Selling other people’s things on Ebay

cherry pie

Cherry pie

As well as making and selling my own things. For many years I’ve also been buying work by other artists and designers whose work I love.  I used to sell at my lovely shop which was called The Middle Room in Crouch End North London and while I no longer have the shop I’ve never stopped buying and selling. Cherry Pie Painting

Airfix Panther Tank

This is the work of a very successful commercial artist Andy Bridge. It’s just beautiful. I used to visit him at his studio when he was in London and buy a lot of his work directly.

George Best

George Best

He’s designed over 170 book covers and illustrated for a lot of magazines. A lot  of pictures I have of his were done specifically for these commissions and then I’d buy them from him after they’d been photographed and used.

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

I’ll be listing a few of these gorgeous original paintings every week for your delectation 🙂

Pink shoe

Pink Shoe

They’re painted directly onto wood and then scratched to age them a bit. They are collectable and unique.

Robin

Winter Robin

These little robins are so sweet and at 14cm square they’re very easy to send in the post.

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Having a nice quite time putting things in my new Etsy shop

hoop picture

This was a slightly damaged vintage table cloth, embroidered  about seventy years ago. It’s probably spent most of it’s life neatly folded in a drawer only being brought out and used for special occasions like visitors coming round for tea and home made cake. It’s been so beautifully done. Not all vintage embroidery was so well done. Some ladies lacked the patience or skill and some didn’t have much sense of colour  but when I find one like this it’s a real joy and I try and imagine what she was like.

I don’t know where they found time to embroider as they had none of the labour saving devices we have now.

I’ve attached this piece to a wooden embroidery hoop which I’ve painted pale green and I’ve also added other little vintage flowers to make it even lovelier.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/114921521/beautiful-bright-vintage-embroidery-hoop

hoop picture

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Filed under My Etsy Shop, Vintage Fabric

My very first sale in my new Etsy shop ! So exiting

pin cushion

vintage fabric pin cushion

What a lovely surprise to wake up to. My little vintage fabric pin cushion with pink bobbles is going to America. I wish I could take it there myself.

Nicky Grace Etsy Shop

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A beautiful Autumn walk in Durnsford Park a few weeks ago

This is where the tooth fairies live 

hollow tree

large pine tree

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Fabric workshops for children at my Open House & vintage Pop up Shop

First children gone and a quick tidy before the next ones arrive 

I cut out some shapes to give them ideas. As it turned out they didn’t need any ideas from me as they had plenty of their own

Even though small children don’t understand the concept of vintage fabric they do know subconsciously that it’s prettier and more special than some of the new fabric and that the results were magical.

I put some mini bunting around the fireplace and switched the fairy lights on.

An angel to hang on the tree and a lovely dolphin card

A lovely collage, she worked very hard

Paper house covered with fabric including very nice vintage roof !

Beautiful angel card, she has a very luscious mouth !

The fairy cakes definitely helped with the creative processes.

 

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Filed under Childrens Workshops

A few nice pics

Huneysuckle

Honeysuckle

I’m missing my flowers in the garden as it gets colder so I thought I’d post a few on here. Just the orange ones as they’re my very fave.

mini bunting

three strands of mini vintage bunting

I’ve been making bunting for my Open House Sale in 10 days. I mainly make it in 2 meter strands which is £12.  Not bad eh.

Nasturtiums

The joy of orange nasturtiums from seed

sweetpeas

and bright pink sweet peas from seed

Autumn mini bunting

The blue and white florals were made by hand in France in the thirties. The  pinky purple rose fabric was also made by hand in the thirties but in America. It’s all so precious.

The blue and white polka dot is from a damaged fifties dress.

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Filed under Bunting, Miscellaneous, Vintage Fabric

Fabric Workshops for children at my next Pop Up 27th & 28th October 2012

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15/10/2012 · 11:35 am

Flat screen tv versus the fireplace

When we moved into our derelict Victorian wreck 12 years ago, I had the fireplace  knocked through in the front room. I left it as rough brick, painted it green, put our old grate in it and filled it with fairy lights. It was beautiful and I loved it. Roll on a few years and our very old telly in the corner lost the will to live and as I sadly put it in the front garden for the council to take away, my children started working on me to buy a big flat screen tv. I love telly as much as the next person but I hate big flat screen tvs. I think  they’re dominating,  aesthetically unpleasing   and a bit sinister. Anyway, it was 3 against me and I reluctantly gave in and bought the horrid thing. That was about 5 years ago and I’ve barely been in the front room since, literally.

Then I was chatting to a lovely marketing lady Chloe Goddard about decorating fireplaces at Christmas and how  I was making my mini vintage bunting in Autumn/Winter colours and how they’d look lovely edging the top of fireplaces  and she suggested I do a mock up and take a few photos.

That was just the push I needed so while my kids were all out I moved the hideous creature (flat screen tv) from the focal point of my living room and reclaimed my beautiful fireplace.  The creature is now on a shelf in the alcove behind a curtain and is no longer the undeserved  centerpiece of room and as a result the room feels welcoming, serene and cosy again.

Fireplace

Mini vintage bunting around the fireplace

Fireplace

Ceramic floral jugs, candles, mini vintage bunting and plants in the fireplace.

Fireplace

If you don’t want a fire but still want the focal point of your room to look lovely then just paint it with emulsion and put a few nice things in it.

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Flower Pot Girls

The flower pot girls

It’s funny how you can go through a phase in your life of doing  something, then stop and then years later pick it up again. I used to make so many fabric pictures years and years ago. I sold them to shops at the Top Drawer trade fairs  and at The Country Living Fairs  both in London. That was about 15 years ago. There was no social media then and things were far simpler. I can’t remember why I stopped, I suppose it’s because I started making all sorts of other things but recently I’ve started longing to make them again, probably because of the children’s fabric workshops that I’m going to be doing at my next  Open House Sale  https://nickygrace.wordpress.com/.

I just need to arrange my space more effectively as it’s very crowded with piles of mini bunting and lavender bags at the moment.

When I started all those years ago, there was very little choice of pictures for children’s bedrooms. Now there’s lots and we’re spoilt for choice but I still think it’s nice to make our own stuff too. The pig and horse above I cut from my baby’s old T shirts which I used to buy from a wonderful children’s second hand clothes and toy shop on the Archway Road a mile away. It’s sadly no longer there.

I’m going to start making pictures again.  At least that’s the plan.

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Filed under Vintage Pop Up Sales

Invite with more info about my Pop Up Sale 27th & 28th October

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03/10/2012 · 4:52 pm