Unearthed last week a small collection of mostly haberdashery! An old wooden shadow box, vintage piggy bank, half a dozen old spools of coloured ric-rac, a couple of metres of sturdy pink polka dot fabric, button sample cards, old fancy dress ‘Bear’ paper pattern by Weigel’s and a hand glazed cup (signed ‘Pam’ underneath!)

I think the shadow box was intended for displaying thimbles (it is not a printers tray although it looks similar to one in the photo). I’m going to paint it up and create a collage in it. It’s quite small 5 x 6 2.5cm boxes. So a nice size for a project and not that old, so I don’t feel I am ‘destroying’ anything valuable.

I love the vintage piggy bank. It reminds me of a bigger one my Mum has saved from her childhood. This one is tiny, about the size of a tennis ball. It’s made even more special by ‘Katoomba’ written on it’s top! Having grown up in the Blue Mountains I have found myself collecting vintage tourism memorabillia of the area by default. So…cute piggy AND nostalgic piece!

But wait…I am not done yet….look look look!!!

More vintage trim!!! I trekked back to my local antique store where I originally found this vintage trim and they had more!!! LOTS more!! 20 old sales sample cards from W Schuller & Sohn. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I found 8 old sales sample button cards. 195 individual button designs in total, by Goko Trading Company (Osaka, Japan)

Hello there! Happy Spring! I have let things slip here much to my distress. I’ve been working like a crazy person, suffering one toddler bug after another and just generally struggling to keep on top of everything. But here I am, back where I belong!

This month I have taken on the $99 Thrift Challenge being run by Apron Thrift Girl. I must say it’s already day 6 and although I have bought a few bits and bobs I haven’t really struck gold yet. I hope to have better luck as the month wears on so stay tuned. Any excuse to do a bit of second hand shopping!

I did find this photo in one of my favourite haunts on Monday. I was on my way home from a handover meeting after pulling an all-nighter and I felt like I deserved a little reward (I am way too old to be working through the night anymore! Erghh!). Flipping through boxes of old postcards and photos this image just stood out amongst the awkward poses and stiff expressions. It’s so candid and natural. Quite an unusual composition for it’s time. Unfortunately it’s unmarked. I wonder if someone clever could date it by the style of sewing machine? I am not sure what that thing is in the foreground on the right. Any guesses?

It was lovely to come back from holidays last month and find so many lovely postcards waiting in my mailbox. They were all so different. Lots of inspiration and varied techniques! Click to view: nikki-shell {postcard:blog}, pyglet whispers {postcard:blog}, Tiny Happy {postcard:blog}, Natasha Fialkov {postcard:blog}, MissyMuh {postcard:blog}, Applehead {postcard:blog}, Tiff Fendick {postcard}, Phantomcrimes {postcard:blog}, Maggie Grace Creates {postcard:blog}, Annette Sheaffer {postcard}, Natalie Willis {postcard}. You can also see more —->here

Featured Gem 8
Real Photo Postcard

‘Joyce as a Fairy’

Date: Unspecified
People: Joyce
Studio: Broothorn Studio, Melbourne (active in Australia 1900s –1940s)
Postcard Back: “Joyce as a Fairy, at Mrs Fred Fairbairn’s Ball”

Featured Gem 7
Real Photo Postcard

‘Stick’em Up’

Date: Unspecified
People: Unidentified
Postcard Back: Blank

Notes: While I don’t really like guns at all (or even condone littlies playing with toy guns!), I think this photograph is brilliant despite it’s poor print quality.

The expression on the little girls face and her body language is so perfect. She’s the one that means business even if her gun is upside down! Her big brother(?) looks far less threatening.

This image is just begging for a dialogue. If you listen carefully you can hear them…

It’s cloudy and bleak outside, actually it’s so dark I have had to put the light on even though it’s daytime. The leaves have long fallen from the trees and the air smells like open fires (ooo I wish we had one of these!). Rohan has rugged Eloise up and taken her down to the park and I am sitting back all toasty and warm with a coffee, and going through some of my latest treasures. Wow…there are lots…a lot more than I had thought…oh dear…I think I have another problem!

I have always loved op-shopping but lately my addiction has leapt to new heights as I find myself wandering into my local thrift store with alarming frequency. The sign does say ‘1000’s of new items arriving daily’ and indeed it’s true! It’s like a different shop every day so the temptation is huge! Too rainy to go to the park? Too ‘can’t be bothered’ to sit in a cafe trying to keep Eloise still long enough for me to finish a coffee? Well lets go spend an hour in Savers playing peek-a-boo up and down the aisles and maybe a treasure will jump out at me while we’re at it!

I can’t walk past a good looking tin if I see one! The colours, the illustration and the size of the old Sunkist Ice Cream tin above make it perfect for display and for storage. Left is another gorgeous tin. Yes it’s battered and weathered, but for me that adds to it’s charm.

I also found these two small plates (for 99c a piece!). They’re designed by Kathie Winkle for Broadhurst. The top one is from the series called ‘October’ and the bottom one is called ‘Olympus’. I am not sure what I’m going to do with them yet….but there was something about the graphic hand painted looking leafy patterns that I could not resist.

I don’t often find fabric in good usable sizes, but these two pieces below are huge! I have also come across a lot of vintage buttons lately. This is just a random handful. The ice cream tin above is full to the brim of vintage buttons to sort through.

More show and tell to come. The family is home from the park, new ‘pet rock’ and all!