Bangalow treasures

We had a rainy day or two whilst visiting Byron Bay, so we decided to hire a car and head out to the surrounding towns for some exploring. I'm so glad we did because one of my favourite places we visited was a small town called Bangalow.

It's a small historic town with lovely coffee shops, restaurants and gift shops. The main street retains a village feel with wide verandahs and it has a sophisticated feel rather than being too touristy.

However, the main appeal for me was the Retro Shop and Heath's Old Wares and Collectables barn!

These are some pictures from The Retro Shop (no website unfortunatly) It's a great little shop with some proper retro goodies all in great condition. It was a good job we were flying back home and had weight restrictions with our luggage - the kithcen units were fabulous!

Heath's Old Wares and Collectables was more of a mixture of anything old and found - books, ceramics, old tins, lamps, glassware etc and a great place for a good rummage on a rainly day! They have a blog here:

I bought this old Ladies Journal dated July 1949 which was originally one shilling!

I thought I'd share some of the illustrations from the magazine as they are typical of the imagery from this particular era. I love the fact most of the imagery is hand-drawn; there are no photographic images and certainly no CAD artwork, with even the advertisments featuring hand-drawn illustrations and type.

Most of the illustrations are in black and white - with only a very few, such as this Birds Custard advert, being in full colour! It's great to look through to see how much has changed with advertising, design layout and of course with the input these days of computers and digital photography.

Back home, holiday over....

Well I'm back home after a fabulous time away....why do holidays always go so quickly?!.....

First stop was Sydney and no matter how many times I visit she always stuns me with her beautiful harbour. There is always so much life and activity with boats and ferries constantly on the move, and even at night there is much to gaze at with the ferries and city lights reflecting in the waters.

Next it was onto the beautiful Blue Mountains. This was the first time I've visited the Blue Mountain region and it was well worth the visit! The scenery and walks are rather stunning, and there are some cute towns in the area (in particular Leura) with lots of yummy cakes - which is a must after all the walking :-)

Then it was time to chill out in Byron Bay. What can I say..... just a great laid back place with gorgous beaches, fantastic food and a totally relaxing place to finish the holiday. A highlight has to be kayaking with the local dolphins who were playing in the bay and skipping over the waves so close to us. Just amazing.

Off on holiday!

I'm off on holiday tomorrow - very exciting!! My sister and husband are out visiting us on their honeymoon, so tomorrow we are off to Sydney for a few days, followed by a couple if days in the Blue Mountains and then onto Byron Bay (see picture).

I can't wait to visit Byron Bay and lie on that beautiful beach! It looks tough I know - but I'm sure I'll manage to enjoy myself!

See you in a few weeks time :-)

Decorative lettering

I snapped these pictures of different types of decorative lettering on my recent London visit. I love decoration in any form - and clever use of fonts and typefaces can be extremly eye-catching and decorative in their own right.

The first two pictures were from posters in the East-End advertising Ice Cream - they caught my eye instantly and I loved the simple but strong graphic elements. The 'Toy Theatres' was from a street sign at Covent Garden (very shakspearean!) and the 'No Exit' and 'Way Out' are from original tiles in the tube station at Covent Garden.
And I couldn't have a feature of decorative lettering from London without the famous Underground logo! It's proper name is 'The Roundel' and its distinctive style and font was designed by Edward Johnston in 1913 - and remains in use to this day.

Click here to scroll through some great old photo's featuring the London underground and it's iconic logo.

Decorative tiles - London

When I was in London recently I took these photo's in Richmond of gorgeous old blue and white tiles decorating shop fronts. It's lovely to see such beautiful decoration and detail that went into older style architecture - and in such contrast to todays modern (and rather plain) style. Although they are old tiles I think they provide great inspiration for modern pattern creation.

Second-hand finds in England

Cute vintage florals and the classic monochrome 'Homemaker' pattern

Detail from one of my favourite floral patterns with its beautiful backstamp and a stunning unusual interpretation of the Willow design by Wedgwood.

I picked up these plates (amongst some others that I am now eagerly waiting to be shipped out)whilst on my recent trip to the UK. I was especially pleased with the 'Homemaker' plates; the pattern is one of the best known ceramic designs of the 1950's and is considered a design classic and one of the most popular patterns of the 20th Century. Cute backstamp too!

I also found several retro teatowels - I love the simple stylised graphic patterns - especially the cocktail fruits! The small cute floral pattern is from the 1960's, but I'm not too sure about the others. I love the Queensland print - how fab are the colours and it does seem very tropical in contrast to the Scottish brown and purple design with recipies for haggis, scotch broth and clootie dumplings!

Spitalfields Market

On my return to the UK I had the chance to visit my favourite market in London - Spitalfields market in the East End. The whole area around Spitalfields including Brick lane, Cheshire street and Columbia road has a fantastic mix of vintage, original design and independent shops. There is a vibrant and eclectic mix of artists, designers, jewellers, bookshops, homewares and second-hand treasures - and it's great to shop away from the dominating high street department stores.

I visited Spitalfields on the antiques and vintage day - it was a good job I was limited to a suitcase or the day could have become very expensive! Just check out the retro white moulded chairs above with the blue and red seating, plus vintage military and naval uniforms below - brilliant!

Of course what I was really interested in was all the ceramic and kitchenware items...

So many dinner and tea-sets in mint condition, servingware from the 1960's with coloured handles, decorative enamel ware and patterened storage jars - all so colourful and pretty.

Richmond and the Thames

I have been spending the first few days of my trip to London in the beautiful area of Richmond which is situated alongside the river Thames. Richmond houses a vast array of stunning old buildings and architecture, and with its location next to the Thames and Richmond park it has a casual village feel - and you would have no idea you were just outside of bustling London!

Richmond centre with the old red telephone boxes and of course a local pub!

A local pigeon in Richmond park


Taking it easy on the Thames

A British classic - the ice-cream van!