Victorian Vignettes

Swedish Folk Tale Illustration

2012-02-14T18:15:00.005+02:00

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Another illustration from the Swedish folk tale named "Jättestugan med korftaket" (The Gigantic Cottage with the Sausage Roof). Ooh, scary; the dinner ended up being not two small and innocent children but the evil witch!

(I will publish all of the illustrations from this folk tale; to find all illustrations by Karl Aspelin click here!)

French Wrap for Men's Shirts

2012-02-13T19:51:00.001+02:00

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Practical wrap (envelope) for men's shirts, from La Nouvelle Mode, Sept. 13 1896.

And yes, I'm back! :) Thank you to everyone who has written comments and even sent e-mails during my absence. It is much appreciated!

I've spent a few hours today preparing posts and I'm good to go for at least a week of daily posts. Yay! :) I'm also planning on a giveaway sometime soon, with some digital goodies for the winner(s?).

So, what have I been up to while so ruthlessly neglecting the blog? Well, I've been digging deeper into some of the branches of my genealogical tree - very absorbing and time consuming and FUN! :) I can't imagine life without being interested in the lives of the people whose very existence led to my own being. I've also been somwhat swallowed by the last mid-century, that is the 1940's and 1950's. I've tried to remember how to knit, as I've found some really gorgeous vintage knitting patterns (i.e. 40's and 50's) that I'd like to make. I'm also learning Spanish (for the second time in my life, I might add. I did learn the basics in school when I was a teenager). What more? Oh yes, I've been going through my drawers, lockers, cabinets, shelves, boxes, you-name-it, sorting out things that I will try to get rid of. Some are bound for the destash blog, some will be put up on eBay or similar, and the rest will be part of my own garage sale as soon as the spring brings warmer weather. And apart for these specific things, work and everyday-life contributed to the fact the 24 hours a day available, simply wasn't enough for everything.

Now, enough babbling; I'll go grab myself a(nother) cup of coffee and then prepare a few more blog posts before I take a last look at the Spanish homework I've got until tomorrow. :)

Yes, I am still alive!

2011-12-10T11:37:00.002+02:00

Even though some of you might have started to have doubts! And not to wonder, as my September attempt to get back to being an active blogger failed quite miserably. Once again, the thing called Life just 'took over'. I won't be giving any elaborate explanations to my absence, because there aren't any. Just the simple fact that my everyday life interfered enough to make my focus on the blog (and the destash project), as well as graphics overall, fade away.

Now, I've still got a few weeks ahead of me when I most likely won't be blogging, but as I feel the inspiration is returning, I have great hopes of being 'back in business' in early January.

Lots of love to all my dear readers and followers!

Swedish Folk Tale Illustration

2011-09-24T17:58:00.001+03:00

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This is another illustration from the Swedish folk tale named "Jättestugan med korftaket" (The Gigantic Cottage with the Sausage Roof). I guess someone is preparing for dinner...

(I will publish all of the illustrations from this folk tale; to find all illustrations by Karl Aspelin click here!)

Snowdrop Bouquet Scrap Card

2011-09-23T17:46:00.005+03:00

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Scrap card from a late 1800's album. I've removed the original printed text - and I'm aware it's not exactly the best retouching job I've done, but I got so sick of trying to get the background color even - and then realizing I'd still have to retouch all around the flowers to get it real good looking; I just stopped. If you put your own text there I'm sure it'll cover the uneven spots up at least a bit.

I've had some tough weeks, with an ongoing "touch of a flu" - it's never really breaking out but its draining me of energy. I was so excited about my destashing blog finally taking shape and now I haven't really had the strength to pull it through to the end. I still have so much more to add and I'll do my best to make it happen asap.

Swedish Folk Tale Illustration

2011-09-09T20:37:00.001+03:00

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This is another illustration from the Swedish folk tale named "Jättestugan med korftaket" (The Gigantic Cottage with the Sausage Roof). Oopsie daisy, the boy is falling straight through the roof and into the cottage where the giant and his wife the witch are residing!

(I will publish all of the illustrations from this folk tale; to find all illustrations by Karl Aspelin click here!)

Beautiful Winter Hats of 1889

2011-09-05T17:20:00.002+03:00

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Here we have some hats suitable for the winter season, published in the January 20th issue of Le Petit Echo de la Mode 1889. I spent literally hours cleaning this specific image up, so make good use of it, please! ;)

I will be adding items to the destash blog during the week; if you're interested in owning Victorian ephemera such as photographs, scrap cards and other goodies (I will be adding some of my darling French fashion magazines as well), then please stop by there and take a look.

Destash Part 1

2011-09-04T19:56:00.001+03:00

Finally I've managed to take the first step towards the destash that I've been planning on for so long! Yay!!! :) Please go visit the Victorian Vignettes Destash blog if you're interested in seeing the first bunch of CDV's up for sale (ladies only this far).

Swedish Postcard back

2011-09-01T21:45:00.001+03:00

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Postcard in Swedish, written by someone with a shaky hand. Sent in August 1929.

I've been tired all week, I think I might be having a flu sneaking up on me - nothing to wonder about as that happens every year when coming back to work after the summer vacation. Well, I'll put myself to bed now and try to get some good sleep before going to work tomorrow - and then it's weekend and I may take it easy and get well. :)

Swedish Folk Tale Illustration

2011-08-28T18:43:00.000+03:00

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This is another illustration from the Swedish folk tale named "Jättestugan med korftaket" (The Gigantic Cottage with the Sausage Roof). The boy is picking sausages from the roof, dropping them into his sister's apron.

(I will publish all of the illustrations from this folk tale; to find all illustrations by Karl Aspelin click here!)

Swedish lady postcard

2011-08-26T18:32:00.001+03:00

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This postcard features a lady supposedly dressed in traditional clothing from the Swedish province Blekinge. I know next to nothing about that part of Sweden, as I'm from the middle parts of the country and have never been much interested in geography unless it's got a direct connection to my genealogy research. Therefore I won't guarantee its accuracy, however a quick google search shows it might indeed be an example of Blekingedräkten.

Chicken embroidery pattern from 1896

2011-08-24T18:28:00.003+03:00

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Small cross stitch embroidery pattern from La Nouvelle Mode June 7th 1896. This could perhaps be used in some digital or printed kitchen projects, or why not embroider it onto kitchen towels?

Lady in Pink Dress (Postcard)

2011-08-20T09:14:00.002+03:00

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Just another postcard, this one with a lady dressed in pink and with a couple of roses attached on the chest. :)

Postcard back (England, 1914)

2011-08-17T19:00:00.001+03:00

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Postcard sent from England; stamped 9 pm February 11th 1914. It's in Swedish and the recipient is a mrs Swea Östling, Westerbyhyttan, Söderbärke, Sweden. The message is a simple greeting to Swea and her family, and the sender is her male cousin Gottfrid Olsson. He's an engineer on the ship S/S Gustafsberg. A Google search (can't help it, I get so curious when there's enough information to have something to start searching with...) shows there were several ships going by that name and I simply cannot tell which one it is.

The place where Swea Östling lived is nowadays spelled Västerbyhyttan, and there are at least a few Östling's living there now - probably relatives to Swea.

And just imagine: only a few months after he wrote this postcard to his cousin - and she read it in her home in a village situated in an area with lots of blast furnaces (or smelteries, I'm not sure which term is more correct) - WW1 was a fact.

French Perfume Ad

2011-08-16T18:38:00.003+03:00

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Eau de cologne ad from Le Petit Echo de la Mode April 14th 1889. I'm not sure if it's the developer or the seller of the perfume that's got the Paris address - or perhaps they are the same. Neither am I sure if the perfume's name is H. de Saint-Genois or if it's Marque d'Or. Someone with a better knowledge about Victorian French perfume, please feel free to enlighten us! :D

Swedish Folk Tale Illustration

2011-08-14T21:43:00.002+03:00

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This is the following illustration from the Swedish folk tale named "Jättestugan med korftaket" (The Gigantic Cottage with the Sausage Roof). Here the boy boy and girl are looking at the cottage from a distance.

(I will publish all of the illustrations from this folk tale; to find all illustrations by Karl Aspelin click here!)

Beautiful Lady Postcard and Poll Results

2011-08-13T20:10:00.001+03:00

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This postcard was sent from Antwerpen, Belgium, to a lady named Martha who lived in Stocksund, Sweden (small place close to Stockholm) in July 1912.

Thank you all who participated in the poll about what kinds of images you'd like to see most of! The result came out as this:

Ads and trade cards	23 (50%)
CDV's and other portraits	12 (26%)
Fashion illustrations	16 (34%)
Illustrations from books	23 (50%)
Postcards	30 (65%)
Scrap cards	16 (34%)

Many of you seem to like postcards a lot, so I'll try to pull myself together and fix up the many scanned postcards that are yet saved straight from the scanning and need to be color corrected etc.

And of course you'll get all kinds of images to have fun and be creative with! :)

Tomorrow is my last vacation day; Monday morning I'm off to work again. Not that I would have minded a bit longer vacation, but I think I sort of need to get back into routine - my tummy fat tells me very clearly that the lazy days with good food and drinks and practically no exercise really have to come to an end now! ;)

Summer Input :)

2011-07-27T21:19:00.002+03:00

After having spent a few weeks almost computer free, I'm jumping in here before I head off and away again. :)

It seems like my "exciting plans", as I put it in my last post, for Autumn, most likely will not happen after all, thanks to my stupid tendency for depressions slash panic attacks (more of the latter nowadays; quite horrible but fortunately rather short lived once I get rid of what was causing them). In one weak moment I even seriously considered to stop blogging and sharing my images. That, however, passed over and I hope I will never have to go that far.

Please take a moment and participate in the poll on top of the right column. As I, during the remaining part of my vacation, will be preparing for posts to be published when I get back to my everyday routines as well as this blog, I would really like a hint on what you'd like to see most. If you've got other suggestions than I've included in the poll, feel free to write your wish as a comment to this post.

Now, take care all, and see you again in a couple of weeks!

Summer Plans

2011-07-01T19:06:00.002+03:00

I'm now officially going on summer vacation; I've still got 2 weeks of work before I get my real 4-week vacation, but I've decided to release any remaining posting pressure off my shoulders by making this statement here.

I have had some great two-three weeks, with the only cloud hovering above my head being the slight guilt about not sharing any images. But I have thoroughly enjoyed everything from gardening to painting to making some crafty project (off the computer, who would've guess I'd finally get started non-digitally!?!) to reading and... well, pure relaxation - much needed, I assure you.

Apart from the fact that I will most likely move to Wordpress later this summer, I've also got some other exciting plans - however they are still secret plans, which I hope to be able to launch during or directly after my "real" vacation. I will let you know all about it when the time comes. ;)

Now, I want to wish each and every one of you a
GREAT SUMMER

and I'll see you again in August! :D

Edwardian Frame (PNG)

2011-06-17T21:47:00.003+03:00

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Frame originally surrounding an ad in a 1910 issue of Swedish magazine Svensk Damtidning. I like the way the left bottom is sort of striving down, so I chose not to correct it digitally. I think it makes the frame charmingly irregular in a discreet way. :)

I apologize for being so absent from here, although I'm afraid there will be very little improvement during the summer. My days are so full of other things, indoors as well as outdoors; that leaves me with very little time to spend with graphics on the computer. I'm also trying to simplify my life, as I'm constantly just adding things that I need and/or want to do, even though I know beforehand that I can't handle it all. I can't believe I keep doing this over and over again!

Anyway, this fault in my personality give me no choice but to once in a while just stomp my foot into the ground and say Stop! to myself and then - after simplifying - I'm perfectly fine for a while. Until I've gotten myself into the same mess as before, that is... ;)

Conclusion: I'll try to make this a summer with as few must-dos as possible. I will really try to actually relax and - most importantly, I believe - spend as much time offline as possible. I'm sorry that it will affect my posting here, but I'd rather take it slow for a while than loose the inspiration altogether and stop blogging. So once again :( I have to ask you to bear with me. I will check on my e-mail regularly, so feel free to contact me at any time. :)

Three French Fichus from 1879

2011-06-06T20:22:00.002+03:00

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Lovely illustration of three styles for a fichu (scarf) from La Mode Illustrée October 12 1879.

I'm sorry I have been so absent lately. With the nice weather we've had here lately things have exploded in the garden and apart from lack of time, I have had very little inspiration for sitting at the computer. I almost wish for a few rainy days so I'd be able to catch up a bit! ;)

It has really been relaxing doing a lot of work in the garden - just now I'm starting to realize how large it actually is and what kind of amount of time is required to keep it somewhat in order... I'm not complaining, though. Even though my back might hurt from all the clearing of the flowerbed, watering and grooming, as well as my skin might itch from lots of mosquito bites, it really is very relaxing to tend to the flowers, bushes and trees. Not to mention I'll probably have the sun tan of my life when the summer's over! ;)

Conclusion: I won't make any promises of regularity here on the blog for the next two months or so. It will depend much upon the weather, I guess. Feel free to contact me through e-mail if you'd need any image in particular, or for whatever reason, at any time, even if I haven't been posting here much. I'll get back to you asap.

Plant illustration: Aspidium aculeatum

2011-05-28T18:30:00.000+03:00

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This is one of several plants illustrations found in La Nouvelle Mode published June 7th 1896. To me this looks like a fern of some kind, but I'm not sure which one and googling it made me even more confused than before. If someone knows, do let us know by commenting! :)

Old illustration: Rabbits (PNG)

2011-05-27T22:46:00.001+03:00

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This is another small illustration from a Swedish school book published 1885. It was originally owned by my maternal grandmother's father and used by him when he went to school as a young boy. The illustrations from this book aren't of the most super quality, and often not very large, but I like them very much - probably partly because of the fact that I am very aware that my own great grandfather read it and even put his own mark on it by adding some lines and/or text here and there. :)

Needlework (1872)

2011-05-24T20:58:00.003+03:00

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This is one of a few similar designs of needlework published in La Mode Illustrée for September 15, 1872.

"The Knitting" Machine (1896)

2011-05-23T19:04:00.003+03:00

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Ad from La Nouvelle Mode June 7th, 1896.

Another sort of off topic thing; I've been considering moving the blog to Wordpress. I find blogger a bit limited in the organization department, and as I in my everyday life am depending on a couple of different gmail addresses it's started to bugging me to have to log in and log out and log in again all the time while trying to combine e-mail writing and blog posting/maintenance. I'd like a blog that's sort of standing on its own.

However, I'd like to know if any of you have experience of Wordpress and what you thought about it. Also, as I just got 500 followers here, how do I get them with me if I decide to move? Or can't I? Anyone with an input, suggestion, advice, whatever, please do comment sharing your thoughts. :)

And the Winner Is...

2011-05-22T14:49:00.004+03:00

CindyB

Congratulations to you!!! I'll e-mail you right away with further instructions! :)

Thank you to all who participated in this giveaway! There will be more of them in the future, so stay tuned. :)

I'm sorry I haven't posted any free images since the giveaway post, but as some of you probably have noticed, Finland happened to win Ice hockey World Championships and I have sort of nurtured my newfound interest for the sport. My husband has been interested in hockey approximately from the minute he was born ;) but I've never really cared much. Sure, together with good friends I've enjoyed watching "important" games before, but sometime during this WC I discovered I'm actually interested in the game itself. :) Anyway, this past week I've spent some time watching video clips on YouTube etc.

Plus, there's really a lot going on in our garden right now, so I've been busy there as well.

Well, enough babbling. I'll have some images prepared to be posted during next week.

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

500 Followers Giveaway!

2011-05-15T17:05:00.003+03:00

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500 followers (yay!) and time for the promised giveaway!

One lucky winner will get to choose one of the two Photoshop brushes plus one of the two 8x10" jpg printables pictured above. Except from differences in the drawing style of the illustrations between the 1872 and the 1896 brush, the 1872 one has many beautiful illustrations/patterns for embroidery, crochet etc. and the 1896 one has many ladies' fashion drawings. If you don't have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you may choose to receive the brush in transparent PNG images instead.

How to participate:

To get 1 entry: Write a comment to this post and make sure I will be able to contact you (if your e-mail address is not visible in your blogger profile or you don't have a blogger account, please include your e-mail address in your comment.

To get 2 entries: Post about this giveaway on your own blog or website and be sure to mention it and give a link in your comment here so I can go and take a look.

You do not need to be a follower to be allowed to participate, everyone is welcome.

You've got until Friday May 20th to comment, and I'll be announcing the winner sometimes during the following weekend.

Free Scrapbooking Papers: Vintage Sealife #2

2011-05-13T19:41:00.004+03:00

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Click here to download the zip-file. (7 Mb)

This is another set of three papers with a sea/ocean theme, this time in blue shades. On my maternal grandmother's side I've got lots of seamen and coast pilots, and these papers were designed for their sake. :)

All of the scrapbooking freebies published here are for personal use only (unless specifically stated, of course). Please give credit when credit is due, if you use them.

If you find these freebies useful and create some layouts with them, please take a minute and share them in the Scrapbooking Gallery. I would love to see the results, as would others, I'm sure!

French Magazine Cover from 1896 (No 2)

2011-05-10T19:04:00.002+03:00

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Color image from the cover of La Nouvelle Mode, September 13th 1896.

Room Interior of 1896

2011-05-09T21:28:00.004+03:00

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This interior design suggestion is one of two published in La Nouvelle Mode, September 13th 1896. I love looking at this kind of interiors and try to imagine the colors and patterns!

French Lady from 1896

2011-05-08T19:34:00.004+03:00

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This is a lady wearing an elegant walking dress. I like the bow-sort-of-looking embroideries (or applications perhaps) at the bottom hem of the skirt. She's from the June 7th 1896 issue of La Nouvelle Mode.

I'm close to 500 followers now, have you noticed? Don't forget that I've promised a giveaway when I hit the magic number! ;) I'm already preparing for it, and I hope you are going to like it! :)

PNG frame extracted from CDV back

2011-05-05T20:29:00.002+03:00

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This frame is extracted from the back of a Swedish CDV, probably very late 1880's or early 1890's. It's a fully transparent PNG image; could also be used as a digital stamp.

Free Scrapbooking Papers: Vintage Sealife #1

2011-05-04T14:22:00.005+03:00

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Click here to download the zip-file. (7,5 Mb)

Well, here's the first of my scrapbooking freebies! :) I've made lots and lots of especially papers while scrapping my family history and the results of my ongoing, never-ending genealogy research, and I thought I'd share some of them with you, since I know many of you are not only crafting but also scrapping.

This is a set of three papers with a sea/ocean theme. On my maternal grandmother's side I've got lots of seamen and coast pilots, and these papers were designed for their sake. :)

All of the scrapbooking freebies published here are for personal use only (unless specifically stated, of course). Please give credit when credit is due, if you use them.

If you find these freebies useful and create some layouts with them, please take a minute and share them in the Scrapbooking Gallery. I would love to see the results, as would others, I'm sure!

French Magazine Cover from 1896

2011-05-02T17:34:00.002+03:00

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Color image from the cover of La Nouvelle Mode, August 16th 1896.

I'm quite intrigued by the mountains in the background - I wonder where they are supposed to be located?

Blog Re-vamped and Collage Sheet Freebie

2011-05-01T23:02:00.000+03:00

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It took a little longer than I had hoped, but finally I've got the new theme, background, title and color scheme. Phew. Plus I've gone through old posts removing dead links and such - very time consuming!

I hope you like the collage sheet and enjoy creating with it!

Scheduled "down time"

2011-04-28T22:39:00.002+03:00

Just a short note to let you know that the blog will be inaccessible for a few hours or so, sometimes during the weekend and most likely on Sunday.

This is due to me doing a re-vamp of the blog, and I want to be able to play around with the background, title and all the adjustable part of the blog without having to worry about how it looks for visitors while I'm in the experimental stages... :)

During my re-vamping I'll have the settings changed so that only I can view the blog. I'll of course make it public again as soon as I'm done. :)

French Ad from 1896

2011-04-26T21:51:00.002+03:00

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Ad from the August 16th 1896 issue of La Nouvelle Mode.

French Boy's Clothing 1915

2011-04-23T21:49:00.001+03:00

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This is a little "late" for me, as my eras of interests stop pretty much at 1912 or so, before the ladies' dresses started to go too much towards the 1920's (I'm not at all fond of the 20's), but when it comes to boys, the clothing doesn't really change that much, and they certainly didn't wear dresses at the age of 8-14. I hope. ;)

This image is from the November 28 issue of La Mode Illustrée. I'll post some of the ladies from there later on as well.

Thank You!!!

2011-04-22T09:41:00.003+03:00

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With this image (yes, it's free to use, but personal use only please) I want to thank you for your supportive comments

Pink Paris ATC back

2011-04-15T21:23:00.004+03:00

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Yet another ATC back... ;) I had this ready for upload and frankly, I'm too tired to look for another image to share today even though the last ones has been ATC backs as well.

This has been a long, long week and I've got plenty of things going on both in my mind, at home (with the spring finally reaching us and lots of great finds in our garden) and at work. I've slept rather badly for the whole week, and I hope to be able to make up for it during the weekend.

I'm also struggling with negative feelings. Those of you who have been around here for a while might recall me mentioning before that I unfortunately from time to time get close to a depression without ever - this far - having crossed the line and had to take strong medicine. I've managed with alternative, natural medicine, and these periods fortunately usually don't last very long. Well, now it's time again, it seems.

I will still be here, online, checking my e-mails and taking care of anything related to VV, but I beg of you to understand that it might take some time to answer e-mails. You will get answer, eventually, so don't worry. Just let me get back on my feet again. :)

Spring ATC Back with Mother and Child

2011-04-12T19:36:00.003+03:00

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Spring feeling with the flower background and the mother with her little girl sitting on the ground. :) Although the morning was quite cloudy and it even rained a little bit, it cleared up and has been sunny all afternoon. Not much snow left on the grass now considering how thick the white blanket has been all winter long. I so long to see what is growing in the garden, with this being our first summer in the house!

ATC back for you today :)

2011-04-06T18:21:00.005+03:00

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Played around with some of the Photoshop brushes I've created from scanned magazines and books; there'll be a few more of these ATC backs coming up soon. :)

Large Eye Closeup

2011-03-30T20:26:00.005+03:00

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This is an image from a 1910's ad. Actually, it's half of the image, since the original has two eyes. :) Problem was, when I scanned it, half of the other eye got very blurry because it is in a bound magazines and the ad is at the very inside margin. I simply wasn't able to get the paper flat on the scanner. But one eye is better than none, I'd say. :)

100 Facebook "Likers" Giveaway

2011-03-22T22:08:00.003+02:00

As promised earlier, I've picked one random "liker" out of the now 100 on Facebook, who will receive a free collage sheet of their choice. Yay! :)

As soon as I've reached 200 likers, one of them will get two sheets, so if you aren't a like yet, just head over to the Victorian Vignettes FB-page and become one (link on top in left column)! ;)

Winternight by Adolf Schweitzer

2011-03-19T16:55:00.004+02:00

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Isn't it charming, this winter scene? I believe the original was a painting (have been too lazy too google around finding our for sure) and then turned into an illustration for Swedish magazine Illustreradt Familjeblad, published in the second issue 1896.

Collage Sheet Freebie No 3 (re-post)

2011-03-12T20:57:00.002+02:00

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Due to reorganization here on the blog, I've removed the original posts where the free collage sheets freebies were posted, and re-posted them.

I apologize for this causing your comments to disappear! :(

Lily-of-the-Valley Scrap Card

2011-03-09T21:12:00.003+02:00

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Lily-of-the-valley is one of my favorite flowers, and has been for as long as I can remember. When spring progresses here I'll comb our yard (since it was autumn when we moved here I've got no idea what's gonna show up!) for them and if there aren't any I'll definitely make sure to plant some. And the same goes for Forget-me-nots, by the way. They'd look fabulous in the part of the garden that ends in a forest. :)

Back of Swedish CDV

2011-03-07T21:18:00.003+02:00

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This is one of my favourite cdv backs, I think it's fabulous! It's Swedish, the photographer was James Bourn, who had a studio in Gothenburg.

Mama... Take Me Away From Here!

2011-03-06T16:40:00.003+02:00

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At least that's what I imagine this little fellow might be thinking. This photo is originally mounted on a regular cdv cardboard bottom, but it's so damaged I chose to cut it out before posting it here. It's taken by Hallbergs Atelier in Halmstad, Sweden. It's part of a lot of photos I bought a few years ago; most are Swedish but a few American ones as well, such as this one.

Sweet girl with her friend the dog

2011-03-03T20:42:00.003+02:00

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Adorable young girl walking her dog. Look how one of the two men with the cart in the background seems to be turning his head looking at them over his shoulder. I have no idea exactly where this photo is taken, but most likely somewhere in Sweden.

Three Swedish Ads Tags

2011-02-26T09:27:00.006+02:00

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More items from my computer folders of unfinished projects. These tags are made using ads from a 1910's Swedish magazine.

We've got our water back! :) It turned out the pipe indeed was frozen; the water company struggled for over 5 hours to get it fixed, and boy, was it a great feeling coming home from work finding the water in the toilet/shower room was running, even though it came slowly in the beginning and it was all black because of dirt that had slipped into the main pipe when they opened it and used steam to get the ice in it melted. :) Today I'll do a lot of laundry that has stacked up!

Carpe Diem

2011-02-20T08:55:00.000+02:00

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Look, I found another image in the same style as the Kitchen + Toilet + WC-images I posted this Tuesday. :)

Now I just have to tell you about our current situation here at home. When I woke up Saturday morning, we didn't have any running water. It's been so cold (almost constantly between -20 and -25 Celsius, = -4 and -13 Fahrenheit) that I thought all the pipes are frozen. The pipe to our kitchen has frozen before, but that we know how to handle and get fixed our selves. The pipes to our two bathrooms, however, has never before frozen and it was indeed a bit peculiar that they should have all frozen.

Well, as soon as my husband woke up (he usually sleeps longer than me, I can't stay in bed when there's so much fun things that one can do instead!) he headed for the boiler-room and confirmed that we actually didn't get any water at all into the house and then went over to the neighbors but they didn't have any problems. Our other neighbors are not living there right now, as they are having a renovation due to an extended damage by damp.

Next step was to call the water company and they promised to come and take a look as soon as they managed, but they told us there had been a lot of problems arising during that night, so it might take time. Well, since our kind neighbors did lend us two full water carriers so we could drink, make ourselves some coffee and cook it was no panic. And, for that matter, since we are lucky enough to have a small indoor pool, we could flush the toilet with pool water in buckets. So it was really nothing to stress about.

Several hours later a man showed up, took a look at the pipes in the boiler room and stated it had frozen. We had some difficulties believing that, since that room is always the warmest in the entire building (hello, there's a boiler in there...) but he insisted that the incoming pipe was so close to the outer wall that the cold air had sort of pressed itself in through the wall and caused the pipe to freeze. A few hours with a hot air blower he believed would take care of the problem. Said and done, as the only thing we had was my old (and I mean old) hair dryer, we had it blowing there for 2,5 hours. No result whatsoever, except that the pipe turned burning hot and couldn't even be touched without gloves. No water.

So, we're still without water. Today, we'll probably borrow such a fan that's used in cars to warm them up and give that a try, and if that's not working, we'll have to call the company again.

We do find it a bit weird that the pipe would have froze so completely during the about 7,5 hours we didn't use them during the night. It has been cold here for long now, and my husband washed through (correct expression?) the pipes with plenty of water before he went to bed.

We have both a feeling that perhaps it isn't frozen at all, but something happened when the workers who are renovating our other neighbor's house was working there Saturday morning. We share the same pipes, we have understood.

Well, we'll simply have to wait and see what happens. Fortunately we have relatives living nearby whom we can visit to take showers, so there's really no panic for now. Just a bit inconvenient.

Giveaway Winner Is...

2011-02-18T17:51:00.004+02:00

After consulting the ever-so-good random.org website I've come up with a winner! :) 15 entries in the linky list + 2 (= Nos 16 & 17 in the drawing) in the post's comments section was included in the drawing.

Congratulations Rosa of The Victorian Times!!!

Giveaway Drawing Postponed...

2011-02-16T20:45:00.002+02:00

Due to a severe headache (I suffer from migraine; I very rarely get any attacks nowadays, but sometimes they do hit me) I will not be able to take care of the drawing today, I'm so sorry! I'll try to do it tomorrow evening, but don't dare to promise anything because I won't get home until late. If I don't manage it, it'll have to wait until Friday afternoon. I will keep the Linky list open until then, of course.

Now I'll put myself to bed and stay in darkness and silence, that'll hopefully make me wake up without any pain tomorrow morning.

I'll get back here as soon as possible and I hope for your understanding! Thank you.

Kitchen + Toilet + WC and New Logo and Giveaway Reminder!

2011-02-15T19:14:00.008+02:00

(Click image for larger size)

More finds from one of my computer folders. :) Part of a project that didn't turn out to anything. Feel free to use them commercially, but just don't put them as they are on a collage sheet or cd rom etc.

Those of you who has been with me from the beginning in 2009 may recall that I've changed my "logo" (OK, really it's just the header image, the text and font has stayed the same, as well as the beautiful lady profile) a few times. Well, now it's time again. No matter how pleased I am when I've finished a new one, after some time have passed I start to... well, not like it much anymore. Let's see how long this will stay. :)

And, last but certainly not least, time is running out to participate in my Giveaway. Just sign up on this post, and you'll be in. Tomorrow I'll choose the winner using a random number generator.

Three Children CDV

2011-02-13T20:59:00.003+02:00

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I believe this to be two sisters and a little brother in the middle (please feel free to correct me if you think it's a third girl - I admit still being confused about the Victorian boy-girl looks despite several years of collecting cdv's and cabinet cards). Look at the oldest girls' matching dresses, isn't it just so cute?! :) After doing some googling I found out that the photo most likely is taken in Hurley, Wisconsin, USA. I had to Google it since the bottom part has been cut off. This photograph is one in a batch I bought a few years ago. I believe most of them has been taken out from an old photo album because almost all of them are cut off just like this one. I imagine the bottom parts may have been cut off as to not stick out too much from the "pockets" in the album.

I apologize for the inconvenience regarding the signing up for the Giveaway - I am aware of the missing Linky list. That is due to server upgrading, I've been informed. Please feel free to add your contest entry through an "ordinary comment" for as long as it takes for the list to re-appear, I will take both linky entries and comment entries into the drawing on Wednesday. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Now to a totally different thing. :) Are you into Victorian/Edwardian movies and tv shows as well as graphics? Well, if so, I'll just let you know that I watched the first episode of Downton Abbey as it was aired last night on Swedish TV (yes, I do have Swedish TV although I live in Finland; as as emigrated Swede it's a great way not to loose my heritage *blink blink*). I have to say it's very promising. Give it a try if you have the chance. :)

Amor Vincit Omnia

2011-02-12T17:50:00.001+02:00

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Another find from one of my computer folders. :) Don't remember what I planned to do with this one, but hopefully someone might put good use to it. :)

Heritage Style Tag (and don't forget about the Giveaway!)

2011-02-11T22:47:00.004+02:00

(Click image for larger size)

Today I thought I'd be a good girl and clean out some of the probably hundreds of half finished projects I have in my Creative folder on the computer. Some has to go straight to the trash bin (what on Earth was I thinking when I started up some of those?!) and some I'll share here.

When going through all this old stuff I've noticed that my style in some ways have changed a bit, in others remained just the same.

The tag that I'm sharing today was supposed to be a part of a set of heritage styled tags, however now it's been at least over a year waiting for me to create the rest of that set, and it hasn't happened yet. So now I'm getting rid of it making room for other projects. You may use this tag in your commercial projects, but not as a stand-alone object. Incorporate it into the design and you're good to go. :)

And don't forget to participate in the Giveaway if you'd like to win 4 digital collage sheets ! You've got until Wednesday to add a comment to the link list in this post.

400 Followers Celebration Giveaway!

2011-02-09T19:43:00.005+02:00

I'm back online after a lovely trip to Tallinn in Estonia! We got home so early that I did have some energy left to turn the computer on, which I wasn't sure I was going to until tomorrow morning.

I just realized I have reached 400 followers (401 actually, right now). Yay!!! Thank you for following my blog!!! That must be celebrated, and how? Why, a giveaway, of course! :)

The winner will receive 4 digital collage sheets of his/her choice.

To enter the competition, simply leave a comment in the Linky List below.

If you want an extra chance of winning, blog about this giveaway on your own blog and then - and this is important - leave a second comment with the address to your blog post. (This double commenting stuff is because I will use a random number generator to choose the winner.)

You don't need to leave your e-mail address if you don't want to! I will announce the lucky winner winner here on the blog and he/she will will be asked to e-mail me letting me know which products he/she would like to receive.

The winner will be announced during next Wednesday evening (December 19th) Finnish time (EET). You will be able to participate up until the Linky lists closes. I'm not used to handling the lists quite yet, but I believe I've instructed it to close 11.59 AM Wednesday (Finnish time, EET). If it closes earlier than that, just leave your entry as a comment on this post instead.

Enter the contest by writing a comment here:

Metallic Silver Leaf (PNG, transparent background)

2011-02-07T08:55:00.006+02:00

(Click image for larger size)

This is a metallic colored die-cut leaf from an 1880-1890's scrap book. Perhaps it could fit in some autumn themed project?

Oh, and another thing; I've been going through comments that you have made here during the last weeks, and I want to say a big big THANK YOU to those who take the time and effort to comment, it really means a lot to me and give me encouragement to keep these free images coming!

Now, I'm off for a short trip, I've gotta boat to catch and have to do my hair before I step outside the door, or people might get scared to death seeing all the bright yellow, red, blue and green sponge rollers on my head! ;)

Take care & see you soon!

Morning Glory and Butterflies Scrap Card

2011-02-05T16:08:00.007+02:00

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Sweet card from a Victorian scrap album. Purple Morning Glory and a black and copper/orange butterfly around the empty field for writing is such a great combination, in my opinion. :)

Adorable Girls Postcard

2011-01-29T09:07:00.003+02:00

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This is a Swedish postcard, the text "Hjärtlig Lyckönskan" meaning "Heartfelt Wishes of Luck" (or actually, rather "Happiness" when I think about it...). Aren't the two girls simply adorable with their flower basket? :)

Sweet card: 'Glad Greetings'

2011-01-25T19:20:00.008+02:00

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Isn't this an adorable card inviting you to pass through those gates and into the beautiful garden? And those lanterns are just so pretty! :)

Antique CDV Photograph of Military

2011-01-22T11:07:00.007+02:00

(Click image for larger size)

This is a portrait picturing an unknown military. It was taken by Frans Düring (also Dyring) in Linköping, Sweden, probably during the early or mid 1870's.

Antique Map of Roma Vetus

2011-01-19T15:56:00.012+02:00

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This is a map from an atlas over the "Old World". The text in it is, as far as I can tell, all in Latin. It has been owned by a Swedish lady named Augusta Edgren who lived in Nya Kopparberget and who probably acquired it in 1880, since that is the year she's written next to her name and residence. There is no information as to when the book was printed, but I've found out that at least some of the maps have previously been printed in 1839.

Lady with leg-o-mutton sleeves

2011-01-08T22:40:00.003+02:00

(Click image for larger size)

Illustration from the August 9th issue 1896 of La Nouvelle Mode. It is said to be a "toilette de campagne" - could that be some kind of dress suitable for the countryside?

Free digital collage sheets for you today!

2011-01-01T21:46:00.007+02:00

Well, once again I have been absent from here for way too long! I have been working most of the days, either at work or home - the snow just keeps falling and there's always shoveling that has to be taken care of. We've also helped out others handling the amount of snow. I've spent hours up on our roof (and we've got a large home, 160 square metres on 1 floor only) shoveling down what feels like tons of snow, so we don't have to be worried that the roof will collapse (even though it shouldn't be any danger, the roofs here are built to stand lots of snow, but since it's our first winter in the house, it feels better shedding some of the weight). All together, I've been very tired lately, physically as well as mentally.

I have, though, been doing a little cleaning up in the folders on my computer, as I tend to just put more and more images, photos and other files there, and never remove anything. The hard drive is filling up at a scarily rapid paste, so now I have to get rid of some stuff; putting on dvd's before removing or simply remove it completely. Well, during this cleaning, I've found lots of half finished and old material that I didn't even remember having. Some really useless stuff I've just deleted, and some will end up here on the blog. To begin with, I give you four very simple collage sheets with ATC backs. They're downloadable from my account at 4shared, please click the link below to grab them.

ATC Back Shabby Colors Set

Use them as you please; the only thing you may not do is resell the sheets (or individual images extracted from them) as they are, neither digitally not printed. But feel free to share the complete, unaltered sheets for free, as long as they're not modified in any way (i.e. the Victorian Vignettes name or web addresses are removed).

Enjoy, and I hope someone can put good use to them! :)

Lady with beautful chapeau hat

2010-12-22T21:03:00.003+02:00

This illustration is from the October 26th 1879 edition of La Mode Illustrée. Isn't she pretty with that feather hat?

I actually recently bought another bunch of French fashion magazines (this time several issues of La Nouvelle Mode published in 1896) even though I'm not even half through scanning the ones I've bought earlier - it's such a time consuming task since one has to be very careful handling them due to them being fragile from age. These particular editions were water damaged and thus I got them cheap; most of them are still fully usable for my scanning activities and I believe I will be able to restore many of them digitally. I'll share some goodies here when I've got that far. :)

And the Giveaway Winner is...

2010-12-19T18:49:00.002+02:00

Angela!

Congratulations!!! I'll send you an e-mail right away!

Giveaway: 3 digital collage sheets of your choice!

2010-12-15T19:08:00.009+02:00

Ok, so whilst waiting for time, energy and inspiration to miraculously sneak up on me ;) I thought I'd still perhaps be able to inspire you ladies (and gents, of course) a little. The prize is 3 digital collage sheets.

To enter the competition, simply leave a comment on this post.

If you want an extra chance of winning, blog about this giveaway on your own blog and then - and this is important - leave a second comment with the address to your blog post. (This double commenting stuff is because I will use a random number generator to choose the winner.)

Please make sure I can contact you, either through your profile or by leaving your e-mail address when you comment! The lucky winner will receive an e-mail from me and will be asked to reply letting me know which three sheets she/he would like to receive.

The winner will be announced sometime during Sunday evening (December 19th) Finnish time (EET). You will be able to participate up until I close the comment function on this specific post, which I will try to do about 6 PM EET (= 11 AM EST, I believe, for my US visitors).

Best of luck to all of you!!

Sweet Winter Scrap Card

2010-12-11T11:52:00.006+02:00

This is a card from an old scrap album, one of my favorites actually. :) I think it is so beautifully composed and executed. Please share the result with us, if you use it for any winter projects; I'd so love to see! And I'm sure you all like to see and get inspired by other people's ideas.

Now, I'll be frank and let you guys know that I am quite in lack of energy for posting on this blog. As you might have noticed :/ I have made very few posts here lately. Getting used to being a house owner and take care of everything that comes with it - chores, things that has to be done that we haven't had to bother with before and so son - is rather energy draining not to mention time consuming. We've also had lots of guests since we finally have space and place to entertain them in a decent way. :)

I've also got lots of other interests that I from time to time want to spend more time practicing. One of them is playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band on PS2 and PS3, and time really flies when I have that little plastic guitar in my hands... :) Another is photography and I've tons of photos that I need to go through, sort out and retouch. Fun, but time consuming as well.

Well, I guess I just wanted to say: Don't give up on me. I'm still here, I'm still online . With this statement I wanted to lift some of the pressure of posting off my shoulders, so that I in due time can start enjoy blogging regularly again and up until then not feel really bad for not being very active.

Victorian Lady PNG

2010-12-04T21:40:00.002+02:00

Sorry it's been so long since last image; time still flies by faster than I can believe! This time I'm sharing a PNG file with a woman from a Victorian CDV. The background is transparent so those of you who are into digital art can use her right away.

Couple & Man with Guitar Postcard

2010-11-28T10:00:00.006+02:00

After a very busy week with almost no time to spend at the computer, I might need someone to play me a soothing serenade... Sadly, this gentleman didn't just pop out of the postcard (that is, the computer screen) and started bringing that guitar to life, so I'll guess I'll just have to open Spotify instead... Sigh... ;)

Crown on top of shield

2010-11-21T15:02:00.003+02:00

Well, sort of, at least. To me it looks like a shield. :) It's a detail from a 1910's ad. Unfortunately it's rather small, but hopefully you can find something to do with it.

Helsinki View #1

2010-11-17T21:46:00.002+02:00

I've got two lovely little books with views from Helsinki, one printed 1892 and the other one without any date at all. To judge from the photographs (considering the fashion etc.) I believe that they are all taken in the 1880's and early to mid 1890's.

For most of them I do not know the photographer's name and therefore I really hope I do not infringe anyone's copyright when posting the first of these wonderful views. Should anyone know who the photographer is and/or the image/s copyright status, please inform me. If necessary (the photographer hasn't been dead for at least 70 years) I will immediately remove the images/s. (For this reason, I suggest you do not use this image for any commercial purposes.)

Traveling Dress of 1896

2010-11-10T19:52:00.002+02:00

This beautiful lady is dressed and ready for traveling adventures. :) She's from the June 7th 1896 issue of La Nouvelle Mode.

Women from Nazareth

2010-11-08T19:31:00.005+02:00

This illustration of women from Nazareth was published in 1878. The drawing is signed Whymper, but I haven't yet figured out which Whymper who's the illustrator as there seem to be a whole bunch of them.

Victorian Saddle

2010-11-06T17:17:00.001+02:00

Or at least that's what I think this is! It's a bit small and not perfectly sharp even though I did fix it up (I believe it's my (too cheap) combined scanner & printer that's starting to give up on me.) and from the October 10th 1879 issue of La Mode Illustrée.

French Ad: Sugar Wafers 'Olibet'

2010-11-03T22:15:00.002+02:00

From the August 9th 1896 issue of French fashion magazine La Nouvelle Mode. Using Google Translate I figure this brand claims to be better than any foreign brand. Correct me if I'm wrong! :)

Art Nouveau Header

2010-10-31T19:40:00.008+02:00

I really love the sweeping, flowing and flourishing lines of the art nouveau style. Headers, frames, borders, corners, decorative elements, you name it and I'm a sucker for it! :) Just the other day I received another bunch of those French fashion magazines I'm also a sucker for, among them several issues of La Nouvelle Mode, my first ones of the kind. They are a bit smaller in size (but with more pages) than for example La Mode Illustrée, and therefore easier to scan. I've managed to get two issues scanned when at the same time doing some of the last necessary unpacking, organizing and re-organizing (yesterday I got the laundry/cleaning room almost completely set up, yay!) and found some beautiful headers, of which one you are getting here. They are not super large, I'm afraid, but, oh, so gorgeous!

Old illustration: Sheep

2010-10-25T12:17:00.002+03:00

This is another small illustration from a Swedish school book published 1885. It was originally owned by my maternal grandmother's father and used by him when he went to school as a young boy.

I'm back!

2010-10-22T21:46:00.004+03:00

... and a week sooner than expected too! :)

The only downside to it is that I haven't had any time at all to sort out the folders with scanned material on the hard drive, or create any new products for the shops. Well, that just have to be postponed a bit, I guess; it isn't the end of the world, after all.

Right now, I'm sitting very, VERY non-ergonomically, due to the fact that I don't have a proper table (or chair, for that matter). I had borrowed my husband's and now he's claimed it back (after letting me have it for 7 years, so I don't blame him), so I'll have to wait until next pay-check to buy myself a new one. This means that I'm not likely to spend hours at the computer even should I have the time (still soooo much to do around the house) for the next couple of weeks or so. Conclusion: I'll create and share what I'm able to - please don't expect any miracles! :)

I'll do my best to get at least one post with an image now during the weekend!

Back of trade card (& goodbye for a while)

2010-10-12T21:10:00.007+03:00

Isn't this a yummy one?! I love the shabby look because of the "faded" printing (ok, I know it's not faded but rather ripped off because the card has obviously been glued into a scrap album; well, I'm not ashamed to admit that my brain is not working properly at the moment due to the moving chaos over here, so I won't even try to figure out a more suitable word)!

This will be my last regular post for a while. I have still lots and lots of things to do and lots and lots of stuff to pack before we move this Saturday, and after that my computer will be stationed in our new home which do not yet have internet. I hope to be back online by the end of the month.

My time offline I will obviously spend unpacking, organizing, decorating and having lots of fun arranging our belongings in our house, but I know myself well enough to know that I will by no means succeed in staying off the computer even should I plan to - which I don't. I hope to be able to thoroughly go through (and perhaps re-organize a bit) all the computer folders with scanned magazines, books, photographs, scraps and other ephemera and share the images with you here on a more regular basis than what have been possible lately.

(Sorry if I'm totally messing up with the grammar or vocabulary here, I'm rather tired and at the moment I can certainly tell that English is not my native language.)

Take care everyone
and see you again as soon as possible!!!

Flower scrap card

2010-10-06T20:18:00.005+03:00

Wonderful scrap card with flowers in orange and red hues, most likely from the late 1800's.

And now I'm off packing some more boxes! :)

Bird jet clasp and a little something on my moving...

2010-10-04T20:31:00.007+03:00

Another clasp made from jet, from the December 27th 1874 issue of La Mode Illustrée. This one is a little bird with a beautiful long swirling set of tail feathers.

And when it comes to my (our) moving, today we actually packed the car full with the first set of boxes and transported them to our new home! Although we are not actually moving there until the 16th of this month, the previous owners have already removed most of their belongings, and have kindly let up some space for us in the living room so we can start to bring boxes there.

Regarding my internet situation, I will be offline from October 16th and up until very late October or even early November. I will try to prepare for some scheduled posts that will be published automatically by blogger at least a few times during my absence.

Lady reading letter (postcard)

2010-09-25T12:17:00.005+03:00

I just realized it's been quite a while since I last posted a "lady postcard". This particular one I like because of the table lamp light hitting her in a nice, cozy way. I also like the lamp itself, and wouldn't mind at all if is suddenly popped up here at my own table! :)

French Rebus (Riddle) and Some Personal News

2010-09-24T12:15:00.004+03:00

Isn't this just so fun! :) It's a rebus from the September 21st 1879 issue of La Mode Illustrée. Using Google Translate the solution of the riddle should be something like this: "Do not throw stones at your neighbors if your windows are [made of] glass." Since neither English nor French are my mother tongue I'm definitely not an expert at quotes - especially not in French, which I speak none and understand very little.

Some updates on my personal situation. :) This Monday we signed the sales papers for our apartment, and Wednesday we signed the papers for the house, so we are now officially house owners!!! (We get access to the house October 15th - help, that's just three weeks from now!)
We didn't get to celebrate much, though, because I got a cold with fever the very same day, and within three hours from the time I put my signature on those documents, I was in bed trembling from being cold and sweating from being too hot. I slept, but very poorly indeed, about 16 hours and spent most part of Thursday in bed or on the couch - I did manage to watch Pearl Harbor (oh, how I love the stylish fashion of the 40's in that movie!) and Cry-Baby (even though I'm actually not very fond at all of the movie itself, Mr. Cry-Baby himself makes it more than worthwhile!). Today I'm feeling somewhat better.

Back of Swedish Postcard

2010-09-12T16:00:00.001+03:00

I'm sorry it has been so long since last time, but I've been quite busy. Those of you who read my Facebook page already know why - we've gotten our home sold (within a week from when it appeared as For Sale on the net!) and even though we have to October 31st to pack all things and leave the apartment, I've started packing (not to mention all the hours spent browsing the net for suitable houses!) and it sure is time consuming!

This is really exciting for me, I love moving and it will be great to have a real house of our own (a row house apartment just isn't the same thing)! Earlier today we went to see a house that seems really nice, and tomorrow we'll go look at another one in the same area. Hopefully one of them will end up ours! Wish us luck! :D

Collage Sheet Freebie No 2 (re-post)

2010-09-04T21:19:00.000+03:00

Victorian Redhead

2010-08-30T18:25:00.004+03:00

This is not a "pure" vintage image; it's a part of an image that I've colored digitally and added a shabby, grungy frame.

And thanks a lot to all of you who has taken the time to make comments, I truly appreciate it and it makes it worthwhile for me to continue sharing my images with you! THANK YOU!!!

Fisherman

2010-08-29T08:08:00.004+03:00

This is a very small image (and therefore in 600 dpi) from a scrap album dated 1895. It's been cut out of a trade card or possibly an ad postcard.

Sweet dog - 'Remembrance' card

2010-08-25T21:40:00.008+03:00

Sweet card from a Victorian scrap album.

Don't hesitate to make image requests, by the way, or make a comment when I've published an image that you like and will use. I get a quite small amount of comments, so sometimes it's hard for me to know if I'm publishing images you can really put to good use. Please share your thoughts and wishes with me! :)

I'm a little low at the moment (I don't like complaining, neither to read nor to be guilty of writing complaints myself, so I'll keep it short) and feeling unappreciated (on a quite unfounded basis, really). :(

French Calling Card

2010-08-22T08:45:00.010+03:00

This simple calling card was tucked in between two pages of an 1889 edition of Le Petit Echo de la Mode. Was Mme Gasnier the owner of the magazine? Did the card come from a friend of hers, or perhaps Mr Gasnier was a business acquaintance of the owner? Things like these do indeed spark my imagination - I think I could even figure out a whole storyline around this calling card and write a novel about it! Perhaps I should? :)

French Lady with Veil (1889)

2010-08-20T20:37:00.003+03:00

Illustration from French fashion magazine Le Petit Echo de la Mode, April 21th 1889.

Scarf illustration from 1879

2010-08-08T19:42:00.005+03:00

If I'm not messing up completely with the French here, this should be the base or ground to a scarf. From the October 12th 1879 issue of La Mode Illustrée.

Lady with Lace collar

2010-08-05T21:41:00.003+03:00

Isn't this lace collar just breathtaking?! Although I myself wouldn't look very attractive in it (I've got way too short a neck) I think it's beautiful. It's from the July 27th 1879 issue of La Mode Illustrée.

French text: Toilette en faille noire (PNG, transparent background)

2010-08-04T22:03:00.005+03:00

I like creating PNG's from some of the text in my dear French fashion magazines (are you getting tired of me babbling about those mags yet? *s*) and here's one of them for you. Hope you can think of something fun to do with it! :)

Another French Victorian Button

2010-08-01T11:14:00.017+03:00

Since you seemed to like the button I uploaded the other day, I thought I'd give you another one. It's perhaps not as fancy as the flower one, but I'm sure it can be put to good use anyway. :) It's from the April 28th 1889 issue of Le Petit Echo de la Mode.

Initial letter: R (PNG file, transparent background)

2010-07-31T11:59:00.002+03:00

It's been a long time since last, but here's another initial from the book published in 1878 that contains lots of beautiful initials as well as many, many other illustrations.

Parasol with bird head

2010-07-30T21:25:00.005+03:00

Gorgeous parasol from the July 27th 1879 issue of La Mode Illustrée - just look at that bird shape of the handle (or knob? Don't know the best suitable word in English, sorry) of it! I'd so like to have it in my wardrobe!

Oh, and did you notice I changed the logo a bit? Didn't wanna replace it totally, but still needed something different. :) Hope you like it. :)