Record Album Covers

Every once in a while, I go to the Goodwill in hopes of finding something that looks like junk but worth a million dollars. So far, hasn't happened. What I HAVE found are some fun vintage record albums for a buck. I don't even care what the record is like as long as the cover has cool graphics. The Russian Accordion album below was only the front of the album-no vinyl in sight ( The Goodwill gave me that one for free). The last LP shown has cover art by award winning American illustrator Joseph Low. Not only did he illustrate children's books, but was also known for his New Yorker covers. You can read a little more about him here.

Did you know that the Goodwill has a website (www.shopgoodwill.com) and you can bid on items from Goodwill shops all over the country? The photos are usually pretty bad (worse than Ebay) and little info is given on the items but it's fun to check out the site every once in a while and search for bargains. Check it out here.

Flea Market Sunday

Well, I've found a new flea market to shop. On the fourth Sunday every month is the year old Topanga Vintage Market in the parking lot of the Promenade Mall in Woodland Hills, CA. There were many vendors I had never seen  before, and some I had purchased from at other markets. Here are some of my favorites of the day.

 

The trunk full of old frames was from Porthole Vintage, who also happens to have an Etsy shop. You can see more of their items here.

Vintage Cottage Finds offered all sorts of vintage crafting goodies and decor like the velvet ribbon and sparkly Christmas trees in delicious pastel colors. I purchase vintage wallpaper sheets to use in my collages. They also have an Etsy shop which you can find here. 

I loved these Kantha quilts from Kismet. These quilts are made from vintage textiles in India using Fair Trade. They were all so colorful and the backs were made from completely different, coordinating fabric. After much comparing and debating, I finally chose one (second photo). The back uses fabric with the same orange combined with pink. You can find out more about Kismet here.

This booth had lots of repurposed garden-themed items all beautifully displayed- unfortunately they don't seem to have a website.

Flea Market Finds- Cigar Boxes

I collect a lot of stuff-buttons, birds, vintage children's books...and wood boxes. I have vintage cheese boxes, vintage sewing machine drawers, vintage knife trays. In my world, anything that will hold my stuff counts as a box. I have lots of them mounted on the wall or on shelves housing collections. Some hold wood letterpress type. One holds spools of ribbon.


I found these cigar boxes at the City College flea market in Pasadena and couldn't say no. My favorite is the "Mack's Best". I love the type and decorative borders. There is a bit of the label on the inside and it closes with a brass clasp. I've searched but can find no info on the company.



 I like these other boxes because they are divided (look at those cute knobs on the front!). Useful in so many ways, one is already holding jewelry supplies. One will probable be put to use holding letterpress type and if I can find a spot, will go on the wall.  And the third with the handle?  Well, I haven't found the perfect spot yet,

I Love Letterpress

I pretty much like anything letterpress printed so, when I was at a trade show last weekend, I was excited to find this skin care line with letterpress packaging. Worker B is small company based in Minneapolis and like the name suggests, the ingredients in their products come from bees. I haven't had a chance to try the products yet... too busy admiring the packaging.

You can purchase products, or learn more about the company here.

Bingo 3

Here's one more bingo collage. This bingo card was a little smaller and fit perfectly mounted on an old Reader's Digest book cover. I used a leaf stamp, vintage wall papers, an old cigar label, and vintage postage.

Bingo and Buttons

Bingo cards are also an excellent was to display a button collection. I love vintage mother-of-pearl buttons and sewed these from my collection onto a bingo card. The cards I did my collages on were really thick but many bingo cards are thin enough to stitch through.

The crocheted pincushion on the left was purchased from etsy shop Namolio. You can see more of her lovely work here and here

New Collages

I haven't done any collages for awhile but I had purchased a stack of vintage bingo cards and I got inspired. (The bingo cards are large and measure 5.5" x 7.25".)

This collage was made using a butterfly printed on an old letter, rubber stamps, hand made papers and a part of an old (bus?) ticket.

This collage was made using a piece of a label from sandalwood soap purchased in Chinatown, hand made eraser stamps, hand made paper, a Russian (postal?) stamp, and letterpress scraps known as make-ready. Make-ready is the paper that you test print on to get the color and positioning correct-some pieces are used over and over and build up interesting textures and patterns.

This last collage is made using rubber stamps, letterpress make-ready, hand made papers, vintage wallpaper and postage stamps. I had so much fun doing these that I think I'll have to get more bingo cards!

Book Covers

Here are some of my favorite covers from my collection of (mainly) children's books. They include illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen (The Little Fat Policeman), German illustrator Janosch (The Yellow Auto Named Ferdinand), Mary Blair (I Can Fly), Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day), Art Seiden (Never Pat A Bear), and Swedish illustrator Ylva Kalstrom (The Old Man and the Bird).

Valentine Love Birds

This was one of the designs that I was going to use in my 2013 calendar but I ended up with something else for February. I carved it anyway and made note cards, which will be available in my shop. Happy Valentine's Day!

Flea Market Sunday

Went to the flea market today and found these nifty "Thingie" puzzles. They date from the late sixties and were designed by Sandy Miller for Springbok. I had seen them online before and had been tempted to buy so I was really excited to find not one, but two on the same day! They are only 7" around and the boxes themselves are so cool and retro that I didn't even care if the puzzle was inside. (my husband put them together-one is complete and one is missing pieces). If you're interested in knowing more about the designer and the puzzles, check out this article I found.

The one on the left is called "Town Meeting" and the one on the right is "Lady Celery".

Valentine's Day

I have a few new items for Valentine's Day. All are letterpress printed. The "Hello Love" card was done with my collection of wood type and the "Owl Love" from hand cut linoleum blocks. They're available in my shop here.

Wrought Iron Gate

I took this photo down in Venice (California) along Abbott Kinney Blvd. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the shop name. I like the rusty look of the flower.

Rant

Today I am going to rant. I love to carve my own rubber stamps and have used the Master Carve "cuts like butter" blocks by Staedtler for years. Super high quality, they don't crumble and are easy to carve. Alas and alack- Staedtler apparently no longer makes these blocks. I searched for a replacement and decided to give Moo Carve a try. The packaging is almost identical but the similarity stops there. (Note- not to be confused with Moo Cards - those super cute little business cards)

I ordered 7 large Moo Carve blocks from an online art store for a project. I waited with anticipation, checking the tracking daily. Last night, THEY ARRIVED. I couldn't wait to start carving my first stamp. When I unwrapped the block (came in a plastic bag, just like my old favorites) I noticed something was amiss. What are these lines all over the rubber? There were raised striations across the whole block. I sat down to carve anyway. I carved my first image - a heart entwined with leaves. The carving part was ok although not quite as easy as the Staedtler Master Carve blocks. But then I printed my image. Such disappointment. Those pesky striations were showing up in my image. NOT what I had in mind (in case you're wondering, the two final images are about the same size stamp).

I tried to email the maker of Moo Carve but the email bounced back. Hmmmm. 6 Moo Carve blocks are going back to whence they came. I have to pay the postage (each of the 4" x 6" blocks weighs a hefty 1.1 lbs!) and will be charged a 15% re-stocking fee but to me, it will be worth it. Now I just have to find another alternative. I know, I know...I'll bombard Staedtler with emails BEGGING for the return of Master Carve!

Retro Graphics

I found these vintage language magazines in a local junk shop. They date from 1966 and each magazine features articles in five languages-German, French, English, Spanish, and Italian. I was attracted to the covers with their cool retro graphics.

My Favorite is the cover for August. I have them available for sale in my vintage shop-Two Hand Too

It's Christmas!

My holiday card for 2012 using my collection of wood letterpress type and tiny ornaments.
Happy Holidays!

Holiday Decorating

I love holiday decorations and here are a few that I have set up on my desk so I can admire them for the season.

The two snow globes are hand made by myself ( a really easy project using an old jar, plastic or ceramic decorations, oven bake clay like Fimo or Sculpey, water, glycerin and glitter). The pottery snowman was purchased from One Clay Bead on Etsy. I found the dyed trees in a local shop and the crochet covered rock was purchased from Hallo Jak at a local craft show. The fox card in the background was designed by British artist Claire Curtis and was published by Art Angels.

Holiday Cards

Holiday cards that I've saved (and sent) over the years.

1. Bowerbox Press
2. Hello Lucky
3. Vintage (unmarked)

4. Designed by Sarah Young for Robot Design Ltd 
5. American Greetings (vintage)
6. Illustrated by Esther Wragg, Wragg Designs for Woodmanstearne Publications

7. Illustrated by Claire Heminsley, Wragg Designs for Woodmanstearne Publications 
8. Papyrus
9. Illustrated by Gustave Baumann (German 1881-1962) Art Institute of Chicago

It's Begining to Feel Like Christmas

It's just over a week until Christmas. My gifts are all wrapped and ready for shipping. My Christmas cards are half written. I finally have some time for my poor, neglected blog. I'll be posting Christmasy things, and the first is this vintage book. "The Friendly Beasts" was written by Laura Nelson Baker and illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov (a Latvian-born illustrator who won the 1961 Caldecott Medal for Illustration for "Babushka and the Three Kings"). The book is copyrighted 1957 and the illustrations are done in the groovy colors of pink, orange and avocado green with black line art. Enjoy!