On Sunday, my friend Jacqueline and I took part in 

Le Chat Noir Vintage Fair here in Cork City.

This is a fair which celebrates vintage clothing, handmade gifts, and the like. The best part is that it's just a few minutes walk from my house! I love being inspired and encouraged by the other vendors; and what a joy to be surrounded by so many people who love what I love! We had sold a few things there at Christmas, and were so excited to be involved again. 

photo courtesy of white cat studio

Here I am, selling our wares! 

The fair is held in an old schoolhouse, with wooden floors and barn red doors- it was perfect.

The dynamic duo.

One of our lovely button brooches. Every time we make a batch, I end up keeping one because each is prettier than the last!

Making tea cup candles requires time, patience, and always more wax than I expect... but the results are so satisfying. 

And Jacq packages them up so nicely!

photo courtesy of white cat studio

You can see our cake stands there in the foreground. You should have seen us the first time we took a drill to one of our vintage plates... not so nice! We've since learned the technique :)

photo courtesy of white cat studio

The lovely girls of Lockdown Models, showing off some vintage garb.

Me... not so much a model, but still showing off this great 1950s dress I got from Dandelion Vintage Clothing.

 We took these shots later that evening, after we picked up Eoin from the babysitter's. We were out in the countryside and I couldn't resist posing in front of the cows.
Yes I got stung by nettles and yes I had to jump down when a tractor came barreling down the lane... 

Inspiration...

The past two times I've been back to visit my family in California, I've made an effort to scan as many of my grandparent's photos as possible. My maternal grandparents have an old wooden chest filled with family photos, and it was such fun to go through them all with my grandma! This post is just of her and my grandpa, and I'll do one of my paternal grandparents in another post. Anyway, if this isn't vintage inspiration, I don't know what is!

 

 Here she is being so hip on her awesome bike, early '40s.

 I love this shot- the angle, her windswept hair, and the barn in the background. This would have been somewhere in Ohio.

This is my incredibly handsome cowboy grandpa. No wonder my grandma ran away with him!

 He was in the Navy...

 Grandma, please can I have your coat... and your shoes?

 Ok, this has got to be one of my favourites. My grandma (right) and her sister Babe (they called her that because she was such a babe, just look at her!) got all dressed up in the sailor uniforms their boyfriends had loaned them. Here they are pretending to be drunken sailors. 

There's a whole photo shoot they did, and it's hilarious!

 This was part of the shoot as well. My grandma all dressed up in her Pacific Islander garb. 

What a doll!

So gorgeous. I miss my family so much, and can't wait till I get to visit again, see more photos and hear more stories!

céad míle fáilte! (a hundred thousand welcomes!)

Welcome to the Irish Poppy! "Irish" because I've been living in Ireland
for the past 8 1/2 years, and "Poppy" because I'm originally from California,
home of the lovely California Poppy. 

I've begun this blog with the purpose of expanding and challenging my creativity. I have so many passions- gardening, sewing, cake decorating... and I have a decent collection of vintage clothing I've amassed over the past 15+ years which I feel is too often neglected!

I figured if I started a blog, it would keep me accountable to finish projects and be more faithful to my vintage frocks.
Here's a bit of a visual of what I like! In the future, posts will be topic-specific :)
 

Please can I have this kitchen?

Favourite vintage piece ever- my grandma's mohair cape!

I love this dress!  (indulgy.com)

I want to learn this painting technique (Martha Stewart Living)

One of my first tries at sugarpaste flowers...

Best day ever when I learned how to do the Ruffle Cake!