Can't resist a cute cardigan..

June is drawing to an end and we are well and truly in to the wedding season! There are some lucky people who have hit the weather jackpot these last few days.. we all know too well the gamble we take with the chance of precipitation in the UK! I’m an October bride and am keeping my fingers crossed for anything but gale force winds and thundering rain!

Now that the England football team have checked in for their flights back to our little island with their heads hung in shame, we can all finally get back to concentrating on all things girlie! Vintage Twee had a stall at the Craft and Vintage Fair at Broadstone Mill in Stockport on Sunday and unfortunately, it was more than a little quiet! All the regular stall holders commented on the effect of the England-Germany game being on and assured us it wasn’t usually that quiet! On the plus side, it did give Joanne the chance to meet the lovely mother and daughter combo Linda and Tracy who run the family business, Little Stitches. The ladies make gorgeous hand knitted baby clothes to include cardigans, jumpers, hats and mittens. They are amazingly priced (cardigans start from £5.99!) and are made with such love and care its tempting to buy something even if you don’t have children!! Catering for special requests such as premature babies and taking colour and wool requests in to consideration, you can get something really special and beautiful for your little ones. Have a look at the website and get ready to coo in delight at the cuteness!

tbray31@ntlworld.com


 http://tracyslittlestitches.vpweb.co.uk/


Speaking of cute, its time to go for me now as my new kittens have just woken up and are eyeing up the side of the sofa as a potential scratching post…

Lovely Lily Millicent...

As relative newbies to the technological advances in the world of internet communications, Vintage Twee has recently signed up to the fastest growing social networking site currently around- Twitter! Joanne and I have been tweeting away, realising that it’s a fantastic way to promote our new products and meet some like minded people!

One person in particular we have met is Caroline, the wonderfully talented creator of “Lily Millicent”, a range of hand crafted jewellery and accessories made from re-worked vintage jewellery. Ranging from the delicate and dainty through to the fantastically ornate, Lily Millicent’s special creations are made from authentic 1920’s – 1960’s pieces. Each new piece combines a sense of history with the beauty of having something new and unique… something no girl can resist! Caroline herself was spurred on in to the business by searching for something special for her own big day - I think we can all relate to that! Perfect for weddings, tea parties, the start of a family heirloom or just to show off, check out the website for some stunning trinkets, charms and most notably, the very “on-trend” headbands! If you like what you see, contact the lovely Caroline on mail@lilymillicent.com

News from the Vintage Twee HQ today, we have made it on to the Wedding Ideas Blog! http://www.theweddingideasblog.co.uk/ Good news for us as it features our top selling products including the Pillow Talk Favour Boxes and Vintage Music Sheet Rose Cones. All of these products are perfect not just for weddings but also for summer tea parties! Who could resist popping a few “Eat Me” Party Picks in to the cocktail sausages?! Or decorating the tables with some Alice In Wonderland quotes on the popular Tea Bag Holders? And don’t forget to do it all wearing a sparkly Lily Millicent stunner…

http://www.lilymillicent.com/

All things bright and Vintage-y!

It’s almost safe to start dusting off the barbeque equipment and chilling the cider.. this weekend should be a scorcher! With that in mind, we’ve booked a stand at the Broadstone Mill Open Studios Craft and Vintage Fair in Stockport this Sunday. It’s a great way to spend a couple of hours, browsing the stalls of the north-west’s most creative people! The fair has been running since May 2009 on a monthly basis and is growing in popularity each month, attracting a huge range of people, all wanting to find that something special for themselves, a gift for others, or just coming to admire some of the handywork of the stall holders! You will find vintage clothes, accessories, decorations, hand crafted items and Fairtrade confectionary!! Any excuse to indulge…

We believe that word-of-mouth goes a long way in the business world and want to make sure that as many people as possible get to see Vintage Twee’s work in the flesh. We’re also starting up a mailing list so that Vintage Twee fans can be the first to receive details of our new products and info.. if you would like to be included, please drop us an email on joanne@vintagetwee.com!

Will the real Carrie Bradshaw please stand up..??

The hot weather seems to be staying put for a few days so if you’re in need of some interesting reading for the sunbeds, look no further! We are proud to let you all know that coming up in next months issue of Vintage Life Magazine (issue 3), Vintage Twee has its first very own column! Yes, the budding journalists that we are have been given an amazing opportunity by the kind people at Vintage Life and  we shall be aiming to spread our Twee word bi-monthly! The magazine is out online and in print and from now on will feature a column, written by us, on a different Vintage Twee product per issue. There are also some fantastic features in the mag, including how to recreate retro hair styles and make up- think 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s for ultimate glamour! The link to the magazine website can be found underneath this picture from Issue 2, do check it out and watch out for us in Issue 3 on sale in July!

http://www.vintagelifemagazine.com/

On a personal note, I’ve been trying to think of the design of my table plan for my wedding in October.. it’s extremely handy having a massively talented and creative sister! Joanne and I are going to sit down and work it out over the next couple of weeks, of course pictures will follow once done! So far I’m thinking cream, burgundy, lace trim and pearls… and a whole host of Bridezilla seating arrangement moments! Hopefully I won’t prove to be too much of a tricky customer… : ) If you would like us to create you the most unique and special table plan for your big day, don't hesitate to drop us an email.

England... famous for football or tea???

As England so far are proving to be more than disappointing in tonights’ match against Algeria and making us all wonder just WHY they are paid so much, I thought it would be time to write a quick blog to tell you about Vintage Twee’s latest outing today!

Proving that Yorkshire isn’t just good for tea, Joanne visited the town of Haworth and the beautiful vintage clothing and accessory shop, Oh La La Vintage. Run by the lovely Pamela who Joanne met at the last vintage show back in May, the store is a never ending treasure chest of all manner of gorgeous gifts and treats. And now it houses a selection of Vintage Twee products! Pamela so kindly allowed us to have a display in her shop, complete with business cards and a range of our hand crafted décor. This is brilliant publicity for Vintage Twee and we’d like to extend a massive thanks to Pamela for the opportunity. Of course, it’s always good to return the favour so Joanne is busy providing a bundle of Vintage Music Sheet Rose Cones for the Vintage Fair this weekend in Haworth for the team to decorate the tables with. The fair is actually held in the Bronte School Rooms where Charlotte Bronte herself once taught! So if the allure of all things from the past tempt you in to a trip out this weekend, make sure you visit!

In other news, we are gradually increasing our Twitter followers!! Between Joanne and I, we regularly update Twitter with new products, what we’re up to and a whole host of trivia! So be sure to find us and sign up!

The weekend is drawing to a close and we thought we’d update you on what fantastic things happened!

During the craft fair at Gawsworth Hall a couple of weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to have a lady stop by our stall and chat to us for a few minutes. Angela, from Macclesfield was admiring the work and we were all having a good old gossip when she announced she had lots of vintage lace at her home she was looking to put to good use. She was really keen on donating this to us and actually left the fair and came back, arms bursting with three bags of beautiful Vintage lace, some dating back from the Victorian era! As you can imagine, we were like kids in a sweetshop, pulling out the most gorgeous, delicate lace in fantastic shades of cream, gold, white… it was stunning! Angela then invited us to her house, an offer Joanne accepted this weekend. It was a treasure trove of hand spun lace, antique goodies and the most amazing pair of elbow length gloves from around 1920!! Those gloves are definitely going to get an

airing at the next craft fair! Angela and her husband John had acquired this from a variety of sources including Angela’s mother, a lady who used to work in a textile factory in the 1930’s- 1940’s and generous hospices that Angela volunteers at. After allowing Joanne to ransack their home for over 3 hours yesterday we want to thank them so very much and have donated a Vintage Twee gift hamper to the East Cheshire Hospice in Macclesfield to raise money for their next raffle.

We’ve also been talking lots about our next ventures and are looking at doing lots more exciting and collectable products in the up-coming months. Themed party picks, Christmas tree decorations and a Valentines range are all in the pipeline.. watch this space!!

As the weather has turned from glorious English Garden in to damp, stay inside drizzle, here at Vintage Twee we’ve not let the drop in temperature stop us from getting creative! In fact, now is the perfect time to make sure you’ve got all the little bits and pieces together to make your wedding truly unique! If you’re struggling for ideas and are the traditional, romantic type (of course you are, you’re getting married!), then have a look at these gorgeous teapot favour boxes. We’ve been filling them with neatly tied small bags of dolly mixtures but they could be paired with anything. A nice idea would be to place them around the table filled with sprigs of lavender or pot pourri and have them as beautifully scented additions to your centre-piece!

It’s been a busy weekend in the Vintage Twee world with the launch of our brand new website! It’s taken a good few weeks to come to terms with the in’s and out’s of creating a website and it’s definitely no mean feat! However, it’s all up and running now and even the most techno-phobic of us out there should be able to navigate it with ease!
As a starter for ten, here are my favourite parts of the website and the bits that you should definitely check out. Firstly, the pictures! There are photo’s of all of Vintage Twee’s handmade products, under the heading “The Boutique”. The photo’s are in medium thumbnail sizes but you can click on them and open them up to be bigger and be able to see all the detail. Ordering couldn’t be simpler, just click on the Quantity and add the amount you want! This will then be added to your “Shopping Cart”. At any point you can view your order by simply looking underneath the gift tag styled tabs on the left hand side of the page and finding the “Shopping Cart” info. From there, you can check out and review your order in one simple step.

Don’t forget to check out where and when Vintage Twee will be making our next appearance by clicking on the “Outings” tab. This will give you up to date information on our next craft, wedding or vintage fair, plus any other events we have coming up. In order to see just how fantastic our products are, it’s always good to pop down and say hello, meet us and have a good old chat! That way you can see for yourselves the quality of the work and the dedication and passion that goes in to making each and every piece. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to discuss any ideas you may have for your wedding or party and get some inspiration! There are tips-a-plenty for ideas on favours, decorations, etc. Why not pop the “Eat Me” party picks in the buffet food for something different? Or ask us to tailor make the Conversation Starters to a topic and questions of your choice?

Finally, remember to click on the “Correspondence” tab if you have any questions at all about any of our products. Anything can be custom made to order to fit in with your colour scheme, theme and of course, to incorporate any ideas you have of your own. We pride ourselves on professionalism and customer satisfaction.. and being pro’s on all things vintage, wedding and tea related we can deliver every single time!

There are of course lots of other facilities on there ranging from how Vintage Twee came about through to links to all the lovely people we recommend to you as suppliers. Familiarise yourselves with the website and of course pass on our name to anyone you think would just love to have a look at some gorgeous, hand made, unique crafts!

http://www.vintagetwee.com

Apologies for the time lapse between this post and the last, however here at Vintage Twee we have been experiencing some change in infrastructure! My name is Emma Linder, sister to the extremely talented Joanne. From now on this blog page will be my responsibility so expect a little fact, a little fun and a whole lot of fabulous ideas to make your wedding, party or home look sublimely special.

First up, Joanne and I were extremely pleased to attend and showcase Vintage Twee at the Gawsworth Hall Craft fair this past bank holiday weekend. True to form, bank holiday Saturday was a complete wash out, the rain pelted down on the marquee and all the stall holders had frostbite! But the next morning, everyone was there at 8:30 am, feeling positive (and maybe doing a little sun-dance in the hope of enticing our solar friend out!). Luckily, the next two days were great and we both met some amazing people. You just never know who you’re going to meet in life and what effect they will have on you and I just love that thought. We were lucky enough to be positioned between two fantastic stall holders, Laura, from Cherish, a lady who has created her own skin care range from scratch, and Wendy, from 1st Unique gifts- a really talented artist who makes special and personalised gifts for all ages.

http://www.cherishskincare.co.uk/

http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/

Trust me, I bought a face mask from Laura and could practically feel it drilling in and unclogging my pores as I sat watching Eastenders! Very worth it when you wash it off and your skin feels like its been re-born!

Vintage Twee got lots of really positive feedback from the fair, every single person who stopped by the stall was amazed at how each item is carefully designed and presented to such a high standard. Our most popular items were the Vintage Music Sheet Cones and the Tea Bag Holder Favours - they went down a treat with all age groups! Remember, all of these things look fantastic at weddings but also as décor around the house.. I personally have a bowl of the Vintage Rose Cones in my living room and its always a talking point with visitors!

Coming up in the next post… info about Vintage Twee’s new website plus a few little tips and secrets from my own upcoming wedding…....