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,

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,

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.)

Free store!

I have found this nifty little site that lets you create a store, customise the widget and post it to your blog, facebook, myspace.. in fact just about anywhere you want to stick it! LOL
Have added a handmade tutu so if anyone wants one am taking custom orders now :-)

Just thought I'd let ya'll know!

Fran xx

ooooh yummy!

I'm feeling a bit smug, I made some yummy, yummy cupcakes and some

cookies for the first time EVER and they came out just perfect.........

well almost if you don't count the icing bag bursting half way

though and having to use a freezer bag..........

I don't think I will try to make these again for a while.

Gumpaste stuff is sooo much harder to do than it looks ok? :-)

These little beauties took about six hours to make 16 of them

and then they had to dry for about 4 days.

Isn't that cute! edible glitter too.....

Ok -so they were the easy part but look how flat the tops are,

I was sooooo happy, happy, happy that I didn't have to squash

them down or cut the tops off,

that would have got really messy....

Ta Daaaaaaaaaa! One finished cupcake. Isn't that pretty?

Love,