With the constant temptation of vintage delights all around me I have to be very restrained with what I collect for my own home. So far I have allowed myself to start one collection - a multicoloured set of 1950s atomic glasses. It is somewhat modest at the moment - I've only found 3! But every time I go treasure hunting there is always the thrill that I might come across another.

Collecting seems to run in the family. I have postcard and stamp collections from my Granny and Grandpa. My mum is partial to Yuan design ceramics and is a hoarder of papers. My Dad has the most substantial collections - a whole cupboard full of vintage Meccano and an ever changing number of classic motorbikes. Recently, my partner also seems to have also caught the collecting bug - he now has 127 Olympic 50p coins.

I wonder what you can glean about a person from the items they collect?

Luckily having a shop allows me to indulge in building up collections without exponentially filling up the house! I gather together lonely vintage plates which I can then upcycle into cake stands. I also like to collect particular makes and designs, such as J&G Meakin and 'Indian Tree'. My latest collection I have made for the shop is these 70s advertising mirrors. The Art Nouveau imagery and those alluringly glamourous women are what drew me to them. You can find out more about them here.

So there's a little snapshot of my collecting addiction. Does collecting run in your family too? Have you got a collection you'd like to share?

I hate to admit it, but there's beginning to be a bit of an autumn chill in the air. I see the signs when I look out the window - the late summer goldenrod is losing its brightness, the wildflower meadow has been cut and the first leaves are starting to turn. I often feel a sense of loss a the end of summer and as the days draw shorter.

Autumn, however, does have a few things to redeem it. Glorious flame coloured foliage, crunching leaves underfoot, and the first lighting of the wood burning stove.

Our house is centred around a Sweetgum tree, a Liquidambar, that simply comes into its own in autumn. It lights up with radiant red and orange hues that never fail to make me smile.

I think there is depth and richness to these colours. I took inspiration from this glowing Autumn palette to create this Etsy Treasury.

Autumn brings with it too a rustic and less verdant look. Cool autumn skies, harvested fields and brown bark have been the theme for these latest additions to my Etsy Shop.

What do you feel about Autumn? Do you revel in the season, or see it merely as a prelude to winter?

Sadly this year we have had very little harvest from our fruit trees. That late frost when all the blossom was out seems to have reduced our crop dramatically - 4 apples and 3 pears is rather disappointing.

The wet weather, however, produced a bountiful crop of blackcurrants. Even after making a batch of jam from this vintage recipe, we still have an entire freezer full of them.

Late summer sun has also meant deliciously sweet blackberries. If you're quick you might be able to pick the last ones from the hedgerows - I recommend long sleeves and a trusty old walking stick for getting those tantalisingly out of reach ones.

However, I have managed a better harvest of vintage 'fruit'! Here's what I've found:

Vintage JAJ Pyrex casserole dish in 'Kent Orchard' design.

Fine bone china cup, saucer and plate trio by Pall Mall.

Set of six 'Miramont' Translucent China sideplates by Royal Doulton.

Serving platters and a coffee can in Wedgwood's 'Covent Garden' pattern.

An embroidered vintage linen traycloth with applique fruits.

 Hope you've all had a more successful harvest of actual fruit than I have!

I managed to fit in another shopping trip this morning (under the guise of finding a second hand camping table for this week's Cambridge Folk Festival...) Well, I had no luck with the table, but I managed to pick up these retro delights!

So far all the soda syphons we've had have sold as soon as we put them on our stall and I'm hoping this one is no exception. I think this Hartridge's one is the nicest we've had  - the blue and red really make it stand out.

I wasn't sure about this mirror, but it is definitely growing on me. Gaiety Girl, a musical comedy, opened in 1893 and the design is based on Dudley Hardy's original poster.

My addiction to buying vintage games is getting stronger! These two, Lexicon and Railway Romp, look like great fun.

I think the find of the day may have to be these Victory Jig-Saw Puzzles. I loved doing old wooden jigsaws when I was a child (and still do!). My favourite was Victory's map of England and Wales.

I also picked up this vintage 70s/80s Anokhi jacket and shorts for myself. Perfect for the summer that seems to finally have arrived! The colour really doesn't suit me so I think I might have a little dye experiment...

This glittery vintage purse isn't exactly my style, but I know someone will love it. I always think it is important to find a balance between buying what I fall in love with, and more business mindedly, what I know will sell!

The 60s and 70s are probably my favourite eras for homewares. This Wyncraft toast rack illustrates why - dynamic design and bold simplicity.

Now I just have to decide which of this weekend's finds to bring along to tomorrow's stall at Cambridge Market. So looking forward to spending the first sunny day there in ages...

Hope everyone else is enjoying the sunshine!

The rain has hampered my treasure hunting for too long! Finally the sun came out today, so I indulged my addiction for finding vintage goodies at Oakington Car Boot Sale.

Here are some of the items I couldn't resist!

This Harrods Brexton picnic is uncomplete, but it was too good to miss. I love the hamper design and the stacking cups. We're teaming up with members of Cambridge Carbon Footprint to create inspirational images with second hand stuff and one of our ideas is a family picnic shoot, so this will be perfect.

I love this Tams vintage trio. Each item has a different picture - a boy with a lamb, a girl with ducks and a woman feeding chickens. I did buy two of these, but sadly the man I bought them from must have left out one of the cups...

I like my vintage games. Usually we sell them before I have a chance to play them though! I think this lotto is quite old, it even has sharp edged glass squares for covering the numbers - clearly that wouldn't pass Health and Safety nowadays! I better try and have a game before someone buys it off us...

I am sorting through a load of old family photos so this Walkers embossed floral album appealed. Does anyone use photo albums anymore? I think there is something much more satisfying about going through actual pictures than looking at them digitally. 

As a weaver I was drawn to this retro brush. I love the crammed and spaced woven back and the faux wood effect!

On impulse I bought this red hat, which came in very handy when I was picking raspberries in the sun - I think I might like to hang on to this one for a while! The man I bought it from thought it was 50s, which would make sense as the other items he had were from the same era. I'm still building up my knowledge of vintage and fashion accessories so I'm wasn't sure. Do you think it's 50s?

I have a sewing basket like this from my Nan and I've been looking for one for the stall for ages. This one needs a little TLC but I love its retro style. It would look great in someone's craft room.

As a bonus the box was full so I now have more haberdashery and sewing notions to add to our collection. Isn't that tin hilarious!?

I was also thrilled to get these coronation mugs. We have a regular who collects royal mugs, so I'm hoping he hasn't got these unusually shaped ones.

The final thing I picked up was this vintage tape measure. We're doing an event at Duxford Imperial War Museum on the 5th of August so we thought we'd expand our range of vintage items that appeal to men. All men like to measure things, right...? It will sit nicely along our selection of vintage tools.

Well that's it! You may be able to tell I was quite excited by my first shopping trip in ages...

Have you picked up any good vintage finds recently?

Last week The Record Man at the market bought us a whole load of mixed boxes at auction. We sorted through them, keeping the best vintage and retro items for our stall, and donating the rest to friends and charity (incidentally, if you have a thing for clown figurines head down to Arthur Rank on Regent St...).

Over the next few weeks we'll be stocking our stall and online emporium with the best finds and sharing them with you here on the blog.

My favourite item has to be this antique food chopper. When we very first started Retrovert someone asked us to keep an eye out for an old fashioned mincer and we've finally got one. This one is a particular 'gem'...

The American company Sargent and Co patented the 'Gem Food Chopper' in 1899, hailing it as a "kitchen necessity"

I'm not sure if this is its original box as its quite a tight fit, but it looks great nevertheless. The chopper still has its five steel cutters for varying degrees of chopping. Sadly, we don't have the Nut Butter Cutter and Sausage Stuffer which could be "furnished at a slight additional cost".

The thing I like most is the cookbook that comes with the chopper. Choice advertising phrases include:

"Help the help. Explain the working of Sargent's Gem Food Chopper to the cook; she will appreciate it."

"Every bride-that-is-to-be should purchase or the new home Sargent's Gem Food Chopper. It is not necessary for her to learn the old chopping-bowl-and-knife  method; the Gem Chopper is better"

"Uncle Sam is proud of Sargent's Gem Food Chopper, and wants all the nations of the earth to know that this useful kitchen utensil is needed by housekeepers in all climes."

There are over 200 recipes for getting the most out of the Gem Chopper. The instructions are fun to read - they even use Gem-Chop as a verb.

I've been thinking of starting a regular feature on vintage recipes and baking, perhaps I will use one of these recipes for my first one. I may even use the Gem Chopper itself!

I recently discovered this old book that belonged to my Great Grandmother. The Modern Housewife's Book is a wonderful depiction of life in the 1930s, full of recipes, cleaning tips and all the information a woman would need to run a household.

I particularly like the colour illustrations with their bright hues and luminous looking food. The jam making instructions illustrate how to set up a strainer over a mixing bowl using a walking stick and two chairs - nothing like a bit of creative innovation!

The vintage adverts also add to the sense of time and give a flavour of the economic and social context - you could "Live cheaper and better" with Borwick's Baking Powder and Oxo was "the Housewife's Great Economy".

These pictures only touch on the wealth of interesting information contained within the book. I'm afraid this is one vintage item that won't be turning up at our market stall - I'll treasure it for years to come.

However, if you are inspired by the modern housewife's look, we've got plenty of vintage kitchenalia - traditional mixing bowls, pudding basins, jelly moulds and even this Icing Set, very similar to one shown in the book. 

I hope you've enjoyed these pictures as much as I have sharing them. If you ever find a copy of the book, I would fully recommend it!

With the weather so awful I feel like we need some bright colours to cheer us up!

I've taken inspiration from the Olympic Torch, which is due to visit us in Cambridge tomorrow, and put together this gallery of retro items that use burnt orange and flame hues.

Hope they brighten up your day!

I love to take photographs of our vintage items and to keep a record of them, before they find a new home.

I often search for places and things around the house and garden to complement their design.

Here are some of our new teacups in locations I chose to match them:

Grosvenor China 'Bristol Festoon' - at the table with the 1973 Dictionary of Garden Plants.

I'd love to know which combination of background and vintage cup and saucer you think works best!

This famous china design has a significance here at Retrovert. Our first ever sale was a willow pattern plate (and our first exchange too...). A willow coffee pot also has the honour of being our most spectacular breakage!

Jane has long loved the pattern and has many items herself, but I have only come to admire it recently. I like the simplicity of blue and white and the contrast in tone, the intricacies of the geometric border and the evocative story contained within.

The boat, the birds, the willow tree, the bridge, the pagoda all combine into an eloquent design that tells the tragic legend.