Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Today we'll look at one of the major players in the Christmas story:  the Virgin Mary.

 Okay,  I know she's not Mary, but I thought a sweet little praying girl fit into the theme.

I like the handcrafted look of this one.  It reminds me of the holiday decorations that my mom made over the years.

Make of it what you will...

This is the song that's been stuck in my head for the past few days.



Hopefully now it's stuck in yours.  I like to share, especially at this time of year.

You're welcome.

ABBA Rules!

PS You can't get more retro than some of those outfits!

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

One of my favorite topics:  Christmas Kitties!

Sweet little Christmas Angel all pooped out from her duties rests in her chair.  Who joins her in a nap?  Her special kitty!  Of course a sweet little Christmas Angel would have a kitty!  Love the details on the chair back!

 Kittie like to nap!  This one wore herself out wrapping (or maybe unwrapping?) presents!  This card has such lovely flocking on it, which came through really well on the scan.

Sweet little litter with their Christmas collars send a playful greeting.  This one is my favorite of today's batch!  I bet this bunch has a lot of fun running through the house, climbing the tree, knocking ornaments off, playing with ribbon.  Forget little kids!  You've never really had Christmas until you've done it with a kitten.

Extra bonus for being a skinny card.  I love skinny cards!

This is the inside of that card.  The lettering makes me think of little kitty scratches.

I forgot something!

It's kind of a tradition around this blog that I welcome December/winter/holidaytime with a couple of videos featuring some much loved vintage characters.  Usually, I get those posts set up well in advance, all set to go early in December.  Somehow this year, things got away from me and I totally forgot my friends.  It's time to set that right.

Without further delay, here we go!  First up, Santa's favorite helpers:



Followed by our dear friend who put in quite an appearance over the weekend here:



There!  That's done!  Carry on!

Your Vintage Chrsitmas Card of the Day!

Here are a couple of Santas who missed the initial parade!

The yellowed spot in the corner of the bottom card is from old tape that was used to hang the card as a decoration.  There are several cards in this stash with tape residues.  I debated editing them out, but decided to leave them in, since they speak to the history of these cards.

At one time, they were greetings exchanged between family and friends--reminders of shared relationships at a special time of the year.  That some of the recipients hung the cards as decorations only adds to their specialness.  At least, that's the way I see it.

Monday Scrambles!

AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEE!

How did it get to be December 9?  That's almost the 10th, which is almost the 15th, which is almost the 20th, which is the day before the 21st, which is when we leave for Arkansas!  Estimation is deadly!

I still have soooooo much to do.  We finished shopping yesterday (mostly).  I got everything for my brother's family, anyway.  Now I need to wrap it and get it all in the mail.  One more thing to do!  Just great!

I still have tons to move to the booth storage, but I have to stop for a couple of days, because if I don't get that space more organized, I won't be able to get anything in it.  Someone bought my last tree yesterday, so I have to redo my display.  Overall, it's selling very slowly.  My gift items aren't selling at all.  All my wrapping paper is gone.

The Peddlers Mall is having its vendor open house on Saturday--one more thing to do!  But at least there will be food!  We had our holiday festival for shoppers this past Saturday....and got tanked by the weather.  Our poor Santa was wandering around looking bored.  I did get a lot of work done over there that day since it was so slow.

Saturday is also the day I go pet sit for a week---one more thing to do!  I'll be running home a lot because I'll need to get laundry done and things packed for us to leave.

We got blasted by the same weather everyone else got over the weekend.  It was cold and nasty.  I didn't have to work on Monday, but I'll have to make that class up--one more thing to do!  I did appreciate staying inside for a day and working on stuff at home.

Tomorrow, I have my first follow up at the cancer center--one more thing to do!  That means I'll be going in late to work, which means I have to get everything ready for tomorrow today.

Sigh!

I'm not sure about blog posts for a while---too many other things to do.  I've got vintage cards set for every day, so there will at least be those.  When I can get something else up, I will.  It may not be Christmassy.  It may not be coherent.  It may not be pretty.  But you can keep checking back to monitor the progress of my breakdown.

It's the hap-happiest season of all!

  

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

The juxtaposition of the gold and the silvery-blue details on the front of this card give it an off-register, almost 3-D effect.  I kind of like it.

 

 They flopped the picture of the church for the inside of the card.

I love the font on the inside message!

Your Vintage Christmas Cards of the Day

Of course, it's not just the fronts of the cards that are so wonderful.  These little bits and bobs come from the insides and backs of yesterday's cards.  Can you match them to the correct card front from that post?

I think the little reindeer is my favorite!  (Although I do love that font on the word "Greetings.")

It's time for vintage Christmas cards!

Here are your vintage Christmas cards of the day.  Let's start with some sweet vintage Santas!

Friendly, aren't they?  Hope you enjoyed them.  More tomorrow!

You know what's fun?

Finding vintage books about the rhythm method!  That's what's fun!

Love the logo!

The full title!

Every corner heard from!

It's even got cool, tipped in charts!

 

And somewhat suggestive drawings!

Well, I thought it was fun!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Kitsch-mas! (Part II)

Let's see....

Red plastic pot? Check!

Plastic evergreens?  Check!

Plastic holly with garish berries?  Check!

 

Santa?  Of course!

But wait there's more!

Baby Jesus in the manger?  Check!

Yep!

It's Kitsch-mas!

Gotta love it!

(Of course, nothing beats Naked Santas when it comes to Christmas Kitsch!)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Kitsch-mas! (Part I)

Or maybe Cat-mas?

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Vintage Christmas!

For decoration and illumination!  Pretty much covers it all, don't you think?

Happy December Monday Rambles!

Manomanomanoman!  How the heck did it get to be DECEMBER?  Parts of this year crawled by, while other parts seem to have flown!  Dang!  I've still got a lot to do before the year ends, like reinstall my printer--thank you Windows 8.1--so I can finish scanning my vintage holiday cards.  It's time to get all those posts set up!

I actually thought I would get that done over the weekend, but I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday.  It seems to be settling in my chest, which means I'll probably have to go to the dr. to get rid of it.  I spent most of Thanksgiving in bed, only emerging to eat my three survivor feasts, because a stupid cold ain't gonna stop a survival feast.


I spent Wednesday afternoon at the booth trying to get a bunch of stuff accomplished:

Move books to new booth space
Close out religion wall
Move religious merch to space in big booth where books used to be
Tidy and prep for Black Friday
Finish Xmas display
Take down Thanksgiving and Fall items
Set up gift items display

I pretty much failed to get most of it done, so I had to go in Friday, Black or not.  Cold or no cold.  We were busy, but in spurts.  It wasn't steady at all.  I fell victim to one of our "changed my minds."  We've got a special breed of customers who will wander the store, filling their cart all the while, then decide at the register that they don't want half of it.  Since her process involved dismantling part of one of my displays, I had to actually put that one together twice.

I did manage to get everything done on Friday, so I am heading back today to tidy from the weekend and work on my storage space.  I also need to price and put out more comics, they've been selling steady lately.

I was going to take pics of my moving and transitioning, but as usual, I started and got busy and then forgot to take more pics!  Here are some, but you'll have to fill in the story a bit.

This is the new book area before I started it.  That door opens to my new storage area.  I'm not quite done with it yet, so no finished pic.  I decided that it made more sense to keep my religious stuff in the same general area and make my new wall space something different.  That way, my regulars who buy my religious stuff would still be able to find it.

Moving books means moving shelves.

Ta da!

I'm going to miss the old religion wall.  I'm still second-guessing that decision.

I think all the moving upset Jesus.

Interestingly enough, that piece sold once I moved it.  It had been sitting around for months.

New religion space

The new religion space is a bit more compact than the old wall.  I've had to move the books and pamphlets to the new book booth.

Blow molds peeking out from behind....

.....AnnaLees nestled underneath

I was also finally able to get my shit together and finish my Xmas display, which had been in various stages of completion since the first week of November!  I just kept second-guessing myself and doubting everything I did and could not seem to pull it together.  But I finally did and I think it looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself.  (I've already sold all my wrapping paper!)

This coming Saturday is our big holiday festival at the Peddlers Mall.  Santa is going to be there!  I'm going to be in the booth making deals.  I'd like to clear out some of the books especially.  I have a lot to get ready before then, so I'll be out there a few times this week, provided this cold doesn't win the battle and lay me out for a few days.

Gratitudes

Happy Tofurkey Day, Everyone!

I hope that you are enjoying time with family and friends, feasting, maybe a football game or a parade, perhaps even the beginning of Hanukkah!  Me?  I'm celebrating!  This is my survival feast weekend.  We're going to cook and eat three big ole meals between now and Sunday.  (I've already ordered new clothes to accommodate the meal plan.)

Why three?  Well, this is the Thanksgiving I didn't know if I would make.  The year started out kind of rough for me, as you all know.  But that is all in the past now. so it's time to dig in!  I'm truly thankful to be here.

Some other things I'm thankful for:

My family.  I could not have done this without Keith and the cats.  I have to keep this section short, because when I start thinking about the whole experience with them, I start crying.  We're going to tell Keith's mom about the engagement over Christmas when we see her.  (We didn't want to do that over the phone.)  The wedding will probably take place after the first of the year--most likely in Chicago.  I'm also thankful for positive societal change, no matter how slowly it's come.

My extended family.  We've dwindled quite a bit in the last few years, but I feel closer than ever to the ones of us who are left.

My booth.  Junking!  Ain't it grand?  Nuff said!

My blog.  I appreciate so much hearing from each of you through comments and emails.  You really make my day sometimes.

I could go on and on and one, but these are the highlights--the things I'm thankful for every day.  I have dishes to prepare, so I have to go.  Take care and have a good day.  Best wishes to all who read this!

I have a new look!

With everything else going on, I forgot to mention my mini-makeover.  I got new glasses for my birthday!

I still need a haircut!

I'm back in bifocals again, which is a relief.  I could barely see out of the pair that I was wearing.  I broke my last pair of bi-focals a couple of years ago, so I went back to wearing the pair I had before them.  Then I broke that pair, so I went back to the pair I wore before that pair.  It's nice to be up to date again.  I also got try out contacts, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet.  Just too much going on.

As you can see, I'm going for nerd chic now!

Monday Rambles

Hello, my dearly neglected little blog-thingie.  I just haven't felt much like working on blog posts lately.  My house is a mess.  I'm fighting the urge to sit down and read comic books all day.  I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and it helpfully uninstalled my printer.  I'm going through stuff like mad at the booth--comic books and Christmas trees in particular, although ornaments are starting to sell too.  Thanksgiving is coming.  And i still have too trashed vehicles in front of the house!  In a little less than a month, we head to Arkansas to see Keith's mom.  I'm house-sitting the week before that.  I've got tons to do and am running out of time in which to do them.  And that includes blog posts.

Thankfully (heh!), today is the only day I work this week.  Well, I do have to go to a training tomorrow, but that's more sitting and looking surly at all the extra stuff I'm going to be asked to do without pay than actually working.

Speaking of the cars, they are supposed to be towed this week.  I hope so.  I am tired of being rubberneck central.  I was on the bus last week going past the house.  Everyone turned to look at the smashed cars, while I sunk in my seat!

We're still waiting for the paperwork to confirm things, but both vehicles have been declared to be totaled.  We should have a new car by Wednesday.  I'm ready for this horrid thing to be over.  Whoever did it has gotten away and not been found at this point, and there is little hope that he/she will ever be.

I decided to take the storage space at the Peddlers Mall, which is going to involve closing my religion wall and moving things around.  We started taking stuff over for storage yesterday and have already mostly cleared out the living room.  My hope is to have everything in the storage space by the end of the year.  I'm already finding things that I had forgotten about that should have gone to the booth ages ago.  I'm going to spend tomorrow and Wednesday at the booth, kind of getting things organized and ready for Black Friday.

I also finally cleaned up this disaster of a desk yesterday.  I pulled a whole tub of stuff that had kind of accumulated here that didn't belong.  Now I'm trying to figure out how to deal with this:

Sheesh!  It's a wonder I could find  the computer!

This week, I'm hoping to feast like no one's business.  I got a lot to be thankful for this year!  I hope you and yours have a Happy Thanksgiving!
   

I missed Monday! (Again!)

This is starting to become a habit, one I need to break.  How are we all going to start our week without Monday Rambles?  Sorry about that.

This time it's at least partially because there's not too much to report.

The vehicles are still smashed up in front of the house.  We've become a stop on the rubbernecker tour.  Yesterday morning, I watched a guy on a bicycle slow down to gawk at them.  We're still waiting the insurance appraiser to check them out before we have them towed off.  I know the neighbors are so thrilled with this.

I am so afraid I'm going to lose Baby (that's the truck).  Unfortunately, I'm fixing to really need her over the next few months.  (More on that in a bit.)

We took Chiquito to the vet Saturday, prompting him to have a total break with reality.  My sweet little baby boy turned into some kind of wildcat!  He growled.  He hissed.  He spit.  He was so wild that they were unable to complete the examination.  Thankfully, they were able to give him his shots and do the blood draw.  His tests came back clear, so we took him home, with a recommendation that we sedate him before bringing him in next time. 

I spent Sunday at the booth, trying to pull Xmas together.  I'm quite honestly overwhelmed!  Nothing seems to be working no matter what I try.  There's a lot riding on this year.  Besides sales, the booth that gets the most votes for its decor gets a free month of rent in January.  My problem is that I don't know the difference between Xmas decorating and Xmas displays!  I want to sell all this stuff, which means that it's going to be handled, fondled, misplaced and knocked over!  What to do?  What to do?  I'm going back Wednesday to see if I can finish it up.  If I can make it presentable, then I'll take some pics.

Another part of the booth stress is that I am behind on a special project for the booth.  I see everything in my head, but the time just hasn't been there to work on it.  Maybe in a few weeks.  It's kind of cool.

I'm debating getting storage space at the Peddlers Mall.  They have some limited space available for vendor storage, and one of those spots is open right now.  The problem is that it's located behind a wall space booth and the door to it is in the middle of that booth.  So, to get the space, I have to take the booth.  I'd have to give up my religion wall to be able to afford it, so that material might get moved to the new space.  I don't like breaking up my spaces though, so I'm not sure what to do.  I have got to get all this stuff out of the house though, and the storage space is cheaper and larger than I could get from a storage rental place and a lot more convenient.  Still not sure what to do.

If I do, then I'll be super-busy for a few weeks getting stuff moved over there.  Sure would be nice if the truck were available.

More to come.

Street Views

This is what our street looks like today.

That would be my truck.  

It's not normally parked quite so close to the tree in front of our house.

That's our car.  It's not normally parked up on the sidewalk in front of the neighbor's house like that.

They had some middle of the night help to get where they are.  Help from some jerk who couldn't be bothered to stop and let anyone know what he had done.  Not even to call the police.

Of course, he left some other signs that he was there.

 

I'm going to miss that truck.  It great for hauling furniture.  It's also a 1988 Nissan worth about 500 bucks.  I don't think I'm going to get much in terms of replacement or repair settlements.  Sigh!

The physics of the whole deal is what blows my mind the most.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how they ended up sitting parallel to each other.

 

My total nerd gene kicks in when I can't process what's going on around me.

No yard sales tomorrow.  It's a good thing the rental has already come through, otherwise we'd have to cancel Chiquito's vet appointment for tomorrow.

Sigh.