Fantasy Homes of the Week

I started house-hunting, on a limited budget, but I'm not good with budgets and somehow I subscribed to property alerts for homes in South Wales up to a couple of million...  Just to have a look.  Here are three of the beauties I've found!

Victorian Church Conversion

Edwardian Villa

 1930s Art Deco Clifftop House

Sigh.  I would buy that Art Deco one if I had 1.3 million.  I'd pretend I was in an episode of Poirot everyday!

Winners!

Drum roll please!  I used those random number generators found on the internet to pick the winners.

The winner of the eyebrow palette and nail polish is...Emily, author of Vintage Visions blog.

The winner of the teapot is...Melanie, author of The Folly Bird blog.

And the winner of the Ladybird Archive Collection mug is...Elgingerbread - another lady with a blog.

Congratulations all you three, I hope you are pleased.  I will be in touch to get your addresses.  Sorry to everyone who didn't win, I hope to do some more giveaways  in a few months.

P x

Three Giveaways!

Don't forget that I have three giveaways running - and at the moment you have a VERY good chance of winning something because hardly anyone has entered!

For the eyebrow palette giveaway see this post

For the teapot giveaway see this post

And for the Ladybird Archive Collection mug see this post

I'll draw the winners on Monday, so you've still got a couple of days to enter.

Good luck!

P x

Giveaway: Ladybird Archive Collection Mug

Ladybird books - sighs of nostalgia all round!  I love their range of gifts that have tapped in to this nostalgia, I'm sure you've seen the address and notebooks, craft sets, mugs and toiletries bags.

For my final giveaway this week then to celebrate 3 years of my blog, I have a lovely boxed Archive Collection mug with a picture of a pot of jam and the word 'Yummy'.

To be in with a chance of winning, please follow this blog and leave a comment below telling me which is your favourite Ladybird book.  ** Winner will be drawn Monday**

Giveaway: Vintage Teapot

As part of my 3-years-of-blogging-celebration I would like to do another giveaway.  One of you lovely readers will win a vintage teapot, stuffed with a mystery selection of tea.

To enter, simply follow this blog and leave a comment telling me what your favourite kind of tea is.

Good luck! ** Winner will be drawn Monday**

Giveaway: The Eyebrows Have It

As part of the 3 year anniversary celebration of my blog (woo hoo!) I have an eyebrow palette to give away.  There will be THREE giveaways this week because I've been blogging THREE years!

Photo: St David's Official Photographer

As part of the recent BAFTA talk I attended, the make-up artist Jo Evans (above) did a spotlight on brows to illustrate just how important they are in creating an overall vintage appropriate look.  Her model was given a 'natural' brow look on one side (fuller brow, following the natural shape) whilst the other brow was given the 1950's look - the results were really quite striking, even from 6 feet away in the audience.  I don't have a photo of the resulting look, sorry!

To further illustrate the point, I would like to bring to your attention actress Joanna Vanderham, star of 'The Paradise' and also 'Dancing on the Edge'.  In the first photo, the Edwardian look needed for her part in 'The Paradise' called for the natural brow.  Compare this with the photo below of that, of her 1930's look in 'Dancing on the Edge', and below that of her in 'real life'.  It's really quite dramatic what a change the brows help achieve, isn't it?

We got to keep a handy brow reference chart.

I think my brows are a concoction all my own from looking at it!

I'm giving away a Kelly Brook eyebrow palette so that you can have a go at sculpting the perfect brows yourself at home.  I'm also throwing in a red nail polish.  To be in with a chance of winning, follow this blog and please leave a comment below.  ** Winner will be drawn Monday**

Blog Anniversary: Celebrating 3 Years of Porcelina's World!

Can you believe it?  I've been blogging for three whole years this week!  I started doing my own blog as a way to share vintage-related things - videos I'd found on Youtube, amazing bargains from the charity shop, or an old film rediscovered that sparked an obsession with cardigans or hair bows.  Not having a big vintage scene here in South Wales, it was hard to find someone who got as excited as I did over vintage, and blogging opened up a whole world of like-minded people who really did go cuckoo for the same things that I did!


Another reason for starting a blog was wanting to keep my hand in at writing - I used to do a little freelance journalism, and recently have been writing short stories and poetry.  I think it's been good to keep in the habit of writing, even if it's only about shoes and not serious world-changing journalism.

The unexpected benefits I have received though have been from the community that I feel I have become a part of.  I had no idea that vintage bloggers (and followers!) were such a lovely bunch of people - thank you to everyone over the years who has helped me identify mystery antique boots, has indulged my obsession with Miss Lemon's wardrobe, and who has left me lovely comments.


The first post I ever did was about a 1930's Norman Hartnell fashion clip that I found - I'm sharing it here again if you missed it the first time around.

I am doing a series of posts this week to celebrate my blogging anniversary - keep an eye out, because there'll be a few giveaways.

Thank you to every single one of my followers!

P x

For Sale: Vintage Brooches

A quick heads up for my readers that I'm listing another lot of vintage brooches over on my Ebay page here.   I have lovingly collected these from old ladies at the local car boot sale, and there are some nice ones from around the 1950s.

Hope you're having a good Sunday, wherever you are in the world!

20% Off Undercrackers at Boux Avenue

I'm new to Boux Avenue, a lingerie chain that has come to Cardiff, but as they were one of the generous sponsors of the recent costume talk event I attended at St David's, I felt compelled to have a peek in their store and see what they had on offer.

The store layout is rather nice - rather than piles of pants everywhere, there are examples of each style on top of the counters, and you open the drawers beneath to find your size.  I was a little disappointed in the bras - the vast majority seemed to have more padding that Joan Collins' suits in the '80s.  I know that's a trend these days, but it's not one I subscribe too.  Light padding is perfectly adequate to ensure people look at your face when you're in a cold meeting room and need to be taken seriously.  Anything more is false advertising.

As well as underwear there's a good selection of nightwear and loungewear, and the staff in the Cardiff branch were super-friendly and attentive.  Here's my pick of items currently in stock that are a bit 'vintagey'.

Fleure longline bra, £24

Peta Satin and Lace Pyjamas £42

Leonie Silk Robe £85

One final comment is that the sizing seems a little limited - 32A to 34DD on some of the bras.

If you would like to try Boux Avenue, I have an online discount code to share with you - simply enter LOVEMISSB at the checkout to receive 20% off until 21st February.

Costume & Make-Up BAFTA Event

Who loves costume and make-up?  We all do!  I was very excited to be able to attend a wonderful event recently hosted by the Cosy Club at St David's shopping centre in Cardiff.  BAFTA Cymru (Wales) and Grayling PR put on a fantastic event, with a talk by BAFTA winning costume designer Lindsay Belasconni, make-up artist Jo Evans and Producer Jane Dauncey.  There was a fab mix of creative types there, from fashion students to producers, make-up artists, costume designers and bloggers (there were some really good outfits, with a smattering of vintage inspiration) and everyone was really friendly, which is always nice when you go to something on your own.

Above: Me on the left, and a stylish lady in the centre who has a sweater clip on her collar - I might have to steal that idea!

Above: The lady on the right has a 1950's bag, and an amazing vintage dress

We were well lubricated with Prosecco, and rather than the 'nibbles' I was expecting, a tapas banquet appeared that I think could have fed over 100 people.  Alas, I had eaten my dinner beforehand and could only manage a few mouthfuls.  A shame, as it looked very appetising indeed, and judging by how busy it was it must be a popular place that warrants a return visit from me to investigate it thoroughly.

We all had a particularly lovely goody-bag to take away, that included Crabtree & Evelyn products, New Look make-up, and a Boux Avenue discount that I will be sharing with you in a separate post.

I personally won't use the Kelly Brook eyebrow palette because I'm addicted to Dior's brow pencil and won't give it up, so I am going to offer it in a little giveaway very soon with some other treats.

Thank you again to everyone who put on the event, it was great fun and I learnt a lot about eyebrows, lighting and costume-making on a budget!

Angel Adoree's Coddled Eggs!

I'm a creature of habit, and a weekend breakfast is usually scrambled eggs on toast.  A snowy day like we experienced last month however calls for a greater degree of fortification in the morning, and I decided to give my pretty egg coddlers a go!  Angel Adoree recommends an assortment of fillings in her 'Vintage Tea Party' book, but I decided on plain eggs for the first attempt, served with toast, baked beans, fried halloumi and some hot Amazon sauce.

They were a hit, and I will be sure to use the coddlers again soon!

NYE Outfit - A Little Late!

After all that disorganisation and non-planning, we did go out on New Year's Eve - how spontaneous of us!

I wore my beautiful new Christmas-present dress given by my partner's Mother, and chosen by him.  It's from Lindybop dresses, and I just love it.   I am accessorising it here with a glass of Lavender Gin Fizz, my new favourite champagne cocktail.  Excuse the poor photos - it was dimly lit and my camera can't cope with that!

Vintage Film: One Touch of Venus

My first Ava Gardener film!  That I can remember, that is - I possibly watched something starring her as a child, but I wouldn't remember.  Gosh, she was a looker wasn't she?  Reminds me of Immodesty Blaize a little.

One Touch of Venus is a 1948 comic romance with Robert Walker as geeky assistant Eddie at Savory's department store.  In a moment of spontaneity, Eddie kisses a priceless statue of Venus, and like Sleeping Beauty she comes to life!  There's singing (Ava's not just a pretty face), there are covetable outfits, and as well as the trio of romantic storylines, there's a large dose of humour that varies from sharp (thanks to a great unflappable secretary played by Eve Arden) to slapstick.  I loved it!  UK readers are too late to see this film on BBC iplayer, but it's well worth a look at the other black and white oldies on there, there's always a great selection.

Here are some screen shots, to try and persuade you to watch if my description hasn't already done so!