Gorgeous Vintage Encyclopedia Pages + Other Loveliness

Two posts in one day! Woohoo!

As well as having some fab new paper packs for sale, I'm also selling some wonderful colour plates from a 1950s encyclopedia and a whole bunch of other lovely things.

 

The encylopedia pages are so delightful and are perfect for framing. I actually have some pages from the same book framed and ready to go up on the walls of my flat... when I finally get round to working out where to hang them, that is! I am so bad at those kinds of decisions.

Get in touch if you're interested in making a purchase or would like a quote for postage. I'm charging the exact postage costs! As I said in my previous post, I'm happy to ship internationally at the moment if you're prepared to wait for your parcel as there may be long delays due to COVID-19 disruption.

First up, those lovely encylopedia pages. All the pages are approx 17.2 x 24.8 cm. Some have sold already but at the time of posting this lot are still available...

"Chrysanthemums of many kinds", illustrated by E.C. Mansell.

Jaguars this time! "Stealthy prowlers of the Amazon forests", painted by Herman Rountree. N.B. this image is darker in real life. It has a lovely moody richness to it! £3 + postage.

I just adore these nature illustrations, and jellyfish are so cool, aren't they? "Jelly-fish: floating invertebrates of the ocean", illustrated by E.C. Mansell. £4 + postage. 

 
Next up: APPLES. This would look so nice framed in a kitchen! "Choice apples for dessert, cooking, or cider". £4 + postage.

I love this one so much: loads of beautiful birds eggs, beautifully illustrated. Just wonderful. "Eggs of thirty-six British birds", painted by Percy J. Billinghurst. N.B. there are some slight marks at the bottom of this page. £3 + postage.

Then here's the last of the bookplates for now... (I've got a few more but need to find the time to take photos of them!) "Delicate forms and colours of the rose", illustrated by E.C. Mansell. On the back: "Climbing, rambling, and cluster roses". £4 + postage.

As well as the book pages, I'm also selling some other nice bits and bobs.

To start us off there's a fab book full of flowers: Floral Designs and Motifs for Artists, Needleworkers and Craftspeople (1984). 136 copyright-free floral motifs in one book! These are all really lovely and could be used for so many different projects. Approx 21 x 28 cm, 80 pages, 260 grams. £5 + postage.

 

 

 

 
Next I've got a really lovely jigsaw puzzle for anyone (like me) who's a big fan of birds! I really enjoyed doing this puzzle, and I love a round puzzle - always an interesting challenge. Vintage birds jigsaw puzzle (1980s). 300 pieces, ONE PIECE MISSING, some damage / old sticky tape / writing on the box. The finished puzzle is approx 41cm in diameter. 320 grams. £2.50 + postage.

 

 

 
This book is so delightful! A great slab of a book to dip into when you fancy it, or to work through slowly soaking it all up bit by fascinating bit. Funny, sad, charming, moving, there's a great mix of stuff in here. Letters of Note: correspondence deserving of a wider audience. A compilation of 125 letters, telegrams, memos and other bits of interesting correspondence! Paperback edition (2016), in nice condition. 368 pages. Approx 1 kilo. 18 x 23 cm. £3 + postage.

 

 

I bought this puzzle because my boyfriend loves lifeboats... but it turns out he's not interested in doing jigsaw puzzles, so I had to do this myself! RNLI jigsaw puzzle, featuring an Arun Class lifeboat at Weymouth in Dorset. 500 pieces, ONE PIECE MISSING (see photos). Some damage ,/ old sticky tape / writing on the box. The finished puzzle is 51 x 35 cm. £2.50 plus postage. 360 grams.

 

 

 
Last but by no means least: a gorgeous big bits of vintage Sanderson fabric, salvaged from some handmade curtains. Some fading at the edges but otherwise in great condition. I think it's 100% cotton. There is loads of gorgeous quality floral fabric here, and Sanderson fabrics are very pricey when bought new!

I've got two sections of this to sell. A: 2 pieces measuring approx 190cm high and 114cm wide, stitched together to make one width (over 228cm) 1050 grams. £30 + postage. B: 2 pieces measuring approx 175cm high and 108 cm wide stitched together to make one width (over 216 cm). 950 grams. £26 + postage.

(Please note I've not washed this but am happy to do so before sending it, let me know xx)

 

 

You can see everything that's currently available over at my Instagram sale account or in my Facebook sale group, and send me a message via my contact form if you'd like to make a purchase. Remember I can post a shoebox sized parcel weighing up to two kilos for just £3.10 in the UK!

Recent(ish) Additions to My Instagram Sale

As I mentioned the other day, I've come up with a plan so I can post parcels without having to go to the Post Office: I've found a parcel postbox near me, I've ordered lots of stamps online, and a wonderful friend has offered to send me a roll of customs labels - hurrah!

This means I can start sending out orders from my Instagram sale page again. I'm in the middle of stocking up on packaging supplies so you may have to wait for me to ship some larger items, but if there's anything you've got your eye on please get in touch.

Here's a selection of the items still available from the sales I held in March...

A couple of gorgeous vintage atlases, perfect for framing and/or using in paper crafts.

 

A very pretty jigsaw puzzle (so soothing!).

A selection of craft books.

 

 

Some lovely First Day Covers featuring gorgeous stamps. These would look really nice framed or propped up on a bookshelf or picture ledge.

 

 

A brand new Leuchtturm notebook, still in its packaging.

Some floral fabric, including a vintage Laura Ashley print!

A charming brooch to pin to your jacket.

A colouring book full of birds.

And an absolutely fabulous vintage bedspread.

 
Click here to view everything I've got listed!

If it's not marked as "sold" or "sold pending payment", it's almost certainly still available. You can message me on Instagram or get in touch via my contact form and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Craft-Themed Jigsaw Puzzles for Sewing, Knitting, Quilting, and Crafting Fans!

I have totally fallen in love with jigsaw puzzles and was delighted to discover recently that you can buy crafting-themed jigsaws. They're so colourful and cosy, I adore them.

Obviously, when I set up my new Amazon Influencer page (a little "storefront" where I can curate lists of things I love and where if you end up buying something I earn a small amount of commission for the referral) a list of craft-themed puzzles was one of the first things I had to put together!

(In the US? Click here to view my page on Amazon.com)

There are puzzles decorated with art and craft supplies...

 

... sometimes with the addition of cats!

Puzzles featuring quilts and quilters...

 

 ... granny squares...

... and haberdashery shops.

There are also puzzles depicting dream creative workspaces, including a lots of cosy craft-filled sheds!

 

I want to move into that last picture immediately.  

Click here to view the whole list of puzzles on Amazon.co.uk, or click here to view a similar list I've put together on Amazon.com. (All the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links).

A Wave of Nostalgia: Puzzles & Games from My Childhood

This weekend I fell down a bit of a nostalgia rabbit hole. I was doing some decluttering and re-organising of my stuff, playing lots of old mixtapes while I worked and getting frequently distracted by reading old letters, etc.

Meanwhile, my mum was clearing a few more boxes out of the attic - retrieving more boxes of things from our childhood that were packed up many moons ago. Some of this treasure will be (finally) given to charity shops, but much of it is destined for my new neice and any siblings and cousins she aquires over the coming years :)

I remembered a lot of the things that emerged from these boxes, but there were a few that hit me with such a strong wave of memories that it was slightly overwhelming (in a good way!). I thought you guys might enjoy a peek at some of the games I loved in my 80s childhood - maybe you had some of these too?

Picture Pairs & Animal Friends Dominos: I must have been really young when we first started playing picture pairs but those pictures are imprinted on my brain. The watering can was always my favourite.

Snakes and Ladders - a classic!

 

Foxwood Tales and Brambly Hedge jigsaw puzzles: I loved these books (especially the Brambly Hedge series) and spent many happy hours looking at the pictures, and (when I was a bit older) trying to draw some of the charming little things in them.

Teddy Bears Picnic: I had 100% forgotten that this game was a thing that existed and I have no clue what the rules might have been, but when it came out of the box from the attic: POW! So familiar!

 

Something else I'd totally forgotten about: Victoria Plum's Adventures. I loved this book and all the cute pictures, especially as my BFF at the time was called Victoria:

Huff-Puff: My mum tried to get rid of this game when we were deciding what to keep and what to charity shop. "It looks really boring!" she said. "What's fun about building these fiddly little card houses?" But we were having none of it. Building little card houses before the wolf can blow them down = very fun indeed!

Another fave puzzle: I absolutely adored this picture and remember doing lots of paintings with mountains in them just like those.

There was also a box of older-kids games. We spent sooooo many hours playing Guess Who over the years, including many games auf Deutsch with visiting German friends. Once you've learnt the German for things like "does he have a moustache" and "do they have brown hair?" you can have hours of fun...

Finally, rediscovering this card game hit me so hard in the feels I can't even. Old Macdonald Counting Snap! So. Much. Cuteness.