Happy Birthday to Me.

Is it me or does time go by too fast? It's my birthday today. Not sure how i feel about it. I turned 32. I do like life better after 30, but it does feels like time passes faster after 30 too. Days like this make me miss my friends and family in the Netherlands, but the sun is shining in New York, so i'm out to have a good day.

Cute Records

I love thriftshops! Found lots of new additions to my record collection. Cute vintage children's records. I love the illustrations on the covers!
This one is Party Songs for Happy Little Folks.

This is a record with stories and songs telling the Mary Poppins story. Bonus score: it also has a great illustrated book inside the cover!

Even though the cover is damaged, i think this one is my new favorite.
The further adventures of Mary and her little Lamb.

This one is adorable too. Sweet retro songs from Sesamestreet.

And since the record inside was broken i got it for free! You can still play the record,
just not the first songs on either side. (try that with a broken cd!)

Start of a new collection

As if i don't collect enough things.
I would just love to see a grouping of small gorgeous thrifted white vases. And some green ones too. I found the white one like two weeks ago at the Salvation Army and the green one last week in a small thriftshop in Queens.
So a grouping of small green and white vases would be nice to look at.
Another thing to be on the lookout for when thrifting.

The white one is #175 milk glass bud vase from the E.O. Brody Co. from Cleveland Ohio.
The green is colored glass but has no maker's name or anything on the bottom. Which is a shame, but nonetheless i think it's pretty.

Talking about collections, the vases are now in front of my vintage Sarah Kay tin collection. They are filled with ribbons, buttons and other small craft supplies.

3 + 3 = very happy me!

A very happy me after a thriftstore hunt. In the first shop i found these three wonderful Pyrex bowls.
Cheap and in great condition = Love!

On to the next thriftshop where i found these three cups!
Same maker as the bowls, matching designs, it just had to be that i found them on the same day!

Another thing 3. The day before yesterday me and my Love had our 2 year wedding anniversary. He came home from work with 3 gifts, a huge hersey kiss, a cute soft pink lion and 3 red roses, 2 for each year married and one for the next.

New music

We got a new way of music in the home.
Or very old. Depends how you look at it.
I wanted to have a record player for a long time now.
Haven't owned one since i was a young girl.
Lately i have been thrifting old records a lot. Some for the music, some just for the amazing cover illustrations.
But getting those albums and not even being able to listen to them is just not that much fun.
I was a bit torn to either buy a recordplayer new style, one that i can attach to my computer and thus being able to transfer the music to digital files, or buy one of those amazing vintage players. For now i chose to opt for a modern one. Yes, vintage loving Issey went for hightech! Ha. But i know that if i run into a wonderful vintage player on one of my thift hunts i might get that too. One day.

The Brass Ring

Another thing i love to go thrift hunting for, are vintage records. For two reasons, for the music, and for the great cover artworks. What is it that the records from the 60's and 70's have so much more impressive artwork than most cd's out there today? But maybe it's just a matter of taste.
I still have to get a recordplayer in my new apartment so i haven't listened to my latest find 'the now sound of the brass ring'.
When i just buy an album for the gorgeous cover i mostly don't have a clue how the music sounds, but am always curious. There is one track i know on this album, 'The look of love' composed by Burt Bacharach. Can't wait to listen to it.

New retro doll and sooooo nervous

One of my greatest Queensday thrift finds was this new addition to my retro doll collection. I think she is so lovely holding her little puppy!
She is making new friends already.

Why the nervous part?
Tomorrow is the big day in regard to my visa application. Got to go to the consulate for my final interview! Oooh, so many butterflies in my stomach. Already did my yoga excersices but still an overload of adrenaline. Just one more day and i will know if i can really start packing.

about last week

About last week. A little bit of this and that.
Me and my girls went to this lovely shop, Het Grote Avontuur (The Large Adventure). It's always ooh-ing and aah-ing over there. We kept our control and didn't even buy anything. I did make some pictures i wanted to share.

The flowers on the dark wall were cut out from (i think) wrapping paper and glued on. A great inspirational idea to put in my little decoration notebook!

This last Sunday a flea market was held in the sportscenter at the end of my street. Only a ten minute walk to many possible treasures. It was a bit rainy, but it was an indoor market so i put my umbrella up and walked down the street.
Glad i did, because the market was fun, met some kind people and found some goodies i'm real happy about!
I love all the cards i've found. I think i never came across that many additions to my collection at once before!

Just can't control myself when i find something adorable and not too expensive. The little hearts fabric is a baby outfit that i gave to my friend, tomorrow the tiny sneakers will be wrapped. I think every time i visit, i have a little surprise something something for her.
The shiny Hello Kitty was a gift too, but that one was for me!!
A very nice former colleague of my mom goes to Asia regularly and almost always brings something small and cute back for me! Thank you! It's a Hello Kitty keychain locker. When you open her up, there's a small mirror inside. Pretty.

Lotta cards

With my card collection i look for a certain style, a certain era of cards. I go for the vintage 60's 70's children's postcards.
I also like to look for specific illustrators from those times.
These four cards are by Lotta.
I like her drawings, her kids look so happy and sweet.

Moerman's boys

I have shown my collection of 60's/70's artworks before and promised to make some more close up pictures.
Today's spotlight is on the print on wood (bottom left) done by the artist J. Moerman. It has a small mark on the back from art dealer 'van Hulsen'.
Like most illustrators of my collection i haven't been able to find information about Moerman. Except in my own collection of vintage postcards. Well, not really any background info, but i do have two more illustrations. Both have been printed for the Hendik Pierson Foundation. A foundation helping mothers and children. The back of both cards has been written on, which i like cause it tells the story, a little bit of history. They have been used to send birthday wishes, the postal mark of the one on the left is stamped in 1971, the one on the top right also has a stamp but unfortunately i can't make out what it says.

Be friends and play nice

Introducing 3 of my small vintage vinyl dolls from my doll collection.
I love the way they look so similar, but so different at the same time with their different facial expressions. So happy. Or so sad.
Don't you just love those adorable freckles? (as far as you can see those on the picture)

The curly one on the left had a signature H.K. on the bottom. My first thought was that that indicated Hong Kong. But why would it? Wouldn't it then say "Hong Kong" instead? It might as well be the makers name. It's a vintage mystery.
The other two are marked as made by Iwai Industrial in 1971 in Korea.

Retro works of art

Above the fireplace mantle in my living room is where i showcase my collection of late 1960's / early 70's children's paintings and prints.

I'm thrilled whenever i find one in the back of a thrift store, in a box at the second hand market or in my mailbox after winning an online auction.
Could you believe there are such sweet people who send you two additional pieces just because they know you collect them and thus know you will cherish them?
For real. At first i didn't know if the good people made a mistake and sent me them by accident. I emailed to tell them i got two more than what the bid was made for. And what do you know, they did sent them on purpose. They thought i would like to have them in my collection. You're right i do! They had already captured my heart straight away.
Thank you, kind strangers!

Some works in my collection have been signed by the artist, some haven't. But unfortunately i haven't been able to find a lot of information about the ones that have been signed anyway.
These four are all by Idylle. The three are painted on wood, the one next to the Buddha is a paper print in an old plastic frame.
I will make more close up pictures of my collection soon.

Happy New Year

- Happy New Year - Gelukkig Nieuwjaar - Selamat Tahun Baru - Bonne Année - Feliz Año Nuevo -

Thank you for visiting my blog, thank you for being loyal readers and sending me emails and leaving me notes. Thank you for encouraging me, inspiring me, blessing me.

Have a happy new year, stay safe and see you in 2007!

this vintage new year's card has been sent to celebrate a prosperous 1975...

Sosa needs some clothes!

Wintertime and Sosa is getting cold without some cute clothes!

Sosa is part of my late 60's, early 70's doll collection.
Most of the dolls are small, like 4 inches or so, but Sosa is like 10 inches tall. She looks at you with her sweet eyes and is always very play full. I'm not sure if anyone ever did gave her clothes to wear, but i know i will have to. Can't leave her standing there being naked all the time!

If you happen to know a great website with patterns for making dolls clothing, let me know. I might be able to alter some patterns to fit Sosa's body type.

I collect

.. cute small pvc toy figures.

Picture Postcards; vintage dolls

New additions to my postcard collection. I love these old cards with the dolls features on them. Who took these pictures? Who placed the dolls lovingly in the little set ups to portray their adventures?
The one on the right bottom is very special. You can't really see it in this scan, but the red part on the card is made of some kind of felt fabric. Soft!

Some people (collectors) prefer cards to be blank, not have anything written on it. But I do like that, it gives the card another level, a story, a history.

Unfortunately the back of these cards don't tell a whole lot of extra stories about their histories. The picnic scenery doesn't have anything on the back besides the printers name, Printed in Holland by Vita Nova Hank. The lady on the top right corner has no written message also. But printed on it, it tells us that it was printed in Rotterdam (city in the Netherlands) by the Brothers Spanjersberg company. It states that the picture is from Josee van Meurs and is called 'Furga Doll'. The cuty in the car is printed by Muva and has some unreadable kids scribblings on the back. The felted one is printed by Kruger in West Germany. It has been given to somebody on his or her birthday, on the back is written 'happy birthday by your uncle, auntie and nephews and nieces'. Unfortunately no stamp/postal mark to trace the date..

Flower Power Postcards

I'm so excited about these new additions to my collection of vintage childrens postcards!!
I found them on an Dutch online auction site, Qoop. Mental note: not to get addicted to online auctions...
Aren't these flowerpower girls cheerful? They do make me smile.
The cards have been sent around 1976 to one lucky birthday girl!
(The text 'Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd' means 'Happy Birthday')

A dedication to love

My Love will be performing in Amsterdam. A new recordcompany Appletree records flew him over. Woohoo. I'm happy. Our hearts can hug again.

Dedicating love i scanned a couple of stickers from my old "Love is ..." sticker album from when i was still a little girl. I never made it to collecting all the stickers needed to fill the album, but i do got plenty to enjoy going through the pages. I must say there is a lot of old fashioned believes portrayed in the illustrations. Woman stays at home, cleans after the hardworking man. But then in other illustrations it makes up for that by honoring the woman and spending time together.
Kim Casali created 'Love Is...' back in the late 1960's when she drew the little pictures as love notes for her husband-to-be

Since most of my blogvisitors don't read or speak Dutch, let's translate, we go from left to right, top to bottom.

Love is ...
"... being a good listener."
"... listening even though you don't believe it."
"... finding a moment to call her all the time."
"... typing loveletters instead of invoices."
"... someone to cuddle all night."
"... celebrating your first anniversary and looking forward to the 25th."

Meet my pets

My robot pet collection that is.

The two Micro Pet cuties on the top left really interact and play with each other, they react to each others movements and sounds. Very cute as long as they are happily playing together, when they get grumpy it can get a bit less cute...

The small cat and dog are really robot look-a-likes. They don't really move or do anything. You can move their legs and head yourself if you would want to.

I love my Meow-Chi pet cat. She sings, dances, purrs, her eyes light up (and turn into hearts when she really likes you!), totally adorable. But you have to give her attention, otherwise she'll get a real bad attitude! And the attention is also needed to have her develop her own personality(!). Meow-Chi has 7 different sensors to react to different situations. Because she doesn’t like to be alone, she has a little mouse friend, the sight of which makes her happy: eyes that light up with joy.

The bird is my latest addition. I found her in a small Chinese store in Brooklyn. All the way in the back of the store, her box was all dusty and she was clearly forgotten about. And most likely nobody wanted her either, since she was marked down to only 3 dollars. I needed to save Chat Bird from the shelve! I took her home, feeded some batteries and she was responding cheerful by singing and dancing. Cute! (I do miss her, since she's still in Brooklyn, waiting for me to return)

Spoiling myself!

Told ya I was making sure I would receive great mail deliveries during my last week as a twenty-some year old!I have a couple of sweet small illustration books by Joan Walsh Anglund. She's a writer/illustrator from back in the days. I adore her cute drawings of kids with themes of love, friendship and spirituality. I found this (small) bargain plate by her with the two kids on the playground. Sweet!
These paintings might be considered kitsch by a lot of people, but hey, they just belong in my interior!
I collect sixties/seventies vintage children's postcards and I found some great ones online. Now they make a welcome addition to my collection!
I got a whole stack of old 'Tina' comic magazines from the early 70's era. I love these magazines because I remember having a subscription when I was little. The illustrations are terrific and I love the showcase of fashion from that time. I will scan some pages and share them here, because they are too great to keep to myself!
Marion magazines. Sewing pattern magazines from the early seventies. Wow. I'm almost jumping up and down with joy! I want to make almost everything out of these mags! They are so so wonderful. My mom saw these yesterday and couldn't put them down anymore. She remembers buying them when me and my brother were still kids and making us clothes from it!
Back then the magazines didn't use real models yet, so the clothes are shown by drawings. Such an enormous source of inspiration! Lovely.

And of course I got spoiled too! My man, who is in NYC right now, had friends of him over here arrange that I received a large bouquet of roses and a bottle of yummy wine! How sweet!
My brother brought a bottle of champagne, yeah! And I got a nice Thai dinner, a Paulo Coelho book, Armani perfume and more.

This is my last week

As a twenty-some young lady. Next weekend i will be hitting the big 3-0! I'm not afraid. I'm feeling pretty good right now. If i look back at the 30 years passed, i can't say it was uneventfull. I travelled a lot, met lots of interesting people, laughed, cried, had much adventures, grew, lived, loved, and learned. I have no regrets. Ofcourse there are things i would do differently nowadays, but hey, you do the best with what you know, right?

To celebrate ME i'm making sure i'm receiving fun mail presents this week.
Yes. I'm hooked to online auctions. Ohoh. And i promised myself not to.
I started selling my old stuff on a Dutch auction site. You know, thinking of moving overseas i can use every euro and the less things to move, the better! So no browsing the offered items on the site. I didn't. For almost 3 weeks.
I made the mistake of clicking on one add, got curious, typed in a search and before i knew it i was bidding already! Ohoh.
Now i've put myself on a 'buy-gifts-for-my-own-brithday'- budget. And already went over. It's just that my heart skipps a beat if i come across an add for something i've never seen before but have been waiting for all my life. How can i not make bids? But not to worry about my future credit reports. This is this week only!

So i'm turning 30 and buying kids postcards and childrens illustration books. Yup. I'm growing up. I could say they're all retro, vintage from the sixties/seventies. But that doesn't change the fact they're still kids things. Well, i get lots of inspiration from all of it.

I'm also looking online for a present for my visa co-sponsor. I love her so much for wanting to help us out and i know there won't be a way to just say thank you. She's a collector too so i'm searching for rare items for her collection.

Vintage Fabric finds

I love the Monday morning fabric market at the Westerstraat and Noordermarkt in Amsterdam! You got to get up early but when you do, you can find some great vintage treasures.
I found some retro blankets and/or tablecloths. I have to keep myself from cutting them up and turning them into bags or something, but I decided that I want to keep them as they are.

The one with the green hexagons is 1.30 x 1.18 mtr, the red one 1.15 x 0.98 mtr, the brown flowered one is 1.45 x 1.23 mtr, and the one on the bottom is 2 x 1.13 mtr. (my apologies I'm just too lazy right now to convert these into inches to service everybody..)

And ofcourse the one with the bright flowered border. This one is of vinyl and you won't believe it, I forgot to measure it. And like I said before, I'm lazy right now.. Sorry. hihi. (if somebody is really wants to know, just send me a message. I'll be non-lazy as of tomorrow again.)

Vintage fabrics which i've found on previous Monday morning market rummages, i've used to make some messenger bags that i showed here before.