Gathering Dust

Keeping Downton Abbey Running Smoothly: Mrs. Beeton's Book

No doubt both Mrs Hughes and the Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey  had copies of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.

Mrs. Beeton's book, first published in the 1860's in Great Britain, dealt with all aspects of running a household- recipes, cleaning, caring for the sick and dealing with servants.

I got my own copy of Mrs. Beeton's book at an auction last week.  No doubt it will aid in the smooth operation of my three bedroom suburban ranch home.

That recipe for Ox Cheek Soup I've been looking for.

... and General Observations on Pudding and Pastry.

I do love this book for two reasons- one, it gives such insight into the day to day life of the Victorian age- mostly the wealthly, but the beginning of the middle class, and two, the illustrations and color plates.

Here's a scan of one of them.

It looks like it's a picture of those yummy puddings, doesn't it?  But no...actually it's Chartreuse of Partridge, Pigeon Pie, Pig's Feet with Truffle and other assorted dishes of fowl.

Somehow those Victorians even managed to make vegetables look romantic.

The text of a lot of Mrs. Beeton's can be found here.

But I really like my original, falling apart, coverless version.

In the same stack with Mrs. Beeton's was another beautiful but tattered book.  Crown Jewels has worn edges and is held together with tape- but look inside.

A beautiful presentation page.

Beautiful fonts and graphics.

And beautiful engravings.

Yes, it's held together with tape, but when you open it, you don't see the tape- just the old and pretty.

Crown Jewels is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Mrs. Beeton's will be for sale as soon as I try that Ox Cheek Soup.

 

Favorite Things: Spencerian Script and Flourishes

As I was sorting out some shelves in my craft room, I came across a book that had a dirty torn cloth cover and was more or less falling apart. 

"Why did I buy this?" I asked myself.

Then I opened it and saw why- it's written in German, and the typeface is that great gothic looking German font.

The book also has some beautiful Spencerian script style images.

I scanned a few of them for you to use if you'd like.  If you click on the image it will open in a new window and you can save it.

If you'd like to look at more of the book, it's for sale here.

Book Stuff and Spooky Stuff and Spooky Book Stuff

 
Sorting through some boxes of old photos for the flea market next week and  I found some cool pictures where the image had "ghosted" over onto the opposite page.  I could understand how there could be a mirror image- but I think its strange that there are two images on the "ghost side" mirrored horizontally.

 
Here's another one with a mother and her children.

 
The outside folders are nice, too.  The heart shaped box is a candy box I decorated with pale laces and trims and and a picture of a pixie looking baby.

 
 Another spooky find- this German book that translates to "The Horse Book".  The German font gives it a real gothic feel.

 
I think this book would be great as part of a Halloween vignette. All these "spooky" goodies are available in my Etsy Shop.

If you'd like some other Gothic decorating and craft ideas, the Romantic Gothic Ghosts on-line class that Karla and I put together last year is still available.  Information is here.  Lots of low color fall and Halloween ideas that  last past Oct 31.

 
 On the subject of books, here's another kind I've been playing with.  It's a pocket diary from the 1960's.  I've made simple collages on some pages, and on some pages, just glued a single image, photo or card.  It's kind of a gluebook, but I'm using a bit of ink too.

 

This one is for sale in my Etsy shop.

 
If you'd like to make your own, I have some "undecorated" datebooks for sale here.

 

Speaking of gluebooks, my friend Mary Green of Green Paper Packages is hosting a glue book swap, and all the players will end up with their own gluebook with swap pages, a vintage cover and a set of ephemera pages from Mary's collection.  You can check the details here.

 
One last "book" topic.  Even though I usually lean towards whites, creams, tans & pale colors, I couldn't resist these vintage images of children's clothes patterns from an old magazine.  I used some vintage wallpaper as a background, index cards and a ring binder to make a simple book that I called "Mother, Make Me a Frock".  It's available here.

 

Books: Bundled, Best Sellers, Handmade & Collaborations

 BUNDLED BOOKS
The other day I saw a picture of a bundle of books on Dawn's blog and thought "I love old books, but they look even better when you bundle them together"- so I got out a little bit of twine and there you go....I don't know why crumbling, tattered old books tickle me so much, but I know I'm not the only one.  These books are for sale (seperately) in my Etsy Shop- Gathering Dust.

 
COLLABORATIVE BOOKS

About a year ago Lisa and I talked about making a fabric book together.  We've finally got organized and decided to make the book a round robin with a theme of woman, sewing, fashion, handicrafts etc etc.  Karla and Sandra are our other collaborators.  Each of us is making a cover and an inside page, and then mailing them on to another person, who will make a page and mail the whole package onto the next person and so on- the plan is to do it for a year...so you won't get your own book back for a year.

 
We really debated the format back and forth- was a year too long a commitment?  Wouldn't it be easier just to make three pages for everybody at once and swap them all at once? 

 
We ended up deciding that since we all like to make things, making one page a month for a year is not that big a deal.  The reason we're passing the books around for a year is because we realized how much our styles and techniques can change in a year- and seeing someone else's pages in a book you've already worked in could give you new inspiration. 

 
We're hoping that the books will kind of "build" on what's been done before- but no matter what, we want it to be fun, and I'm really excited to be working with people who's work I enjoy so much.

The page with the cross stitched alphabet is my cover. My other page has images from a rescued 1864 Arthurs Home Companion.  I love the detail on the children's clothing.

HANDMADE BOOKS

 
 
A couple of months ago, I bought this book-Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms.  I've always been interesting in making books, but most of mine have been the hole punch and string binding variety.

I had no idea there were so many different ways to make a book- and in two months, I've made TWO books- two books that turned out- several that ended up in the garbage. 

 
I started with simple folded books- well, I THOUGHT they'd be simple, but folding paper isn't as easy as it looks- I really appreciate why you need a bone folder. 

 
After a simple folded book, I graduated to a folded book with pockets. 

 
It was fun to fill the pockets on this one.  Both are available in my Etsy Shop.

Two books down, 98 to go.

BEST SELLING BOOKS

 

Have you read The Help  ?  Great book and great movie.  I was so shocked/surprised about the relationship of the women in the book to their "Help" that I almost forgot that the book is funny, too- in that warm Fanny Flagg way.  My surprise at the book is that it happened in my lifetime, and even though I think of myself as well informed, I really only know the high level history of the South- and I'd never thought about the day to day lives of "The Help".

Besides enjoying the movie plot- I couldn't keep my eyes off the wallpaper.  Beautiful stuff- and patterns I recognized and have used.

In a nice little coincidence, I scored some wallpaper at an estate sale this weekend.  Half used rolls of vintage wallpaper are scarce as hen's teeth at estate sales, so I had to pick them up, even though I don't need any more wallpaper.  I cut off  a few feet as souvenirs and put the rolls in my other Etsy shop- SugarPinkMoon.

Scissors & Glue & Joseph Cornell

 
A good but uneventful weekend- the highlight was finishing two books I've been working on.

 
The Sketch Book- I think I've shown this one before- its a combination of ephemera and tags.

 
It's held together with two ring binders- and meant to be interactive- the  ephemera can be pulled out and used in another project, and the tags can be used for journaling or pulled out and used as a gift tag, book mark or tied onto...anything.

 
It was fun to work on, because each "page" could be worked on seperately, and that way, it didn't seem too overwhelming to put together a book.

 
 
A lot of the images for this book came from Mary at Green Paper Packages.

 
The second book- Buttons and Butterflies- started with a collage sheet of vintage button cards.

 
I added some vintage wallpaper and a couple of collage sheets from The Joseph Cornell Box.

 

Are you familiar with Joseph Cornell?  He was one of the first well known and collected assemblage artists.  Actually, the base of most of his work was the box. 

Joseph Cornell was born in the New York City area in the early 1900's and quietly spent most of his life working as a fabric salesman and a door to door saleman of appliances. 

 

In his spare time, he hunted for bits and pieces for his collections in thrift and junk stores in New York City in the 1920's & 30's.  Wouldn't you love to take a short trip back in time to shop with him?

 

Several years ago I read a biography of Joseph Cornell, named for where he lived- Utopia Parkway.  Can you imagine living on Utopia Parkway?

Sometimes sitting on the couch with scissors, glue & paper is as close to Utopia as I can get.

Both books are for sale in my Etsy Shop Gathering Dust.

A Green Paper Project Book with "Curated Images"

 
At our regular Christmas craft get together back in December, we did an ornament exchange, but Mary Green brought something even better than an ornament- she brought PAPER- stacks and stacks of vintage paper and color copies she had made for class examples and wasn't going to use. 

For someone who's as crazy about paper as I am, I guess you'd say it was just like Christmas....and it was, almost, Christmas.

 
While I've been laying on the couch, being all sick with only my scissors, glue stick and dogs to keep me company, I put together a collage book using Mary's wonderful papers.

 
There are thousands and thousands of vintage images out there, but I think what makes Mary's special is that they all go together and were obviously thoughtfully chosen. 
They appear "curated"- selected with care. Nothing extraneous, no filler or fluff.

 
Curated- I really like that word.  Most of my life is "uncurated".

I don't think curated means organized.  My purse is organized, but if it was curated, it would only have one chap stick, instead of three, and two nice pens(one to use and one to share) instead of none.  Even a purse can benefit from curation if one has the time...

But I digress...it's very easy to do collage work with Mary's images because they work so nicely together.  You can check out her collections yourself at her store  Green Paper Packages.   And if you don't think you know where to start, her Glue Book tutorial is excellent, and the only supplies you need are a printer, a scissors, a glue stick and something to glue your images to.

 

Quick and Easy Handmade Journal

 
 
I've been a little under the weather, so I don't have any "new" junk to show you.  I've been taking it easy, sitting on the couch with scissors, glue and a stack of papers.

Here's a super easy way to make a journal /diary/ scrapbook.  Take a photographer's photo album- the heavy cardboard folder that a picture is displayed in, and cut it at the fold.

Glue on an interesting image to the front- this is from  Green Paper Packages. 

 
Add some pretty paper or a simple collage to the insides of the folder.

 
Hole punch the covers and some sturdy weight paper, add some ring binders...

 
...and you've got a blank book, ready to use...

 
...as a scrapbook, journal, diary, or photo album.  I'm sure I've shown this project before, but its such a simple fast idea  that can be used for a last minute gift, that here it is again.

 

I'll have more book projects to show you later in the week.  This album is for sale in my Etsy Shop- Gathering Dust.

 
While I've been convalescing, I've finished made some more lace bags for my Etsy shop, too. 

Convalescing makes it sound like I'm recovering from something really serious instead of just a little cough, doesn't it?

 
If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you've heard me talk about how much fun we have at craft day at Karla's Cottage. 

Now's your chance to craft at Karla's, too- she's having a two day workshop at her cottage studio.  Karla is a wonderful hostess, and the biggest bonus of craft days isn't the new projects you work on or the new techniques you learn, its the time spent with sharing ideas with other like minded creative people.  You can read the details  here.

Book Arts: Things to do With a Book Besides Read

 
I used to read a lot of books- now I play with a lot of books.  I can't resist a pile of books at an auction or estate sale, even if some are not in the best condition  falling apart.  After all, a stack of paper is a stack of paper even if it used to be a book.

So, here are some ideas of what to do with that paper.  In the picture at the top, the cover had fallen off the book, but I liked how you could see the seperately sewn signatures on the spine of the book.  I glued the pages together to make a block of paper, and attached photocopies of an endpaper and the back of a cabinet card.  The finishing touch was a feather and a ribbon.

Note: to glue the pages together, I used a brush to apply gel medium to the outside of the pages.  Once it dried, I looked for loose spots and glued them separately.

 
Another book idea- pull out the pages, gesso the cover and add new pages.  This book was made by Dede Warren as part of a Valentines Swap.  Eight people each made eight pages, sent them to Dede, and she made each of us a book.

 
The book cover is from an old book- I think it was a Reader's Digest Condensed Book.  Dede took the pages out, painted the covers, and added our newly created pages.

Heidi at Sugah Beez has some nice examples of gessoed books, too.

 
This is an easy one- if a book doesn't fit your decor, or you just want to make it a little more interesting- cover it in paper.  I used an old dictionary page, added a trade card and a ribbon.

 
To make my book look like it had a wrap around spine, I folded the  margin of a page so there's some empty space along the edge.

 
This is the cover of the book in the first picture.  When the book fell apart, I cut the spine out and hole punched the covers.

 
My "pages" are shipping tags that I cut to fit inside the book.  I had fun decorating a few of these pages and I've gotten some ideas as I've been writing this post... I don't think I'm quite finished with this book.

 
The flower image printed on the dictionary page was made by Mary Green. 

Ok, I'm off to work a little bit more on this tag book...

What's on the Bookshelf? Reference Books for the Antique Dealer

 
 
Do you keep all your books in one place, or have them scattered through out the house?  I have bookshelves or bookcases in every room in the house.  Decorating books are in the guest room, craft books are in the craft room, recent fiction is in the living room, the bedroom has overflow books from the living room because I seem to be able to buy books faster than read them...and this cabinet in the front hall has (mostly) my antique reference books.

 
I've been selling on and off on Ebay for twelve years, and some of these books have been invaluable in telling me just exactly what I have- identifying glassware and flatware patterns or finding the name or maker of tableware.

 
 
But some of my books have been good for more than just reference, they have great pictures and I enjoy just browsing through them.

Antique And Collectible Buttons  by Debra Wisniewski has pictures of thousands of buttons.  In all my hours of sorting hundreds of pounds of buttons, I don't think I've ever run across a button that isn't in this book.

 
 And the book has pictures of so many great buttons that I'd love to find.  Like this set of pink ladies accessories...

 
...cheery yellow and orange Dutch set

 

Another book that I can look through over and over again is Costume Jewelry (DK Collector's Guides) by Judith Miller.

 
Besides having beautiful pictures and a great index of maker's marks, this book has helped me to have a better "jewelry vocabulary".  Instead of describing a pin as "curvy with shiny green things", I can say "C-scroll pin with green lava stones and aurora borealis crystal rhinestones set in silver-plated metal".

It's also helped me identify smaller genres of jewelry collecting like

 
...creature pins.  Yep, there are people who collect fish, seahorse, bee and spider pins.

 
If you read my blog often, you probably know I have a soft spot for old children's books.  Collector's Guide to Children's Books, 1850-1950: Identification & Values, Vol. 2  by Diane McClure Jones has charming pictures.

 

Along the same lines, another book I can page through and enjoy over and over is a Collector's Encyclopedia of Children's Dishes. an Illustrated Value Guide  by Margaret and Kenn Whitmyer.

 
This book covers a long time span- from 1800's china and pressed glass child's tea sets to toy dishes I remember playing with.

 
One of my favorites from this book is this brown transferware set called "Girls with Pets" -it combines so many of my favorite things- children's dishes, brown transferware and dogs.

 
Does anyone else remember playing with these aluminum dishes?  I think I had the cookie cutters and the muffin tin- and the pie plate until my Mom turned it into the dog's water dish.

For me,  these books are kind of like the old Sears Christmas catalog that I'd go through over and over,  making lists of what I wanted. These are just four of my favorite "browsing" books.  I guess with the amount of time I spend looking at antique guides, it's not surprising the bedroom has overflow books that I've not gotten around to reading.  I'm just too busy "armchair junking". 

Friday Flea Market / Selling at an Antique Mall

 
Along with turkey, stuffing and the Macy's parade, the holiday flea market is a Thanksgiving weekend tradition.  (Althought I have to admit, I don't go every year.)

 
 
The flea market didn't have as many vendors as in the past, but there were enough that I spent all but $8 of my cash and had about as much as I could carry.

Everything except one dresser box fits in the wood change drawer tray in the pictures.  I thought the change drawer with its six compartments made a good display.....I mean, don't you want to dig a little and really see what's in there?

 
A bunch o' keys with numbered tags.

 
I was kind of intrigued by this one- "Convent Locker".  I wonder where that convent locker is, and what would I find in it? 

 
A sewing box filled with OLD stuff-like these buckles- I'm guessing they are 1900's.  The cameo was a separate purchase.  I'm not sure if it was a wise purchase.  I remember years ago asking a knowledgable antique dealer how do you recognize  a "good" cameo.

 
She told me that after you look at what it's made of... obviously, a plastic cameo from a box of Cracker Jack isn't as valuable as a cameo made of shell or stone.  The second thing is- how attractive is the person on the cameo.  I'm thinking the lady on this cameo is a little past her prime. Oh well...

 
My sewing box also had bits of tattered silk ribbons and these little pink crocheted "things".  They're soft and are attached to each other with a pink ribbon- any ideas of what they are?

 
Another sewing box treasure- this embroidered scissor case.

 
Vintage metal price tag holders- they have a clip on the back to attach to a grocery store shelf.  The holders came with some price tags, but they were pretty beat up- generally, I think things can't be too old or too beat up- but these were- they were torn, hand written and held together with discolored cellophane tape- so I added some new old stock price tags that I just happened to have on hand....have I ever shown you my vintage price tag collection?

 
 
Speaking of collecting- if you're at the point in hunting and gathering treasures that you think you'd like turn "professional", my friend Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad has teamed up with Inis Lovely to write an e-book called Selling in an Antique Mall, a Beginner's Guide. 

I've read it, and I'd say it's not just for beginners.  They've done a good job of taking a huge topic and breaking it into managable pieces- and they're very honest about the perils, pitfalls and rewards of selling "vintiques" as they refer to their treasures.  The book covers everything from making the right choice in where to sell, how to manage inventory- both physically and on paper,  to how to keep your booth running smoothly.  The book is nicely illustrated with color photos of actual booth spaces- something I don't think I've seen in any other book.  If you're thinking about becoming a dealer, the $9.95 price makes this a bargain- and tax dedectible if you do go into business.