Glasgow's Va-Va-Vintage Voom!

Now in it's 12th year the Merchant City Festival, once again, provided 5 days of spectacular entertainment in Glasgow’s cultural quarter plus the most fabulous addition of Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway's 'Vintage' Festival. 

With Glasgow's reputation as a hotbed of vintage inspired designers and crafty vendors, this promised to be a massive treat for the many Glaswegian fans of all things Vintage - it did not disappoint!

One of the amazing 'Customise your Dr. Martens' Team

The vibrant Vintage Market Place brimmed with clothes, accessories plus cool vintage/retro homewares and tea bags to die for:

Gorgeous, customised vintage clothes and accessories from Vi Nouveau

Stunning vintage homewares from Love Me Again - hand stamped silver
spoons + adorable messages = perfect gift for engagements, weddings,
anniversaries, christenings, anything really!

Tea bags, china cups and saucers, all you need for the perfect
'tea for two' - Tea by Lita, how divine!

There were inspiring businesses aplenty, using strong vintage motif/styling/vehicles at their stalls and pitches:

The lovely 'Félicitié' - delivering flowers to your door from one of Glasgow's best beloved
florists, Ruby Flowers

The Gramophone Djs - one of a number of services by vintage event
hire specialists Butler and Taylor

As they say themselves "Trucking good street food" - all sorts of delicious
food served up from an equally delicious wee van, belonging to Loving Food 

A proper 'Beauty Salon' where you could be primped, curled and powdered to within an inch of your vintage life, in any era you chose: 

Vintage hairstyling in action - those girls were awesome!

Outside the Vintage Wedding Fair venue sat the ultimate Wedding transport to die for - the most gorgeous Routemaster bus complete with cute clippie and gorgeous blooms!

Too cute - Wedding Transport with that extra va-va-voom! Contact
the Red Bus for further details

It was almost too much to bear  - but bear it we did, rounding off the day with bubblegum ice cream and tired, but happy smiles. 

Miss Bubblegum Ice Cream Face

Can't wait for next year!

So.....how was it for you?

Christmas and Hogmanay done and gone, time to take stock of  2012 after a bit of breathing space/perspective. 

So, good? Bad? 

For me, a bit of a mix - lots of great photo-ing (events, commissions and a glorious wedding); a fantastic holiday with family and friends in deepest Suffolk, lots of cooking and baking, catching up with old friends and relatives from distant shores; plus, on the down side, a partial toe amputation-ouch! 

Anyway, here's a tiny selection of my favourite images from last year and roll on 2013 - Enjoy!

Hmmm? A new idea, maybe?

How about this for a sweet alternative to run of the mill party or wedding favours - Cotton (and re-useable!) party bags with an 'Alice in Wonderland' theme - upcycled glass jar decorated with vintage fabric and cotton bakers twine and filled with hand-made chocolates, and the simple, hand stamped instruction 'Eat Me'! But don't worry you won't shrink!! Plus a bottle of fizz - what a treat!

I'm thinking about this as a potential sideline - jars could be filled with traditional sweeties/chocs/home-made jam or marmalade/mini soaps, but all trimmed in the prettiest of vintage fabrics and hand-stamped individual vintage style lables.

A green alternative, perhaps (re- and upcycling, reusable bags, organic treats!). And you could theme them as well - Alice works really well!) Comments gratefully received!!