Straight Talking Mama

Bah!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:15:00 +0000

I was hoping to post lots of sewing adventures this weekend but yesterday morning I woke up with a stinking head cold, so instead I've spent yesterday and so far today in PJs, feeling slightly sorry for myself.

So instead I will post about a couple of true musical greats that passed away this week.

Sorry both of these aren't videos as such as both tracks were looong before video - or shorties as they were known then - were popular but they are great great music!

First up Johnny Otis, if you don't know about this guy, read up about him, what a guy, he worked with a lot of greats, was a real innovator in music and did some amazing things in his life. He's a real musical hero of mine and my husbands, he just touched so much music that we loved.

Next up and probably better know generally is Etta James. What a gal and what a voice.

I love this song, I actually sang it with my band many years ago, but could never recreate that wild Etta James feel!

I'll be back fighting fit soon, I would have carried on with sewing this weekend but I have so much work on at the moment, I need the energy for that!!

Sorting, Cooking and Sewing!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:13:00 +0000

I love January, I find it a real sorting month. It's a month where nothing much happens so you have a little more time than normal to get things sorted, I also like to get things organised in January as it gives me a good start to the year!

This year has been no different, but I'm making some bigger steps in sorting that I hope will be permanent solutions. I bought some little clear bags from ebay, super cheap, and they have revolutionised my sorting!! I bought them to sort my earrings originally. I had them stored horribly and altogether, stones were forever falling out of earrings and getting lost and I knew I had to do something, so now they are all sorted. This is how it all started eeek

Everything now clearly in little bags, and the advantage of this is, if a stone does come lose it does so inside the bag and doesn't get lost YAY!

Back in storage containers but now not all messed up!!

Then I thought hang on this would be great for my buttons too! I do have them in lovely storage jars which look cute but to be honest everytime I look for buttons I have to tip the whole jar out and search for a matching set, so I went through those too! Yes I know they don't look as pretty in the jar now but much easier to find!

I bought these lovely ones the other week, can't bear to remove them from the card yet, well until I use them.

I'd forgotten about these, love them!

Another tip, if you wear vintage clothes, when they drop to bits and are beyond repair, always remove the buttons before disposing of them. These came from a pair of very cute peddle pushers (capris) that would have fallen apart on wear!

If you're looking for novelty type buttons there are some great modern ones around, I bought these intending to make a tropical blouse with Carmen Miranda influence!!

Something else new I'm trying at the moment are some recipes from this book. As you know I'm vegetarian, but I'm not vegan, I don't really have any desire to be vegan but I've heard great things about this book so wanted to give it a try. I'm sharing just in case anyone out there is veggie/vegan and is looking for inspiration.

I highly recommend this, I've made a couple of recipes from this so far and OMG they were both delicious, not to mention healthy and low in fat, in my book that's a winner! Here's one attempt, Black eye peas and greens, with mashed sweet potato, YUM!!!!

And last but certainly not least, I have been saving hard to buy myself an overlocker (serger to my US friends!!) I was so excited when it arrived yesterday, except I didn't have time to set it up or try it until last night. It took me forever to thread it, boy that is complicated and I gave it a test. I'm so excited that my sewing projects will now have a much more professional finish, can't wait to get going. I'm going to play about with it a bit today, I'm brand new to overlocking so I need to learn how to use it properly before I launch into making something, but I'm super excited about it all!!

Right I'm off to play with my overlocker now......

BTW please excuse all my dark pictures, it's so hard to get good pictures in the depths of winter when it's constantly dark!

Weekly Roundup!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Hi all, how's 2012 working out for you so far? It's working how just fine for me, I feel immensely optimistic about this year!

Well as I'm self employed early Jan is inevitably taken up with doing my accounts which should have been done long before now at end of Jan is the deadline, but hey that's how I roll, so that's essentially what I'm up to but I've still got news for you and pictures to share.

First up my resolutions, yes I like resolutions I don't think of them as resolutions I think of them as goals for the year, I also never start the tougher ones on the 1st of Jan, you are so doomed for failure if you do that, well I am I've learnt from experience!!

Now I'm starting to get my dining room back we are going to eat at the table as much as possible, this is something we don't do, mostly as we haven't had the dining room for years as it was the stock room. Here is the table set for New Years Day dinner, we've pretty much eaten all breakfast there and we're having fondue tonight as we have all the ingredients left from over Christmas!

As you can see though it's pretty cramped that's cos this is what the rest of the room still looks like

So not quite a dining room yet but soon. I'm going to be moving all this stuff at some point this month and then stripping of wall paper, re-wallpapering and then painting has to be done. The floor is good. We also found some fab curtains just before Christmas on ebay, we were lucky enough to have a small win on the lottery, well £72 so we bought curtains for the dining room! Here they are I think they look fab with the dinette chair.

We're thinking we might paint the walls grey but we're not sure. We'll see!

One of my other resolutions is to get out and about a bit more and do small things I enjoy, not necessarily things that cost. We had a tough year, personally and financially last year and so this year, although finances are still tight we want to try to just get out of the house sometimes, even if it's just to look around somewhere.

So this weekend we did one of our favourites things. We went rummaging at an Antique market and large antique shop. We didn't find anything in fact the regular antique/craft type fair we go to in Farnham was pretty quiet, I don't blame the traders for not so many being there, after all you're not going to make much in January so it was a little disappointing as we usually find something. Then the church fair that is around the corner where I scored loads of vintage buckles, buttons and material last time wasn't even on! So we decided to visit Bourne Mill Antique centre in Farnham. It's a huge old mill I assume, a really old building packed full of stuff but it is really hard to get around if you're not good on your feet, so Paul went to the cafe for coffee and cake whilst I rummaged. Here are some pics.

It's several floors of real rummaging, I didn't find anything this time, to be honest it's been going downhill a bit lately but in the past we've found some real treasures! It's definitely worth a visit though if you're in the area.

I love the 50s kitchen cabinet and I am in the market for one but I'm not going to pay £265!

I do have other resolutions that I won't share but one that I will is sewing more. I have saved enough to buy myself an overlocker I am busting with joy about this, however as I'm grounded til I get my accounts done I'm not going to buy it til I'm done otherwise it will be shouting at me when I need to be doing my accounts! I'm hoping to get it in time for next weekend as I figure I might finish my accounts tomorrow whoo hoo! The first thing I'm going to sew is not for me. I've gained weight and I need to shed it, I find out about my knee op on Tuesday so fingers crossed that happens quick so I can get back to exercising too. In the meantime I've been promising Paul a number of items so I'm going to get going on those. These are more casual 50s trousers that I'm going to give a go. I also have some great material for a shirt for him. I'll let you see them when I'm done, promise!

Anyway that's what I've been up to. Hope you're all having a great 2012 so far. My accounts phase is not much fun but hey it's got to be done! Once it's done I'll be very happy and crack on with my to do list for 2012!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:29:00 +0000

I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

I've enjoyed reading everyone's yearly run down, I won't be doing one, 2011 wasn't my most fave year ever, hence my not being around much at the end of the year, I guess all the 'stuff' just ground me down and I was tired. Anyway I'll be back louder and stronger very soon, I miss blogging a lot, miss reading peoples blogs, blogging has enhanced my life and I'm sad that I've let it slide lately but sometimes life gets in the way.

Good news is mum is well on the way to recovery and I'm ready to attack 2012 full on!!

Tonight though will be a quiet one, with my famous mushroom risotto, a few glasses of wine, and of course my lovely husband. Not in the mood for a party this NYE but if you're off to one, HAVE FUN!!

See you on the other side.....

I'm ok, I'm here, don't panic he he!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:34:00 +0000

Well I must be the worlds worst blogger, where did this month go?

I'm so sorry I went missing, I seem to be apologising for this a lot lately, life just got stupidly busy and it's the end of the year and I'm tired.....

So what have I been up to, well I made my 2 dresses, yes I promise I will take pictures, but I haven't yet, but I did make this

Out of this! However the complicated neckline looked bloody awful. Really didn't sit right, so I had to work with it, I did ok in the end and got lots of compliments which was nice, I promise I will put full make up on & the jewellery I wore and take a pic, honest!

I then added a black velvet top to the dress made out of this, that didn't fit. The skirt fit so I just adapted it to the new top half. I got lots of compliments in this too, promise I will take pics.

Then of course I went to the Rhythm Riot, did I have fun, yep, did I take pics, nope, I really am the worst type of blogger ever, I do interesting stuff I just get all excited whilst I'm there and well, I forget! Perhaps I should quit blogging, or just get my act together anyway.

I saw some great bands at the Rhythm Riot, including these guys Lil Mo and the Dynaflos who I've never seen before they were fabulous live! One of the best bands of the weekend.

oooh I tell a lie I took a couple of pics on my phone, first up this is in the chalet with my friends, and it was only 5pm on the first day, those glasses had/have huge cocktails in, talk about peaking too soon!

And I got some fabulous new saddle shoes from Rocket Originals, they are gorgeous and a slightly amended style, and I have to confess they are even better than their first ones! Here is a pic in the apartment at Pontins, note the very luxurious carpet ;o)

Just before I went to the Rhythm Riot I finally found out what is up with my knee, remember how well I was doing exercising then I had a pesky knee problem that stopped me in my tracks. Well I thought a bit of physio and all would be good. Sadly not, I need an op, I have torn my cartilage, I guess it explains the pain, but it's blumming annoying well and painful! So now I just have to wait, apparently I shouldn't have to wait to long but still it'll be too long for me I'm sure. The Rhythm Riot didn't help on the knee front, getting drunk and thinking I could dance through the pain is not a good idea, let me tell you now you can't, I nearly didn't make it downstairs it hurt so much, that'll teach me, or will it?!!

Post Rhythm Riot has been recovery, it's true, I used to go to these events, come home and go out that night, now it takes me a good week to recover, it's shameful!

So there you go, I've been up to a lot, just forgot to take photos, shame on me!

Talented Friends!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:13:00 +0000

Ok this is a bragging post, I have very talented friends and I'm going to brag about a couple today I do hope you don't mind! I'm so proud and sometimes you forget if you are surrounded by these people and then sometimes you think, these people are my friends and they are amazing, I need to shout about this!

First up is my very good friend Bloater, or known professionally as Big Boy Bloater , he's just about to embark on tour with Imelda May as her support band, then he kicks off his own tour in Feb.

I love this promo shot of him!

I've known Bloater and Lisa (his wife) FOREVER, we are old, it's true, actually Bloater isn't old, he's the young fella, he's 40 soon, mmm that'll be quite a night ha ha!

They are really good friends who saw us through some of the worst times of our lives, we've had some of the best nights of our lives with them - New Year's Eve 1999 comes to mind, oh dear - and I couldn't think of nicer people this could happen to, oh and they're pretty good next door neighbours too. Bloater is such a talented musician, you just have to look on his website, if you see high praise from people like Jools Holland and Mark Lamarr you know you're pretty good. Anyway things are really taking off for him, and I'm so proud!

If that's not enough Lisa is going out on her own with a 5 piece band as Lil Lisa Jane, I was at her first solo gig and it was marvellous, can't wait to see more! I hasten to add Lisa played Sax for years with Bloater's original band, so she's not a newbie to the stage.

They were also responsible for my worst hangover from hell after my birthday last week, those are friends I like to keep, you can see this woman would mix up some hellish cocktails can't you?

And if that's not enough, my good friend Sue from Pennychoo Cards! I haven't known Sue anything like as long as Bloater and Lisa but I feel like I have, you know one of those people you meet and you just click with, you can have grumpy old people conversations straight away with them, but then roll around laughing the next minute, well that's Sue!

Sue is a very talented designer and I mean big time talented! She's done all sorts of work for many many amazing people. But I wanted to show you some of Pennychoo's christmas card designs, I bought some straight away, I love her work, I don't think I've ever seen anything she does that I don't like in fact, I know sickening isn't it?

So here are some of her Christmas cards, love em all!

From the Boibles range
http://www.pennychoo.com/boibles-shop.html

From the Eggnog range!
http://www.pennychoo.com/Eggnog.html

So there you have it! I of course have other very talented chums, but I just felt the need to shout about these for now. Sharing the love :o)

Birthday Celebrations and Sewing Mayhem!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Hello! How are you all? Well I've had a busy busy week.

Sooo as you know it was my birthday last weekend, I didn't have any plans apart from to watch old movies and drink fancy cocktails, I didn't take many photos but here are a few from Saturday.

This was the first of many cocktails, I always feel very special when I drink from these fabulous 30s cocktail glasses, I've never seen any more like them I would so love to buy more!

As I wasn't going out I thought it was only right to bring 'some' sparkly to the celebrations so apart from sparkly earrings I wore my 50s sparkly slippers!

After a few I tried to take a pictures of myself none of them turned out great, but here is me after a few.

Here is Paul after a few

And here's the state the cocktail cabinet got in! This is after serious cocktail mixing YAY

So all in all I had a great day, I was dancing round the living room to some great tunes and all was good AND I didn't wake up with a hangover on my actual birthday.

However this is where it all went wrong, I intended to have a similar easy day but not go over the top as I had to work on Monday. I knew my mates from next door would pop round and we'd probably have a drink or two. Well it didn't quite work out like that, Lisa took over the cocktail making I don't really remember what happened. What I do know is that I woke up on Monday morning with the worst hangover I've had in years, ouch! I sat in my PJs all day, ate pizza and general felt sorry for myself, mmmm won't be doing that again for some time!!

So the rest of the week I spent catching up on the work I didn't do on Monday.

This weekend I started my sewing projects for the Rhythm Riot in a couple of weeks. I'm afraid I have nothing finished to show you, I've nearly finished one, but I wanted to do the cutting out of the other dress whilst I had a good amount of time this weekend, so I don't have much to show you.

One thing I wanted to show is some of what I'm doing, and one of the things I always have to do is alter my patterns. I'm rather chunky and I have a big bust, I also rarely buy patterns in my size, not only are they hard to come by in larger sizes but if I see something I like I always think well I can alter it to fit. This can be very complicated if the pattern is complicated, but I haven't found anything I can't resize yet!

Here's the bodice of a dress I am altering to fit.

As you can see I've cut it up the middle of the pattern piece and seperate it the amount I need, however by experience and knowing how I'm built I know that I never need to resize the shoulders, I actually have quite small shoulders, so I have increase where the bust is and where the waist is, and I will increase the darts at the waist to resize the waist back down.

Now I have no idea if this is the 'correct' way but it works for me, so if you need to alter a bodice or a blouse this could help you, if you want to make it smaller then fold where I have cut!

This bodice is black velvet and it's going on to a skirt made from this fabric, which was originally a whole dress which no longer fits, so I adapted!

You can't see very well but it's very sparkly, I do like sparkly!

The next dress I've cut out is this pattern

In this fabric

This again is far more sparkly in person, it's kind of gold/silver lame sparkly, anyway once I'm done I'll let you see!

I just wanted to assure you I AM sewing, I'm just not finished! There are soooo many pieces to the dress above and as it's such a beautiful dress I don't want to rush it, I want to get it right.

So there you go, that is what I have been up to, fun, hangover, work and sewing.....

What I've been up to!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Hello all!

I've been up to so much in the last week, mostly not interesting but one thing I have been working on is my living room. As my dining room get's less and less full of stock from my business I closed in July, I have now managed to move my dinette into that room, I can't work on that yet as there is still lots of stock in there but what I have managed to do is work on my living room, it is transformed and I love it!
First up I've been looking for a 50s sideboard or cupboard to convert to a TV cabinet, my budget is low and 50s stuff seems to be in 'fashion' at the moment so it's taken some looking for find something in my budget! Finally this week, I bid on a 1950s g plan sideboard and because the seller was ending it at a strange time and wanted collection within 24 hrs, I won it for £15! Yes £15! These things can go for silly money so I am very happy. It was very dry to I treated it with some Teak Oil and now it looks fabulous, here you go!

I am so beyond happy with it! It looks so sleek and fabulous and all for £15!!! My only problem is where to put all the bloody wires, I think I'm going to hang the extension leads on the wall as sadly underneath it looks like this

Still I'll resolve it.

Then onto my cocktail area, I'm so happy with this. I was lucky enough to pick up another total bargain in the same week, a 50s record cabinet which actually only holds about 1/4 of our record collection but in reality it's probably all we'll listen too. So now I have a little area in the living room for cocktail cabinets, my fabulous gold glitter cocktail chair, records and everything! I need a little cupboard for the record player and stereo but hey with the way my luck is going it won't be long!

I'm so happy with it!

I've rearranged a couple of shelves and I've put my ugly but very functional Ikea CD cabinet elsewhere in the living room.

Do you like my tiki candle holders?!!

Ah bliss! Anyway, it's my birthday tomorrow, so today I am having a bit of a cocktail afternoon/evening in my lovely new cocktail area whilst watching old movies. Bliss

I'll take pictures along the way, til I get too tipsy he he!

Sew much to do!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:46:00 +0000

As well as so much to do!

Firstly I'd like to tell you mum moved to a rehab ward today, so far she's only walked 6 steps with her new hip but considering what she went through I'm not worried, onwards and upwards now!

So I really have had so much to do. As you know I'm self employed and if I don't work, I don't earn, I already missed 2 weeks of work at the beginning of the month, then it took me a few days to set up my new laptop, god I hate technology sometimes! So now I'm trying desperately to catch up on work without driving myself into the ground, this is hard, I need the money but I think that I will just have to accept I will work much less hours this month and budget accordingly :o(

However onto the subject of Sew much to do!

I'm off to the Rhythm Riot in November as usual and if you follow that link to the site you'll see it's only 29 days away!!

When I started my exercising and cut back I really really wanted to get into certain dresses by then but life doesn't always go to plan. My size has gone down a bit but I haven't lost a pound in weight, then when I went to see Mum, dieting and exercise did not happen at all!! But the biggest aggravating factor now is that I've hurt my knee, I have been told by the gym they think I have runners knee and to avoid the gym until it starts getting better, well I went back swimming yesterday and I limped out of the pool, damn! So I'm off to the docs on Monday about it, so no exercise and the aim of getting into those dresses in reality is not going to happen, so my back up plan is sewing! In fact my house may end up looking like this!

This is the first Rhythm Riot I've been to for 4 years that I'm just going to enjoy myself, so I'm not thinking about clothes I can work on the stall in, I can wear what I damn well please and I damn well please to dress up, but what I had wanted to wear doesn't quite fit and won't even if I starved myself in this short time - which I won't do, I do have a birthday next weekend, no starving on Birthdays!

Now I have been intended to run up a couple of pairs of trousers for a while now and whilst that should not take too long - apart from getting the fit right - I would really like a couple of new dresses, I'm so blumming pie in the sky, I won't have time but I can hope that I might!!

So I was looking through my patterns and I like the following 3 although I would be making them for evening wear so not in day wear cloth as they are illustrated.
I like the bodice of this dress and the fit.

I've made this pattern before with the shorter sleeves and I put a straighter skirt on it, I really liked it!

I've been thinking about making this for a long time, however I don't think the neckline will be very complimentary to me, however I like the style, so we'll see.

Fabric wise I have a few ideas. Ages ago I bought the following fabric, it's a beautiful heavy satin but I also bought a matching organza type material to go with it, perhaps as an overskirt or part of a bodice, you can't really get an idea, but you can see the colour here! I have had it so long I need to use it but it's that age old problem of not want to mess up good fabric!

I've also got some lovely black velvet although I'm not sure I have enough for a dress, though I have to say I've always wanted a black velvet dress!!

I've got this fabulous lace type material which might go well either with the velvet or for something different.

I think I'm going to run out of time but I don't want to! I haven't got the cash to buy new, I just need the time to make new.

Don't worry I haven't forgotten about my Mexican Tourist Jacket, I got the sample of material I thought might be suitable and it was so desperately unsuitable, so I'm back on the search for the right shade of the right fabric, it could take me a while!

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:22:00 +0000

Thank you so much for all your well wishes for my mum on my last post.

It has been a really really traumatic time, I won't lie. I arrived on Wednesday last weekend to find out they were surprised she's made it through the night, as you can imagine that was rather shocking. Then the consultant on the Thursday morning had the 'do not resuscitate' conversation with me! I won't go through the symptoms but at first it seemed like either she'd had some type of stroke or brain injury during/after the anaesthetic. Her behaviour was so out of character and she couldn't move either of her arms.

Anyway after days of this, where she was screaming and shouting, I came in last Sunday morning and she was asleep, this fact on it's own was amazing as even with enough medication to fell a horse she'd been wide awake and severely agitated. So I say by her bed with my trusty kindle and read. Then about 45 minutes later she woke up and said, oh your here good!!! It was truly miraculous! She was transformed from a screeching banshee who when she did talk, talked rubbish, back to my mum. I didn't get my hopes up as things had been so bad and for the rest of that day, she pretty much slept but the next day, she was wide awake and chatting again when I arrived in the morning, consultants and nurses alike were amazed, no one knows what has gone on, the MRI and CT scan showed nothing, however don't worry I will be asking for an investigation.

By Tuesday she was giving me instructions on bills that needed paying, giving me passwords, pin numbers etc to get it all done, amazing.

I had to leave on Wednesday, as you know I'm self employed and if I don't work I don't earn. Also I think my mum will improve quicker if I'm not there to depend on. She has lots of friends so she won't be short of visitors and support and I feel good about that. I'm ringing twice a day every day and have even managed to chat to her. The ward staff are all amazing, so I know she is being cared for. She started to move her right arm before I left and the day I left it was so much better and then when I rang today suddenly her left arm is moving much better, even the fingers, truly amazing news. She has a long journey ahead of her, with all the complications and her recovery won't be as quick as most people after a replacement hip but as Paul said she has the constitution of a horse, such fight!

Anyway as you can imagine I'm so behind on everything, I had nearly 600 blog posts to catch up on, I hope you don't mind but I just drew a line under it and said there is no way I can do that! But I do hope to be back on track now.

The only highlight of my 3 times a day visit to the hospital was this beautiful art deco building I passed. I wished I'd taken my own pic so please excuse the watermark but I stole the pic! It's so much better in real life and is now a luxury apartment building, I'd be so happy to live somewhere like this!

I also have a new laptop that I need to set up, none of my files are on it, so no new pics I'm afraid. It will take me all weekend to get it up a running.

Obviously I also haven't done any projects but I have the right knitting needles for my gloves although I am dreading knitting them as Tasha from By Gum By Golly said fingers are really hard and I am nowhere near the champion knitter she is!

Anyway I'm back, mum is on the journey to getting better and life can soon return to normal. I've been catching up on my sleep the last couple of days, I'm only just starting to feel human again.

As for quitting alcohol, that is out the window this weekend, but back to it Monday and back to exercising too!

It's pouring more

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:43:00 +0000

On Monday my Mum fell and broke her hip. She had a hip replacement today but tonight she has had problems and is now in a cardiac unit. I'm obviously driving up there tomorrow.

Just wanted to let you all know as you have been so supportive with my bad luck over the weekend.

See you all soon

Fiona
xxxxx

Bah, It never rains but it pours!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:19:00 +0000

Firstly thank you for the lovely feedback about my hair, I'm really happy with it and think I'll be sticking with it for the forseeable future!

However this post is about me probably not being around much for the next few weeks. I had a couple of bad strokes of luck at the weekend. Firstly I got up really early to go swimming Sunday morning, and my car just wouldn't open with the normal clicker thing, mine uses a card not a key, anyway there is a key for emergencies so I tried that and what happened the alarm went off, at 7.45am on a Sunday morning and no matter what I did I just couldn't stop it, it eventually stopped but not before I'm sure I woke the whole neighbourhood. Anyway I went back out later to see if it could be resolved, it couldn't so I had to ring the RAC (roadside assistance for our non UK people!) and it turned out my battery was buggered, yeah cos I need that like a hole in the head, so that cost me a fortune.

Next my laptop finally died it's final death on Saturday just after I posted my last blog post, literally! I've fixed and fixed this laptop and I know that it is not worth putting any more money into it, it needs replacing. I'm in the process of loading all my stuff onto my OH's laptop but it's not a long term solution, he needs his, and also his is neither quick enough or big enough to store all I need to, so I need a new one, how I don't know! Eating on a budget, not going out for my birthday and a small loan from the bank of mum I think!

So the bottom line is blog posting - which I've only just gotten back to doing regularly! - might be sporadic until I have technology sorted. I guess the good thing is I won't waste time trawling ebay for stuff I can't afford and might do more sewing instead :o)

Might see you around but might not, sorry, oh and sorry the blog commenting won't be so regular either :o(

I had the chop!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:32:00 +0000

So I visited the very lovely Nina today from Nina's Vintage Hair Parlour, although they are no longer at Alfies Market, they are relocating, in the meantime they are in a super secret location, which was quite fun!!

Now that I take the pictures my hair IN the pictures doesn't look a whole heap shorter, but believe me it is a LOT shorter, it's not even sitting on my neck, but for some reason the pictures don't seem to make it look much shorter, I guess even when my hair is short there's a lot of it. Nina set it for me to show that it will set too, but I've got a couple of other options for mid week post swimming, I'll get a picture when I'm looking decent on day with the alternative looks!

Does it look shorter to you? Believe me it is. I just have so much blumming hair even short it looks like i have loads ha ha! Nina said if I want to go any shorter I'll need to go really short, I may do that next time, I'll have a think

In other news it is unbelievably stinking hot today in the UK. I think they said it's going to be the hottest October day on record, it is like the hottest days we get in Summer - none of which we had this year! It certainly was not the day to be stuck in hideous traffic jams in London with air conditioning in the car, I was so hot when I got home. I'm now cooling with the blinds closed and a fan on phew!

Also remember I told you how fabulous the history was in Barnard Castle? I totally forgot I'd taken these pictures of an amazing old house there, it was so fantastic, I took a picture of the plaque too, read it, it's fascinating.

I have nothing much else to report, apart from my exercise regime continues well, I'm at the gym or swimming 6 times a week, I'm actually enjoying it. I've lost some inches here and there, but no weight yet which seems weird but I'm sure it will happen, I hasten to add I've almost completely quit drinking and quit snacking, so really don't know why no weight loss yet, damn.... In the meantime I'm getting fitter & my clothes are fitter better!

Autumn/Winter Sewing Planning!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:37:00 +0000

It seems to be a bit strange that I'm doing autumn/winter sewing planning when we're in the middle of a heatwave. Yes you heard it, the UK is having a heatwave at the end of September, it's glorious and set to stay with us for a few days, however we all know it won't last so I'm planning for Autumn/Winter anyway!

Despite the heatwave it is getting darker in the evenings which always get's me to thinking of sewing again. I'm not good at sewing in Summer, I have no idea why!

Anyway I am planning a few new makes, most of them run of the mill, more heavier weight skirts, a couple of new pairs of trousers, but I have a couple of more ambitious plans, fingers crossed I get round to doing them!

First up, I have always wanted a Mexican Tourist Jacket, a bit like this example on ebay.

However my large bust has always be a bit of a problem, they don't tend to come in bigger sizes, so I have decided to try to make my own! Ambitious huh? I'm slightly daunted by it, but excited to. I don't doubt it will take quite some time but if I plan it over time, it'll be ready for Spring. Obviously the actual jacket won't take long to make as it's just a simple design, however I need the right fabric. I'm keen to make mine in turquoise which is a common colour for them, I've just sent off for a sample of a fabric I think will be suitable, so then we'll see!

Then of course I need to plan the embroidery, which I may add I have never done before, told you it was ambitious ha ha! I've downloaded loads of samples from ebay and etsy for ideas and then I'm going to make my own design. Gosh I'm getting more and more scared thinking about it!

The other idea I have is another coat, which I think I'd need to do sooner rather than later. My motivation is this picture, how gorgeous!

No no no, I'm not being that ambitious, although how fabulous would a suit like this be! But I thought how lovely a yellow or green wool coat would be with a leopard collar and cuffs. So there's another idea.

Then last but not least, I am totally not taking to knitting, so I have decided to try something smaller to try to get me into it. I bought this pattern today, so I'm going to try to make some gloves, mum has yarn left from some sweaters so she's going to send them to me, so hopefully next week I'll be starting on them. Oh by the way, don't ask how I got on with the sweater I was making.....

So I have some bog standard staple ideas and then some very ambitious ideas!

Have you got any sewing or knitting autumn/winter plans?

Weekend away and a rant!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:17:00 +0000

Hello all, hope you are all well!

As my post title indicates we went away this weekend, actually to visit my Mum but I sadly didn't take many pics, though there is a load online so I'm going to nick those!

I come from the North East of England, in a small town called Eaglescliffe. You would think there isn't much about Eaglescliffe but actually it's a really old place with quite a bit of history despite it not being a particularly big town. The first ever passenger train travelled not so far from my childhood home, it was the Stockton to Darlington Railway and Locomotion No 1 was the first ever passenger train in 1825!

Anyway as usual we had some chores to do for Mum as she doesn't drive so did some heavy shopping for her on Friday but Saturday we decided to go out for the day to Barnard Castle which is nearby. Barnard Castle is a fabulous old town with stacks of history and was established around 1090, yep that old!

Here are a few, cheating internet shots to give you an idea!

This is just the middle of town, or the market cross, fabulous huh?

This is the ruined Barnard Castle itself, established about 1090 and this is what the town built up around

And last but not least the very fabulous Bowes museum, all within a very short distance, amazing huh?

However I didn't visit any of these as I have been to them all many times before, instead we decided to go to visit the many antique shops on The Bank in the town. The Bank is as it sounds the steepest road ever, but packed full of what looked like great shopping. Sadly we were disappointed.

Firstly we went to The Mission Hall Antique Centre which is worth a visit if in the area but I wouldn't travel there especially. There were some nice things but what partly attracted me was the Vintage Clothes section upstairs. Mmmm I shouldn't have bothered. There were some lovely things up there, I'm not complaining about quantity or variety but the prices eeeek, it was not unlike shopping in an expensive London Vintage Clothes shop. I'm really not sure who buys this stuff there, but I only looked at a couple of 40s dresses - out of interest as they were nice though not my era - and when I spotted that they were both in the £120 territory I walked out sharpish. I would have enjoyed having a browse but was asked immediately what I was after and then the owner proceeded to pull out 50s frou frou frocks to show me, I was polite and said not really my thing, but thanks, however the prices and the 'look at this' really put me off.

Next up, I walked ahead as you know Paul is disabled and this was a steep bank, just as well the next really interested shop was shut, on a Saturday? Really? Who shuts a shop on a Saturday?

So we crossed the road to another really interesting shop,which was interesting, but again, sooooo expensive, like London expensive! I was very confused at the pricing in the shops, I'm not saying things should be a bargain but I don't expect to see London prices in a small town in the North East. Then Mum said oh it's always featured on those antique shows, so suddenly I realised, it's a destination antique shopping place. Well they don't interest me. I don't mind paying the price something is worth but some of this stuff was so overpriced I nearly passed out when I looked at the prices, needless to say we didn't buy anything and left rather sad!

As we were driving out of Barnard Castle we spotted a sign for Raby Castle, now I've never been to Raby Castle, so I set off rather excited at the prospect. Here's a picture, how fabulous is this!

It was first mentioned at the beginning of the 1000s, amazing huh?

But guess what, it was closed!!! Again, what closes on a Saturday? Don't get me wrong I do know this is still owner occupied but if it's going to open at all surely a Saturday is the day?

So all in all our day out proved rather disappointing and uneventful. Next time we visit my mum we've decide to go to York for the day, another amazing city with an amazing and long history, founded by the Romans in 71AD in fact.

I would like to say though if you're in the area, Barnard Castle is well worth a visit, there is so much history there, amazing places to visit, but unless you've won the lottery I would give the antique shops a very wide berth!

I know this isn't my normal blog post but I do assume that people who like vintage clothes and other stuff also enjoy a bit of history! Hope you don't mind. There is so much history in the area of the world I come from sometimes it amazes me!

A-Z of Me

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:03:00 +0000

I'm not one much for copying what other blogs do but I did like this! I thought it was quite interesting, so I hope you do too!

A-Age:

44 – 45 next month eeeek!

B-Bed size:

Double, though I do like Californian King size when in the US - take that last statement how you will ;o)

C-Chore that you hate:

Ironing, hate it!

D-Dogs:

I’m definitely a dog woman, but we don’t have any. I’d like either a Daschund or a chihuahua

E-Essential start to your day:

Coffee, without a doubt. At the moment I’m swimming or gym before the coffee, this is a miracle

F-Favourite Colour:

I’ve got more than one, green, red, turquoise are my most favourite

G-Gold or silver:

Either I’m not fussed, I like sparkly more than gold or silver, so I’ll be difficult & say rhinestones, I’d say diamonds but that’s never going to happen!

H-Height:

Just under 5ft, yep that small

I-Instruments you play:

I don’t play anything right now but I can play, piano, trumpet, tenor horn, Euphonium (yes I was in a brass band when I was a kid!) and Sax

J-Job title:

Me, I work for me doing stuff for other people, so I don’t have a title

K-Kids:

Nope

L-Live:

Farnborough, Hants

M-Mothers name:

Jean

N-Nicknames:

I don’t really have any, Red is the only one people call me to my face as that was my stagename, who knows what they say when I’m not there!

O-Overnight hospital stays:

Loads I’m a bit accident prone, plus I’ve had my appendix and adenoids out

P-Pet peeves:

Bad manners, people swearing in front of or at kids, racism makes my blood boil, mmm I could go on, I am at that age you know

Q-Quote from a movie:

"Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings, Love Clarence." From It’s a Wonderful Life one of my favourite movies

I’m not much of one for quotes from movies, but I do like that, so true.

R-Right or left handed:

Right, although I was left handed when I first started writing and they made me change, yes it was that long ago, so although I write with my right hand I’m pretty ambidextrous

S-Siblings:

No, just me

T-Time you wake up:

6.15 ish lately, to go to the gym, but it would be waaaaay past that if not!

U-Underwear:

Yes I wear it. Rigby & Peller for bras, great for ladies of large boob size, M&S for pants, unless fancy ones then What Katie Did.

V-Vegetable you hate:

Carrots, I’m a veggie but I HATE carrot

W-What makes you run late:

Only stuff that’s unavoidable, one of my pet peeves should have been I hate people running late and never do myself

X-X rays you've had:

See hospital overnights stays, so ankle, leg, arm, neck, back & ribs (car crash), is there anything left?

Y-Yummy food that you make:

I like my food & fortunately so does my husband! It’s all veggie, but I like making risotto, Mexican, Italian, curry, you name it

Z-Zoo animal:

Penguins

The big vintage dressed man question

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:31:00 +0000

As I've been in blogland a while now and met new people outside my regular social crowd I've realised more and more than outside the scene that I'm involved in there seem to be less men into vintage, my scene? some call it 'rockabilly' I don't cos I see Rockabilly as a form of music and anyway I'm an R'n'B gal more, but let's say my background is the Rockabilly scene for want of a better description.

In my social circle the men love vintage & dress vintage just as much as the women, it's part of our 'culture' so to speak. My husband is particularly knowledgeable about his style and he always has been. Long before I met him he was an Edwardian, or Teddy Boy as they are more commonly known. He didn't wear the garish styles of the 70s Ted, but was a genuine Edwardian. So much so pictures of him and his friend often surface on the internet as a indicator of the 'correct' way to dress Edwardian.

Here's a picture of them long before I met him, it's not my thing, but it sure does look good and it is period correct! Paul is on the left.

His style evolved as we all do and he went to a more late 40s look for a while, settling with his now early 50s style which has been his thing for probably the past 18 years.

What I wear has no bearing on what he wears, he chooses his style, it matters to him.

With this background I find it curious that 'vintage' is so slanted towards women. In fact I know few men who don't care what they wear, I think it's a normal thing. Even the guys on our scene who are more into music than clothes still have amazing 50s gab shirts or hawaiian shirts.

Here's a great pic of Paul recently. I can't imagine him not being interested in clothes, I'm not saying he doesn't dress down, although jeans do not exist in his wardrobe, his dress down are chinos, like today, he's in chinos and a 50s shirt.

I like that he's as interested as me, when we go to LA and go vintage shopping it's a joint passion, at weekenders he's off looking at the guys stuff, me the girls stuff. I wouldn't say our relationship is based on something so superficial as how we dress, clearly it's not but it's great that we both have the same taste and passion!

See what I mean, vintage stall holders together, Twain from Heyday Vintage Style, Mike from Home Sweet Homestyle, Paul my lovely husband and Martin from Rocket Originals, now those guys looks great, even after working hard all day on the stall!

And my favourite picture of all time, Paul looking stylish even on top of a mountain!!

So are the men in your life vintage lovers? Or are you one, I know 'some' men read this blog!

It's an interesting question, but have to say it's only come to light for me since I started meeting vintage people not originally from our scene or attached to similar scenes.

Would love to know your thoughts.

Hoarding and Vintage.....

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:58:00 +0000

Sorry for radio silence, what with trying to get into a new work routine along with a new exercise routine which has me out of the house and in the pool or gym by 6.45am I'm rather busy and sleepy!

Anyway as I've said before this is Sorting September, I'm going great guns, I have already sorted our bedroom, the clothes room, my office and started listing stuff on ebay. But what I notice is that I just have so much stuff and I struggle to part with a lot of it.

I do think hoarding is an occupational hazard of a vintage lover. Am I wrong? Do we all hoard? I just don't think minimalism in possessions/clothes/furniture/jewellery/shoes happens when you love vintage.

I mean I know you've seen this before, but look at our new clothes rack.

This dear readers is what we have after 3 years of culling our vintage clothes, this does not include sweaters of any type, or in fact most of our winter clothes which are currently packed away. Admittedly there are some winter coats in there but still. I hasten to add that selling any vintage clothes made me panic and I had to talk myself into it mostly. I still have stuff that doesn't fit - although I'm hoping the cutting back and exercise will help in that regard!

Same for jewellery, every time I think really I should get rid of some I have far too much, I just can't bring myself to get rid of stuff I love.

Here is just a small selection of what I have.

That doesn't include, necklaces, bracelets, watches etc etc

And don't even get me started on fabric and patterns, remember earlier in the year I had to buy this to store it all

I'm not going to lie to you, I have bought more since, not much but some.

So dear readers is it me? Am I the hoarder or are all vintage lovers hoarders? Please put my mind at rest :o)

Time to rethink my hair....

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:12:00 +0000

I am really enjoying my new found love - ok toleration! - of exercise however it poses a problem with my hair.

I am not someone who goes to the gym with red lipstick on, I don't feel the need to be vintage in the gym, or in the pool, I am 'vintage' if such a thing exists inside myself so I don't need to show it to people in the gym & the pool. However my hair is an entirely different matter, I don't care about wearing modern gym clothes - within reason of course - and I don't mind wearing a cheap modern swimsuit as it will get wrecked by the chlorine within a short time anyway but my hair, what to do?

I haven't been able to set my hair in more than a week, when I go to the pool even when I wear a swimming hat I need to wash the chlorine out as it seeps in, and when I go to the gym, it gets all sweaty anyway, so I'm rethinking my hair. I want it shorter anyway but I'm trying to find a style that I can set or just wear anyway without looking crazy, I have wild thick crazy hair that if I don't do at least something with I will just look like a crazy lady.

So I searched the internet and have come up with some great inspiration. First up here's me with the shortest hair I've had although at the moment it's longer. Do you think I'd be ok going shorter? I'm interested to know you're opinion, I don't want to compromise style for comfort so to speak but I need something where I feel good everyday.

How fab does Elizabeth Taylor's hair look here? I suspect though it's not much shorter than my hair above, but it's not 'set' as such so I guess this is an idea

This is kinda cute but not sure it would suit me, but it looks easy.

I do like this but it might be a bit too fussy, what do you think?

I really do like this but it's such a departure from my normally curled and set hair! It's slightly scary but it could be the one eeek

I used to have my hair very similar to this when it was bleached blonde years ago, not sure if would translate as well to red hair, although she is a cutie isn't she?

So opinions please? I will of course get the very lovely Nina from Nina's Hair Parlour to sort it out, and I'm sure she's give me an opinion too, but would love to know what you all think in the meantime!

Saturday shopping!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:51:00 +0000

I rarely go out browsing on a Saturday, well I work from home so I can avoid the hordes at the weekend but we didn't have anything particularly planned this weekend, I've been sorting and DIYing for the past 2 weeks, so we decided to go out and about this morning.

The day started a little too early, I joined the gym this week and have been rather enthusiastically going there and swimming, so I got up to go at 6 and guess what it doesn't open til 8 at the weekend!! Damn, I'm not exactly a morning person so you can imagine I wasn't best pleased....

As we were up early we decided to go to Farnham Maltings Monthly Market, this used to be an antiques only fair years ago, we have got some amazing things there many years ago but now it's a combination of antiques, crafts and new stuff, we stopped going when it starting going in this direction but actually since we had a stall there a few months ago we want to go again. It's not full of stuff we want but there is the odd gem!

The first thing I came across was this fabulous 50s hanging travelling wardrobe, still in it's packaging! Please excuse the picture of it on the washing line, it needs an airing, 60 years of being in packaging has left it a little musty. It looks like it's fabric but it's actually a kind of plasticy fabric, terrible description but I hope you know what I mean!

It's tough to see what this is but you hang your clothes inside, it's like a soft wardrobe this next picture shows inside at the top, when you hang your clothes.

It's a super handy and stylish thing, I'll be using it to take my clothes to the Rhythm Riot!

I then picked this lovely bias binding up in it's original packaging. Usually I wouldn't because there is no way I'll open it, the packaging is too nice and so it would be a waste of money but at 20p I could hardly not! How beautiful are the graphics on it?

I also saw a stunning dress at a knock down price, it wouldn't have fit me, but I ummed and ahhed as I'm sure I could have found someone for it, however I talked myself out of it, I'm still kicking myself now ha ha!

We then went to a local church hall where they purported to have a small antiques sale, I didn't have much hope, but I'm so glad I went!

I bought everything on one stall, a lady had a couple of bags on the floor full of material, buttons and stuff like that, I got down on the floor and had a good old rummage! First up I picked up this lovely material, it looks like shot silk but I suspect it's rayon, the colours are gorgeous and there is enough to make a straight dress, not a full one, but something nice nonetheless! I got all this material for £2, I nearly fell over, it's not a reprint, it's vintage fabric, ah the gods were smiling on me

Next up I found a bag of buckles on the same stall, I asked how much each one was but saw loads of 30s & 40s ones, so I said how much for the lot, it wasn't expensive! I bought them all, there are some lovely ones in there, really lovely, however now I've got them home I realise I probably won't use them as they are too early for me, so I'm going to sell them on. I don't really wear 40s stuff and certainly not 30s and it would be a shame for me to hoard a load of buckles just cos I like them when some people would use them, I didn't buy them meaning to sell on but really I should. Here are just a small selection!

Aren't they lovely? Can you see the one in the middle, it's covered in fabric and was obviously done so to match a dress, I bet that was some pretty dress!

I also got some buttons on the same stall, she had a jar but I resisted in asking how much for the whole jar, see I was good, these were also not expensive, proper prices I would say!! Here are just a few.

All in all a great day for finds and all cheap prices, which I particularly love!

Hope you had as much success with your finds today.

I'm off for a snooze, 6am is far too early to get up on a Saturday, have a lovely weekend!

Old Picture Post

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:43:00 +0000

No not the mag, old pictures of me!

A suggestion from the lovely Coedith of Life in a Pink House blog fame was to post some pictures up of some of my past and present collection of vintage clothes with me IN them! Sadly I can't take any right now, I don't fit into most of them which makes me sad, however a remedy is under way and that's all I'll say for now....

So this is very picture heavy, but it is some lovely clothes that I either still have or parted with long ago and these pictures make me regret it, however if I'd kept everything I would need more that a double 6ft rail I'd need an entire house to keep it all!

Here goes!

First up is that beautiful blue beaded dress in 2 separate pictures, one picture I love, it's one of my favourites from when I was singing, the second is probably more accurately me on a night out, I look like such a lush ha ha!

Professional singer

Lush!!

I LOVE this skirt, I no longer have it, but I love the print!

This dress and bolero were so stunning, I got rid of it a long time ago, it didn't fit and I was broke and it's so stunning I got good money for it, but what a shame, it's so beautiful and you really don't find things like that easily these days.

I loved this dress but sadly this one fell apart, although the top is velvet with rhinestones the bottom was taffeta and very delicate, it didn't make it.

This really was one of my favourite Hawaiian style dresses ever, look at that colour, stunning! I don't have this anymore either :o(

This outfit I lost to moths, I know unbelievable, well obviously not the whole outfit, but it was ruined which is weird as we've never had any problem with moths, but for some reason they got hold of this and that was it.

I sold this only last year, the girl who bought it had seen me on stage in it and remembered it, when she tried it on, not only did it fit like a dream but she was really proud to have it, so I'm really glad it went to a good home!

I still have this lovely dress and bolero to this day, I don't think I'll ever part with it I love it and I'm not a million miles away from fitting it, so it's going nowhere!

And last but not least my beloved gold lurex number, won't ever part with this either, not a million miles away for it, can't wait to wear it again!

Hope you liked the old pics, hope you see some new pics of me wearing some of this again soon!

Wardrobe sort out!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:04:00 +0000

As you've guessed I'm on a bit of a roll sorting stuff out at the moment. I am not a spring cleaner, I'm an autumn cleaner, for me autumn is a fresh start, I don't know if this stems from being at school as that was quite a long time ago for me, but I suspect it does. You know the fresh school uniforms, new books, bag etc etc. Well I get that about the house at this time of year, please tell me I'm not alone!

Anyway I sorted out our clothes room this weekend, yes we're lucky enough to have a room for our clothes, it's really where guests stay when they come, but as we have more clothes than guests, it's essentially the clothes room!!

I would love to have enough cash to do this properly but I don't so I'm having to improvise. I already had a 6ft rail, which I bought an extension for so I now have a double rail

I guess we could always become vintage clothes dealers! I also have a wardrobe in here which I'm going to hang sweaters in, but currently have some of my handbags and what I'm about to sell on ebay too.

I'm not happy about the shoe situation, I currently have this rack and you can see a bookcase on the right, but I'm going to make a few sales on ebay and then buy some custom shelving for shoes.

The lovely thing about sorting through your wardrobe is seeing everything you have, the bad thing about it is the realisation of all the lovely stuff I have that currently doesn't fit me as I need to shed some pounds :o( However now that it's all there out in the open I'm determined to get back into them. I have 2 dresses in particular that I really want to get back into again.

First one you've seen before is a beautiful 50s dress with a fabulous neckline encrusted in rhinestones and pearls, I love it

The second one looks kinda plain on my dress form but in reality it looks fabulous on! I bought this in LA several years ago, I walked into a vintage clothes shop and the woman behind the counter said 'hey there, I have a dress that was made for you' can't say this happens to me very often and I really thought it was a sales technique, but she was right. This dress was apparently tried on my lots of women who went in the store, but no one could 'fill it up top', I could and that dress was mine. It's especially nice as the underneath of the dress is straighter than the net on the top so it gives a fabulous silhouette.

It's cute huh? I have to get back into this oh and my gold lame dress too, perhaps if I don't eat for a year I might get back into them *sigh*

Last but not least I sorted my lingerie drawers, no don't worry I'm not going to show you my underwear, but I am going to show you my lovely 30s stocking holder that contains all my vintage seamed stockings, I took a pic without the stockings in. Sadly it's a little stained now and worn, but it is truly beautiful and I always feel special putting my stockings in it.

Also my collection of scarves, well I say collection, it's not really a collection it's a few! I use scarves in my hair a lot, either just a straight scarf tied round my hair or a larger scarf to cover over my curlers or pin curls. As you can see I have some vintage and then a couple of modern bandana type scarves too.

I have 3 favourites, firstly this lovely red, green and brown abstract design, it's so beautiful

Next up, very unusually for me is a floral print, I am not a floral gal, I'm not keen on florals, but I just love the colours of this scarf.

My last is my favourite, it's a little worse for wear as I do wear it a lot. It's an amazing design and honestly I think this has been made from a dress originally, it's quite a 40s crepe type material, if so I would have loved this in a dress, it would have been spectacular, as it is I'm pretty happy with is as a head scarf, check out the detail of the print!

Weekly round up!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:16:00 +0000

Gosh this freelancing stuff is fun but tiring and as I said in my last post is taking some getting use to. I love all the companies I'm working for but it's such a change from running your own business, I'm dead beat by the end of the day so anything else but work is suffering right now, but I miss my blog and I miss reading everyone elses, I had well over 300 posts to catch up on, I just had to abandon some!

Anyway I have had some fun too just mixed in with work.

Last week I went up to London for the day to drop some leaflets off at some great vintage shops. I have to confess I don't really shop in Vintage shops in London, I know a lot of vintage dealers so I tend to buy from them or at events like the Rhythm Riot or Rockabilly Rave. However I went along to some in London and was pleasantly surprised!

The first one I went to was unfortunately the only one I took pics in - bad blogger alert! - but it was worth taking pics in. It was Radio Days near Waterloo Station. I used to shop here years ago and although it has now changed hands, well actually it changed hands a long time ago it turns out, it is still as fabulous as it used to be. This shop is packed to the rafters with fabulousness, vintage clothes, homewares, jewellery, accessories, you name it they have it, definately worth a visit!

Here's a few pics I took inside.

I went to a few different places but the most notable is Blackout II in Covent Garden. I didn't take any pictures as I just ended up chatting to Ros the owner & forgot to take pictures. A friend of mine works with Ros but wasn't there at the time, still I ended up chatting for ages. Blackout II is just fantastic, it's got such a great array of clothes, jewellery and shoes, and what's great is they aren't crazy prices!

I then went over to Miss L Fire to pick something up and ladies I saw Spring/Summer 12 collection OMG you will die! Obviously I can't show you yet, but believe me you will love them.

So that was last Tuesday.

Then Wednesday we went to spend the day with friends Mike and Jan who run Home Sweet Homestyle. Again I was a rubbish blogger I didn't take pics which is a shame cos as you can imagine they have some amazing stuff in their house, well they do deal in it! We had a lovely day and had such fun not only did we stay for lunch, we also stayed for dinner.

Apart from that I've been working working working ooooh apart from last weekend when I moved my bedroom around, which I've been wanting to do for ages, put some pictures up and it feels sooo much better! It's amazing how moving a room around can make a difference. I still need to put a light fitting up and I have some lovely wall lights to replace my crappy bedside lights but they need sorting, still here is the result of my hard work!

I know the fan in the corner is rather unattractive, but our lovely bamboo chair will go there eventually. We always need a fan in the room in summer, our house has a flat roof and sometimes the upstairs gets sooo hot.

I managed to get out a few things or put up a few things I've wanted to for a while.

First up is our fabulous Britvic lamp, sounds tacky, not in the least, well not to me anyway! It's a chalkware lamp that my mother in law found years ago at a car boot sale, I'm not keen on the shade but I'll replace it one day. Cute eh?

Next up are some lovely Hawaiian postcards, I just love the graphics on these so they had to go up!

Then a fabulous tiki painting my husband did. Sadly it got damaged when we did an event, only a little tear but it means he can't really sell it so we kept it!

In other news, I've been trying to make more of an effort lately, nope I didn't take photos, I told you I was a bad blogger! But it's paid off, I was stopped in Covent Garden by a man no less who said can I just tell you how amazing your hair is, how lovely is that?

Then the other day I went out and about wearing my Miss L Fire cute red heels

I was stopped twice by women telling me how cute my shoes were!

Really cheered me up no end!

So there you go, it's been a helluva couple of weeks, I hope you're all well!

Cocktails chairs & powder puff!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:11:00 +0000

I haven't been up to much lately as I only just started working freelance last week and it's taking some adjusting too! I've worked solely for myself for 3 1/2 years and it's kind of weird being accountable to other people, they're all lovely people but it's still weird. It won't take long to get used to it, but it's all consuming at the moment so I haven't been out to charity shops, car boot sales, or done anything to really talk about.

However last week I saw something on ebay I knew I had to have, but I just didn't have the money before the auction ended. I watched the time ticking down and I knew it would be snatched up cos it was sooo fabulous... But no, no one bid! I have no idea why, although I have to admit you need the correct place to accomodate this particular piece of furniture he he!!

I give you, my new cocktail chair

I love it and it was a real bargain at £15! It's very heavy, very sturdy and also swivels like a proper bar chair should!

Here are a couple of close ups.

I know some people would think this tacky but we LOVE it! Once we clear the stock from the business, we'll be able to move our dining table back into the dining room - which is still the stock room til it's gone - and where the dining table was we're going to create a little cocktail area in the living room, I cannot wait. It'll be a while but when I saw this, it was a sign that it was the right thing to do. It is such quality, the chair itself is really deep and comfortable, I can't wait to sit on it sipping a cocktail in wintertime, I shall have to wear something glam for sure!

Now the only problem with it is that someone has written on the seat with what looks like permanent pen, oh yeah stupid huh? Here's a pic

It's not hideous but obviously I'd like to remove it. The thing is the previous owner said she tried to remove it with normal household cleaner, it's only when you look at a close up pic that you can see this has done a little damage, you can't see this in person, I only saw it when I took the pic. Anyway it clearly didn't work, so dear reader, any clues as to how to get permanent pen off vintage vinyl without damaging it? Any advise would be gratefully received, don't forget I'm in the UK though, so only UK products only please, I only say this as I know US stuff can be amazing, but we just can't get it :o(

So where does the powder puff come in?

Well a couple of weeks ago I treated myself to something I've been wanting to try for ages, Coty Airspun powder, I bought it from ebay in the States and when it arrived I wanted to use it straight away, it smelt divine and looked amazing and I have heard excellent reports about it.

This is just a stock pic, but I was really happy to get it. Sadly it didn't contain a powder puff. I know powder puffs aren't hard to find, but when I went to Boots yesterday for supplies I totally forgot to get one, grrrr. I will let you know when I use it and whether it's as good as everyone says it is.

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (Straight Talking Mama!) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:26:00 +0000

Hello all, I really have missed you but I'm finally back!

I've missed reading and commenting on your blogs too, who know that blogging would become such a big part of my life and that I would miss my 'community' when I had to take time off.

Well Notorious Kitsch finally closed it's doors on Sunday, it was more weird than sad. I'm actually someone who loves change and loves moving on to the next thing so actually it wasn't as traumatic to me as it might be for some, once I've made the decision to move on, I want to do it and do it NOW ha ha! Anyway it was strange but ok, a bit sad and some things I will miss but there is a lot that I won't! I cannot wait to get my dining room back, which has been a fitted stock room for soooo long, OH and I have already stood in there wondering what colour we'll paint it!!

So what have I been up to?

Well first up, closing your business up takes up far more time than I thought it would in fact I still have things to wrap up, I thought it would be a slow decline but orders soared in the final week!

Bye bye Notorious Kitsch, you've been both fab and a trial!

I've had fun but I've also had stress!!

So what next?

Well you all know that I'm already doing some work for the marvellous Miss L Fire and Shellys Shoes, this carries on and I know how lucky I am to be talking about shoes to earn money!!

I have to say I'm personally keeping my eye on these, they're currently in the sale and I want them, so I'm saving and praying my size doesn't sell out before I can afford them!!

Well apart from them I have a couple of new clients that I'm working for, I am really very very lucky!

First up is Robin and Colette who run the Rhythm Riot and Maddy's Jiving School, I've know Robin and Colette forever, I get on with them very well personally and have worked with them before anyway but in different formats, they used to book our band for years, I was compere at the Rhythm Riot for a few years, then of course when I wasn't working there I was a regular punter, then I had a stall there!! So I've worked with them a lot over the years, I'm really looking forward to working with them in yet another capacity and can't wait to really get started!! I went along to their dance classes for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago, it was fab, they really are good at explaining it all, I was amazed how good some of the dancers were!

Then yesterday I had a meeting with another new client Shona from Heyday! I met Shona in the chip shop at Hemsby, we often laugh about that, cos once we started chatting, we haven't stopped since!! We talked loads about stuff yesterday, plans for Heyday, what she has planned coming up, it's all very exciting. She already has a great team doing stuff for her and I'm hoping I'll be able to slot in nicely adding to the already talented team. I also got to see some styles she has at the planning stage, so blumming exciting!

One new thing that I saw for the first time is the stunning suit she's now selling, I inspected it from top to bottom, well you know I'm very particular!! It's fabulous, the detailing is lovely all the way to the covered buttons.

Cute eh?

Apart from all that exciting news, I had a proper day out on Tuesday, Paul and I went to see the Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera exhibition at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, it was of course fabulous and I always come away from seeing anything to do with Frida Kahlo, wishing I lived in Mexico or wanting to paint my house in fabulous deep blues!

Here are two of the pictures in the exhibition!

We then had a rather unsuccessful visit to West Wittering, where we parked Paul just couldn't access anything so we drove away, however we went to Chichester Marina and had lunch there which was rather lovely!

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures on my day out, I know, terrible but it was my first 'day out' or off in ages so I just enjoyed!!

Anyway sorry for such a lengthy post, so much to say, so much to do, glad I'm back and all that, hope you are all well, I'll be back regularly commenting and saying hello on your blogs again now, I had over 400 blogs posts waiting for me, I just couldn't catch up!