The Rare Brands Market

A chance to visit the Rare Brand Market as I'm still on maternity leave and it was an enjoyable way to spend the morning especially as it was only a couple of miles down the road from me at Southend Barns in Donnington.  There were over 65 brands and to quote the Rare Brand team they made 'shopping elegantly easy for the West Sussex local lady.'  The Barns have recently been developed to a very high standard, with a contemporary style and a beautiful setting for this event, weddings etc.  I did think that it was a little dark in the main barn and it could do with a few down spot lights especially for stall holders that needed that extra light.


The flowers that greeted us as we entered the barn were fab and the wallpaper by the ladies was magnificent and I couldn't resist taking a picture of it - LOL

 

There was a huge range of goodies to peruse and with a 2 for 1 ticket, good coffee and lovely pastries for breakfast in the garden courtyard it all added to the ambience!  The setting for coffee was delightful with this great wooden log fence and glamping scene set up in the sunshine by The Glam Camping Company - yes the rain held off which was very lucky!






The first stall that I noticed was of Nicole Phillips an artist, designer and vintage ceramic up-cycler. She had a range of lovely ceramics and beautiful watercolours - delightful floral scenes beautifully displayed, I was nearly tempted but resisted the urge - a sample of her wares can be seen on the right!



As we walked round the familiar logo of Polka Dot House (on the left) stood out and so I went to introduce myself as we've 'connected' via Facebook.  It was lovely to put a face to the name and page!  They had a nice range of new, old and handmade gooides as their motto is ... Something Old, Something New, Something Handmade .... All Things Lovely!  I made my only purchase of the day, a vintage Ladybird book for Mr Lavender from Baby Lavender about Men at Sea ... as a keen sailor he appreciated it and it turned out he had the book when he was a boy and remembers it :-)



Making my round the main barn some silver caught my eye and I spent a little time talking to Sophie Davis of Seres Gifts Limited about her beautiful silver jewellery.   We discussed the venue, the merits of Facebook and social networking and I was very nearly tempted to buy another silver bangle ~ the Helix bracelet was a work of art ~ but again the head ruled the heart, although the website will be bookmarked for Mr Lavender just in case he needs inspiration!

Mia Bella Casa was a lovely little stall that had an array of unusual gifts, handmade, fairtrade, eco-friendly and as Justine is local to me in Ferring it's always good to support local business :-)








I have to apologise to the owner of the Connell and Todd stall, Kate .... I was drawn to the vintage images and wanted to take a photograph.  With Baby Lavender in my arms (there was no room to push the pram round :-() it was difficult and she very kindly offered to have a cuddle and I handed her over!  But Baby Lavender is at the stage of investigating everything and loves grabbing faces, glasses, mouths and ears ...... ooops :-/  I did get a photo but it's a little blurred.  Do go and visit their website as the photography is amazing.















What I loved about Connell and Todd was their concept of aiming to make buying souvenirs from places you visit trendy again .... they take their inspiration from early 20th century vintage travel posters.  On their travels they scour the country for special vintage finds depicting British destinations for that one-of-a-kind momento.  The fact that they source all the products from the UK is fabulous, supporting British manufacturing ... so you can own something nice and feel good about it too!


The day ended with a glorious scrummy cake from Strawberry Shortcake by Diana O'Brien.  Diana is organising a little fair in Bosham next Friday afternoon and I fear that we'll be popping along to sample more of her lovely cakes as it's only down the road :-)  Any excuse for lovely cake :-)

All in all a great morning out and I'll definitely be going again :-)

Well done to The Rare Brand Market team ... great advertising, signing, venue and of course the coffee always helps to make the day a success ... maybe next time get Strawberry Shortcake to add to the pastries though as their cakes were lovely :-)