Vintage Wallpaper

I love all the details and textures of vintage wallpapers. We live in an almost 100 year old house and as we have done various projects we have found bits of wallpaper from years past. I love how wallpaper can really tell the history of your home. We have some great toile in our stairwell that I have to believe is original to the house. Bits of 60's era kitchen wallpaper can be seen behind a drain access in our first floor bathroom. I love bits of history tucked away in old homes. The first six papers pictured, I picked up from Nancy at the Creative Bazaar. But the final two show a great roll that I discovered stashed in the back corner of an attic at a recent estate sale. The home was located in an affluent town and was owned by a watercolor artist. She seemed to have dabbled in a bit of everything (a girl after my own heart). I started on the first floor and then made my way up to the second...finding a custom vintage dress form (you can see it in yesterdays post, but more on that another day) and then a pile of old sketch books and watercolor paper. I piled all of the books and papers in my arms and somehow made my way up into the attic area where I discovered the wallpaper. I finally found a spot to stash my finds and free my hands for more discoveries. I get so excited squirreling away my finds. Jason, however, is convinced that they love seeing me arrive to purchase all of the "junk" that no one else wants. What!?! That is just not possible...

Vintage Handkerchiefs

I picked up these lovelies from Nancy at the Creative Bazaar the other week. I loved each of these for their colors, designs, cute edging...all delightfully pretty. Everything is so disposable these days...we use so many paper products in our daily lives. Paper towels instead of lovingly embroidered tea towels, boxes of tissues instead of personalized handkerchiefs, vinyl tablecloths replacing table coverings handed down by generation...now of course many a day I say thanks for disposable diapers! Now off to find a cute vintage style blouse with a pocket to tuck my vintage hankies...

Endless creating is happening in the Simply June studio... I have a batch of fleur bobbies in the making, stacks of tote bags cut and ready to be sewn. We have a big lineup of shows coming up. I'll be adding an Event button on the Simply June website soon. Make sure to sign up on our Mailing List to receive special coupons that can be used at our events as well as some online deals for your holiday shopping.

** Simply June's next show will be Saturday, November 3rd in Natick, Massachusetts.

Yard Sale-ing

Ah, Spring has sprung and my beloved yard sales are back! The last few weekends showed a trickle of listings, but this past weekend seemed to be the Grand Opening of my favorite season. I have gone yard sale-ing since I was a kid. Each time the car would stop, I would clamber out to see what treasures awaited. My treasure list has changed over the years, but still nothing beats the rush of a great find. We had limited time this Saturday, but still managed to squeeze in a couple of good finds. Jason pulled the Jeep up and I clambered out... bringing these treasures home:

t.y.p.e.w.r.i.t.e.r...

I found this vintage typewriter a while ago...you may remember my ramblings on the subject last summer...the tap, tap, tap....ziiiiiiiiipppping that was my current vintage obsession. Well, this typewriter has made its way into various corners of my home, appeared (very photogenically might I add) alongside the Nataliya bag in my online shop and was even the subject of some of my recent photography. This poor guy needed a place to settle down and enjoy his dapper self. So, here he is as of this weekend displayed in our kitchen alongside my photography. I also hung the great typewriter dress print by the talented Emily over at The Black Apple.

Junkin'

Yard sales, thrift stores, swap meets, dumpster diving...whatever your pleasure. There is just nothing more satisfying than finding that gem among the rubble. My friend Monica and I meet almost every Tuesday for junkin' at the local thrift store. I really can't remember a time that I have left empty handed. There is always some treasure to be had and for a few bucks I scratch that modern day shopping itch. I am also convinced that God leaves a few little gifts there for me along the way... These metal kitchen canisters were this weeks find. I love their pink candy striped goodness and that classic 50's/60's font.

Monica was the first to introduce me to the term " Junkin' " and seemed right in keeping with what I lovingly refer to as her "Ohioisms". Everything sounds so much more quaint with an Ohioism ... I am in a terribly irritable mood ... Monica has a "burr in her bonnet". I need to get out of somewhere fast...Monica needs to "blow this popsicle stand." I need to approach a situation with my fists ready to battle it out...Monica just slips on her "Teflon dress", which of course looks very cute and classy on her. I think Ohio must just be a happy, sunny place to be.

Pattern Nostalgia

These delightful 50's & 60's vintage patterns arrived on my doorstop via eBay. I love all of the stylish designs and ohh those hairdos! Do you remember that pink hair tape they used to sell? Actually, I just Googled it and apparently a company called Beauty Mark still sells it (though I don't think they have spent any money on packaging design lately). It was this really light and mildly sticky tape that allowed you to curl your hair exactly how you wanted it and tape it to your face to dry!

One of my favorite things about vintage pattern finds are the little hand written notes regarding the homemaker's fabric choices, etc. The flowered number in front makes me want to make a pot roast and host a dinner party with Jason in an argyle cardigan serving Rob Roys...think Sissy Spacek in Blast from the Past...love that movie.

Acorns, String and Other Things

This weekend we dropped by an Estate Sale run by a local Antique Shop. Estate Sales are usually held on both Saturday and Sunday and sometimes even start on Fridays. My favorite, Franklin Street Antiques, holds theirs on Saturday and Sunday and they mark their prices in half on Sunday afternoon. This of course is my favorite time to go. You have to be willing to go through the leftovers of the sale, but the prices are unbeatable and the crowds are gone. One of my favorite aspects of an estate sale is getting to see the inside of another house. Many of the houses in our area are quite old and I love all of the details and nooks waiting to be explored. Often these houses have been lived in for years and though they need work, many of the original details are there. Jason finds estate sales depressing - usually a life has ended and he finds it sad to sift through others' personal belongings. I see this side to it, but I also see the silver lining of goods recycled and a new person to love them.

My recent finds are this great string dispenser made from heavy iron. One bolts it to a wall and the cone of string is unraveled and dispensed through the ring on the end. I think this will likely go in my studio. The scale of this photograph I'm sure is quite confusing as the pan is just a miniature version perhaps for tea cakes and the Acorn Tea Steeper is one of the largest I have ever seen. I have a small collection of these now after see a Martha Stewart article suggesting they be filled with Lavender and Bath Salts and steeped in the tub. This one is the perfect size for that. The original use of course is for containing loose tea to be placed in either a teacup or probably in this case a teapot. Most have a metal chain and hook attached so that they can be pulled out when the tea is done. This one is missing its chain, but delightful non the less.

I promise there is much work going on at SimplyJune and I hope to upload more goodies to the site by the end of the week.

Tap, Tap, Tap.....Ziiiiiiiip...

I love the sounds of a typewriter. Tap, Tap, Tapping along on the keys. There is a rhythm, a tempo, a decisiveness in action and a permanence to the words formed. This I write to you from the relatively quiet keys of my Dell laptop where I can add and delete words at will.

This typing beauty is a late 40's early 50's Remington that I bought this summer at a yard sale. A local family was emptying the contents of their elderly mother's home as she got ready to move after many years. The first thing that caught my eye was a large box of beautiful variegated wool granny squares framed in black. The box contained dozens of these beautiful squares and some extra skeins of the beautiful wool yarn - a project never finished, but made with love. I pictured the old woman sitting on cold New England winter evenings crocheting and enjoying the repetitiveness and sense of accomplishment that I find in needlework. So, I decided to take the squares home and finish it during this cold New England winter. I continued to meander up their driveway to find my Remington beauty. I fell in love at first sight. I could hear the Tap, Tap, Tap......Ziiiiiiiiiip... in my head and I tried to contain my excitement. One should never bug out one's eyes or jump for silly joy when one finds a gem at a yard sale. Instead, I asked its price in my most non-chalant manner. (I have never been able to witness my bargain hunting acting abilities, but hey anyone who knows me knows my record speaks for itself.) After a little bartering, I got my portable Remington and my box of wool granny squares for a neat 25. As I began to leave with my goods in hand, one of the sons about my age asked me with a somewhat baffled look, "What exactly are you going to do with that box of wool and an old typewriter?" Apparently, I'm 31 going on 81...

Thriftstore Therapy

Nikolai and I went to a thrift store this morning. I'm not exactly why he likes this one so much, but he practically runs to get into the cart when we get there. A lot of people shop there and it is huge, so I think he gets some good people watching in. I of course get my retail therapy. Today included an Ann Taylor Loft Black Blazer, Levi Strauss Jeans, J Crew wool sweater, cute cotton blanket for Nikolai with brown and blue stripes and little monkeys on it and a CD - all for $11.45. There was a crazy lady volunteering there today. Nikolai of course loved her. He is very attracted to eccentric and slightly insane people. She had a frosted sort of disheveled haircut and huge dark rimmed glasses with rhinestones all over them. She kept trying to get me to buy a bright coral lacy slip that she thought I could wear as a skirt. She was very disappointed when I said no. Honestly, there was a day when I would have taken the slip just to avoid the awkward conversation. Of course, I would have hung it back up when she wasn't looking. However, today I stood firm and told her that I wouldn't likely wear the "skirt". Ahh, thrift shop therapy...

Oooh, here is a picture of some recent finds. The napkin holder is from a local thrift shop and the feedsack fabric is from eBay. I LOVE the green and blue cherries and was hoping to make a little valance for my kitchen with them, but the greens just didn't mesh well. I think these are now going to be aprons.

My fabric order came in last week from Hancocks of Paducah. I love everything that I ordered. Most are Michael Miller, Amy Butler and Free Spirit fabrics. I picked a bunch of fabrics in various color combinations and I'm really excited about how they are combining in the new purse design. I have six purses done and hope to make six more before I put them in the shop. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.

I had a great weekend of estate and yard sales and will post some photos soon. My favorite find was a circa 1940's Remington Portable Typewriter with white keys. It needs just a little cleaning, but it works really well and I have been punching away at the keys. I'm thinking of typing all of my hang tags on it for my Simply June holiday shopping party. I love the nostalgia of the typewriter font.

A Candlelit Evening

It sounds romantic, maybe even a step into the past for an evening. Our power went out around 7 last night. As the sun began to set, we rushed around looking for some flashlights with no success. I light some candles and some lanterns and with a peaceful sigh, looked around my home and thought about what it might have been like to live in the days before electricity. It seemed romantic and quaint. That was until I began to sweat without the air conditioners and ceiling fan. We have been having a heat wave here in the Boston area and the house heated up quickly even in the evening hours. You don't realize how reliant you become on electricity. The phone no longer worked, the TV, microwave, ICE MAKER, etc. So Jason and I sat down to a candlelit dinner of sandwich wraps and tortilla chips and reminisced about the days of old... ok, we watched a movie on my laptop. Pretty sad...

It was a nice weekend however, we enjoyed time with friends and family. Took a trip to the library and to a great thrift shop in Waltham called Global Thrift. I'll share some of my finds in the next few days. I keep meaning to add a photo of a cute vintage etched glass that I found at a church sale. It is tiny and etched with a beautiful floral and striped design. The sides of the glass are beveled adding to its charm. The perfect glass for a bedside table.

Finally Blogging!

I have been wanting to put a blog together for a while, so I have a backlog of photographs and ideas that I want to post here. This is mostly as a record for myself so that I can keep track of my ideas and materials, but maybe others can get their own ideas or see some of the fun new items making their way to the Simply June store.

I took a trip recently to Boston's Chinatown to shop at my favorite fabric store - Winmil Fabrics. They are located on Chauncy Street if you are in the area. They have beautiful fabrics and you can always find something new. The photo below shows my recent haul. I've got to get better at lighting my photographs because this photo just doesn't do the colors justice.














I have also been having some fun on Ebay recently. I have been purchasing a variety of vintage buttons to embellish the bags and hats. Here are some recent finds.