Sunday Stash: Homemaker tableware

I don't think Sunday Stash is operating as a meme anymore but I thought I'd do my own today today anyway. This is a very special stash to me. Found at a second-hand store here in Brisbane, six original 'Homemaker' plates from Ridgeway Potteries Ltd (Staffordshire). I love them.

They were designed in 1957 by Enid Seeney as an affordable range of tableware especially for the Woolworths stores. All the plates are stamped on the back with the year they were produced and mine range from 1962 till 1968. The range was produced until 1970.

Designer Enid Seeney studied at the Burslem School of Art and did her apprenticeship at the Spode Copeland works, where she learned to paint and gild ceramics. The random domestic items and furniture she placed in this design are apparently other design classics from that time, including a Robin Day armchair, a Sigvard Bernadotte sofa and a Bernard Russell sideboard.

I did a bit of web-wandering to see if they were still available and it seems they've become collectors' items now (with prices to match, of course!) If my Valentine is reading, I'd love some matching cup and saucers and a teapot! ;) Aren't they just exquisite? Love my plates :) Do you have a favourite ceramic find?

Sunday Stash: Foreign Notes

Bower bird is a term I'm very familiar with... I have mini collections of all kinds of things that fascinate me. Are you the same? I just see these things and instantly imagine a million ways that they could be applied to art works or incorporated into jewellery... So, I came across a market stall whilst in London with thousands of pieces of foreign currency in little plastic sleeves and, of course, I was in love! :) I can see a million applications again, but they also intrigue me as entities within themselves... what they say about how a nation perceives itself, or how it wants to be perceived, and also the exquisite detail in the engravings (I still see the metal plate in my mind!). What do you think? Intriguing, yes? :)

Sunday Stash: Fabric #6

Another Sunday, another stash! This is my very favourite Cloth fabric, "Wattle". I also have a couple of cushions in this pattern as well... just love it. You can find more Cloth fabric here. If you'd like to see other stashes, visit Tamara's here or check out the Flickr set here.

Sunday Stash: Fabric #5

I have a 1970s bold, graphic pattern for my Sunday Stash this week. The fabric is from a dress I bought at Portobello Markets in London a decade ago. I think the stall owner must have shortened it from its original 70s length. It used to fit me... it was my favourite going-out-dancing dress... now, I'm undecided about whether to preserve its original splendour for my daughters or alter it somehow so that I can wear it again! Speaking of 70s frocks, the very clever Katy has just made herself one from scratch - have a peek here.

You can find more Sunday Stashes here or on the Flickr group pool here.

Sunday Stash: Fabric #4

Another fabric stash and another vintage piece I don't have the courage to cut into...! This fabric was given to me many years ago now by a friend and it seems I'm wholly incapable of cutting it because I find it too precious :)

More Sunday Stashes can be found here and there's a Flickr Stash Pool here.

Sunday Stash: Fabric #3

My fabric stash this week is a hand-me-down from my mum, a skirt she had made for herself as a young slip of a thing after saving forever to buy this coveted French fabric (she tells me)... So young and so slip was she that she actually offered it to me suggesting my daughter might like it! No no no, dear mother... children don't get vintage 1960s French fabric with hand-embroidered and raffia trimmings! One day I'll work out a way to actually make something out of it but for now I just love looking at it! :) Have a lovely Sunday!

More Sunday Stashes can be found here and there's a Flickr group for Stashes here.

Sunday Stash: Fabric #2

I was very naughty this week - I added to my collection of vintage fabrics, found at this lovely site. They are all 1950s fabrics and I'm positively itching to make something with them! It takes a lot of thinking, though - something that I'll want to wear for many years to come. I can just see a cute summer top out of the last one ;) What's your stash? You can find more Sunday Stashers here and there's a Flickr group too here... Feel free to join us! :)

Sunday Stash: Fabric #1

Back for more Sunday Stashing and I'm finally doing a fabric stash! This is a thrifting find from ages ago - it's a dress that I'm in the process of unpicking for redesign, but I have had it in the to-do pile for a bit now ;) I just love this fabric which of course makes it all the harder to cut, in case I mess it. So, still in the admiring stash pile :)

Find more Sunday Stashes here and the Flickr Set for Stashes is here.

Sunday Stash: Crochet Doilies

My Sunday Stash this week is yet another small collection – this time, my crochet doilies. I just love them. All the work and minute detail that has gone into them. I had a day in Belgium last year en route to somewhere and the one thing I bought was... you guessed it, doilies! One day soon, I'm going to finally learn how to crochet and I can't wait to start creating my own little doilies etc. Happy weekend everyone!

For more Sunday Stashes or to join in, visit here. Or check out the Flickr group of Sunday Stashers here.

Sunday Stash: Vintage Staffies

Another Sunday, another stash! This play-along is making me realise just how much of a collector I am! Nothing on a grand scale, of course – like this little stash that I dearly love... my collection of 1960s Staffordshire Potteries coffee cups. These were a wedding present to my parents in the early 1960s. When my mum moved from our old family home she decided to downscale on her crockery and asked if there was anything I wanted... Can you imagine such a gift? There wasn't really much that I didn't want! So, there you have it - my Sunday Stash with just a touch of provenance! :)

See more Sunday Stashes, or join in the fun here.

Sunday Stash: Buckles

I love buckles - I mean, what an ingenious design, don't you think?! So simple but so effective. Above are some old ones I've found at markets etc and I think they're works of art. One day I'll do something with them - here's hoping! 

Other Sunday Stashes can be found here.

Sunday Stash: Lace

It's Sunday Stash time again – this week my lace collection. I love lace but, as I hardly ever have the opportunity to use it, my collection has become more of an archive than a resource! Still, unlike a lot of archives, this one is admired (at least by me) frequently :) Have a lovely Sunday.

If you'd like to play along with Sunday Stash, find out more here.

Sunday Stash: Buttons

Some favourite buttons found on my travels.