Two New Finds

On a whim the other day, I stopped in at one of my local thrift shops. I didn't have much time to browse around, so I almost didn't stop. But, being a thrift store junkie, I couldn't resist taking a quick look. I'm so glad I did because I found this darling, red vintage scrapbook. Red happens to be one of my favorite colors, and it was priced at only $1.00, so I decided I had to have it. It measures 8-1/2 inches by 11-1/2 inches and the pages inside are all blank. Whomever owned it, never used it. I'm not sure what I plan to do with it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of something. Any suggestions?

My second find, is a copy of the April 1954 issue of Holiday Magazine. I have never heard of this particular magazine, but it showcases getaway vacation spots. It has wonderful old ads for cars, shoes, clothing, appliances, filtered cigarettes, Cris Craft boats, makeup and more. I love the travel ads for Bermuda, New York, Miami, Brazil, Nova Scotia, South America, Oregon, Virginia, and other fascinating places. There are ads for airline travel and train travel. It also has some very interesting and insightful articles; I especially enjoyed one written by Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner describing growing up in his native Mississippi in the small town of Oxford. The story relates how much Faulkner loves his native land and its people - "He was born of it," Faulkner says of himself, "and his bones will sleep in it."

Another article that I found interesting was about South Carolina's Pirate Coast. In the early 1700s, the infamous Blackbeard, "gentleman pirate" Stede Bonnet, and other lesser known buccaneers sailed from Carribean harbors to Charleston and the sea islands of Carolina's coast. Blackbeard was notorious for wearing an arsenal of pistols and lighted matches in his hair. The article went on to relate the legend of the young woman who lived in a large house near the old city gate. The author, Herbet Ravenel Sass states, "In the preserved house is an old family Bible, on the yellowed flyleaf of which is written a scandalous thing: that a daughter of a certain excellent local family had run away from home and kindred to become the latest 'wife' of Captain Edward Teach - the celebrated pirate Blackbeard. Now I had long known about this woman, but only as a legend, a whisper from the Coast's incredible past - a whisper which said that of Blackbeard's many loves his ultimate favorite was a magnificent creature both beautiful and damned who had been a high-born Carolinian lady". Mr. Sass goes on to state that as a youth he had dismissed the legend as one of the old wives' tales with which the Coast abounds, but now believes the story to be true; a pirate treasure better than a chest of doubloons.

Here is a picture from the magazine depicting Blackbeard with his guns and smoking hair. The magazine is oversize and will not fit on my scanner, but I will attempt to take pictures of the ads and post them soon.

Swap Meet Adventures

After lunch today, my daughter Shelby and I drove to a swap meet we had heard about. When we arrived, we were surprised to see that a few of the vendors were already packing up their stuff to leave. We found out that the sale had begun at 5:30 this morning; way too early for us! Even though we arrived "late", we managed to find some good stuff. We rummaged through a box of greeting cards and found a few older ones, so we snapped those up. At another booth, I found a small, in nearly perfect condition, green ledger that I fell in love with and had to have. The lady I purchased it from was very sweet and in a bargaining mood, so I managed to get it for half the asking price. The inner pages have no marks or writing on them, so I think that I will use it as a personal journal.

My next purchase was a small shoebox containing old photos. Some had been removed from a photo album and had black paper spots on the backs. Some of the photos had notations on the back, and all of the others were blank. It always makes me kind of sad to see treasured photos of someone's loved ones now ripped out of the album and put into a shoe box (sitting on the ground) for sale. I love these photos and try to think up little stories and scenarios about the people.

Another treasure I found is a magazine called Delineator, which I have never heard of. It's dated September 1943, and the original price was ten cents. I absolutely love the very fashionable lady on the cover powdering her nose. The magazine has fashion ads, recipes, stories, food ads, and home decor articles. I will see if I can scan some of the ads and post them later; the magazine is a larger format than my scanner so I may have to take some photos. I scanned the cover, and as you can see I wasn't able to get the entire thing.By this time, all the vendors were packing up, but my last stop netted me a few older postcards. After I scan them, I will post some of these.

Oh, and not to forget about Shelby...she found a darling, collectible figurine, a background rubber stamp, and some vintage trim. Both of us came home with little sunburns on our necks and faces, free of charge.

LolliShops Summer Design Challenge

I was so excited when I received the LolliShops design team kit from Sadie Lou containing the sweetest vintage goodies ever. The vintage birthday card was absolutely darling, and I couldn't resist the lace, ribbon, sheer fabrics, buttons and the most adorable velveteen flower with a little heart shaped pin. The precious little girl was not only on the front of the card but also on the inside, so I determined that I would use both of them in my creation. In keeping with the vintage elements, I decided to do a shabby birthday themed collage on a canvas. I began by layering acrylic paints, vintage calendar pages, birthday sheet music, dictionary pages, paper scraps, the fabric and elements included in the design kit, and I rubber stamped swirls and flowers to finish. I hope you like my first design team creation. I'm really looking forward to see what challenge Sadie has lined up for next month.