Merry Christmas!

Some well needed Christmas cheer!

Valentines Day So Early?

I know it isn't February yet, but if anyone wants to get a jump on some Valentines greetings, I figured I would post this lovely addiction for everyone. Either that or you can just use the flowers on the card itself.

Darling birds

A birthday greeting from the turn of the century :)

Two Witches?

Another from my family collection - best friends, sisters? I'm not sure.

Homestead

A house in my families history.

Aaaaaand we're back!

Just look at that face!

^Once again, sorry for the delay in posting. I am very bad! Here's an adorable little cherub of a girl to make up for it :D

All Fancy-like!

I would totally wear that dress. My husband would roll around on the floor laughing of course - but I would wear it, none the less.

Toddler on a Chair

^ I rather like how happy this tot seems to be :)

Group Photo

A family? A theatre production?

Merry....Christmas? Again.

An early Christmas addition for everyone.

Male Profile

A college professor...maybe a scientist working on the cure for...uh...scurvy. Always fun to guess :)

Picnic

A picnic in the "good ol' days".

Scout

Scouts/Cubs photograph from Toronto.

Fairies in My Bedroom!

They sneak in your bedroom at night and give you strange and wild dreams!

My apologies to everyone for not keeping up with my postings lately - things have been really busy in our house over the last couple of weeks. I had a convention all last weekend and my husband has started a new job - it's very hectic around here, more than usual. I'll be posting several updates tonight to try and make up for the lack of ephemera over the last little while - hope everyone's having a great week!

A Musician, Perhaps?

To me, he looks like a magician, though I'm not sure what his title really is. Who do you think he looks like?

Vintage Beauty Postcard

^ I bought this from another collector in Toronto and I really love the front image. The back has some very messy writing on it, but I thought I would scan and post it for you anyway in case anyone can use it.

Vintage Herbs - Acanthus

^ I found this in an old cyclopedia from the early 1900's. Acanthus, also called bear's breeches, and is the basis for the architectural style by the same name.

Prom, Perhaps?

^This lovely young lady looks like she's either about to go on a "date", or going to some sort of party, like a prom (did they even have Proms in the 20's? lol)

Mischief Makers

^ To me, these three boys look like they're about to get up to some serious mischief. I rather like how casual they all look. Reminds me of something straight out of Oliver Twist or Dickens in general - what do you think?

Vintage Fairy Tale Illustration

Another illustration from Perrault's fairy tales :)

A couple of vintage siblings or lovers

I'm not sure by the stance as to whether these are siblings or brothers, but don't you just love her hair? Long and down, not something you often see in these old pictures - usually the hair is up on top of the head.

Vintage Halloween

^ original untouched

^ fixed up in Photoshop

I know a lot of people are beginning to do vintage Halloween swaps and I wanted to share this with everyone - my very first vintage Halloween postcard. Because it was in such rough condition, I got this little beauty really cheap - I'm considering printing the fixed version and mounting it to display. 

I love that he broom is "backwards" compared to how most witches are depicted with brooms. It makes me excited to think that Fall/Autumn is just around the corner - my absolutely favourite time of year! So enjoy, and make some awesome crafts with this witchy beauty!

Old Paper

^ I scanned a blank page from "Charles O'Malley" and thought it might be useful to you guys - I've used old paper stock a lot for anything from making banners/squares, making collages - just about anything. I love the colour of old paper - it can make anything look antique!

Be my valentine

original front

original back

repaired front

repaired back

This lovely little cutie took me quite a while to repair. It's not perfect, but hopefully you can see the difference between the original and the work I've done on it - you could do so many lovely vintage crafts with this one!

Service Man

I bought this one at a yard sale last month - the man selling it had a whole army display of things he was selling and had just used the picture as a decoration. Apparently he hadn't planned on selling the picture, but I guess I seemed nice enough and he changed his mind - This is the only war/army related photo I have at the moment. This would be great for a Legion or officers party - have fun with it.

Merry....Christmas?

original

repaired

I know it's nowhere near Christmas and, is in fact the middle of a brutally hot summer - but I couldn't help myself with this one. It took me an hour or so to edit this one for you guys - does anyone out there love vintage Christmas cards? At the very least, use the flowers for a project - they're so pretty! As usual, I've given you both the original (top) and the repaired (bottom) Enjoy!

Violet Flowers

^The original

^ I took out the image of the flowers itself - lovely violet in colour - you could make a print of this and hang it in your kitchen or bathroom. What a cute little image!

I'm not feeling great today, but working with graphics for you guys always makes me feel a little bit better :)

A Writer, Perhaps?

I acquired this charming fellow at a garage sale last month - I wish the family had more, but they sold them just before I arrived (*cries*), but I managed to get this fellow. I think he looks almost distinguished - but then I noticed how his shirt is buttoned and it looks like it doesn't quite fit - so I'm not sure what to make of him.

Easter Postcard

^ The above is the original untouched, scanned image. The corner is gone and other corners are badly creased.

^ General repair to corners

^ Repair to corners as well as removal of lettering.


Please keep in mind that I'm learning as I go when it comes to editing pictures. I've never taken classes or gone to school for it - I just sort of try things out and if they work, I stick with it. I have an old copy of Photoshop 7 (Hey it was new when I got it!) that does what I need it to for the most part (aside from not being able to use newer brushes made in Elements)

This is a lovely Easter postcard I got yesterday at the ephemera show - I'm so happy to have some colour things to post for you guys!

Two Gents and News from the Ephemera Show

I'm not sure what to think about these two gents. The one on the left has the most peculiar ears and looks like he may be an elf trying to blend in with mortal society - the other looks a little gruff - like he's the friend who always gets you into trouble - we all have one of those - haha

Today I went to an ephemera show over in Thornhill - I made the mistake of taking my BIL and MIL with my hubby and I as I knew they would get bored easily (it's just not their thing). I ended up getting a wonderful new catalog all about horses and maintenance and I managed to find at least 45 interesting (colour!) postcards from the turn of the century. I'll be doing some major scanning tomorrow. Look forward in the weeks to come for some lovely new additions to the Attic! I've got a lot of repairs to do on the postcards, but as they come out, you'll be the first to know, I promise! 

I absolutely can't wait until October for the next ephemera show - I could sit there all day looking through lovely things. Do you know, I saw postcards selling for over a hundred dollars a piece?! I couldn't believe it - and of course a big part of me wished I had the money to nab them for myself and hang them up on the wall.

Much to my husbands soon-to-be dismay (See - I haven't told him yet!), I've decided to collect vintage Halloween postcards. I just adore them, but they are so expensive, so it will be slow going - but good collections always are, right? I managed to get a badly damaged one today for next to nothing and it's really given me a push in the right direction (or wrong, if you're to ask my husband! haha)

That's it for tonight - enjoy!

Gryphon Decal and some news

Used as a page break, this Gryphon ornament can be coloured, printed and used in a variety of different projects. I have the urge to print him out on plain white paper and then colour him in as though he were in some sort of fantasy colouring book.

In other news - I'm off to my first ephemera show today! I'm really excited - it's about an hour away from where I live and until about a month ago I didn't know such things existed - I'm really stoked to go - hopefully I'll find some lovely things to share with all of my wonderful Followers!