Vintage Kitsch at Pilfered

I have to hold my hands up and admit that one of my biggest time wasters is sitting on Facebook.
I know, it’s usually a pointless feed of nonsense and other folks moans and woes. But sometimes you come across something like this that really, really catches your eye!

I know; gorgeous isn’t it!! Does it remind anyone else of certain lovely Pin Up lady?

How about this adorable set of bottles?

Or these terribly pretty ceramic pin up vases?

So being the frightful nosy poke that I am I just had to know more about these super creations.

I contacted the lady responsible (who turned out to be simply lovely and is called Jenna Greenwood by the way) and asked if I could feature some of them on this little blog. I also asked her one or two questions which she very kindly answered.

Mumma Bunny   What is the name of your Company, how did you come up with it and where are you?

Jenna   Pilfered! It came to me when I was trying to explain that I ‘pilfered’,  bottles and jars from recycling bins to paint. I’m based in Bradford, West Yorkshire

Mumma Bunny  Do you work from home or have a studio?

Jenna   Home...much to my parents displeasure (they are forever tripping over tea pots and cleaning up after me!)

Mumma Bunny   What made you start Pilfered?

Jenna   I am a Medical Photographer by day and missed getting my hands dirty! I have an art and design background and prior to being a photographer, almost ended up on a fashion design degree before retraining at the last minute.  I try my hand at most crafts...jewellery making, photography (less nowadays as it’s my job) and painting anything I can get my hands on!

Mumma Bunny   Where do you get your inspiration from?

Jenna   Anywhere and everywhere...50s kitsch, animals, circus themes, food and my childlike imagination!

Mumma Bunny   Do you have any plans to expand the range to include textiles or furniture?

Jenna   I would love to try larger scale items like refurbished furniture but currently don't have the space!

Mumma Bunny   What are your dreams for the Company?

Jenna   To be able to leave my full time job, have my own workshop and maybe a trusted assistant to mould Pilfered into a much sought after, collectable and well loved brand.

The very talented Jenna will take your forlorn and unloved China, Glass or even Mirrors and turn them into these lovely pieces of art.

Just perfect for your dressing table, kitchen, sitting room; in fact I think I would put them anywhere. That’s the beauty of them, you get to pick from a range of things she has available to be made beautiful. 

Not only that but she also has a marvellous selection of transfers such as these for you to browse to make your choice even more personal. 

Was there ever anything more perfect for a girly prezzie?! (Not that any special days are coming or anything like that of course...)

You can find Pilfered and Jenna on Facebook where she takes orders and you can have a peek at more of her work. You can also buy pretty things ready to deliver online.

Everything is modestly priced in my humble opinion but she has kindly offered my readers a further 10% off an order until the end of October, hurrah! As she has recently added some Halloween themed items this couldn’t come at a more perfect time. Just quote the code Newpal1 when you place your order.

Thank you so much Jenna for taking the time to talk to me about your work and of course I wish you every success with Pilfered. Here’s to seeing it sold nationally very soon!

Love,

Happy Fathers Day!

Am not quite sure what prompted me to post after so many weeks; it's been a strange year and I am trying to put into words why I haven't blogged for a while but haven't quite managed it yet. (Hopefully I will soon...)

I have however, managed to do some crafty things with the girls for Fathers Day. They had such fun  making everything. As with all of the special days, I really object to mass produced rubbish. After lots of browsing I found so many lovely things for us to make; there really are some generous and very talented folk out there!

I thought this idea from Amy at The Ideas Room was super. We adapted it a bit as I wanted to treat Mr Bunny to a taste of home. So some Australian beer was ordered and the girls coloured in the little shirts and ties to add to them.

I picked up the wine carrier for nothing at the supermarket and mixed the paint from some leftover pots.
Then I stood back and let them at it. There was the odd splatter on the cheeks of one and the other one had it in her nostrils ( you don't have to ask) but they actually did a really good job of it and didn't fling it around the room at all!

Once it was dry they put the bottles in and I made a label for it. I think it looks fab; Mr Bunny certainly looked pleased with it!

We also filled a large jar with sweets to go on his desk. I cannot lie; this did involve a small amount of sampling by the twins. Obviously they had to make sure they were nice before they parted with them. The labels came from the Martha Stewart website. She has some very clever ideas and lots of free printables too.

We also made him a little book of vouchers for car washing, lawn mowing, foot rubs and other such Daddy treats. I did the ribbon and the girls did the stamping and punching.

Vouchers from Martha Stewart

After the big clean up and lunch they made handprints and I framed them for Mr Bunny to hang in his study. I couldn't for the life of me find a twin handprint poem so I re jigged one that I found online. I think this gave Daddy the biggest smile of all.

Add to that a much deserved lie in, big brekkie, relative peace and quiet, managing to escape without the twins this afternoon,  followed by a huge roast I think it's safe to say that we have a happy Daddy!
Hope you all had a lovely day, whatever you did.

Love,

No More Eggs!!!

I didn't manage to post much over Easter as we were rather busy visiting people and the weather was far too nice to be indoors. I did try and do as many crafty things with the girls as I could muster this year; they really do love it. I don't know why but the thought is always worse than the actual doing and they actually were really good!
I gathered lots of supplies the week before and boiled/blew the eggs out ready and they were rather excited.

I already had the red acrylic paint from Christmas but bought (what I thought would be) fun stencils for eggs too.
I had my own stash of supplies to play with when they were in bed. Egg painting is a tricky business; you can only paint one side at a time so it's a lengthy one too 'sigh'. I kept them on the work top and did a coat each time I boiled the kettle. Anyway, here are my supplies. Left over sample pots, very handy!

The girls were SO careful with their eggs. I put a little dab of sticky roller on the bottom of a tray so the eggs wouldn't roll about and each missy picked a colour.

The stencils were pants frankly. Despite much 'dab dabbing' and careful holding on the paint ran and the pictures non existant. Sooooo, we ditched them and they painted them all over, getting covered in the process. When they were dry the girls covered them in punched shapes, glitter and sparkly bits; much more fun!

They were exhausted after all that sticking and sprinkling so decided a lolly was in order; girls need sugar you know!

Why do so many of my pics have laundry drying in them?

I had also picked up some feathers and sticky bits to make some chicks so after we had washed our hands, faces and the table again they happily glued their creations.

I think they had a lot of fun despite sitting at the table most of the day. We also did some thumbprint chicks & bees which they really enjoyed. I had my fun once they had gone to bed, six pastel eggs decorated with my new Martha Stewart punch.

 and one polka dot one which I think is just lovely!

Happy Belated Easter, hope it was fun!

Love,

So where DID the week go?

I can't believe it's almost Thursday. I do look forward to them as it's the only day off from the twins I get.
My sanity or 'Twin Free Thursday' as it's known.

But I was full of good intentions to do so much this week. I made lists, set Calendar reminders and found lovely reasonable pictures.
In fact, I had so many things to blog about that I actually ended up doing none of them; consequently my little page has remained unloved this week.'sniff'

I had promised myself to join in with MochaBeenieMummy again on Silent Sunday. It's great fun to do, doesn't require you to be a fabulous writer or photographer ( although the standard of piccies is remarkable most weeks and puts my efforts to shame!) There are some lovely bloggy ladies who take part too.

So why didn't I?

It started with Sunday; which was spent watching number two son dance his little Tap shoes off at a fabby masterclass in London. It reqired a horribly early start and we didn't get home until quite late. It's a whole other post altogether as I was actually meant to leave him at his class and take the underground to a Vintage Fair.
(Something else I meant to blog about but haven't managed)

Then I wanted to take part in Magpie Monday. Missielizzie and I definately share a love of charity shop finds and I have lots of them to share at the moment. But Monday was spent doing huge amounts of laundry as being away on Sunday meant that the beds weren't done.

Is there a pattern here?

The Gallery is another blog event that I have wanted to take part in for a while but always either miss it or don't have the right type of picture!
This weeks theme was trees but I have been so cold this week that I haven't really been in the mood to venture out to take any. The lovely Tara assured me on Twitter that the beauty of it is that you can join in anytime so I am absolutely determined to do so next week, on Wednesday...

I have been a little busy though, besides administering love, mummy hugs and clean pj's to the small people I have started to write my very first tutorial.
I hope it will be simple to follow and someone will actually try it and let me know if it's not a dreadful disaster? I have made a couple of these lovely necklaces for the twins last Birthday

 Aren't they pretty? Which is more than can be said for the face Dimples is pulling at lashes. 'ahem'..moving swiftly on.

I plan to make some more to match their new summer frocks this year and I think it might be fun to make some up using some Vintage beads if you have any that are beyond repair? (Of course, I could never advocate breaking up the precious Vintage ones!!)

So that's about the week sewn up. Not much accomplished but onwards and upwards,
Hope you all are faring much better,
Love

Just had to share!

I know Christmas is almost over and so I apologise for this post in advance. Having been horridly ill for most of it I didn't get chance to share many of my creations this year, notably the twins Christmas outfits and the cute gift tags I designed.

So here is a shameful display of my talents, limited such as they are.

Aren't they adorable? The tops are all my own creation too. The headbands are altered ones from a large unmentionable department store. The leggings by me too, fur topped with large dots on. The fur cuffs are removable, marabou sewn onto red headbands, inspired hey? (Although sewing with marabou is not something I am anxious to repeat unless bribed with large amounts of chocolate)

Here is twin two trying on the half finished outfit very patiently for me. You can see the Reindeer more clearly on this pic, sans ribbon bow of course.

I also made some rather nice gift tags this year too. Darling husband has been very generous in creating a lovely, organised craft area for me so I was able to stamp and punch my merry afternoons away. I think they are very sweet and I do love red & aqua!

Last but not least, I saw some adorable little Christmas Trees and just had to try my hand at them. You buy them from the Miniature Village Websites, the sort that sells things for Train sets. They come very dark green. You bleach them and dye them and roll them in glitter. I love them! I shall be making lots of these next Christmas now I know how easy they are. Even if they did make the kitchen a tad whiffy, I think you'll agree that they are well worth it?

Just a shame you can't really see just how sparkly they actually are.

I promise, no more Christmas posts, I am undecking the halls or whatever the term is, this weekend. So I will be full of the joys of spring, bulbs flowering, new projects and maybe the odd resolution or two.

Love

Recipe for happiness.............

Just had to share my newest creations......... and their
srummy models :-)

Two baby pink tulle tutus.

125 yards tulle-hand tied on no-roll elastic, umpteen yards of
baby pink satin ribbon, four yards oyster pink chiffon ribbon-curled,
six pink gerberas with pink crytal centres.......
and sixty teeny tiny crystal hearts hand glued by moi........
with love of course!
Add to that two satin ribbon wrapped headbands with baby pink gerberas and a crystal centre.

Then...................

Take two very excited five year old birthday princesses
and this is the result :-)

Aren't they just gorgeous girls!

Happy fifth Birthday girls and thankyou to their mummy for letting me post their pics :-)

Thankyou to Kimberley at Angel Babes Tutus for the quick ship of the tulle from the US too.
Her tulle is just the softest and she has a great range of colours!
(She also does custom orders and accessories for your little princess.)