Inspirational Vintage Book Bargains

Beautiful illustration on the inside cover of this 1972 'Toddlers Own' and just look at the price!

I just adore vintage children’s illustrated story books and over the past couple of years have gathered my own tiny collection. They are often found stacked on my desk when I’m working on new designs or just when I just feel like an afternoon of tea and books.... creative research, a legitimate work activity.....

What is it I love about these books? The colour, naive style, folk element, simplicity and I’m sure a handful of nostalgia needs to be thrown in. Also it’s this......

This would have been a major gift, not just an annual to bulk out the presents, thrown hastily in the trolley as it was on offer...  so cheap it can be sent to the charity shop in 3 months when it’s hardly been looked at!! This, I’m sure, would have been read from cover to cover and here it is 55 years later back on someone’s bookshelf.

Last week I struck lucky and found 4 fabulous books for just 50p each!!! OMG I here you cry....I know!!! I paid up and ran out the shop quickly before they realised their error. Inside my head I was skipping down the street. Not that they have any real monetary value but were I to stumble across them at a vintage fair say, I’d have paid handsomely I’m sure.  They range from 1957 to 1976 and are full of gorgeous stuff like this.

The 1957 Girl Annual has these beautiful colour prints in the the centre.

And OMG it even has a vintage toy sewing pattern, another love of mine that I'll share with you another time.

It's all about enjoying the simple pleasures in life and this little bundle of loveliness rounded off a great week perfectly for me.

What bargains make you want to skip down the street?

X

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Some updated pics of what I've made over the past few months.

i am a bad bad blogger

it has been way too long since my last blog post, i wonder how many 'our crafters' and 'hail Martha's' will be needed to atone this sin. well i start with showing just a couple of things i've been up to over the past few months.
firstly, i finally got round to a bit of screen printing, the sketches for these have floating about for sooo long i pleased they eventually made it.

my kitchen table set up works fine for now

the first print...beyond exciting

martha, mindy & maud

franc & stan

my word and picture placement may seem a bit random today but for some reason it is doing weird things and  through my  streaming eyes, dripping nose and fuzzy head it all seems too much to figure out. (that's why i've finally got around to blogging again...i am full of cold and have banished myself to the sofa, not good to sneeze all over the fabrics!)

some colourful keyrings

okay, what else. i added a new machine to collection. i have had a yearning for a hand cranked singer for a while.

but not this kind

look at this beauty, a christmas present to me....i mean the kids.  this is what they are learning to sew on.

boys love machines

even the bearded one couldn't resist having a go!

i am quitting whilst ahead! images have been flitting all over the place, words suddenly disappearing, it's all too much today. this is why i need to blog more, often so that i don't forget how it works in between visits!!

i hope to return very soon but i won't promise anything. hopefully next time it will be easier. off to say 50 our crafters and 25 hail martha's. 

xxx

it's been a while

what happened to april? what with school holidays and the royal wedding i somehow lost a month. very little got done in the way of 'work' although i seemed to make lots of birthday presents and wedding party stuff. once that all died down and everyone finally returned to school/work i went into lastminute.com mode and began preparing stock for a craft fair. now that is all over and i finally feel i can breathe again but i am left with this.....

think i need  a studio tidying day.....i can see my sewing machine in there somewhere...maybe i'll venture in later today. part of the reason for this chaos is i had to take a table to the craft fair (what's the point of paying table hire when i have a perfectly good one myself)...the one that was piled full of stuff. and so said stuff was spread around the room at 9.30 on saturday to get the table out and loaded into the car with my stock for a 9.35 departure. i arrived at the fair and the organiser had laid out too many tables and said i could use one of those rather than him moving it and me getting mine out of the car!!!!!!!!! so anyway i arrive back home at 5.30 and dump table and stock wherever i can find space....and there it still lies. the other reason for the chaos if you haven't figured by now is that i'm really messy....

here are some pics of the fair, the first are taken by the lovely Ruben from Kraken Photography who i met on the day

my stall

some of the great stalls

clutch purse

a gaggle of flo dolls

lovely summery flower corsages. wear as a brooch or in your hair

some of this scrumptious stock will be added to the shop later...once i tidy the studio and am able to find it!!

time to get on now i suppose as i have sewing to do.....sample cushions for a local gift shop for thursday, 3 birthday gifts for parties the kids are going to this weekend, sofa covers for next week and my son wants his quilt made so that he can take it to cub camp (we've only been talking about it for 3 years) he obviously knows that mum needs a deadline....he goes on the 28th may.... better get cracking.......oh and tidy the studio first and update the shop.

the kettle is calling 

until next time

x