more rescued goodies

so again this weekend we ventured over to the car boot sale at Wimbledon dog track, and at first i was slightly disappointed because it didn't seem as good, last time it only took me a few seconds to find something, and this time took me at least a few minutes before my pocket had less cash in it, and what i bought was the mother load of display board letters, you know, the type that are used in cafes to advertise what they sell..sausage and chips, £3.50...well this box was under a table and as soon as i saw it a grabbed it and asked how much, he said £2.00. OK thanks, handed over my money and he gave me 50p change ?.. very amused by this i was. and it would have been all the better if he had the boards to use them on, but never mind, i think what closed the deal for me was that on the top was a very random small wooden letter S, i knew it had to be mine, and with a quick soapy scrub in the sink they were as good as new, now i just have to decide what to do with them...there are hundreds, possibly thousands of them..
so on we went strolling around and it was ages until i found my next bargain,....anyone for a quick game of bingo ?...yes please , me, i saw this dirty and crumbling box and im sure i possibly said hello out loud to it, and even though it was almost falling apart, i lifted the lid to find everything was still inside, all the cards, and he little dispenser where the numbers come from, i asked the guy how much, expecting a silly price to be told to me, and he said £1.00... i snapped his hand off and walked away ready for a game,i love the graphics on the box, the cards are an ephemera lovers dream, ill get some of these in my shop soon.
and then i found some books that i will be selling pages from in my shop and some cards that you can see in the top photo, and home we went, happy and content. and with empty pockets where a few hour earlier some money had been happily sitting.

rescued from destruction

so a few weeks ago when i went home to see my family i went to a local car boot sale and i found a brilliant old harmsworth household encyclopedia, volume 1, that was dusty, battered and bruised and certain to be destroyed had i not rescued it, and it is...or should i say was, full of really special full colour plate images and many technical style illustrations and instructional photographs that are something quite special. and whilst i do know its probably wrong to rip these pages out, that's what i did, and I'm now in the process of slowly listing them in my vintage etsy shop, because i feel they are too nice to be squashed between 2 hard covers and hidden away. and i know by giving them a new opportunity of being used and appreciated is better. the above collage shows some of the pages that i liberated, but these ones here below are some of my favourites that i think i want to keep. they are just funny, and if i ever break my arm, ill know what to do.. and i just like the imagery on this next one, the man looks so Victorian, and so stuffy and proper, and the 3 of these pages together i think will make a great addition to my ever growing collection of things that one day will be put up on a wall....somewhere ? so keep an eye out in my shop because i have many many many pages yet to be listed, just today i listed one and it sold almost straight away... and i havent even shown you some of the best ones yet..

print and splat

so yesterday i just had an urge to make a mess, well it was more like i had an itch i had to scratch,if you know what i mean, and i wanted to know what would happen if i soaked some fabric with water, splashed on some fabric paint and scattered on some powder fabric dye... and these pictures here are the result, this took all of a few minutes,and this is just a sneak peek, because now that the fabric have dried and been washed a few times,the colours have changed and merged and left some very pleasing effects and i can honestly say just wait and see the lovely things ill be making from this little experiment... these are the results of just doing it, and not thinking about it too much and seeing what happens.. a happy accident if ever there was one...i know ill be doing this again soon...

the best find ever

so on Saturday me and David ventured to parts of London we have never been to before on the promise of a good car boot sale... and holy crapola it was insane.. it was in Wimbledon, where the tennis is played, and as we approached the gates we were walking past people coming out arms full with goodies, so we paid or 50p entrance and crossed over into junk heaven, and I'm not joking when i say that within the first 30 seconds i had spotted something i wanted, and another 30 seconds later, after paying with all the loose change in my pocket, 77p, i walked away with a battered and bruised and totally falling apart board game, i just wanted it for the front image as its really nice, i know nobody else would have even looked at it but it spoke to me.and amazingly for something that is obviously old,and has definitely not been much loved or cherished, all the contents of the game were there.. I'm sure the man who sold it to me laughed and called me an idiot under his breath, but i don't care...i love it.
and on i went, me and David don't even walk around together because whilst i like crap, he likes nice things, preferably without a scratch, i think the more scratches it has the better.. or is that just me ? and the next thing that caught my eye was this lovely old jigsaw, again its the packaging that had me at hello, not sure ill ever make the actual thing but i know the box will look quite lovely in my bathroom..and the guy who sold me this had many more just like this, but the illustrations just didn't scream to me the same as this one,... so on i went and then i honestly think i found the mother load of treasures that ill give you a sneak peek of now, because believe me it deserves a post all of its own, lets just say its from the 1800's, was practically falling apart, and has made me smile every time i looked through it since, i just now need to work out how i can use it to its maximum impact, both in a financial way because i do intend on selling parts of it on, and in a creative way that i just have to try, because it deserves it... here is a little double page teaser.. and this is not even the best of it, it is bursting with the most incredible intricate illustrations and text, pages upon pages of them, and guess how much it cost... well i got it, and a bunch of other books and things for the massive sum of 50p.. bargain of the century.. I'm so going back next Saturday, weather permitting, to see what else i can get... i love other peoples rubbish..if you know what i mean...ill post pictures this week of some of the other things i got.

i made more cushions

so I'm on a bit of a cushion ride at the moment and its not one i want to get off just yet. so many techniques and ideas can be applied to this square shape, like patterns and textures, be they printed or constructed, they are my current favorite end result for the textile crafts I'm enjoying making.and these newest ones are extra special because they are made from clothes that i designed and printed and made as part of my graduate collection from fashion college in 1998, and i knew it was time to give them a new life. the gold foil printed text really catches the light and shimmers and the mix of wool fabrics creates a nice contrast in textures, they are totally unique and quite unrepeatable. I'm not one for recreating the exact same of anything.and they are in my little shop now..

so last week before i ventured home for a few days i went to view an exhibition that my friend gemma from lazy oaf put on all about drawing, it was to launch their new collection and they invited anyone and everyone to come and have a doodle. and so i did. horribly the photograph of my doodle is rubbish so ill have to share that another time but look at these ones to see the creations that occurred when you let strangers doodle all over your walls.my favorite of the night was by an artist called gemma correll, i would really like this on the wall above my bed,its just so lovely.and i also really liked how the lazy oaf team bought cheap frames and sprayed them a whole range of pastel colours, it looked excellent.the exhibition certainly put a smile on my mush and my doodle which was a spur of the moment idea really sparked off an idea i intend on exploring further...watch this space.

hey horsie

so i have been away for a few days and surprised my mum by going home for the first time in over a year, and whilst i was there i had fun making a mess with my niece, went to some cool car boots, more about this later, and just had a giggle, going home always excites me because my family live near the seaside, not far from the lake district in cumbria, and its very beautiful, although i lived there for 18 years i never appreciated it, but now i look and just go WOW,..however these pictures made me smile more this time, and when this guy popped his head over my sisters garden fence i just had to snap away..i was lucky my camera was not eaten for breakfast as he was ever so interested and I'm convinced he was posing for me and giving me his best looks.or was he looking at me thinking..fat idiot ?

i made more stuff

so it seems i really have got my motivation back and it seems i cant stop making stuff, and whilst this is brilliant, i kinda don't want to part with these because i honestly love them more than cake. they took far longer to make than they should have but the end result is so worth it.the mix of colours and fabrics and patterns all mesh together in a really complimentary way, and there are features on these that i know i will use again and again knowing that every time a different end result will be achieved.and i really would like to make much bigger versions, the biggest pillow here is only 11 inches square, and the amount of work in that took ages so a bigger version would need to retail for a much higher price, but i think it will look amazing.so sadly for me, these are now in my shop for sale, is it wrong that i don't care if they don't sell.. it just means i can gaze lovingly at them for a little longer, and knowing my success with etsy ill have quite some time to admire them I'm sure.

st for steven

so t for today the postman delivered to me a p for parcel full of goodness, one that i have been excited to see since i b for bought it a few weeks ago... its a vintage consonant poster card,look at it its more lovely than a box full of lovely things.
i got it from a fab e for etsy shop called maymouse,and it wasn't to difficult for me to fall in love with this as i collect things with the letter S, and this has the first 2 initials of my n for name so it was a no brainer, and the s for star was just to good to be true. and the shop still has some lovely ones available, i wish i had bought the queen one and the r for ring one, but i didn't so never mind, and included in the package was a set of v for vintage playing cards that spelt out my name, that was a nice touch that made me s for smile...so r for run along now and b for buy yourself one of the remaining cards, oh and they are not small, just a bit less than A3...if you k for know what i mean.

thanks to sex and the city

so Thursday afternoon was happily spent watching sex and the city on DVD and making some stuff, some soft toys to be precise, and i wanted to make some specifically for the shop as all the other little ones i make seem to get sold in carry me home long before i get chance to list them, so i got out some nice fabrics and just started, no plans were drawn and no patterns or sketches used, and these are the end result, and i love them.however i did steal a few of the triangles i made for my work in progress that i chatted about earlier for some ears.i normally name my accidents, that's what i call the toys i make, but not this time, but i have given the ribbon one a funny description in the shop that made me chuckle as i was typing it..she is romantically challenged, that's all ill say ?i knew following the cushion i made a while back with all the ribbons that i would re-use this style and i think it works really well here, and i finished them both off with nice felt love hearted bottoms. i don't know how the ribbon doll ended up looking angry, but that's what happened, maybe i was sewing them on during that dramatic bit in the film where she whacks him with her flowers...i love that bit.anyway they are in the shop now and I'm sure they will be joined soon by some new stuff, i just have to decide what film to watch first ?

wowzer

so this makes my heart go boom boom boom,i saw it on flickr and its from solgrim. now i can't crochet and have never had a lesson,(maybe one day ?) but i can sew and I'm wondering if i could create a similar effect with fabrics ?.. mmmmm something to think about, but for now,..holy crap this is beautiful. don't you agree.

a busy week

so its been a week since my last blog, I'm a rubbish blogger sometimes, but its been a busy week what with Easter and just general rubbish that's far too boring to talk about, but I'm enjoying the creative process again after a long run of pure boredom with it all... and these following pics are some work in progress that will end up as cushions (i think)i spent longer on these than the financial return will be worth to cut out dozens of triangles, and if i could only decide what to do with them then I'm confident all will turn out to be rather lovely..am i the only one that never really knows what the end result will be when a new project is started ?, why do you think my blog is called stevens happy accidents..and this following crazy little quilt patchwork thing is what i created from the scraps i created by cutting out the triangles, and i rather love it and will use it somehow ?watch this space to see what these all become...

i finally finished them

so these cushions have been a work in progress for many months, i even talked about them here in this old post from last November, but now they are finished and in my shop and i bloody love them.i like using ribbons and braids and get quite giddy when i find nice new ones to play with. and this fringed ribbon cushion and the smaller chevron style one uses many different types that when all used together create a special unique colorful end result that i hope you agree is quite lovely.i do wish they were slightly bigger, but i fear if i had done this then i might never have finished them.as you can see in my previous post i do like cushions and pillows scattered all around and i have many more ideas for them that i will eventually get made and listed in the shop.but for now my head is filled with ideas for quilts id like to try and the chevron cushion is going to be a big inspiration... don't you just love how one idea can lead to another.

home

so this is where i sit and watch TV, read my blogs and generally just hang out wasting time and day dreaming,..but i always make sure that this area is full of colour and comfort and texture to make the many hours wasted here are worth it. i love cushions and pillows and have many all around on every chair, i have made most of them, from fabrics i printed or t towels from target (apples and cherries).and the home sign on the wall i made too, these letters are something i want to develop further, but for now they make me smile, so that's good enough for me.and talking of cushions, i have finally finished 2 of them that have been on the go for months,and they will be listed later in my shop, here is a sneak peek for now..

cups and mugs

so i was inspired to do this post by a favorite blog of mine called, design is mine, and in this post she talked about cups and how she loves them, and it really got me thinking about my own mini cup addiction, and i thought it would be a funny and interestingly visual post for my little blog..all of these mean something to me in there own funny colourful little way and i use some more than others depending on my mood, the funny thing is that in my house I'm the only one that has hot drinks (my David does not do tea or coffee, i know, hes a freak) so they are all for me myself and i to enjoy, and i think its amusing that i have 19 to choose from, I'm sure houses with many people who all drink hot drinks don't have as many.one of the cups above was my grandmothers and is very special to me, can you guess which one ?, and this collection is only likely to grow, be it ones from trashy tourist shops in las vegas, or ones from paper chase, i do know that i have made it a tradition that every Christmas my David buys me a Kath kidstone one, so watch this space. more cups are guaranteed.