Our dear friend Leslie of The Dandy Lion Market came up from London for a wee break and Mark and I both volunteered at the Commonwealth Games.
I did two days at the swimming events at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre here in Glasgow and Mark went across to do a day at the diving events held in Edinburgh.
We managed to cram a whole heap of fun stuff into seven days and enjoy the buzzing vibe of positivity that the streets of Glasgow have been awash with during the eleven days of the games.
I absolutely loved being a part of the games and even if the days were pretty long, starting at 7.30am and finishing off at around eleven at night, we had an absolute blast.
Here I am with Chris, Tom and Chris outside Aquatron.
We all got kitted out in the official games volunteering clobber.
The events passed without incident so I didn't actually have to don my scuba gear and get in the water.
One of the judges accidentally dropped a pen in the pool but we were not called upon for that as it was quickly retrieved by a lifeguard.
The Australian team were amazing and swam home a motherload of medals.
Sadly there were no Scottish gold medals won on the two days I was there, so I never got to hear Flower of Scotland.
Personally I prefer this version with Kenneth McKellar...
Gie it Laldy!
It was billed as The Friendly Games and it truly was.
I haven't been in a place filled with so much positivity since the last time I went to a rave.
I would do it again at the drop of a hat!
I think it was a perfect time for Leslie to enjoy Glasgow too, even if Mark and I had to work a lot.
We still managed to have the obligatory drunken night out, visit the Gallery of Modern Art, a funky Pam Hogg exhibition/pop-up shop and a wee trip to the seaside.
Leslie and Mark at The Crystal Palace where we also hooked up with some visiting relatives from down south.
Matt & Leslie battled it out with cues at The Solid Rock Cafe.
Leslie with Clyde at Central Station.
The Pam Hogg exhibition and pop-up shop.
A wee trip to Irvine Beach Park.
It's all back to business as usual for a few days now before we head off for another adventure.
This summer has got to go down as one of the best ones in my life so far, I am loving every minute of it!
I will love you and leave you with an amazing tune that is having me dancing around the house at the moment and lusting for a pair of red jazz trainers...
I dropped off the radar for a while to visit Scotland again.
It was my mother-in-laws 70th birthday on Thursday, so we decided to go up and spend a week with her.
We just got back last night and today I did the Can't Buy Me Love market at The Boogaloo but I'll blog about Scotland and the market tomorrow.
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I meant to post this blog before I went to Scotland but never quite managed to get around to it, better late than never ;)
A week and a half ago I had a photo session with an amazing London based singer-songwriter called Faith Taylor. I approached Faith a while back after falling in love with her voice at a gig and asked her if she'd be interested in taking part in a little vintage clothing inspired photo session at my house. We were messaging each other on Facebook prior to the session to establish what sort of theme would best suit her personality and music style. Faith is a self-declared tomboy so we went with an androgynous style.
Look 1
Vintage 70s blazer, 70s shirt and 70s bow-tie combo
Look 2
Vintage 50s felt hat and 70s ethnic embroidered waistcoat
Look 3
German military shirt teamed a cowboy style scarf
I really enjoyed doing this little session and I'm planning to do more of them next month.
Faith was a real joy to work with and I'll be sure to keep an eye on her future gig listings.
Before we went to Scotland I met up with Leslie and we went to take in the Lichtenstein -A Retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern, which was absolutely fab!
Vintage 50s trousers, 70s Liberty print suspenders, 70s lurex blouse, sleeveless knitted jumper, Handmade African necklace, Frocktasia earrings, handmade tote bag made by Leslie, Lowepro camera bag & DMs
I'll post about Scotland & my market adventures tomorrow but right now I'm going to crash and burn, I'm bushed...cheerio my dear pals ;)
Granted I almost killed myself getting there carting a huge big case on wheels with my rail strapped onto it and another huge bag on my back. Who said being a vintage market trader would be easy or glamorous, not me anyway that's for sure. It is hard graft but I like it that way.You get a special feeling of smugness after managing to travel from A to B on public transport, laden down like a donkey ..like you've done something pretty special, akin to walking up Ben Nevis in your bare feet for instance ;)
Anyroad I survived and got there early doors too, so that I could give Aiden a quick hand with the bunting.
I took quite a few pics of the day but after I got home I realized that I'd had the camera on some silly setting, so the majority of my pics came out either overexposed or blurry which needless to say was rather annoying but such is life, it doesn't always work out the way you want it to.
Here is my wonderful friend Leslie next to her rail of vintage loveliness and her dapper son Erik that helped out with the leafleting on the day. Leslie is not only the organizer of the Dandy and a fellow vintage seller, she's also a magnificently creative soul. You can check out some of her wonderful wares on etsy HERE.
Another fellow vintage peddler La Maison Pearl was my stall neighbor for the day and gave me some smashing tips on what London fairs are worth doing.
Thay had some cracking stuff on their stall and I was very tempted to bag this wonderful colour explosion of a frock...
This gorgeous chick was trading at the Dandy last month but she was on one of the downstairs stalls so sadly I forgot to mention her in last months post. The Jewellery Garden creates a stunning array of fabulous jewellery with a special emphasis on holistic crystals & gemstones.
I met the lovely Amanda of the The Prettiest Thing last month. She was back with more of her tremendously funky and very useful items. I think this wonderful woman can turn her hand to making anything, just check out her impressive FB albums HERE. I hope Amanda will be there next month cause my Oyster card holder decided to disintegrate this morning and she makes totally brilliant ones.
Bright River sells beautiful cards and prints and is run by a very lovely lady called Claire Shannon and Gorgeous Jewellery sells splendid handmade jewellery and is run by husband and wife team Sue & Mark.
When I was perusing the product pics of Juliet Rose Soaps before the market, I just couldn't wait to smell them in real life. These handmade soaps look good enough to eat and smell absolutely divine. Like myself Juliet is a newbie to the market scene and it was actually her first ever foray into having a stall.
I think she did herself very proud, just look at her fabulous display and the soaps did not disappoint they smell just as good as the look. You can buy a bar in her on-line store right now.
There was more fragrant goodness for the body at yesterdays Dandy too. Brown Angel Fragrances were there with a wonderful array of beautifully packaged homemade natural lotions and potions. They also have an on-line store where you can purchase their lovely goodies.
The three gorgeous girls behind Triptych Designs & Wheels and Butterflies are architectural students with an interest in quirky design. They make fabulously unique jewellery and I loved their amazing display. You can buy their stuff on-line HERE & HERE.
This lovely lady is called Gillian Bull and she was selling a mighty fine collection of vintage bric-a-brac and home wares...
This next chick was another newbie to the Dandy with her funky stall The 3R Crafts. She makes both decorative and useful things with upcycled materials like cork and cans. You can check out her FB page HERE.
Next up are the lovely peeps from Genuie scarves. They were offering up a vast range of stunning hand painted scarves made from 100% Mulberry silk. These fantastic scarves are a colourful treat for the eye and feel amazingly lush against the skin. The Genuie team have an on-line store where you can purchase their beautiful wares.
Dapper chappy Roderick Barker-Benfield is the brains and creative talent behind Rodology handmade jewellery. I'm so gutted my camera was on the wrong setting cause I would have loved to have captured his wonderful work in a sharper picture to do it justice. He's got an on-line store where you can marvel over his fantastic pieces, especially check out the cufflinks. Roderick said that they are his best selling item and I am not surprised, marvelous stuff.
These two lovely ladies were selling vintage compacts, cases and a whole heap of other lovely stuff on their one off stall. A friend of theirs is a dab hand at crocheting so they'd brought along some of her creations too. I was especially impressed with two pairs of mittens that had been knitted with wool that their friend had spun from the molted hair of her angora rabbit. I did take pictures of them but because my camera was on the wrong setting they came out all blurry. Hopefully Leslie got some pics, if she did I'll add them later.
In the smaller picture you can see the lovely Juliet of Juliet Rose Soaps rocking a fabulous frock.
Downstairs we had Shonel of Poetic Solace with her awesomely funky jewellery stall. I only briefly caught up with her as she was setting up and the picture I took was...you guessed it very blurry. So if you want to see Shonel's lovely face you'll have to check out last months Dandy post. She's been keeping herself very busy this month, doing regular markets. If you want to check out her wares she's got a fabulous store on etsy HERE.
I hope I haven't forgotten anybody this time.
As I was on my own, I didn't have that much time to wander around with my camera, it's much nicer when you have a stall buddy at hand. Mark very kindly came around at five to help me with packing up and carting home, which was much appreciated...especially by my back and arms ;)
Today I've been feeling like someone gave me a right old kicking last night. I guess that if I'm planning on doing this on a regular basis there is only one thing for it...get fit!
Frocktasia's next market will be Can't Buy Me Love at The Boogaloo in Archway on Saturday the 27th of this months and then I'll of course be at the next Dandy Lion Market on Saturday the 4th of May.
If you see anything in my for sale or preview albums on the Facebook page that you'd like to purchase directly from me just give me a shout, I ship worldwide.
For next months Dandy I've decided that Frocktasia has to stop procrastinating and pull her proverbial straw to the stack as regards to spreading the word about The Dandy. So the Friday before the market I am scheming a "leaflet bombing" of Camden in full dress-up :)
People need to know about this market and its fabulous sellers!
I'm burying my face in my First Aid book in preparation for my course next Saturday but I'm hoping to get a couple of hours over the next few days to catch up with all my faves in the blogosphere.
