New Old Friends

Get ready for a bunch of photos of my newest old treasures found amongst the dregs and discarded doodads during the last minutes of an estate sale at Centaur Acres (somehow the name of the subdivision seems worth mentioning).

I'm not sure how many plastic deer are distributed throughout our apartment, but I still couldn't pass up the little guy pictured below. Anyway, he makes the perfect pet for my new swimsuit-clad dolly (whilst making her look like a giantess). I just love this little lady's (non-symmetrical) expression and sculptural hair. Added bonus: She squeaks when you squeeze her.






And how could I resist this instant collection of deer, octopus and kangaroo (with joey).  gah.  I love their personalities.  If these creatures don't inspire drawings, I don't know what will.

vintage fabric galore

here are some photos of the load (4 boxes!) of vintage fabric i bought at the estate sale i mentioned last week.  it was a challenge to restrain my giddiness as i dug though box after box of cloth, pulling out beautiful pieces, adding them to my take-home pile.   i'm still a bit overwhelmed by this haul...  so much design inspiration and so many beautiful prints, i don't know which to use or what to make first!



















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dolls in a box

a few weekends ago we went to an amazing estate sale that was mostly old dolls and vintage fabric...  kind of a dream come true!  the people having the sale were eager to get rid of everything so we got some crazy bargains...  (i'm saving photos of the load of fabric i bought for another post).  here's how our new-old dolls rode home with us:  laying in a cardboard box cushioned by beautiful vintage fabrics.  isn't the bikini girl's outfit (and expression) hilarious?  and the crawling (wind-up) babies are so strange!  i'm sure these guys will show up in lots of future photos and drawings...

vintage patterns

the other day i found a treasure trove of lovely vintage patterns at a local thrift shop (5¢ each!).  most of these are not my size, but they are so fun to look at.  i find the illustrations, colors, patterns and little details so inspiring for drawing, designing and sewing.

this family

last weekend, when we spotted a heat wave on the horizon, we decided to dash off to lake michigan to enjoy some summer sun... 

on the way back we stopped at a huge antique mall where i found a few treasures including this funny family.  they were jammed in a baggie at the bottom of a basket just waiting to be bent back into shape (and re-assembled in the case of headless-joe).  they've been welcomed warmly by the rest of my collection.

calories

isn't this vintage hanky hilarious?  i found it at an estate sale in a heap of pretty floral scarves and such. i'm sure it was just intended as novelty, but i like to imagine a lady at a restaurant subtly referring to her handkerchief to decide whether or not another helping of lobster or cabbage would fit into her diet.

here it is pinned to the curtain above my ironing board, so i can
memorize vintage calorie counts for future reference.  (also pictured: my
big bird ring-toss/peg-board and one of my favorite photos by tiffany).

in the nook

our kitchen has this nice nook.  david installed the shelves when we first moved in...  the perfect place to display some of our treasures.

total book of house plants

a great find from the other day:  the total book of house plants (1975).  tons of beautiful full color plant illustrations.  very inspiring. 













and a true sign this book was destined for my shelf...  this newspaper clipping tucked between some pages:





now that's my kind of headline!

cat cup

(as seen in the background of the first photo in my most recent post). 

he sits on the end of my ironing board, the perfect receptacle for sewing utensils.

big shot

a couple film shots of "big shot".  i think i gave him to david at some point as an "employee of the month" prize.  just now did a little research to find that he was once part of a novelty shot glass set.  (he is hollow and there's a hole in the top of his hat).  funny.