Magpie Monday - Clearing out the cellar

It's been a while since my last Magpie Monday post but I have had a bumper crop of finds this week so I thought it would be nice to share.

On Saturday we went over to the Shambles in Newent - it was a bit sad as after our three year lease ended last September we decided to close the motorbike shop and concentrate on the original premises in Coleford. The cellar beneath the shop had accrued all sorts of junk and needed clearing and the landlord had given us some grace as it was a lot of work but it was time to take the bull by the horns and finish the job . . .

But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and we uncovered some little gems leftover from the building's previous incarnation as a 'Museum of Victorian Life' hiding underneath the junk just begging for some love!

Check out this beauty!  It needs a damn good clean, maybe a coat of paint (i'm thinking white or maybe pale green) and a new top but it would have been skipped had I not grabbed it! I have no idea how old it is - I know a lot of the 'Victoriana' in the museum was made for the museum and 'aged' - but quite frankly I don't care! I love all the little details and I can't wait to turn it into the conversation piece it deserves to be.

   I also found a wooden curtain pole with lovely ornate finials and these giant brass curtain rings. One of the finials and the pole itself were split so I rescued the other finial to add to my collection of 'interesting wooden things' (yes, really) 

I really don't know what to do with the curtain rings - they could make a very impressive bangle stack!

Also I came across a number of bevelled mirrors. Unfortunately most of them were cracked or badly chipped but I did manage to salvage this one. (Please ignore me/yucky conservatory roof - ooo look, cute kitten! )  It's quite large and I haven't decided where it's actually going to go. I suspect it may be too heavy for our rubbish plasterboard internal walls which narrows possible hanging places down a bit. I'll let you know on that one.

But that's not all. My local hospice charity shop turned a couple of absolute bargains this week.

A lovely grey wool skirt off the £1 rail. Not for wearing but lots of gorgeous pure wool fabric to play with. I am thinking lavender hearts and birds with prety pastel ribbon and mother of pearl button trim (keep an eye on my Folksy shop if you like the sound of that!)  Maybe a bag and purse and, if there is enough a hat for the Little Man.

opaque white vase/bowl/goblet/Holy Grail type thingy

This was 25p. That's right. 25p. It had to come home with me. I have no idea what it's actual purpose is but I'm absolutely sure it will get used as a prop in my product photos . . .

 (if anyone actually does know what it's true purpose is, please tell)

linking up with Missie Lizzie's Magpie Monday

#MagpieMonday - Crafty things and Iconic Crockery

It's been a long time since I did a Magpie Monday post! Last week me and the LM had to go into town to do some banking.
As we have been doing a lot of clearing out lately we took a bag of things to donate and took some time to amble around our three charity shops in town...





Look what I found....

A bag full of dinky white wooden curtain rings. I have used larger wooden curtain rings in my craft projects before. These mini ones are very sweet and just begging to be repurposed! I have a great project to share with you at a later date.  Plus they only cost £1.50 for a bag of 40!!!

I love this vintage (1977) pattern book. Norweave orginated, as you might expect, in Norway and is a form of counted tapestry worked on canvas with wool and was very popular in the 70's and early 80's. This book is filled with adaptations of traditional designs (although, to be fair I think they are more 70's retro glamour than traditional Norwegian folk design!)in beautiful bright colours. I haven't done any tapestry work for a while and I really like a couple of the designs in this book  So I will be on the look out for some suitable tapestry canvas and wools for stitching! Might be a nice winter evening project.

love the vibrant colours of this cushion!

 I also found this lovely set of red wooden 4mm double pointed needles for 65p - they are longer length ones so are perfect for knitting cosy hats in the round.  Another winter project!

And finally, my most interesting item. I found this plate for £1.00 in our local Hospice shop. I loved the colours and pattern. I knew it was pretty old - I guessed mid-60's - and couldn't wait to get it home and do a little research!
Turns out it's an early pattern from Kathie Winkle for Broadhurst. "Tyne" was one of her first designs for Broadhurst c.1961. Unlike some of her more collectible designs I didn't manage to find that many examples around the internet so I guess it's not one of her most popular! Clearly influenced by Art Deco styling these items had the basic black pattern stamped on before the colours (in this case lovely pale blue and lemon) were added by hand.



One website warned

As Kathie Winkle is made more notable for being one of the first in-house designers to receive credit on the back stamp, it is important to beware of imitations

But further research discovered that Broadhurst did not introduce her name on the back until c.1964, after 'Tyne' was first released.  So I could have a genuine early piece from an iconic 60's designer or just a copy.


Either way I love it!




Have you found any great bargains or hidden gems in your local charity shops lately? Why not link up with the lovely Lizzie at Me and My Shadow and her Magpie Monday linky?