Inspiration - Street Art in Barcelona

Good news photos are working again, so here's a long awaited post!

Last August I went on a summer holiday to Barcelona. They've been a long time coming, but finally here are the photos!

I completely fell in love with the Spanish city and ended up becoming a little bit obsessed with all the fantastic street art. Everyone in Barcelona seems to be so fantastically artistic and everywhere you go there is something fascinating to look at. The graffiti is incredible and there are brilliant street performances to watch everywhere. Place all this amongst fantastic buildings by Gaudi and you are on to a winner! I even stumbled across loads of antique markets and vintage shops. Besides London, this is the one other city that I could imagine myself living in.

I took absolutely thousands of photos, but here is a roundup of my favourite pictures of Barcelona's street art. I hope you enjoy them and feel inspired to go there yourself. I definitely recommend it.

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers!

Here at the Vintage Elle Studio we are kind of obsessed with the Ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz (and when I say obsessed I mean majorly obsessed!) They are probably the most famous shoes that have ever exsisted. That is why, when creating our latest collection of sparkly shoes they were the first thing we thought of.

 

As they were such a major part of the Wizard of Oz several pairs of Ruby Slippers were made. 5 pairs are known to exist but there possibly were even more. In the original book 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy's shoes were originally silver. Legend has it that the film producers wanted to take full advantage of the new technicolor technology and decided to make them red... and thank goodness they did! I really don't feel that Dorothy clicking her boring silver heels saying, "there's no place like home" would have had quite the same effect.

 

Aren't they pretty!

It is well known that during the Hollywood Golden Age, Film studios were really careless with their props and costumes. Staff often took advantage of this and took many souveniers home to build up their own collections. In 1970 a costumer called Kent Warner was rummaging around in the MGM basement finding bits of costume to auction off. He came across the stash of Ruby Slippers, which had just been forgotten about. He auctioned them off, keeping the best pair for himself. Lady Gaga even owns a pair now...

...And Debbie Reynolds owns the pointy toed witch version.

It is now believed that Judy Garland only actually wore one of the pairs and they can be found on display at the National Museum of American History. One of the copies is currently on display at the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the V&A in London and I can't wait to get to see them! Out of all the fabulous costumes that have ever been designed, they were chosen to go on the official book cover! (My boyfriend just gaeme this book as an early Christmas present and I definitely recommend it)

I for one absolutely love this style of shoe. They are so elegant and ladylike, without having a crippling 4 inch heel. This is why we were so inspired to add our own pair to the Vintage Elle upcycled shoe collection. If you take a visit to our Etsy store you could own your very own pair of Ruby Slippers for a lot less than the originals which last sold for $666,000. How exciting! https://www.etsy.com/listing/118121324/ruby-slippers-size-5-handmade

5 favourites - Mason Jar Crafts

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 If you have a Pinterest account I am sure, like me, you are currently obsessed with Mason Jars. They seem to be everywhere at the moment and some of the things people are doing with them are, quite frankly, GENIUS! There's so many brilliant ideas out there. Here are my 5 favourite uses for Mason Jars so far.

1) Cocktail cup! They make cocktails look so yummy and a candy striped straw adds so much cuteness. These would be great to use for a rustic style BBQ.

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2) Cookie Mix in a jar. I absolutely love this idea. This would make a fantastic gift for anyone. Everyone loves to have a recipe mix in their cupboard for a lazy, indulgent day. You could make them for anything- cookies, cup cakes, brownies and the list goes on. Just remember to write the instructions on a gift tag so they know what to do!

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3) Place settings. I hate it when cutlery gets wrapped up in a napkin. (I don't know why, but I just do). I love this idea. It will definitely add imagination to any dinner table. I would recommend using vintage napkins for the full effect.

Source- Pinterest (no linked website attached, but I would love to know who this photo belongs to!)

4) Flower vase. I love small flower arrangements. The only vases I own are for big flowers and I sometimes use glasses for smaller arrangements. This looks so much more impressive than a pint glass!

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5) Sewing kit. This is another lovely gift idea, especially for anyone that is just beginning to learn to sew. Attach a pin cushion to the lid and fill the jar with all the basic equipment they could need (needles, pins, thread, buttons, scissors etc)

 

Mason jars are a bit of a fad at the moment. It's great that they are available everywhere, but not so great is that they can be a bit over priced. If you want to find some I would recommend junk shops and antique markets. I can particularly recommend The Junk Shop in Greenwich. They have a great selection of vintage jars, bottles, boxes and tins. However, if you hunt around the highstreet and price compare you can find some reasonably priced vintage style ones.

 

So that completes my top 5 favourite uses for Mason Jars, although there are so many more. I would love to know what you use yours for.

London Markets in the 60s

Now anyone that knows me will know that I am a sucker for markets and a sucker for the 1960s, so I had to share these photos with you all. :-)

 

Hidden Treasures in Liverpool

This Georgian terrace house in Liverpool once belonged to photographer Edward Chambré Hardman and his wife Margaret who lived and worked there for 40 years. Little has changed in this flat since the 60s and now luckily for us The National Trust have preserved it and opened it up to visitors. I have rarely seen anywhere like this before. Being inside must genuinely feel like you are going back in time and actually looking round Chambré Hardman's photography studio and living space.

I have looked at many photographs in the past of houses from bygone eras but if I was designing a set I couldn't think of anything that would be as inspirational as this. I am now going to go and seek out a play or a film that will give me an excuse to go and visit this place for set design inspiration. Whether I manage to find that design job or not Liverpool is definitely top on my list of places that i need to visit just to go here!