Vintage on the pier

Hi!

Ok, so I know it was a week ago now, but I have only just got around to uploading the photos of the vintage fair held at the end of Southend pier: it's been a hectic week! 

We were due to have stalls outside but ended up in the pavilion, due to the windy weather. There were around seven stalls - all selling lovely vintage, up-cycled and/or handmade items - along with some excellent entertainment from Perfect Vintage.

It was a lovely weekend (we missed Leigh Folk Festival though!)

Southend pier and Peter Pan's Playground (technically Adventure Island, but it will ALWAYS be Peter Pan's Playground to me!)

The journey to the end of the pier began about 9 am: the weather was lovely and the view superb (it was also nice that there was hardly anyone around). I think I will have to do an early morning pier trip more often! We used the pier train as we had all of our gear, but I imagine a stroll at 8.15 am would be fantastic!

 This is where we were due to sell from. It rained in the end so it was for the best, still... that view.

Some of the items on our stall. 

I have one problem with selling vintage, and that's selling stuff I absolutely love. I was gutted to be parted from these curtains, even though they were only in the drawer at home. I originally bought them to use in Aurora's room, as I wanted a Wind in the Willow nursery; I went for another theme in the end, so didn't use them. After selling them I found out they are going to be used as a cat blanket... 

Tit-Bits, by far the most popular item I sold. Very popular with women and men of a certain age, who all remember hiding them under their beds from their parents.

It was Aurora's first fair (attending and selling), I know she's going to love vintage too!

I managed to pick up a beautiful bargain for Aurora's room at the fair, for £4. 

Perfect Vintage brought a wonderful atmosphere to the fair - a very talented duo! 

Although it was a knackering weekend, I can't wait to do another.

Vintage at the end of the pier

Life is hectic with a brand new baby, as most people will know. Is it any surprise, therefore, that the Southend Armed Forces Weekend nearly passed me by?

Luckily I was alerted to the 3 day event, which includes parades, charity stalls, displays, military vehicles, music in and around Southend, and a vintage dance and vintage fair at the end of the pier.

I managed to secure a stall at the fair and I'm just waiting for the passes and details to come through, so even though things might not go to plan, I have still started to organise what I want to take to sell.

I've already picked out Aurora's outfit - vintage of course - as she will be helping to sell for a short while.

Check out the links above for more info on the weekend. Here's a sneak peek at some of the items that will be there (of course there will be loads more, including vintage clothes, kitchenalia, Tit-Bits magazines and homeware!): 

Hope to see you there!

Den of Vintiquity's change of direction

Having a baby is obviously a life changing event, so it's probably no surprise that when and what I post on Twitter has changed.

I was quite sick during my pregnancy and tweeting about the vintage items I loved/wanted/had for sale became less of a priority and not possible at some points. What certainly became more of a priority was saving money and saving up for our little bundle of chubby cheekiness: so I took the decision to stop selling the vintage, retro, antique and craft-made items at What the Butler Saw.

We still have a lot of items stashed away and want to keep selling in the future; whether we return to What the Butler Saw in Leigh on Sea, or sell in one of Norwich's great vintage shops, is still undecided.

We did have a stall booked at Gresham's Antiques and Collectors fair in July, but sadly it has been cancelled by the organisers. However, they run fairs at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk, and we will hopefully be securing a stall there for August.

What this post is really about is to announce how I will probably be changing the direction of how I use Twitter (the @denofvintiquity account). Although I will still tweet about vintage, it will be more baby/parenting and introducing Aurora to my love of vintage and craft.

I also want to become more interactive on Twitter (and on the blog, although I need to learn how to do that), as I feel I just chuck tweets/posts out at followers at the moment.

Thanks for reading this and hopefully I'll still see you on Twitter!