A VINTAGE VIGNETTE

9 Jun

When you work in solitude, you have a lot of time to think.

Lately, I’ve been reminiscing and trying to pinpoint just when my love of thrifting and collecting old-worldly things actually began.

When I was around 12 years old I was in a Girls Guide group run by the expat ladies at the British Overseas School in Karachi, Pakistan where my Grandmother worked as a secretary to the headmistress. Every Tuesday we would attend afternoon tea at the BWA {British Women’s Association} which took place in an old colonial era house.

The children would spend the afternoon sipping lime cordial or vimto, the ladies would sip tea and nibble on homemade cakes while having a good chinwag about ‘How to Cope in Karachi’ a favourite topic which was later published as a handbook and distributed amongst the the ladies. I wish we still had a copy of the handbook, I’m sure it would be like reading a tragic comedy of sorts!

Most of the kids made a beeline towards the cake stand, but I wasn’t interested in the confections on offer, for me the main attraction was the jumble sale of unwanted items to sell, the money would be used to fund the club cafeteria. There were always lots of pretty ball gowns too big for me, shiny costume jewellery, old toys, jigsaw puzzles and a ton of books amongst the usual bric-a-brac you’d find at a jumble sale. On one particular Tuesday afternoon I found an unused Rupert Bear autograph book which I took to school the next day for my friends to fill their wishes and words of wisdom.

I could have spent all day rummaging for treasure, but once the ladies had finished their afternoon tea and nattering, the tables and chairs were cleared away to make room for the Girl Guides to gather, and with that, my treasure hunting would come to an end and I would begin singing English campfire songs with the other girl guides, on a scorching hot and humid Karachi afternoon.

Decades later, I find myself gathering vintage objects I’ve collected over the years to put together some curated receptacles for vintage lovers, photography stylists, crafters and mixed media artist. I’ve also been gathering textiles for the Caravanserai journal collection coming this Autumn. I get butterflies whenever I get to work with beautiful materials that already have a story behind them.

I’ve selected a few objects of my affection to add to the Vintage Shop .

I hope you find something that you’d like to welcome into your creative space, or simply scroll on to enjoy some vintage eye candy!

**CURATED PROP BOXES**
For photography styling, mixed media craft and textile art.

Meet Romantica, she’ll be available on June 10th.

SHOP

a new vintage prop box WILL BE ADDED TO THE SHOP on fridays at 6pm u.k. time.

Each box will be unique, filled to the brim with vintage and some antiques.

As a bookbinder I am drawn to collecting antique books.

One sure way of finding my muse is flipping through a well-loved book, preferably with gold tooling, gilded fore-edges with letterpressed classic literature or poetry on the pages, if it has illustrations, even better.

I’ve selected a few books to add to the shop that I’m ready to part with, most of them were bought from antique markets in Ireland and England.