Car boot sale booty

Today was the first time in many years that I'd been to a big car boot sale. The last time I went to this sale I got some good bargains, and I was worried that this time I wouldn't find as much. I needn't have worried!

My biggest bargain (both in size and good value) was a large wooden carving with a Chinese or Japanese theme, about 2 feet wide. I'm not sure what its original purpose was, and I'm not sure where I intend to put it, but at only £3 I could not refuse!

I also got a lovely ornate mirror for £3, two knob racks for 50p each (I will paint these), four Ikea frames for £2, a set of ten Chinese painted marble eggs for £2.50, a pink vase for £1, a small set of drawers (for jewellery?) for 50p, a blue bowl for 50p, a book on Asian art for £1, a small vase with a design of cherry blossoms in blue for 50p, a set of bowls and spoons with a cherry blossom design, some bedding with roses on one side and polka dots on the other for £2.50 (I will use this as material for sewing), and a small unit with a door and drawer for 50p.

All in all a great day out, with good bargains and scorching weather.

Flickr

I've been busy uploading some of my photos and art to Flickr, so please come over and have a look at my photostream! I'm sure I will be adding a lot more soon, because I'm going to upgrade to the pro account (which I swore I would never do!).

Dundee degree show

I found this year's degree show at Duncan of Jordanstone a little disappointing, although this was nothing to do with the quality of the work, but rather to do with the exhibition space. Rather than being held in the art college itself, it was held in a new but unoccupied modern office building. I didn't realise that it was not being held in the art college, and saw no signs there to direct me elsewhere, so I found myself wandering around an eerily deserted building and wondering whether I was there on the right day! I eventually asked someone and was directed to the Vision Building. I haven't yet found out why the degree show was being held there, or whether it will move back to the art college next year. There didn't seem to be anyone to ask for more information, other than the students themselves, and I could see no overall guestbook for the whole exhibition.

I can understand that the students themselves may have enjoyed having their work exhibited in this building, which is more like an art gallery. But to me it felt cold and impersonal. The degree show in Dundee is usually my favourite, as I enjoy exploring the labyrinthine corridors of the college and finding exhibits in all the nooks and crannies of the building. The fact that there was also an exhibition of work by the Society of Scottish Artists was also confusing to me as a visitor, as it wasn't immediately obvious that this work was not by students.

The students' work that stood out for me were:
Hannah Livingston's trinket boxes
Kate Tweddle's jewellery which reminded me of Japanese fabrics
The animations Taketori by Colin Gordon and The Earth's Core by Katerina Kulendikova
Ryan F Gordon's graphite portraits

Silly samurai

Dad's birthday card. The samurai were stickers from Paperchase.

Christian Aid book sale 2009

I was a little late in setting off for the booksale this year, because I discovered that someone had kicked a dent in the boot of my car, so I had to go down to the police station. But even though I caught a later bus than I had intended, I got to the sale only half an hour after it started, so I was able to find lots of bargains before it got unbearably busy. After about an hour and a half I had filled two bags and I couldn't carry any more! Although it rained on and off, it wasn't too much of a problem - I went to the indoor parts of the sale when it rained.

Here's what I bought:

Japan by E Flynn & D Stowe £3
Laura Ashley at Home £2
The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600-1868 £5
Living Normally by Trevor Naylor 50p
China: Empire of Living Symbols £4
A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine £2
The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth £2
The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer 50p
A book in Japanese about kites £2

From the ephemera section:
Looking Up in Edinburgh by Jane Peyton 50p
The Language of Flowers 50p
The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane 50p
A Friend is Someone Who Likes You by Joan Walsh Anglund 50p
Springs of Comfort 50p
Springs of Greek Wisdom 50p
Bergen Norway 1954 50p
The Old Town of Stockholm by Henrik Alm 50p
Cats by Howard Loxton 50p
Wine Cups on the Stream (from The Tale of Genji) 50p

From the antiques and bric-a-brac section:
A pair of pink pillowcases £2
Painted wooden tub with lid £1
Teacup with pink roses 20p
Plate with Japanese scene 20p
Royal Doulton Bamboo plate £1

I was really pleased with the things I bought. I managed to find A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine which I'd been looking for. I got some wonderful bargains for 50p, including Living Normally which is presented like a home decor book but the homes in it range from the ordinary to the messy to the very strange. The most expensive book I bought, The Great Japan Exhibition, contains wonderful photographs of Japanese paintings, screens, kimonos and other objects. When I bought Wine Cups on the Stream, with its picture of a woman in a kimono on the front, it was a Japanese woman who served me, and she told me about her recent trip to Tokyo when she saw lots of cherry blossoms.


Last year's sale
The year before

Japanese containers

After seeing this, I'd been on the lookout for containers that I could plant small succulents in. I eventually found these in an antique shop, and they match my blue birdies! The mouth of the jug is a bit narrow to plant anything in, but it makes a good vase.

A lovely present

My good friend Jane knitted this fantastic bag for me - and it matches my coat perfectly!