The Art of Tea

Today has been one of the nicest Sundays I've had in a while. Sometimes you have to make the conscious effort to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of every day life to indulge yourself in a moment of relaxation in whatever form suits you. Of course, you cant take this creative tea lover completely out of her comfort zone...therefore what better than to combine the two loves of my life – art and tea.

Nestled away in the leafy suburban town of East Didsbury in Manchester, lies a hidden treasure called The Art of Tea. With it's old couches and armchairs, high beamed ceilings and antique mirrors, this place resembles that of a 1940s living room, complete with mismatched chintzy china and teacups. The walls were adorned with the work of talented local artists and the bar displaying all kinds of delicious cakes and pastries to tempt your tastebuds. My friend Charlotte and I ordered two hot chocolates with whipped cream and marshmallows (there is no other way to have hot chocolate, correct?) and shared a piece of strawberry cheesecake which came beautifully presented with a little fresh strawberry on top.

But venture further back into the depths of the café and you will find a whole different trove of treasures...as one of the best second hand bookshops I have been to in Manchester lies tucked away just waiting to be discovered. We were welcomed by the friendly owner, humming Sinatra classics as he tidied and restocked the many books that filled the small space. The shelves are lined with old copies of Charles Dickens novels, Penguin Classics and the Bronte sister's best sellers...their dusty book jackets and gold leaf pages calling us over to thumb through. We resisted the temptation to purchase the whole set of Shakespeare plays and just enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by all this lovely literature in such a warm and inviting place.

I can say with some certainty that I will definitely be returning to the wonderful place known as the Art of Tea, having finally found somewhere that I can enjoy – with or without the company of a good friend, book or my trusty laptop.

The Art of Tea, 47, Barlow Moor Road, East Didsbury, Manchester, M20 6TW.

Open 9am-11.30pm Mon-Sat & 11am-10.30pm Sun
tel. 0161 4489323

Festive Frolics

'It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air' - W.T Ellis

I love this quote and couldn't agree more with Ellis who sums up the true Christmas spirit in one simple sentence. December would just be another month and Christmas another day if it wasn't for the way in which it ignites a nostalgic spark in all of us that keeps us toasty and warm throughout the freezing temperatures of the winter season.

We all have one thing that awakens that Christmas spirit inside of us and for me, it's baking. I always remember making chocolate cornflake cakes with my mum and sister on Christmas Eve whilst watching Mary Poppins & fighting over who gets to lick the spoon. Having eaten many chocolate cornflakes cakes in my 27 years, I decided that 2010 would be the year that I would start off my very own Christmas tradition and do something that I will always be known for.

After much deliberation & justification behind my choice (that is being a red head and representing my fellow ginger people) I decided that I will pursue a Christmas craft career into the art of gingerbread men. So, in true festive spirit, I enlisted the help of my sister Emma and new brother-in-law Lee who were here visiting and we set to work to create some little masterpieces for a Christmas party later in the week hosted by Anita from Itsamistry Design Studio.

Ok, so not everything went to plan and I severely miscalculated the flour-syrup ratio, ending up with a sloppy paste-like mixture that couldn't be picked up, let alone rolled out. We were also missing one major cog in the gingerbread production wheel which was that of the gingerbread cutter himself...! Being creatives, we were not defeated and of course just had to improvise and Lee drew up a perfect gingerbread man card template to use instead! Once they were baked we set to work on a 'Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be....' decoration task and after an overdose of glitter icing and jelly tots, we finished up with the likes of Simon Cowell, Elvis and Cher (the original of course) on our baking tray. And the bonus? They were not just edible, but delicious!

And so my brand new Christmas tradition has been born. Of course, to avoid looking like a 5 year old had made them, I baked a fresh batch for the party yesterday (with an actual gingerbread man cutter and the right amount of flour this time!) and decorated them according to who was on the guest list. That would be Anita herself from Itsamistry Design Studio, Shilpa from Mistry Marketing Events, Nia from Gallery 6 Studios and Sarah from TinTrunk. We were also joined by Toni from Lady, Behave! who escaped a personalised gingerperson but unfortunately Alan from Village Vintage Clothing wasn't so lucky and got his delivered by Sarah, which was complete with beard and braces! Now, I apologise for any offence caused but felt the world needed to see my handiwork...go on, post a comment and vote for your favourite one...if I can reach 20 comments, I shall post my secret gingerbread recipe on the blog... :)

Itsamistry's Anita complete with her trademark
matching jewellery set

Shilpa from Mistry Marketing Events in Christmas Party mode 

Gallery 6 Studios Nia and her paintbrush and palette

TinTrunk's Sarah in vintage black and white...

So the moral of this festive tale is to always take some time to think about what puts 'Christmas in the air' for you...and when you have figured it out, capture it, bottle it and bring it out once a year to release your own true Christmas spirit.

Vintage Twee would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year xxx

Left to right: Shilpa, Anita, Nia and me!

The Spirit of Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, the chilly air is filled with the magic and mystery of reindeers with glowing red noses, Santa and his amazing chimney act and snowmen that come to life in our back garden when we are sleeping at night..

But what about the other, darker kind of unexplained phenomena that we don't naturally associate with this jolly time of year? One of the most famous and quoted Christmas tales of all time is that of 'A Christmas Carol', where Charles Dickens brought an element of the supernatural to the festivity period through his Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come. The book was written in 1843 and, being a true literature lover, (as well as Ghost Whisperer fanatic at the moment!), I decided to indulge in Dicken's interest in the paranormal and tell you Vintage's Twee's very own tale about a Victorian ghost a little too close to home...

Since being a little girl, I have always been fascinated watching my dad carry out his daily profession as a gent's hairdresser and I often still call in to visit him in the barber shop he has occupied for over 20 years based in Heaton Chapel, Stockport.

 However, even now at 27 years old, I cannot walk to the kitchen to make my dad a cup of tea without closing my eyes tight at the sight of the crooked door to the shop's cellar. I can recall my dad's colleague locking my sister and I down there as a joke when we were young, as well as the story of a customer's dog who came out with all his hair stood on end. Tony's Barber Shop is well known in the area for it's terrifying ghost who resides in the cellar and has driven out many past female tenants who occupied the rooms above my dad's shop. The building itself dates back to the 18^th century and was occupied in the 1840s by Irish navvies who had been employed to carry out the heavy work during the building of Stockport's railway line. The men were said to be a nuisance to the neighbourhood with their constant drinking & the prostitutes that they brought home. When the work was done and the men left Heaton Chapel, the women and their children remained, some of which residing in the property on Manchester Road that is now my dad's barber shop. The council had to fumigate the property as it was in such a mess and when doing so, they uncovered a host of bones under the floor in the cellar.

Source: Taken from
'Supernatural Stockport' (1991) by M.Mills

Many years later, the house was occupied by a Polish family during the First World War, who experienced many sightings and presences of the ghost connected to the building. They experienced the figure of a man stood at the foot of the bed, invisible hands drawing the quilt off the daughter's father as he lay in bed and the opening and closing of the young girl's vanity box on her dresser. It seems the young sisters who lived in the house were MUCH braver than my sister and I would ever be and followed the man to the cellar, where they watched him descend the stone steps carrying a lantern and disappear through the wall. It has been said that the ghost that haunts the building is that of the man who killed the prostitutes and their babies and buried their bones under the cellar floor.

Now I'm never in there long enough to find out if this is true, but it seems that the ghost has a distaste for women as he seems to haunt all the female tenants of the building yet my dad has never had a problem in the 20 years he has been in there. Perhaps the male dominated environment of the Barber Shop keeps the ghost at bay? Or maybe that padlock dad put on there is working...

So there you have it! Let's hope the Heaton Chapel Phantom doesn't know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and try to teach us some Christmas cheer...or I'm going to have to seek out Melinda Gordon to cross him over!

Trumpet Blowing Tuesday

At this time of year, it's all very easy to get buried under mounds of wrapping paper and sellotape, as well as feeling like you're wasting all your time stuck in queue after queue – be it in the shops or on the road. However, Vintage Twee has been hitting the headlines the past couple of weeks within a variety of different magazines and online blog articles and I thought I would take a mere moment away from creating my Christmas gift tags to share the good news with you this week!

I was delighted to discover that one of the biggest bridal magazines in the country, Wedding, had featured not just one, but two of my items in this month's issue! My 'I Do' Cupcake Sticks had made it to number 5 on their Wedding List and I realised what popstars must feel like when they discover what number their single goes into in the charts...(which this week makes Vintage Twee equivalent to Rihanna - beating Katy Perry, JLS and Jacko...whoo hoo!)

About to put down the magazine and indulge in the beautiful free Crabtree & Evelyn hand lotion that came with this issue, I noticed something else which looked vintagely familiar a few pages later. My Popcorn Cone Favours had been featured as part of a retro themed photo shoot which made me squeal with delight! So far I've had some great feedback from the articles & some orders for both of these items which is fabulous and I'm very proud to have had my work featured in such a significant publication in the wedding world.

From national to local news...Vintage Twee was also snapped at the Vintage Village Fair at Stockport Market Hall last month. Thinking that I had escaped the lipstick-less exposure when the article didn't appear in the Stockport Times that week, I was informed by my lovely Twitter friends @TinTrunk and @Itsa_mistry that the dreaded photo had in fact found its way onto page 28 of this weeks paper...drat! It was, however, a great article on the fantastic vintage and craft fair held every second Sunday of the month at Stockport's historic market hall and drew in the crowds for last Sunday's Christmas special event on Dec 12^th. However, I was very disappointed that nobody brought their article to be autographed, despite my Twitter requests..grrrr...

AND finally, to finish on an international note, Vintage Twee was contacted by online German magazine 1001hochzeiten.de who are currently working on a series of articles about themed weddings and would like to feature my Enchanted Fairytale Favour Boxes! I shall keep you posted on the date this shall be online to view...although make sure you have your interpreter at the ready as unless you're fluent in German, you shall have to just look at the pretty pictures!


Enough trumpet blowing for now, Auf Wiedersehen! xxx

Girls will be girls!

Recently, Joanne was asked to source some beautiful images of early 1900 ladies for a lovely Vintage Twee brides favours. On a hunt in North London trawling the antique shops and book stores, a real vintage treasure was uncovered. Weighing in at a hefty few pounds, the Girls Own Annual dated 1899 is a fantastic collection of handy tips, hints, articles and pictures aimed at young ladies entering the prime of their lives.

The impeccable condition of the book means it has the ability to transport you back to a time when it was most important to please your husband, run the home and look beautiful. Not much has changed there you might be thinking! Compiled of one penny articles on homemaking, general tips and anecdotes it really is the most interesting read this year! Scattered throughout are images of those elegant Victorian ladies which are so perfect for the real authentic touch to the Vintage Twee range.

Unfortunately, there is a problem with acquiring such wonderfully unique items when usually your first thought is how you can tear it up! There really does seem to be something so spellbinding about this annual that its now taken up permanent residence on the Vintage Twee bookshelf and most definitely isn’t about to see the scissors anytime soon! And so, the hunt for a replacement begins… lets just hope the next purchase makes it to the shop floor!

On a final note, don’t forget to enter the competition running on this great blog http://www.chronicallyvintage.com/ to win some Vintage Twee Christmas baubles! The competition is only open until Sunday 12th December so enter and you may become the proud owner of a set of hand-crafted vintage inspired decorations.

A Pinch of Love from Haworth...

After weeks of denying that it's that time of year AGAIN, Vintage Twee was officially (and surprisingly willingly) thrown into the Xmas spirit this weekend at the Christmas Market Craft Fair in Haworth, Yorkshire, home to the Brontes and Heathcliffe himself! It was a fantastic day with some amazingly talented exhibitors and before long I found myself singing along to the festive sounds of Wizard and The Pogues (and dancing on the spot in an attempt to keep warm) whilst showcasing the latest Christmassy creations from my collection.


The real Christmas spirit however lay about two feet away from me on the stall next door, in a mass of beautiful little organza bags, hung like cute stockings just waiting to be picked. I was completely captured by the imagination and creativity of both Lianne and Sue from the fantastic Strawberry Kisses, creators of these beautifully handmade gift bags which provide a unique way to send a sentimental message for almost any occasion.

And my favourite thing about these wonderful little nostalgic tokens? Each one comes with a beautiful and touching verse appropriate to the occasion and written by the girls themselves, something very rare to find amongst the commercial nature of the greeting card industry these days. And look what I found for all the brides-to-be! A Pinch of Luck for the Bride which contains a real sixpence, a lucky horseshoe, silver heart, glitter and dove table confetti all wrapped up in beautifully blue organza bag perfect for her something old, new and blue!

At only £4.99, these little bags are a truly lovely keepsake for someone special and I cant praise the girls highly enough for the passion and love that obviously goes into every single one that they make. You can visit Strawberry Kisses lovely website here to see their complete range (including a hilarious Bah Humbug bag with a badge for the Christmas party pooper) and pick out a Pinch of Love for your someone special.

On one final note, I also want to say thank you to my other neighbours Vicki and Andrew from Tranquillity Within with their beautiful and natural handmade organic skincare range (and highly amusing conversations!) and The Wee Bakery for their scrumptious cupcakes which were thoroughly enjoyed during the X Factor results last night! And of course, no Christmas event is complete without a picture with Santa...despite my protests of 'I'm too old!' and 'No it's not Christmas yet!'. Thank you Santa :) Now where's that Bah Humbag badge...

A Whole Village of Vintage...

Vintage Twee donned her fur coat and seam stockings yesterday to step back in time and exhibit at the fantastic Vintage Village within Stockport's historic market place.

TinTrunk and her vintage curiousity collection

A trove of vintage treasures in a beautiful glass hall over 750 years old, The Vintage Village had
everything from authentic and upcycled clothing and accessories to jewellery, homewares, collectables and of course a wealth of handmade crafts created by some extremely talented local people.

Close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the old classics echoing through 'The Glass Umbrella' (as the majestic market was once referred to); open them and see the wondrous sights of the elegance and beauty of the 1940s and beyond, captured by the ladies in their hats and gloves browsing vintage china teacups & saucers.

Beautiful vintage teacups from vintage china company 'Tea'

The crowds also flocked in from those visiting the nearby 1930s pop-up grocery shop which was in town for this weekend only for the BBC to film their current TV series 'Turn Back Time'.

Whenever I attend a fair, I am always amazed at the level of talent amongst craftspeople like myself and often left in awe of the beautiful items that they create and offer to us. I had the true pleasure of being located next to Anita and her stunning jewellery pieces from Itsamistry Design Studio and opposite Zoe with her handmade jewellery, cards and gifts from Honey Bee Designs (pictured below)



Itsamistry Design Studio

Honey Bee Designs

Sweetpea family

Take a stroll round the corner to find the fabulous Sweet pea family with their hand stitched, knitted and crocheted accessories including the cutest mittens, hats, hairbands, bows and scarflets, as well as gorgeous gifts for around the home.

Like a magpie to gold, I spotted 'Tea' amongst the many vintage traders and their lovely collection of china, as well as Sarah from TinTrunk and her wonderful collection of vintage curiosities ranging from the 1920s to 1980s.

 

Lady, Behave!



A true gent - Lady, Behave!

I also snapped the fabulously named Lady, Behave! (and her suited and booted young assistant!) with some amazing millinery and headwear.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and Vintage Twee was very well received in her home town of Stockport, with some very complimentary comments and an unprepared, lipstick-less paparazzi moment for the Stockport Express newspaper!

Let that be a vintage beauty lesson to be learnt ladies...always keep your red lipstick and pressed powder to hand for sudden starlet situations...

The Vintage Village at Stockport Market Hall is held on the second Sunday of every month from 10am-4.30pm. The next fair is on Sunday 12th December, contact mailto:info@villagevintageclothing.co.uk  for more details!