Australian Home Journal...

The Australian Home Journal was a magazine mostly about fashion for the average woman.   Each cover featured 3-5 outfits and inside were full-size paper tissue patterns and instructions on how to make them up. There were also more outfits illustrated inside, and you could buy them by mail order from the AHJ pattern service. The rest of the magazine featured knitting and crochet patterns, fashion-related DIY and handy hints, short fiction, advice columns, recipes, and plenty of ads for powders and potions to keep you regular, make you slim, and keep your baby quiet. 

Here's some of the covers of the magazines I've collected, dating from 1939-1956, and some black and white illustrations of the fashion advice given inside.    You can see what the well-dressed Australian woman was wearing back then.  Enjoy!

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Etsy Treasury...Breathtaking Handmade

My thanks to Etsy seller, Sukran, who used one of my vintage crochet patterns from my Etsy shop, Vogue Vintage Knits, for a 1953 circular shawl, in her Treasury called "Breathtaking Handmade".  I am so pleased to be included with all the talented craftspeople in her Treasury.

Sukran makes the most beautiful, intricate jewellry.  Please go and check out her Etsy shop.  I'm just off now to read her blog, http://sukran-kirtis.blogspot.com/.

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Little Bits of Paper...

A couple of years ago I became interested in making paper collages.  I enjoy the whole process of taking bits of paper and turning them into something pleasing to the eye.  No surprise that the subject of my collage work was PARIS and HAUTE COUTURE. I spent many happy hours cutting and pasting--it made me feel like I was back in elementary school! 

Here's some the results of my ACEO(*) endeavours: 

And last but not least, my favorite because of the RED coat:

*In case you aren't familiar with ACEO's, Art Cards Editions and Originals, they're 2.5 x 3.5 inch heavy cardstock which artists trade and collect.  Have a look on etsy.com and you'll find many talented artists selling ACEOs.  It's a great way to collect artwork!

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French door knockers...

The ornateness of French doors is something else that I love to photograph.  Here are just a few from my collection of photos.  Enjoy!

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Resting in Peace...French Style...

I love taking photos of things other people don't usually pay much attention to.  Architectural details fascinate me, no matter where they are.  As strange as it may sound, I love visiting cemetaries, reading tombstones, and taking photos.

The photos of the vault doors in this post were taken at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise  in the 20th arrondisment of Paris, and cemetaries in Nice and Collioure.  Pere Lachaise is really one of the loveliest, quietest places in the city.  It's hard to believe that you are in the middle of Paris as the main sound you hear is wind rustling through the trees.  

While you're there, be sure to find Jim Morrison's grave--it'll be the only one with a guard keeping watch over visitors.  You can buy a map just outside the gates (you'll need one), because there are so many famous people buried there.  My favorites are Chopin, who is buried in a beautiful white vault, and Edith Piaf, whom you will need to look for under her family name, Gassion.  

You'll be amazed at some of the vaults in the cemetary.  They are the size of small homes.  There are graves there from the 1700s of families that have apparently completely died off and the vaults are disintegrating from neglect, but amazingly, it's still a working cemetary.  It's really impossible to see the whole of the cemetary in one day and if you do go, you need to wear sensible shoes as the sidewalks among the graves have been disturbed by tree roots from all the beautiful trees that provide the shade on a hot day.

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Vintage French Textiles...

Vintage textiles are one of the things I always look for whenever I visit France.  I couldn't resist snapping a photo of these lovely little children's outfits I found in an antique store in Pezenas in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.

I can't imagine little Bobby or Janey wearing something like these nowadays!

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Pretty in Pink...

How can you be in a bad mood when you're wearing PINK?

Don't these photos from my collection of vintage Vogue Knitting magazines make you smile...

Or perhaps these two lovelies  I chose from my photo collection of Paris museum trips?

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