The Vintage Bazaar, this Saturday, 8th March!

The Vintage Bazaar is this Saturday 8th March at Devizes Corn Exchange.  Doors open at 9.30am and it promises to be a cracker full to the brim of beautiful, eclectic vintage, collectibles, antiques, fabrics.  Just about everything you could wish for in a vintage fair.

 As you may have realised I like this fair, I like it a lot!  This will be my third time standing here and I can't wait.  The atmosphere with the other stallholders is just so friendly and once the public come in, it takes it to another level which is fun and exhilarating.  I love chatting to people about my wares and I find Devizes is just the place to do that. people are genuinely interested in the history of the pieces and that makes selling even more of a pleasure.  I am taking slightly different stock with me this time as I have gone back to my roots and managed to find some beautiful french, faded pieces that will hopefully go down well.

What every girl needs, a pretty fan box to store her fan when she's not using it to communicate with her intended!  Over the centuries women have communicated in a 'secret' sign language using their fans to allow a potential suitor to know if they are taken or available for some flirtations. There are a whole lot of different moves that would be used but the one I would find most useful as its a word that I use quite often at home is letting the fan rest on the left cheek. This means that the answer is NO!

An amazing French writing bureau to store your love letters.  I've never seen anything like this, so unusual and a real collectors piece.

Still on the faded fabric theme, beautiful antique fabric drawers to store your handkerchiefs, gloves, lace and veils.

More fabric drawers, a letter rack, old boxes

This will be hard to part with. An old sedan chair to display jewellery or an old doll.  Rare and unusual.

Finally showstopping pieces in the form of Globe de Mariee.  These were cushions used by a french couple to display their wedding bouquet, tiara etc.  The couple would commission the piece and all the different elements such as the bird or mirrors, flowers were symbols that meant something to them.  Very interesting and a real talking point.  I would love to have seen inside the houses of the people who would have had one of these!

This is just a small array of the items I will be taking with me on Saturday.  If you would like to see who else will be having a stall then just click here.

If you can make it then please do come and say hello :)

List of Vintage, Antique and Collectable Fairs in May 2013

Once again its time for the list that helps you plan your vintage month.  All these fairs are taking place in May and where possible I have included their websites for you check opening times etc.

To kick off we have Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair at Old Spitalfields Market.  It is on Saturday 4th May and doors open at 11am.  There will be 100 stalls offering everything from 100 years of affordable fashion, Flapper through to swinging 60s, vintage accessories, vintage furniture and homewares, menswear, upcycled and handmade and sales rails galore.  Judy's fairs are well known and travel round the country offering different vintage experiences so check out there websites for other dates and towns.

Sunday 5th May sees a fair that I haven't heard of before.  Blighty Boutique Vintage and Handmade Fair is being held at Hatton Village Hall, Warwickshire and doors open 11am.  Two of my fellow stallholders who I have met through doing these fairs, Stephen and Judy from All things Vintage and Beautiful will have a stand there and they always sell the most wonderful items, I think I buy a little something from them everytime!

Arun Fair - Woodland Centre

  
Arun Fairs run several fairs around Sussex and the first of the monthly is the monthly Woodland Centre Fair in Rustington.  Held on the first Sunday of every month the next fair is Sunday 5th May and doors open 10am.  50 stalls selling antiques and collectables.

Arun Fairs - Goodwood

Bank holiday Monday 6th May is Arun Fairs, Goodwood Racecourse Antiques and Collectables fair.  Doors open 9am and there are about 300 stalls.

I can't wait for this one!  The beautiful Brocante Antique and Decorative Fair is held once a year and this year the venue is the stunning Nonsuch Mansion in Cheam, Surrey.  This promises to be a visually stunning day out with 50 stallholders selling the best in vintage and Antiques.  Doors open at 9.30 on Thursday 9th May.  You can prebook your tickets with VIP parking by clicking the link to organiser Nikki Page's website.  Do try and make this one if you can and make a full day of it, enjoy the vintage and antiques and your surroundings, lets hope the sun shines!

 The monthly Cuckfield Vintage Emporium is back on Friday 10th May at the Queen's Hall, Cuckfield.  Doors open 11am.  Very nice monthly fair with a good selection of dealers, preloved clothes and wonderful tea room.  Cuckfield is also nice to have a stroll around afterwards!

Imagine 3 whole days to indulge in your antique, vintage and collectable obsession.  Well you don't have to imagine anymore as IACF is hosting the 3 day Shepton Mallet Antiques and Collectors Fair on Friday 10th May through until Sunday 12th May.  It hosts up to 600 stands and there is bound to be something for everyone.  Doors open 12pm on the Friday.  Check opening times for Sat and Sun.

Saturday 11th May sees the next Pop-Up Vintage at a new venue in Lewes.  This time the fair is at Lewes Town Hall and doors open 10.30am.  Over 60 stallholders offering a range of vintage and collectables plus Lewes has an amazing array of Antique shops if you still need your fix!

The Country Vintage and Artisan Bazaar  is on Sunday 12th May at Ripley Village Hall.  Doors open 11am.  This promises to have stalls with unique vintage ware, amazing artisan work and of course tasty treats after all that shopping!

Sunbury Antiques Market

Tuesday 14th May sees the first Sunbury Antiques Fair of the month.  As always entry and parking are free and doors open at 6.30am.

The annual Decorative Living Fair is on Thursday 16th May at Eridge Park and you can get an earlybird ticket for 9.30am or a standard ticket for entry at 11.30am.  Check out the website and Facebook page as the photos of previous fairs look amazing.  Well worth a day out especially if the sun is shining and you can sit and relax after all the shopping and enjoy the Kent countryside with a little glass of something!

Saturday 18th May is the day for a brand new fair organised by Emily of Love Emily Vintage.  This brand new fair is The Vintage and Artisan Carousel.  Doors open at 11am at the Village Hall in Dial Post.  This looks to be an exciting new fair with lots to see and do including a vintage tea parlour, Betty the Vintage Scoops Ice Cream Van, music from Hannah Summers and of course lots and lots of vintage and handmade!  Entry is free and so is parking.

Sandown Park Antiques Fair is on Sunday 19th May and a great opportunity to go to one of their fairs if you can't make their Tuesday ones.  Doors open 10am and there are 150 indoor stalls plus outdoor stalls.

The Annual Midsummer Fair is held in the beautiful grounds of Trading Boundaries in aid of St Peter & St James Hospice and is being held on Friday 24th May, doors open 10am. It sounds as though it will be a wonderful collection of over 34  Decorative Living, Vintage, Garden, Gifts, Fashion & Food stands.  Plus they have a Live Band, Champagne Bar and tea Tent.  Trading Boundaries has Indian & contemporary furniture and there are a collection of Boutiques with Fashion, Children clothes, Toys, Garden Shop  and Cafe/Restaurant in the Courtyard .  Entry to the Fair is £3 (under 16s and after 3.30pm free)

 

I've been looking forward to this one all year.  Its the Original Vintage and Handmade Fair back again at The Town Hall, Chipping Sodbury.  Doors open at 10am on Saturday 25th May and you can expect to find all the usual quality of vintage and handmade goods on offer. A list of stallholders can be found on their website, click the link above. I loved this fair when I did it last year and you can read about my time here.  I am hoping that this time my car doesn't break down a mile away from the venue!

The Vintage and Very Nice Market Bazaar  is back on Saturday 25th May at the Assembly Rooms, Chichester.  Doors open 10am.  Entry is free and there is a large range of vintage and crafts people bringing you everything you need to create your vintage home.

Sunday 26th May sees the first ever Vintage and Retro Fair organised by Belle's Events.  Doors open 12pm at the Drill Hall, Horsham.  There will be vintage make overs, photo booth boutique, tea room, lots of vintage goodies PLUS you can also have a go at some V&R crafts in the Vintage and Retro Makers' corner.  Sounds like a great day out.

Arun fairs - Fontwell Racecourse

Bank Holiday Monday 27th May is Arun Fairs Fontwell Racecourse Fair where you will find 250+ stalls.  Doors open 9am

The last Sunbury Antiques Fair of the month is Tuesday 28th May.  Doors open 6.30am

Last but by no means least is the wonderful Village-Vintage. A huge two day event held at Plumpton Racecourse on Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June, doors open at 10am.  This was the first fair I had a stall at and I can't recommend it enough.  Full to the brim of quality vintage and handmade stalls this is a great day out.  To read abut my experience please click here.  Even though I don't have a stall I will be first in the queue as I can't wait to see whats on offer.

The fairs I have listed this month look to be wonderful events and well worth a visit especially the annual ones.  Please feel free to share any experience you have of these fairs, I'd love to hear your views.

As always please check the websites for times and venues and if you know of any other fairs which you think should be listed please feel free to contact me.

Happy Hunting! :)

The Vintage Bazaar at Devizes

Well, two weeks after doing my first ever Vintage Bazaar, I am finally writing my blog post about it.
I have to admit I was pretty nervous about this one.  Not long after I booked it we found out that Mark was going to be in Russia, Siberia to be precise (as you do!) for a Kettlebell competition and training camp so there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to come with me.  So what, do it on your own I hear you say but let me let you into a little secret.  I've never driven further than London and I've only done that about 3 times, late at night with hardly any traffic.  That's right, in 20 years of driving the furthest I have driven is about 70 miles!  In the lead up I kept half heartedly saying I was going to cancel but never got round to it and then my good friend Eve very kindly said she would come with me.  Now I had no choice but to man up and get on with the driving as I was responsible for someone else now.  I would also like to point out at this point that I was in considerable pain as a week earlier I had kicked the fridge and the fridge won.  I hadn't been to the hospital but I knew that I may have broken my big toe and as its turned out I have.  So all in all not the best start, I'm really nervous about driving and I have a broken big toe, brilliant!

My left foot!

Anyway after picking Eve up at 4.45am and having to go round the roundabout again because I missed the turning before we'd even left our home town, we were on our way.  I have NO IDEA what I was worrying about!  It took us about 2 hrs door to door and was such an easy drive.  I almost couldn't believe it when we got there, parked right outside and had time to go for some breakfast and a pot of tea at the hotel next door.  Completely stress free and that became the theme of the day, NO STRESS!  After we unpacked I moved the car just round the corner to the all day car park, hobbled back and helped Eve set up.  The fair was being held in Devizes Corn Exchange.

The Corn Exchange in Devizes

What a fabulous venue this turned out to be.  It was central, parking was easy and after you'd perused round the fair you could go and have another rummage in one of the many vintage and antique shops in the town.  There were also plenty of places to eat and enjoy a drink or two plus if you were traveling from far away, Devizes and the surrounding villages are the ideal locations to enjoy a short break.
As for inside the venue, it was light, airy and had a lovely atmosphere about it helped by the 1940s music playing which provided the perfect vintage ambience.  One thing I noticed later on in the day was that there wasn't a tearoom.  I actually felt this was a good thing not only for me, my purse and waistline but it meant that the vintage was the main attraction.
After we set up, we went about having a look at all the other stalls and this is where I got excited.  There were so many dealers that I hadn't met before and that could only mean one thing, that there was a whole load of new goodies to buy!

Peagreen Furniture Co.

Peagreen Furniture Co.

Sam from Peagreen Furniture Co. was there with her candles in vintage cups and saucers and other vintage loveliness, perfect presents.

Hesta Nesta

Hesta Nesta

Hesta Nesta

Jo from Hesta Nesta was there with her beautiful array of French fripperies.  I could spend hours at Jo's stall just touching and looking at all her wonderful items.  Not sure how she'd feel about that though!

The Washerwoman

The Washerwoman

The Washerwoman

The Washerwoman

Lizzie from The Washerwoman was there with her tantalising array of items.  Lizzie co organises The Vintage Bazaar fairs with Clare from Daisy Darling Millinery and they make a formidable team.  Organised, well publicised and a high standard of seller made this fair a pleasure to be at.

Louise Taylor Bowen

Louise Taylor Bowen

Louise Taylor Bowen was there with her gorgeous handmade jewellery and accessories.

Lois Pinnock

Lois Pinnock

Lois Pinnock

Now I know I mustn't be biased but Lois' stall above was my favourite and I could have bought an awful lot from her.  She deals in Decorative and vintage pieces for the home and garden.  In fact I emailed her afterwards as she had had the most beautiful embroidered picture that I couldn't stop thinking about and I asked her to keep it for me until next time, I don't think that will be the only thing I buy from her!  She was sharing a stall with Rebecca Engels who makes bags, cushions and accessories from Vintage material.
Last but not least was..........

Moments Remembered

Moments Remembered

........Moments Remembered who had some great things including the little knitting basket above with vintage fabric that Eve beat me too.  I hadn't even seen it but if I had I would have wrestled her to the ground as its exactly my type of thing!

Above is just a very small selection of the wonderful stallholders who were there and the goods on offer were excellent.  The fair even attracted a famous face Pearl Lowe.  I was very excited about seeing her so I got geared up for her to come over, fall in love with all my items, get Eve to take a photo of her at my stall (discreetly obviously) and...............she just walked past without even glancing at the stall :( My only consolation is that I at least recognised her, I normally only manage to see a famous person when they're 100 yards down the road with their back turned and Mark's pointed them out.

Pretty Nostalgic magazine were also there selling subscriptions and copies of their magazines and I had a quick chat with Jo the Editor.  If you haven't read the magazine and you are a vintage fan then next time you are in WH Smiths treat yourself to a copy.  Go home, put the kettle on, turn your phone off and enjoy everything it has to offer from cover to cover.

As I said at the start, I did manage to partake in a little buying myself.  I managed to spend money before I'd even made any.  Here is what I bought and I know you'll agree that I just had too!

Lois Pinnock - 1850s embroidered box

Lois Pinnock

Lois Pinnock

All things Vintage and Beautiful - Vintage duck with original made in Brighton label

All things Vintage and Beautiful

All things Vintage and Beautiful - Vintage French skittles

All things Vintage and Beautiful

Daisy Darling - Old quilt

Daisy Darling

Daisy Darling

Hesta Nesta - French sewing basket

Hesta Nesta

Hesta Nesta

Hesta Nesta

The fair was busy as soon as the doors opened and there was a constant flow of people all day and the atmosphere was excellent and inspiring.  Many buyers came dressed in vintage clothing and it really added to the day.  There was a real buzz about the fair that just made you feel enthusiastic and it really helped that a lot of people were there who truly love the vintage lifestyle.  They were interested in what you had to sell and wanted to know more and I also found that a few of the buyers were telling me about an item I had which was a lace making cushion in its original box.  One lady who happened to make lace explained to me exactly how they used the cushion and I came away more knowledgeable and happy that someone had been as enthusiastic as me.  She also told me that it took about 5hrs to make an inch of lace so I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon!

All in all The Vintage Bazaar was a wonderful fair that I can't wait to attend again (next Devizes fair Saturday 31st August).  It was made all the better by the excellent organisation, location, enthusiasm of sellers and buyers alike and the fact that I was doing it with my lovely friend Eve who also took the brilliant photos of the fair above.  In fact as Eve said "I don't think there were two seconds we weren't chatting."   Considering we were together for 17 hours, that's pretty good going!!!