Blue found treasures

I don't have many blue things in my house, with the exception of a stack of blue Willow plates it's not normally a colour I'm particularly drawn to.  Or maybe it's just the era of designs and patterns I like weren't really doing a lot of blue designs.  Either way, it's resulted in a distinct lack of blue things that I've collected. 

However, I picked up two blue things on the same day and thought they worked so well together.  I bought the very cute enamel blue and white polka dot teapot (I do actually have the matching enamel coffee pot in the same colour) and the rather lovely creamer featuring a stylised floral pattern in the same royal blue hues.  The ceramic creamer was manufactured by Sandland in England, it's not a pottery company I've ever heard of before but looks like they were producing designs from the mid 1940's up until the 1970's. 

Lovely to have some new blue treasures to add to my collection! 

Inglewood - a collectors treasure trove

 

One of the many second-hand and collectable stores jam-packed with old wares

vintage furniture, books, kitchenware, kids toys, ceramics etc.......

     Some of the decorative signs, window and doorway details on the historic buildings

 

Inglewood...... it's a tiny little town north of Bendigo and there aint' much going on.......HOWEVER, what it lacks in size and population it certainly makes up for in its concentrated selection of antique, vintage and collectable stores. 

 

Once a small gold mining town, Inglewood is a great example of a Victorian Gold Rush town demonstrated with it's period architecture.  But most importantly I'd heard it was a great place to visit for finding second-hand paraphernalia, and it didn't disappoint!

 

There are at least 4 or 5 large shops filled to the brim with all-sorts of vintage, retro, antique, second-hand and collectable items - from ceramics, kitchenware, tins, old packaging, furniture and books, to childrens toys, clothing, machinery and tools.  Phew!  

 

It's well worth a visit for an afternoon.....take a bag......take some money.......and take your time to browse, fossick, hunt and collect for a few hours.  

yellow.....orange.....green

 some recent 2nd hand purchases in accidental colour groups......yellow,orange and green

A few weeks ago I was visiting Daylesford - and it's impossible for me to visit Daylesford without a trip to the fabulous Mill Markets to see what second hand, vintage or retro bits-and-pieces I can find.

It was only when I got home and unpacked my goodies, that I realised I'd unintentionally purchased in colour groups!  My little second-hand lovelies were all yellow, orange and green.

I picked up the very cute retro melamine cup (love the square shaped handle), saucer and plate set featuring a yellow rose pattern, which sits so happily on the ceramic plate with the orange and grey geo pattern on the rim.  I also picked up 3 jugs; a small English jug with a yellow and green floral pattern, the larger orange melamine jug, and finally the large green and white polka-dot jug (which I think is Australian).

And lastly I found an old English 'Mackintosh's' tin, with an over-scaled daisy pattern - in orange, yellow and green!    

Retro coffee pots....and diamonds

 

I think I'm a very easy person to buy presents for...... pretty much anything ceramic, second-hand, vintage or retro - I'm guaranteed to love!  No diamonds, pearls, emeralds (OK, I do like emeralds - my birthstone and favourite colour), but really, I'm not one for expensive gold jewellery or fancy gemstones, so I think Mr B has it pretty easy when it comes to buying birthdays and Christmas gifts.  

 

He did particularly well this Christmas when I received these two rather funky retro coffee pots!  The gorgeous teal coloured coffee pot is marked as 'Sadler' England, and the other pot is a 'Kathie Winkle' design by Broadhurst, England.

 

I can't find much information on the Sadler design, but it's a really beautiful colour and features an embossed geometric pattern and stripes on the body, with part of the geo design echoed on the lid.  The Kathie Winkle pattern is called 'Roulette' and features her trademark stamped black outlines with green, orange and light blue hand-painted detail, dating from about the 1970's.  The shape of the Roulette coffee pot is the same as another Kathie Winkle design I picked up recently.

 

So there I was on Christmas day, one happy lady with two second-hand ceramic coffee pots - and no diamonds!    

Green retro coffee pots

How fabulous are these two green retro coffee pots that arrived for my birthday!  I love the textured pattern detail on the emerald green pot, and the rather squat shape of the spout and handle on the olive coloured coffee pot. 

Nobody uses coffee pots these days, which is a shame really.  I don't use mine either, they stand together competing for admiration and proudly collecting dust!

I often wonder what children growing up today will collect in the future - most of the tabletop products produced and consumed today are white boring teapots, plain white plates, standard metal coffee pots, and coloured IKEA tableware.  All very practical and economical to purchase - but they hold no beauty or surface interest.  The appeal to me of older tableware is the fabulous colours, textures, glaze effects and patterns available - many were made during a time of exploration and discovery of new techniques and a desire for surface pattern and interesting shapes.  I somehow can't see a current tea or coffee pot lasting 50 or 60 years - let alone being placed on a shelf to be admired.  

J&G Meakin retro 'Aztec' coffee pot

 'Aztec' coffee pot by J&G Meakin

I'm very chuffed that little Jasper at just 9 months old, already seems to have a keen eye for vintage ceramics - as I got this rather fabulous retro coffee pot for mothers day! 

The coffee pot design is called 'Aztec' and is applied to the 'Studio' shape, which was introduced by British manufacturer J&G Meakin in about 1964.  J&G Meakin started manufacturing ceramic ranges way back in 1851, and their Studio range was particularly popular both in the UK and overseas.

This is the third design by J&G Meakin I have in the Studio shape, the other two being Topic (left) and Elite (right).  I love the elegance of the studio coffee pots with their tall, slender and statuesque shape - and I also love the colour palettes of the three designs with their turquise, aqua, and olive green shades.  Gorgeous!!

The Topic design in particular has become a favourite of mine, and has featured in many of my illustrations and sketches in recent times. 

Various sketches and illustrations featuring the Topic coffee pot.
 

H is for Home

H is for Home - one of my favourite vintage online shops 

 

I love this old harlequin patterned biscuit tin

Fabulous retro fabrics & interior goodies

And I love the array of vintage & retro teacups, kettles and coffee sets

I thought I'd share one of my favourite online vintage shops - the rather fabulous H is for Home.

Based in England, H is for Home stock an amazing collection of retro, one-off and hand-made items (and a word of warning it's quite an addictive shopping site!)  Divided into various categories, the site showcases items such as textiles, clothing, ceramics, books, kitchenware and outdoor accessories - and all with a vintage flair.

I love perusing through the What's Cooking and Wining and Dining sections for superb collections of teasets, coffee pots, old kitchen utensils and patterned enamel saucepans - and wonder where they find all this fabulous stuff.... I'm imagining endless garage sales, trips around the UK and Europe visiting flea markets and antique fairs, and perhaps the odd rummage in a local charity shop.  Its my dream job!   

Check out the website at your wallets peril, and you can also visit the Blog.  Enjoy :)

salvaged roadside finds

    Rescued old kitchen cupboard from the side of the road with fabulous lino on the shelves

 The Jolly cat checks out the mysterious piece of furniture

                              

The old kitchen cupboard is now at home in my studio 

A couple of weekends ago I spied a couple of old 1950's / 1960's kitchen cupboards my neighbours had put out on the street as hard rubbish..... they didn't last long on the side of the road before me and Mr B whisked them into our garden for a clean up.

The first one we cleaned up is this very long cupboard with two shelves and three sliding glass doors.  It has the most amazing retro floral lino on the shelves which came up a treat after a good wash (I think the cupboards had sat in the neighbours garden shed for sometime!)  

The Jolly cat was most interested in the new addition and gave everything a good sniff to check it out!

We never had 'hard rubbish' in England.  I can remember a few months after we moved here, we started to notice piles and piles of furniture, random house objects, garden things and general rubbish piling up on the street outside peoples houses. We had no idea what was going on and were very confused!  Now we are very accustomed to hard rubbish - and it has actually become one of my favourite Australian sports ;-)

The rescued cupboard has found its way into my studio and is perfect for storing some of my bits and pieces - thanks neighbours!

New christmas ceramic goodies!

Ceramic Kofti pot (above) by Kathie Winkle c.1967             

Japanese coffee set (above) & decorative mugs (below)

I got quite a selection of vintage ceramic goodies for Christmas this year from Mr B - he certainly knows the way to my heart! 

The Kofti pot by Kathie Winkle (manufactured by James Broadhurst & Sons) is actually a mix of a coffee pot and a tea pot - clever! Designed in 1967 it has a fabulous retro pattern and I love the tall modern shape to the pot.  I have quite a few plates with designs by Kathie Winkle as I love all the classic retro patterns she produced in such a recognisable style.

I also got this rather amazing Japanese coffee set with coffee pot, jug and little mugs - very cute!  The set features an embossed circular geometric pattern which I'm guessing dates from about the 1970's.  The Kathie Winkle Kofti pot and this Japanese coffee set now sit happily on my shelves amongst the rest of my assorted cups, saucers, jugs and coffee pots.

Mr B also managed to find some more Japanese mugs with different patterns to add to my rapidly expanding collection!

Japanese mugs - update!

I have two new additions to my little Japanese mug collection.  How super-cute are these two green mugs - and the best part about these new additions is they were sent to me by a lovely lady who spotted them in her local op-shop!

I already have a similar mug to the one on the left, but not with the fab scalloped handle this one has.  I've never seen this style of handle before so its great to add to my collection. 

It was so thoughtful and generous of the lady who posted them to me....although Mr B is a little worried that other people are sending me cute second-hand ceramics to fill the house up!  Sending out a big 'thank you' as I love them - and don't worry I can always find room for cute little patterned ceramic lovelies! 

Goodies from England

I've just recently got back from a big trip to England and Ireland, where we took little baby Jasper to meet his grandparents.  Sadly, travelling with a baby means not a lot of spare luggage allowance for hunting down British second-hand ceramic goodies.  However, I did manage to squeeze this very cute china jug and bowl in my suitcase - somewhere in between babygrows and nappies!

I don't know who the original manufacturer is, as unfortunately there's no backstamp only a 'Made in England' stamp on the bottom.  I loved the classic retro pattern, colours and the use of dots for texture.  Super-cute!

Here's the little guy in England, just catching up on current British news and reading about the Euro crisis!

Gleaners Inc

Uh-oh..... There's a new cute shop in Brunswick selling lots of things that I like!.....

Cute details outside the ecclectic 'Gleaners Inc' 

Lots of second hand, vintage and retro goodies! 

Betty Jo's famous recycled lino brooches and clocks - and wall plates by Me Old China!

Fab owls revamped from old kitchen utensils and found objects from Focus on Art - love, love, love!

Succulents planted in metallic blue teapots, one of my Me Old China cut-out wall plates and ceramic brooches by Septembre Vintage Ceramics

Betty Jo's studio space and workshop on-site at Gleaners Inc 

Upcycled vintage fabric bags and pouches by Curlypops 

Gleaners Inc is a new shop run by the very lovely Liz Jones of Betty Jo fame.  The cute little shop is based in an old 1950's Perruci Shirts factory and has lots of second hand, vintage, recycled, retro and kitsh treasures (very dangerous for my pocket money!)  It also stocks recycled work by local designers, including Betty Jo, Curlypops, Focus on Art, Septembre Vintage Ceramics and my collection of my Me Old China wall plates.

The shop space also occupies the workshop for Liz to make her revamped brooches, clocks and jewellery from old lino.  I'm super jealous as I'd love to have a studio and retail space in a 1950's factory!!

Gleaners Inc is at 2 Ballarat Street, Brunswick (just around the corner from the Mariana Hardwick building in Sparta Place, just off Sydney Road)