Cake cake and more cake.....

....at the amazing Cake International exhibition.

 My favourite cake.....amazing!

 The lovely Mish and her well deserved award.....her magnificent wedding cake is below:

 

Dance your cares away.......

 Pooches....

 And of course a Meliguin!

I have ever seen so many amazing creations......so very impressed!
The Simply Vintage stand was very well received and i had a lovely weekend - i even had chance to catch up with a friend from my Drama School days that i have not seen in about 15 years!!

So onto the next challenge - getting the Winter Wonderland theatre show up and running in the Snowdome Tamworth - almost there and ready for opening night/day on Friday.....one giant spider, two huge fluffy monster costumes, two elves and a toy soldier almost finished in 5 days!

Then it is back to the NEC for the huge BBC Good Food Show Winter ........ phew!

Time for a cuppa and....

a slice of Cake & Bake!

It is this weekend - it is back...the monster of a cake show that is Cake & Bake !

Visit us on Facebook for news of  a special show offer!

www.facebook.com/SimplyVintageDesignsUK

Simply Vintage is now in York!

We are sooooo pleased to have a little corner of vintageness in the beautiful The Flax & Twine shop down the Shambles in my gorgeous hometown of York.

The shop sells all kinds of loveliness from haberdashery, pretty gifts, homeware and lots of beautiful hand selected vintage items.

Open everyday the shop also has a tea room with lunches and fabulous afternoon teas. 

We will have lots of vintage homewares, linen and cutlery on show - don't forget to let us know if you would like something specific stocking and we will bring it along!

York is where i was born and bred so to have a little outlet here makes me so very happy - and on such a historic street! My first job at 16 was working on the York Guide Friday tour buses  telling all manner of tourists the history of York including the shortest street with the longest name (Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate next door to the Shambles) and the wonky overhanging street that is the Shambles ( name comes from the butchers shelves that lined the street  - fleshamels ) cor - you don't forget these things do you!!!! I shall not bore you any more......

Some photos of the inside coming shortly...... x

The Do-ya-think-he-saurus....

Cake!

Now, i am no professional cake decorator - but i spend an awful lot of time around cake for work and for eating!!

So for my fabulous friends special birthday i created this little creature and fully enjoyed myself!

I used the excellent Culpitt Cake Decorating Sugar Paste - for a beginner like me it was fantastic to use and so easy to roll and model with......

 Easy to shape thanks to a number of episodes of Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes and their rice krispie treats.....

 The covering was the scariest part - a few crinkles here and there but the paste was amazing to work with and was so easy to fix

 Almost there......

 His crown was made from the paste and some brilliant jewels also from Culpitt - they look great and taste nice too (well i have to try one for the team!)

All finished - Mr Henry the Doyathinkhesaurus.........she loved him!

A Great Yorkshire Show !

Phew what a scorcher!

Last year 6 inches of mud...this year melting stock and a heatwave......not that i am complaining (too much!) It was lovely to see so many people, some lovely new and old customers - but by 'eck it were hot!

Lots of lovely new stall friends this week - a big hello to: 

Wool and Buttons:

 

www.woolandbuttons.co.uk/ 

Beautiful wool, knitting sets and handmade items and they had a visit from the Great British Sewing Bee chap who loved them - exciting!

And the lovely Penny Lindop and her beautiful animal pictures - i wanted all of them!!!!

 www.pennylindop.com/

Parma Violet were opposite with their fabulous animal head wall mounts - again....i wanted all of them plus a pair of foxy slippers 

 

www.parmaviolet.co.uk/

 Mmmmmmm - the fabulous Lottie McPhee's were here too

Oh yes and here am i.......

 My fabulous daddy in the background helping ......

And what next.......the Discover Vintage fair at Ripley Castle near Harrogate on Sunday then a few weeks off to collect and gather for a mad mad mad few months before Christmas!
I am just updating the events page so please have a look to see if our paths will cross!

Coming shortly is a new service i am going to be offering at the larger busy fairs ......watch this space!

BBC Good Food Show Summer...

...a fabulous week!

What a week that was - amazing organisers, venue staff and of course the wonderful customers that visited.....

A lovely feature in the show guide:
 

Some fabulous Celeb shoppers......

 

The beautiful Lisa Faulkner chose some stunning china and cutlery for her next book.

www.lisafaulkner.co.uk

We were lucky to be near some amazing other stallholders....a big mention to Lottie McPhee's and their gorgeous cupcakes, bars and loaf cakes.  www.lottiemcpheescupcakes.com i ate way to many, but worth every delicious calorie!

The lovely Gower Cottage Brownies are amazing and the sent a lovely box to my daddy on Father's Day www.gowercottagebrownies.co.uk ! Next door was the lovely Tim Kinnaird www.macaronsandmore.com - delicious!

Some beautiful sprinkles, decorations cases and accessories from both www.scrumptious.uk.net and www.bakerscreations.com



So, my feet are up - TV is on - cuddles with the pampered pooch and life is good! Cannot wait until the next one......

....next up is the BIG Vintage Fayre at Hedingham Castle followed by the Country Living marquee at the great Yorkshire Show!

xx

Back to the.....

....Future!

I am currently sitting in the lounge at Fiji airport ready to go back in time and back to the UK after an amazing couple of weeks being pampered, being lazy, adventuring underwater, exploring and helping out at the premier of my husbands latest film Bula Quo (a film he produced last year in Fiji hence us being here again this year!)

We set off today, overnight in Korea and land back in the UK tomorrow! Cannot wait for the jet-lag !

Straight back into vintage life though with the lovely Vintage at Farnham Maltings on Sunday, pick up more stock ( and my beautiful pooch ) from my parents who have been brilliant as looked after everything at vintage land for me! Then back to do the fabulous Wealden Times Midsummer Fair.

A quick turnaround and up to Birmingham for the week and the BBC Good Food Show where we will be in the Great British Bake Off village.... First time there so fingers crossed!

Right, the flight has been called so off I go into the past...... I shall be posting later in the week with some ticket offers as freebies!

Bye for now.... Xxx

May the Fouth....

...Be with You!

(well almost....but i love the gag!)

So lots has happened since my last posting....many great events, a new venture and an amazing holiday to look forward to!

First up last weekend was the excellent 'Festival of Vintage' at York Racecourse. A lovely event with some amazing outfits to view, cars to drool over and music to boogie to.

Here is a picture of a gorgeous couple who bought my Picnic Case....

Cannot wait to be back next year.......


With all these amazing events i needed to stock up so off on another adventure with my Dad up to Barnard Castle and a new auction... a little more refined affair than i am used to - but got some lovely new stock....plus had lunch with this chap on our way back......in North Yorkshire!!!

He was a bit grumpy though.....altogether now......He had the hump!!


So onto the weeks ahead.....next saturday i am jetting off to the paradise island that is Fiji - courtesy of my hardworking husband who has to go back to finish off the film he has been working on for the past year! (Bula Quo for any of you Status Quo fans out there - released in the UK in July starring the legendary Quo! www.bulaquo.com)
Thanks Tim!!

Straight back to it on  my return - although i am sad to miss the Village Vintage in Plumpton i shall be back and hopefully wide awake for Vintage at Farnham Maltings. Then straight onto Wealden Times Midsummer Fair and a rush up to Birmingham for the BBC Good Food Show !

Then round off June with  BIG Vintage Fayre at Hedingham Castle!

Check out the events page to see all our new events.....

Phew!

The next great news is that as of Tuesday/Wednesday i shall have a space in the Halstead Antiques Centre

http://www.halsteadantiquescentre.co.uk/

I will have a huge selection of China, homewares, Linens, 50's kitchenalia and gifts on display at my usual great prices!!

That is about it for now.....until next time...TTFN!
 x

Finally finished my 21 day challenge!

Phew..... that was a bit mad! 

This was my itinery for the last 21 days.....

1. Build up for Country Living Show in Islington
2. Teaching a business and entrepreneur workshop for a school in Lewisham and then go and finish setting up the stand at CL
3. Country Living Show opens until 9pm 
   
   
   
   
4. Country Living all day
   
5. Country Living again
   
6. Ooooh more Country Living.....decide not to cook and instead grab a take away complete with a dose of food poisoning.....lovely!
7. Country Living....along with sore belly and head!
8. Break down stand from Country Living
   
9. Travel to York
10. Preparations for a grand 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration for my Aunt and Uncle (ex- Ballroom world Champs!) and our close friends Son's wedding
11. Finish off 14 table centrepieces, venue decor, 22 floral arrangements and more
12. Make 255 cupcakes and decorate two large cakes (thanks for the help Waitrose on those)
    
    
    
    
13. Set up for Golden Wedding Celebrations in Hull. Dance the night away, remove all venue decor and drive back to York ...oh yeah and the clocks went forward!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. At silly o clock in the morning after aprox 3 hours sleep we set off for the beautiful Cotswolds and to a bright sunny Burford we arrived and started setting up the next cupcake tower and sweetie table. Get changed in 5 mins and dance the night away.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. Half a day off and enjoyed brunch with friends and then back to London.
16. Wholesalers today for a spot of shopping for some vintage style treats for the stand.
17. Back up to York via Birmingham to drop the Mr at the Gadget Show! Quick cuppa and off to see the lovely Hazel for some of her vintage finds.
18. Set off to Manchester and set up time for Cake and Bake Show 
    
19. The Cake & Bake Show opens at Manchester Central. Watch Mr Hollywood, Mr Whaite, Ms Turner and more....
20.  More Cake and Baking
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. And a bit more Cake and Baking then time to pack up and head back to York!

Whoa......a day off yesterday and back to London tonight!

Full update of the events page to follow very soon as lots of new exhibitions, fairs and markets.