Junk Shop Tales.

Does my vintage look big in this? I found this original vintage dress on a market for a measely £10.

Let me tell you a story. Not so long ago I bought a bike from a junk shop and called it Ethel. Its a classic 1960's Raleigh model designed specifically for a woman. Not only is Ethel in fine working order, I also bought her for a mere £20, a totally un-hipster price from my local junk shop! The benefit of living for most of your life in a small West Midlands town is that you start to know shop owners. Like Naggie the lovely French Muslim man who runs the gift shop Treasure Island, or my new friend who owns my new favorite junk shop. 

Junk shop owner (we haven't swapped names yet) called me over this afternoon to tell me about the bike. He said it was bought in by a man in his 80's who was giving it away because it belonged to his wife who had sadly passed away. The old man wanted to know that the bike had gone to a 'nice person.' Well Junk shop owner told the old man all about me explaining that I was a 'nice lady.' He mentioned how overjoyed I had been and that I'd returned to say thank you stating that my families dog had also taken to running alongside it. 

How great is that? Not only am I mega chuffed that I got a vintage bike for peanuts, in the process its managed to make an old man happy knowing his wife's bike has I quote 'gone to a good home.' This is precisely why I love vintage/charity shops because you are buying stories and life histories, can you say that about your river island top?  

This week I've been scouring charity shops for frames for the purpose of creating a surf art wall for my new seaside abode. Wilkinsons (to my UK readers) sell sample pots of emulsion for a measely £1.10 which is exactly what I used to jazz up the frames as well as some wave painting. As you can see the surf art is really starting to come together. 

I've also been busily crafting shabby chic flowers which is an almost free way of creating table art, all you need is some scrap magazines and sticks! 

 A scene from Birmingham, this is near the Custard Factory which is a great hub for artists and vintage! 

Here's my shabby chic flower arrangement, I'll show you how to make these in a post shortly.

 Above and below are all my own creations I've been making over the last few months. The frames were salvaged from charity shops and spruced up with sample wall paint. Eventually they will hang in my seaside home a la surf wall! 

Point Break so bad its good right?! Love this find on Ebay, it will be framed to go along with my surf wall art project! 

The sunnies (please excuse the ridiculous face I was doing duck lips on purpose!) were 50p from a Christian charity shop. Again so bad they are good right?! Amazing how ghostly my self portrait function makes me look on my phone! 

     





































Until next time 

Stay strong and surf well
Love

Ama

As women, they were believed to be better suited for the task because of an extra insulating layer of fat on the female body that allowed them to hold their breath longer than the men. With this advantage, they could also make more money in a single diving season than most of the men in their village would make in a year.

The Last Japanese Mermaids by MessyNessy Chic 

Meet the beautiful Japanese Ama women who for two thousand years had the remarkable livelihood of hunting the ocean for oysters and abalone. The photos were taken mid 20th century, by law graduate Iwase Yoshiyuki, who returned to the fishing village where he grew up to capture the dying profession of these incredible women. 

Read the full article here on MessyNessy Chic. I suggest you get yourself a cuppa because this site is very interesting, before you know it you'll be reading about Namibian Rapunzel! 

Stay strong & Surf well

Love

The Selfish Surfer.

"Special agent Utah! This is not some job, flipping burgers at the local drive-in! Yes! - your surfboard bothers me! Yes! - your approach to this whole damn case bothers me! And yes! - YOU BOTHER ME!".

"If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." 

Point Break (1991) 

How selfish is a surfer? Dropping in on a wave is a cardinal sin in the world of surfing, but this isn't the kind of selfishness I'm talking about. No. I'm instead referring to the passion for surfing interrupting land based life. As a land locked surfer my ocean obsession is contained and very much compartmentalized to fit around my schedule and is restricted by my geographical shortcomings. I allocate time, but even so distance does not stop me disappearing off for ocean based frivolity at the drop of a hat, perhaps to the expense of my work and family.  

There is the stereotype surfer being a somewhat vacant, monosyllabic caricature (Bodhi anyone) and whilst I don't subscribe to this persona I do believe I have morphed into a blinkered surfer girl whose attention is focused on the next set rather than her immediate surroundings. Couple this with new found love and one could suggest I am an incredibly self centered beast at present. 

This post is largely inspired by recent events, you see, I let a friend down when she needed me and whilst my inaction wasn't malicious or intended my blissful ignorance hurt her none the less. It is a terrible thing to let someone down, I'd rather be punched than not be there for a friend. I feel particularly heinous about the whole incident, considering my job as a care worker involves being perceptive, looking for non verbal clues as to someones emotional well being and being compassionate. How did I get it so wrong in my personal life? 

I can't blame all my misdemeanors on surfing because that's shirking responsibility but I do think its shaped me an awful lot, particularly when I think that my choice of university was predominantly based on my proximity to a beach break, (as well as a great course I might add)! 

As much as surfing has saved my life and continues to be a massive source of inspiration I hope that I am able to strike a balance and continue to be there for my friends as well as getting board time. 

How does surfing affect your life? Are you too in flux trying to balance ocean love with land based life? Let me know I'm ever fascinated to learn about other surfers out there... 







































Until next time, 

Stay strong and surf well 
Love 

The Ocean at the end of your toes.

I surf well when my mind and body are fluid, when I lose myself in the action of surfing and I'm not over thinking the process. I know beforehand when I'm going to wipe out too, not just because a billowing monster is about to land on my head, but because my mind is elsewhere in those precious few seconds of focus before my board drops into the wave.

I've noticed when you over think things often they unravel, perhaps this is because you stop trusting your instincts and allow yourself to become too analytic.
Analysis in science is an integral part in proving or disapproving a theory in life, analysis allows us to decipher our next steps or reflect upon steps already taken. Sometimes though, I think over analysis is an environment for doubt, insecurity and self sabotage to exist. 

I say this because I am in a very good place in my life and I'm on the precipice of positive change (hopefully) so suddenly I have a lot too lose, or at least it feels like this. I'm also in a stable, blissfully happy relationship that is continually evolving into something meaningful. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again Happiness is terrifying. 

I often revert to Eastern philosophy to help stop me over thinking all the time, happiness much like the ocean is in constant flux, an ebb and flow. It is something which can never be controlled or captured it is better to just go with the flow and enjoy those few seconds of riding the wave. 

Weekend Sunshine. 

Here's a few snap shots of what I've been getting up too lately! 

I often have this reaction when in the vicinity of vintage.

Beautiful Adelle in the ever cool Oasis Market, Birmingham. 

A sneak peek of vintage items coming to the soon to be online store...

     


































































Bewdley, Worcestershire UK.

I spent a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon in the quaint town of Bewdley with the delectable Mr Sunny. There were antiques, farmers markets and yeah, you guessed it Vintage! A great day and highly recommended! 

This lady was incredible, she posed like this all day! 

Bargain dress which channels my 60's Bohemian desires! 

Mr Sunny is tentatively allowing me to put a few photos of us up, I'm glad because I love these shots! 

I can't remember why he felt the need to run but I love this shot, shows how cheeky he is! 

Mr Sunny was forced to pose for this photo hence why he looks a tad coerced, still gorge though! 

This was in Bewdley Museum and was all about the foundry there, definitely worth a ganders!   

     
























































































































































































































Until next time land lubbers and water babies! 

Stay strong and surf well 
Love

Practical Magic.

I'm post night shift so some of what I say may have an element of delirium about it, I do have a point and it will make sense however, so bear with me... Life at the moment is gloriously intertwining my two passions- Surf and vintage. 
In a matter of weeks I'll be off to Cape Town to go work on the Gap360 surf project which is a prospect I'm majorly excited about and under prepared for! In the meantime I'm at home building up my vintage collection, in the hope of eventually establishing an online boutique with my best friend Jemima.   

My other current obsession at the moment, is deciding what pet to have. Ardent follows of this blog will know that for a long time this was all about getting a dog. Well if I was eight years old I'd still be harping on about that, I am unfortunately 25 and fully aware of the level of responsibility. For now its on the back burner until I fully know my schedule at university, it would break my heart to leave a dog alone or day, or worse still have to re-home it. There's also my family dog Jack who is the apple of my eye, it would be unfair to force a puppy on him knowing his cantankerous nature. 

Instead I'm looking into a big cuddly bunny or a friendly parrot, something I can take with me to the care home and work as a therapy pet, as well as cuddling at home! 

Any who I'm digressing, today's title is in reference to a little craft project I have for you lovelies. Here are a few pics from Le life and then I'll get practical and show you how to upcycle a lamp, oh here it goes....

 I suddenly remembered I had this tea set, so yesterday waded through spiders the size of kittens to get it out of the shed again! This was purchased from Penrith farmers market back in the old university days ahhh memories. 

My hair typically is very low maintenance (let it grow, forget to brush it) but lately I've been trying the whole blow drying malarkey and I quite like the straight results. 

 I was walking the dog to go buy wine so a really classy outing for me here. The dress is another vintage treasure I recently found whilst rummaging in my fav shop. The filter I used on this picture totally doesn't do the vibrancy of the red justice...must try harder next time! 

I'm getting excited about going to Cape Town so found myself reminiscing last night about Africa. This is one my favorite photos I've ever taken. I was working as a yoga teacher in Ngor Island Surf camp, Senegal. Mammiko the little girl on the left I got to know through her mom Haddie and this is a traditional clothes day at nursery that I had the privilege of attending. How cute are they!?!   

How to upcycle a lamp!

You will need:- 
- 1 lamp 
- scrap material
- scissors 
- pencil & paper 
- tape measure
- ribbon
- buttons 
- felt  
- glue gun

1. Get down to your local charity shop and buy yourself a lamp. My fully functioning lamp was a mere £3.50! The material was all scrap from charity shops that cost a grand total of £2. 

 2. Depending on your lamp shade, measure the panels and decide what size squares of material you want to stick onto it. As you can see below I roughly gauged the size, which I first drew on paper as a template. Pin the paper to the material and start cutting. 

3. Warm up your glue gun and when ready start gluing the pieces onto the lamp. Its a steady process and sometimes the squares don't stick perfectly, persevere because it will look good eventually!

4. Now for the fun part! Start customizing at your own leisure, I stuck ribbon up the seams of the lamp and added everything from buttons to felt. If you want to add felt get creative and make shapes, it was ridiculously easy to draw a cat face and stick it on. 

                                                                 

5. Voila! Your very own shabby chic lamp. I gave this one as a present, which may seem cheeky when it only cost a grand total of £5.50 but this one of a kind and lovingly crafted, time not money people! 

Until next time...

Stay strong, surf well

Love