A Sign of the Times

The time has finally come when we can show off to the world and have ‘Lily & Violet Vintage’ written above our shop front!!!! 

Luckily, we knew exactly what we wanted (and have known this pretty much from the start) - glittering letters in gold! What else???

Julie Vernon's Gromit - Love it!!

We were inspired by our very favourite Gromit - the gold mosaic one by the very talented Julie Vernon; the one that sat outside the Victoria Rooms in Bristol.  Stunning!!!  (Did you know that 10,000 tiles went into the making of this Gromit - probably about the same amount as our sign!!) 

Being a bit of a dab hand at the old mosaic herself, it was down to Lisa to come up with the goods and make our fabulous sign. And fabulous it most certainly is!!!! 

But making the sign was only the beginning - the fun really started when we went to put it up. You would never believe the stories we could tell you about the weekend we put up the sign…….

We started on Saturday and decided to spend the day cleaning the front up a bit, removing the old lettering and repainting the main board.  

Our first problem -  our favourite Bailey’s Paints shop didn’t have the right paint - Aarrgghh - How could that happen?? They always have every F&B colour known to…., well, mown to Messrs. Farrow and Ball (just not this time).  If you haven’t been to Bailey’s Paints, it is a bit of a decorating heaven!! 

They mixed us up some Little Greene paint - and it is an exact match!! So, next time you are told that F&B paints cant be copied, don’t believe them!!! 

Whilst visiting the paint shop it is compulsory to have a rummage through the antiques and salvage centre - brilliant little finds if you keep your eyes peeled and put your bargaining hat on!! - but it does make the paint a tad expensive - it is impossible not to buy that must have rickety step ladder with missing rung…. a snip at £120….they are antique after all…

Eventually we made it down to the soon to be Lily & Violet Vintage boutique armed with step ladders, fairy liquid, clothes, paint and brushes.  We had a bucket but no water. Nick (our fab new Landlord) - oooo Lord Nick maybe?? - was busy working on the floor just behind the door, so when we knocked requesting water he could only open the door an inch or two.  Our bucket is at least a foot across!!!

We popped in to the lovely ladies in Glow (fab hairdressers just up the road from us) who kindly gave us some hot water. At last we could get to work….

As we are on a bit of a slope, the step ladder that was perfectly fine at the top was just a little on the short side towards the bottom!! The situation was made all the more precarious with the addition of pedestrians!!

The mobility scooters - they really do motor along!! We spent a lot of time moving the ladder for them and their occupants, walking sticks, bags,baskets etc. etc. And every time  we moved the ladder they stopped exactly where the ladder had been to chat to us!! Lovely to be so friendly, but it made for slow progress!!

you'll have to imagine the scoot!!

We do love a scoot and thought we might have a window display with one at some point.  Probably more like a Lambretta or Vespa than a Mobility though….Picture the Eiffel Tower, a Lammy and a poodle - thats what we are thinking….

The Oldies - Dursley on a Saturday has its fair share of unstable walkers!!  We had never really noticed this before but they did seem intent on trying to knock us off the ladder when they grabbed hold as they ambled by!!

The Beepers - you know who you are!! All of your heckling and tooting made us smile but on occasion made us jump a mile!! (not very good when you are on the top of a ladder!).

Whoop!! Whoop!!

So, after scrubbing cleaning, peeling and repainting on Saturday, all that was left to do on Sunday was fix up the lettering!! Easy!! We had expert help from Bri and it went up like a dream!!

We are totally thrilled with the result. And we think that it gives you a very good idea of what to expect from the Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique before you set a foot inside the door.  We know from all of the amazing, wonderful comments that we have received that you like it too.

Next stop: moving in!!!! Soooooo exciting!!!

Mary & Lisa x