More holiday blocks for you this Monday morning. Lots of classic toys featured this time 'round....dolls, hobby horsies, a pull toy, balls, drums, a teddy bear and a roly poly clown. I've got a few assemblage pieces underway here in the studio and another handful of dangle ornaments. Will definitely get the ornaments in the shop this week and hopefully some assemblage.
Oh what a jolly mix of toys and Santa Clauses I've concocted this year! Listening to Christmas tunes in October does the trick ;) I will be stocking the shop with these holiday art blocks (and a few others!) throughout the day.
These new collage pieces feature images from a 1940's children's health textbook and an old encyclopedia dating from around the same period. Collocating the saturated color imagery with black and white lithographs, photos and other scraps (including this and this) resulted in a collection with a slightly dark, nostalgic bent.
In other news I'm signing off for a long-ish weekend to visit family. I'll see you in July!
Finally put one of these cuckoo clock frames to good use. We always quote the second line of this Mother Goose poem to Lizzie when pulling back into our driveway at home after a road trip or visit to the grocery store. My parents did the same when I was a kid....
November's first batch of collage blocks...HOT off the cookie sheet. Mmmm...cookies do sound good but I can't justify baking them 'cuz we've been chowing down on Halloween candy for days. This batch will be posted in the shop just as soon as I can get around to it.
Do you remember those popping toys on wheels from your childhood? Well, that's what this little fellow brought to mind. An old pastry roller plus a handful of hole punches and voilà...Pop Tart came to life!
Patrick got this song stuck in his head last week and has been going around singing it so often now its looping 'round in my head too! Thought I'd share it with you so you can join in my fun. Oh...and having a song stuck up there without knowing all the lyrics drives me batty so in case you're like me here ya go:
A Marshmallow World by Dean Martin
It's a marshmallow world in the winter When the snow comes to cover the ground It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day I wait for it the whole year round.
Those are marshmallow clouds being friendly In the arms of the evergreen trees And the sun is red like a pumpkin head It's shining so your nose won't freeze.
The world is your snowball, see how it grows That's how it goes whenever it snows The world is your snowball just for a song Get out and roll it along
It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts Take a walk with your favorite girl It's a sugar date, what if spring is late In winter it's a marshmallow world.
Toy catalogs that arrive in the mailbox these days are full of slick pages and glossy photographs. When I came across this treasure on newsprint I had to add it to my ephemera collection. The catalog is from Noah's Ark department stores, Christmas 1955. Thought you'd enjoy browsing a few of its pages. Of course my favorite page has got to be the one with the doll house and tea sets! Just click on each image to enlarge and read--and, if you feel like reminiscing through more toys from the 1950's here is another catalog I shared last season.
...of a vintage Christmas! Between Etsy's amazing selection of vintage wonders and Pandora's endless supply of nostalgic holiday tunes I'm all about celebrating the season in a old fashioned way. How about you?
The first collection of this year's holiday art blocks will be making their way into the shop this week...starting tonight! I've been collecting festive ephemera all year long and it's fun to finally put it to good use. If you see a collage block here that you just have to have shoot me a message via Etsy conversations and I'll be happy to reserve it for you. Can you hear those jingle bells approaching?! I swear my studio is beginning to resemble Santa's workshop these days.
A few trios of tin cups 'n pitchers were listed in the shop last night. I adore these tiny things and have so much fun arranging them into collections for you! Click here to view all available tin treasures at Sushipot Parts. Enjoy!
This adorable set of vintage Snap cards, published by the Austrian company Piatnik circa 1940's, was recently acquired on Ebay. The box is marked "The Happy Children's Game" although now it's makin' one grownup very happy indeed! The graphics on these cards are so vivid they seem to have been printed yesterday. My favorite image is a tossup between the clown and the sailboat. If I had to choose, I'd probably pick the sailboat if only for that crazy lookin' moon face. What's up with him?!
A highlight this weekend was a spontaneous outing to our favorite local thrift shop. My top find was this 1961 version of The Uncle Wiggily Game for a $1.50. The board game is a classic and will make for a fun family game night I'm certain. Happy Monday folks!
This beauty of a paint box was a lucky find indeed! It's definitely the largest vintage watercolor set I've ever come across. More often than not the paints from these old tins have been disposed but in this case the majority are intact. Trying to decide which I like best--the interior or the exterior? Ok...I've decided...despite the spectacular graphics, the palette of 100 colours wins! The Star Paint Box is available for purchase right here.
With the recent onslaught of toy catalogs arriving in our mailbox (only eight weeks until Christmas!) I thought I'd share one that I truly enjoy pouring over. Sometime last year I purchased this circa 1950's toy catalog. If I remember correctly, I paid around thirty dollars for it--more than anything in the catalog was originally sold for. Don't forget that you can click on any of these pages to get a closer look as some of the descriptions are priceless. For instance on the image below..."dolls are more fun than people". Enjoy!
