From Ballachulish to The Boogaloo

When we left London a week ago the sun was blazing and there was not a cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see.

I had hoped that the glorious weather would travel with us up to Scotland but alas that was not to be, pants!

The further north the bus took us the darker the skies turned and we quite literally drove into a whole heap of bad weather.

It would have been nice to have a week of sunshine and blue skies but I'm not one to let a bit of dreich weather spoil my fun.

We stopped off in Greenock with my brother-in-law for a night before continuing the journey up to Ballachulish in The Highlands.

When we visited last September, I brought all my shapeshifter ponchos and we staged a little photo session in the glen and I had hoped to do the same thing this time. My suitcase was full of frocks and photo session paraphernalia and every day I was up with the lark monitoring the weather forecast hoping that there would be a wee break in the thick blanket of cloud. We did get a few pictures done but the conditions were not ideal to say the least but I'll blog about that tomorrow.

As per usual I took loads of pics all week and I thought I'd share some of them with you...

It's grim up north! Not really but it was rather dreich it has to be said.

The River Laroch and the Loch Leven shore. 

Swan in Loch Leven & the St Munda burial island.

The River Laroch in Ballachulish, Scottish heather in mums garden and a cool as a cucumber sheep in Glen Nevis.

Glen Nevis and Scots pine tree.

There was still some snow on the hills. Despite it looking like it never stops raining in the Highlands it has in fact been "unseasonably dry" and at the beginning of this month there was even a wildfire outbreak. 

Little chirpy bird in Glen Nevis and big chirpy bird at the Lochan Trail in Glencoe.

I was delighted to catch a bunch of Kyloe cows having their breakfast in Glen Nevis. Later on that day we went to Glen Coe to attempt a photo session, we ended up having bemused tourists taking pictures of us taking pictures, och! In the evening we met up with my father-in-law at The Laroch Bar for a few bevvies :)

On Thursday it was my mother-in-laws 70th birthday :)

It did clear up for a few hours in the early evening so we zipped down to the lochside to take a few more pics. Then mums friends came around for a little 70th birthday get-together at the house. Loads of  cake, wine and laughter :)

The morning after mums birthday we left Ballachulish at eight, stopped in Glasgow for a quick pub brunch before hopping on the bus back down to London.

We arrived in London at half ten in the evening and I had my market the following day.

Thankfully I had prepared everything before we left so it was just a case of packing everything up in the morning. I was a wee bit zombified on Saturday but Mark helped me to The Boogaloo and stayed around until I was all set up. Who would have guessed that sitting on your arse for twelve hours could be so physically & mentally exhausting?! 

Despite being a bit of a hazy-daisy I did have a very good day, chatted to some lovely folk & made some people happy with my vintage threads and that's what it's all about after all ;)

Here are some pics from yesterday's Can't Buy Me Love market....

What I wore:

Indian frock, tulle tutu, shaggy cardi with flower brooch, tights, 80s boots, Frocktasia earrings, Tibetan prayer bangle and my trusty market peddlers bumbag ;)

So there you go that was my "dropping off the blog radar" week.

I'm totally behind in my blog reading but as I have already picked out most my stock for next Saturday's Dandy Lion Market I should have a few hours to spare tomorrow to indulge in a little bit of catching up, looking forward to it, I've missed you's!

I'll leave you with one of my favourite Scottish bands, enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Just call me Pippi Longstocking

Yesterday saw Frocktasia's second outing at The Dandy Lion Market.

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.

Also returning sellers from last month was Bright River & Gorgeous Jewellery.

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!

This was yesterday's Dandy ensemble:

Vintage 50s floral dress, 90s lurex jumper, 80s boots, tights & crochet & soapstone heart earrings.

Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend :)

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.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

SWOOSH & DANDY

If I had to pick an onomatopoetic word to describe this week it would definitely be SWOOSH!

My feet have hardly touched the ground and tomorrow is Frocktasia's second outing at the fabulous Dandy Lion Market. The odds that I'll be wrung out like an old dishrag but very happy on Sunday are very high. 

Next week I'll be burying my head in my First Aid book in preparation for the following Saturdays course.

All of a sudden I find myself needing my personal organizer for more than just shopping lists and general doodling. Markets, gigs and birthday parties are now outnumbering the boring stuff like rent, council tax & doctors appointments on my wall calender, it's blooming great!

Speaking of blooming, it was actually quite nice here in North London today and the cherry blossom tree at the end of the road has bravely started to burst its buds.

Fingers crossed it is the precursor of spring and not just another false alarm.

Today's ensemble: 

Vintage 70s maxi dress by Richard Shops, 90s crushed velvet boots, crochet & soapstone heart earrings and a plethora of bangles.

I haven't had any time to henna my hair so the mousy brown regrowth is really starting to show but I guess I will just have to live with it for another week. I can always pop on a wig if it starts to peeve me.

The local wig emporium has just expanded and there is a whole new window of wigs to drool over. 

If I make a little bit of profit tomorrow I might just treat myself to another one :)

Monia who is one of my mannequin heads will be coming with me to grace my display table tomorrow.

I named her after my best friend in 6th form, who went on to become a priest in the Swedish church.

Monia & I 

It will be a wee bit of a struggle for me to get to Kentish Town in the morning as I'll be carting the whole lot myself on the bus cause Mark is working the weekend.

Thankfully he'll be there to give me a hand when it finishes at five.

If you are thinking of popping around and want to have a sneaky peek at the stock that I'm bringing then I've made a special preview folder complete with prices on my FB page. Click HERE to view ;)

I wish you all an amazing weekend.

Have fun, relax, spend time with the ones you love...enjoy!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

My Dandy preview post

I've been very busy these past few days getting everything ready for my stall at The Dandy Lion Market this coming Saturday.

Even though it's still intermittently snowing and the temperatures are no where near spring like I have thrown caution to the wind and gone for a rail full of sunny frocks and spring wear...to hell with winter I say!

Perhaps I was inspired by the bravery displayed by some peeps in Edinburgh, chicks wandering around bare legged in mini skirts and chaps wearing short-sleeved shirts and no jackets in sub zero temperatures.

Here in London people are still piling on the clobber and I can honestly say that I have not seen so many furry hats on peoples heads this side of Easter before, it is really rather bonkers!

Oh, spring where art thou? I'm more than ready for you dear!

Here's the collection of fabulous vintage clobber that I shall be bringing with me on Saturday...

I'm bringing a few of my handmade accessories too...

A smattering of close-ups for the first volley of vintage...

There's a whole heap more :)

 Close-ups...

I'm bringing awesome prints for the gents too...

 Close-ups...

I'm going solo this month as Mark is working the weekend, so I can't bring as much stuff as I wanted to. I've tried to mix it up so that there's something there for everyone. I am perhaps bringing too many frocks and not enough separates this time around but what can I say more than there is a good reason to why I chose the name FROCKTASIA ;)

If you happen to be in the Kentish Town area on Saturday it would be lovely if you could swing by and say hello. You can check out all the other fabulous sellers that will be there on The Dandy Lion Market FB page.

I'm knackered now ;)
Hope you've all had a fab week.
Friday tomorrow, huzzah!

Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx