Recent outings

Etsy shop update

I've been busy over in my Etsy store.

Recently I listed...

Yummy scarfs, priced very reasonably because
I used thrifted yarns, much of it wool blends of angora, etc.

Adorable little girl flowered beanies
with petal-like rim of my own design.

A collection of dress shoes, not sure of the age,
but most in like new condition.


Dandelion Library flip books -- two stories in one.
Just flip it over.


Vintage knitting and crochet pattern books
(with more to come soon).

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I moved many more items to the NOW HALF OFF section,
including how-to books, jewelry from grandma's stas
and now that we are a month past the holiday,
all of the vintage Christmas category.

•••

This week, I'll be listing more fun vintage finds,
most reflecting diverse European culture --
Dutch, Scandinavian, Swiss, etc....

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I'm also putting up dozens of small reversible lunch bag/totes
made from sample Waverly bonded Glosheen fabrics
like I used here. (I just love the graphic quality they have
and had a hard time narrowing down which ones
to show you, can you tell?)

Simple sweater refashion

I bought this plain minty-green cardigan one Easter in a real pinch. I needed something to make a simple black dress I wanted to wear a bit more springy. That was one of only a few times I ever wore it out.

After seeing many cardigan refashions online, I knew it would be my first candidate. (I have two more maternity cardigans waiting in the wings.)

I took off the buttons and went about finding the perfect trim. I was so happy when I found this one. Red and light teal is one of my favorite color combos, thanks to the allsorts blog.

All I did was pin the trim up one side, behind the back and down the other side, then sewed up the length of the trim on both sides.

Took a bit of finessing to get it over the seams at the shoulders, and it shows, but my hair is long enough to cover it.

Since I covered up the button holes, and didn't want to add them back in, I needed a closure. In my stash of unfinished brooches, I found this red and white enamel pin I had already added the yo-yo to. Adding a couple of buttons made it fit with the color scheme.

I'm considering chopping the sleeves to 3/4 length and adding the trim. What do you think?

Making a point

Quite a few vendors on Etsy found a good way to make a point about how much the CPSIA changes will affect them, and more importantly, the people who purchase their products.

They are listing some of the wares they make for children with the fees they would be required to pay for each component. That is $70 for lead testing and $350 phthalates testing for each and every element that goes into the item, including the little things like thread, buttons, and stuffing.

An adorable crocheted elephant hat with 7 components which used to cost $50, will cost you $2,940 after CPSIA goes into effect Feb. 10th.

If you want this tangerine halter dress for your toddler, better buy it before the law goes into effect or it will cost you $2,100.

You'll have to add a whopping $4,200 to the original $29 cost of this brightly-colored wooden butterfly mobile.

How about a bib for baby? This one with a starfish applique can be had for $2,520, but hey it is reversible and was a 2008 Etsy Handmade Kids Finalist. Totally worth it!

0ooh, I want this giant fleece ball. It's CPSIA-compliant, meaning I can be assured my kids will be safe playing with it, but it will cost me $5910.

Looking at the crocheted kids' beanies I have for sale on Etsy, they'll cost you $1,680 -- a real deal since they only have 4 components. The crazy thing is most likely, the two yarns, button and thread don't pose any lead or phthalate risk to begin with. And that is why this law is asinine.

Sonnysayings

I didn't know exactly what I got when I grabbed a stack of ephemera at a garage sale and paid a buck for it all. There were some cute Victorian cards, local advertising, calling cards, postcards, illustrations and the like.

It wasn't until I got home and looked at what was inside a little plastic bag that I got excited. It was a collection of newspaper comic clippings from 1929-30. 90 of them all together.




I love to discover new children's illustrators -- especially female ones. I didn't know just how much I'd come to learn about Fanny Y. Cory and her cute little character "Sonny" though.

Fanny Young Cory (Cooney) lived from 1877 to 1972. Early in adulthood, she took care of her ill sister and worked in illustration, becoming a prolific New York artist by the time she was 25. Distraught by her sister's death, she soon moved back to Montana and got married. She continued to illustrate books for a few years until she lost her first pregnancy.

Happily, she went on to have 3 children, whom she and her husband raised and educated on their 1,800-acre ranch. She illustrated little during those years, but when it became time to fund college educations, she entered into the world of newspaper cartooning.

Fanny was in her mid-40's when she started drawing "Sonnysayings" from the Montana ranch. The single panel cartoon revolved around the antics of a 5-year-old and his little sister Baby, and occasionally their Dranpa. They ran in newspapers from 1925-1956 and by the time she retired, she drew 10,000 panels. She also illustrated the full comic strip "Little Miss Muffet" for 21 years.




While researching Fanny and her work, I was lucky enough to come into contact with one of her granddaughters. They called her "Meetsie" and could remember her working on illustrations, baking cookies, reading aloud and telling stories about life on the ranch.

Before sending her the original newspaper clippings, I scanned every single one and have put them up on Flicker. They are just too precious not to share. Enjoy! And if you would look better-quality digital copies, just email me.

In honor of Winnie-the-Pooh Day...

Yesterday was A.A. Milne's birthday. Born Allan Alexander Milne in 1882, he was most famous for creating Winnie-the-Pooh and all the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood.

In his honor, we at Collage picked that theme for tonight's stocking.

For me, the things I have been working on lately fit together perfectly.

I pulled out vintage books, including the one where Pooh first appeared,...

...added bags made from vintage Waverly bonded Glosheen fabric samples I found last fall....

...and coordinating bookmarks....

...plus the remaining magnets made from vintage wooden dominoes and children's book illustrations.

These items, plus a lovely wool felted Owl and adorable little red sweater, go up for sale at 9:30 pm Eastern.

New year, new music

Nothing like new music to give me renewed energy. Took most of these from my recent favorites on YouTube. Now I can listen to them everyday without much trouble at all.

Save handmade

I know I'm late at getting involved in this just because I haven't had time to do sufficient research on it, but I just found Handmade Toy Alliance, became a fan on Facebook and voted to save small business from the CPSIA.

If you want to find out how to help, click on the cute bear above or follow this link.

And the winner is....

.....Tina at glam.spoon.

All of the vintage goodies shown here will be jetting their way to her, once she sends me her address and I get to the post office.

After checking out her site and her Etsy store, I can only imagine what she will do with it all. (I may just have to send her some tartan scraps, unless she's tired of it at this point -- check this dress out).

Congrats Tina and thanks to all of you who promoted my blog on your own. What a wonderful thing the crafty blogging community is.

Resolving resolutions

I've gotten a start on Red Hen Studios' New Year's resolutions.

1. I'm adding a post every other day instead of once a week.

2. The contest winner will be announced tomorrow. I have one more late entry to tell you about -- I was mentioned on Babbling Brook. Thanks Heather.

3. I made a dent in the list of blogs I have to visit. I got side-tracked and found even more lovely sites to add to my blogroll later.

4. If thinking about the redesign counts, I'm well on my way to a redesigned blog, lol. I would love to do something with images from this vintage book I bought on Etsy recently.

5. Added that handy widget off to the right there. You can now subscribe to my blog and have every post I make sent right to you.

How is everyone else doing on their resolutions?

Music makes the world go round

I've had great luck at the thrift stores lately finding gorgeously illustrated books in excellent condition.

Hit the jackpot last month when a retired music teacher dropped off her old textbooks.

Most of them are from the 1950s and 60s, and other than a little shelf wear on the covers, they look unused.

I've had fun looking through them and now have them listed in the "Vintage Books" section in my Etsy store. I hope someone enjoys them as much as I did.

At a consignment store, I found a few opera librettos, most in two languages and with great Art Nouveau cover illustrations.

They are in the "Vintage Ephemera" section.

In the book section, I also just listed "Dandelion Library" flip books (two books in one) with titles like Bambi, Beatrix Potter, Babar, Uncle Wiggly, Petunia, and Grimm Fairy Tales.

And under the new "Supplies and Howto Books" section, there are some retro cool knitting and crochet pattern books.