Treasures from the fair!

So yesterday I had the pleasure of a fabulous day out at the Silver Springs Antique Fair with the lovely Miss Mona Bells to hunt for treasure! 

My big prize of the day of course, is this incredible 19th century HMV gramophone, complete with tin horn, a collection of wild swing records and plenty of needles to keep us going for a while! It has the iconic and beautiful background crackling, and I adore the little hand painted logo on the front. Doesn't it look so sweet in our kitchen? Perfect for the odd dance around the place in the morning with Heidi ;) Needless to say, my life is now considerably more complete now.

I also got my mitts on some bits and pieces of beautiful hand painted china, as well as some fun, colourful Royal Tara. I'm come to accept, that a girl can never own too many pretty teacups, no matter how small her kitchen may be and don't even try to resist any more.

I got this dinky little Victorian trinket box, which well to do ladies would have kept on their dresser to store their engagement ring and other precious pieces of jewellery in at night. I love glass boxes and display cases in general, and it reminded me of a terrarium, so I had to have it!

Finally I got a good deal on a handful of lovely silver thimbles which I plan to make into necklaces, I especially love this one which says 'Forget me not' across it.

We also have a date planned for next weekend as I'm going to be attending my very first auction, with lunch and drinks after, and I am beyond excited about what bargains await! What vintage treasures have you dug up lately?

Treasure from the woods..

 

  

 Hello everyone! Just a quick post to share my latest news with you :)  First off is that my website is finally up and running at long last! There are still some kinks to be ironed out, but I'm hoping to have it pretty much perfect by Christmas, pop over here for a look!

 

This little botanical specimen locket is the latest addition to the Boutique! It is made with  real Irish lichens which I gathered in Gougane Barra National Park a month or two back. Gougane Barra is one of our new favourite places to go for a hike, I can't believe we only discovered it this year after living in Cork County for nearly ten years! 

Lichens like the ones in this locket grow profusely throughout the ancient, mountainous woodlands that have survived in the South of Ireland since the last ice age almost 10,000 years ago, and some have lived for many hundreds of years. Lichens are an extremely important environmental indicator and indicator of air cleanliness, so it's reassuring to know that Cork and Kerry (my two homes) are absolutely covered in the stuff!

I don't know how old these particular specimens are, but the thought of carrying around your own little bit of Irish natural history is pretty cool! I did a bit of research online,and found some great websites just for identifying Irish lichens, and managed to identify these specimens as; Parmotrema Perlatum (Black Edged Leaf Lichen), Evernia Prunastri (Common Oak Moss) and Usnea Subfloridana (Old Mans Beard). 

And you can find the Lichen specimen locket is here!

 The first day we found Gougane Barra, we were both having a sad day and desperately needed to get out of the city to clear our heads, we were blown away by the battered old mountains that greeted us as well pulled up. Soon after entering the park, we wandered off the path, through the trees and followed a meandering little stream deep into the forest.

As we walked we found all sorts of strange little mushrooms and were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies, neither of us had ever seen anything like it! We took turns getting photos, and if we had stayed still long enough I think they would have come and sat on us. It was one of the most beautiful encounters with  nature I have ever been lucky enough to have experienced.

 

 

 

After having a picnic and getting quite lost for a few hours, we headed back home recharged and happy. Nothing grounds you more than spending some time reconnecting with the natural world. I can't wait to go back again.

Because two wishes are better than one!

 

Hello peeps! Just a brief post to show you something new I made recently. Here are my 'Make a wish' earrings, made with hand blown glass orbs, stuffed full of delicate little wishes and accented with glorious gold toned brass and sparkly Czech glass bits! 

I have been dying to make these for ages, so I didn't waste a minute when my supplies arrived on getting started, and I had lots of fun taking the photos too as I got to play around with back-lighting which I LOVE! The beautiful jointed doll is actually a Japanese 1970s replica of a popular Victorian design, isn't she lovely!?

I am looking into making a silver version of these too, so if you would like a pair instead of the gold, please get in contact and I can make sure you get a pair from the batch I do!

They are now available to buy in my Etsy shop. 

 

 

 

 I also finished the latest addition to my Language of Flowers collection! This is my 'Never Forget' botanical specimen necklace, made with delicately woven little preserved  strands of real dried Forgetmenots encased in an elegant glass vial!

I've always had a thing for Forgetmenots, they have a strange charm all of their own, perhaps due to their symbolic meaning as a flower of remembrance, romantic tragedy, true love and fidelity.

If you are so inclined, this strange and beautiful piece is available to buy here.

Anyway, I hope you're all having lovely weekends where ever you are! It's blustery and grey here, so I'm going to spend today working and catching up on my cat cuddles!