Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Outgoing: Thrifting swap part 2

This was all inside the package of the thrifting swap I send! I labelled everything by era (or at least I tried to), thought that would be quite a cool thing to do. So here we go!
 
Thirties
A magazine from 1938 in good condition!


Forties
A vintage travelcase. It was missing some pieces and it was in need of a desperate clean, but it came out really shiny! I thrifted some embroidered handkerchiefs to fit inside the case.



Fifties
A fifties style small vase for just the one flower. Also in need of good clean, but also very shiny in the end! Also a book with songs for children from 1958.


 

Sixties
Some pins from the sixties. I really don't know what you were supposed to do with them, I remember us having some at home as well when I was young. You could collect them or something. But I really love the typo on it! The vintage lettering and feel to it.
A really small bottle of 4711. That's the smell of my late grandmother! It brings me back that smell! I sprinkled the travel case with this!



Seventies
A vintage fairytale cardgame in good condition! 
A sort of a measuring device thing in a leather case, but I thought it would be really good for pencils (also thrifted!). 
Some vintage car items! I totally love these in original packaging as well. I've unpacked the keychain to show in the picture but it's from the same car collection.




Eighties
A small Dutch tin. (I love tins and since it was Dutch I had to send it!)
Small porcelain animals, since Maliea loved everything miniature. My daughter picked these.
A book of flowers and plants at the waterside with lovely illustrations.
A bunch of vintage postcards!





Nineties
Some plastic dolls heads. They might be eighties though, I'm not sure really.
A book with beautiful illustrations of birds! A heavy book which took up half the weight of my parcel!






Monday, 14 April 2014

Outgoing: thrifting swap part 1

As I was sharing some of my thrifting treasures on Instagram (I love Instagram!) Maliea commented on some stuff and that's how we came to do a thrifting swap! I was really into it! What a good excuse to start some thrifting! I always love a good thrifting hunt, especially when you find some real cool treasures for almost nothing! Some stuff was in need of some cleaning though, but after cleaning and polishing, some stuff was so beautiful it needed some wrapping! I wrapped everything in Kraftpaper and used my Flow Magazine floral labels I received over here. I stuffed my package to the max after I realised that shipping was quite expensive. It would be such a waste to pay for empty space inside my package! So I made good use of the package.
After everything was securely wrapped my son and I went of to the post-office with the parcel tied to his bike. He was really feeling like a little postman! But after we arrived at the post-office, it was closed. What a bummer! So we cycled back and had to take the car to the next village to post it of to the USA. After this little postal adventure the package was off to the States!








Saturday, 12 April 2014

Incoming: a give away from Denise

okay, I just never win like anything, but that's probably also due to me never entering something. But on Instagram I thought I try this some time. Denise had made a lovely but simple give away with some handmade paper hangers which would so match my wallpaper in my almost finished studio! And I won!!!!! How cool is that! In the bottom picture there's a sneak preview of my studio's wallpaper, I love it! Thanks Denise! Check out her blog for really cool handmade paperstuff, I love her simple yet very colourful ideas with paper, her work is also at the cover of the first "Maak Magazine" issue.





Friday, 11 April 2014

Incoming: Cadet Nurse

This lovely wrapped mail arrived from Mirjam! A Cadet Nurse card which I really like! No love! vintage nursing items rule! (Well for me anyway, since I am a nurse.)
Some sticky notes and a really cool handmade magnet bij MIM! It says: "give yourself some time to take it easy", good quote to remember! Working mums and taking it easy, that's like a thing that will never bound to happen some time soon, but always good to remember myself!
I'm loving long letters lately and this is a long lovely letter on handmade stationary! Love it how other people write about daily stuff and ponderings. No high brow literature, just happy rambling! There was also this vintage wool cart inside, I might start a little collection on these vintage cards (in vintage times for mending socks)! I seem to be collecting these by accident! This one from Mirjam, but I have also received one from Marloes! I have found some more while thrifting, I think they would look really good in a frame. I'm gonna put that on my to do list for my studio!

A note to all my penpals: I'm a slow responder lately since I'm almost finishing my studio! Working hard at it! Please be patient if you are waiting for my letter, can't do everything at the same time but getting there (slowly)!!!





Monday, 7 April 2014

Inspiration: my journals

I did a blogpost over at Michelle's blog seaweedkisses! This was my first guest blog like ever and I decided to share my journals for the first time (besides my own family)! Hope you like it and get inspired! For more inspiration on daily planners and journals check out Michelle's blog or instagram.

Michelle asked me to do a guest blog and I was wondering what to post. I make lots of creative mail, just because I'm a huge paper and mail lover, but then I thought I'd share my journals., since Michelle is a keen journaller. I don't call them art journals, or scrapbooks or whatever, just journals. I don't use them as a diary though, I don't write how my day has been. But I draw, stick pictures, coupons, tickets or postcards in them, just stuff I'm collecting from daily life. I think in images, so it's the images that stick by me. And that's how I got to journalling. Just to remember special moments. From birthdays for instance, I always keep a piece of wrapping paper which I glue in, or folders from museums which I cut out. And I just journal in them as tickles my fancy. And they turn out to be a good memory. My kids love looking back at the holiday ones. And funny enough, we remember everything about our holidays, the feel of the weather, the colours, just by looking back at the journals even though there aren't any photographs inside them. It's my Project Life before that was even invented. Project Life the journalling way.

While on holiday, I will always start a fresh journal. I take a tin with me full of scissors, pencils, glue, stickers, watercolours, sticky tape, etc. As long as it fits inside a tin. And when I'm on my destination, I start scavenging for paper, ephemera and whatever I want to use in my journal! I always buy new pens or pencils when I'm on holiday, so no need to take to much with me. I decorate my journal from local shops. Like the blue one, from Italian wrapping paper which I bought while on holiday over there.
So I'm sharing some of my favourite pages with you, hopefully you will be inspired to start your own journal!




















Friday, 4 April 2014

Incoming: colourful mail from Mischa

This really colourful small packet landed into my mailbox! full of bright colours and happiness. I think it's made of a lid of a shoebox, quite an original idea! Perfect mailsize aswell. Mischa had put some colourful stuff inside! A mailtag (I'm quite into those at the moment), a handmade colourful keychain, a card from Disneyland Paris where she had been with her kids (how awesome is that), a handcarved stamp,, ribbon and some paper goodies. I think this box really represents Mischa's taste! I follow her board on Pinterest in which she pins about boho-gypsy-hippie homes and this is so her I believe! I really love that when someone makes something that is true to their tastes and being.