Antique market season is here!


This day is always much anticipated, opening day of Aberfoyle Market. Somehow this year I had forgotten about it until I saw a text from a friend that she was there. So of course I had to go.

It didn't take much convincing to get Isabella to go along for the ride. She is my best antiquing buddy. She loves the outdoor markets and has a good eye. Often she will spot great finds before I do! Years of training have obviously paid off ;)

Here are some things I spotted. Not all of these came home with me. Sometimes I just have to take a photo to capture something pretty. Often it's the colours or the texture that I am drawn to. So I walk around with my camera to take photos of all the inspiration that lay before me. 


Antique postcard books from France. I love these. 
The gold foil, fonts, letterpress, the black and white photos. 
The feel of the old paper.


Antique tins. Bright colours, great graphic qualities.



Vintage horticultural award ribbons. 

Love the patina of these. If I had a backyard shed that wasn't full of bikes and skateboards (and was all my own) I would turn it into a gardening shed with pin boards of inspiration (like these ribbons) and stacks of vintage gardening books. I would sit there with a cup of iced green tea with mint and plan my garden. Now do you see how much inspiration can come from a simple stack of ribbons? Ha!


Vintage Pigeon Race Trophy

Yes you read that right. Such a stunning trophy for such a quirky award.


 

  

Isabella likes to draw eyes so we were momentarily taken by this very large eye painted on a tin panel. It looked like an old ceiling panel. Maybe it came from a theatre?

Vintage bicycles, quirky statues and old scales.

This is a long post. If you want to know what we bought keep reading :)


A vintage atlas, music book and this antique guide to the Isle of Wight intrigued me. This last book is full of quirky ads. It's like a magazine but a book at the same time.


An antique clock face.


Our house number is on the old tin sign.


I know I don't need another globe. My shelf is full and has been for a long time. 
Maybe for Julian's bedroom?


A marble vase? a utensil holder? Not exactly antique but it's marble so I had to have it. I have a shorter one of these as well found at Goodwill not so long ago.


Isabella bought this pillow made from vintage cotton sacks. 

They were handmade by a lovely woman who enjoyed sharing the story of and history behind these antique cottons which were pieced together to form a pillow. She will be at the Milton Farm Spring Craft show happening May 3rd & 4th..


She was also selling these antique quilt pieces which we brought home. Isabella wants to frame these for her bedroom or make a pillow.


This vintage linen tea towel came home with me too. 
Love the colours and the linen is gorgeous.

Isabella also found some antique books that she liked and a few other collectibles. 
I love that a 12 year old wants an old book, in this age of e-readers.

If you read to the end of this unusually long post you must love antique markets as much as we do ;)

Happy hunting!

Debra


Etsy Pop-Up at West Elm Toronto!


It's a busy but fun week over here at Paper Parade Co.  On Saturday, I will be participating in an Etsy Pop-Up at West Elm Toronto.



The event is curated by Emma Reddington, blogger of The Marion House Book and home editor of Chatelaine magazine, so I was pretty excited to be invited to participate. I have been a fan of Emma's blog for a long time and love what she has contributed to Chatelaine magazine since her arrival there. It has become one of my favorite Canadian magazines. You can read Emma's blog post on the Pop-Up here.

West Elm also happens to be one of my favorite shops in Toronto. Great products and such a friendly team work there. It's always fun to hang out.

If you are in the city please come say hello to me at West Elm Toronto on Saturday, April 26th from 1pm - 6pm. I hear there are going to be some yummy treats from Glory Hole Doughnuts too.

I'll have select stationery, art prints and some fun gift wrap supplies from my shop , including some new designs. It's also a great opportunity to save on shipping.

I'm looking forward to meeting all the participating Etsy Designers including -->
·         Avril Loreti
·         Bookhou at Home
·         Smith Handmade
·         FitzyDesign
·         Pilo
·         CSFootprints
·         The Made & Found
·         Crown Flora

Hope to see you there! You can RSVP to the event here --> FACEBOOK.COM/WESTELM/EVENTS

catching up ...





Where did the month go? Suddenly it's Easter weekend, spring is finally here and there is a lot going on in this busy house.

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. We hosted dinner with family on Sunday. It was all about simplicity. Fresh, simple flowers in my milk glass cups, and rumply linen. It was a look I was going for, I promise. Who needs to iron linen? It is supposed to be rumpled. I am my mother's daughter.

We ordered a honey baked spiral ham from local west-end butcher Vince Gasparro. It was delicious and all I had to do was warm it in the oven. Keeping it simple. I made a mustard sauce to accompany it and our meal was rounded it with mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, asparagus and roasted carrots. We started off with Oh She Glows recipe for Carrot, Apple & Ginger Soup. Dessert - Lemon tarts, Lemon pie and chocolate date squares were provided by my lovely mother-in-law and Auntie Helga. Yum. 




I have been guilty of languishing over on Instagram of late. I do  apologize, but it's just too easy to share what inspires there when time is tight. But I do miss my blog, and have been told by friends, to get back to it. So here I am. But please come and join me on Instagram anyways :)



Have you heard of the #100HappyDays "movement"? 
It's a challenge to be happy for 100 days in a row. Now, I'm generally a pretty happy person, but sometimes we forget to focus on those moments in our day that make us happy. It can be fleeting. It can be something so simple, like walking in the sunshine with your kids, but it fills you with that warm and fuzzy happy feeling that you just want to freeze in time. 

Like this...




So it's simple. Every day I submit a snapshot of something that made me happy. I'm sharing on Instagram. I think it will be fun to look back at the end of the 100 days to reminisce.

Wishing you a very happy week.

Debra