Made For Each Other..because some people simply just are.

2014 has been a busy one for us here at Vintage Twee however we never let a year go by without a new addition to our range! Our brand new 'Made For Each Other' collection is full of vintage handmade charm and is perfect for those couples who, well, simply just are.

The complete Made For Each Other range

Inspired by our love for that 'just crafted' feel, the range contains unique Save the Date cards, invitations, place settings, table names and menus which have been designed to create a feeling of vintage romance and affection through the use of a dusty pink, ivory and cream colour scheme.

The items feature a selection of handmade style embellishments such as crochet lace, unique tape measure ribbon, silken thread and cute buttons for a traditional and nostalgic feel.

Save The Date Postcards

The Save the Date postcards feature a vintage image of a cotton bobbin reel to illustrate the hand crafted theme. They are also printed with a 'made for each other' stamp, as are the invitations which feature these words on an adorable card bobbin tag wrapped in lace and attached to the bundle.

Invitation bundle

Card bobbin place setting tags

Wooden bobbin place settings

There two different types of place settings to choose from so you are spoilt for choice! Choose between the beautiful card bobbin tags printed with your guests name or opt for the wooden bobbins which also make ideal favours as your guests can take these away as a keepsake from your special occasion. These are also a cute addition for place settings at baby or bridal showers!

The table names have been created in the shape of a card bobbin and have a length of silken thread for you to attach to your table centrepiece. Why not recycle some vintage sewing machines to really enhance the 'made for each other' theme! The menus have been created from a dusty rose and ivory cardstock with crochet lace, button and tape measure ribbon embellishment. They are free standing so you can place these around the table for your guests to read!

Table name

Menu

This range is perfect for couples looking to celebrate their love in a simplistic and traditional way, with an affectionate and nostalgic twist. You can view the new 'Made For Each Other' collection on our website boutique here

Lillian and Fredrick, 06 August 1933

We would like to pay special thanks to Lynn who was kind enough to lend us this beautiful Singer sewing machine which belonged to her nana Lillian in 1933. The machine was given to her as an engagement present from her husband Fredrick which led Lillian to believe that he just wanted to marry her so she could mend all his clothes! He was reminded of this throughout their marriage though he did make up for this with a lovely engagement ring which has now been passed down to Lynn. Thank you to Lynn and her mum for allowing us to capture the vintage romance of that era!

Vintage Power at your Baby Shower

Happy New Year to our faithful blog readers! We took a little break for a few weeks as 2011 drew to a close but rest assured regular blogs on the fabulous Vintage Twee products are back with a boom for 2012. 

And speaking of boom…. Are you one of those ladies expecting the patter of tiny feet this year? Maybe you’ve just had your wedding and are starting to think about moving on to making your party of two a trio… ? Or perhaps the wedding is still to come and as your little miracle grows in your tummy you’ve decided you just can’t wait to start checking out cute baby-inspired things?! Well, no-one can blame you either way and Vintage Twee not only looks after our lovely brides but mums-to-be as well! With a great new range of fantastic baby shower décor, gift tags and much more, they’ll ensure you claim the prize as being the most stylish new mum about town.

Baby showers are the latest craze from the US to sweep the UK. The idea of throwing a party to celebrate the imminent arrival of your mini-me is surely a fab excuse to splash out on some luxurious food whilst your friends hand deliver you beautiful baby gifts. So why not decorate your tables and canapés with some gorgeous Baby Shower Quote Flags, cute New Baby Cupcake Sticks and dainty Drink Me Doily Tags? 

 Each item  is available in a range of baby-themed colours from simple buttercream to the classic light pink or vintage blue. Decorated with delicate coloured ribbon they can be customised to your chosen colour scheme and add a touch of vintage chic whatever you choose to do with them.

Heart warming Quote Flags

And of course when the little one arrives, why not tell everyone about it by sending them a Baby Announcement Postcard? With a stunning vintage picture on the front, the reverse has space for all the details everyone will want to know!

Not to leave out those who want to surprise the new parents with a little something, the Hello Baby Gift Tags are a perfect way to decorate your present- check out the gorgeous hand or footprint designed tags which are guaranteed to increase the “aaaah” factor of any gift!

All items are now available on the Vintage Twee website and of course, Joanne welcomes any customised orders. Have a browse through the range and get ready to celebrate your baby in true vintage style.

Gorgeous vintage font used for your important info!

The Biker, The Stationer, The Jeweller and the Twee...

Claire's method of transport- the Vespa!

Celebrating our own fabulousness is often an overlooked pastime due to busy work schedules, family life and just trying to deal with everything life throws at us! So when the idea floated about for a light hearted afternoon of tea, cakes and conversation, four busy ladies jumped at the chance to close the laptops, put down the glue guns and indulge!

Getting together to whip out the vintage china was Joanne of Vintage Twee, Claire from the lovely English Wedding Blog, Anita Mistry of the fantastic It’s a Mistry Design Studio and of course the hostess herself,Nia of Nia Fiori Designs. The location was perfect. Nia’s home is in the beautiful town of Hayfield, Derbyshire which, with its rows of stone

cottages, rolling hillside and according to legend, in 1760 even had its own witch, proved to be the perfect place to pour the traditional British brew and set the world to rights with a slice or three of cake. Joanne brought along some Vintage China plates which she has gathered from antique fairs, shops and markets whilst Nia provided the gorgeous tea pot and cake stands. Showing that the modern woman really can do everything, Nia spent the morning baking and turned out an incredible rum fuelled carrot cake with lemon and orange icing not to mention delectable scones with clotted cream and jam! The ladies chatted about how each of them followed their dreams to become self employed despite nerves, trepidation and downright fear! Hearing Joanne talk about it this evening co-incided with a conversation I had with my own boss today who came across a book her grandmother owned in the 1920’s and was madly inspired by its words. The book was entitled “Willpower” which, as you can imagine was probably very unusual and quite possibly frowned upon for a young woman of that era to be reading. The phrase which stuck in her mind from the book and which she repeated to us all before a day of sales today was, “I can, I will, I dare, I do”, So for all the budding entrepeneurs out there, remember that line and it will take you as far as you will allow yourself to go! It took her grandmother to the ripe old age of 96….

Don’t forget to check out the websites of todays lovely ladies for bridal inspiration, advice and calligraphy from Claire, beautiful, unique jewellery from Anita and a range of stunning stationary from Nia. Of course, Vintage Twee will be uncovering some summer delights very soon so keep an eye on the website as you read it here first!

Nia "road testing" her own baking..

If music be the fruit of love...

 You can’t get more romantic than the charming theme of music and wine for your wedding.. . just take a leaf of out of April and Edwards lyrical book whose wedding took place on Saturday 04^th June in an exceptionally tuneful style. Vintage Twee was honoured to be chosen to make the table plan, table names and place settings for this stunning wedding and relished at the opportunity to have free reign to design something the guests and happy couple  would remember long after the champagne stopped flowing.

April’s criteria to Joanne was that the décor must be fitting to the music and wine theme her and Edward had opted for, representing their musical background. Joanne quickly formed an idea of how she could use vintage inspired  idea’s to encompass all aspects of romance, history and of course, the lovely grape. Starting with the table plan,  a black and cream colour scheme was used to tie in with the vintage music sheets, circa 1930’s. Each table was named after a favourite wine and shown in a scripted font complete with delicate pearl heart to soften the image. Continuing the colour theme and style through to the table names, vintage lace edged the placards and a pretty bunch of grapes were added in the corners. Being the unique bride that she was, April was spray painting bunches of the tasty fruit in purple glitter to place on the tables so Joanne added small purple diamantes on to the printed grapes to accentuate and really set them off!

Choosing Vintage Twee’s rose music place settings for the female guests and the very imaginative idea of having corks as a place setting for the gents (bride’s own idea!!), really completed the look for the room and ensured the wedding was as swinging as the theme! As a thank you to her beautiful flower girl niece, April asked Joanne to create a card she could keep as a memento of the day- as you can see it turned out to be another feather in the Vintage Twee cap and we think it looks absolutely great!

Joanne was touched to receive a text off April the morning of the wedding to thank her for the items- as any bride knows there usually isn’t a spare minute in between being hoisted in to your dress and trying not to ladder your stockings!! As a wedding gift to the couple Joanne included the book from which the vintage music sheets were used which came complete with an inscription from 1937 and is truly something to treasure.

Don’t forget Vintage Twee are happy to custom make your orders to complement your theme.. don’t be afraid to share your ideas as Joanne will be able to offer advice and a specialist vintage eye to help you create your vintage dream.

Royal wedding with all the trimmings!

My husband Lee and I with our Union Jack chopping board!

It’s been almost a week since we all proudly hung our Union Jack bunting from the rooftops and toasted the Royal newlyweds as they started their journey in to married life. In lieu of any street parties in our area, Vintage Twee and family decided to host a little themed bash all of our own!

The day began in full swing at the hands of Mother Twee who decorated the front room with kitsch paper chains and newspaper photo’s of Wills and Kate. My husband and I, escaping London and it’s thousands of tourists, were pleasantly surprised to see that we could still be in the thick of it whilst safely 200 miles away from the bustling capital! Joined by the lovely Nia from Gallery6Studios, Joanne, Mum, my husband Lee and I, sat down to watch the most anticipated ceremony of this century.  I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous when I saw Kate step out of the car in her beautiful vintage inspired gown looking every inch the lacy princess. In fact, feeling like I had the rare opportunity to show my solidarity for other brides, I revived my own 7 month old veil and proudly perched it on my head for the entire ceremony! I was stopped short by my fellow revellers of wearing my actual wedding dress….

As anyone worth their salt knows, a natural part of any celebration is definitely the food served after. And Mother Twee didn’t let us down with  a Royal Buffett to be proud of! Complete with all the British favourites including HP sauce, cheese and pineapple cubes, home-made cupcakes (thank you Nia!) plus jelly and ice cream, the 5 of us really did indulge in the process of carrying your food around on a Union Jack paper plate. Joanne of course was on hand to provide the table decoration, whipping up some patriotic party picks which  no one wanted to throw away afterwards! Working carefully around all the Vintage Twee orders ready to be shipped out the following day, we enjoyed every mouthful of our British banquet and more than one or two top buttons were guiltily undone!

Take a look at our pictures which make me want to do it all over again! Prince Harry will be receiving a strictly worded letter urging him to pop the question very soon …

Vintage Twee themed party picks ruled the buffett!

Cupcakes and lovely-Ness!!

When you think of the Wirral, it probably doesn’t automatically conjure up images of idyllic flowered gardens, beautiful landscaping and lush lily ponds. However the award winning Botanical Ness Gardens defies anyone to not fall in love with this romantic and awe inspiring venue, proving that the perfect place to hold your wedding lies just around the corner..

Vintage Twee was recently invited to exhibit our items at the latest wedding fair alongside Roses Tea Rooms, a company whose original and top class wedding and tea party catering has earned them new premises on site at the lovely Ness Gardens. Starting the day with breath-taking views over the River Dee to the Welsh Mountains, Joanne got stuck in helping decorate the gorgeous Roses Tea Rooms cupcakes with Vintage Twee’s infamous Party Picks, ready to showcase to the public. From all accounts it was hard to resist the frosted treats with lemon, chocolate fudge and the more unusual but delicious beetroot and ginger varieties! All handmade by their extremely talented chef Raf, there was even homemade marshmallows and honeycomb…diet? What diet? Roses use all locally sourced ingredients and everything is made on site, fresh on the day of your wedding/event. Take a look at their mouth-watering website and you won’t fail to be impressed with the range of treats available.

Vintage Twee has been working with the lovely Roses Tea Rooms right from the very beginning, when they gave a “new starter” in the business (us!) the opportunity to be displayed at the events they catered for. An amazing working relationship has now bloomed and it was great to get the chance to work in person alongside Amy and Christina who were representing Roses at the fair. Good laughs were had by all and after consuming way too much sugar for a Sunday afternoon, Joanne and the girls crammed in to a photo booth on the stand next door for the obligatory photo! Provided by Cetra Studios, the booth can be hired out to capture your party guests in true photo-finish style with memories to keep for all!

Vintage Twee would just like to thank all the people involved including Jen, the wedding co-ordinator at Ness Gardens, as well as Amy and Christina from Roses Tea Rooms for making Joanne feel so welcome! A great day out mixed with delicious food, interesting people and gorgeous surroundings- hoping to book our space for next time already!!

Joanne, Amy Christina and Jen striking a pose!!

A year in the life of Vintage Twee!!

Yesterday marked the anniversary of a particularly special day in the life of Vintage Twee- it was the grand old age of one year old!! It seems almost unbelievable that this time last year Joanne had just about started cutting, sticking and being badgered in to making her big sister’s wedding invites (thanks, sis!). Now, here we are celebrating a year of creativity with a cosy Vintage Twee birthday party!

Just a small piece.. oh go on then, make it a big one!

Gathering together on Little Underbank in Stockport, Joanne was greeted at the bash by Nia and Shaun, the duo behind the fantastic Gallery 6 Studios. http://www.niafiori.com/ http://www.gallery6studios.com/ Swiftly joined by Claire from the popular English Wedding blog http://www.english-wedding.com/ , the four of them popped open the champers and attempted to salvage a glass each from the bit that Shaun didn’t feed to the floor! Traditional birthday balloons decorated the room and of course it wouldn’t be a birthday party without a cheeky slice of deliciously calorific cake… The high point of the day though was the amazing collage board that Nia had thoughtfully made, presenting in true celebrity style all of Vintage Twee’s best bits! Spending the next 3 hours chatting and putting the world to rights, they all discussed how far they’d come in their respective businesses and how they’d managed to turn what once seemed like pipe dreams in to reality. It was a real celebration of all the hard work, long nights and trips to the Post Office Joanne has made in the last year but I think we’d all agree it has certainly been worth it to see this special business flourish.

I’d like to add how very proud we all are of Joanne and her achievements this past year, she always was the creative one in the family and when we were kids she could turn her hand to anything if it involved a glue stick and some glitter! Not sure if mum and dad ever thought they’d be packaging up rows and rows of miniature cardboard teapots whilst watching Corrie of an evening but they’ve been invaluable to getting all the deliveries out on time!

So, all that’s left to say is here’s to many more years of Vintage Twee and its rise to global stardom with Joanne and her antique treasures at the helm. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY VINTAGE TWEE! xxxxx



Jazz hands, Claire (left) and Nia??

                                                         

Carrie on glamour with Simply Love Vintage...

If you have ever pictured your wedding, tea party or special event appearing just as if it was straight from a bygone era, then Vintage Twee recommend you take a look at the beautiful website, http://www.simplylovevintage.com/ Owned by the lovely Carrie, her eye for all things nostalgic and eclectic is prominent in the vast array of vintage crockery, linen, cutlery, glass and vintage inspired accessories she has for hire at your convenience throughout Dorset and parts of Hampshire.

Choose from authentic mis-matched rose patterned vintage tea cups, stunning cake stands and fantastically floral table linen to compliment your vintage theme. All products will be packaged perfectly to make it easy for you to set up- the team will even box them up table by table to make sure Auntie doesn’t end up with too many tea cups and not enough plates! The sheer originality of these delicately decadent accessories are sure to enthral your guests and have them marvelling at your fabulous taste in décor.

If however, your talents lie purely in the idea of a vintage inspired party and not in turning that idea in to a reality, then fear not! Simply Love Vintage also offer a “Styling” service where they will come and transform your special occasion in to a vintage wonderland of pure elegance. They offer an initial consultation as well as accompanying you to your venue for a site visit plus all the help you need on styling your big day. Trust Carrie and her team to wave their vintage wands and adorn your venue with as much or as little as you desire leaving you to relax, get glammed up and enjoy the day!

Carrie can be contacted at carrie@simplylovevintage.com where she will be only too happy to discuss your requirements. And if you are lucky enough to be at the following places, pop over and check out the gorgeously cute range of items available to create your dream vintage party!

Simply Love Vintage are attending two wedding fairs in Dorset as follows...

1. The Crown Hotel Wedding Fair, Blandford Forum Dorset
Sunday 6th March 2011, 10am-3pm

2. The Kings Arms, Dorchester, Dorset

Sunday 27th March 12noon-4pm

Discovering talents in Vintage places!

July is certainly proving to be the month where potential brides and party-throwers decide to choose their table décor! Vintage Twee has barely the time to make a cuppa in between replying to all the lovely and encouraging emails we are receiving from our fantastic customers! Some of the ideas our ladies have for their orders are truly beautiful – coming soon will be pictures of the stunning table plans, favour boxes and place card settings Joanne is busy crafting!

Like little girls on Christmas Day, Vintage Twee absolutely cannot wait for the soft thud on the carpet indicating the arrival of Vintage Life magazine! Out today both online and in print, it houses our first ever column and we shall be thumbing the pages excitedly until we see our name in lights! We have already received some feedback from the lucky few who were sat down by 11am, tea in one hand, Victoria sponge slice in the other and Vintage Life propped up in between! They love our article on how Vintage Twee was born, what we do and what they can expect from future issues. This in turn has led to some interest from other independent companies wanting us to write articles and possibly blogs for them! The conversational style of writing seems to be proving popular….after all, who doesn’t like reading something that reminds you of a cosy chat with your best friend? So, this week I will be working on setting up my very own blog which will track the growth of my seedling writing career, upcoming nuptials and everything else in between! Of course I shall still be in charge of blogging, press releases and any articles for Vintage Twee – it’s the old adage of women and multi tasking again! Joanne and I have lots of ideas for future products which will hopefully be able to combine both of our strengths – unique hen party memoirs and souvenirs to start with….

Further updates to follow along with the blog address once I’m up and running. In the meantime, pop online and order yourselves a copy of the entirely retro and energetic Vintage Life for some true vintage inspiration!http://www.vintagelifemagazine.com/

Take a peek at the enchanting Emporium...

There's nowhere better to go for a taste of true Britain than the capital itself, London. This week the Vintage Twee girls are united in the leafy suburb of East Finchley, north London to promote our products to the greatest tea lover of all... Her Majesty the Queen! Well, ok, maybe we haven't quite gotten to Buckingham Palace just yet, but we're sure if we did Her Royal Highness would love the ethos behind our work- unique, vintage and providing something special to decorate even the most prestigious of tables!

In our search for the perfect place to launch Vintage Twee south of the border, Joanne visited the very welcoming Lucinda Cooper and Helen Hodge, owners of the Emporium Tea Rooms, close to the beautiful Muswell Hill. The Emporium Tea Rooms is an astounding and nostalgic step back in time to a place where the tea is sipped, homemade cakes are on offer, and the atmosphere is entirely retro! As well as serving delicious food and drinks, classes and parties are on offer for both adults and children and encompass a range of the most fantastic ways to spend your days that we can think of! Events such as the “Storytelling and Pudding Evening” and “Traditional Afternoon Tea” party packages are available, not to mention indulging in crafts such as knitting, painting and crocheting! There's even an option for the Hen Parties- fancy group tuition in cupcake decorating complete with a Strawberry Cream Tea? Lets face it, who doesn't? Then contact the team and book yourselves in for some guaranteed giggles and gorgeous girly fun.
 

 The ladies wholeheartedly support local talent and sell handcrafted jams, sweets, toddler clothing and toys – most of which have been made by the craftspeople of the surrounding areas. Joanne took along a selection of our goods and we are now pleased to announce that Emporium Tea Rooms are official stockists of our popular Tea Bag Holders, Eat Me Party Picks, Recipe Cards and. Tea Pot Gift Boxes! A visit to the Emporium is an absolute must whether you live in London or not so don't miss out on this fabulous little gem of a shop!!
 
 

http://www.emporiumtearooms.co.uk/