New Year - Old Things

Happy New Year to you! I am happily sitting here in my pajamas (it's 3pm on New Year's Day), writing this post. The hectic holiday sales season has left our studio in a state of chaos and I have spent the last couple of days cleaning and organizing. I still have a LONG way to go. Over the past few months, we have amassed several large boxes of old maps, books, postcards, vintage photos, French magazines and so much more, that we have purchased or that have been given to us by kind folk who know we love such things. I have been trying to empty the boxes and give their contents a permanent home in the studio. Here are a few of the treasures I have come across:

I believe most of the pieces in this stack were given to us by Diane Benitz, Elizabeth's mother-in-law. Thank you Diane!

Some perfectly imperfect old French book pages. These are only 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches big--or small as the case may be.

These old railroad company index cards were given to us by my sister, Sheila. We use them to create our Vintage Index Card gift tag sets:

I love the logo on this little booklet that accompanied a pair of gloves. What time period do you think this is from?

A super-cool ad from a guide to London shops and restaurants. I am guessing this is from the 1940s.

This photograph perfectly illustrates why I love old things. The spine of this piece of sheet music had fallen apart and someone repaired it with a simple whipstitch. I love that tangible evidence of someone's hand having touched this and the ways that people "made do." It's so...human.

I will soon be posting more ephemera shots on our Flickr stream, if you are interested.

Sharon