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Letter Loves

Posted on: July 8, 2014

What do the Brownies, Trolls and Lady Di have in common? They all popped through my letterbox last week inside a surprise package from super ace photographer, collector & pen pal extraordinaire Letter Loves aka Emma Graney. Continue reading »

An explosion of wonderful mail.

A mere snippet of the explosion of mail I received inc Rolling Stones keyring, badges, post-its & cat postcard.

Last week I received a surprise box of wonder through the post full of so many things it felt like Christmas. The beautifully wrapped parcel of fun was from my Instagram buddy who runs the delightful blog Letter Loves and it was filled with all the little things I love from vintage cats to rock’n’roll ephemera to a troll ring. So random but so perfect were all the things I unwrapped that I ooh-ed & coo-ed on the couch for at least an hour. There was even the tiniest notebook in the world ever, can you spot it in the photo above? Continue reading »

Instagram Stalkin // Hollie_harris

Posted on: May 16, 2014

The second instalment of my Instagram series features the wonderful candy coloured world of artist, illustrator, designer, crafter, photographer, vintage enthusiast and collector: Hollie Harris. Let's peek behind those photos and find out the stories & fascinating inspiration behind them... Continue reading »

Twiggy as handcrafted wearable art.

Twiggy as handcrafted wearable art.

Hey Hollie!  You recently launched a beautifully handcrafted brooch inspired by the 60s and 70s Twiggy mannequins. Tell us more…
I absolutely adore Twiggy Mannequins and am fortunate enough to own two of them from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Both my girls were the models for my illustrations which became my Twiggy Head Brooches.
The original Twiggy mannequins were based on the famous fashion model and used to display hats and scarves in trendy french fashion boutiques, however mine now reside in North London and are usually seen sporting flower halos!
Each Twiggy brooch is carefully laser cut to my design and specification onto birch plywood, then hand painted by myself in the original colours from each decade before being sealed. Each piece is a wonderful piece of retro jewellery or as I like to think of them, a unique piece of wearable art. Continue reading »

Thrift-ola recommends: The Stylist’s Rail

Posted on: April 16, 2014

I swapped my usual abandoned car park or misty field in the middle of nowhere to a much classier venue for my thrifting adventures this weekend. Continue reading »

A fun morning of seeking out vintage at The Stylist's Rail.

A fun morning of seeking out vintage at The Stylist’s Rail.

Last year I attended a fun Pinterest Party called Pinned it, Made it run by the awesome Plum and after stalking her a little on Twitter was excited to see her latest venture The Stylist’s Rail where you get the opportunity to delve into the cast offs of London’s Stylists and Fashion Editors. Yes please! On Saturday morning I rallied my gals pals and we rolled up our sleeves and got to work trawling the healthy dose of rails in the Hoxton Hotel fuelled by a few free GnT cocktails and meringues by the Meringue Girls. I was really impressed by the variety of stock, of course I was up to my usual antics finding creme egg bags, hologram ice creams and kitten tins but you could pick up anything from a Topshop jumpsuit or a Cos shirt to a 1950s handbag or a handmade bondage dress. The prices were fair and the stall holders let us a haggle a little. All in all I highly recommend heading down to the next one, follow their Twitter to find out date & location. I of course shouldn’t get too used to this as next week it’ll be back to a bacon butty in a freezing cold car park…

Collection Resurrection: Vintage Books & Magazines

Posted on: April 10, 2014

After an ace haul of vintage paper craft, toy making, crochet and knitting books the other week I've decided to bring back my vintage books 'n zines collection... Continue reading »

Vintage books.

Vintage books.

When I first launched Thrift-ola in 2011 I really enjoyed selling vintage annuals, art ‘n craft books and magazines but along the way Royal Mail’s fees made postage for such heavy items too expensive. However, they have recently introduced a new ‘small packet’ mailing option which means the postage costs are now ok again so the Books ‘n’ Zines collection is back in business! Continue reading »

Happy Mugday!

Posted on: April 7, 2014

I'm an absolute nut for novelty mugs and my kitchen cupboards overfloweth... which means it's time for a destash and you lucky lot can get your paws on some quality kitsch vintage mugs. Continue reading »

Kitsch 'n colourful selection of Thrift-ola mugs.

Kitsch ‘n colourful selection of Thrift-ola mugs.

It has crossed my mind if I continue to collect fun vintage mugs at the rate I’ve been recently then this time next year I could appear on BBC 2’s Collectaholics as I’d rather like to meet Mel and Mark. My current abode, however, is a teeny tiny one bedroom flat in East London with minimal cupboard space so I shall continue to thrift and sell! Today I have added 9 new styles and shuffled them all into their own collection page: Time for Tea. I did have more but they were swiped by some of my cutie pie regulars on Instagram. If you’d like to get your hands on the swag before it hits the online shop then I definitely recommend adding me on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook – I apologise in advance for the all the cat chat.

Mug mafia click here!

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