Pieces of wonderful: Open for business..

Hello petals,

How has the last week treated you? My week seemed to go by very quickly, always the way when you have a lot to do.

I have something exciting to share with you today. My Etsy shop is now officially open for business and you are all invited to have a look round. While you're there, enjoy a special 10% discount just for you my lovely readers. Just use the coupon code 'WONDERFUL' before you check out.

Click here to visit my emporium

I am calling it my 'Vintage Emporium' because it just always sounds so magical to me, like a place full of wonder and those kind of places always put a smile on my face.

In my shop you will find beautiful vintage treasures from mismatched china to linens and some hand made bits as well but my aim is to sell the treasures that I find...because I always seem to find something. I have some really really lovely vintage trios and other china bits to list very soon so do keep checking back. You will not be disappointed, I honestly don't know how I'm going to part with them.

So apart from busily listing vintage lovliness on Etsy I have had a very relaxing weekend. I had the pleasure of spending Saturday with one of my best friends in her families holiday home in Shropshire. We were surrounded by such incredible countryside, different to any I had seen before in the UK (and I've seen a lot of the british countryside) and we had a lovely day. We spent a few hours in the gorgeous market town of Ludlow. What a place. We stumbled across many a treasure trove for me to rummage around in. A rather wonderful print and art shop that for some reason had an amazing collection of mismatched china to rummage through. Hooray.

I am becoming an expert at spotting pretty plates in the middle of a stack and carefully dismantling the perfect piles.

When I eventually tore myself away from the piles of china I spotted this sign..

I cannot resist the word 'brocante'..sadly everything inside was extortionately priced so I was very restrained but it was a delight to explore the three floors crammed with history be it in the form of clothing or home wares. Of course I took some pictures of my favourite corners.

But I think, the highlight of the trip was the architectural salvage yard that we stumbled upon. Salvage yards are the kind of places that I have long wanted to visit but never had the opportunity. My mum swears by them and I can absolutely see why. What an incredible mix of such eccentric items. From huge stone boar statues to stain glass windows, you couldn't move for all the fascinating items. And in the barn area they had a wonderful selection of fixtures of fittings, door knockers, old locks and keys, gas lanterns..you name it. I didn't expect to find a single thing, but..I seem to be on a bit of a winning streak lately. I found the most wonderful Victor wrought iron book stand. I had been looking for one for ages and this one was a real beauty. Heavy, chunky and really old. You can buy them new for £30-£50 but let me tell you, the one I found was a fraction of the price and with ten times the character, history and appeal.