a west german, a soviet & a couple of brushes

A quick peak in the new Red Cross store a street down from us turned into a lucky sweep.

I only went in to check if they had any new retro/vintage fabric for my quilt. This new store seems to have such a fast turnover of stuff, it doesn't seem unreasonable to go and check for things even every second day...plus the fabrics are sold by a small price per kilo.

Well instead of fabrics, I spent my three euro petty cash on some fat lava, something soviet and a couple of useful brushes.

I have to say I adore the tomato red of this fat lava vase and the fact that it's just joined my little collection. It's a little more robust than my other two finds from earlier, and it's also from a different pottery. It's made by Carstens Keramik. It looks solidly 1970s - isn't it just delicious? By the way, lots of info on West German ceramics and potteries (and a fat lava gazing gallery) can be found  here.

By now, you probably know about my fondness for nice vintage tins and for soviet stuff too.... This pretty tea caddy satisfies both fascinations. I'd seen this tin online (possibly on Etsy) before, and finally have come across it myself, and in such a sweet, clean condition. I've already filled it with some ginger infused green tea.

The vintage brushes are something that we've actually been needing for a while: a good shoe brush and one for coats. Now they come to us for literally pennies. The horseshoe shaped brush has been allocated for clothing, as it was in unused condition with no shoeblack on it. It is actually of a very nice quality, made of teak in England and it fits in the palm in a lovely way.