The Paper Girl

A Vintage Graphics Blog

2 Pretty Japanese Postcards

by +

Today’s vintage graphics are a pair of pretty Japanese postcards.

I don’t know the dates, I can’t read the text, so we’ll just have to admire the artwork—and the artwork is quite lovely. Check them out with me below.

A river on one side, a wall of trees on the other, and a walking path in the middle: the picture of serenity. A relaxing stroll through nature where the details get harder and harder to discern as the scenery stretches out before you. Love that perspective, it’s awesome. Little blips of brown-orange here and there hint at fall being on its way. This would make a gorgeous art print.

A waterfall thunders over the rocks below before the river can continue on its journey. Another lovely picture!

If you happen to know more about the artist, or the image series, please speak up in the comments below. I’d love to be able to get my hands on more of their work.

Thanks for joining me, stop in again soon for some more vintage graphics.

5 Antique Thanksgiving Postcards

by +

I missed Canadian Thanksgiving this year (it’s been a very busy time!) so I figured, well, better late than never—especially with all of the Thanksgiving postcards I have hanging around here!

My Gods. Turkeys all the way down except for one postcard. Just one.

A Tom shows off to some hens that really could not possibly manage to scrape up an ounce of care if their lives depended on it. What fascinates me the most about this piece is the snow-covered scenery: I rarely, if ever, see snow in Thanksgiving cards! I adore the little chickens. The one on the right that’s running off appears to be on a very important mission.

It was published, or at least copyrighted, in 1908 by M.W. Taggart in New York.

Now here’s a nice, simple sentiment:

Greeting and all Good Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving Day.

The wishbone is a nice touch! All that ornamentation on the lettering is gorgeous, I cannot imagine how long it would have taken to prepare.

It also attempted a turkey. It was a very vague attempt, I’ll still give them credit for trying!

Ah, textured paper, my old nemesis. Despite that, it’s a sweet image of a child feeding a turkey. The turkey doesn’t appear too thrilled about anything (which may just be because he’s aware he’s in a Thanksgiving card), let alone that there’s a small child within pecking distance.

Turkey’s just looking for The Ladies.

May the Harvest Moon shine on [full?] crops of happiness this Thanksgiving Day for you.

A Patty Thum postcard! Patty Thum was an American artist that was known for her landscape paintings. She was also an avid illustrator of children’s books and loved to paint roses. This lovely autumn scene would make a perfect print on its own—the typeface used here is very, very unusual.

It’s interesting, though none of the text is placed very well on this image.

Say, here’s your Thanksgiving!

This cheeky little bugger is from 1907, by the Ullman Manufacturing Co., a company with a fairly long list of products. They printed postcards, lithographs, and greeting cards, among other commercial print pieces.

I’m fond of this particular postcard because of this kid.

I hope you all enjoyed this batch of Thanksgiving postcards, and I can’t wait to see you here again for another round of ephemera!

1920 Funeral Card From Gamebridge, Ontario

by +

Elizabeth Jane Brock passed away in Gamebridge, Ontario, on Monday, May 3rd, 1920, as per her funeral card. Without this curious little piece, we may not know she existed.

Funeral card for Elizabeth Jane Carson, Gamebridge, Ontario
Inside of 1920 funeral card—just click on it to open in a new tab.

She was married to Adam Carson and was only 50 years old when she died. Her funeral left the family home at 2:15 pm on May 5th, 1920, and the church service started 15 minutes later.

I have never seen ‘intimation’ used in this way and had to look it up: it’s a subtle suggestion. A hint. If you were like me back then and couldn’t grasp a hint to save your life, you probably didn’t attend!

Since originally posting this piece, I stumbled upon the scan of the front, and decided it had to be in this post and not on its own. It’s as simple as the inside.

In Loving Memory funeral card from 1920

Very little needs to be said on a funeral card—a single glance tells you exactly what it’s all about.

If you prefer your ephemera clean and bright, I restored both sides of this funeral card for you!

restored funeral card of Elizabeth Jane Brock, Outside
restored funeral card of Elizabeth Jane Brock, Inside

Back then it was the norm for a person’s body to remain in the home until burial. Now, however, not really, though it depends on the culture. We in North America are separated from the realities of death and I sometimes wonder if that’s a bad thing—perhaps it’s why empathy is in short supply.

That, or I’m just feeling cynical today. Alas.

Funeral cards, memorial cards, mortuary cards, or remembrance cards are still made and distributed today. You won’t see them as often now as in the 19th and early 20th centuries, however. They’re a keepsake of the beloved dead, a small piece of history to tuck away for later.

Join me again soon for more ephemera and, perhaps, a little history lesson.

Cheers!

signed, missie

P.S. Consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my newsletter to help support the site. This is a passion project, and earnings from products, affiliates, etc. help me spend more time writing and editing.

4 Real Photo Postcards of Young Women

by +

The past several weeks have been super busy with re-arranging the store (Treasures by the Locks in Fenelon Falls), preparing for an upcoming job interview, getting Treasures’ social media sorted out, and getting my shops properly set up. Unfortunately, that has meant neglecting the things I want to be doing—like blogging. Especially blogging.

This week’s offering will be a short one, alas, though I do have several things in the pipeline and Plans afoot. Plans is capitalized because it is an Important Word, you see.

Among my various postcards have been some lovely early 1910s RPPCs featuring young women. The subject matter varies little otherwise, and I just like these images. They’re simple and kind of relaxing. They may be good for making cut-outs, too.

A real photo postcard showing a young woman looking at the camera. She is holding flowers, wearing a long flowy garment, and the background is a painted village.

Amag 6363B/6, by Albrecht & Meister AG. The postcard company that printed this image produced a lot of postcards featuring various actors and actresses, and started business in the 1860s. They were based in Berlin, Germany, with an extensive collection of offered postcards. I think my favourite detail in this piece is her outfit, the garment is very loose and flowing, not super-restrictive.

This company made several postcards of Mary Pickford that I would really like to get my hands on, hint, hint.

A cheeky lady on the beach, photographed by Alfred Noyer, whose work out of his Paris studio consisted of many beautiful women in varying states of dress. This real photo postcard is from the late 1910s. Noyer’s studio was in operation from the early 1910s to the 1940s, and the quality of his work is consistently very good. I would really like to have a swimsuit of the pictured style! The backdrop is definitely painted, this must have been a studio photograph.

Now isn’t this sweet? A hand-coloured portrait of a girl and her horse, also by Albrecht & Meister AG, numbered 63397/6. Horses were another common subject of Albrecht & Meister! The colourist paid close attention to the lighting here instead of applying a uniform colour to everything regardless of how bright it was supposed to be.

I wonder what secrets she’s telling her friend? Wouldn’t this be perfect for a horse-themed birthday invitation?

I admit to being extremely biased toward this postcard because I, too, love reading, though that’s not a very comfortable position for doing so. She may be writing in a journal, though, hence the file name. This is a Lithuanian postcard, I believe, and the translation (according to Google) would be “I congratulate you on the name day”.

Her outfit is adorable and I kind of want it.

Thank you for joining me this week. I hope you enjoyed this selection of real photo postcards of young women, and I hope you’ll stop by again soon.

Just so you know, I have updated my Ko-fi page with a new membership. Buy me a coffee and download all my printables for free (the digital files in the shop!) or donate monthly, starting at $1.00, to unlock the same.

Higher tiers get a little gift in the mail as a thank-you.

A Podia community is being developed that will allow me to offer things like courses. This sort of thing takes time, however, so all I can say is “watch this space” and hope. 😉

See you soon!

xoxo

Missie

The Leather Postcard: A Concept As Ridiculous As It Was Impractical

by +

During a very brief, very dark period in history (typed with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I assure you), postcard publishers decided that the best way to stand out among their competitors was to do something so different that it became impractical: they produced postcards made of leather.

Not stiff leather, which can be mailed with few issues, but soft and floppy deerskin.

This product of the early 1900s was made by burning images onto rectangular pieces of leather and then, maybe if they were feeling a little silly, adding some colour to the piece. The decorating method was called “pyrography” and involved heating up the tip of a sharp tool, like a poker, and using it to draw the desired image.

A leather postcard with two owls on it, one wearing a bonnet and the other wearing a slightly-conical hat. The message is: Remember me to my owl'd friends.
This pair of owls went to Detroit. Click to open the full image in a new tab and download it for your projects!

Subject matter varied from punny jokes like the above, to raunchy bits, to scenery. There were leather postcards for every occasion, want, or need (depending on your definition of ‘need’).

Some even had holes along the edges to allow collectors to sew their findings together into a wall-hanging or pillow! Novelty shops that sold these postcards were encouraged to display such a decoration in order to draw in more sales. Can you imagine?

The back of a leather postcard. The holes along the edges are more prominent in this shot. The words "post card" are burned into the upper part of the card, and there are lines for writing the address.
Note the holes and space to write an address—and only an address.

This fad lasted less than ten years before the United States Postal Service banned them from being mailed out—the soft, thin cards were getting stuck in mail sorting machines, making life a lot harder for the postal workers. The era of the leather postcard was over!

Temporarily.

People still sent them in the mail in envelopes instead of by themselves, and the leather postcard faded away around 1915. Many, many years later (though I’m not certain exactly when), leather postcards started showing up in Old West souvenir shops and were once more able to be mailed. Between better, newer mail sorting equipment and stiff leather being used in postcards instead of soft leather, they simply stopped causing problems.

We aren’t completely safe from the leather postcard, I guess. If we’re lucky, maybe they’re mostly contained to the American West and will leave the rest of us alone.

Until next time!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider signing up for my mailing list in the blog sidebar. You’ll get a weekly digest of The Paper Girl posts and you’ll stroke my ego, which will encourage me to do more things!

17 Pages of an Antique Shoe Catalogue, 1912

by +

A really interesting little piece that’s in my collection is this Dominion Shoe Company Catalogue of 1912-1913 styles from Hamilton, Ontario. I haven’t been able to find any information on the company itself, but this booklet still gives a really interesting look at what was en vogue at the time.

The cover of a small booklet titled "The Dominion Shoe Company, 1912-1913 Styles, Hamilton, Ontario"

Yes, the booklet is in terrible shape on the outside: the cover is torn and creased, yet it’s a fascinating thing. What does a cherub have to do with shoes? Absolutely nothing.

Page 1 of a small shoe catalogue. It reads: The Dominion Shoe Co. take this opportunity to thank their old customers for their support in the past, and express a hope that they will not only continue their patronage, but induce their friends to send a trial order. Through our Mail Order Department we can deal with you direct with certainty of satisfaction. We want your trade and will take pains to fill all orders promptly and accurately. We carry a full range of Men's, Women's, Boys', Youths', Misses', Children's and Infants' Shoes, Sporting Shoes, and Rubber Goods of all descriptions. Orders to the amount of $4.00 sent express prepaid to all parts of Canada. Width C is Narrow Width D is Medium Width E is Wide

According to the first page, this catalogue is but a tiny sample of what The Dominion Shoe Co. carried at the time. The addition of rubber goods is fascinating—what rubber goods did they carry? I mean, going from shoes to rubber goods of all descriptions is a bit of a jump.

Two pages from an antique shoe catalogue. On the first page is a laced shoe with a chunky heel that is described as Model 5—Men's, $4.00. A Nobby Oxford. Made in Tan, Velour Calf and Patent Colt. Sizes 3 1/2 to 11. In all widths. Page 2 describes a button-up shoe, Model 6—Men's $4.00. A very classy gun metal button oxford. Also made in tan, calf, and patent cold, with short vamps. Sizes 3 1/2 to 10. Widths C to E.

Each shoe is illustrated on these pages, with a title and description of materials. Even the available sizes and widths! Very classy shoes. In today’s currency they would cost approximately $126—though the prices would likely increase further than that because of the cost of materials and labour. They were made with real leather, after all.

Model 10—$4.00 A Handsome and Dressy Blucher Oxford Made in Patent Colt and Russian Tan Calf. Model 15 Police Bal Goodyear Welt $4.00 McKay Sewn $3.00 A Shoe for Ease Comfort and Durability Made in Box Calf and Dongola Kid on an extra wide last, with or without Leather lining.

These handsome shoes were also just $4.00 per pair, except for the McKay Sewn version of the Police Bal. None of those words are familiar to me.

Model 18—$4.00 The "Fitwell" Shoe Made in gun metal, tan, velour calf and patent colt, with wide or narrow toes. All widths. Sizes 8 to 10. Model 20—$4.00 A popular blucher cut shoe. Made in patent colt, box calf, Vici and Dongola Kid, with short vamp. Widths C to E.

I like both styles of shoe listed here. Ankle support! Classy appearance! Would look extra handsome with the right suit!

Model 25—To be had in $2.00, $3.00 and $4.00 Grades A stylish and standard shaped Blucher Made in box calf or dongola kid. To be had in any width from C to E. Model 30—$4.00 The business man's favorite Storm calf leather. To be had in black or Russian tan.

The standard-shaped Blucher listed here appears to be the everyman’s shoe, being available in multiple price grades (from a humble $2.00 up to $4.00) and in every width.

Model 35—$4.00 A treat for the feet A button boot for gentlemen in advanced and correct style. Made in patent colt, velour and tan calf. Model 10—$4.00 A stylish street shoe Blucher Bal Made in patent colt, vici and dongola kid

What exactly is “advanced and correct style”? Let me know when you figure that out!

Model 45—$4.00 Elegance and ease For dress or street wear. Made in patent colt, gun metal and tan. Widths D and E. Model 50—$4.00 Women's colonial pump Very popular style for the season. Made in patent kid and gun metal.

Although Model 45 looks a bit like a clown shoe from this angle, I’m sure it was a truly elegant product in its time.

Model 55 Made in $4.00 and $3.00 grades A nifty pump For dress or evening wear. Will fit snugly without gaping at sides. Made in patent kid, Russia tan and gun metal. High or medium heel. Model 60 Women's Goodyear Welt, $4.00 McKay Sewn, $3.00 An ideal and dressy Oxford. Made in patent kid and gun metal. All widths.

I really appreciate what looks like a bow on Model 60, in black-striped ribbon, no less!

Model 63 Made in $2.00, $3.00 and $4.00 grades. Ankle strap pump. Made in patent colt, tan and gun metal calf. Medium or high heels. To be had in all widths. Model 65—$4.00 A captivating three-eyelet oxford. Made in patent kid, patent colt and gun metal. Extension sole and Cuban heel.

Although I utterly hate heels I still find the ankle strap pumps to be utterly adorable. Maybe it’s the bow. It has to be the bow.

Model 68 Made in $3.00 and $4.00 grades The "tourist" last Made in gun metal, tan and vici kid McKay Sewn, $3.00 Goodyear welted, $4.00 Military, Cuban, or high heels To be had in widths B, C and D Model 70 Made in $3.00 and $4.00 grades Characteristic patent colt blucher Made with dull kid tops, with light or extension sole, with Cuban heel Widths C to E

Ah, we’re starting to get into the boots. Dark bottom half, slightly lighter top half is a very neat look.

Model 72—$4.00 Aristocratic and genuine style Made in patent kid and patent colt. Dull kid tops, Cuban or military heel. Widths C and D. Model 75—$4.00 A general favourite blucher cut. Made in patent kid and vici, with dull kid tops, Cuban heel.

Aristocratic and Genuine Style, indeed. How about a fancy cane and hat to go with that footwear?

Model 80 Goodyear Welt, $4.00 Also to be had in a $2.00 and $3.00 grade, McKay Sewn. Perfect fitting and comfortable. Made in Vici or Dongola Kid, with patent tips. To be had in any width from A to E. Model 83—$4.00 Very fashionable this season. Made in patent kid and gun metal, also to be had in tan calf. Extension sole. Military or high Cuban heels. Widths C and D.

A note about Vici: it’s kid leather, chrome-tanned with an oil and soap finish. This type of kidskin was developed in the 1880s and featured in the likes of Vanity Fair, very fancy stuff. Kidskin itself is a very soft and thin leather that was mostly used for gloves. Sometimes lambskin or calfskin were used instead as they were similarly soft and thin.

Model 85—$4.00 Ultra fashionable button style Made in patent kid and patent colt. Cuban heel. Widths C and D. Model 90—$4.00 A natty business shoe Made in box calf and tan, with regent toe and extension sole. All widths.

The word ‘natty’ means neat, as in fashionable. This term was coined in the 18th century and would still have been in common use in the early 20th century. It’s definitely not slang that I hear very often, though a lot of that is from me being in northeastern Ontario and not, say, London, England.

Model 95—$4.00 Very smart and dignified With short vamp. Made in vici kid, with patent tips. Extension, or turn sole. To be had in all widths. With high or low heel. Madel 100—Goodyear $4.00 Same shoe made in $3.00 quality Very stylish and gracefully shaped Made in vici kid, box calf and tan. Width A to E.

I love how the descriptions repeat themselves, just with different wording, as if the writer was flipping through a thesaurus the entire time.

We carry a full range of Misses' and Children's shoes and slippers. By describing quality, style and size, we can serve you with promptness and to your entire satisfaction.

This is the very last page. A couple of interesting decorative elements here, as well as the hope that the reader will seek this company out for other products.

An illustration of a woman with a parasol, wearing a flowered wide-brim hat. She stands behind a big shoe.

The back cover. I love this graphic. The lady with her parasol, looking rather stylish, and the shoe just… existing there, as they do.

What did you think of The Dominion Shoe Company’s selection? Did you have a favourite type of shoe?

I hope you’ll join me again soon for more vintage graphics, and remember to subscribe to my mailing list!

Cabinet Card Folder & Cover

by +

I’m rather excited about the piece I have for you this week.

You’ll have to excuse my tardiness—I had a very sudden bug hit me on Thursday evening and I’ve been out of commission until today. It’s terrible, but it’s also the only time I’ve been sick in several years. I’ll take that over how sick I used to get every year when I was working with the public all the time. Getting that sick now would be far more concerning than it was back in ye olde days as I have no idea how well I’d bounce back!

At any rate.

Cabinet cards replaced the much smaller carte de visite, and in the process, they also managed to toss traditional photo albums by the wayside for a good thirty years or so until manufacturers were able to adapt.

Photography studios got very creative with how they presented these pictures to their clients, especially since the final product would be displayed in cabinets (as per the name) or elsewhere in the home, where they could be seen by anyone instead of tucked away in photo albums.

This folder came with one of the cabinet cards in my collection. It’s heavy cardstock with a slightly-embossed design on the front, and would open up to reveal the cabinet card tucked inside. This is just one example of many that are out there, but this one is mine.

Photographers would decorate their work with their name in fancy script on the picture’s frame and/or holder. You would also find the studio’s full logo in all its stylized glory plastered on the back of some cabinet cards, depending on the decade, or decorating the folder somewhere. Embossing was especially beloved.

So much love and skill went into the creation of each cabinet card and its associated media. Each aspect is a piece of art on its own that’s worthy of study and interest. That’s what I love the most. It also makes figuring out eras a lot easier when there are certain features, like use of heavy cardstock instead of light cardstock, that were all the rage in each decade.

Here is the inside cover of a cabinet card holder. It had scalloped edges—popular in the 1890s—with an embossed design on one panel and the photographer’s information tucked into a corner (C.A. Lee of Listowel, Canada, took the photo that was contained in this folder). A previous owner wrote the information pertaining to the cabinet card: Mary Isobel Jickling, Dec. 23, 1915. She passed away in 2013.

I recommend using the above image as a background for a larger piece. There’s so much texture here! It’s worn with age, but not to the point where it can’t be given new life in an artistic endeavour, and it’s on a canvas-style cardstock. Very cool.

That’s all for today. I am working on a fresh batch of vintage graphics for you all to browse, so stay tuned and see you soon.

9 Vintage Photographs of Everyday People

by +

The best thing about old photographs is that they show us what life was like in the not-too-distant past.

We see the goodbyes, the hellos, the see-you-soons. These old photos represent the memories of people that can’t speak to us anymore, and who couldn’t leave behind videos the way we can now. Can you imagine how easy it will be for our descendants to understand—or at least know—our time period? Between the video cameras of the mid-20th-century and the cell phone footage of today, they’re set. They’re going to know everything we were up to—if anything is preserved, at any rate.

A simple farmhouse, a portrait of a family at rest.

This is likely out by one of the outbuildings, or a barn, it’s hard to say. Note the windows lack glass. I have no doubts that building is still standing today, if it wasn’t knocked down by other people.

A (presumably) happy time. I particularly like the the wear and fading on the edges of this photograph because it lends some extra character to a picture that already has a fair bit going on.

In my attempts to figure out what “Angels Black As Night” even means I have only found references to the Night Witches of WWII. I don’t imagine these two have anything to do with them, as I don’t think these pictures are from Russia, but I really have no way of knowing. All I can see is two people standing together in front of a hedge or tree. Maybe there are other things I’m missing!

Photographed on horseback in a surprise “hey, say cheese!” sort of pose. Or maybe it’s a “stop screwing around and get back to work” pose. We almost have an excellent silhouette here if you ignore that the front hooves are cut out of the frame!

An attempt was made to get a nice photo of the kids, and it went mostly alright. The little fella is not pleased to be standing getting his picture taken, and the little girl doesn’t seem overly enthused, either. That’s a “I don’t want to smile so I’m gonna pretend” smile if I’ve ever seen one!

A very nice photograph of a young girl with a… fish bowl? It’s hard to tell if there’s anything in there, even with zooming right in close, so I’m not sure if that’s just a house decoration or if there may be a pet in it. Folks certainly didn’t know any better then, and they’re too stubborn to house the poor things properly nowadays (yes, goldfish need filtration and a lot of space). A special occasion, maybe?

This young fellow is looking dapper all dressed up, and the wear from storage adds a slight creepy factor to the photographer’s shadow. This would be a great photo to play with for a horror-adjacent project. Turn the boy into a critter, add some stuff into the background—the possibilities are endless!

That’s all for this week. Stay tuned for more free vintage images, including some colouring pages from an old Saalfield activity book!

***

I am slowly working on fleshing out and expanding some of my older entries so that they’re more interesting, and more worthwhile to browse. If you go back into the depths of the blog you may notice the changes that have been made!

Like separating gallery blocks into single images.

I am hoping that this helps with visibility, and it will cut down on the number of posts that just have one or two images. I want to make your visits worthwhile, after all!

Sponge Market, Nassau, Bahamas Postcard

by +

There was a time when the Bahamas were a hotbed of sponging activity.

Hundreds of ships harvested sponges from the islands’ crystal-clear waters, resulting in an export of over a million pounds in 1917 alone for use in homes around the world. Sponging brought good money to families that took part, and spongers could make a decent living diving for the aquatic invertebrates.

The sponging industry in the Bahamas briefly died in the late 1930s after a fungus wiped out the sponge beds, then saw a revival in the 1950s. There has been a push to renew and modernize the sponging industry over the last decade or so.

The real photo postcard below shows a sponge market in Nassau, Bahamas. Divers or spongers on a ship would harvest the sponges from the sea floor with a special tool: a long pole tipped with a cutting hook. The sponge would be cut above the base, leaving some of the creature behind, and the sponges would grow back within a few years.

Upon returning to port, the harvest would be unloaded, cleaned, sorted, and dried. Sponges could be sold once they were dry. Not much has really changed since then—the harvesting method is still about the same, though most often sponges are cut by someone on a ship and not by a diver.

As much as things have changed, one thing remains the same: the demand for Bahamas sponges is still high. They are a renewable resource that does extremely well in the waters off the islands, and, unlike synthetic sponges, they are biodegradable. They’re probably not quite as disgusting as the synthetic ones, too. Those suckers smell weird after the first use.

… I think I might need to go shopping.

Anyway, if you haven’t subscribed to my mailing list while you’ve been browsing the site, I’d love it if you’d join me. You’ll be notified when new posts go up, and you’ll be the first to know of any fun features I add to the site—plus, I won’t spam the heck out of you. I’m not a barbarian, after all.

Thanks for reading, see you again soon for some more vintage images.

P.S. Have you visited the shop lately? You should.

A Hard-Working Postcard

by +

Working hard? Hardly working? I think this vintage postcard does a good job of stating the obvious:

When it comes to hard work I’d rather do nothing better.

Same here. Same here.

Unfortunately for me, I’m not programmed to just ‘do nothing’, and my idea of working hard looks like ‘doing nothing’ to the people around me! Those of you that do similar work to mine know that feeling all too well, eh?

“What are you doing?”

“I’m working.”

“You’re just on the computer!”

Well, yes. That’s where my work is! Of course I’m on the computer. Look, see? I’m even writing a blog post! You’ll be able to read it in 10 minutes!

Ahem, anyway.

The above postcard came with the same batch that included the ol’ Oklahoma jackass, so there are a handful of other gems waiting in the wings to be revealed. It’s so simple! Sometimes simple is the best thing ever and gets our messages across without wasting too much time. Bold text on a bright colour is eye-catching enough without needing anything else to make somebody look.

In the past weeks I’ve been working on preparing a bunch more vintage graphics for the site, brainstorming what else to offer, and tweaking what my internet presence looks like. I’m spread so thin between Ko-fi, Etsy, here, and social media expectations that I’m starting to lose my mind! I’m also seriously considering going back to school for a proper career change. I just don’t know what. As tempting as getting a full Graphic Design education is, I just… don’t want to do that at a corporate level. Know what I mean? Doing creative stuff for other people full-time, stuff I don’t have much control over, is a great way to completely burn myself out.

I’m leaning toward accounting. I’m not terrible with numbers, I enjoy playing with them, and it’s different enough from the things I like to do for fun that I won’t burn out on it so quickly.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be giving this up any time soon! It might actually give me more time to work on it, if it gives me the means to start my life over again!

Anyway, what about you? What have you been working on?