Thursday 23 August 2012

I do have decent suitcases too!


A warm welcome to new followers - I hope that this blog is interesting for you.  When I get myself organised I will have a 'giveaway do dah' (keep changing my mind as to what it should be!)


I fear that I convey the impression of living in a junk shop so here in an attempt to redress that I am showing my nice 'new to me, even though I have had it a few years' suitcase - all shiny like a conker!  I took the children to visit one of my sisters for a couple of days so I was hoping that this suitcase would take on the appearance of Grace Kelly's suitcase in 'Rear Window' (I marvel at how her clothes puff out of that case in the film)


If you can identify and remember using the article top left you can join my gang (the password code will be the usual 'Your name is Chalkie White and I claim my prize' - no code, no entry!)


So a Pakawa suitcase still being used many years after being produced - a perfect size, no wobbliness (mind you we like and need wobbliness don't we. If this was perfect I would not dare smother it with fabricos!).



A bit dusty here I notice!



All shiney!

Now this is my sister's house - my sister who pretends that she does not collect anything....this is a very, very small sample of her china.....


And her china brooches...







PS - I have just got another job on top of my current one (my first day today!).  This will mean that (in theory...cough, cough) I will have less time here but more time being  'productive' in an financial sense!! Shop never did get under way...Etsy shelves remain empty...Folksy remains an aspiration...closing the suitcases....switching off  the sewing machine.....burning the embroideries    (What do you think I am  - crazy!!!!).  Will still sell things on ebay from time to time but to be honest selling the bags and purses that I have made was never going to be a money spinner was it - often at  4.99 and still unsold I am not exactly a main competitor! Also Jenny perhaps you should 'fess up to withdrawing things from sale because you feel that they are not very good - confidence always wafer thin. I do marvel at the success of others and how all items are 'sold out' - magico.

Back to teaching my dear human biology amongst other thing. My work ethic means that I never like to turn down an opportunity.  Realise that I am very lucky to have a job in the first place in these current climes.




27 comments:

  1. I am in AWE of that magnifico china brooch collection. (OK the china cups and stuff are splendiferous too)...but I LOVE those brooches...I have a few and cannot imagine possessing a whole bowlful.

    By the way, your bags are lovely and you can be justifiably proud of them, and confident they would sell, and be loved. And you could deffo sell them for more than £4.99..they are worth way more than that. However, Etsy and Folksy do take a lot of time - if you want to do it properly - and it sounds like you might already buckle under your day job workload. Never say never though. :)

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    1. Dear wendz - thank you so much for your kind words. Guess what my sister gets quite often for birthdays and Christmas...One of these fine days I will put something on Etsy/Folksy - the plus side of the internet is that you open a shop and stock it any time of the day!

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  2. How I ADORED the tin of Gibbs dentifrice which I shared with Dad [Mum had dentures so used Steradent] then I had a sleepover with someone who used toothpaste IN A TUBE and she mocked my little tin. Then later I saw Disney's Magic Kingdom - and decided Walt had nicked the idea for his castle from my dentifrice.
    I flirted with Eucryl in my student days [Shirley Conran recommended it in Superwoman] but it wasn't the same. Euthymol is the nearest I have come to the taste of Gibbs - but enforced economy means I am reduced to Boots Basics now.

    best wishes with new job! Waiting to see what comes up on supply teaching front round here.

    blessings x

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    1. Aww Angela - I can identify with seeing a tube of toothpaste for the first time. What metal substance were they made of do you think (could never quite fold them over properly to squeeze out the last drop). Same with Euthymol - love the smell of it (reminds me of Germolene...another memory lane moment!).
      I hope that supply teaching comes up trumps for you
      Best wishes Jenny

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  3. We used Gibbs dentifrice too ... I'd forgotten all about it! Xxx

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    1. The art of toothpaste making (similar to adding water to make mascara in the 'old' days!)...

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  4. Good luck with your new job! Please keep with your fantastic creations though! We will all have withdrawal symptoms otherwise and I'm sure you don't want to be responsible for lots of admissions to A and E, women muttering bring back the Custards!
    I've just had a good couple of hours with my old suitcase, pot of mod Podge and vintage wallpaper! Yes I've started to Custardify my suitcase! It is looking good, I was tempted to make it neat then threw caution to the wind and just started to slap them on! Can't finish til next week but will post pictures when I've done! Ada :)

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    1. Bless your heart Ada. I have made stuff all my life so would be hard to stop cold turkey. Really looking forward to seeing your suitcase in all its glory Ada - the possibilities are endless!

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  5. Congratulations on your new job Jenny, I hope it goes well - I think making a proper living from handmade crafts is nigh on impossible. I know a lucky few manage it but I think the amount of work that has to be done to create & build a 'brand' is immense, and possibly the constraints of having jobs, children etc put it out of the reach of those of us who didn't have the confidence to attempt it when we were young, footloose and fancy free! I hope you still have time for making and blogging, we would miss you terribly if you weren't 'custarding' anymore!!

    I hope you have a lovely weekend. Rachel xx

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  6. Aww Jeny, I am sad that I don't know the password to get in your club! Congrats on the new job but I do hope you still find time to entertain us (selfless to the end!)
    Hen x

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    1. Oh Hen - you need to age a few years and then the glories of Gibbs dentifrice would be yours!!! @making' our own toothpaste was a childhood recreation

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  7. If I had ever stumbled across your crafts on ebay, I would have been a very happy (and much poorer) person...

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    1. Thank you Streetcomber - I think one or two have found me there but I usually keep hidden in an ebay corner (daft really)

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  8. Congratulations on the new job. I found your blog by accident, now I am inspired by many things!
    I have just sold my china brooch collection - now I want it back! Perhaps I'll start a china cup collection!
    Julie xxxxxxxxx

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    1. Oh but the joy of building up a new collection all over again. 'Tis the fickle finger of fate that as soon as you 'move something on to pastures new' you will a whole new love for it!

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  9. Have to say although lovely as the suitcase is {and Im sure the dust has acted as a protective layer}I feel I must say a word for the 'rescue suitcases', many of whom have had a traumatic time suffering who knows what neglect...Their beauty is from within {and the wonderful fabrics/papers they're recovered in} and despite being slightly battered they are still decent old gals!!

    Had to do a triple take at that marvelous china collection and I think the bowl of brooches should have its very own post...Crikey what does the stuff your sister 'does' collect look like??? {my mind is quite literally boggling at the thought that there could be more}

    Hope you've had a wonderful summer, it has been lovely getting to root around your cupboards with you.
    Nicky
    x

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    1. Yes indeed Nicky - the bashed and used things are life show that they had a life and some adventure about them (a have a house full of chipped, damaged, cracked china that bears testament to that!).

      I am the youngest of five children and we all love a bargain. I will do a little post about my family one day - one sister collects Alice in Wonderland books, she has one or two....

      Always welcome to have a rummage in my cupboards (a little on the full side - oh dear)
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  10. My name is chalky white and I claim my prize.... Lol

    I can certainly remember using Gibbs, we had the pink one. As kids we thought we had moved up in world when we were allowed a tube of toothpaste, Punch and Judy - I think....

    I love your sister's collection of brooches, You and your sister are certainly collectors!

    My daughter and I had a day in Your home town this week, trawling the shops......ice cream on the beach oh a trip to the lovely ' golfing' eatery......dread to think how many calories we consumed........

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    1. Very good indeed - glad that you are keeping the code! Punch and Judy toothpaste is not something that I remember - I will have to Google that one.
      Oh I wish I had known that you were so nearby - I am about four minutes walk from the 'golfing' eatery. Please let me know next time if possible and we can have tea and cake in the garden and blow the calories!

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  11. With some blogfriends, French, we've always said that we would plan a kinda "stealing tour" (visiting DMC Museum, Doll Museum, aso) but we have to cross the Channel! I am the champion of the blue and white world, as you know, and I shall visit your sister's cupboard!
    I also have a couple of those cute china flowers brooches, but in that bowl, they're simply stunning! A whole bunch of freshness!
    Setting a shop on the net is surely a very hard work. I can see it with my assemblage jewels. And netwwork is as the real life is (I can tell you I've seen so many disgusting behaviors between sellers... But that's another story!), quite hard but it can also give you many satisfactions.
    Reading your exquisite words, par exemple!
    Kisses and a big hug, and bonne chance for your extra job, Jenny Soleil!
    Amicalement,
    Anne-Sophie

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    1. Dear Anne-Sophie - you are most welcome to visit when you are next in this part of the world.
      Yes indeed - setting up a shop seems effortless but now realise that there is much more to it than just have some nice things! Well done with yours Anne-Sophie
      thank you as always for your kind words
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  12. Psst my name is Chalky White and I claim my prize too. Just thinking about it brings the taste back. We also progressed onto the Punch and Judy toothpaste but I never liked the taste of that. Then we went all modern and moved up to Signal SR with the stripes. Have any of them given me bright white teeth? No creeping old age has done away with any chance of that.
    I love the china brooches too and have one chipped one in my jewellery box that belonged to my grandmother. I wish I had a bowlful.
    As someone who hasn't progressed to having Etsy or Folksy shops yet I am very interested to hear all the less than positive comments. I thought it was only me who was struggling to make any sort of income from my creative wares. I don't think I could stop making things though, that's too much a part of who I am.
    Good luck Jenny in your new job and I hope it goes well for you. Think of it as a means of financing what you really enjoy doing. We'll all be thinking of you. Philippa xx

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    1. Ho ho - well done Chalky and welcome! I remember being fascinated by stripes in toothpaste - what a wonderment that all was. How lovely that you have your grandmother's brooch - those are the best things to have.

      Many thanks for your kind words Philippa - I too could not stop making things really - been doing it for too long!
      Nose to that grindstone!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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    2. I thought of you this morning as I popped in to a local boot sale unexpectedly. I saw a big trunk, an old suitcase, and a wooden sewing box, and each time I thought "Jenny would like this. She would do something magical with it." I don't have your resources of wonderful vintage material so I left said items there. I did however come away with a lovely children's album called "Lots of Fun" (very few abbreviations in sight and lots of "Golly" and "Jolly" and "gay" (not with its modern day meaning), together with some embroidered table runners and a beautiful porcelain rose brooch. Oh and at the last minute I saw some Bunty comics all rolled together for 20p!!! You were definitely guiding my feet through the dross of nasty plastic toys and hideous clothes.
      Best wishes
      Philippa x

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    3. Hello Philippa
      How sweet - I do a similar thing when I see bits and bobs that are lovely I know that someone else in blogland collects them - if only we all lived next door to each other! What gatherings we would have! Is Lots of Fun a Blackie publication? It sounds familiar - looking forward to seeing it and your rose brooch (you will be needing a nice glass bowl to put that in....). Now Bunty comics are a real delight - Bronte and I lurrrrve the Four Marys. Lots of plastics toys yesterday but found one or two treasures (in my eyes)
      Have a lovely day
      Jenny

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  13. Hi Jenny,can I offer my congratulations for getting your new job.Please carry on custarding I do so look forward to sitting with a cup of tea looking at all your lovely photo's,I have some brooches scattered around the house I must gather them to see if I have enough for a little bowl!Her dresser is fab,I have some of the same china on mine!!Kind Regards Pam.

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    1. Hello Pam - thank you for your kind words - need to get into a new routine I think. Looking forward to seeing your brooches too Pam. My sister cleared out lots of china when she moved home but it seems to have grown all over again....
      Have a nice BH

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