Le Bossu

Has anyone ever seen Le Bossu starring Daniel Auteuil? I love this film and I was watching it last night when I was making a new necklace and now whenever I look at the finished trinket, it reminds me of scenes from the film! The story is about a French noble who is murdered by his cousin (for money, of course) and before he dies, he begs his friend to avenge him and to save his baby daughter. Without giving away the ending, you can probably guess that this is a wonderful set up for a tale of revenge, swordplay and adventure. Le Bossu means 'the hunchback' and at one point, the protagonist dresses up as a hunchback to try to find out who killed his friend. I would love to read the book Le Bossu but alas I don't read French and I don't think it has ever been translated into English. I will have to content myself with Alexandre Dumas and Airman by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer (which owes a lot to The Count of Monte Cristo but is still a great read) if I want swash and buckles!

Bluebirds do exist!

Due to my near obsession with buying vintage trinkets at the moment I have inevitably built up quite a collection! After a lovely little blue 1950s swallow brooch arrived on my doorstep this morning, I thought I might photograph and share the items that I have decided to keep for now.

The little blue swallow earrings are my absolute favourite. I like that they don't match in the least and are slightly damaged and I don't know if anyone would appreciate them as much as me so I will be obliged to keep them even though the clips are really strong and they kind of hurt to wear them!!! Still, at least there's little danger of them falling off!

I am going to try to learn how to use a technique called cold enamelling, which will hopefully allow me to recreate the effect of translucent colours merging seamlessly to create this lovely blue to green to red effect. Watch this space to see how it all turns out! :)

He's Got a Hot Ear

I shop a LOT on etsy and have many favourited shops but I don't always buy everything that I want because then the fine balance that I tread between solvency and bankruptcy would be forever disturbed and I would literally get buried alive by beads. However, when this little ring popped up on the very handy but slightly evil 'other items from your favourite sellers' part of etsy, I was forced to purchase it straight away! If, like me, you are a big fan of Japanese Anime and slightly odd usually sci-fi inspired characters then I think you will LOVE Lovely Ruthie. She creates chibi-fied versions of our favourite characters from books and the silver screen or goggle box and brings them to life in the form of kitsch, very reasonably priced little trinkets!

I bought the Gene Hunt earrings for my friend for Christmas and they were awesome so I had no qualms about purchasing this little Moss ring from the IT Crowd. As you can see, he is pretty darned special (in a very good way!) so why not go forth and buy your favourite character? Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Ban Midou and Ginji from Getbackers... the possibilities are endless!

If you haven't seen the IT Crowd, it is available from Channel 4OD here.

New Vintage Finds...

Here are some of the treasures that I have picked up recently!





All available from my etsy shop although they are unique so if you like something you'd better act quickly!! :)

For the Love of Vintage

I came across Mishka Vintage today- a wonderful shop and stylist haven that holds a veritable trove of treasures from exquisite vintage dresses to accessories. This is an opulent experience where you can pick a unique outfit right down to choosing beautiful jewellery sparkling with rhinestones from an ornate little chest of drawers.
The owner calls it her 'glittering spaghetti' and it is quite overwhelming for the enthusiast to hunt through the quality selections of vintage pieces on offer. This is actually my idea of heaven!!

By far my favourite item of clothing was this 1920s Alice in Wonderland costume,
which must have once been used on stage (perhaps even on the West End?) and would be the crowning glory of any fancy dress party!

Mishka is often frequented by stylists and you may even find the odd dress that has been worn by Charlotte Church or Lily Allen! The owner, Lizzie has had the shop for ten years, which has given her ample time to build up such an extensive collection of quality items.

Located at 210-212a Middle Lane N8 7LA near Crouch End, it is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and add that truly special garment to your 2011 wardrobe!

For further enquiries call 0208 341 3853.

Get thee to the Nunnery!

If you are in the vicinity of London for the month of February and would like to spend an hour looking at the work of up and coming and extremely talented young artists, I can thoroughly recommend Apocalypstick at The Nunnery Gallery in Bow.

A light and airy space filled with neon wonders, Apocalypstick features work by twelve artists and is a mix of paintings, sculpture, installations and video art. Fun, accessible and generally an excellent way to spend an afternoon!

The exhibition is open Fridays to Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. from 4th - 27th February.