Frocktasia has got wheels!

Last Monday Mark and I bought our first ever car, an 11 year old Vauxhall Astra that we named Cato after Cato Wong in the Pink Panther movies.

It's an old banger that will see its life out with us going to dive sites and markets. 

Hopefully with a bit of luck and TLC it will serve us well for a year or two.

Yesterday we took Cato for a spin along the beautiful Firth of Clyde coastline and when the sun decided to make an unexpected appearance we stopped off for a little picnic on Irvine Beach.

We sat on the beach watching adult gulls dive bombing  for fish and baby gulls perfecting their flying skills.

Unlike when we went to Largs back in January the gulls on Irvine Beach were totally uninterested in sharing our lunch, they were just surfing around in the sea breeze, having fun.

Besides gulls, we only shared the beach with a handful of dog walkers and a dude with a metal detector.

Next time we go I'm definitely bringing my swimming costume. I'm Swedish so I am used to water temperatures akin to an ice plunge pool, it's good for you.

During lunch we talked about one of the things on our bucket list, namely sand boarding in Egypt. 

Many moons ago Mark was a professional snowboard instructor so surfing on sand should be easy enough for him. However despite me growing up with regular winter sports days at school, I never quite found my ski legs. I was more into ice hockey & curling.

To tick the sand boarding off the bucket list would require a pocket full of pennies but you can always find fun stuff to do for free or on the cheap while you save up for the big amazing adventures.

Free fun is the name of the game and the gulls are masters at it.

I'm on a mission to have as much free fun this summer as I possibly can.

We didn't have any money when we were kids and we still managed to have more fun than you can shake a stick at, so it can be done! 

Tigger jumping off the dunes = free fun

What I wore: 60s psychedelic maxi dress, 60s suede waistcoat, 70s suede jacket, suede pixie boots, African mask necklace, retro sunnies & Hello The Mushroom tote bag. This is a fave combo of mine.

We enjoyed a lovely few hours on Irvine Beach and we will definitely visit again soon.

If you are in Glasgow you can get there by car in about 45 minutes, the train will take about 40 minutes from Central Station and costs £8 for an off-peak day return.

I have been playing rather a lot these past few weeks and because of this my selling endeavors have suffered somewhat. 

So today I will mostly be found glued to the computer, listing fabulous frocks in my Etsy store.

A huge big THANK YOU to Panty Buns, Vix, Connie, Underemployed Is the New Organic, Kathy, Becky & Curtise for commenting on my last blog offering and of course to all you lovelies who have taken the time to leave a comment on any of my previous posts too.

Hope you are all feeling happy & healthy.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Rescue Me

The past few weeks have been immensely hectic but also very rewarding and fun.

I am thrilled to announce that both Mark and I are now PADI Rescue Divers, huzzah!

The course consisted of one classroom session, three pool sessions and the open water grande finale at Dogfish Reef, Loch Fyne last Sunday.

To say that the course was physically demanding would be an understatement, there were times when I was seriously wondering if I'd be able to get through it. 

To surface an unresponsive diver, giving rescue breaths and towing him or her to the shore whilst removing their and your own gear, then dragging them onto the shore before performing CPR and instructing others to contact Emergency Services (or having to do this yourself) is a TALL ORDER! However when you succeed in doing it, you feel totally flipping awesome.

The Rescue Diver Course made me realize the utmost importance of personal fitness and also that I still have to gain a fair bit of diving experience before I get to grips with the Dive Master Course.

So the aim for the coming months will be to go diving whenever the opportunity presents itself.

There are plenty of great dive sites to explore here in Scotland and with any luck we will have a great summer of doing just that.

I'm also hoping to do a few more courses with Aquatron; the Search and Recovery one is at the top of my list.

Last Saturday it was time for Frocktasia to roll out the rail again at Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair. 

This time the fair was held in the fabulous Wasp Artists' Studio in The Briggait, which is a tremendously impressive, wonderfully light building and hands down the best venue we've ever had the pleasure to trade at.

Much like the last Judy's we did, we were kept busy pretty much from the beginning to the end and our complimentary necklaces and lollipops went down a treat.

I'm not sure when the next Judy's will be held in Glasgow but the fair floor manager on the day said that there might be one in Edinburgh during the festival and hopefully by then we will have a car.

Here is my May (thus far) in pics...

The first thing we sold at Judy's last Saturday was the 90s knitted RAVE hat.
May it go forth and have a wicked summer on the head of the wee girly that bought it.

The obligatory SIFOS (seller in front of stall) pics.

Cut-offs are evidently still going strong. I remember tutting at the prices of these when Vix (VOTE VIX) and I went to the London Fashion Weekend in 2010, I think they've come down in price since then?!
Tallula Vintage had some exceptionally pretty frocks up for grabs but alas I am still on a buying ban. 

Tania was our delightful stall neighbour on the day. Her fabulous Etsy shop is stocked to the hilt with eclectic vintage finds and upcycled discoveries.
The fetching retro print curtain in the £3 bargain bag of another seller made me think of The Queen of Curtain Couture (VOTE VIX).

I had to take a sneaky-snap of this fabulous shopper because I loved her psychedelic print mini frock and hippie head-chain get-up.
So much vintage and retro finery under one roof...truly something for everyone! 

I wish every day was a Judy's day :)

What I Wore: 70s psychedelic print dress (Chiswick car boot sale), 70s suede waistcoat (Vintage dealer friend), layered tights (99p stores & Aldi), African mask necklace (Princess May car boot sale) and suede pixie boots (gift from my mum-in-law).

On Sunday I brought my camera to the dive site in the hopes that I'd be able to take some cool snaps of us after the Rescue Diver Course but as soon as we left Glasgow the sky ripped open and it poured down pretty much the whole time we were at Dogfish Reef, so no luck there.

To be honest I was too shattered afterwards to even entertain the idea of acting photographer or even pose for pics...Yes, I really was that tired ;)

We managed to take a couple of pics in the morning before we set off.

This is what the house looks like the day after diving. Drysuits & BCDs in the bathtub and a plethora of gear drying out on bath towels scattered throughout the flat.
It makes me feel very proud to see these pages of my training record signed off and I think Mark and I will have yet another wee celebration when our PADI certification cards come through.

Before wrapping up, I'll just share a little picture medley from when we went to see Maiden Scotland play here in Glasgow, they ROCKED! 

Last time we lived in Glasgow back in 2000 we had a band together with Dave who is pictured with his lovely girlfriend Emma and Allen who now plays bass for Maiden Scotland.

Hope you are all doing grand and if you haven't already VOTE FOR VIX!!!

I'll love you and leave you with the soundtrack for the Rescue Diver Course :)

All the best,

Jennie

xXx

The Pigs Might Fly Post

Hello again :)

At the beginning of every month I think to myself...

"This month I will start blogging again!"

but so far this year it has all kind of fallen by the wayside.

Stocking my Etsy shop & just generally trying to get into the swing of running Frocktasia as a proper business has been an all consuming pursuit for the past wee while. A painfully slow crawl up a very steep learning curve but I believe things are finally starting to slot into place & even make a bit of sense.

Frocktasia had a fabulous outing at Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair at Glasgow Student Union last month and it was by far the busiest market we've ever done. We will definitely attend every Judy's here in Glasgow from now on and hopefully (once we get a car) branch out to the one they do in Edinburgh too. The next one in Glasgow is held at Wasps Artists' Studios on the 17th of May the day before Mark and I are off to Loch Long with Aquatron to do our final day of the Rescue Diver Course and hopefully bag our certificates.

Mark is working at Aquatron Dive Centre now; what started as a Dive Master Internship turned into full-time employment and he couldn't be more thrilled if he tried. 

The move to Glasgow has been a marvelous thing for both of us so far, long may it continue :)

Our wee pitch at Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair last month. A wheel came off one of our bags en route to the venue so we were pretty flustered by the time we got there. We had some jolly nice stall neighbours on the day though, Scott and Ross from Breaking Pop Vintage.

Last Sunday we were back at Sloans for another lovely day at Little Birds Market :)

Vintage scarves & ties have turned out to be a big hit with our market and fair customers.

One thing I really miss about London is its awesome car boot sales and markets. I'm running a bit low on scarves at the moment so I thought I'd check out the local car boot sale but it was pretty dreadful in comparison to the ones that I used to frequent down south. Maybe it will get better once the fair-weather sellers come out in force, if not I'll just have to jump on the bus and go for a cheeky wee boot sale buying weekend in London.

 There is an absolute glut of charity shops here in Glasgow but I'm yet to find a real treasure trove.

My shopping lust soon fades when all I'm faced with is rails upon rails of second hand F&F, George & Atmosphere.

Don't get me wrong it is not like I'm running out of stock or anything, I have a storage unit full of fabulous threads to "shop" from for the foreseeable future :)

I made these necklaces to give away to our market customers last Sunday as 'Rock Up Early Rewards'.

To this months Little Birds Market I wore a fabulous 70s frock by Susan Small and a pair of suede pixie boots that my awesome mum-in-law gave me when I went up for a flying visit last weekend.

This was lovely Palma's Blithe Spirit Vintage Jewellery stall at Little Birds, I loved those fabulous cut-outs...

Palma has a well stocked Etsy store where you can peruse and shop her spectacular collection of vintage jewellery.

That pretty much wraps it up for this time and if my past track record is anything to go by my next blog post will happen after I've done Judy's at Wasps Artists' Studio, my Rescue Diver Course and my first ever proper dive in Scottish waters but who knows I might surprise you all and blog more frequently from now on?!

....and then again pigs might fly ;)

Here I am diving (and looking freaky) in Wraysbury lake last year, hopefully the water in Loch Long has slightly better visibility.

Until next time folks, enjoy!
Jennie

xXx

Like a bat out of hell another month goes by

I can't believe it is March already, time is speeding past like Jay Kay in a Koeningsegg One:1.

At least it is speeding towards lighter and warmer times.

Today I've been busy adding more stock to the Frocktasia etsy shop. My target is two hundred items before the end of the month, so I've got a few days of hardcore work still ahead of me. I'm trying to coordinate my online selling activities in with my market outings, so any stock that is featured in a market preview and doesn't sell on the day can go straight onto etsy. So I'm having plenty of photo session with Barbara before the markets and then getting stuck into editing, taking measurement, writing descriptions and finally bringing it all together into a listing after. Online selling is a whole heap of work but it is also were you reach the largest number of potential customers, so it simply has to be done.

I would love to be able to survive on doing markets alone but it's just not feasible, especially since I don't have my own transport & even if I did, I'd have to learn how to drive it first.

Speaking of markets, last Sunday we were back at the fabulous Little Birds Market at Sloans...

Frocktasia's stall at Little Birds Market.

Mark and I absolutely adore this market. It is very easy for us to get to in the morning, (just a five minute walk to the station then a twenty minute train ride and another five minute walk) when you are weighed down like a Himalayan Sherpa, stuff like that really matters. Sloans is situated slap bang in the middle of Glasgow and the Little Birds team headed by the very lovely Vicki work their tail-ends off to get people through the doors. We had some fabulous customers on Sunday. My heart always skips a beat when someone comes back from the powder room with a smile on their face, hands over the garment and goes " Can I have that please"...I love it!

We had Curtise's identical frock twin on our rail on the day , it didn't sell so it will be joining the other frocks over in my etsy shop.

We shared The Snug room with the lovely Palma and her fabulous Blithe Spirit Jewellery again...

A couple of weeks ago we were at another market called Granny Would Be Proud and there we were delighted to meet the gorgeous Jenni of Retro Rainbow Vintage, a fellow vintage lover and trader based near Glasgow. Jenni started selling vintage online when she fell pregnant five years ago and haven't looked back since. She runs a very successful eBay store and does the rounds on the Glasgow market and fair scene. On Saturday we are both doing Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair held at Glasgow University Union and Jenni, being the very experienced & professional seller she is, has already posted her preview folder on the events page. I on the other hand have only half-arsed sorted my stock out. I'm sure I'll get up to speed at some point in the hopefully not too distant future. At the moment it pretty much nonstop GO GO GO! 

Jenni and her rail vintage fabulousness. On the day she was wearing the most exquisite blouse by Gunne Sax, she has an expert eye for a stunning vintage garment this girl.

I fell in love with these fab dolls by Oscar Cat Creations...

This was me on Sunday morning en route to Little Birds wearing the same old dress that I wore to our first ever Dandy Lion Market a year ago.

I'm looking very anemic, bring on the spring sun!

Leslie is doing a special Mother Appeal fundraising edition of The Dandy in partnership with Oxfam on the 22nd of March, so if you happen to be in London that day do pop along,  I can highly recommend a visit. 

Tomorrow Mark and I are heading up to the storage unit to pick up some fresh threads for Judy's on Saturday and then I'll be flat out prepping for the event, I am so looking forward to it.

Hope you are all doing grand folks.

I'll love you and leave you with the amazingly talented Meat Loaf...

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Frocktasia Towers

I promised in a previous post that I'd give you a tour around our wee abode and today I finally got round to taking some pics. These past few weeks I've been very busy with market preparations and writing my business plan. Starting my own business was never really a doable thing when we were living in London. I did try but the horrendously steep living costs were too much of a prohibitive factor. Any attempts came to an abrupt end as soon as rent day loomed.  It was never going to happen in London but I think Glasgow might be just the ticket. 

Last Sunday Frocktasia made a splash at the lovely Little Birds Market & on the 23rd of this month we're testing out Granny Would Be Proud. I was so impressed with Little Birds so I've already booked a stall for the March event and we'll also be doing a turn at Glasgow's Affordable Vintage Fair on the 15th of next month.

I thank my lucky stars that Mark spotted that Can't Buy Me Love poster  last year and then gently twisted my arm into doing it, that initial plunge was a game changer. Meeting Leslie was another pivotal moment and exhibiting at The Dandy Lion Market boosted my confidence no end. I'm chuffed to bits how things have turned out.

Right I stop harping on and show you our pad. It is tiny compared to what we left behind in London but then again we are not paying £1000 per month any more. Much like our last flat this one is a bloody fridge but thankfully we are getting some insulation put in at the end of this month. Hopefully that will mean, no more wearing all your outdoors clothing indoors, fingers crossed.

Here's our home...

Hallway featuring Iggy the plastic iguana.

This house gave me good vibes from the first moment I stepped in the door.

I love all the wood paneling, it makes me think of cosy ski chalets in the Alps.

The bedroom is also Mark's playroom. Our beloved plants seem to dig the house too.

This is my playroom or should that be Barbara's room perhaps?! We have a storage unit that is the same size as this room that holds my vast collection of clobber. I am so glad it's not kept in the house anymore.

In our last flat we didn't have a shower so for twelve years I was a bath girl but this tub is tiny so I'm fast becoming a shower convert.

My mum sent me this cute cross-stitch to keep above the toilet. It reads "You can sit here in your own thoughts until somebody else comes knocking"... in Swedish it rhymes.

Our wee tiny micro kitchen. This was the hardest thing to get used to. The kitchen in our last flat had a huge couch in it, loads of cupboard space and the door that led out to our beloved balcony and our gorgeous pigeon friends. It's definitely not a kitchen for a cooking enthusiast that's for sure. I'm learning to live with it but I will never love it.

So there you go, you've now seen Frocktasia Towers. We do have a small garden with a shed too but it's too bleeding freezing to go outside today so that'll have to wait until a sunny day. We do get a lot of garden birds which is lovely and there are three pigeons that come regularly. A couple that we've named Laurél and Hardy and a white speckled one that we call Motley.

To finish off just a little medley of pics from last week...

I made a handcuff belt from a 50p set of furry love cuffs, I also bought two new wigs on eBay and took delivery of Frocktasia's new business cards and rubber stamp from Vistaprint.

It's amazing how happy a rubber stamp can make a person, I felt like I was five years old playing post office again.

Our stall at Little Birds Market at Sloans. We shared the fabulous Snug Room with  Blithe Spirit vintage jewellery stall run by the very lovely Palma.

That's all for this time folks, hope you are all doing well & keeping warm.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Fifteen minutes of frock fame

Mark and I took some time-out after moving. We needed it, the process had made big demands on us, both emotionally and physically. Thankfully we were able to take our time over things. 

When we first moved up we went straight into hyper-drive trying to find a flat. 

I'd trawl the net in the evening, Mark would arrange viewings in the morning and then off we would go traversing Glasgow, on the hunt for our new home. 

Our budget was quite low so the quality of what was on offer was very often hugely disappointing. 

Damp damaged buildings with signs reading 'No Loitering' nailed up above the entrance. A plethora of claustrophobic boltholes, riddled with mold, ripped woodchip & stained carpets.

After three stressful weeks we finally found a place that we could see ourselves in, it's not quite the five bedroom Victorian  townhouse that I cosmically ordered but it's definitely the cream of the crop in our budget category.

I will give you a tour of the house at some point, just need to don a pair of marigolds first and get it up to Hello Magazine standard.

Over the past few days the wheels of productivity have slowly started turning again.

We've booked a market for Frocktasia's relaunch on the 9th of February . It is called Little Birds Market and it is a monthly do held at an amazing venue here in Glasgow called Sloanes.

We've applied for a stall at another market called Granny Would Be Proud but it's yet to be confirmed. Today Mark and I took a little research trip to check out Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair that was in Glasgow for the day and both of us agreed that it would be a great one to get in about next time it is in town.

So it's back in the saddle for me and to be honest, after all this "time-off" I'm feeling well and truly up for it.

In my last post I promised that I'd share the pics that Mark and I took on our micro roadtrip to Largs. I played around with them on PicMonkey (that I still use religiously). As a complete Jennie Pinchpenny I still haven't upgraded to Royal but I have to confess, that of late I have been sorely tempted. For some reason the wretched skin under my eyes has decided to not just puff  but also wrinkle up and some days it looks as if I've super glued skincoloured  raisins underneath my eyes. I feel the need for some PicMonkey surgery. Are any of you lovely peeps using PicMonkey Royal and if so what do you think of it?

Anyroad the pics...these were taken en route from Largs to Greenock by the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire. We shot two frocks, the first one is an Indian dress that I picked up from Holloway market a few years ago and the second is a stunning 70s Jean Varon frock that I scored at a car boot sale last year.

Hope you liked them? We are hoping to do plenty more of these wee photo sessions in the future. There are so many stunning backdrops to take advantage of  nearby to us and so many frocks yearning for their fifteen minutes of fame here on the blog.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx