It's just soo lovely to have the time to do the things you want...

After my last post I walked into the kitchen and realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of another find at the juthbacka market...I have quite a few plants in the flat so this charming little table felt like something useful to have. And no, it does not bother me in any way that it is also very cute and retro.

As I've been on holiday this week, I've tried to get some projects done, such as revamping a pair of shoes which I haven't worn for a few years. Before;

And after;

From useless shoes to glamorous slippers to wear around the house, makes me feel a bit more luxurious than wearing woolly socks with my dressing gowns...

A little something else I made this week was this matching set of skirt and hat;

Also note my new handbag with the cute shoe-shaped clasp. From a shoe/bag shop here in town.

Finally, here's another outfit I wore to town a few days ago, sorry about the sunglasses inside but hey, that is what I looked like...


Another fun thing we did this week was taking a dance class, basics in Finnish tango. It was fun, but sadly, both Mr. Kitten and I feel like we've already forgotten most of it...

Juthbacka 2010

One of the highlights of the year for finding vintage goodies around here is the juthbacka market. This year I decided to go in full vintage gear (apart from glasses) so I put on this dress, white gloves, shoes and belt, and the white cardigan in the picture below;

I did a fake fringe and when I turned the camera on to take an outfit shot, the battery died. Above photo was taken in the dark evening after I got home...

On Saturday we went to Oulu to listen to a concert by the Riku Niemi Orchestra, which was absolutely awesome, and on Sunday we went to another fleamarket. Here's my finds from the weekend;

Everything but the shoes from Kärkkäinen (where we also stopped for some shopping on the way home) is second hand, some of which need to be altered a bit before they fit me...

Now this has to be the most exiting (and expensive) find at the market; 72 sheets of pattern cards from around 1954...But unfortunately missing the silver scissors scaling tool needed to get the pieces enlarged to the right size. This, of course, I didn't notice until I got home. *sigh* BUT, I have a feeling that I just saw this same catalogue on someone else's blog, but I can't remember or find where...Anybody seen it/have it? I could really use a picture of the scale next to a ruler or something so that I could start using these fabulous patterns!

Finally, the second most exiting find, seen above, a real vintage half hat. I paid 30 euros for it (to a lady selling only vintage stuff and who knew how to charge people). I have been wanting one for ages, even tried to make one myself (not very successfully, I might add). So I could not just leave it there...

Anyway, I had a wonderful weekend and just started the second half of my holiday, so I think I'm gonna go off and start working of that growing pile of items in need of alteration. Have a great week!

One step closer

I went back and got it. The sideboard. I've been looking for one for months, and the weekend before last when we stopped at a flea market in Kauhava on our way to a dance, I spotted one. In good shape too, apart from one loose door which Mr. Kitten fixed for me once I got it home. As I didn't want to bring it to the dance and have it occupy half the caravan, I had to leave it behind, but a few days later I had the day off and convinced my dear mother to go on a mother-daughter road trip. In my parents volvo with plenty of room in the back...

The sideboard is now filling an otherwise hard to fill corner of our kitchen, acting as storage for my fabrics, which I previously didn't quite have a good place for. Now I just need to find some vintage shelves for the living room, a vintage sofa table, some nice lamps...But at least I'm one piece of furniture closer to a vintage inspired home.

I'm also one step closer to becoming Mrs. Kitten, we had a small engagement party for the family last week and here's what I wore;

The skirt is self-made and the earrings are vintage;

As I'm pretty new at collecting vintage (and because I live in such a small town) the apartment I share with Mr. Kitten still has very few items of vintage furniture. So I'm curious, what do your homes look like? Do you collect both vintage (and/or replica) clothes and furniture or just one or the other?

5 x shoes

I've done it again. Bought more shoes that is...Two pairs in Bulgaria (red and white ones) and the rest last weekend, including a pair of black suede shoes from the 40's!

Unfortunately they where not exactly mint condition, one of the straps going round the back of the foot was missing (cut off?) but I recon that can be fixed...I hope. For the pictures I've used a piece of black elastic.

Check out the leather sole!

Also note that none of my new pairs are in the same colour- I've been on the hunt for shoes in blue and brown, and now I found some! The shoes from Bulgaria are new-new and the rest second hand-new. Four euros I paid for the three pairs of shoes over in Kauhava, where I also spotted a potential piece of furniture for our home. I just need to go back and pick it up in a car with a big enough trunk. If it's still there...

Bulgaria + 24 hours in Istanbul

A few weeks ago Mr Kitten and I went on holiday to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria.

Only to take a bus-trip to Istanbul where we spent about 24 hours seeing some of the sights...

...and on the highest hill in Istanbul, on the Asian side of the city, Mr Kitten proposed!

I didn't come as surprise though, as we had talked about getting engaged on our trip, but anyway, it was nice and the view was pretty spectacular.

The next day we bought some white gold engagement rings from one of the many places selling gold in the city, before heading back to Bulgaria.

Sunny beach is a really touristy kind of place, with not much to do but take it easy, hang out at the beach/pool, eat, shop and party. But that's why many people go on holiday now isn't it?

It was good to get away, and I especially liked visiting Istanbul, as it really felt like you were somewhere else with all the mosques and minarets everywhere. Somewhere closer to Asia.