Wedding Favours

One of my clients is getting married in less than two weeks! She found out about Doily Days when she read the fantastic article on Daily Candy back in September http://www.dailycandy.com/all-cities/article/74345/Doily-Days-Vintage-Events

I agreed to make her 140 'country garden' style wedding favours - small glass jars full of old fashioned sweets. See the last blog post for the fun I had at the wholesalers buying the sweets! I felt like a kid again....

I bought some pinking scissors at great expense and set to work cutting circles of fabric. Luckily I have quite a stash of fabric as it's something else I can't resist on my car boot sale missions. I found the perfect size sugar bowl to draw round and then set to work cutting out the circles. Luckily my friend Emma joined me that evening - armed with supplies of red wine and chocolate! So we chatted while i snipped and she set to work filling the jars with the sweets.

But Emma had to leave at about 11pm (because she has a 'proper' job and has to make serious decisions) and I was up until about 2am - tying the fabric to the top of the jars - eyes propped open with matchsticks, the only thing keeping me going was the sugar rush from the sweets I kept dipping into! Anyway, 2am and I was still only half way through so the next morning I cracked on - seemed to have it down to a fine art by that point and got them all done and dusted!

I was sooo pleased with the result and I think they will look lovely on the wedding tables.

I collected some more gorgeous fabric at the weekend because I am making 130 similar favours for a wedding in August - this time the jars will be full of homemade jams and chutneys.

Doily Days Bargains!

Well, the sun was shining on the South coast this weekend and for a change I had a little time on my hands so I thought a spot of car booting was in order! I meandered through the farmers market on Saturday morning nibbling on tasty morsals and smiling at the jolly farmers.

I found myself at the Sussex Yacht club where they were holding a car boot sale. Much of the stuff for sale was boat themed - not really up my street as I don't have a boat. But then I stumbled upon a bike! I jumped on, wobbled round for a bit and thought 'this has my name written all over it!'... well, not strictly true because my names not Raleigh but you know what I mean. I beat them down from £25 to £20 and peddled off to the beach! Great for this time of year and the perfect excuse to kick start my exercise regime...

But the bargains didn't end there - oh no. Sunday morning I found myself at Brighton Marina for the Sunday market. Again, sun shining. An hour or so later, some random banter with stall holders and some tense negotiations and I found myself waddling back to the car laden down with a COOL book about campervans, a vintage teapot, a gorgeous pink coffeepot (called Rose Cloud - love it), a three-tier wire cake stand, a pair of jeans and a teddy bear I couldn't leave behind...

I photographed my treasures to share with you.

And a quick reminder - if you'd like to hire any vintage china or book a VW Campervan please check out my website www.doilydays.co.uk

Doily Days Does Sweets!

I have been like a kid in a sweetshop today! Well okay, like a kid in a massive wholesalers - wondering at the huge trolleys, marvelling at the price of breakfast cereal! I am in the process of making some wedding favours for a lovely bride to be and I need to deliver them next week - eeek! The clock is ticking... I have the little jars so todays mission was to buy the sweets. I deliberated for ages with my friend Mel (who was equally as enamoured by the huge array!) and I finally went for Rhubarb and Custard (but of course - sweet shop classic), Rosy Apples, I suprised myself by choosing Sherbert pips but I thought they were colourful, had a certain charm and the size would add a new dimension!... I also went for Dolly Mixture - could we rename it Doily Mixture? and last but by no means least - Sugar Mice!!!!! Ever since I saw this heartbreakingly beautiful polariod picture by Vicky Stevenson

www.vickeh.com/polaroids.php I've been on the hunt for some gorgeous sugar mice of my own!

Anyway - now I need to get cutting circles of fabric for the top of the jars and hey presto. Job's a goodun!

Contact me via www.doilydays.co.uk if you're interested in my sweet favours for your wedding!

Life is idyllic xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inspiring Vintage Phography

I have been gathering subjects for www.thebrightoncollective.co.uk/blog and this morning, from the safety of my bed, I have been writing about some amazing talent.

I want to share with you some Polaroid pictures taken by Vicky Stevenson. I am awe inspired and desperately want some of these prints to frame for my lounge. Her work can be viewed and brought via Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickeh Her blog is also fabulous and I was intigued by her night time walk along the pier off season. It sums up what it is to be a true Brightonian!

‘Last week I took a short walk along the seafront and down the pier, before returning home. The pier at night is like something out of Scooby-Doo when it’s off season. Most things are closed and there’s not many people about, half the rides have had their insides taken away or are in pieces. The cheesy 70’s music can still be heard all the way down.’

The accompanying photos depict some very emotive images – unused deckchairs stacked up, the dark eyes of cuddly puppies stuck in glass cages desperate but unlikely to be hooked by the giant silver arm. The ‘Kids play area’ desolate and dark looks absolutely eerie but I really feel what she’s doing here. http://vickeh.com/journal/

Knitted Cakes

This is a blog post to encourage my mother to get her knitting needles out and knock me up some cupcakes! I have seen these fantastic ones on www.toxicpixie.co.uk

I make my own cake stands you see using vintage plates (pictured and also see www.doilydays.co.uk). It would be great to use some cute knitted cakes in a photoshoot and to display in the shops... you never know Mum this might be your big chance to make some extra money and finally retire!

Photo Heart

I once saw a magazine article about displaying photos in a 'polaroid heart'.... I thought it was fantastic and when I started contemplating a picture/piece of artwork to hang above my bed the polaroid heart came flooding back to me and I couldn't wait to get to work! I sorted out all the pictures I love from my computer, Facebook etc (about 50) - took them to the printers and ordered the prints with white borders (next best thing to polaroids!). Then I painstakingly arranged them in a heart shape above my bed.... I love it! And the best thing is it only cost me about £6.

The Brighton Collective

As well as doing my bit for www.doilydays.co.uk I can also be found huddled over my laptop seeking talented local designers to write about for The Brighton Collective blog. http://www.thebrightoncollective.co.uk/blog/ I love researching the subjects, it makes me feel a real part of the cool creative scene in Brighton.... (even though I live seven miles down the coast and hardly ever venture into the city!) I mainly write about vintage inspired products as that is what interests me. I've added some pics here of products I've featured on the blog (Dress by www.digforvictoryclothing.com. Mr B Moustachio man and floral bag by www.stridedesigns.co.uk. Russian Doll cushion by www.lovefrankie.com. And burlesque cushion by www.dupenny.com)

And guess what - lovely Hannah Bradbury (a fellow blogger) has written about my Doily Days cakestands. Okay - I asked her to but that's besides the point. She wrote a fab article and you can read it here http://www.thebrightoncollective.co.uk/blog/2010/02/doily-days-%E2%80%93-vintage-china-cake-stands/