Here's some I made earlier....

As this blog is supposedly about a "mishmash of crafting" (see header), I thought I'd show you some stuff that I made earlier this year just before I started blogging.

No sniggering at the back if you please.

My knitting exploits began with two coffee pot cosies. The one on the left is entitled "Double pom pom delight" and the other one is "A posie of pompoms". Yes, I gave them names... does anyone else do that?

A toilet roll cosy complete with pompom:

I would have liked to have made one of those poodle toilet roll cosies (yes, really) but I don't think my knitting skills quite stretch to one of those. Take a look at these three little beauties which I found on the internet. Stunning (if a little odd) aren't they?

And good grief, get a load of these, a veritable feast of knitted toilet roll cosies (they're nothing to do with me, I hasten to add, all from the internet):

Anyway, I've gone off on a little tangent. Here's another knitted fancy from moi: a not to be sneezed at tissue box cosy also complete with pompoms (Mr J and P made me say that - sorry):

I tried my hand at felting - you know bunging woollen clothes in a washing machine on high and bob's yer uncle - boiled wool or felt. Here is a felt wreath that I made:

There are lots of tutorials on how to make these wreaths on the internet. I cut small squares and threaded them on a wire coat hanger which I fashioned into a circle and voila!

I also made cushion covers from felted jumpers - one from an old moth-eaten aran jumper of mine and a beige ribbed affair. The two large cushion covers were made from vintage silk scarves and the little one at the front - the flocked pink ensemble - was made from a small piece of material that I got for pennies at a jumble sale. I know what you're thinking - that there really aren't enough cushions on that sofa. You're right, I need to make lots more.

More of that flocked pink material which I used to cover the lid of a sewing stool, one of Mr J and P's family heirlooms:

Have you nodded off? We're nearly done.

I made this snake draught excluder from a pair of old curtains that I picked up from a jumble:

From the same material this is a pear door stop, filled with a bag of rice and topped with a felted stalk and leaf!

Phew.... that's it, you'll be relieved to hear. Blimey, I was quite the busy little bee once.

TTFN.

I was right - Godammit!

Disaster has struck in my cosy little charity shopping world. I refer back to a previous rant here about my favourite charity shop (which I visit EVERY day) where I heard whisperings about a "new manager" and "changes". Well, there is a new manager and changes have occurred - big time. Gone are the boxes of scarves, fabric, pillow slips, knitting needles, wool, sewing patterns etc which I used to love rummaging through and in their place are racks and racks of clothes (horrid and overpriced) and a diminished in size bric-a-brac section which is dominated by (horrid) glassware. Some of the clothes are "new" with tags on. If I wanted to buy new clothes I'd go to a shop which sells new clothes for God's sake. In fact our local Bernardos, it seems to me, sells nothing but "new" clothes- very unsatisfactory.

OK, I'm working myself up into a frenzy here - I'll stop moaning now, promise. Take a look instead at this little lot that I got recently on a chazzing trip:

Mmmmmm, don't they all look gorgeous on my Rosali duvet cover courtesy of IKEA? The lovely burnt orange Witney blanket was £1.99.

Large amount of fabric which I thought could be the backing for the patchwork picnic blanket I'm planning to make - 49p.


Two Baret Ware tins. The small tin was 80p. The biscuit barrel was £1.50 and is currently being used to store food for our two new guinea pigs Sooty and Squeak - they're so cute!


The piece de resistance has to be a metal detector for £2.99!!


Oh no, I fear that this may become a new obsession. Here's to unearthing lots more treasures, huzzah! Mr J and P says that I was born to be a gold-digger! And on that cheeky note, I'll love you and leave you.

Jumble Jamboree

Well, I hit the jackpot at Saturday's jumble sale. Want to see what I got? Come on then......

Enamel roasting dishes complete with lids. Love the orange but also loving the cream one with its gorgeous green trimming. 30p each.

More enamel and some JAJ Pyrex. Very excited about the Pyrex - my FIRST EVER Pyrex buy (I know, I'm very late on the Pyrex scene). JAJ stands for James A Jobling of Sunderland who started to make Pyrex under licence in the UK in the 20s (it was first marketed in the US in 1915). Older Pyrex is often referred to as JAJ Pyrex by those in the know. These bowls are the "Chelsea" design from the 60s. I'm sure you Pyrex fans are familiar with the website Pyrex Love but if you fancy drooling over more Pyrex specimens then check out The Pyrex Collective
blog with lovely Erin from Yardsale Snoop and Angela the fabulous Bounty Huntress as just two of the many contributors. Anyway, this little lot was 30p.

A Meakin coffee pot (not the prettiest) and a Hornsea coffee jar for 30p each. I know I've said this before, but I must show you my collection of jars one day soon - they're taking over the kitchen.

A box complete with handle and handy compartments. Not a clue what it might have been used for (anyone - any ideas?). I thought it would be perfect for Little Miss J and P's many knick knacks but she refuses to have anything to do with it prefering some IKEA box thing which she expects me to construct grrrr. Does she not appreciate the lovely patina of the wood, its warm tones, the work that some artisan of yesteryear has put into this piece? No chance. £1 it cost me.

A mystery grinding (?) object. Anyone know what it might be used for? 30p.

Mr J and P was very pleased with his glassware. A decanter for £1. Feels like good quality glass (what do I know?). Mr J and P agreed that it should go in the bathroom filled with bubble bath. Classy eh?

A set of six desert dishes with flowers etched on them (they really are much prettier than the photo). £1.

Two large Kilner jars (more bleeding jars). 50p.

Star buy is this never used fireproof china saucepan. The make is Pilivite and it's French no less. Get a load of those lovely colours. 50p.

That's all folks. May your bargain hunting be as fruitful as mine was. Au revoir.

I went all the way to California and all I got was this lousy sweatshirt!

Yes, I know, I'm a BIG disappointment aren't I? And I only bought the sweatshirt for an extra layer as somebody had told us that it got cold camping in the Yosemite National Park at night (and they were right - down to about 10C in places).

Problem was I was too busy:

cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge (hidden below by sea mist!) in San Francisco:



Seeing the tallest trees in the world:



Visiting the oldest living things in the world (more trees) - some as old as 4000 years:





Camping in the hottest place on earth - Death Valley:



Scuba diving:



Rafting:



Surfing (just look at Mr J and P go - the theme to Hawaii 5-0 just springs to mind doesn't it?):



Whale watching (or rather feeling immensely sea sick in my case) - we glimpsed the largest living thing - a blue whale (no photos, those darn blue whales move rather too quickly).

Now if you're still with me and haven't switched off in disgust at my measly efforts at thrift shopping, I have to admit I'm exaggerating slightly when I say that the UCLA sweatshirt was the ONLY thing I bought from the magnificent thrift stores that I did visit. On our second to last day in California, I visited the Thrift Centre in Santa Cruz (yes I did say CENTRE) yes, not some piddling shop or even store but a CENTRE. Two floors of....STUFF (actually two floors is not unusual in thrift stores). Plus EVERYTHING was HALF PRICE that day (that's not unusual either). So I did manage to find..... (don't get too excited everyone...):



a large piece of fabulous crimplene (50 cents; about 30p) which I hope to incorporate into some patchwork ensemble (well, it was going to be a patchwork picnic blanket but by the time I get round to doing it, it will probably be deepest winter). And......



some barkcloth cafe style curtains complete with cheery yellow curtain rings ($4; about £2something).

Hope you all had a lovely summer. Can't wait to catch up with all my favourite bloggers. Ta-ra dear readers.

California Dreaming

Aaaah the Mamas and Papas - don't you just love em?

But I digress, dear readers, as the main aim of this post is to announce that California Dreaming is about to become a reality for the J and P family. Yes, folks, we're off on our hols. To California! How exciting is that!

Our first stop will be San Francisco and I'm sooooo excited as I intend to visit a good few thrift and goodwill stores while I'm there. Just look at these fine examples of thrift store interiors:







Racks and shelves and aisle of STUFF. Oh I can't wait. Mr J and P is muttering something which sounds like "I am not flying all the way to San Francisco just to go charity shopping." Let's ignore him shall we, dear readers?

From San Francisco, we go to Yosemite Valley and then southwards to places like the Joshua Tree National Park, Pallisade Glacier, Mohave Desert. From the interior, we head to the coast and travel back north to San Fran.

Hope we don't see these critters on our travel in the wilds of California:



a black bear.



a mountain lion (apparently, more than half of California is mountain lion habitat - lawks a lordy!).

Mr J and P is insisting we visit Death Valley. Frankly, I'm not keen, as, according to the guide book, it is the hottest place on earth (yikes...)! Mr J and P is now trying to tell me that Death Valley is one big charity shop - ha ha ha, now he's being just plain silly.

On that note, I'll love you and leave you. Hope you have a great summer, dear readers. Missing you already.......

Wallpaper Whimsy

One of the many projects I have whizzing around my head to do is wallpapering our downstairs loo with vintage wallpaper. I discovered this little gem in a charity shop a while back:



Want a closer look (or not as the case may be)? Here it is again in all its garish glory:



Fabulous isn't it? Mr J and P is muttering something about "gaudy" and "hideous". What a cheek!

However, yesterday I found another roll of vintage wallpaper in the charity shop and I think that this may be THE ONE:



A real beauty don't you think? And especially at £1.50 for the roll.

Oh which one to go for.... I'll keep you pasted oops I mean posted... Did you see that coming? I must apologise, it was a very bad pun indeed. I promise not to do that again.

TTFN.

Severe dodgem related injuries and an award!!

Greetings dear readers from a delicate headed blogger.

At Lovebox Festival on Saturday (see previous post), whose brilliant idea was it to site the dodgems within easy reach of a bunch of marauding 40 somethings (or in Mr J and P's case 50 something)? One abiding memory of the day was watching one friend on said dodgems driving around with one arm in the air whooping and yelping like a complete loon. I, for one, am currently suffering from severe dodgem related injuries: stiff neck and shoulder and achey knee and hip having been on the dodgems 5 times in total (how I had time to see any of the bands I do not know). And as for Mr J and P, well he virtually had to be stretchered home as he was feeling a little worse for wear (aaah bless).

Dear readers, this is what happens when a group of old timers, who don't get out much, are unleashed at a festival. They run amok.

Anyway, enough of this nonsense. The day was great. Paloma Faith was fab. We got a bit bored, dare I say, with Mark Ronson and it was at this point that we discovered the aforementioned dodgems. Rumours were abound that Duran Duran were joining him on stage, and one of our party did hear what sounded like "Planet Earth" in the distance but we were otherwise occupied. Roxy Music were, of course, fabulous. Love them!

Undoubtedly, the best news of the weekend was hearing that I've received an award!! Yes. Me!!! From the lovely Karen at Sitting Oh So Pretty. Here it is:



A "This Blog is Charming" award!! Thank you Karen. I now have to bore you all with a few things all about little old meeeeee. Here we go (this won't take long, promise..):

1. I suffer from mottephobia! A fear of moths. Attempting to leave the house one morning to take Little Miss J and P to school, I spied a rather large fat bodied moth on the inside of the front door. This meant, of course, that I couldn't leave the house! I had to send Miss J and P out to a neighbour who then had to come in and dispose of the moth before I could venture forth. How mad is that!

2. I don't know my right from my left. (Oh no, you're going to think I'm a right loon now).

3. My favourite near-death experience was many moons ago on a visit to Newcastle (north east England) to see friends. Five of us, crammed into a mini, decided to visit Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) a tiny tidal island in the North Sea accessed by a causeway.

On arriving at the causeway, one of our party checked the safe crossing times and announced that high tide wasn't until 8 pm. So off we went, had a lovely day frolicking in and around the ruins of the priory and castle. Decided to leave at 3 pm as we had a coach to catch back to London.

On arriving at the causeway in the mini, the tide was (yes you guessed it )already coming in, rather fast, I might add (the aforementioned member of our party had mis-read the tide timetable). Foolishly, the male members of the party wanted to drive across the causeway regardless (coach to catch and Mr J and P was starting a new job the next day) so off we went with one member of the party jogging ahead (I kid you not) to guide us along because by this time, dear readers, the causeway was completely covered by the sea.

At some point, our good friend stopped and waved at us to go back. He climbed back in the car, having been knee-deep in water, and the driver had to reverse some distance back to the safety of land - bearing in mind, that you could see no road only sea. I remember all the while, my female friend saying her "Hail Marys" while I was convinced that we were all going to die!

We had to wait until 8 pm to cross the causeway safely at low tide and had to take the midnight coach back down to London (Mr J and P started his new job that morning with virtually zero sleep). Oh what fun we had....

4. I'm half Italian and half Polish but can speak neither language (nor any other language for that matter).

5. I've seen Madness (the band if you please) in concert 10 times. Impressive huh?

Now I have to pass the This Blog is Charming award to two other bloggers. Ooh this is hard as I love reading all my blog favourites, but I have to choose so here we go:

The Bounty Huntress. She's definitely worth a visit if you don't know her already. She's hilarious and always has an interesting story to tell about her thrifting adventures.

Pencils and Pins. Not only is she thrifting mad but she's creative and very talented as well.

Well, ttfn, early to bed for me (some people just can't take the pace can they?).