Fan Tan Tastic

I'd like to show you these boxes that I bought at Fan Tan Market at the weekend. They are vintage Chinese and they are so pretty. Fan Tan Market, not to be confused with Fan Tan Gallery, is a rabbit's warren of a store that you enter on Fisgard St and you exit into the dark and spooky narrowness of Fan Tan Alley(below)! They stock every Chinese import you can imagine from cheap little plastic whistles to vintage silk lanterns all piled high in an ancient cave-like space. Anyone who's been there(Hanna?) knows what I am talking about - it's brilliant fun!

Here are a couple of pictures of Fan Tan Alley - it's as creepy and cool as it looks.

The boxes remind me of the 1930s Shanghai posters that we found last summer at that local yard sale. The posters are about 20 years older than my new boxes, I think. I still love these posters - I see them on Ebay now and then but they get snapped up really fast.

Roll Cameras

So you are probably wondering what these pictures all have in common - well this is just a tiny sample of what's available to you next time you wish to shoot a movie. This web site has some simply stunning locations available to you (and your production team) to film in just about any setting you can imagine . . . this place is described as "Napoleonic Chic" - I didn't realize that Monsieur Bonaparte was a Beetles fan!

Window Shopping | Bluebell Bazaar

Very cute vintage bowling pins from Bluebell Bazaar - I'm sure I am  not the only one who collects vintage bowling pins - these are fun because they are small. Going, going . . . gone?

Etsy | Pamela Angus

Yet another great find on Etsy - aren't these so pretty? These little beauties are from glass artist Pamela Angus - luv em! First saw them here.

Flickr Love

I'm just getting the hang of Flickr and I am so amazed at the talented photographers who post their work for all to see. I just fell in love with the following images . They are from the following Flickr members, in order from top to bottom, weeshallmeet,  tanjatiziana, lightlycrazed and plautila. Let me know if you have a Flickr Photostream that you think I might like - I'm not a very good photographer - I'm working on it!

Inspiration | Jennifer Price Studio

A couple of weeks ago Alicia from Hi-Octane Jewelry told me about Jennifer Price Studio during our week of industrial chic - so I had to check it out. Great stuff - recycled, vintage and found objects - Jennifer has a really good eye. Jennifer's studio is located at SOLO at Solana Beach, CA - looks like they have lots of beautiful things there.

Victoria | Fan Tan Gallery

I am so excited to introduce you to one of my favourite stores, Fan Tan Gallery in Victoria BC. This wonderful store has been in this location for at least 25 years and has evolved into a fabulous collection of curious decorative items from around the world and truly gorgeous homewares. The location, in China Town, just adds to the mystery and intrigue and makes it all the more exotic. The wonderful storefront with the floor to ceiling windows is so dramatic - I get so excited when I'm going for a visit. I don't think I have ever left empty handed. It's a big store with 2 main retail areas joined by a "bridge", a back courtyard where the sun shines in and a very cool upstairs that looks like an attic(many of the China Town stores have these elevated gallery areas that are original to the building). The store inside is dark and colourful with old plank floors and brick walls. You can buy everything from furniture and rugs to jewelry and linens - all beautifully displayed in vintage fixtures and baskets.

This is the front area by the front door - you can see the elevated attic space that many of thee  China town stores seem to have.

Above is the front of the other side of the store where most of the furniture is(below)

This is the very back of the store - it's like a porch with a courtyard. There's lots of cool textiles and vintage kitchen wares back here - check out the huge selection of oil cloth - I have never seen so many great patterns. And aren't these aprons so cute!

Fan Tan Gallery is located at 541 Fisgard St in Victoria BC. You must go.

Happy Monday - I mean Tuesday!

Hello - hope you all had a nice weekend - It's a bit of a late start on the week for me. We got back from Victoria rather late last night after a couple of delayed flights. I'm feeling a bit blurry this morning! I didn't have a chance to upload all my pictures yet but I thought I would start off with a few images from China Town in Victoria - a small but very historic and intriguing area of Victoria which has also become a very stylish little corner of the city - and always one of my favourite haunts. We used to live in Victoria a few years ago and I spent a fair amount of time in this part of the city for a few reasons -  great fresh produce at the Chinese market, some of the best and most stylish stores in the city and my favourite coffee shop. So tomorrow I will show you my favourite store, Fan Tan Gallery, and today I have a few local shots and a couple from my fave coffee shop, Bean Around the World.

China town in Victoria is home to some cool, edgy shops, bakeries, cafes and tattoo parlours(above)

Many of the store fronts are very old and the buildings, I suppose, would be perhaps 150 years old(?) Below is the interior of Bean Around The World. Great coffee and atmosphere that you can only get after being in the same location with a loyal fan base for many years. Like many of the China town stores it is a very long skinny building with a brick interior walls and very high ceilings. They have an old wooden phone booth at the back for making calls with a great neon sign hanging over it. Lots of Chinese lanterns and vintage signage - oh and great coffee too - Black Dragon is my favourite.

I loved this tiny piece of stenciled graffiti - Victoria is a harbour city, in fact the city is built all around a fully functioning inner harbour, so the tall ship image is very appropriate!