Collections of things scare me somewhat. Collections usually mean something that I have inadvertently collected not something that I have consciously collected. You know the thing – piles of magazines, heaps of clothes that I no longer wear, hotel samples, boiled sweets at the bottom of my bag. They are the sorts of collections I usually find myself caring for. Therefore it was nice when I finally came up with a collection that I actually wanted to search for and go on to collect.

My first collection stared about 6 years ago and now I have three or four on the go. All of them have pieces that I collect carefully and don’t contain anything that I have tried to sneak in under the wire. What I mean by that is that each piece belongs. I have found that being this picky stops the collection from turning in to a pile of junk. See aforementioned piles of magazines and clothes!

The collection I have on show today is my small collection of Bunnykins china by Royal Doulton. It’s true that this ‘range’ is still widely available but I don’t go to John Lewis to find my pieces. They are all found hidden at the back of junk shops, antique houses or thrift stores and I have been lucky enough have received some great pieces in the last few months from folk who knew about my ‘collection’

My one piece of advice for you if you are thinking about collecting is to see it as a long term project. You may want to collect wine, china, art, vintage fabrics or something else entirely. But if you see your project as a long term thing then you’ll be so much more discerning about the items you allow in to your home.

My parents bought this lamp for me as a Christmas present. They found it “up north” on a recent trip. I’d never seen a Bunnykins lamp before and am SUPER pleased that I now have one. It’s in perfect working order, pristine condition and all I need to do is add a lower wattage bulb.

I found this bowl in a charity shop soon after we’d moved to this area. It was in the glass cabinet at the front of the store reserved for sparkly brooches and items of value. Somebody clearly knew what they were doing as this bowl was in there. But not for long as I grabbed it as soon as I’d walked in to the store. I didn’t even continue to look around but asked the lovely chap to “pop that behind the counter until I’d finished looking”

I really appreciate the colours that are used in this collection. A beautiful palette of greens, reds and pinks on a background of cream. Soft and cuddly…..in a ceramic kinda way!

This teaching clock is right above my head as my desk is in this room now. We’ve been having a wee shift around lately as there are two babies on the way and the mantra being chanted is “let’s make things as easy as possible, shall we?”

So it ticks away faithfully and is comforting. This was a find by my mother-in-law. She also knew about my home-grown obsession and found this darling clock.

I have other pieces as well but these two cups were the start of my collection. When Jo and I were small we would occasionally stay over at my Nana’s for the weekend. We had a breakfast ritual which remained the same for many years. We would both have Rice Crispies and then toast. I would have marmalade , stalks picked out, on my toast and Jo would have Lemon Curd on hers. However, I always had my Rice Crispies in a Bunnykins Bowl. It was just the way it was. The mornings in that kitchen hold lovely memories and the smell of toast under a gas grill always takes me back to those times.  So as an adult with her own house it seems very natural for me to be drawn towards collecting items from my childhood. This pattern is not rare, as I said, and there is heaps of the stuff on popular auction sites. But you can tell by the wear and tear on the bottom of the items that the ones you have grasped in your sweaty palm is a great deal older than you.

So why are these cups special?

I bought them just as I moved in to my previous house. My mum and I were out shopping on a warm day in June, 07 and there they were in the corner of a charity shop. My sister was pregnant with her twins at this point and still had a way to go as they didn’t appear until January the following year. My mum innocently asked me if I’d picked the cups up in order to give the twins but to be honest it hadn’t crossed my mind. I knew that these two cups were destined for my family whatever form it may take in the future.

Who’d have thunk it?

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