day out to the Sabinillas flea

it was a Sunday and probably the hottest day since summer arrived here in the Mediterranean and on a whim, the mister and i decided to check out a flea market (or "rastro" as they are called in Spain) in Sabinillas, Spain that a friend of ours recommended.  Sabinillas is about 20 minutes away by car from Gib.

so together with another friend of ours, we hopped on the car and looked for the place with a lot of people, hoping for an adventure.

 i love this poster but the mister wont let me buy Jet Li.

beautiful paintings of the idyllic Spanish coastline as well as ordinary things people do (such as a guy standing over a presumably dead guy!).  also, there were a lot of religious iconography scattered about.

surprise, surprise!  we saw the sword from Game of Thrones! made from Valyrian steel no less and.....ohhhhh that helmet!

tutus in all colors of the rainbow!

i love these African baskets!  

i also love this guy.  just dont know where to put him in our house!

animal skulls (maybe cows or bulls)

there's plenty of signs available for the homeowner with a house full of exits

cow bells of all sizes

this guy is rated PG though (you have been warned!)

in the end, i loved all of them but unfortunately i had to leave them all behind.  we bought loads of fresh fruits though: avocados, mangoes, loquats, peaches, green apples; and herbs (we love our mint tea!).

flea market finds: ghosts and green monsters

the days have been getting more beautiful each day here in Gibraltar.  clear blue skies and cool, breezy days.  perfect for a carboot sale!  of course i wouldn't want to let this opportunity pass.  remember, they are so few and far between here in Gib! 

people have caught on! over the years  i've observed that there are more and more people checking out the goods!

so before i and the mister took off for a little getaway, we just had to stop by and shoot a few pics and browse a few stalls :) 

against the backdrop of the imposing Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque in Europa Point, the only mosque here in Gibraltar which also contains a school, a library and a lecture hall and was a gift by the King of Saudi Arabia in 1995

i only bought a few items as i think i enjoy the rush of seeing different and unique things more than my impulse buying (although, i recently sold one of my flea market finds for a good sum!).

here are my finds!

(1) two chinese jade-colored candle with a weird mama creature snuggling with two of her weird babies (i am guessing this is part of a chinese zodiac candle collection)

 (2) i was intrigued more of the title than what it really is.  after doing a little research, i found out that the author had been a commentator and a staunch critic of the Marcoses during the late 70's.  definitely now in my to-read list :)

so yeah those two are just what i bought but i had fun browsing and taking pictures of the things i wanna take home with me :)

from left to right: Gibraltar crystal hand-blown vase, lime green Moroccan sandals, a handmade doorstop (more for a finca i think!), a glittery top (boogie nights!) and the most delicate cups and saucers i ever did see!

from left to right: a cute smiling voodoo doll(?) or maybe a charred gingerbread man?  he's dapper though!, a wooden bowl, a repurposed crane, an old camera and a couple of jazz aficionados

ahhh, one sweet day! 

i end this post with a pic of this elderly lady, with prams and suitcases brimming with goods, as she waits for the bus heading home happy and contented.  she probably can't wait to show off her finds too! 

would-'ave, could-'ave, should-'ave

oh the things i left behind at the carboot... there were many but these i picked because i liked them...

from top left: an old-fashioned purse with a b&w picture of a retro girl, an 1879 New York and Manhattan Express collage made from parts of timepieces, a series of blue watercolor frames and a vintage iron with a cork handle

from top left: a chicken wire basket pretty much like my own (except mine was painted sunny yellow), a b&w picture of Marilyn Monroe, brand new pink Timberlands and a rug with geometric designs

loafin' around: a DIY moment

loafers are making a comeback.  and the most popular ones are either spiked or studded! 

they are so 80's but then again that's my favorite decade :)

i am a little bit (just a wee bit, really) obsessing over skulls at the moment and saw this gorgeous Alexander McQueen skull velvet loafers one day... and just like that, loafers were added to my hit list as well.

i saw this lovely pair at the "miercoles loco" or Wednesday market in Spain. i know it's quite on the opposite spectrum of Mr. McQueen's creation not only in color and material but also of price but that's just exactly right up my alley.

as you can see it has the most outrageous brand name ever written in big shouting colors.  i would have wished it were smaller and more discreet.  but then again, it's just a shoe.  and i love the rich brown color and the navy tassels.

but how do i take it one level higher??? 

i was hit by inspiration today after one of my hair-ties broke. so i got the super glue and started working...

look how they turned out!

saturday's child

saturdays are busy here in Gib.  there's Big Band music provided by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Band in the piazza (think jazz and swing music!  awesome!) when i was living in Singapore, i used to spend my weekends sitting in the park listening to fantastic Big Band music in Symphony Lake. 

there is a craft market in casemates square too selling handmade stuff.  they just started this summer and only a few stalls have set up their stuff.  i am hoping this will catch on and eventually would expand and attract a lot of people. 

i love this stall below selling beautifully-preserved insects :)  on top of your purchase, the seller will also give you a free lecture about them :)

original paintings by locals...

the stall below is by my favorite local painter, Paul Cosquieri.  his paintings are very contemporary and colorful

you can also find one of a kind teatowels, fans, coasters and place mats...

handmade leather jewelry with Celtic knots... very creative!

 adorable mouse doorstops :)

here's my current favorite jazz singer singing my favorite swingy big band number with a modern twist :D turn up the volume!

enjoy your weekend!

flea market finds: head to toe and everything in between

its lazy sunday!  

i finally went to my favorite shop last week and well, initially, i didn't find anything i like.  after a few more days of browsing and even with their new stuff coming in, i STILL didn't find anything i like.

oh well.  

yesterday was Clean Up The World day of which i am a regular volunteer (tell you all about it on my next post).  i thought... maybe... before i pick up litter i might as well drop by a church sale, the St. Andrew's craft and collector's fair.  might be good to check it out and maybe pick up a few things or two since i haven't dropped by in a while.  this church usually puts up this sale every first saturday of the month with just a handful of sellers.  true enough, i found a few treasures. these are my finds:

this is a small pair of black and gold stud earrings with a depiction of a bird.  i can't quite make out the maker because its so tiny but it looked like its made by hand. the clasps are a little crude but i think it has oodles of character which is why i bought it for a mere .50p!  tweet, tweet!  it also reminds me of Biba (an iconic fashion store in London in the '60's with an Art Deco vibe by Barbara Hulanicki which used a lot of black and gold back then)

if Sweden has their wooden dahla horses and Russia has their wooden nesting matryoshka dolls, Japan has their wooden kokeshi dolls!  this one however is made of ceramic and sporting pigtails instead of the usual bowl cut do the kokeshi dolls usually have.  she is 4 and a half inches tall, bought for a pound and is now best friends with my matryoshka dolls :)

y'all know i have a fondness for turquoise, teal, cobalt, seafoam... (well, basically all the variant colors in between blue and green. i can't quite make my mind up yet!) the tallest and bluest of 'em all in the picture above i bought for £3 in a Facebook page here in Gib selling secondhand stuff. forgot to mention that i didn't buy this in the church sale.

and lastly, in the church sale, i bought this brand new fluffy pink house slippers for .50p (but in the picture i have already worn them) all because my usual Homer Simpson house slippers were now looking a lot like Homey... in terribly bad shape!

i lurve my first finds for fall!

*linking to The PennyWorthy Project @ hey what's for dinner mom? :)

a sight for sore eyes

flea markets, bumper cars, The Bourne Legacy, eat-all-you-can, arts and crafts, best friends... these pretty much sums up my weekend, oh and on top of these; dealing with a leaky toilet, laundry, grocery-shopping, clothes that needed mending and a pesky worm problem with my mint herbs.

all in a weekend's work!  but on to some lovely things that i left at the flea market :)

 all things gilded!  old-world charm :)

a beautiful sun tray (did i ever tell you about my fascination for yellow?)

i sent this to my sister because she loves Melissa shoes :)  i found this in a snooty posh seller's stall. all her stuff were designer but as i was trying to inspect a beautiful pink Hermés clutch, she rudely snatched it away from me as if i am going to steal them away from her.  so, i walked away and decided no dime shall be spent on her stall! 

a train track!  a boy of about 8 can be heard shouting "comprar! comprar!"  (buy, buy!) to his dad :)

and there they are again :)  globes!  the one below is an old globe with a hidden bar/wine storage selling for only 35euros!  i looked them up online and they sell for up to hundreds!

the little figures below might look scary to some people especially in America (i froze to death when i saw them the first time!) but they actually represent persons seeking penitence during the somber occasion of Holy Week until Easter Sunday here in Spain.  it is a strong Spanish tradition observed since the Middle Ages.  (the pointed conical hat is called a "capirote")

now on to the animal kingdom which never fails to fascinate us :)  i am so glad this piranha is stuffed :)

 deer antlers!

a stuffed seagull(?)  not sure what kind of bird it is... but take a look at that huge candelabra/chandelier behind it?  really nice in a big airy dining room don't you think?

 horsing around :)

well, well, well... lookee here... a decorative plate from Gib :)

i try not to feel regret at all the beautiful things i left behind :)  *sigh*  i am beginning to have an idea what those people in that TV show "Hoarders" feel now :D

flea market finds: handmade namdha goodness

'tis the season of car boot sales!  although they are few and far between here in Gib, i still try to visit each car boot sale in the hopes of finding that one true gem :)  (don't we all?)

i try to keep an open mind whenever i go to these sales wherever they may be, but i have a few things that i keep a lookout for all the time.  i just love the thrill of the hunt!

yes, that's right, this particular car boot sale happened in the parking lot of the local swimming pool!

pretty much standard stuff.  there is an odd piece of antique or two and most of them are second-hand clothes and kitchenware or accessories for the home,  such as this lovely floral carpet/rug/floor mat that immediately caught my eye.

upon closer inspection, they were made of the softest wool and felt and embroidered with the most colorful cotton.  they were also from Kashmir, that region of India where the most skillful and unbelievably artistic handmade goodness comes from!

the guy selling these is moving to another country and he just sold his house and everything in it!

it took me just about 2 minutes to circle the sale because there were only about 10 or 12 cars there.  in the end, i came home with this 114cms round namdha rug with a branching lotus design.  here are some detail shots:

i went home with a big smile on my face :)  i love me a handmade goodie :) you can read about a similar rug from a topic in Apartment Therapy here.


*linking to Sophie in her Flea Market Finds @ Her Library Adventures! :)