Miss R's print shop now open....

Go to http://www.ros-shiers.com to buy the new collection of Giclee prints.

Fluorescent PR Press Day...

Here are some images (sorry they are a little dark) of the Fluorescent PR press show that I was part of on the 6th May. I set up my space using lots of Bijoux props...do you recognise any of the curiosities on display? It was a great success, with lots of great feedback from press on the new prints which will be available soon from my website. I will post a link when the print shop goes live. I had lots of interest from press on borrowing the props for shoots, so watch this space on further developments from Bijouxland.

Saturday 15th...

Todays booty may not look that interesting but in the summer it will all come together and make sense fingers crossed...porcelain jug (30p), Pale blue Doctor in Love book (50p), 2 x tiny glass salt & pepper table dishes (20p each), glass sweeties jar (£1), vintage kilner jars with glass lids (£2 each), V.large serving platter (£3), 2 x vintage lanterns (£5 the pair).I love these glass jars filled with sweeties, they take me back to being little and holidays to Cornwall with quarters of boiled sweets to keep me and Miss J happy on the long drive, the simple things!!

I'm hoping these will make a good prop.
Bought by: Miss R

Perfect picnic basket...

Miss J and I have been dreaming about long, lazy picnics in Queens Park this summer when the madness of planning the wedding is through and have been on the hunt for a picnic hamper with the above bottle (wine) section for some time. So this Harrods hamper (£5) just had to come home with us, isn't it just a splendid design, so simple yet so perfect? Now all we need is the sunshine!

Bought by: Miss R

Saturday 15th - Hello sunshine...

So as you can imagine we were very pleased when sunny skies were shining as we arrived at our first car boot of the day today and we could see lots of stalls waiting to be raided by team Bijoux!  I felt very pleased with my purchases when I arrived home at lunch time.  

Various pale blue and white Burleigh china £6.50, x3 vintage dark blue edged plates £1, Floral Rotary Glass Dome Clock £3 (I have removed the clock and will use as a display dome), glass dome 50p, 2x vintage Beatrix Potter books 75p each (a gift for Baby Finn Bissett who was born this week - congratulations to his gorgeous new mummy and daddy Aimee and Ryan, we cannot wait to meet him), cutlery £3, miniature Chanel No.19 bottle £1 and finally vintage 70s Silver Citrine ring - £25!

We also visited a wonderful antique fair just outside London this week with Miss R's friends, the fabulous Paul and James.  Unfortunately neither of them purchased anything at the fair but promised they had enjoyed a fun morning none the less and I hope the homemade chocolate treats I made for the journey home eased the pain!  It is amazing how hungry you get after a morning of vintage treasure hunting!

I am so pleased with this Victorian Glass Taxidermy dome that I bought from a really sweet french man at the antique fair.  Miss R and I had seen a few others during the morning but I was not convinced by the prices some of the sellers were asking so had held out and had also been beaten by another buyer to a dome that had caught my eye.  I was so pleased I did.  This beauty had a price label on which read £38, I asked the man if this was the price and he replied 'yes, but I could do it for less' so I asked what his best price was and he said £30 - I was sold and Miss R was a little green with envy bless her.  However, when I got the dome home after the man had wrapped it up for me with lots of newspaper inside and tried to remove the gold paper at the base, I discovered why the price had seemed so reasonable. The gold tape was holding together a piece of broken glass at the base in place - boo hoo!  Anyway, Miss R convinced me that it was not that big a deal and to leave the tape on as it looked ok.  So I have learnt a valuable lesson to really check items before sealing the deal and handing over hard cash!  I still think it is a bit of a steal and am really pleased with it.  It is temporarily holding some rather lovely blown glass candle sticks but what I would really LOVE for it to be show casing is a large CHANEL No.5 Factice.  I live in hope that I will discover one someday soon.  One can but dream....sigh!

Bought by: Miss J

Dreaming big....

Okay yes I'm probably getting carried away with myself after my tiny Victoria sponge triumph but dream big I say. One day when I'm feeling brave I will attempt a cake like this and then let someone else serve it up, just imagine trying to cut this tower. I dream of an Alice in Wonderlandesque picnic in Queens park at a table set full of amazing confections like this, prosecco, cucumber sandwiches, fresh mint tea and friends!

Victoria Sponge for Mr M...

I know this blog is meant for all things Bijoux but I was so proud of the below that I had to share it. Mr M's pub has been closed for the last week undergoing a renovation. His team of painters have worked tirelessly in shifts day and night for the last week. I had a sneak peak at the results of all their hard work a day before the project was complete and vowed to bake a cake to thank them on behalf of Mr M, to take in the next day for their morning tea break. As people who know me will attest I am a savoury cook, leaving the baking to the extremely talented Miss J. However on this occasion I thought I would go it alone without the assistance of Miss J who is usually my baking advisor when I intend to attempt something sweet. So here we have it my first ever Victoria Sponge.....I need to make two thank you's, firstly to Nigella, who's recipe in her 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' book was a dream (I never knew baking could be this simple. Measure all the ingredients and then put everything in the Magimix were Nigella's instructions and to my amazement a beautifully flavoured cake mix was combined taking me back to my childhood and licking the bowl of the raw cake mix....what fun!). Secondly a huge thank you to Mr Adlington for his lovely gift of the very rare Bonne Maman Figues Violettes (Fig & Violet) jam brought back from France. I combined a layer of the delightful jam with sliced strawberries and creme fraiche (leftover from a dinner party at the weekend) sweetened with vanilla extract studded with vanilla pod seeds.




These lovely painters had worked through the night to complete the pub renovation for Mr M. I am assured they loved the cake even though their expressions may indicate otherwise. My first solo attempt at a proper cake..... a great success! Hooray! Now I just need to bake the cake so I can taste it too...hee hee!!

Baked by: Miss R

Saturday 8th May - Rain again...

So we need to have words with the weather man.  Why is it that as soon as Saturday morning rolls around we wake up at 6am and are met with a grey London town and rain, rain and more rain?  Tres boring!  Anyway, obviously we headed to our usual haunt and were disappointed {but kind of expected} to see so little stalls.  However, what seemed at first like I would come home empty handed turned out to be quite fruitful indeed.

Table nest with original glass tops £10, round table - a steal at £3.  All three will of course be painted white!

Vintage 2 strand pearl necklace £6.  I am on the lookout for maybe three vintage pearl necklaces of varying sizes to wear stacked up altogether and this is my first find!  I keep missing ones I am watching on ebay but I think with pearls it is great to see them in person to assess the color and quality as I am looking for 1950's glass bead orignals and not modern plastic versions!

Bought by: Miss J

Taxidermy Butterflies...

All of the above frames have been painted white and the butterflies re-mounted.  I would like to collect enough to make a feature wall but have a long way to go yet!

Bought by: Miss J for £2 each

Saturday 1st May - Rain rain go away...

...come again another day, e.g not at the weekend.  Again, the curse of the bank holiday weekend has come out to play. Snore!  This is not good news for car boot enthusiasts I tell you.  Miss R and myself took ourselves off to our usual haunt early on Saturday morning - before the full on down pours set in later in the day in London town.  It was definitely not my day - I only bought this vintage tea pot for £1 which I am going to turn upside down and super glue to a vintage plate to create a DIY (Alice in Wonderland-esque) cake stand - et voila!

Bought by: Miss J