Cherishing ChildCraft books

My first babysitting job came when I was about 11.

My twin sister and I took turns caring for

my mom's co-worker's baby daughter.

 Fast-forward about 30 years, when I caught up

with mother and daughter on Facebook and Etsy.

 Beth graciously sent me nearly a complete set

of ChildCraft books from 1942

since she knew they would sell well on Etsy.

They are all filled with wonderful stories,

gorgeous period illustrations 

and child-reading tips,

though some of those are very out-dated!

Each one is now available for sale in my Etsy shop.

In the meantime, I am enjoying them myself.

Swapping goodies

I haven't been part of a good swap in awhile,

so I was excited when Tamara of Selloholicmom,
agreed to send me sewing notions in exchange
for a 100-year-old book I had listed on Etsy.

These are all the goodies she sent me in the swap.
Not only will the materials be fun to use,
but the graphics on the wrappers and button cards
are just too cool to throw away.

  

 

Tamara is a a like-minded lady from Utah

who also sells vintage goodies on eBay and now Etsy.

We connected via a great example of social networking

called "Link Love" where artisans are sharing

links through their Facebook Fan Pages.

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.

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.

This and that, Part 2

I've used up the 4 skeins of variegated yarn I bought awhile ago.
I made 4 hats with flowers or corkscrews, 7 catnips balls and countless flowers.

I bought local catnip --on Etsy, go figure -- back in March. I finally put it to use. After countless tries, I finally came up with a ball I like. They are made of two halves stitched together and filled with leftover rabric and a bit of the catnip. My "tester cat" friends give them two paws up.

After making this many flowers, I have the instructions memorized. I bought pinbacks today but still need to go get my button stash to finish these off, as well as the others I've made.

Look what came in the mail!!!! Vintage lace that a friend asked if I want for my fairy dresses. I said yes, of course. It all came with a purty handmade kitty card.

I "met" Darling Petunia on message boards but didn't know she was so crafty until I caught up with her on Wardrobe Refashion more recently. She has this unhealthy obsession with making skirts that I secretly envy.

Thank you so much! I'll put the lace to good use.

And more gifts from my niece -- straight out of Africa. A small handpainted rhino bowl and bracelets for my boys. I admit to wearing the bracelets more than they have. The one on the left is made of elephant hairs. How cool is that?

I've gotten questions why my blog no longer has music. I usually have the computer volume turned down so I didn't do anything about it. Apparently Sonific called it quits back in April. Fear not, I'll be adding more music once I find a new source.

In the meantime, you can see what I've been listening to on YouTube. I just figured out how to save favorites in my YouTube account. Go check them out. I can't get enough of this one:

Purchases

First up, a trade I made awhile back. Cintia wanted some of my abandoned woven pieces, I wanted her turtle anklet and we were bot Paypal poor, so we swapped. She made this cute little pink pouch with one of the pieces. And here is the turtle anklet I bought for a friend. I got some goat's milk soap too.

I bought 15 bunches of flowers from Caramelos on Etsy for my fairy dresses and crowns. They are even prettier in person and I can't wait to use them.

On Friday, I ventured out with all 4 boys to a garage sale. I know you are saying I must've been very daring to do it. It was at a friend's house. She has 4 kids of her own and great deals at her garage sales. We got two bike helmets, 3 water bottles, a scooter, a swim vest and a few other toys there.

The garage sale down the street was for me. Other crafty kindred spirits lived there. I bought a stash of belt buckles, random jewelry, bits of ribbon and two small painted trays.

I also got more eyelet trim (can never have enough eyelet), 3 crocheted doily/hotpot thingies and some crochet hooks.

At first I passed this up, then went back to it when I was charged so little for everything else. It is a rather long wall hanging from Sweden of embroidered folks in frocks and finery. Can anyone translate the descriptions for me?

These were my favorite purchases there. A twin set of sheets with pretty shabby chic pink roses and a linen piece with rose ribbon trim. They'll have to go together in some sort of project, I'm just not sure what kind yet.

Project updates and adding to my stash

Don't fret, cleaning is getting done while I am completing projects.

I've made chore charts and enlisted the boys' help.
We worked for about an hour this morning.
This place should be ship-shape by September, lol.

I added cross-hatching to each of my gnome bags
and they will be up on Etsy soon.

Each comes with an extra little gnome-y treasure.

These are about half of the double-tie scarves
I am working on at the moment. They garnered the most
attention of anything in my craft show booth last Christmas
so I want to bring even more for this year.

I spent a good portion of last night formatting photos of items
to list on Etsy and eBay plus other treasures to share with you.

And here are some of the treasures I received in the mail.
I traded two recent burda World of Fashion magazines for fabric and trim from Lisa D. and Suzville. I hope they get as much enjoyment out of the magazines as I will the fabric. Thanks ladies.

From Lisa, a roll of lace, two billowy hankies,
the coolest B&W cording and a lot of quiting fabric.
The two identical prints in blue and brown are soooo soft.
And the already cut-out squares on the right --
I'm going to teach the boys how to hand-sew little quilts!

Suzi shared with me some of the bounty from her Mother's Day
garage sale outing where she filled up her Explorer -- twice.

(See, honey, I don't bring that much home.)

See the laughing cat and dog on the left?
I actually sold a piece of that very same fabric a few years ago --
before I started almost exclusively using vintage fabrics.
Serendipity, I tell you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

We've heard lots of kind words on our youngest's surgery. He is doing very well and I got to be creative with his bandage. I knew there was a reason I saved the embroidery from a well-worn Mickey Mouse baseball cap. He loved The Disney Store when we visited a mall near the hotel.

Right before we left for the hospital, Dawn sent me a package of goodies in exchange for the nests and other stuff I sent her.

There was this big piece of pink, orange and white floral flannel. It's perfect for pajama pants if I ever get around to cutting into the pattern I bought months ago.

And this piece of vintage barkcloth. It was so nice of her to give it up to me. I have plans for a bag with either dark green or ecru fabric and matching accessories.

And the piece-de-resistance -- a decoupaged plate with her trademark sheet music and bird. It is hanging right here over my computer, reminding me everyday to "Dream." (Even her ribbon and gift tags were worth saving and displaying.) Thanks Dawn.

Lastly, I've just stocked Easter/New Baby gift tags on Collage with 1¢ shipping. There are a dozen sets of 6 tags available.

As my thank you to all my readers, you can get two sets for the price of one, if you mention my blog.

Oh, I'm not done yet. My other thank you -- the give-away for my 200th post will be tomorrow. I promise. Stay tuned...

Swapping goodness

I didn't forget about my Sewing Notions Swap. I did forget to take pics of what I sent to moonshae all the way in Australia. Maybe she'll post some to share. This is part of what she sent me. My boys thought it was an early Christmas and grabbed anything of interest to them -- in particular the chocolate and coins.


She sent me this soft lavender yarn, little beads and jewelry wire (I'm already putting both to use in some gifts for my boys), a beaded bracelet, teddy bear eyes and buttons from her grandma's stash and embroidery floss.


She also sent a bag full of drawstring bags made from her project remnants. I think it is pretty funny I made similar ones in the last few weeks. Hers are buttery soft and the boys have already each taken one.


Fabric heaven!!! I want to see the reenactment costumes she made with these. They are lovely to the touch. She worried about sending plain solid fabrics but they are perfect compliments to the vintage patterned fabrics I'm using on projects right now. My favorite it the turquoise blue in the background. It is huge. I'm going to use it as a table covering for my craft show this weekend then decide a more permanent use for it.

And look at all of these vintage patterns. I haven't used patterns since an ill-fated attempt at making a dress in high school. These goodies are going to get me to take a stab at it again. I love the harlequin sheath but you won't find me ever wearing it, lol.

I tried to see what others in the swap sent and received but only found one post referring to the swap. Go see what Mama Said Sew received from Lori Kay.

And while you're at it go see what Missy at Spring Bean Sales has listed for sale. I understand her frustration with not doing well at local craft shows. Her little girl dresses are just adorable though. I'm going right now to buy a fabric-covered journal for a Christmas gift right now.

It's a swappy day

As promised, I have paired up swap partners this morning. (After finding something else for my little guy to do, other than putting his sippy cup to my ear and depressing the spout until the orange juice came out. @@)


Some basic guidelines. Check out each others' websites to get a feel for who they are and what you should put in their package. Items should fill a box approximately 9" X 12" X 6" and should be mailed by Friday, November 16th. Share what you got (and sent) on your blog and give me a shout out about it so I can link it here. Most of all, I hope you get to know someone knew and have fun swapping.

Little Grey Bungalow swaps with Chicken Blog

Lori Kay swaps with Mama Said Sew (Lori Kay, I don't have an email address or website for you so I hope you contact Christy yourself.)

Brown Sugar, LTD swaps with Hobos and Little Birds

Squaresville swaps with Cat's Fiber Adventures

Musings of a Southern Girl at Heart swaps with Spring Bean Things

I miss you cupcake swaps with ME!!!!

Sewing Notions Swap

After hitting a sewing notion bounty last week (see post below), I posted on Wardrobe Refashion I wanted to trade some things I won't ever use. I was unprepared for the response and decided to create a real swap.

If you'd like to participate, send a comment to this post. Include your website and I'll post it along with your name when I pair up swap partners.

Suggested things to include are sewing notions, spare fabric, how-to books or magazines, patterns, buttons and finished craft products. You have until Friday to enter. have fun!

Additional information: Christy asked how big the box should be. I'd say around 9" X 12" X 6" based on a box I have sitting on my counter.