A Christmas Bazaar at The White Horse, Harborne

Well, it has been mega busy here at Minimum Mouse HQ over the last few weeks, what with the Christmas rush (but hey, we aren't complaining!). Despite this, we managed to drag ourselves off to A Christmas Bazaar at the White Horse Pub, in Harborne, Birmingham on Monday. We were pleased to be invited to take part, especially when we saw how many other talented artists and craftspeople there were there. Here are a few shots of our little selection of jewellery-

I was exhibiting next to Jaggy from Citrus, a very talented beauty therapist with a lovely selection of wares. She even did my nails!
The nails were done using Minx, a new technique from the USA where a transfer is applied to your nails using a heat lamp. She had loads of designs to choose from, but I just adored the retro look of these flowers!
Here is some of the art that was on show, by Lewes Herriot and Shelli Graham (who organised the event).
And some very cool jewellery by Ruth Herriot.
Here is the event in full swing (I'm sitting by my jewellery), come the evening it got very busy with lots of people enjoying the free mulled wine and mince pies!


All in all, a fun day out. Now we are back to the grindstone for another week, and then we'll get our well deserved Christmas break!

Birmingham Vintage Fair, 21st November 2009

I know it's been a while folks, and I'm sorry. Here at Minimum Mouse HQ we have been so busy of late that no one has found the time to keep the blog updated! Boo! But here we are with a little news about what we were up to at the weekend. Those lovely people at The Vintage Fair have taken the very wise decision to start up a new fair in Birmingham! So, on Saturday, the vintage fair rolled into the Custard Factory for the very first time, and we were there to show our wares and generally have a good old day out. As you can see, our mannequins Sylvia and her gentleman friend were well turned out for the occasion (the glorious 1950's dress caused many 'oohs' and 'aahs' from admiring lady folk), and we had brought a ton of stunning vintage, including these fine Christmas jumpers-
The jewellery proved very popular and I actually ran out of many designs (note to self: take more jewellery!).
We also met a load of lovely folks, and had a stall next to Pop My Cherry, who sell THE most amazingly patterned tights!
And, in case we got a bit peckish, there were the most stunning (and tasty) cupcakes from The Tea Boutique to keep us happy.
It's fair to say a grand day out was had by all. And it was lovely to meet so many vintage loving people!

Introducing... our new mousie!

How adorable?! We're chuffed with the new addition to our Minimum Mouse family - THE minimum mouse! Designed by superbly talented Midlands artist i heart joan, this little lovely is super cute, in the colours of our website, and the design in the body of the mouse is made up of drawings of our jewellery. Check out i heart joan for more fabulous illustration.

On another note, the sun is out so we're off to a car boot sale - here's hoping for lots of vintage buttons and delightful knick-knacks! Have fun in the sun guys x

Buttons, business and Bluestone bliss!

Since I have last blogged I have been a busy little bee - car boot sale season is now upon us and this is of great excitement to me! Car boots are where I find some of my most fantastic materials, including these darling buttons, which I have been fashioning into bracelets and earrings, hopefully with necklaces to follow. I just love vintage buttons, you never quite know what you will find. I am in love with coral pink and mint green at the moment, so I created these dangly earrings which allow you to channel your inner Pat Butcher!

Trashy gold buttons are another of my loves, here I've woven them together with gold wire and attached them to a chain for a trash-tastic bracelet.

This is my favourite button creation so far!

On another note, I have just returned from weekend of partying and pampering in Pembrokeshire. We stayed at Bluestone, which really was a little piece of heaven - you can check it out at http://www.bluestonewales.com/

Above is a picture of my best girls, Sarah, Meryl, Sian, Jenny and Cara (I'm the one in the bottom middle with the glasses, and yes I think I did come off worst in this piece of 'art' from Van Gogh's Workshop!), we have been the best of friends since school, and now that I don't live in Aberystwyth anymore I don't get to see them half as much as I should, so, after a long slog of organising and coordinating, we managed to meet up and catch up, and get this masterpiece between rides at Oakwood Park. Roll on the next one!

Finally, I got down to business with an interview at Trespass Magazine, about the trials and tribulations of bring a young businessperson, which you can read at

http://www.trespassmag.com/?p=3072

Until next time, friends!

M xx

Shop Update- Get ready for a summer of fabulous dresses!

What could be better than a pretty summer dress? As far as I'm concerned, the dress is the uncrowned queen of vintage, dresses just aren't what they once were! Whatever your taste or style, there is a vintage dress out there for you. In fact, since I started dealing in vintage I have really come to realise how much of what's on the high street is recycled - whenever I see a cute dress in Topshop or New Look or wherever else for that matter, I think to myself 'hmm, we had something like that in recently' - it rather takes the fun out of shopping, but it does make you think. We have made a big effort over the last few months to get together a big selection of vintage dresses to cover the summer months, from pretty sun dresses just made for picnics in the country, through to full on prom gowns for any of you attending a special event. And what's more, at a time when we are all trying to save a few pennies, they will be at prices that the high street will struggle to contend with! Here are some of our current picks...

I love the tropical print of this 1980's halterneck dress, it makes me want to go to Hawaii and drink cocktails (well, drink cocktails at least!)

This original 1960's party dress is sugar sweet and as bright as a button!

A fab 1970's casual dress in soft jersey, ideal for shopping, mooching around uni or sunning yourself in a beer garden somewhere!

And then we ramp up the glam factor with this slinky sequined dress -simply amazing!

There will be more where those came from very soon, so keep your eyes peeled! xx