The Day I became a Dandy Lion

Yesterday Mark and I primed our bags with vintage goodies and made the trip to The Dandy Lion 'Ladyfolk' Market at the Oxford in Kentish Town.

I was so impressed with the pub, it is the perfect setting for a craft/vintage market. We were given a cracking pitch and were set up a whole lot quicker this week, I've been practicing at home you see ;)

We had such a wonderful day and I was so inspired by all the fabulously creative sellers there.

I'd like to introduce you to some of them because quite frankly I think they ROCK!

First off is the lovely Camilla, she is a fellow creative Swede living in London... 

She makes brilliant 'bookish necklaces' and super funky vinyl record bookends.

I am going to link all the wonderful sellers (when possible) so that you can check them out for yourself, should something catch your eye.

Camilla has got an ETSY shop and sells her fabulous and very affordable wares to all over the world.

The second seller I would like to give a shout out to is Amanda, she makes gorgeous handmade cards & funky wee gifts. She doesn't have an on-line shop as yet but she's got a Facebook page, The Prettiest Thing...

Julia of Collar Me Happy makes stunning bespoke and ready to wear collars...

 I fell in love with a few but I am still on a "buying ban"...och!

I think that's what they call "being good", alas not much fun when faced with so much awesomeness...

Astrid Vaswani was there with her gorgeous daughter Jessica (out best customer) selling a wonderful array of funky jewelry.

Annemarie is behind She's Got it Made and she makes fabulous cushions,  cats and owls from groovy vintage fabrics.

Claire's stall Bright River was selling an array of fabulous cards and prints including some drawn from her mothers artwork.

The creative genius behind Words & Roses is called Luisa Cotardo and she makes some very romantic and stunning rose themed items...

Julia of Jamilicious were there to tempt everybody with handmade preserves and sweets.

The fabulous ceramic pots and ornaments are handmade by SuzanArt. 

Fellow first timer Lydia's Lockets sold beautiful handmade jewelry and I was lucky enough to win one of her lovely necklaces in the tombola, needless to say I was chuffed to bits, it's gorgeous! 

 When we first arrived in the morning I was quite nervous but after being beamed a fantastically warm and friendly smile by Mark of Gorgeous Jewellery I just knew it was going to be a fabulous day.

We had the tremendous pleasure of meeting Mark's very lovely wife Sue later on, she is the 'creative genius' in this fabulous team.

I didn't catch the name of the lovely chap that was in charge of the tombola but he did a sterling job at beaming out positivity too, what a fabulous bunch of people :)

 Shonel of Poetic Solace makes some seriously funky jewellery, she will be trading at the Craft Jam Fair in Kingly Court, Carnaby Street here in London next Saturday, if you pop along have a look out for Camilla of 'Mind The Book' too.

Bestitched  make fun and quirky framed cross stitch and they also sell funky cards and labels/tags, they have a bigcartel shop.

I hope I haven't missed anybody out and if I have, I apologize profusely...

I'll get you next month ;)

There is one seller that I haven't mentioned though...

the remarkable woman that made all of this possible and what a darling marvel of a woman she is!

 Leslie puts her heart and soul into organizing The Dandy Lion Market and she does a BRILLIANT job!

I've only known this woman for a week but it feels like we've been pals forever, I think Leslie is amazing!

So a big thanks to the woman that made it all happen, to the inspirational & talented sellers that were there on the day and of course to the lovely customers that came through the doors :)

Both Mark and I had such a fantastic day and we can't wait for the next market....

Frocktasia has finally grown a pair of wings and it is wonderful!

A few pints and some cracking company marked the end of  a perfect day :)

Loved every single minute of it!

Hope you have all had an equally fabulous weekend.

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Hair today gone tomorrow

I've been a busy bee today preparing my stock for the The Dandy Lion Market on Saturday.
Here's a sneaky-peek preview of  most of the stock that I'll be bringing with me...

Prices will range from £5 to £30 and there will be a bargain box too.
I've still to sort out some bags, shoes, accessories & knick-knacks  to bring but I'll do that tomorrow.
Here are some random 'label, print and detail' close-ups...

I'm bringing a few bits for the boys too...

This is where I'll be trading on Saturday...

Like I mentioned in Tuesday's post the event is a get together with Oxfam to celebrate International Women's Day.

It will help raise funds to support women living in poverty around the world.

I have pledged 10% of my takings and I've also donated a retro 80s coffee jar filled with coffee sweets for the tombola.

If you are in Kentish Town on the day please pop in and see me and all the other fabulous sellers ;)

This was today's ensemble...

After reading Olga's post yesterday I was inspired to wear one of my African blouse tops.

Olga's blog is called Local Fashion and it has an amazing back catalogue of interesting posts, it's blooming fabulous!

Abstract print African blouse top, sequin leggings, 80s cropped jacket, Moschino belt, Indian block print chiffon wrap,  80s worm-coil earrings, 80s boots & Tibetan prayer bangle. 

 Other news...
Today I got so fed up with my natty hair, I made hubby cut it for me, so now it's in a sort of bob style.
I'm not a big fan of going to the hairdressers so I very seldom do.
My hair is so tremendously flimsy & fine, it takes any hairdresser about two minutes to cut it and it just feels like a waste of money to be honest.
Another thing that really gets my goat about hairdressers is that even if you wash your hair yourself five minutes before the appointment, they go...
-"We still have to wash your hair!"
-"Why, do you not trust my hair washing ability?"
I know that quite a few of my blogging buddies trim their own tresses too, so I'm in good company :)
After all it's only hair & it will grow out again eventually.
Hope you will have a groovetastic Friday folks, here's a tune to put you in the mood...

 Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx

On the Buses

I am most definitely a cloud spotter, one of my favourite things to do in the summer is to wander up to the park, sprawl out on the grass and just lay there for hours watching the clouds drift by.

Today we went along to Selfridges to listen to Gavin Pretor-Pinney who is the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society. 

The hour long talk was both entertaining and enlightening but I would have loved for it to have lasted longer. I think Mr Pretor-Pinney would be the perfect dinner party guest cause he is funny and engaging in equal measures.

The talk was free and if you could guess the different cloud types featured in the presentation, you were given a little badge.

After the talk we browsed the book section of Selfridges but perhaps needless to say we didn't buy anything.

Years of car boot sale buying has made it quite impossible for me to pay more than a fiver for a book, unless I'm buying it straight from the authors website or amazon.

Selfridges' prices are simply not compatible with my thrifty nature but it's nice to have a wee look.

As we were making our way back home we came across two old buses and a whole heap of bus enthusiasts taking pictures of them.

Such a retrotastic backdrop seemed too good to miss out on, so we joined the throng of "bus spotters" and quickly snapped a few pics ourselves :)

H&M tiger stripe coat, vintage 60s Chinese sign print dress, vintage 50s booties, layered tights, self-made necklace, velvet gloves and my Stockholm syndrom wiggy-woo.

I do have a black and white setting on my camera but these pics had the effect added on PicMonkey.

I think B&W is the perfect tool for enhancing the whole retro vibe.

We had to be super quick when taking these photos cause the "bus spotters" weren't really that interested in having a dolly bird in their pics ;)

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Naughty Valentine

Some people follow trends and hanker for the latest lust-have but I tend to intermittently obsess over fabrics.

I bought this 'Miss Jeannie' dress on eBay a few years ago when I had a huge thing for all things lurex.

This fabric certainly isn't everybody's bag with its often quite raspy texture but that is one of the main reasons to why I love it so much...

its raspy and spangly qualities is what does it for me :)

There is also something rather space-age about lurex that really appeals to me.

At the post office earlier the cashier asked me if I was wearing red because of Valentines day...as if!

Roses, chocolates and champagne

 Last table booked down lovers lane

Twice the price, sans ambiance

Will expensive gestures induce romantic trance

A pricey card with a contrived poem 

Because on February 14th you have to show them

Thanks but no thanks, Mr Valentine

I think I'll just choose a different day to express mine

Vintage 20s tux jacket, 60s lurex dress, 90s mesh top, lurex tights, fishnet knee-socks, tartan  print boots, sequin beret & 90s silver sun earrings.
If you do happen to be a fellow lurex lover then I've got a stunning floor-length 90s bodycon dress up for grabs in my eBay auctions, go check it out, it's got more cosmic girl sass than you can shake a stick at ;)

I was in two minds about sharing this next pic but then I thought to myself...

"Jen, since when did you become such a prude"? 

For Valentines day 2001 I wanted surprise Mark with "naughty"card. 

This was back in the days when digital photography was still a bit of a rarity and most people (me included) had to traipse down to snappy-snaps to get their photos developed.

So I took some near naked pics wearing just some self made nipple covers and a barely there thong.

Was I worried about handing my film in?

Thankfully, the local chemist that I used didn't have an in-house lab 

so I was spared any blushes when I went to pick up my little envelope of saucy pics.

I bought some heart shaped stickers placed them strategically and the card was all sorted.

Needless to say my beloved was thrilled ;)

This of course begs the question...

If you were to become famous tomorrow, have you any reason to fear the scandal rags?

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx