Wednesday, November 30, 2011

christmas gift subscriptions

Here's some Christmas gift inspiration from the past for you.

Magazines are still the best, if you ask me. I love the internet and kindles and all that, but I guess you can guess that above all I love paper. Maybe I'll give some magazine subscriptions this year. It's the gift you get all year long!

Below is a subscription card for giving the music magazine Downbeat from 1940. This magazine still exists and seems to be going strong. I love the illustrations and hand lettering on this.

record club for christmas gift

record club gift 1940

What you see below is the beautiful and intricate cover (opened up) from a gift subscription for card for a 5 year subscription to the Farm Journal of Philadelphia. Pretty good gift.

magazine subscription for christmas gift cover

The sentiment written here is great. "You will find it full of instruction and sunshine". Nice. Speed the Plow.
magazine subscription inside

Are you getting some shopping done yet? I've gotten a couple of things.

If you're looking for more Christmas inspiration, I've listed more Christmas postcards on the Etsy shop this week.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

making unique holiday cards with vintage post cards

If you come across a vintage postcard or greeting card you love, you can easily use it to make all your holiday cards this year.

A lot of the vintage postcards are so pretty and have such charming sayings on them. Many have unique rhyming greetings, which you don't really see much anymore.

Personal printers and scanners make it easy to reproduce high quality images at home (If you don't have a color printer at home, a copy shop can do them for you at little cost. Just make sure to fit as many onto a page as you can). You can use these to make holiday cards, or you could even just print directly on a super thick card stock and send out postcards.

If you wanna make cards, here are a couple suggestions.  I copied this vintage postcard onto two kinds of paper from my canon printer.



The top one is glossy photo paper and the one underneath is matte presentation paper. They both look really good and it was hard to tell the difference without touching them. The postcard on the glossy photo paper was a little sharper and had more contrast. It had a bit of a green cast to it. The matte photo paper had a bit of a blue cast to it.  I think how you are going to use them is what might determine which paper you use.

The glossy photo paper is thicker and better to use like you would a photograph. An easy way to make cards with these would be to use photo corners and just place the copies like a photo onto blanks cards or folded colored paper stock.



If you want to decorate the cards more, using the matte paper would probably be better. It is thinner and easier to paste down. You could make some gorgeous handmade Christmas, New Years or any greeting cards by using the copy of the vintage postcard and then decorating with glitter, ribbon, vintage items or whatever you can think up.  I am no pro at this, by any means, but I have done my cards like this in the past. I made one up today, just to give you an idea. I'm sure you can do much better.


You can use some colored paper to make the background have a little more depth if you want. After that is glued down I added some glitter.



If you want some better inspiration, take a look at the Little Pink Studio. She is always making something pretty and artful with vintage images.

I'd love to see what you make this year. Please let me know.  Happy Christmas Season!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

thanksgiving games

These poodles are getting ready for Thanksgiving. I think they must be making cranberry sauce.

poodles cooking

I hope your Thanksgiving tomorrow goes better than this lunch below and that the kids aren't fighting like cats and dogs.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

cats and dogs at dinner

Friday, November 18, 2011

Truth in Postcards & PFF

tree postcard

This postcard is actually this size. And it is a postcard, even thought it looks more like a bookmark. I've come across a couple other postcards this size before. The actual size is 2 1/8" x 6".

This one is from 1908, sent to Scotts Mills, Oregon (current population 355 residents -this has doubled since 1916!) from Roseburg, Oregon.

The greeting says:

I am back in the old place again, have been for little over a month. Have you and Eldon decided to stay where you are or go elsewhere?


I am disgusted with all in general,


J.C.



I love it when I read messages like this. Ones that make you laugh and that you can totally relate to.

back of tree postcard


I am posting this today to participate in Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Go to her site and you can see a list of other postcard blogs you can visit today.


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

happy birthday mom and dad

Today I'm going to post images of people I actually know. This is a scan of an old slide from when my mother and father were dating, around 1959. Don't you love that Pendleton outfit she has on? I used to wear the jacket in High School, but it was always a little small for me.


November is the month that both my parents were born in. Today is my mom's birthday and my father would have celebrated his last Saturday, the 12th. They haven't been married for over 30 years, but sometimes it's neat to see pictures of your parents when they were together and in love. Plus, they are just cool pictures.



Monday, November 14, 2011

Old Hollywood

I love old movies and am very fond of certain stars from the 20's to the 50's.  I have in the past come across a number of postcards of celebrities with images of their houses. These must have been sold in tourist shops and on corners along with the maps to the stars homes.  Linen postcards from the 40's and 50's are what I've come across the most. Here are two I've collected.




I just posted a really Old Hollywood postcard booklet in the Etsy shop that shows homes of the stars the Hollywood studios. The stars in this booklet are Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Clara Bow! I have never seen one this old before. It's in great condition, too.


Also, I have never heard the phrase "Screenland" before.

Above is a picture of Clara Bow's house from the booklet. Could this by the house now? According to Wikipedia she lived at this address in 1930 (from the 1930 census).

By 1927 Clara Bow was Paramount's biggest star. The movie "It" gave her her nickname "The It Girl". I was just looking at some videos of her and this one from the film "It" is great. Not just for her, but dig those crazy carnival rides.



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

office christmas party

Office Christmas party
I wish there was more information on the back of this photo, but it's blank. Looks like an office Christmas party from around 1955.  The women seem less amused then the men. Maybe they're less drunk.

I recently added some great new finds to The Cedar Chest shop. Please stop  by.

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