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! 

Strawberry kettles & crochet mats

 

On two separate op-shop expeditions recently, I picked up this very sweet old-fashioned whistling kettle and a collection of crochet mats.  I already have a couple of vintage whistling kettles, but it was the pretty strawberry pattern that appealed to me with this one, and it was just too cute to resist.      

The crochet mats in assorted sizes and patterns were picked up for the pricely sum of $1 for the lot!  I don't really use crochet mats for anything, I just loved the different patterns (they're rather like enlarged snowflakes) and figure I'm sure to find a use for them sometime in the future.     

Cute vintage children's memory game

How adorable is this children's memory game!  I picked this up recently at the Daylesford Mill Markets, it was only a few dollars as the cardboard box housing the cards was a bit old and battered.  The sweet little cards (measuring 5 x 5cm) are in great condition and I just love all the different pictures and illustrations.  There are 54 pairs of cards in total, with the idea being to spread the cards out picture side down, gradually turning the cards over to reveral the pictures, and to try and remember where all the matching pairs are. 

The game was manufacturerd by John Sands in Australia, 1966, and some of the pictures in the game are taken from 'House of Cards' by Charles Eames - which explains why I love the images so much.

Lovely patterned old tins

I seem to be adding old vintage and second-hand tins to the list of things I find myself collecting these days! I've picked up the above beauties over several months from various different places - second-hand shops, vintage markets, and the rather lovely blue willow patterned tin was given to me by a very sweet friend. 

The blue willow tin and the yellow floral tin are old Australian 'Willow' brand designs, whilst the tin with the bird illustrations and the gorgeous floral tin tray are vintage designs made in England. 

Vintage teapot & jug

Several months ago I bought this very sweet vintage teapot (I think I bought it when I visited Inglewood), which is made in England by Arthur Wood, with a pattern called 'Summertime'.  I was really drawn to the stylised floral pattern, and the colour palette of the florals on the yellow glazed teapot - definitely not the usual old-fashioned florals found on English vintage ceramics. 

Then a few weeks later in Daylesford I came across this large jug, and instantly recognised the pattern as being the same as the teapot.  I thought it was a bit unusual that the jug was white, whilst the teapot had a yellow glaze - and on turning the jug over I learnt the jug was made in New Zealand, and wasn't part of the English Arthur Wood collection. 

It's a bit of a mystery how the two pieces have the same pattern (maybe the pattern was licensed for the Australia-Pacific region?) but either way I like that the two pieces don't match perfectly, and they make a great addition to my random collection of vintage chinaware.

Little Golden Book - Animal Book

Cats cuddle. Cats purr. Nothing's as smooth as cats' fur.

Mice scuttle. Mice squeak. When the cat's about, Mice sneak.

Owls hoot and Owls blink. No one knows just what Owls think.

I'm always on the hunt for second-hand Little Golden Books, and I've collected some fabulous ones recently.  One of my favourites is this My Little Golden Animal Book, which is full of very cute animal illustrations - farm animals, domestic animals, flying animals and swimming animals are all here.

The book is dated 1963 and features little rhyming dities to accompany each animal, with the very sweet illustrations drawn by Moritz Kennel. 

Vintage children's chalk-board & lettering set

Several months ago, I bought this rather cute vintage children's chalk-board and lettering set. The reason I bought it is that it is exactly the same one I had as a child, and it bought back all-sorts of memories when I saw it!

It's a rather nifty little set - the top of the case is a chalkboard that also doubles as a magnetic board, and on opening the case you find two trays of magnetic lower & uppercase letters and numbers, chalk, a chalk-board rubber and a set of descriptive cards. All housed in its own carry case with handle. Tres chic!

The assorted descriptive cards fit onto the chalkboard, and you can either trace around them with the chalk, or pop the magnetic letters into the blank spaces. You can also just put the letters directly onto the magnetised board and create your own words and sentences - or you can simply draw on the chalkboard with chalk.

It all seems very simple and naive compared to the sophisticated toys and video games available on ipads and iphones for children these days, but I think it's much more inventive and imaginative....although sadly it's not as light, and it doesn't fit in a handbag!

Vintage sewing tin

When I was at Inglewood several months ago, I bought this rather lovely vintage biscuit tin.  I was really taken by the oblong shape of the tin with its decorative geometric border, the sweet colour palette and the fairytale style triptych on the lid. 

The tin which originally housed Nestle's 'High Class "Miniature" Chocolate Assortment', has just been sitting on a shelf looking pretty for a while, but over the weekend I decided it would be perfect as a sewing tin!  So, I decanted all my sewing bits and pieces into the tin, and it's great I've found a use for it at last. 

Mixies

 'Mixies' card game from the mid 1950's

 

     Mixies colourful characters in thier 'correct' bodies (above) or a little mixed up (below)

I've been collecting a few second-hand and vintage children's bits and pieces recently, and one of my recent purchases is this fantastic set of 'Mixies' playing cards.  The cards are from about 1956 and is a puzzle-style card game where you can 'mix colourful heads, bodies and legs to make thousands of the zaniest, funniest circus figures!'

I'm loving the crazy circus theme, and of course the fabulous 1950's graphic-style stylised illustrations.  The cards are reminiscent of a non-digital era - pre-computer games, i-pads, Nintendo's, Wii and Angry Birds!      

Vintage teacup trio's

 

I'm loving this Autumn weather we're having, cool mornings and evenings but with beautiful warm sunny days. The tree's and shrubbery here in Kyneton is changing and every evening the garden is full of fallen crunchy leaves.  All around the town green leaves are changing daily into golden yellows and firey reds.

The change of seasons reminded me of these vintage teacup trio's I picked up a while ago from our local Salvo's.  They have an Autumnal air to them with decorative red roses, deep teal leaves, and bronzed leaf patterns.  Perfect for drinking endless cups of earl-grey tea.          

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.  

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!    

The Big Brown Bear - book & record

The Big Brown Bear - a little golden book and record!   

Well, here we are.... one week into the new year and January is already racing by with lightning speed!  I managed to find time over the festive period to have a rummage in my local charity shop, and found this super-cute 'Read and Hear' Little Golden Book AND record! (a 45 RPM for those old enough (like me) to know what this means).

The story is written by Georges Duplaix and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren (copyright 1944, 1947) and tells the story of a naughty bear who gets stung on the nose after stealing some honeycomb from a beehive, whilst he was supposed to be out catching fish for his dinner.

It's been a mighty long time since I've seen a 45 RPM record, and it reminded me of the little portable orange record player I had as a child. Sadly, I no longer own a record player so I can't actually play the record, but I still thought the book and record set was too good to resist!

Fab vintage second-hand finds

I've been rummaging around in the three second-hand shops here in Kyneton, and I've come across a few treasures recently. 

Last week I picked up this super-cute yellow embossed Carlton Ware dish in the shape of a leaf with a design called Apple Blossom, and little silver teaspoon.  After a bit of research it looks like the Apple Blossom design was introduced around 1937 and produced until the 1950's.  I love the backstamp with the decorative Carlton Ware script, and I've since found out the 'Australian Design Registration Applied For' on the backstamp was used from about 1935 onwards, in order to prevent the Japanese from copying the designs.  In the 1930's the Japanese were copying good quality ceramics and Carlton Ware was a target, however a clause in the South East Asia Treaty Organisation between Australia and Japan meant that designs registered in Australia couldn't be copied by the Japanese - therefore many designs were registered in Australia!   


I also found this Broadhurst coffee pot with a design by Kathie Winkle.  The pattern is called Woodland and features classic Kathie Winke style of strong black geometric lines (created by rubber stamping), with a limited colour palette of orange and olive green applied by handpainting.  The tall, statuesque coffee pot is the Riviera shape which was also designed by Kathie Winkle about the mid 1960's, specifically to allow for rubber stamped patterns.  Again I love the backstamp which incorporates and celebrates not only the pattern design, but the ceramic shape design, as well as the actual name of the designer. 

Vintage Fabric from the States

Flower patterns

Polka dots

Stripes

 Childrens

60's style

Mexican

Another fabulous reference book from the Japanese publishers at Pie Books!

Lots of cute images and reference material covering American vintage fabrics, from polka dots, to flower patterns, stripes and childrens designs. 

Although its a new book for me (bought from The Hill of Content bookshop) it looks like it was published in 2005 and I can't seem to find it on the Pie Books website.  It might have been superseded by the book Vintage Dress Fabrics from the States that I blogged about a few months ago, although the books are different and there are no repeated designs.

As a designer I love having access to lots of resource material at my fingertips for design inspiration and ideas, these Pie Books are great little reference books with heaps of imagery and I love the fact they cover vintage designs.