some remnants from my skirt. The French mannequin is wearing Great-Great Grandfather's Cheshire Rifleman's jacket which saw active service in the Boer War. The table and chair are both jumble sale finds. The green glass chandelier was a birthday treat.

 

The lime "Firecracker" print is more 1960's Terence Conran fabric, originally curtains from my first house over 20 years ago. 

 

There's also some Shantung silk salvaged from a ruined kimono, a pillowcase from a set my parents had as a wedding present and some antique embroidered anti-macassars.

My next project is to utilise this groovy flamengo shower curtain I bought at the car boot sale yesterday for £1. 

I'm thinking of a mac using this early-1950's Butterick pattern. I don't think I'll complete it before Glastonbury, but there's plenty more festivals lined up this summer.