First Lady

Purchased at a cent sale for 10 cents when I was 5 years old, this lovely porcelain lady was the first vintage thing I ever purchased! I purchased her as a gift for my Mum and she is one of Mum's favourite things.

This lady is a mystery lady. Her maker is unknown and she has remained nameless until recently. I was taking these photos of her the other day at my parents place and was thinking about a suitable name for her. Among a few other names the name Dorie came to mind. When I looked up the name Dorie I found out that it can be short for Eudora which means "good gift". How perfect! So Eudora is her name now!

Happy rest of the week everyone! See you next week! :)

Linking up with Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday and Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

In My Daydreams...

Back in May this year I posted about a vintage flower picking basket I purchased. In that post I also shared that I'm one to daydream about picking flowers in expansive cottage gardens, wildflower-laden meadows, and along sun-dappled woodland paths...

So when I saw this gorgeous Victorian Clark's Spool Cotton trade card on etsy, I had to buy it!

And you can have it too! Click on the card to enlarge it and right click and save it.

Find more vintage postcards from my collection that you can have in my Vintage Postcards for You section.

Until next time my dears..:)

green bug bags

Featuring some of the repurposed fabulousness by Heather from green bug bags this week. Love the story behind the name green bug bags too.

Heather says:

One of my first loves was a 67 VW beetle. I saw an ad for the car in a local coffee shop and soon it became my green bug. For the next 15 years, it took me everywhere and became part of my identity. I was the girl with the green bug.

Now, my green bug has inevitably become a "less practical" car to drive. Although it might not take me everywhere anymore, I decided to take it with me on a different journey. I created a business that combines my love of art, thrifting, and creativity, and I named it green bug bags. Hope you will be along for the ride!

Heather uses vintage and preloved fabrics to create her bags. All the bags you see in this post have been created using vintage fabrics. The first and fourth bags you see were created using vintage tablecloths.

Find Heather's fabulous bags at:

www.greenbugmarketplace.etsy.com

Wishing you a great rest of the week all! See you next week! :)

Johnny Jump Up And Kiss Me!

The old fashioned favourite Johnny Jump Up is a favourite flower of mine. This cheery little flower pops up in Spring, and among many other names is also known as Johnny Jump Up And Kiss Me and Heartsease.

Traditionally associated with matters of the heart, this flower was an emblem of love and courtship in Victorian times and for centuries beforehand.

Look at the shape of these flowers, they look like butterflies! :)

Johnny Jump Up flowers are edible too. They add a lovely vintage touch to food and drinks. Here is a delicious example:

"Ultimate Lemon Mousse" served in a vintage Federal Glass custard cup on a vintage Pyrex plate.

Enjoy the rest of the week all! See you next week! :)

Photo 1 from ilovebutter, photo 2 from Tatters, and photo 3 from LilBooBear.

Fashion Plate

Hooray! Spring is here! Sharing a new vintage thing of mine - it's quirky, it's quaint, and it's quite a Spring thing! This is my Limoges porcelain plate brooch. It was a Buy It Now purchase on eBay.

A big thank you to all who entered my Belated Butterflies Giveaway! Congrats to the two lucky winners Tara and Jess Buckley!

Hope this week is going well for you my dears! See you next week! :)

Linking up with Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday and Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Dreaming Playing and Creating

Just look at this gorgeous room! It's the dreaming, playing and creating space of Lynn Barron - talented crafter, artist and writer of the magical blog Sea Angels.

Lynn created this delightful curtain from vintage machine made cotton lace. The butterflys are made from a mixed selection of cotton fabrics from damaged vintage aprons.


Another fine example of clever upcycling, Lynn created this lovely blouse from a damaged vintage handmade tablecloth.

On occasion Lynn sells her creations on her blog. One day she may open an Etsy shop...no doubt there are many (me included) dreaming of the day she does!

Enjoy the rest of your week my dears! See you next week! :)

ƸӜƷ Belated Butterflies Giveaway ƸӜƷ

Please Note: This giveaway is now closed!

Two lucky Favourite Vintage Finds readers will win one of these sweet vintage 40's butterfly pendants! I promised I'd give away one of these little sweeties ages ago, and I'm giving away another one to celebrate my 2 year blogoversary which took place on the 7th of this month. Thank you so much my dears for your visits, comments, and friendship! :)

These pendants feature a natural garnet gemstone and measure 1.2 cm across (half and inch). They are silver-gilt (sterling silver coated with a fine layer of gold) and bear the 925 (sterling silver) stamp on the back. I purchased a job lot of 16 of these pendants and they set my heart aflutter. Originally sourced in England, they were stored away for decades by their previous owner, and are one of my all time favourite vintage finds.

This giveaway is open to readers worldwide and ends on August 30 2011 at 4.30 pm AEST. The winners will be drawn using a random number generator and notified on August 30 2011 by 9 pm AEST.

To Enter, simply do these 2 things:

1. Leave a comment on this post. One entry per person.

2. Leave a link in your comment to your blog, profile, or website where I can contact you if you are a winner. Or leave your email address.

Look to This Day

Here's another of my lucky eBay wins, my framed Buzza Motto print from 1938. The verse inspires me and I hope it inspires you too. I believe the verse is from the ancient Sanskrit. I love the artwork, it fits with the verse perfectly. The artist is unknown. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them.

"Look to This Day ~
For yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness ~ and every tomorrow a vision of hope ~ Look well, therefore, to this day"~ Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.

Next post I'll have a giveaway for you, a long overdue giveaway. There will be two prizes. Two lucky Favourite Vintage Finds readers will each win a vintage butterfly pendant. I'll be giving away one vintage butterfly pendant as promised ages ago, and another one because my two year blogoversary is coming up soon.

Until next time...:)

My Bluebird of Happiness

Hello everyone! Since I was last here some changes have taken place in my life. Changes that I'm happy about. And I'm happy to be back here too of course. So I thought it fitting to share my enameled vintage bluebird of happiness brooch/pendant with you. Isn't it delightful? It's from the 70's and was a lucky eBay win.

Next week I'll share another of my lucky eBay wins with you - it's something inspirational...

Wishing you all a happy rest of the week! See you next week! :)

Best Wishes

My dears, here is a sweet antique Victorian post card for you from my collection. Click to enlarge and right click and save.

I have lots of Unique, Fabulous, and Fun finds to share with you, but due to a bunch of other things taking precedence until middish July, I won't be back here until then.

Until middish July, best wishes to you all! :)

Blossom and Cat

Continuing on from last week's post...

Helen is the talent behind the label Blossom and Cat. The lovelies at Blossom and Cat are designed by Helen and handmade by Helen or you from a mixture of new, vintage and pre-loved fabrics, buttons and trimmings. Yes, the lovelies can be handmade by you as sewing kits are available for many of Helen's designs.

Sewing kits include a step-by-step instruction booklet, full size pattern sheet, a mixture of new, vintage and pre-loved fabrics, buttons and trimmings, as well as thread. Helen, formerly a graphic designer, also created her lovely website:

www.blossomandcat.com.au

Custom, wholesale and international orders are welcome.





Enjoy the rest of the week all! See you next week! :)

Their Song Birds

Handmade by a wife for her husband, this fabulous origami crane mobile was indeed a meaningful gift for the couple's first wedding anniversary (traditionally known as the paper anniversary). The couple I'm referring to are Helen and David - the gorgeous couple whose gorgeous swoon-worthy wedding I featured here last year - A Sydney Beach Wedding.

At Helen and David's wedding "The Way You Look Tonight" was the song that played for their first dance as a married couple. To create the cranes Helen used vintage "The Way You Look Tonight" sheet music. Helen also added some vintage glass beads left over from the wedding decorations to the mobile.

Helen and David wedding dance photo by Marzena Wasilewska

Creating the decorations and favours at her wedding reignited Helen's creative side, and she now has her own label of handmade lovelies. Next week I'll be featuring some of the handmade lovelies from Helen's range.

Hope you're all travelling well this week my dears! See you next week! :)

Simplicity

I recently purchased this simply lovely vintage flower picking basket from the fox and the spoon. I've visualized myself with a basket like this one for quite some time in my flower picking daydreams in expansive cottage gardens, wildflower-laden meadows, and along sun-dappled woodland paths...

Anyway in real life I'm mainly going to use this basket as a display and put some silk flowers in it. And I'm still going to keep daydreaming about picking flowers in the above mentioned places...

If you pick flowers in your daydreams too, you're welcome to take this basket along with you...

Photos by the fox and the spoon

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Enjoy the rest of your week all! See you next week! :)

A Gem I Know

Here is one of my favourite 50's photos of my gem of a Mum. On the day this photo was taken Mum had her silhouette done by well-known scissor artist S. John Ross. And here is the elegant silhouette:

(click image to enlarge)

You can read more about S. John Ross in one of my favourite previous posts - Silhouetted To a Tee.

Wishing all Mum's a Happy Mother's Day!

See you next week my dears. :)