Lovely Frocks

...a sneak peek at some of the 6 glorious 1930's-1940's little girl's dresses I picked up at the Sunday Antique Market today. My heart skipped a beat as I saw these lying on a table. The gentleman who sells vintage cameras had gotten a box of these with his auction lot and wanted to dispose of them. Yes please! Many had already sold he said. If these were the lesser of the group I must have missed out on some amazing pieces. I never dwell on that thought though. In my world of the Sunday Market every item goes to the rightful person including myself... it's all good as they say!
I wasted no time in giving them a nice wash in the sink and hanging them in the sun to dry. Next step is a little mending where needed and then a good ironing.
Look for them in my vintage etsy shop very soon...

Wallpaper Fragment

We own a building with an apartment and a business in it. I guess we are landlords but I have nothing to do with it, it is my husband's 'thing'.

Next door lived a single man for many, many years. My husband, kind hearted as he is, would stop and chat with him, affording him some human contact that he sadly had so little of.

When he began to notice not seeing him around for several weeks he became concerned and called the police to investigate. They found him, passed away in bed since several weeks.

Fast forward three months. The building sold and new people came in and began gutting the building. They were sensitive to anything they could maintain to the history of the building; these are all Victorian era houses but, ultimately, most of it had to go.

We stopped by to see their progress the other day. It was stripped to the rafters. Above the fireplace, however, was the last in a series of wallpapers. I immediately felt a connection to this paper (sounds a bit out there but, you know) and asked if I could take some. Sure they said, bemused, it was all coming down to be drywalled anyway.

It was really really brittle. I managed to get this one fragment intact enough to hold in my hands. As we walked home, my husband wondered what plans I had for it. I didn't know, exactly, but it was so evocative, so lovely to me I knew something could come of it.

Besides using it in this post, my plan is to make some color copies of it and incorporate the motif into a card, collage or some other paper project... maybe with that old typeset I got at the flea market... I always trust things to make sense if I follow my instincts...

My Crazy Fantastic Find!

Today at The St. Lawrence Sunday Antique Market, I found a typographers dream treasure box! Being a former graphic designer & general type enthusiast, this was too good to pass up. Not only letters in all their 1940's glory, also flourishes, ampersand, dollar & cents... I have not examined it all yet. It also came with 2 type pads & 2 bottles of ink, unopened, in mint condition. I will contain myself from further gloating and not reveal the price. It was a bargain is all I need to say.
So what will I do with this? Ideas are swirling through my mind. I'm sure I can incorporate this in my card making, an obvious application. Maybe even custom cards with monograms? I could apply this to fabric perhaps... The numbers I could make great price tags with for my upcoming crafts show. Please leave any ideas you want to share on the comments page!

My Brilliant Grandmother

My wonderful grandmother, Emme, was a painter. She was the greatest influence on my life, as I was growing up. She began painting later in life, when she was in her 40's. Her portraits and still life's have a quality that I love. She captures the mood, the quietness of her subjects as they pose for her. These were painted in the 1940's and are very evocative of the period. The light and shadow make up the structure of her subjects and thus have a slightly impressionistic feel.
My family and I are blessed to have many of her paintings in our home. They will continue to be heirloom pieces that will be passed down through the generations.

Vintage Button Shopping

From time to time I will share some of my adventures in button collecting...

Here is a lovely group of 1940's plastic buttons that I bought together on one card. As soon as I saw them at the vintage market I frequent, I knew I wanted to buy them. (and at $3.00 for the lot there was no question)!

The colors have that vintage tone that is so evocative of an earlier, simpler time. They are 'simple' buttons, nothing fancy in the day but yet sweet and charming.