*Vintage Pin Tin*

This is a little vintage pin tin that I own.
It was orginally James' grandmothers. Our first home together was kindly given to us by James' grandfather & so we inherited a lot of his furniture & possessions & this little tin was one of those little treasures we found hidden away.

I love it so much as the colour combination of duck egg blue & red have always been a favourite of mine, they always seem to remind me of old Grimms Fairy Tales for some reason & with this little tin the pretty pattern does too.
We had an old Grimms Fairy Tales book in our bookcase when I was little & I used to love getting it out & looking at the illustrations as they were so detailed & nothing like what you used to see in your own 'little person' books.

This pretty vintage tin sits alongside a wooden box that I painted duck egg blue & distressed & they both sit happily together on our dresser in the dining room.

I find it such a happy little treasure ...


Inspired by Show & Tell Friday over at the beautiful My Romantic Home

*White Love*

It's White Wednesday again so I thought I would let you know that these pretty painted white hearts are back!
Distressed white paint gives these hanging hearts a lovely Shabby Chic feel.
They are £6.00 each & can be found *here*

Another white pretty that is back in stock is these lovely LOVE garlands, I really do love these they are so pretty with their distressed paint & the two adorable little birdies at either end!

Who can resist hearts & birdies in pretty white!

They are £5.00 & can be found *here*

And going along with the white heart theme today, here are the pretty white heart candle holders ~ I have recently re-photographed them so thought I would include them here for White Wednesday!

These are adored by everyone & are a really popular gift item ~ they are £8 & can be found *here*

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Hope you have enjoyed this weeks White Love post & please do visit Faded Charm & all the others joining in on White Wednesday.

*New Union Jack Cushion & Bunting*

We have some fab new goodies at Vintage Amethyst, some Union Jack inspired pretties.

Above is the wonderfully cute Union Jack cushion, these are so adorable & fun.
I think they are so Brit Chic but in a soft lovely Bohemian way with their patchwork style prettiness.

These are £15 & do include the inner cushion so that you don't have to go out & try and find an extact size but the cushion cover is removable for washing.
Find them *here*



Also I have this really pretty Union Jack Bunting to match, how adorable is this?
Absolutely perfect for the home or outdoors in the Summer.

It certainly brings a little bit of Summer cheer to these cold days ~ ooooh I'm thinking sunny days, pretty china, cute table cloth, cucumber sandwiches, Victoria Sponge & a jug of Pimms in the garden with this bunting strung up between 2 trees, perfect!

The bunting is £10 & can be found *here*

*Tickets Please ~ All aboard the Art Bus*

Last Saturday Peter Blakes Art Bus arrived at Gallerina the art gallery that represents my husband James.



James loves Peter Blakes work so of course we had to go & look how much fun it is!



You get little tickets to board the bus too & the bus driver clips them, but when we got on at our allotted time there was no bus driver & so we didn't get ours done!



The bus inside is fantastic, on the lower level is a mini bar which we of course headed to straight away & got a glass of bubbly. There is also a couple of sofas & a table & a screen to watch a film of Peter Blakes work.

Unfortunately there was a lot of people about downstairs so I didn't manage to take any photos but we went upstairs (James carrying my bubbly as I'm not too steady on my feet at the best of times never mind trying to get upstairs on a double decker with a glass of bubbly in my hand!) I did managed to get a photo of the stairs from above!
Look how glizty glam they are! Fab!



This little sofa was at the top of the stairs too with it's taget cushion.



Upstairs on the bus is the actual 'gallery' part with lots of Peter Blake prints.
We were on with friends so I did take a lot of fun photos but I won't bore you with those!!!! Tee hee!

Some of the prints upstairs.

At the back of the bus upstairs was an open bit with some flip down seats in the same style as the fun sofa but I didn't manage to get photos of the back (apart from the aforementioned friend photos) as it was so busy all the time if you weren't out there.

It was a really fun experience & the bus & the art gallery played Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band all day as Peter Blake designed the front cover for the album which really made the day too ...

... and so to finish a couple of photo's I took in the gallery of Peter Blakes Alphabet prints strung up across the gallery ceiling ~ totally fun!

*White on White*

This week I thought I would join in on White Wednesday over at the lovely Faded Charm.
I thought I would simply show you some white on white that can be found around our home.
I do love white so & we have a lot of it in various shades around the house.

Above is one of the white-washed willow hearts I sell at the shop sat on our dresser alongside some simple white hooks.



I do love old postcards & have quite a collection going on, these are some of the ones I have that have been used & posted.
I love the old writing & reading the messages, some are so sweet.
You may just be able to see at the top an old silver candlestick which I painted in antique white eggshell & distressed, the table is our coffee table which was a lovely thrifty find, which I of course painted in Antique White & distressed slightly.



This is our telephone in the living room which sits upon an old sewing box that once belonged to my mother-in-law. I painted it in Craig & Rose's Regencey White & distressed the edges for that lovely old Shabby Chic look.



This is simply a small jug alongside a tiny jar. I painted the jar lid & then distressed the edges & rubbed a little oil paint on to age it slightly then popped a little wooden heart on top. There is a white vase from Sia in the background that my friend gave me & they are sitting upon part of an old desk that belonged to my husbands grandfather, it is a cabinet & was part of the side of the original desk. I painted it again in Regency White from Craig & Rose & distressed it & because it had been polished so many times it has this wonderfully lovely distressing going on which I just love. It sits beside an old chair which also belonged to my husbands grandfather which again I painted in a white eggshell & has a wicker seat. These all belong in our living room too.



And finally this is one of my glass bon bon jars which is sitting here in front of a pretty white faux flower wreath. They are placed upon a cabinet my husband made which I painted in Farrow & Ball's French Grey waxed & then painted again in Regency White & distressed wildly! These sit in our dining room.

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I hope you have enjoyed the white on white from around my home & please do visit Faded Charm & all the other joining in on White Wednesday.

*Giveaway Winners*

The Valentines Giveaway over at the website was drawn on Friday & I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered.

I'm so pleased so many of you found the butterfly heart ~ it was of course hidden in the larger image of the vintage style clock!

One winner was drawn at random from all the correct enteries & that was Karen from Somerset & I'm so pleased she received her goodies on Saturday in time for Valentines Day.

*Well done Karen*

Now onto the bloggy giveaway ~ the *PINK GIVEAWAY*

Thank you to everyone who entered & all your lovely messages.

The winner drawn at random was Karen ~ Tilly Rose.

Your message wasn't linked to a blog or website Karen so could you e-mail me your address I will get your goodies sent off to you.

You can find my e-mail address on the website *click here*

♥

Thank you again to everyone who entered the giveaways & I hope the winners love their new goodies.

*Love, Love, Love*

*Happy Valentines Day*

Hope you all have a super sweet day filled with lots of love ...

*PINK GIVEAWAY*

It's a PINK GIVEAWAY!

I haven't had a bloggy giveaway for a while now & I've been meaning to for ages & ages & so inspired by Valentines Day here we are a pink giveaway!!!

The winner will receive a handmade pink gingham hanging heart finished with joy ribbon, a handmade pink gingham heart garland finished with the word joy & 2 little vintage buttons, a painted pink wooden hanging spoon finished with 4 little heart shaped buttons & hanging from white ribbon & a set of 4 pink coasters all tied up with pink & white gingham ribbon!

All you have to do is leave a message on this blog post to be in with a chance of winning & I will draw a winner at random on Valentines Day so be sure to get your messages in by the end of Saturday won't you!

*Good Luck*

*A sweet little Valentines Idea*

I saw this sweet little idea at the Better Homes & Gardens website.
Isn't it so sweet & perfect for Valentines Day.

Cut heart shapes from scrapbook papers and wire together to form a circle around a candle. Use this same technique to decorate a greeting card, gift tag, or package.

*Antique-Style Valentine*

I saw this over at Martha Stewart & thought it was such a pretty idea for Valentines Day.

'As early as the 1790s, sweethearts exchanged "puzzle purses." In this version, a poem runs along the edges, starting outside the folded square. The text, embellished with stamped and painted designs, is revealed in stages as the card is opened.'

To make this pretty idea pop on over to Martha's *click here*

*Last few days for the giveaway!*

There are only a few days left to enter the

*Vintage Amethyst Valentines Giveaway*

The giveaway closes on Friday so be sure to get your entry in within the next few days.

Remember the hint is ...

*Look at the bigger picture ... tick, tock, tick tock*

To find out how to enter please visit the Win page *here*

*Love Letters*

So following on from my last post the Decorative Silver LOVE letters arrived this morning & so are now back in stock ~ just in time for Valentines Day! *Yay*
Find them *here*



So many people have been buying the LOVE letters since the March issue of Ideal Home came out & these white distressed ones have been really popular too, so popular that I now only have one set of these left!!!! But I have more letters on their way to me so I will be busy busy painting them all when they arrive.

The shop has been so busy during January & February doesn't seem to be going any slower either which is super duper of course but at the moment I have James helping me a little (eek ~ read a lot!!!) as I have a horrid cold, which my naughty great-nephew gave me last week when family came to visit to celebrate his first birthday, which is making me slow down terribly so I do hope it is gone very soon for poor James' sake alone as he is terribly busy too with lots of paintings & portrait commisions!!! Ooohh he's a trooper!

Anyhoo have a great weekend everyone & watch out for a couple of new additions to the shop next week ...

*LOVE Letters in Ideal Home*

Have you seen this months Ideal Home magazine?

*squeal* well I am very excited to say that Vintage Amethyst is in the magazine again!

Our Silver LOVE letters were featured as part of 'Get Sarah's look'.

Sarah has the LOVE letters placed prettily on her bedroom fireplace.

The LOVE Letters actually sold out at the weekend with many people seeing them in Ideal Home but I have more arriving very soon I promise ...