The story began a long time ago when young ladies of Britain took up new jobs as a Land Army Girl and a Lumber Jill. These courageous girls were an important asset to the war effort and I dread to think what would’ve happened without them! Their determination and strength was unquestionable.

So when I was asked to get involved in organising an event to raise money and awareness for the Woman’s Land Army Girl Tribute I decided that I would do my very best to assist this amazing cause.

My involvement began in September 2012 when Sharon Taylor from Always Red Events in Burntwood Staffordshire contacted me about working together to create a one off event to raise money for the charity. We were both aware of the Women’s Land Army Tribute and the ladies who are working so hard for this great Tribute.

The ladies behind this amazing tribute are the Women’s Farming Union perhaps the modern day equivalent to the original Land Army Girls, and in a different time some of these ladies could’ve signed up as a land army girl. The reality is that it could have been any of us ladies who could have swapped their positions in society to help the war effort! Quoting from the WFU website the plan is:

It is planned to create an approximately size and a half bronze sculpture of a Land Girl/Lumber Jill as depicted on the iconic recruitment  poster used during the Second World War.  The memorial will be sited at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and set upon a plinth.  The memorial will provide a focal point for the approximately 38,000 surviving Land Army Girls and allow them to share their stories with their families and the nation.

Sharon and myself had a meeting with the ladies of the WFU to outline our intention to help with organising a 1940’s style event on their behalf. From the initial meeting we were amazed with how things quickly progressed and we ended 2012 with having a wonderful venue for the event which was the Staffordshire County Showground for both the daytime and evening event.

The name was in place “Pitch in for Victory” which is very fitting title for such an event the land army girls and Lumber Jills were doing just that every day !

The Day Time event!
Pitch in for Victory – Vintage Jamboree is a fabulous family event from 11am-4pm to be held in the Staffordshire Pavilion with the Staffordshire County Showground – entrance fee is £2 per adult, children free.. The first 500 attendees will receive their registration ID card as a memento of their day. Wartime artefacts will be on display, including the WLA Tribute’s exhibit and the Warwicks Regiment re-enactment group. Vintage stalls, a Vintage Tea Room run by Honey Bees Teas with help from the Staffordshire Young Farmers, a vintage photography booth, with Expressive Marks Arts & Vintage Photography, and Vintage Hair and Makeup, With Elizabeth Peat; children’s activities including a treasure trail from Staffordshire Treasure Trails and activities with the 1940’s Brownies, plus a full billing of live entertainment.

The Evening Event see http://www.alwaysredevents.co.uk/for tickets:

Pitch in for Victory – Dance to Victory is an exclusive night to remember in the newly refurbished Ingestre Suite at the Staffordshire Country Showground, with a nostalgic billing of live entertainment including the vocal talents of renowned vintage songstress Miss Lola Lamour; introducing the sublime Miss Laura Bill and with the truly marvellous String Of Pearls who will take you dancing through to the early hours. The evening will be compered by local toastmaster and actor Steve McTigue,

After an authentic style wartime buffet there will be a ‘Tribute Auction’ and all funds raised from this Auction will go directly to the Women’s Land Army Tribute. Lots listed include an exclusive Fifty Three Deluxe Sofa from G Plan Vintage Designs in collaboration with Wayne Hemingway Design (worth £1,500); a vintage photography or business design package with EM Art & Design; original ‘Pitch for Victory’ & ‘Dance to Victory’ artwork & photography; a Cheryl Hubbard—Old Blighty Days commissioned artwork;. every girls dream bag donated by Cath Kidston; an evening at Monmore Green Greyhound Racing Track, Wolverhampton.

With a welcome drink, a wartime-themed menu and a black and white vintage photograph from Expressive Marks Art and Photography as a memento of your evening, and live entertainment included in the ticket price – this surely is a must have vintage ticket. Tickets are available at http://www.alwaysredevents.co.uk/index.php/our-events/dance-to-victory

I hope you can also hear your countries call to help this truly amazing day in the heart of Staffordshire and be part of living history. I have set aside to work on this event and I have been blown away by the good will from genuine people who just want to help from Gplan donating a brand new sofa to be auctioned off to John Woodhouse from The Sentinel Newspaper covering the story in their weekend special The war time spirit is still alive!

Hope to see you May 18th Staffordshire County Show Ground for two fantastic events all of which are to raise lots of money to honour to the work of the Land Army girls and Lumber Jills:

G Plan Wayne Hemingway Vintage Design Sofa to be Auctioned on the evening

The Women’s Land Army Tribute’s campaign aims to raise £100,000, to enable the commission of a bronze life-sized sculpture (based on the war time recruitment poster) to honour the work of the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps during the wars years and to provide an insurance and maintenance fund as well as a dedication ceremony at the unveiling of the memorial. £36,000 of the £100,000 has been raised to date “

Lets all work together to make the dream reality !

Click http://www.alwaysredevents.co.uk/ for more on tickets –

With the success of our previous popup shop we are now having our biggest popup shop ever in the Stafford Guildhall Shopping Centre. Not only will we have all our great retro items including vintage furniture and retro homeware we will also be stocking our full range of vintage inspired Christmas Decorations.

We also very excited to announce that we will be joined in the popup shop by Gifts By Jenny and her Little Impressions and also by All Mod Cons and their vintage homeware. So even more reasons to come and visit us!

When: 30th November to 4th December
Where: Stafford Guildhall Shopping Centre

Subscribe to the LottyBlue Newsletter and we will email you a code to get 25% of this fantastic Gisela Graham Wooden Advent Calendar:

]]> http://lottyblue.co.uk/2012/get-25-off-a-gisela-graham-wooden-santa-lorry-advent-calendar/feed/ 0 http://lottyblue.co.uk/2012/christmas-popup-shop-gisela-graha/ http://lottyblue.co.uk/2012/christmas-popup-shop-gisela-graha/#comments Sat, 27 Oct 2012 18:47:14 +0000 Lisa Oakley http://lottyblue.co.uk/?p=2626

With Christmas just around the corner we are planning on taking all out traditional and vintage style decorations to the third ‘LottyBlue Popup Shop’. We have had great success with our past popups shops in the Guildhall Shopping Centre. This December will be a fantastic opportunity for me to show shoppers in Stafford the great range of designer traditional style including the years range from designers Gisela Graham and Heaven Sends.

So if you are in Stafford between the 30th November and 4th November please take the opportunity to come and see us and say hello. All the details below:
What? LottyBlue Pop Up Shop
When? Friday 30th December to Tuesday 4th December
Where? Stafford Guildhall Shopping Centre (next to River Island) – parking available above the shopping centre

Thank you Lisa for asking me to write this guest post for you. I’m a big fan of handmade items, and also a knitting and crochet addict – so I hope you find some useful links and inspiration in my
ramblings!

Did you know National Knitting Week is 15-21st October 2012? – so now is a great time to get into this wonderfully traditional, relaxing hobby either by discovering new skills or polishing off old rusty ones.

Knitted and crochet items are popular and on trend – you can find wonderful knitted items and textures in many fashion and high street stores. Why not have a go at creating your own garments or accessories? As an added bonus you can often save money too – by buying second-hand and preloved items which can be recycled, or upcycled, into fabulous creations!

It’s environmentally friendly – you can even buy yarn which is made from recycled clothing.

Or how about some natural wool from British Sheep? There is a lovely selection from www.blackeryarns.co.uk.

You can also choose synthetic yarns – mostly acrylic – which are very affordable and hard-wearing. Or you can treat yourself to something totally organic and natural – plain or colourful – the choice is endless. One of the largest online stores is www.deramores.com which has pretty much anything you will need.

If you can’t knit, but want to learn – now is the perfect time. In this age of Google and YouTube, all you need to do is type in ‘learn to knit’ and you will find loads of helpful tutorials and videos to get you started. Want to learn from a ‘real’ person? Then you will find information in many craft magazines, and also on www.ukhandknitting.com which lists local groups for you to visit.

For free knitting patterns – again, the internet is a huge resource. The knitting and crochet site www.ravelry.com has a wealth of free patterns, forums and information about all things woolly!

What about vintage patterns? – Remember those jumpers and baby items that your mum/granny used to make? If it’s vintage patterns that you’re after then try www.thevintageknittinglady.co.uk for genuine patterns from the 40s onwards. Look at these great 50s cushions I found!

A bit about Jenny – I learnt to knit when I was about 5, and the first thing I made was a scarf for my dad. Nowadays, I can usually be found knitting or crocheting most evenings and I enjoy making baby items from organic wools, and also quirky knitted toys.

You can find me at www.giftsbyjenny.com and also on facebook as Gifts by Jenny, and twitter @Giftsbyjenny.

Happy knitting!!

Although the weather does not know yet “summer is here” and at LottyBlue we would like to give our customers a little treat despite all the rain. Buy any vintage inspired homeware from our store up until the end August 2012 and get 20% off just enter the discount code ‘summer’ without the quotes:

Just arrived in the LottyBlue store is this fantastic 1960′s Ercol dining set including a table four Windsor chairs. We have out a few pictures of this great set below but for more details see the store – Ercol Table and four Windsor Chairs

Thank you to the fantastic Betty Bee for reviewing one of our Besame lip balms on Youtube. The video is great and the lip balm looks stunning. To see our range of Besame cosmetics click – Besame Cosmetics at LottyBlue.

I met John Green at the Home and Top Drawer Show in London this year and could not stop myself falling in love with his incredible designs. So much so that we now have John Green in our Lottyblue store. We are also very grateful to John for writing a guest post for the LottyBlue blog to learn more about his story. Over to John Green:

So…..I guess I will just take you through my journey so far. I found my passion for design at high school where I was lucky enough to be taught by a practising designer, this teacher really did inspire me. Skip forward a few years and I graduated in 2008 with a 1st class honours in Product Design from York St John University.

Instantly after graduating I was offered the chance to pilot a scheme backed by the University called, (designers in residence). This was a 2 year scheme set up to give fresh design graduates the breathing space and all the tools they need to set up their own design practise. I was really lucky!

Embracing this opportunity I instantly got to work with my first range of furniture titled; “experiments in plywood”. This range saw the realisation of products featured in my university portfolio (that had already won awards) and the creation of new products that had emerged through the journey of setting up my own design practice.

I launched these products in the futures section at 100% design, London 2009, with great success. I received enough pre-orders to fund tooling for my most successful piece so far “embrace”. I was also lucky enough to be approached by the Italian design brand SELETTI (www.seletti.it) who took on my product “pantone wallstore”.

I returned to 100% design the following year (2010) with 2 new products: “standard” and “simple”. Standard is now under license to another Italian brand EX-T (www.ex-t.it) and sold worldwide via their network of stores and stockists. “simple” is also under license and currently in development along with a whole range of pieces designed around this, however i cannot mention too much about this at present.

Each year I exhibited, my product “embrace” was getting more and more popular and as this product is still sold via my own brand. I felt it was key to carry on exhibiting it. In 2011 I decided to take embrace to ICFF, New York, because I was getting so much interest from the USA, but i was unable to fullfill orders due to the heavy shipping costs. My main aim for this show was to find a US distributor for the product. Again I was lucky enough to get and offer from OFFI (www.offi.com) to take on the product exclusively in the US market.

I also exhibited at the Grand Designs show in 2011 where embrace picked up highly commended award for best product.

My most recent exhibition was HOME, London 2012. Here I launched 2 new products strictly for sale via my own wholesale brand “johngreen.” This is the brand that I currently sell embrace from. The new products are “tab” and “45” the real aim was to produce 2 products that are affordable, made in the UK and still batch produced.

The reason for me having Embrace, Tab and 45 under my own brand is so that I have some income to supplement the income I receive from royalties for designing for other brands. I much prefer designing for other brands, because they do all the stuff they do best, sales, storage etc… etc… I hate having rooms full of stock it scares me….I also hate sales, can’t think of anything worse than ringing somebody to sell them something.

My ethos is simple: to create innovative and functional designs that people can’t resist!

I didn’t study furniture and nor did I class myself as a furniture designer, it’s just that coming to my final year at university this is what seemed to be most accessible. I wanted to design stuff something for my final year show that I could sell. If I had designed..I don’t know, a mobile phone or a product that required injection moulding like some of the other guys on my course I know i would have only been showing a concept at my final show, probably made from blue foam with hours of sanding involved. It is all because of this decision that I have ended up where I am now.

Come and join LottyBlue on the 2nd June to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Our very first pop up shop will be in the Guildhall Shopping Centre (between Claire’s Accessories and River Island) in Stafford town centre. This vintage inspired pop up shop will be open for one day only on Saturday 2nd of June. The LottyBlue Pop Up is part of the Guildhall’s Diamond Jubilee attractions.

We will have lots of interesting and original pieces of vintage furniture on the day including some rare iconic 1950′s items such has an atomic coat stand, retro lamps and G Plan table and chairs to just mention a few! We will also be bringing retro inspired goodies from some of the UK’s leading designers including Lisa Stickley, John Green, Ulster Weavers and the new range from Little Walton Bank to name a few.

In store we will be running a competition to win a set of vintage inspired cake tins and a beautiful hostess kitchen apron. So if you love vintage or just want a trip down memory lane then please come and see us on the 2nd of June and please tell your friends and family we would love to see you all. There will be lots going on in Stafford town centre on the day to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations.