New Art

Here's a piece I did last week.  It's probably around 16" x 22".  I'm really liking it! 

The "hearts" near the top and down near the bottom were done by Riley and Noah.  They wanted to add something, and I love the detail it adds.  I've always been opposed to hearts (too cutesy!), but Avery LOVES them, so I'm beginning to see their appeal!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #2

Welcome to Lil' Vintage Story Books #2!  In this series, I'm sharing my favorite vintage children's books.  Feel free to link up with your own favorites as well! I'd love to find some "new" books that I haven't run across yet!

This week's book is one of my very favorites, for the illustrations.  It's called "Fun on the Animal Railroad".  It's written by Mary Windsor and illustrated by Vic Havel.  The copyright is 1951.

 If you can tell from the above photo, it actually opens out on both sides, so that it's four pages wide. 

 I think these little lambs are my favorite!

 Love these bunnies, too!

That's some excellent advice on the right page above! 

If you've been a follower of my blog for a while, you may recognize some of the characters from this book.  A big part of the reason I buy vintage children's books is for the illustrations to use in my collage artwork.  I've used the animals in this book in numerous pieces of art over the years (all copies of course-not the originals).  Below are some of these pieces.

Well, there you have it!  I'd love to see some of your favorites as well!  Grab a button to the right if you'd like, and share your own posts down below if you'd like to join in!

LVS- Hurray for Fall!

I'm finally able to dig into Avery's stash of long-sleeved vintage dresses!  At least for this week anyway-not sure what the weather will be next week...

This one is a Polly Flinders dress with hand-smocking and hand-embroidering. So sweet!  The sleeves actually ended up being closer to 3/4 length, but that worked perfect for the weather.

She was so nice for me this week!  We got out of the car, and she ran right over to the wall and stood against it for some photos.  This is a first!  Usually I need a helper entertaining her or props or bribes or something!  I hope maybe it's a new trend for her!

 I paired the dress with thrifted brown leggings, some ruffled socks, and cute little shoes (Angel brand).

Check out the other cuties this week at Hart & Sew and Mama Loves Papa!

And don't forget to check back on Friday for our second installment of Lil' Vintage Story Book!

A Couple Journal Spreads

First of all, let me thank all of you for your great response to our first Lil' Vintage Story Book linky party!  Sounds like lots of you will be joining us next week as well-hurray!  I can't wait to see all the vintage illustrations!

So I thought I'd pop in and show you my two latest journal spreads for the kids. The lighting was not the greatest when I shot them, so they unfortunately aren't as crisp as I'd like, but you get the idea!

The above is in Noah's book.  He is such a shy little boy- he went for close to a year without speaking to any adults other than family members, even at school.  I can definitely relate, as I was extremely shy when I was younger as well.  But he's slowly coming out of his shell.  This school year, he has begun talking to his teachers, and we are so proud of him!

And the above is about Avery turning into a little girl.  She certainly isn't a baby anymore!  But she's at a really fun age.  The things she does and says constantly keep us entertained.  Although I could do without the tantrums...! 

Hope you're all doing well as we move further into fall.  Here in Florida, it's very exciting because we have finally been able to pull out the long pants, sweaters, and boots!  In fact, this morning I took photos of Avery for Little Vintage Style wearing her first long-sleeved vintage dress!  Of course, by this afternoon, we'll be peeling off the layers because it will be back up to 75 degrees, but it's fun in the mornings to be bundled up!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #1

Hello!  Welcome to our first edition of Lil' Vintage Story Books!  I'm so excited to try out this new feature.  As I mentioned in my last post, I just love vintage picture book illustration, and would love some others to share it with!

 

Whenever I go to the thrifts, I'm always on the lookout for vintage children's books.  My eyes scan over the countless Dora books, the tons of half-used coloring books, the dozens of Disney "push the button to make the sounds" books, and they zone in on the goldmines- the ones with the worn bindings, the Little Golden Books, the Weekly Readers, you know the ones!  And when I bring them home and say, "Mommy got some new books!", the kids come running!  Well, maybe not running, but they do like it when I get new books...! 

For this first post, I have taken photos of several illustrations in one of our favorite vintage books.  In most cases, I cropped out the text, so you could see the illustrations better.  But let me know if you'd rather see the whole page with text in the future.  Feel free to link up with your own favorites as well!  I'd love to find some "new" books that I haven't run across yet!

Our sweet little LVSB mascot to the left comes from the first book I've chosen.  The title is "The Magic of Everyday Things".  It's by Seymour Reit, and the illustrations are by June Goldsborough.  It's actually part of a larger set called Adventures in Discovery Program by Western Publishing Company.  The copyright is 1963.  It's a wonderful little set, with several beautiful books, many of which I'm sure you'll see here in the future!

 The thing I love most about these illustrations is the little girl's clothes- oh, those pants!!

 The colors in this one...pinks, rusts, yellows, magentas, then the little touch of baby blue...

Her sweet little top and jumper...

 A phone with a cord?  What's that??

 That cute striped art smock makes me want to paint, too!

 So much to love in this one- the pink kitty cat, the hat box, the little toy refrigerator, and those pants again!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first installment!  Please feel free to let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to see- I'm open to different ideas! 

Grab a button to the right if you'd like, and share your own posts down below if you'd like to join in!

LVS, and Something New!

Another sweet pinafore dress this week.  How I love this style!!  Those ruffled sleeves get me every time!  Oh, I am just dreading the day that she's not going to let me dress her up anymore....

As you can see, we used My Little Pony's as props today.  I kept throwing them across the yard so that she'd go pick one up, so I could get some full-body shots of her dress! (And oops, looks like it should have been ironed!)

And, yes, there's also a cookie there in her hand for a bribe as well!

As with all of her vintage dresses, this was found thrifting...  And I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, but she's also wearing a vintage Goody barrette.  Do you remember those plastic barrettes?  I bought a whole bunch of them on Ebay- they bring back such memories!

See more Little Vintage Style and Small Style posts here and here this week!

And I'd like to announce a new feature I'm going to be doing on the blog!  It's called Lil' Vintage Story Books. 

We have so many beautifully illustrated vintage picture books.  Every time I read one to the kids, I think, "I wish I could show these illustrations to someone who would actually appreciate them!"  Well, now I can!  Every Friday, I'm going to do a post showing a favorite vintage story book.  And you're welcome to join as well!  If I can figure out how to do a Link Party by then, I'll set it up so you can link up with your favorite picture books as well!  See you on Friday- I can't wait!!

Handsome Birthday Boy and Other Stuff

Yes, this handsome boy turned 6 yesterday!  He obliged me with a little birthday photoshoot.  I'm usually lucky to get him to smile for one photo, but he gave me bunches of the handsomest smiles yesterday!  I love this kid-

Happy Birthday, Riley!

 

 And, just for fun, here are another couple of cute pictures. 

 Here's Noah, being his usual happy self.  Whereas I usually have to bribe Riley for a smile, Noah smiles for photos like nobody's business!

And here's a shot from a Halloween event we went to.  Avery's costume for Halloween night involves a sweatshirt, but it was 85 degree on this afternoon, so I improvised with her kitty outfit and some kitty ears attached to barrettes.

Little stinker!!!

And we have a winner for the Mingle giveaway!  Congratulations SewGrown!  I will be emailing you shortly with details!  Thanks to everyone for entering!

I'll be back tomorrow with a Little Vintage Style post- such a cute little oufit this week!!

Does This Count?

I know this isn't technically a vintage outfit post for Little Vintage Style, but I am just so giddy about this purchase that I had to show it off!  And I figured my vintage-loving friends would appreciate it as much as me!

And besides, it holds all of the clothes Avery wears for Little Vintage Style!

May I present Miss Avery's new dresser!  While I loved the dresser I redid when she was born, it was taking up a lot of floor space (since it was horizontal), and it made furniture placement more difficult.  So I've been on the lookout for a good replacement for a while.  I went by a local antique store last week, and there it was!

Just absolutely perfect!!

 We do have a closet in the room, but this provides a little extra hanging room should we need it.

I rearranged some of the furniture to better fit with the new dresser, and also in anticipation of moving her into a toddler bed soon.

I also had to show you who else I picked up at the antique store- this fabulous little bunny.  I am IN LOVE with this guy!  The sweet embroidered face, the cute overalls,...

and the adorable little tail behind!

That's all for today....  Don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below!