Looking Four-ward Giveaway!

Well, friends, it has been three years since my first blog post! However, I don't seem to feel interested in the number three: I am, rather, looking ahead to the fourth year, which begins today! That's why I've called this giveaway my Looking Four-ward post - can you forgive me?
With this in mind I want to give you the chance to win four sets of four sweet French collectables, all bundled up in a little surprise wrapper! The first collection is a set of four vintage children's handkerchiefs - they were given away free with 'Alsa' brand baking powder. I especially love the gypsy one, which is in green, but you may have other favourites!

The second set of four is antique French postcards: they have romantic pictures and poems on the front, and several have messages or addresses on the back too. They date from the early 20th century.


Now we come to four rather special, quite large, Mother of Pearl buttons from my collection. Actually, these might not all be French, because I've collected these for years and some could come from the UK.

And finally some French ephemera and kitchenalia - a match-box cover with a little proverb, the number 37 (probably from a police uniform?), a Notre Dame brooch and a little madeleine tin.I don't know what you'll do with these four collections, but I think you could have fun with them!To have the chance to win, please leave a comment here. I'd love it if you would publicise my giveaway, so if you take the first or the final photo here and put it into your blog with a link, please let me know in a second comment and that will give you a second chance to win. If you're new here and would like to come back, do feel free 'follow' and/or to browse through other events like The Thrill of What You Already Have and A Pause in Lent, which you'll find in my sidebar. It's been quite an incredible three years with you all - probably the most formative of my adult life, aside from university. I'm really looking forward to the Fourth!

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - I'm going to delete the non-entry comments so that I can count the draw fairly...

Good health and happiness...

... to you all in 2011!This is a vintage hand-painted New Year's card - my mother gave me a small collection of really lovely cards, and I've added a few more over the past year.
When I saw French and British magazines doing Christmas displays with cards in jars, I knew I'd finally found a safe way to display such precious cards!The flags of the Entente Powers are shown on this wonderfully patriotic Christmas card of 1915.

Sweet, isn't she?

I was really pleased with this piece of translucent shop-wrapping paper, found in a box which had sold handkerchiefs, I think. It looks good behind the delicate Victorian card.

I had fun co-ordinating things around this glittery one (bought on ebay about a year ago).

Glitter, glitter...

Hearty Wishes!

I picked branches of rosehips to provide a bit of 'reddery' amongst my regular greenery. This plant is the mega-plant which now trails itself almost to the ground on one side of its tall bookshelf.

Under the cloche, Leslie wishes us a Happy Christmas... The fact that these cards were signed and sent makes them even more special.

So, to you all, I really do wish Good Health and Happiness,and every blessing for 2011. See you then!

Vintage Stool Makeover

This stool dates from sometime after the Second World War, when one of Ben's family decided to cope with a shortage of materials by making a stool out of old crates. Ben's dad told us to use it as long as we wanted and then get rid of it, because it was no value to anyone.

But Emily loved him...

(Sorry, irrelevant quote, but we both loved this stool as soon as we saw it.)The time came, this summer, when I had a great place to put the stool but it looked too stained and grubby to live there (near the utility room door, if you're interested). I sanded it down quite hard, to make a decent surface, primed/undercoated it in about three coats of white, to stop the stain showing through, and then gave it two light coats of 'blue indigo' matte paint - I wanted it to be a bit shabby with perhaps a bit of white showing through, rather than a perfect gloss finish. I left all the chips on the edges - I love them, too.
Yesterday it was time to gather together any vintage ephemera I was willing to use for this project. These vintage tram tickets come from Naples, Malta and somewhere in Spain, I think. I love the way my mum found them in this box she picked up somewhere - a treasured souvenier of someone's latterday Grand Tour, I suppose. I only used the battered ones...
These photographic memorabilia came from one of the lovely Bethany Christian Trust shops in Edinburgh - they seem to have been the collection of someone called Rankin, which is a good, literary Edinburgh name!
I decided to use some of my Catholic collection - mainly First Communion cards. I don't feel much in tune with Marian imagary, or with the style of language used (ovbiously in French), so I took time to find some I liked.
Here was the modern (and oh so unenvironmentally friendly, I suspect) side to the project. It's a clever spray glue which allows you to reposition papers, although some of my tram tickets were too frail for that kind of treatment.
I then spent a happy half hour arranging papers, including three of the reproduction gardening cards that Sam sent me last week - their colours are stronger and really bring the project together.
I used the flimsy tram tickets on the battered edges of the stool, because I wanted something that would mould itself to the shape and really show up all the chips and knocks. Ben thinks I'm mad.
I also used opaque patterns from my collection of French fashion papers, which could mould themselves beautifully to the edges, but could also be cut to fit awkward gaps in the middle. At first I tried to trim the edges with scissors, but I soon discovered it looked much better if I tore them carefully.
Lovely moulding in the dents! Here's some Italian for Michaela...
Finally I had everything arranged and spray-glued on - fairly loosely, some of them, as I hoped that the varnish would give a final 'stick' to everything.
I took the stool out to our well-used painting area near the pool (yes, a problem with splashes, it's true).
I've used four coats of this varnish, as, although no one will be sitting on the stool, I still want to give a really good covering to unite the varied thicknesses and absorbancies of the cards and papers I used.
And here is the finished top! The two First Communion cards proved tricky, as they were some kind of inabsorbent fake-parchment material. My advice would be to make sure everything used is absorbent, or it will be hard to stick down and varnish.
And finally, the whole stool! I will probably give it another coat of varnish, just to be sure, and then I will put it next to the white bookshelf in our corridor, near the utility room, and I suspect that it will often have a book or two on it...
I found the idea that inspired me, and the basic techniques, in Petra Boase's excellent 1999 book, 'Funky Junk'. I think there was a TV programme of the same name at about that time, although I have no memory of it. Too busy with small babies at that time...

Going to the Vide Greniers

Come with me to the Vide Greniers at Bonrepos...They've blocked off the road through the village, so we have to park down the country roads and walk there...Past two memorials to the Maquis resistance fighters and civilians who died in the battle there...Here we are at the road block - the Vide Greniers runs right through the village - we'll see stalls all round the Mairie, the church, the village hall and even a pigeon tower! The Salle Polyvalent - the village hall, surrounded by stalls.First find - two cute little candlesticks, which need cleaning up but will really cheer things up this winter!

This stand looks interesting - it's run by two little old ladies. Look at the irises on this tiny piece of china! There are raised details - the texture is lovely.
The irises are around Mount Fuji - is this really Japanese, I wonder?

It's only a toothpick holder, but I think it's great! A quick look around - this is the view the old ladies are getting...But there's more on their stall! Two bundles of cards - 5 euros for the lot, which turn out to contain children in various costumes. They all seem to be collectors' cards from a local chicory coffee merchant.Loads of Catholic almanacs and memorials of First Communions from around 1907 - some very pretty pictures and sweet prayers. Look at the edging on this prayer card!And a bookmark from Lourdes, not far away. It says, 'At the Holy Cave I prayed for you'. The flower is hand painted.A few more cards which came from products - two perfumes and some bon-bons!Volcanoes seem to be a theme today - there is Mount Vesuvius, on the Pompeii perfume card, and on the back is a calendar from 1932.This fine avenue has led us to the centre of the village.The skies are still blue and it's quite warm!Here we are in the village centre.

Two little girls, for only 4 euros! 1920s, do you think?One book is almost empty, but the other has lists of meetings - the large writing is peoples' names, and the small notes above are 'Madame' or 'Mademoiselle'. There seem to be some shopping lists too.

Thinking of Mel's collection here! These china posies are tiny! Euch! A box of birds' wings! But what's underneath?Various bits and bobs of hat trimmings!Here are some terracotta birds on a modern pigeonerre - just an ornamental pigeon tower in the centre of a modern development where the stands continue! Householders have brought out tables and made their own 'garage sales' outside each house. Storm clouds gather and there is the occasional rumble of thunder, but no rain... Still dry! Here's some more brocante, in the shadow of the church.Oooh - you know I bought a cheap chandelier and am aiming to replace the plastic 'lustres' with crystal ones! One euro each...

'Clean them with dishwasher powder,' says the stall-holder. 'I put my whole chandelier in the dishwasher and it came up brilliantly!' he adds! They are pretty grubby, so I'll have to do something...

Time to head back to the car, but there's still plenty to look at on the way back.

A sort through a box of printers' plates turns up this:And I discover that I can't read backwards in French! The stallholder is a big help, and I'm able to decide on this one, for fine foods. He thinks it's rather amusing that I'm so interested in little bits of French history... but we all enjoy the chat.Back at the car, the obligatory flyers under the wipers about the next big events - I can't go to this one, but there will be others...So did you spot something you would have snapped up? Will you join me for the next Vide Greniers?