{Mail off a delightfully pretty hello note to a dear friend or loved one with a postcard from this elegant set, complete with its own charming metal tin, of 18 cards (three each of six designs) featuring Victorian inspired images of birds and flowers. What could be more pleasant, especially as the chilly “indoor” weather sets in, than spending a few moments now and then to correspond the old fashioned way with someone near and dear to you via one of these gorgeous cards? Set of 18 “Birds & Blooms Pink Postcard Tin” set currently on sale for $12.80 (US), from Plasticland.}
Like most of us, I have my very favourite – call them “tried and true” – vintage sources that I turn to time and time again, both for use in my posts and for my own personal collection, of which etsy is most definitely one such site. A number of my “Daily Deals” posts have featured etsy pieces, and I have no doubt that oodles of future ones will as well (etsy is, after all, entirely fabulous!), but I’d like to feature items in my “bargain finds” posts from an assortment of other sources as well.
The wonderful postcards above hail from Plasticland.com, a site that never cease to put my will power into overdrive, as I cruise its pages resisting the urge at every turn to order a little something for myself. In general Plasticland’s prices are fairly reasonable and their sale section can really be a good place to score a deal (the same is true of ModCloth.com).
I’m curious though as to what some of your favourite online sources for a stellar bargain are? No matter how large or small the site, if you think it’s a great place to score a deal on a vintage (or vintage looking) piece, I’d love to hear about it!
On this sun-kissed summer day, far and wide across the country people are waving red and white maple leaf adorned flags in celebration of Canada Day, and here at my house we’re in full festive spirit, too! Decked out in tomato hued shirts and listening to a string of favourite Canadian artists as we mosey through our day off from work, prepping chicken burgers and corn on the cob for supper, before heading off to watch what promises to be a delightful fireworks show at 10:15pm.
Just as the population of Canada is composed of an absolute plethora of people from nearly about every corner of the globe, so too does Canada Day mean a great many things to different folks. To me it is much akin to Thanksgiving; a day in which I reflect deeply and earnestly about the bounty of rights, privileges and elements of society that I am deeply grateful for as a Canadian.
Dominion Day (as today was once commonly known until the early 1980s) is also near and dear to my heart because Canada and I both share July birthdays, which I’ve always found to be rather special. To celebrate today’s historical roots, I thought it would be tons of fun to take a peek at an old postcard or photo from each of Canada’s provinces and territories.
{Vancouver, British Columbia.}
{Calgary, Alberta.}
{Regina, Saskatchewan.}
{Winnipeg, Manitoba.}
{Toronto, Ontario.}
{Montreal, Quebec.}
{Nova Scotia.}
{Doaktown, New Brunswick.}
{Georgetown, Prince Edward Island.}
{St.John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.}
{Yukon River, Yukon.}
{Northwest Territories (note that Nunavut was not formed until 1999, so for the purpose of this post, the NWT will encompass both of these arctic territories).}
{All image, except for those from the Yukon and NWT, are from Flickr. To find out more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective page.}
Canada is vast and diverse, still untamed in spots and incredibly urban in others. From coast to shining coast it is a deeply beautiful country that begs to be explored, discovered and remembered. Now, as always, and forever, I love you Canada – Happy Birthday! And happiest Canada Day wishes to one and all!
Finally the weekend has arrived and while that face alone is ten shades of awesome in and of itself, it’s extra lovely because it means only a couple more days before darling husband returns from his business trip. I’ve missed him something fierce (this is our longest time apart since getting hitched 4.5 years ago), but have been keeping extra busy to help pass the time. In his absence straighted and decluttered our respective home offices (his is bigger, but mine is cuter!), bought some darling vintage looking shoes (deeply on sale from the Nine West outlet store that’s just a couple of kilometres from my house), worked on better organizing my Re-Ment miniature collection (if you’ve never heard of the wondrous adorableness of these miniature toys from Japan, check out the official Re-Ment homepage and/or the Re-Mend Addicts Flickr group), got a hugely need, long overdue hair cut (more on that in a future post), and have been making a decent stab at my email backload.
At the moment - as kitty dearest nudges me for pets (I know she wants to curl up in the space between my arms and the laptop’s keypad, but it’s rather tricky to type with her precious little body curled up as a 'puter warmer) – I’m nibbling some organic popcorn, listening to awesome classic rock (on Galaxie which we get via our satellite package), and gathering together some of my favourite fantastic links for this week’s roundup.
{I’m yearning for my dance partner in life to get home, but keeping on my toes to past the time quickly. Photo via ricko’s Flickr stream.}
* If you ever wonder about the names of vintage lingerie: Jaynice of Here’s Looking Like You Kid has posted scans from a very informative little vintage lingerie catalog that details numerous styles and their names. Perfect for the next time you’re curious about the difference between a band and brief panty.
* History of Women’s Golf Attire: Fuzzylizzie has put together an excellent piece on the history what gals have been wearing on the fairway over the past hundred plus years, complete with a gorgeous array of vintage photos.
* The Other Kind of Drape: Will of A Suitable wardrobe shares some wise words on the importance of the drape of a man’s clothing, but the general principles he outlines apply to ladies wear as well. Certainly an interesting read which stands to serve many a modern, well dressed chap well.
* Vintage Dresses for Mature Figures: A wonderful look at a topic that warrants a lot more coverage than it gets! Not all vintage fans are wee teens and twenty-somethings, there are oodles of beautiful woman in their thirties, forties, fifties and beyond who adore wearing clothing from the past as well. Here Couture Allure takes a wonderful look at dressing the middle aged/mature figure from a vintage standpoint.
* Bathing Suite Resource Roundup: Looking for oodles of info and/or inspiration on the popular subject of vintage bathing suits? Be sure to check out this list of helpful links on the topic of swimwear from the golden days of yore.
* On the beach in the 1930s: And while on the topic of summer and beautiful looks of the past, definitely pop by Liebermarlene and daydream about sporting the clothing in the wonderful 1930s black and white photos of beach goers she posted this week.
* History of Kustom Bikes: If BMXs and streamlined mountain bikes fail get your cycling spirits a-peddling, then you might be a fan of the sort of bikes which ruled the scene during the 1950s and 60s, as described and discussed in John Brain’s terrific History of Kustom Biking (volume one), which I discovered via an Atomic Addiction post.
* Cpaphil Vintage Postcards: More than for a specific post, this entry is for the blog itself. If you’re a lover of vintage postcards and/or illustrations, this updated daily, marvellously interesting blog is sure to set a smile upon your face – and get you itching to mail out a card or two.
* Sucking Eggs: Miss Matilda gives readers a sneak peek into the fascinating book “Sucking Eggs” by Patricia Nicol, which according to the cover shows you “what your wartime Granny could teach you about diet, thrift and going green”. I love the commonsense, helpful tips MM has highlighted, especially the idea of using baking (bicarbonate) soda as a deodorant (I have really sensitive skin and am troubled by most commercial deodorants so I’ll be giving this tip a try for sure).
And introducing a new a feature of the weekly link love-fest....drum roll please....a vintage related video!
This first video is an instructional one care of the lovely and talented Lisa Freemont Street, which tackles the subject of getting pin curls right (you can find its follow up video in which Lisa styles the results of her gorgeous pin curls here):
There we have it, my lovelies, a diverse array of links that have peaked my interest this week. I hope you find them as much fun as I did – and if you’ve got any fab links of your own or that you’ve scouted this week, don’t hesitate to share them in the comment section.
