Jorpins Vintage on Etsy

Now that the renovation is finished (or as finished as these things ever are), and we're pretty well settled back in Australia, I've been turning my mind and my time to some new projects. One of which is Jorpins Vintage - my new store on Etsy where I sell retro goodness. 

Channelling my love of all things mid-century I'm focussing on the 1950s through to the 1970s. Each piece is selected for its good looks and excellent condition. I won't list anything with chips or cracks. I have a rigorous quality control team on board (ie. me).

Currently I'm selling kitchen and dining ware, plus a vase or two, but I will also be listing some amazing vintage frocks in the coming months. The number of items in stock right now is slowly growing, so make sure you add Jorpins Vintage to your favourites!

Oh the places we'll go...

[Oh, where will you travel to... by Theater Clouds]

Over the next 104 days I'm in transit or away from home for 58 of them. That's 7 different trips, some with mini trips inside them, over the next 3 and a bit months.

We'll be visiting tombs (and water parks) in Gyeongju; avoiding/enjoying roller coasters in Singapore; celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary in Hong Kong; skiing in New South Wales; soaking up the sun (and salami) in Spain; and visiting the holy lands on a rather big boat. Which is all pretty awesome* but no doubt means that normal life (or what passes for normal life) will probably be interrupted.

(*understatement)

So over the next few months if you don't see me on Twitter or Instagram, or if I'm not leaving comments on all your wonderful blogs, or if things are a bit quiet around here - it's not because I don't love you, it's because I'm travelling, somewhere. Cue vintage travel posters...

If you're curious about the Helsinki and Finland posters - we fly to Europe via Helsinki. Yes, we'll only be there for about 5 hours in total, but how could I possibly leave those two posters of awesome out of the collage? 

ps. If you're a Dr Seuss purist, many apologies for the bastardisation of a much loved title...

Everyday Objects : Vintage Napkins

With a visit from one of my sisters-in-law and her family, last xmas was the first time in years that there was more than just the five of us around the festive table. And, as any sane person would, I saw this as reason to spend days hours trawling Etsy in search of the perfect set of vintage napkins for the occasion. 

At the time I was a little obsessed with a moody colour scheme of greys and blues, with a bright pop of yellow (see this). Not exactly festive but...well, I have no answer. 

The napkins of awesome above - in all their polka-dotty, daisy goodness - are from Ligonberries and Moss. The slightly more subdued floral numbers below are from Retro Rubbish, an Etsy shop that never fails to tempt me with it's fun retro loveliness.

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Everyday Objects is all about celebrating the design in our day to day lives.  Recognising those little things that bring a bit of happiness to our day through beautiful, thoughtful design or by reminding us of happy times gone by.  See all the posts here.

Everyday Objects : Vintage Cactus Glasses

I'm not a hoarder, but I'm by no means a minimalist either.  I do like having things, but they need to be carefully selected things.  Over the years my husband and I have built up a nice collection of everyday objects, things that we use day in day out but that speak to us in some way.  

Be they tacky or beautiful, simply styled or elaborately decorated, each of these things that we own have something delightful about them - a link to a fond travel memory, a handmade touch, thoughts of family or friends, classic design, vintage quirk or maybe just being perfectly designed to match a specific purpose.  

And I think we should all celebrate and enjoy the elements of design in our day to day lives.  Maybe you have a special cup for your tea each morning?  Or perhaps a crochet blanket made by your Nana that you snuggle under each night?  Yes, these are just 'things', but I think these small objects bring a little bit of happiness in to our lives when we use them each day.  

So, with that rather long winded and somewhat high reaching introduction, welcome to the first 'everyday objects' post on Good Things*!  Some of the objects I'm going to share with you have a story, some don't.  These vintage cactus glasses don't, but they are possibly my most favourite glasses ever, and I feel quite privileged to have them in my cupboard.

I first spied them in Mahleewan's fabulous Etsy shop Retro Rubbish whilst I was on a rather obsessive hunt for some vintage yellow napkins.  It was love at first sight, international shipping and all.

I've since learned that these glasses were given away by a chain of Arizona based gas stations in the 1950s and 1960s (read more here).  And (oh dear!) that apparently there is a matching pitcher, and a juice set, and dinnerware all with a cactus theme.  All of which I think I might need to track down...

Thrifty craft!

Whenever I go back home to see the folks I always make sure I set aside some time to visit the op-shop that's just around the corner from their house.  It's big and is constantly getting new stock, and whilst it can be tricky to find a real bargain there anymore (do all the op-shops employ expert pricers these days?), I always find something fun in their book section.  I'm a sucker for vintage penguins, kid's books and yes - old crafty things!  

On my last visit I picked up these three beauties:

Everything about this little book is great!  From the title (string things!), to those graphic diagrams, to the gorgeous examples of completed work.  I especially love the line drawings, I think they could be transferred to a whole bunch of things aside from 'string' art (embroidery anyone?).

My name is Emily and I am a font junkie...I'm not sure yet what use I'll get out of this fabulous font how-to but I couldn't possibly have left it lying on the shelf now, could I?

And how about this for a box of fun?  So many needlessly bright things to play with!  My friend got me a Knitting Nancy a while ago and I've quite enjoyed playing with that, so I'm looking forward to finding the time to figure out how all these plastic bits and pieces work.  Also, I kind of think no craft stash is complete without a fluorescent orange weaving aid...

Three vases I love right now...

I am slowly, slowly building a collection of white vases and I would very much love this stunning piece to be the next addition.  It's by German porcelain manufacturer Kaiser, and it can be found in the truly amazing vintage decor store 1001 Vintage (but don't you go and buy it ya hear?  It's mine, all mine!)

Even though I can't buy Jonathan Adler anywhere (not in Hong Kong! not in Seoul! and only the tiniest bit in Australia!) I torture myself by getting his updates delivered right to my inbox, where I can dream of what I might buy if they didn't charge US$300 for shipping one table cloth (you think I'm joking about that shipping cost? I looked in to it and unfortunately I'm not...).  First on my list would be something bright and cheerful from the Carnaby range, the blue scale vase perhaps?

And then, because it's all about bits of greenery floating in the air right now, there's these lovely test tube vases from Pigeon Toe.

Death by Doxie: The Vintage Edition

Meet Waldi, the official mascot of the 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich.  Waldi was designed by Otl Aicher who was clearly a genius.

Rightio, I'm off to scour eBay for some Waldi goodness.  Please, don't even think about out bidding me...

[images from here, here and here]

Vintage Bookshelf: Origami (Part II)

Ok, now I have total vintage origami book envy after my sister pointed this out.  It's a vintage pop-up origami book no less, and it's from a post on one of her favourite blogs - Bird & Banner.

You can see more photos here.

Vintage Bookshelf: Origami

This set of 'My Origami' board books have got to be one of my favourite Etsy purchases ever! (I bought them from Honey Brown Vintage, in case you're curious).  They are chockful of fabulously obscure instructions (at least to my uneducated origami eye) and fantastic photos.

Behold!

It's hard to go past the pigs in the field but I think the origami whales superimposed over the vast ocean are my favourite, what's yours?