Wednesday 27 November 2013

Drinking tea in bed

Good Morning, (whispered quietly) as I type I'm still wrapped in the duvet with a large cup of tea.
Yesterday, Lord Rust and I were selling our wares at Kempton Racecourse http://www.sunburyantiques.com/ and as usual it was an exhausting experince, but once again filled me with inspiration, the drive to make more, work harder and  be brave with new designs. We always trade from the same spot at Kempton, having the trailer in tow means we are at the very far end of the market right next to the shippers whose uneviable job it is to deliver everyones spontanious purchases to theier homes or shops.
A customer of mine this week struggled, along with Lord Rust to fit a tweed covered wingback armchair into her rather lovely (but unfit for purpose) shiney new Audi. F1 logistics stepped in to save the day http://www.f1logisticslhr.co.uk/ and I watched as the chair that I had crafted was loaded up amoungst the gplan sideboards, chesterfield sofas and beautiful industial pieces.
 I love our spot here even though many other traders dislike being in this area, so far away form the main action. Rather smugly its my belief that we are lucky to be there, getting the same spot each time means you all know where we are and even though our stock changes almost daily there are recourring themes such as lord rusts.... well rust, lots of metal, well worn wooden pieces and (please excuse the awful pharase) 'mantiques' are his trademark,

Along with my tweed covered gentlemans chairs, bright floral patchwork and vintage hessian sack are the reccouring themes that we are now becoming known for, maps are fast becoming a favourite too.
Photo: Just finished this beautyPhoto: Carley's Yard is looking good, think we can smugly say team Norfolk/Rust have excelled in display again

 As well as being easy to find I love this location for watching whats been bought. Undeniably a nosy creature I find immense pleasure in seeing other peoples homes, and this little forghtnighly insight the interiors of the people of London pleases me greatly. Seeing a piece of my furniture along with so many things I consider beautiful was an made for an enexpected feeling of proudness. The sheer scale and diversity of this market usually overwhelms me, feeling like a newbe and watching so many pieces of awe inspiring furniture and accessories going by each time sometimes makes me feel inadiquate in comparison, but now full of tea and suitably rested I'm ready to make as much aswomeness as is humanly possible fuelled by the deire to watch entire lorry load of Lady Norfolk
and Lord Rust pieces beig packaged up taken to tower Brige SE1 (where my chair went yesterday)!

Our next market is at the Lincolnshire Showground on the 2nd and 3rd of December http://www.asfairs.com/lincolnshire-antiques-home-show/  a gorgeous well organised fair that you need the entire day to walk around. After which we'll head on to Newark Showground on the 5th of December for two days  http://www.iacf.co.uk/newark/. Newark is great, so many stalls, an amazing Bratwurst seller and hopefully the source of many of my Christmas gifts this year.

A selection our stock is availibale from Tuesdays to Sundays at Carleys Yard in Framlingham, http://www.carleysyard.co.uk/Carleys_Yard/Carleys_Yard.html
 this refreshingly chic centre of gorgeousness is so worth a visit if your in Suffolk, full to its lovely rafters with the perfect gifts for those a little more discerning. Theres a retro specialist, http://www.planet72.co.uk/  a wonderful seection of elegant antiques, two rooms of art and our brilliant mix of rust and prettyness too!

Time to get up now, fabulousness to make!

Thursday 7 November 2013

It's taken ages to do this...

So it's been quite some time since we updated our sad neglected blog, since we last posted here has been much sunshine, many fairs attended, some good some terrible some new discoveries, Shepton Mallet for example being wonderful, buyers had spectacular taste, were very engaging and friendly, Hop farm in Kent being quite the opposite. Customers were apparently not invited, it was terribly organised and one left feeling completely ripped off and quite certain of never dealing with that particular company again.
There have been many birthdays, much cake, rum and beer consumed and in equal measure much hard work. We've been making, designing rummaging, buying and repurposing until we've run out of space to store things, my tiny little home looks like Steptoe is squatting there (and yesterday I purchased four more wing back armchairs)! It really is a disease I just can't stop myself, and amongst all the piles of furniture I find myself feeling quite lost, there's not a mad panic or surge of adrenaline when I walk downstairs and see it all, because for the first time in months it'll be two whole weeks in between events. I've grown accustomed to phoning the husband on the way home from a fair and saying things like 'how fast can you strip that armchair?' as recently we've been back out the door again within a couple of days for the next one.
So between now and our next event which is in Detling at the Kent event Centre on the 26th and 27th of October , I'll be upholstering a few large items (I appear to be collecting two seater sofas at the moment) making some fabulous Christmas decorations and batch cooking so I can tuck into homemade soups and stews whilst standing in a freezing cold field over the next few months.  Lord Rust who is a creative genius has had a stupendous idea using plumbing pipes as an interior accessory- can't wait to see the results, and is as always on the search for unusual treasures.


Well Lord Rust taking over this post. Lady Norfolk has saved it a few times so far but never got round to finishing it. I didn't get round to using the pipes yet but you never know what's around the corner.
The sparrow hawk came to stay with us for a while His name is Steve He got a little chill so we had to give him a scarf. He's back with his previous foster parent now he couldn't take the abuse thrown at him in the fields full of treasure.
Baby parts were the big thing for a while. Most have been re-homed now they even decorated a Christmas tree for a while. I do try to keep the stock different from other dealers. I can't wait to see the box of bath taps that I bought blind last week thinking I'll risk a tenner and hopefully be able to make something out of them. Watch this space.
We've had some fun times at the fairs with our buddies Mr & Mrs Pork Pie (rosieswnt) I think they look up to us as they've now joined in with the orange gay ze bo trend. Today Kempton tomorrow the world. That reminds me Lady N purchased her own gay ze bo a couple of weeks ago we now trade at the fairs from a 5x5m orange tent of goodness. You can't miss us. Another of our friends from the big city (find him https://twitter.com/SawdustCaesers) is thinking of joining in too. He's a good lad with a good eye for stock I do wonder why he drags a Rabbi around with him.
As always our stock changes before we even get time to photograph it and load it here, also my lens has broken on my camera and I can't afford another just yet.

The other big news is that Lady Norfolk has spread her wings and is now trading from Carley's Yard in Framlingham. We took a van full of stock over today and it looks fabulous. I'm sure that the awsome tweed armchair thats in the reception area of the building will be sold before the weekend is out. CarleysYard
I might be going on a few road trips buying over the next few weeks. If you know of anywhere I should go just get in touch. Andycrashhussey

I told you it was good didn't I.

Oh and the next fairs we are doing are Kempton 12th November and then Lady N is doing St Peters Street market in Ipswich 17th November.