Not exactly what I was expecting to find on my mini op-shopping (aka: thrifting) jaunt for vintage and retro treasures! For 50c, this brand new boxed little voice activated Unazukin Fairy Doll from Bandai/Rainbow Spice.

This is Fei from China, part of the ‘World Version Unazukin’ series. These little figures shake or nod their head as you talk to them. Or as the UK website says ‘Ask her a question and she will offer you the benefit of her considerable wisdom.’

From www.unazukin.com:

Unazukin is a small fairy. Usually she is under the big Mushroom in a woods. She really likes to listen to the story of her friends. So, sometimes everybody comes together and she is very busy. Because she is very good at listening to the story. She is just listening without saying anything, She is just looking at you, and nodding silently or shaking her head sometimes. So, why don’t you talk to her?

The photos and illustrations are so…well….cute! Check out: this one and this one.

Now this is actually more perfect than you could imagine as I have a little collection of both fortune telling items and things I would class as ‘Japanese cute’. I think my fascination in little fortune telling games sprung from an old fortune telling box my Nanna had been given as a girl. It was a box with little rolled up fortunes and you picked one out with a tiny pair of tweezers. And Japanese cute? Well that all started in the stationary department when I was nine (Little Twin Stars, My Melody and of course Hello Kitty, started the ball rolling!)

I wonder if the Unazukin has made it onto Cute Overload yet? Take a peek at that site if cute is your thing! Definitely a bit of fun.

Featured Gem 5
Real Photo Postcard

‘Wings and Flowers’

Date: Unspecified
People pictured: Unidentified
Postcard Back: Foyle’s Photo Card — Studios, Liebig St Warnambool (unused)

Notes: I was beside myself with excitement when I spotted this treasure in a cabinet at my local antique store. Usually photographs of girls dressed up with fairy wings are beyond my budget, but here this one sat waiting, in a pile of old postcards priced for a song. I couldn’t wait to get it out of there for fear they’d say they’d made a mistake! There were many images of fairy girls reproduced in the masses early last century, but this one appears to be a personal portrait, not reproduced for sale, which makes it even more special.

I do also appreciate the backs of old postcards and this one is nice and decorative. I collect a lot of cards just for their typographic design. Other times it is for the postmark or the handwritten message, another dying art in today’s electronic world. Call me crazy but I also find the foxing of paper visually appealing and a great texture to add to my digital collage work.

Unfortunately I don’t have any information about the girls. I wonder if they are sisters? Most likely I am guessing. I love the flowers and ringlets…but the wings are the best bit!

I have been an avid collector, stasher, hoarder of vintage fabrics for many years. I hunt, I gather and then I get too scared to use these one offs. My head fills with questions and I panic…

“What if I never find any lovely vintage fabrics again?”
“What if I think of something better to use the fabric for later?”
“What if I make a mistake and the fabric is lost forever?”

I suffer the same dilemma with most of the items I collect for my art and craft and it is becoming a bit of a problem. Not to mention I am suffering some serious organisation/space issues about the house, especially now that we have a little third person to consider who seems to be gathering a stash of her own.

I just found these samples in a box that my folks bought down from Sydney. Every time they visit they bring more of my ‘junk’ that I had stored under their house. That means I collected these pieces over eight years ago. Oh dear, that’s a little embarrassing! I found most of these at the Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. Oh how I LOVED that place. There’s a little one in Vic but it just doesn’t compare to the scale of the two Sydney ones…and for my sake that’s probably just as well! Most are fabric swatches from sample books so are less than one metre square. On the plus side many come in bundles of the same pattern in various colour schemes so there’s quite a bit of potential there for some crafty cleverness.

I know it’s a little late for new years resolutions, but I am going to attempt to make some changes. My ‘resolution’ is two-fold. Part One: Get organised and resolve storage issues (Oh boy this one is a bit overwhelming!) Part Two: I am going to try and take the leap and finally start using some of my stash.

I am scared, I am excited, I am optimistic. Wish me luck! If I succeed you’ll see the result here in the coming months. I wasn’t ready before, but I think I am ready now!

Featured Gem 4
Real Photo Postcard

‘Mother and Daughter’

Date: Unspecified
People: Unidentified
Postcard Back: Blank

Notes: Oh how I love this image despite it being a little creased and battered. Something about it makes me smile.

How on earth did it come about? I can imagine a mother and her daughter going along to the photo studio wanting a lovely family portrait and the photographer somehow convincing them that it would be a good idea to include the fake donkey and the car.

Look at their expressions. The daughter looks so uncomfortable perched in the little car, her hands awkwardly in her lap. The body language is fantastic!

And what is going on with the donkey’s ankles?

I wonder what the rest of the family had to say when they saw this photo? I wonder if they ever sent the postcard to anyone?

I love it!

Very exciting! I finally picked up this old sewing box. I bought it on Ebay last year but hadn’t had the chance to trek up the mountains to fetch it. I can’t believe I took so long to collect it, but with Christmas holidays, a sick poppet and deadlines to meet the months added up quickly!

I was purchasing it for the lovely wooden box. The box is indeed wonderful, and I am delighted by its construction, patina and size, but when I got it home I discovered it was still full of old sewing bits and pieces. A wonderful array of textures and colours. Among the things I discovered inside: two gorgeous old hand embroidered needle books, an old tape measure, various fasteners, wooden cotton reels, two old patterns, embroidery transfers and old sewing scissors.