A Bookish Farewell...

Yesterday I felt kind of like Kathleen Kelly when she said goodbye to her "Shop Around the Corner" in You've Got Mail.

I bid a fond farewell to the "Bookish" Space (#16) my daughter and I started over a year ago at a local antique mall.

We put everything on sale, and the things that didn't sell were packed up and hauled out (maybe there's an Etsy shop in my future...?)

The reason I moved away from this fun little business venture? There are two (and they don't involve Fox Books!):

1- Energy (my lack of). Our space was literally in a Brick Basement, and it required a lot of effort to get our "stuff" up and down those stairs, changing the look with the seasons. (Because if you're going to have a space at an antique mall, it has to look cute!) It took two of us. My daughter, the creative one behind this little hobby, had to move out of state last summer. She and her husband recently moved back, but she will be otherwise occupied:  Baby Number 2 is due in May (Grand-baby BOY again)!!!!

2- Space. My sunroom at home - where we stored our crafts and "to be sold stuff" - will be out of commission for a while (the room is hopefully going to be renovated or torn down and rebuilt soon).  There will be lots going on at my house!

Want to take a quick look back with me?  Here are some of my favorite photos of our Bookish little space...

We were so proud of these little tags my daughter designed!

My daughter's beautiful book page wreath.

This was a fun and festive spot!

So many fun books - vintage and antique.

Is there anything better than a suitcase full of books??

Got out some cobwebs, for a spooky Bookish look!

Last year's Spring offerings and creations.

Thanks for letting me share these few photos from our past (busy!!) year and two months.  I'm not going to leave you with the image of the bare walls (which I couldn't bear to photograph) in our empty space, so... 

Goodbye, Shop Girl.  For now.  

Hello, Blog Girl.  Welcome back.

Vintage Collectible Art - in Books!

The "hunt" is the best part of the BOOKISH business I share with my daughter at The Brick Basement in Fullerton, CA.  (Hopefully I'll be able to sell some of our finds online - more on that in the near future).

I'm especially excited about some books I found recently from the set  BEST IN CHILDREN'S BOOKS, because they are from my own childhood - my mom read aloud to us from the books in the set we had growing up.  Our volumes didn't have the book covers, so it's doubly fun to see the books with their original covers intact!

The 42 volume set, published between 1957 and 1961 by Nelson Doubleday.  Each volume highlighted a mix of classics, original new stories, poetry, and non-fiction from many notable authors.  They also showcased art from some of the better know illustrators and artists of that time.

Here are a few favorite illustrations from the books I have:

Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier
illustrated by Idellete Bordigoni (from volume #37)

Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit
illustrated by Maruice Sendak (from volume #35)

Volume #33 (1960) was full of vintage treasures:

Favorite Mother Goose Rhymes
illustrated by Adrienne Adams

Sophocles the Hyena by Jim Moran
illustrated by Andy Warhol (yes, you read that correctly)

A Dime's Worth for Free by Marion Holland
illustrated by Richard Scarry

Volume #31 (1960) is especially poignant, because of some very collectible art by the late Maurice Sendak that I'll show you in my next post;  but I'll end today's with these illustrations by the Petershams...

The Picnic Basket by Margery Clark
illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham

Not to be missed:  Volumes 1 and 18, with artwork by the D'Aulaires; Volume 20, with Jean de Brunhoff's Babar; Volume 40 has Dorothy and Oz by L. Frank Baum, with illustrations by Richard Scarry; and other volumes throughout the series that include art by Leonard Weisgard, Don Freeman, Paul Galdone, Barbara Cooney, and Peter Spier, to name a few.
Go here for a complete list of the 42 volumes and their author/illustrators.

I'm Late, I'm Late!

Yes, I have fallen into the black (Rabbit) hole of our little antique mall business, and have been neglecting my blog.

Well, that's not entirely true.  You haven't seen a lot of posts here lately, but I've been working slowly - like the Mock Turtle - on some upcoming book reviews and giveaways! (I also found some cute Alice themed printables to share with you - at the end of this post).

Coming up soon:  an author who creates fuzzy characters, and a glorious new children's book for Easter.

In the meantime, take a peek at what's been keeping my daughter and me so busy:  we've tried to create a little "Wonderland" in our Bookish space...

 Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, 'Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' 

She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof. 

 

 ...There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, ('which certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words 'DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters.

My daughter found the really cute free "Drink Me" tag printables here, from "Sweetly Scrapped".

An Update on Our Bookish Venture - We "Heart" It!

My daughter and I have been working hard on our new business, and after spending a full day on Saturday sprucing up our little "Bookish" space at the Brick Basement Antique Mall, we were tired - but it was a "good tired"! 

 

Anticipating Valentine's Day, my daughter has been crafting away, while I've been searching high and low for good vintage books.  Take a little tour...

(Back to front:) To the Heart of a Bear (I found a 1985 first edition); Brother Rabbit Works Magic, a rare find, one of the "Alder Bottom Stories" (pub. in 1929); and The Golden Age by Kenneth Grahame, with illustrations by E.G. Shepard.

I was beyond excited about finding this set of six Louisa May Alcott favorites, reprinted from the years 1911-1925!

A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young in a red cup atop the classic Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field, 1930 edition. And a beautifully illustrated version of Anne of Green Gables...

Two more treasured volumes: Gulliver's Travels and The Good Master.

So many books, so little time!  Next post I'll be sharing about a beautiful book for Valentine's Day by Tasha Tudor...for the whole family!

 

Books In A Brick Basement

Hi, Mom! 
[dear Readers, please know you're welcome to read along as I pen this quick note to my mother...]
As promised, here's an update about our Bookish space at the "The Brick Basement" [a local antique mall] in downtown Fullerton.  Your granddaughter and I are having FUN!  Take a peek at what we've done...

I'm finding lots of used and vintage books to sell, and Mary is having fun crafting beautiful things from the old music books you sent us.

Your little great-grandson even comes along once in a while to charm all the shoppers...

That's about it for now.  We had our St. Lucia Procession at Church yesterday, and I'll be posting about it soon!

We miss you and wish you were here!  Dad would have loved this place!

Love,

WENDY

Feeling "Bookish" after Black Friday and Cyber Monday...and SOME NEWS!

My family's Black Friday may sound strange to some...we had a late breakfast at our hotel, visited with extended family at my brother and sister-in-law's (while the now-adult cousins worked on a 3,000 piece puzzle), and then spent a wonderful afternoon walking along the breakwater and stopping for ice cream with my husband, kids, and grandson at the Santa Barbara waterfront.

Cyber Monday?  A pleasant blur.  I spent the day off my computer because I was at a local Antique Mall, The Brick Basement.  But I wasn't shopping.

HERE'S MY NEWS:
I was setting up a space there with my daughter!

We're calling our little shop "Bookish".  We'll be selling antiques and gently used and collectible books and vintage "bookish stuff".  My daughter is re-purposing book pages and old music paper for her crafty creations.  She made us some really cute tags:

I'll post pictures of our space soon!

In the meantime, take a peek at some of the treasures we'll be selling...We'll see how it goes.  Do any of you have experience with selling (or buying!) at Antique Malls.  We'd love any tidbits of advice you could give.

REMINDER: my Giveaway is ending soon - you still have a few days to enter for the Springerle Cookies and St. Nicholas book!  Just leave a comment (on this post, or go for  Details here.)  Giveaway ends on December 5th - Winner announced on St. Nicholas Day, December 6th!  Updated 12/6 - Giveaway over.