Category Archives: Uncategorized

The return to Retrolex!

This Saturday 4th October saw For Frock’s Sake! back at the fabulous Retrolex Vintage Fair in Cotham. It was a lovely day, despite the rain in the morning we still saw over 200 people visit. There is always an eclectic mix of goodies in this vintage and retro fair run by the delightful Lex and her team…including Mags, Flag Man (doh can’t remember his name!), the kitchen crew and of course Spot the Dog! It was lovely to see everyone again, my fellow stall holders –  old and new, and my favourite customers came and bought, special mention to Betty & Sylvia,  plus Helen and her mum.

Check out some of the pictures below:

WiRed

Introducing the Redfield Womens Institute or WiRed as they are known by.

I had the honour of doing a talk at the recent monthly meeting of the Redfield WI, about recycling clothes and textiles. Followed by a jewellery class with each participate learning how to make a pair of earrings to take home with them.

Apparently it was one of the best attended events that the group have had, which was great for them…but slightly unnerving to be faced with over 60 women all eager to take part in the clothes swap which we were doing after the talk. After a few facts and figures about re-cycling and the environment, I felt it was time to crack on… as you can see by the pictures below there were a lot of clothes and happy women with new outfits.

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After the mayhem and merriment of everyone mingling and trying on various items, we moved onto the jewellery class.

About 10 ladies all had a go designing their own pair of stylish bead earrings, whilst learning about the different tools and findings used in the process. As several women found out, the hardest bit was actually choosing which beads to use! By the end of the mini class eveyone proudly showed off their creations.

It was a great night, with some new members for both the Redfield WI group and For Frock’s Sake! Please click on either group to find out more about joining.

If your group (be it school / womens group / WI / any cool collection of people) would like For Frock’s Sake! to organise a clothes swap or jewellery class then please use our contact form below to get in touch.

There will be more pictures to come of the jewellery!

Beesting Vintage Tea Party

Once again the Bristol Beesting Burlesque crew have put on a
spectacle!

The Burlesque VintageTea event kicked off at Trinity with doors opening at 7pm to a hall laid out in true ‘High Tea’ style, complete with cake stands, tea clothes, fancies and plenty of decor! Fabulous.

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Like their Facebook page here… Drop me a line if you recognise yourself in the pictures, quote Beesting and get a FREE membership to For Frock’s Sake!

Bloomfest 2014

A lovely sunny day at the Bristol Bloom Fest:

For the second year For Frock’s Sake! was happy to take part in the Bloomfest mini festival in St Georges Park, Redfield, Bristol.

Apart from the wind… but plenty of sunshine… meant a good day was had by all.

There were some great stalls and loads of fun workshops, if you missed this years event, put it in your diary for next year as it’s a great family day out.

Shades of blue… The Wall part 2

After a few weeks, we have chosen 7 different shades of blue paint tester pots. Today I painted small sample patches on the front wall. This was done to help choose which colour we’ll use to paint the top of the wall, the features around the windows and the stripes across the house.
The colours used are shown above, numbered from 1-7 please feel free to join in the decision making and select your favourite colour.

Birthday Wishes…

It’s my birthday soon and I’m trying to decide how to fill the week I have off the day job….

happy face

So far the ideas include the following:

park and slide

Sunday 4th May (11am – 5pm) promises to be spectacular, with Luke Jerram’s water slide ride planned for Park Street (tickets only and subject to safety checks http://www.bristolslide.com)

The giant 90m water slide is currently being developed for presentation on Park Street in central Bristol. It’s aimed to install it for Make Sundays Special and Bristol Art Weekender on 4th May.

The Ballot for tickets is now over. 96,573 people signed up for their chance to get a ticket! Tickets were issued via email between the 23rd and 29th April. Despite the limited number of slide tickets available on the day, the event will be free for anyone to come along and watch and join in the festivities.

Follow @LukeJerram on Twitter for latest updates.

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Download your Weekender guide at their website. Inside you’ll find full details on all the exhibitions and temporary shows, including opening times and addresses. If you’re not sure where to start, the guide also features a set of six special Weekender trails. By highlighting connections between works and exhibitions, the suggested routes are a fantastic way to navigate through the city taking in a range of different events and works, and uncovering some of the weekend’s hidden gems. There are over 30 special events running throughout the weekend too and the guide is packed full of ideas for walks, talks, events and workshops for all ages. Some events may need to be booked in advance – Full details, including how to book and times can be found in the events section. For the first time in Bristol art organisations and artists have come together to stage a weekend celebration of art across the city. The Weekender’s FREE programme has been carefully selected to blend internationally significant artists with emerging talent. Highlights include Jeremy Deller at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Andy Holden at Spike Island and Richard Woods at Works|Projects. There’s a retrospective of Sarah Records at Arnolfini and outside of the gallery space the Lord Mayor’s Chapel hosts Annika Kahrs’ mesmerising installation of 60 songbirds. Involving over 130 different artists across 16 different sites there’s so much more to see.

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Following a sell out run at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a national tour including the Arcola Theatre, London, Tom Wainwright’s wildly successful play returns home to Tobacco Factory Theatres.

Banksy was in LA for the Oscars when he sprayed ‘THIS LOOKS A BIT LIKE AN ELEPHANT’ on an old water tank. The tank was residence for a local legend, Tachowa Covington, who over seven years had furnished it with carpets, a stove – even CCTV.

As news spread of Banksy’s latest work, a consortium of art dealers soon appeared to repossess the water tank. Suddenly, Tachowa was homeless again…

Starring Gary Beadle (Eastenders’s Paul Trueman as well as acclaimed roles in the Royal Court’s Sucker Punch and Chichester Festival Theatre’s Blue Remembered Hills) – this is a story about creating something from nothing and then having it taken away, in the name of art.

Tom Wainwright’s play, originally commissioned by Tobacco Factory Theatres and a Play, a Pie and a Pint at Òran Mór, is directed by Associate Director of the Traverse Theatre and Co-artistic Director of Theatre Uncut, Emma Callander. It will be followed by a screening of Something From Nothing, documentary maker Hal Samples’ short film about Tachowa, edited from material gathered over 7 years.

  • Tuesday 6th May to 7th June The House Magicians:smoke and mirrors

    consists of Mark Bennett the owner of Illusions Magic Bar and Smoke & Mirrors, and he is joined by Award winning Richard Newman performing his unique style of great magic and comedy.
    Tim Stracey will blow your mind with his mind reading magic. The House Magicians will have you entertained all night long!
    Time: show time is at 8pm, arrive at 7:15pm. Check in at the bar or box office, they will allocate seating and seat everyone at 7:45pm. If you arrive after 8pm you could be seated during the interval. The show normally finishes at 10pm. Prices: £9.00 – £15.00. Note that this show is for over 18’s and explicit language could be used during the show.

    The origin of nursery rhymes does not always lie in the entertainment of the young, yet they appease our children, who sleep in blissful ignorance of the torture and politics, witches and murdered religious leaders that lie beneath their bedtime tales.old vic

It really is quite contrary.

So join us man and woman, goose and gander, Jack and Jill for a night of childhood memories and adult interpretations.
Using live strings, classical percussion and dramatic vocals and storytelling songs, Death & Treason, Rhyme & Reason explores the dark and debauched secrets of our most familiar childhood rhymes. Time: 8pm. Tickets: £12/£8

matthew boat

Enjoy a relaxing cruise on the Matthew as she sails around Bristol’s historic harbour. Dine on a fine lunch or supper of fish and chips as you soak up the atmosphere. We can offer a veggie option, chicken or sausage. There is a bar on board for your enjoyment.

Tickets: Standard adult ticket £22, Concessions (under 10s and and over 65s) £15. Book online or via telephone.

  • Part of the MayFest 15th – 25th May, sees The Roof,

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This seems quite wacky, The Roof is a spectacular parkour dance theatre show being built in Millennium Square at the end of the festival.
A 360 degree panoramic performance under the night sky.
A door opens and an immaculate figure steps out onto a roof. Knives are sharpened and the game begins…
Set within the suspended reality of a brutal and unforgiving game, this breathless mix of intimate three dimensional sound and the hair-trigger movement of free running will transport you into the body of a reluctant hero, desperate to stay alive.
Following Electric Hotel (Fuel) and Motor Show, this is the third collaboration between theatre director David Rosenberg (co-founder of Shunt) and choreographer Frauke Requardt.
The Roof is a truly unique experience taking place in a spectacular purpose built auditorium designed by Jon Bausor, set designer for the Paralympic opening ceremony. Sound & music is by Dave Price.
“thrillingly intense…rich and rewarding” The Guardian (Electric Hotel).

Audiences will wear headphones throughout.
Age restriction 12+.  TIME: Doors 9pm for 9.30pm plus matinees on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 doors 5.30pm for 6pm.  PRICE: £20/£15. Early bird: £10 tickets for Thu 22 May. Book by 31 March. Subject to availability. **Bad Weather**: As the performance space is completely uncovered, and you will be standing throughout, please dress appropriately.

 

Shoe-Tastic!

great blog, your house looks cool!

Found This Painted That

IMG_0524 Here it is, my next big save from the thrift store.  I’ve been looking for some time for some sort of seat that was narrow enough to pass by, comfy enough to sit and put on your shoes, easy to look at and most important, as usual, CHEAP.  This one came with a delightful little bonus – storage!!  There are far too many shoes in this house, and honestly they aren’t even mine.  Honestly….

Here’s the before:

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Here’s the bonus:

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A cool $15.00 and she was mine.

Since it is made of vinyl and I did NOT want it to stay brown, I pulled out all the stops and purchased Rustoleum spray paint for plastic in flat white (4 coats – 2 cans – a darker colour would take less).  I considered painting the trim charcoal or even painting a monogram or graphic stencil on top, but I wasn’t really…

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Twisted bamboo to refresh a wall!

Whilst it was still warm in the city of Bristol, I decided it was way overdue the time to paint my front wall. I’d already got a big tin of Dulux Twisted Bamboo Weather Shield paint, (initially for the back of the house…. still waiting for that to be done)! Plus previously, (probably last year) I’d prepared the wall ie had scraped off the old paint and used Nitromors to remove the stubborn paint from the flagstones on top.

The paint was great, the wall was a little uneven which made the first coat a bit more work to do, but at least then the second coat was easier.

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Continue reading Twisted bamboo to refresh a wall!

Gin Face

Gin is fantastic!

Gin
Large G&T is always the best!

I enjoy a good G&T, so I thought I’d share some of my favourites. Both of types of gin, some pictures and my favourite Gin bloggers etc. I will be regularly updating this page with new gins that I try, other fun and fabulous gin sites and generally gin news!

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Types of Gin:

Hendricks – my favourite gin that I’ve found in the UK so far, expensive but distinctive. Served with cucumber. Wacky website! Around £27 a bottle, but always costs more in bars.

Gin Mare – Around £38 a bottle, yikes! Even more expensive than Hendricks and less available! Typical! I’ve yet to find it in UK pubs or clubs, which is a shame. It’s a Mediterranean styled gin that I like for it’s interesting flavour profile. With rosemary, thyme, olive, and basil all included in the mix, this is a gin that not only offers something different, but challenges the preconceptions of what gin should taste like.

Plymouth Gin – I drank this gin first in Plymouth, and this has to be on the list of great gins in respect of the great recently departed Lord Warleigh from Plymouth. Great taste, easy to drink and available in some bars (obviously more in Devon!!).  About £16 plus for a bottle.

Juniper Green Organic Gin – Got into this one several years ago, like the fact that it is organic and tastes great, quite heavy on the juniper berries, but then that is what gin is all about! Sensible price, availability again you have to look around for it. Available in most supermarkets, around £17. According to their website “The Soil Association, the premier authority responsible for certifying all things organic in the UK, has certified that Juniper Green is 100% organic. It contains absolutely nothing but the world’s finest organic grain, the purest water and a combination of 100% organic botanical herbs sourced from around the world.

Caorunn – Yet another Scottish gin has entered my top 10 list of favourite gins. Nice easy to drink gin, not sure how available in UK, once again my Ibiza trips have spoilt me for gin.  £27 upwards.

Pink 47 London Dry – Not tried this one yet, but do like the look of the bottle, which is based on the unique diamond shape inspired by the Khavarava pink diamond. Between £15 – 20, the description sounds great: Continue reading Gin Face