Oh man, the autumn/winter '10 collection by MATERIALBYPRODUCT is absolutely gorgeous. Amazing work! LOVE!

MATERIALBYPRODUCT AUTUMN | WINTER 10 from Nancy Vaudeville on Vimeo.

Just look at these beautiful prints... They came all the way from China, from my dear parents! How absolutely lovely to receive a gift like this, it made my day!

My parents went to China a while ago and brought home lots of lovely presents (I'll show you the rest in a future post). They found these beautiful prints at a flea-market. (Can you imagine, a flea market in China... I would DIE!)

I can't wait to frame and hang them, now I can finally put those old flea-market frames to use. I think they will look beautiful in our apartment!

 Advertisements for cigarettes...

 and booze! : )

ps: some of you know from my last post that I was in agony with lower back pain. I had my first injections last week (my god it was painful!) and I'm beginning to feel the effect. More injections to come next week, yikes : ( Thanks for all your lovely comments!

Love, Betsy.

I'm a little bit of a freak when it comes to my back. I have a vertibra that grows together with my sacrum and pelvis. As you can guess that results in lots and lots of back pain. Nothing can be done to relieve my pain except... and here comes the spooky part: inject my lower back with local anesthesia with a big fat syringe, not only the surface, but way down into the bone! Yikes!!! Not a good feeling but I’m hoping it will all be worth it in the end. So in a few hours I'm going to the hospital for my first injection : ( 

Until I'm feeling better here are some images which have been inspiring me of late... 

I'll be back on monday. Until then... Enjoy the Weekend Links and have a fabulous weekend! 

Love, Betsy.

My dears readers, major work is currently being carried out on my site so please excuse the mess.  Thank you for your patience.

Love, Betsy

I found these fabulous vintage embroidered appliques on my recent visit to the flea - market. I didn't buy much and got a really bad sunburn that day but was so pleased to discover this seller!

She told me that these appliques were made by a Belgian artist who’s almost 90 and wants to get rid of all her stuff. So I’m going to pay her a visit one of these day!  Can’t wait to see what treasures she has lying around.

I'm not sure what they will be used for yet?! I might re work them on some of my vintage garments. Maybe up holster something or just display in a frame...  They might be cute applied to shoes... As you can notice: To be continued!!

Interested in buying some appliques? I've selected some beauties on Etsy & Ebay.

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Here are my other flea-market finds. Enjoy!

Love, Betsy. 

Don't you just love these hand-colored postcards! They were published around 1825 in London, you can read more about their history and view the full set of cards here. Great source of inspiration! (Via Rifle Blog)

Love, Betsy.

My darlings, what are you doing this weekend? I'm going to see Prince tomorrow!! Yay!!!!! and watch the World Cup finale of course. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and here are a few great weekend links... 

Love, Betsy.

Christopher and I finally decided where to vacation this summer. Cote d'Aruz here we come! So that said... Let's talk about swimwear! Here are some beautiful bathing suits for your summer vacation! Happy swimming!

Grace vintage inspired swimsuit by Miss Fancypants

Winding Cirebon Maillot at Anthropologie

Buttercup Bikini at Anthropologie

Billow Loop Knot Bikini by Zimmermann

Fynbos Bikini by Sonate Lingerie

Lucille, wrap one piece by Karla Spetic

Boléro bikini by Eres.

and also...

If you want some inspiration: take a look at these lovely images of vintage swimwear and this great post about the history of swimwear.

And if you still haven't had enough, check out my previous swimwear posts! Mama Maria Swimwear, Super Sexy Swimwear, Bathing Beauties & Bathing Beauties Vol. 2.

Love, Betsy.

I reluctantly share this favorite haunt of mine because well, now I'll have to buy all these beautiful clothes before you girls. Ok here you have it:

If you're a vintage shopper who loves one-of-a-kind and unusual finds, you'll  love this shop. Firefly vintage established 1973. Ebay's and the internet's largest collection of rare and collectable vintage clothing dating from the 19th century through the 1970's. The collection includes vintage fabrics and buttons,vintage mags and newspapers,19-20th century trade beads and misc antique items. Firefly vintage is the place to go to when you're looking for that perfect unique piece! Hope you enjoy!