Our little stand 🙂 Full and ready for you to stop in. There are so many lovely goodies.

We have enjoyed a wonderful first week at the House of Heart Emporium.  I popped in there this morning for a bit of a re-stock and spruce-up!

Some genuine antique plates. Old and timeless!

As you can see I brought in a lot of pretty and interesting new plates. We have tried to keep them reasonably priced (between R30 and R70).  I personally  love to have a collection of miss-matched plates to use for display on the wall or for serving food at teas and functions. These piece are always admired and appreciated by visitors.

Some pretty plates. I just love the shape of the one on the left 🙂

I added a few new little EPNS pieces. We still have that gorgeous candelabra and EP teaset in stock too. These are such elegant and timeless pieces — I hope they find a special owner soon!

EPNS Candelabra, tray and gravy boat. A some cute bird ornaments.

Beautiful Victorian Teacups and a lovely Arzberg Teaset.

We have a lovely German-made Arzberg teaset (for one) — just because you’re drinking tea alone does mean you can’t do it in style!

I brought in a beautiful Oriental teapot today — priced at just R50 — this one is sure to sell soon.

Pretty oriental teapot and vases and some lovely spoons!

All the pretty goodies 🙂

Lastly here is a lovely lot of classy glass and trinket dishes (two of which are Royal Albert) — any of these would make a unique and precious gift for someone special.

The pendants have also been selling very well — they just cost R60 and are a lovely gift idea because no two are the same.

Hope to be adding to exciting new goodies next week!

A new month and an exciting new opportunity!   Yesterday morning saw us moving into our new little corner at the super “House of Heart Emporium” — located at the Dunrobin centre, 31 Warwick Rd (off Town Bush Road). The House of Heart acts as a wonderful showcase for all sorts of interesting crafters and suppliers and it is the perfect place to find a unique gift for that someone special. On the same property is the wonderful “Flavours” Cafe which is set in the beautiful nursery gardens. Their menu is full of delicious meals and treats … and their cappuccinos are divine! The Flora Symons nursery is well stocked with beautiful roses and seedlings.. just what you need to “pretty” up your garden this summer.

House of Heart Emporium entrance.

Some pretty petunias to welcome you 🙂

Anyway,  back to our little corner 🙂 …  My wonderful husband James constructed a lovely custom-made pine display shelf (the sweet man worked all hours of the night on this one — I definitely married a “keeper”).  The shelf provides lots of space for our vintage goodies and a special custom-made area for our up-cycled “Weeping Willow” pendants.

Our lovely shelf (thanks James)

We have some real “Lollapalooza” finds (at least we think we do!).

Vintage Suitcases — with original stickers. The one case has sub-divisions for shoes. So very shabby-chic! These are going for R500 each.

Just a few of our pretty plates. The Minton one in the middle is stunning!

Some lovely EPNS spoon sets. With original boxes.

Gorgeous glassware — just a small sample of what we have.

Some sweet little bird ornaments (very reasonably priced)

A stunning 4 piece silver-plated copper teaset. R1500 for the set.

Our pendant stand

A close-up of some of our pendants

And some more 🙂

Apart from our display, there are stacks of amazing stalls at the House of Heart. Below are some photos of a few of them:

The lovely Handmade in Howick — beautiful handmade goodies (and so creative)

Roses and Ragamuffins. Charming children’s clothes and gifts. I just love their crocheted headbands!

Vintage Rose Collection … so femine

Gorgeous Laser-Cut signs, clocks and jewellery.

Re-Creations — charming rustic storage boxes.

Hope you get a chance to pop in soon — its well-worth the visit.  And you don’t want to miss out on those cappuccinos (I promise).

View from above the courtyard at Spiga’s

Saturday the 31st August saw  Hannah and me making our way down to Durban for the awesome “Yesterday’s Suitcase” market at Spiga d’Orro in Florida road. Organised by the “I Heart Market” team, this lovely event was held in the charming Spiga’s courtyard.

The stunning old building in which Spiga d’Oros is situated

It was a celebration of all things “vintage”. There was an amazing array of clothing, porcelain, jewellery and up-cycled furniture. It was difficult to discipline myself not to spend all the money I made at the market on the lovely goodies on offer!

I just love the Mediterranean feel of this courtyard!

Despite warnings of dire weather conditions, it was a deliciously sunny day, made all the warmer by the friendly company, chilled retro music and soothing sounds of the courtyard fountain. Although it was a working day for me, it felt more like a Mediterranean holiday.

The fountain with Terry Angelos’ display behind

Today we brought along lots of our up-cycled china pendants, vintage jewellery and other odds and ends. As always, we loved meeting old and new customers and were glad that there are some people out there who like what we are doing!  It was great to meet Stacey, owner of “For the Birds”  who bought some of our pendants for her beautiful gift shop in Umhlali. (Be sure to have a look at her facebook page) .

My clever husband, James customised this suitcase for the “suitcase showcase”. It works beautifully for our up-cycled pendants!

A view of our display.

A close-up of the vintage goodies

Some of our vintage jewellery

I was also amazed at the creativity of Terry Angelos and her range of up-cycled plates and art-work. Its always great to see Ryan and Liesa from Rollin Vintage too — their creativity and passion for what they do is inspiring. Their range of vintage cutlery jewellery is a must-see!

I am not usually a photo-type of person but here is me 🙂

My little sis, Hannah… best market buddy ever!

Hannah and I did do a little shopping too – hey, I did say that we were in a holiday mood 🙂 … I was thrilled to find a beautiful butterfly print skirt, a floral skirt and a pretty summer top. I could have bought more but I did need to keep some money for the toll on the way home!

Rows and rows of stunning vintage clothes!

Did I mention that I LOVE this courtyard?

We had an awesome time at the recent “I Heart Market”. I (Angela) managed to convince my husband James and my two little boys to come along for the ride. My wonderful sister, Hannah, was there as usual too! My husband’s double cab was the perfect carrier for all of us and the mountain of vintage goodies we brought along!

Bright and early on this beautiful “I Heart” Saturday

The beautiful Moses Mabhida Stadium

Because setting up all those vintage goods takes so long, we left home just after 6am to arrive in Durbs just after 7am. Market organiser, Anna, placed us in the newly formed “vintage area” of the market — under a beautiful rubber tree.

Concentrating on setting out all those goodies! That’s me and little Jonathan.

This month’s market turned out to be a really interesting and “international” affair. The world “Transplant Games” were being hosted at the athletics track across the road. This resulted in us meeting a host of wonderful customers from Thailand, Singapore, Iran, France, Australia, New Zealand and England. Its wonderful to think some of our “treasures” will be making their way all over the world!

Yes we did bring a lot of things (there are more under the table!)

My children thoroughly enjoyed exploring the beautiful stadium and surrounds. Next time I wont need to do any convincing to get them to join me!

Beautiful views and a cute kid

My “big” boy Matt enjoying the Durban sunshine.

James took these photos included in the article. I was so busy selling on the day I didn’t even have time for lunch (let alone a chance to look at the other beautiful stalls)… hopefully I will get a chance next time because this is a fantastic market filled with some incredibly talented and creative traders.

Hannah gives Moses some appreciation for his amazing stadium!

If you haven’t ever attended the “I Heart Market” be sure to make a note on your calendar for Saturday — 7th September. Bring the whole family and come and celebrate the best our province has to offer!