Markets galore!

Since returning from Scotland it's been a really busy time. I've been back at Spitalfields every Thursday. I've done North London Vintage Market, followed by The Furniture Flea, The Classic Car Boot and Hackney Flea Market! Phew! Finding lots of new stock for all of them has been great fun but hard work.
Coming up this weekend is North London Vintage Market again. The last one in September was great as always with a lovely array of vintage clothes, jewellery, home-ware and great food. It's always a really positive environment there, reminding me of a local village market but in the middle of London.
It was really busy at The Furniture Flea which was held in the amazing York Hall in Hackney. I had a very successful day, selling a great amount of stock. The next one is on December 7th.
The Classic Car Boot was in a new venue at the Olympic Park in Stratford East London. There were so many wonderful classic cars to admire; mods n rockers rolled in on their mighty machines and Vespas. There were so many people dressed in vintage clothes, looking so authentic as they wondered around past Cadillacs and MG sports cars. The food was good too. There was great music provided by various DJs. The weather could have been kinder to us and I went home on both days tired n cold but enthused by the great atmosphere. I've now paid for both of the long outdoor days by developing a sore throat and awful cough!
I had another visit recently from my friend who lives in Denmark. She brought me a huge amount of new stock. It's always exciting unwrapping everything to discover what she's managed to find in the last couple of months. There were lots of beautiful sky blue enamelware, including coffee pots, strainers, colanders and ladles. I was thrilled to get more Bjorn Wiinblad plaques both in black and deep rust red colour ways. I've sold a few already but I'm keeping the red ones until nearer Christmas. I have a few customers who are collecting all twelve months of them and are keenly awaiting new ones to complete their sets. I bought 41 lovely old smooth caramel coloured wooden spoons, scoops and a trough which could be used as a fruit or nut bowl or anything else you fancy.
Well there are new jugs in cool white with blue trim, kettles in restful blue, zingy orange teapots among other things, winging their way to my stall in the coming days. Come and say hi if you're near London. If not, I hope you're enjoying reading about my stalling adventures. I'll try to load some photos soon.

Two fab markets til holidays!

This Thursday will be the last one at Spitalfields for at least a month as I'm off to Scotland for lots of relaxing, walks on the beaches with the dog, gardening, seeing friends, eating lots of lovely fresh seafood n trying to find some treasures for the stall. Before that one last market on Saturday 19th of July, when I'll be at North London Vintage Market, a fabulous venue for all things vintage, a real oasis of amazing stallholders and their wares. There'll be outside stalls too, a dog show in aid of North London Hospice and great food. Stalls range from clothes, jewellery, furniture n homeware including my stall filled with enamel and other vintage Kitchenalia. Do come along if you can. It's such a lovely atmosphere, reminding me of a village hall somewhere miles away from busy Crouch End! Have a fabulous summer n I'll try to write a blog from Scotland if I can get a connection!

A load of ol' knives!

Back indoors at Spitalfields Market yesterday. Last week we were al fresco due to an event happening inside. Just as well we were back indoors as it was really cold and miserable. Some lovely new stock including some french linen cloths which are great as teatowels or hand towels. I've got a whole pile of fabulous old knives with faux ivory handles. There are butter knives with handles the colour of butter and larger dinner knives, the colours being a mixture of yellow and ivory. I've packed them up into sets of six. I love using these. They're so sturdy and feel very nice when using to butter toast etc. I often get the smaller knives but it's great to find the larger ones too. Pair them with old large forks for dinner time.

The Danish Connection

Recently at Spitalfields I had another visit from a very nice Danish woman who approached me a while back with some items she'd brought from her home in Denmark. This time she had found me a real feast of jewel coloured enamel including ring shaped moulds suitable for cakes, jelly or brioche. They are in both ruby red and deep heavenly blue with white interiors. Some have little wire attachments to hang them up on the wall. Also there was a blue colander which was bought immediately and is now winging its way to America! It amazes me where vintage items begin and end. It would be great if they carried a little diary showing their history, where they came from, where they've been and where they are now! That would be so cool. I've bought things in Scotland - who knows if they started off there, then they've been bought by someone in London to take to Italy for example!
Most of the items from Denmark are that wonderful shade of sky blue but included in her latest haul were two grass green items, a funnel and a fish slice. They sold very quickly which I was a bit sad about as they were so beautiful on the stall against everything else. Included in the blue enamel was a striking coffee pot. I was told that they are called Madam Blue referring to the colour but people don't say pass the coffee pot but pass the Madam Blue which is very sweet. I also have blue funnels with white interiors which are great for decanting oil into smaller containers etc. I have a few more blue  colanders including an unusual jug shaped one. This also has a little wire for hanging on the wall where it is common in Denmark to display these items as they are beautiful as well as functional. There is also a zester and three cute tea strainers. Please contact me if you are interested in any items. 

Classic creams n greens n jewel coloured enamel

This is a selection of some of my enamel ware for sale. A beautiful cream n green flour bin which can be used as a small bread bin, a sweet red teapot, a really useful Bain Marie pot, great for making sauces, melting chocolate or making porridge. The classic cream n green cake tin dates from around the thirties/forties.

Back again!

For anyone reading this blog especially after my enamelware was featured in July's edition of Homes&Antiques, thank you and apologies that I have been very remiss at not writing here for a long time. I tend now to post news and information about fairs and markets that I'm doing on Twitter and Facebook. You can find me as Enamelama on both sites. I'm just back home after a wonderful family holiday in Majorca so feeling rejuvenated. I'll be back at Old Spitalfields Antique Market this Thursday and I'll be at Hackney Flea Market in Stoke Newington this Saturday so I'm busy getting new stock ready for both of these events. I've got some great milk bottles with advertising on them, wonderful for serving the obvious milk in or as a vase for a small bunch of flowers. Also I've got the last few Kilner jars which are great used for storage if you don't want to use them to preserve your own fruit etc. On the enamel front, I have some beautiful coffee and tea pots in a great variety of colours. Another interesting new find is a trio of saucepans which are cream n green, made by the company Judge, a well known English producer of enamel ware. They are triangular shaped and fit together to form a circular shape which fit together on one ring of a cooker. A very clever invention which allows you to cook three different things on one source of heat. I'm also looking forward to the next North London Vintage Market in Crouch End, a great place to find amazing items from Kitchenalia, china to furniture, clothes to record players and jewellery to fabrics. It is normally held on the first weekend of every month except August but this month it is on 19th July. Do try to come along. There's great food too and this month there will be a dog show in aid of North London Hospice. If you're reading this and you don't live in or near London, if you are interested in any items that I may have or could find for you, please get in touch with me and I'll do my best to help you. Meanwhile I'm off to search out some more treasures.

What's a Bain Marie?

Tomorrow I'll be at the  North London Vintage Market. As always I look forward to this venue. There'll be great stalls including mid century ceramics, textiles, furniture and of course Kitchenalia! Refreshments are yummily provided by My Little Cake Tin! I'll have lots of new items including a beautiful sky blue Bain Marie. What's that, I hear some say? Well it's a double pan where one smaller pan sits inside the other which is filled with water. The smaller pan holds sauces, custard, porridge or anything which needs to be heated gently. It avoids the sauce sticking the bottom. It's great for melting chocolate. I also have two small enamel flour bins, one in classic white, the other in cream n green with stencilled writing which is really lovely. Cream n green is a current n lasting theme in my choice of enamel and tin items. It reminds me of creamy roses on fresh green stems, crisp cauliflower peeping out of green leaves and I could go on but I won't. These colours can also be found in a1940s Salter scales, a three tier Tala cake tin and various bowls, plates and tins. These will all be available at the market tomorrow as well as at Thursdays at Spitalfields.

My stall recently at North London Vintage Market