busy, busy...

So, it's the home stretch for Emmy's Fashion Show (no name or official details - we're cool like that!) and I keep forgetting to post the pics I took at the flea market a couple of weekends ago.

I still have a post about the always fabulous Cambridge Antiques Market, but that will have to wait a little longer. This one will be mostly pics, so forgive me in advance!

My friend Alice and I drove out to the Grafton Flea market and from the entrance, my hopes sank. It was not at all what I imagined and looked to be cheesy, crappy, dirty, disappointing in every direction. There were some beautiful horses near the parking lot, so that was nice:

Strangely, it ended up being fun and we found some treasures in the midst of the debris. Alice was looking for home decor and I was looking for craft show display items (or anything cute and vintage). Here's what we found:

We also enjoyed too many wonderful Polish milk caramels that Alice got at the Russian store - yum!!

so...

Finding time to do anything these days seems nearly impossible. I haven't started thinking about holiday shopping and it's already hectic! With the spare time I've managed to find, I've been doing some internet research on images in the public domain. I'm not sure what took me so long to look into this stuff, but there are some cool sites out there with vintage illustrations. If you're a crafter, designer, scrapbooker, or just like vintage images, these sites are a treasure. Most of the images posted are for personal and commercial use - and they're free!

The top hit was a site called Old Book Illustrations - it's full of interesting illustrations from books of every era. From nature and wildlife to literary characters, this site focuses on black and white images.

Another interesting, and free site is Victorian Vignettes. This site has tons of images (I haven't sorted through it all yet) and they're sorted in so many convenient ways. Looking for a vintage image? You're bound to find it here!

and it also has links to other sites for more illustration. Take a look, but if you plan on doing some serious browsing, set aside some time - it's definitely worth it.

fashion to get mad about

Ok, so everyone's jumping on the MadMen bandwagon... that's fine by me, because it means more vintage inspired looks are popping up all over. While I appreciate the style of all of the characters, both male and female, Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks), sports my favorite style - sexy, bombshell, but not tarty. Her look is office appropriate, but not dowdy. She turns heads but leaves enough to the imagination - by today's standards at least.
I'm keeping an eye out for new and vintage pieces to compliment my wardrobe. Hopefully I can conjure up a little Joan Holloway style of my own! Follow up posts on my finds to come.

I LOVE Cambridge Antiques Market

Easily one of the best places I know (not just in Cambridge, but anywhere), the Cambridge Antiques Market is 4 floors of vintage goodness. Last week I saw the sunniest yellow vintage canister set and it was love at first sight. You know that feeling when you walk away from something in a store, and its calling your name? I did it and thought about those canisters all week. I had already purchased my new (old industrial chair) and this beautiful peacock tray 

 

so, when I got a gift certificate for the market that same day, I knew I had to go back. After a little soap and hot water (they were already in perfect condition) I filled them and put them to work.  

They're where my IKEA jars used to be (those will find a new home in the pantry or on my craft shelf), just below this great free poster I got on re-nest. 

Three new additions to the kitchen for virtually no money!