Flea Market Finds

I went to the flea market and what did I see....

Vintage record albums for adults

this one I purchased

and children

Chippy wood toys

skittles

baby rattle 

Dala horse

items with color

and a vintage  bag by Enid Collins (?)

Vintage Polish Illustration

I just purchased this fabulous vintage book from a Polish seller on Ebay. I can't read it but I know that the first story is "Sleeping Beauty" so I assume it is a book of fairy tales (I couldn't translate the title). The book was published in Warsaw and dates from 1961 but I think it was originally published in Moscow in 1950. Anyway, I purchased it for the wonderful borders on every page. The illustrator is Michal Bylina (Polish, 1904-1982).

Polish Illustration - Adam Kilian

I love folk art and illustration and have recently become interested in vintage Polish art.  I saw images from this book online awhile ago and it suddenly came up for sale on Ebay so I snatched it up. The book was published in 1965 in Warsaw and I believe it is a play (the text is all in Polish...) It was illustrated by Ukrainian-born artist Adam Kilian. For some history about Adam Kilian, check out this website culture.pl. You can see more of Kilian's illustration on another website, Fishink (and Fishink has lots of other great stuff on it too!).

Here are most of the illustrations from the book  although not necessarily in order.

Flea Market Sunday

I haven't been to the flea market in awhile but last Sunday I went to the Long Beach Antique Market in Long Beach, California. It takes place on the 3rd Sunday of every month at the Long Beach Veterans Stadium. I brought my camera but was so busy shopping that I forgot to take a lot of photos. Here are a few things that caught my eye.

 A nice Asian ceramic vase...

Glass orbs...

A very cute cat from the 60's or 70's...

Plastic bracelets in bright colors...

A retro blanket in pink and orange...

A lion with lots of character...

Glassware in all colors...

Stacks of vintage suitcases...I wanted them all!

I purchased way more than I planned, and left a few regrets behind. Oh well, there's always next month...

Collecting Buttons

I have a small collection of buttons. My favorites are the carved mother of pearl but I have a lot of glass ones too. They fill up several boxes and jars. I also buy buttons to use on craft items that I sell at shows and I like to buy the more colorful ones for that purpose. Sometimes though, they just don't work so I've ended up with lots of odds and ends. Last weekend I got out my bingo cards (I admit, not an original idea) and started to lay out buttons. I had made one of these a while ago and tried to get one button in every square but that soon went by the wayside. Sewing the buttons on the cards was not as easy as I thought it would be - some of the buttons didn't come out in the correct position and some flop a bit due to their weight. But overall a fun, easy project. I had a vintage tobacco tin and the bingo cards fit perfectly. A vintage metal flower frog works great as a display stand.

Tiny mother of pearl buttons in every square

Blue themed

Shades of red

Pinks and purples

More mother of pearl buttons - belt buckles too!

Mixed bag

Buttons displayed in a vintage tin. The pin cushion was purchased from Etsy shop Namolio

Vintage Illustration

I found this vintage 1959 Polish book on Ebay. The title is "Children's Poems" and it has wonderful illustrations. The illustrator is Helena Winogradow-Matuszewska. I can't find anything about her in English.