Entries tagged with 'vintage books'


another book stack

Posted by Aprile on 2009.06.24:

So I went to my favourite (often overpriced) bookstore today, and actually spent a reasonable amount of money! 23 dollars for 3 books, and a nice little stack of ephemera. Let me tell you a bit about each one!

From left to right: Echoing and Re-Echoing, by Faye Huntington The Dogberry Bunch, by Mary Hartwell Catherwood Left with a Trust, by Nellie Hellis

This book I am seriously amazed by. It's called the Dogberry bunch, and it was published in 1880! I didn't even realize this at first, when I got home I got a closer look at the inscription in the back (Christmas 1890). This was labelled $5, as is, but I think it looks pretty good for being almost 130 years old! The older and more ruined a book is, the better. Then my guilty conscience will leave me alone and let me get back to my artwork.



It's Victorian style is beautiful! The pages are extremely thick and the whole book has rounded corners.



Ohh the title of this book is the best. Echoing and Re-echoing. Does that even make sense? All of the books I find are super religious, which makes sense based on the time they were published. I love that it is "the pansy series" so there are pansies painted on the cover. Why don't they make covers like this anymore?



Various little tickets and vintage ephemera, dating back to as easly as 1929. She has this bin full of bits and pieces she finds in the books, and sells them for 50 cents each. I'll bite!

And of course, my taking pictures is an invitation for the cat to parade on through.



And the reverse! I am so happy with this $23 well spent... I'll let you know what collages I turn these into!

comments (4) & tags ( , )

learn the alphabet

Posted by Aprile on 2009.03.10:

It's been a rainy weekend, which was frustrating after the beautiful sunny, warm day we had on Friday. The weather is toying with my emotions. To make myself feel better on Sunday, I took a little trip to Goodwill—which I recently discovered is only a few blocks away!

I didn't find much this time, and I stayed away from the books (where I can get stuck for hours). I found some very 70s brown ceramic plates and bowls which—I love, but—Jory hates. They remind me of Lorena Barrezueta's tin container-inspired dishes around the edges, which I will buy when I can afford. These will do for now.



I don't know why I always gravitate to kid's things (seeing as I have none), but I'm guessing it's nostalgia. I found this "Learn the Alphabet" toy, which was a bit broken so I took it apart. I don't know what I'll use the blocks for. Have you seen this? I had the exact same one as a kid. And now I know my alphabet well.



And this book reminds me of and Eric Carle book (my favourite children's author as a kid) and it's about Autumn (my favourite season)! I'm going to post details of it's collage illustrations on Notpaper soon as well.

I've got some very good content planned, as I've been very neglectful these last few weeks. Why is it that eventually blogging feels like a chore? I hate that I feel that way, but sometimes I do. And I have to really get myself inspired again somehow. It's almost Notpaper's one year anniversary! Ahem, blog-iversary?



comments (3) & tags ( , , , )

today's findings

Posted by Aprile on 2009.02.23:

Jory and I went for the nicest walk today, just to get some fresh air, and we ended up at a Goodwill store. I love Goodwill for the housewares and odds and ends and—just my luck—this store had a HUGE selection of books. Encyclopedia sets, textbooks, kids books, et cetera from the 70s. I love books that are pre-1970s, but they tend to be a lot more expensive. And books from the 70s have this bright, colourful charm that older books do not.




The above books are a kids' science book series, called "I want to know about..." They had the ENTIRE collection, I think there were 19 + an index. I didn't want to carry them all home, so I only purchased 6, 8, 15, and 19, but I might be back there to collect the rest soon.


"The Golden Treasury of Natural History" is a wealth of information as well as beautiful colour illustrations.

If it were up to me, our apartment would be filled with books instead of furniture.

Things I also bought: A polaroid camera, a clipboard with binder rings, and some lovingly pressed flowers in a frame.

comments (0) & tags ( , , , )

ani-mail

Posted by Aprile on 2009.02.09:

These vintage children book turned envelopes are very smart! (It just gives me another reason to collect these books!)
From Art School Girl.

comments (0) & tags ( , , , )

language of flowers

Posted by Aprile on 2009.02.09:


It would probably be good if I did some of my homework, but I would rather just make things like this all day long. These were inspired by a book I picked up called "gardening" from 1926, which I think somebody bound themselves. There were eight flower images from colour plates, which I wasn't going to use at first. I changed my mind pretty quickly, and made eight collages. I wish there were more!

This is the problem with using vintage images, there is no endless supply, and I can't just go to a store to restock. But that helps keep each piece completely original, I guess.



comments (2) & tags ( , , , )

my new hobby

Posted by Aprile on 2009.02.08:

This is what I spent several hours doing today, and I swear I was in heaven. I went to this used bookstore—I can't remember what it's called—the one near U of T campus, on Spadina. I went with exactly $50, and plenty of time to spend looking through all the books for great illustration or other little treasures. There were so many books I wanted to buy, but this store is a lot pricier than I expected it to be. Each book is like $6 to $20, which is fine, but I could get brand new books for that price at BMV (one of the best used book stores in Toronto).

But BMV doesn't have this kind of charm.

1. vintage book pile, 2. paper sample book, 3. paper sample book, 4. type specimen, 5. type specimen booklet, 6. type specimen book, 7. type specimen book, 8. univers!, 9. close up, 10. butterflies, gray + colour, 11. bird pullout, 12. love love love love, 13. colour pullouts, 14. naturescope, 15. map, 16. map of england and wales, 17. letraset canada, 18. letraset catalogue, 19. letraset catalogue, 20. anatomy & art, 21. art & anatomy, 22. DSC07607, 23. astronomical geography, 24. geography study books, 25. atlas

The one little critique I have of this store, was the owner was clearly a "book collector" who didn't care if she sold the books or not. The store is literally overflowing with books, and it's no surprise why. I had my 50 dollars, and I came to her with a stack of books that came to 53 dollars. "Well, this one here is $4.50." So I had to give that one up. I'm sad now, realizing what it was I was giving up.

It was a botany school book, probably from the 40s, with little slips of paper tucked in every few pages. Little drawings, notes, just loads of vintage ephemera. Whyyyy!

comments (0) & tags ( , , , )



Hi, my name is Aprile and I love 100 ideas , 1001 journals , alphabets , altered books , animals , anthropologie , antiques , architecture , art , art galleries , australia , autumn , beauty , bird nests , birds , books , bookstores , boots , bunnies , butterflies , buttons , calligraphy , cameras , camping , cards , cats , ceramics , clothing , collaboration , collage , collecting , collections , confetti , contrast , craft shows , crafts , dada , decor8 , design , design for mankind , dictionaries , diy , doing anything but homework , drawing , dresses , dried flowers , editorial design , embroidery , ephemera , equestrian things , eric carle , etsy , events , experimentation , fall , fashion , fashion illustration , female vocalists , festivals , film , flickr , flowers , fortune cookies , french , fyodor , gardening , giveaways , gray , hand-lettering , handmade , handmade nation , happiness , hearts , henry darger , history , home sweet home , illustration , inner beauty , inspiration , interior design , interviews , japan , jenny lewis , jewellery , jill barber , jory , junk , kara walker , keri smith , korean style , kraft paper , leaves , lens flare , letterpress , life , linens , lists , london , love letters , lula , lykke li , magazines , maira kalman , making art , making books , making friends , making things , maps , milk , moustaches , museums , music , my apartment , my mom , Nana , nature , nice days , notepads , odds & ends , old architecture , our apartment , outsider art , owls , packaging , paint pens , paper , papercutting , paris , photo corners , photobooths , photography , picnics , pillows , pink , poppytalk , quotes , rain , relaxation , ribbons , royalty , scrapbooks , seasons , seattle , second-hand stores , sewing , shopping , shops , shows , simplicity , sleep , snow , softness , spring , starting fresh , stationery , style , subtlety , suitcases , sweden , textiles , thao nguyen , the 1970s , the industrial era , the internet , the language of flowers , the paper place , the past , the uk , the woods , the workroom , thesis , thesis cut&paste , toronto , travel , tumblr , twigs , twitter , typewriters , typography , uppercase , vacations , videos , vintage , vintage books , vintage catalogues , walks , wallpaper , wood , wooden spools , words , zakka , zines , & blogging.

If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'vintage books'. [What is this?]

Subscribe to feed Subscribe to feed