Rainbow Love

Yesterday I freaked out over this page from a 1980 Flash comic. Gorgeous. Maybe you can do something crafty with it?


I especially love this era of Flash because the superhero's name is the same as my husband. Not "Flash" but "Barry," hee hee.


A delish rainbow treasury including my recycled paint sample coasters by rockpilewest.



At night I have been working on a rainbow granny square afghan. My first!


More rainbow themed goodness from Etsy Treasuries here.


I also have stuff tagged "rainbow" in my shop:

Some Cool Things

There are so many cool things to share!

Lots of exciting things are happening in the Crab Apple world.

In December, we had the opportunity to have a table at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. We showcased vintage kid book and comic book journals, buttons, and mirrors.


This month, loads of journals will be part of the grand opening of the 114 boutique in Smithville, Texas. Here is a preview of some notebooks that were specially made for the 114 opening.


The very popular Black ABC poster cards are now available as a set of post cards. Hooray!


During the post holiday slow time, I had the chance to go through some boxes of paper ephemera. I thought I would share a few of the goodies. Enjoy!

Vintage Airmail Stickers

There must be lots of people out there who love mail, postage and airmail ephemera. This is the most popular item in my shop. I just spent the morning making a new bundle of these guys and thought it would be nice to share them with the world.


This set of vintage airmail stickers comes in a package of 6 sheets of unique labels. The images are scans of my personal collection of airmail labels. I have them professionally printed on full sheet label paper. That means you cut them apart as you need them and peel the back off when you are ready to stick 'em.

The entire set can be found here in my shop. Long live mail!

To Scan or Not to Scan?

My favorite source for vintage images is the Golden Book Encyclopedia 0f Natural Science series from the 1960s.

I use the images for buttons, mirrors, cards, and for my *thrilling* new line of journals and organizers with cutout images sandwiched between thick plastic covers.


These volumes are so full of fun graphics that cutting out one picture usually means sacrificing an equally cool image on the back page.


In an effort to comfort myself, I have started to create my own catalog of some of my favorite images. I thought I would share one of recent scans....

Enjoy! xo, melissa

A Fabulous Shop Update, If I May Say So!

Oh, there are goodies in the shop and a fresh new batch that I am super excited about!





-New Eye Candy Binder/Organizers in ROCKIN Sassafras Lass papers
-Mail-a-Books in crazy beautiful Que Sera Sera patterned papers
-A new item I have introduced called "Pound O Paper"

In the next shop update, there will be awesome new laminated luggage tags from our favorite papers, awesome 3d bird stickers, glittered Christmas cards, and butterfly collages. WHOA.

Plus, a new set of freakin' awesome vintage game board journals. So STAY TUNED!!!

Vintage Pattern Restoration

I have a box of fun but really battered old patterns. It would be fun to do something crafty with them, so I decided to take a stab at digital "restoration." Here are the results:

This was the in-between version, where I removed what I felt was unsightly wear, but kept the authenticity.

Does anyone have an opinion on which is better? I am thinking about making a few journals and cards out of these...

FREEBIES! Old US Air Mail Postage Stamps

These are so cool! I found them in a huge stamp collection I won on ebay. They were the only US air mail stamps in among hundreds. I just had to scan them to have them for keeps. Then I thought, HEY! Everyone who loves stamps should be able to play with these, too.

Enjoy!

A Sneak-y Peek-y

I'm working on a special project for a VERY special friend. She is a teacher and has requested a custom calendar with a vintage school theme. Here's a little peek at the goodies that will be inside the calendar:

Etsy Favorites 1 of 10: Cat Bishop

I decided it was time to showcase some of my favorite Etsy artists. I plan to do 10 by July 10.

Here is number 1: Cat Bishop of Artsy

This talented Etsy Artist, Scupltor, and Photographer - Cat Bishop of Artsy - was featured on the front page this week. I am in love with every one of her pieces, but particularly these. Personally, I think that she has really fair and accessible prices for folks who want to start an art collection, and the beauty and simplicity of these figures is enchanting. She uses the same materials that I use and love to collect. Her talent gives the vintage pieces real personality. What could be turned into nightmarish creepy circus monsters instead become kindly loving beings with her creative touch. For those on a smaller budget, you can buy photos of these amazing scupltures to display. I LOVE ARTSY!!

Please visit her Etsy shop to see more wonderful sculptures!

Air Mail Goodies

We love airmail stuff. Just cuz. It's red. It's blue. It's modular. The very generous Babalisme from Indonesia featured a few of my airmail things among others in her blog today.

The most exciting part is her feature of airmail stationery from this super cool UK stationery store, P&C.

Photo originally from Oh Joy, another lovely blog. Now I feel like writing a letter!

Etsy Treasuries

I am so honored to say that recently I've been featured in TWO different etsy treasuries, both unique and quite lovely.

The first is a blue theme (expired) by Susantique and the second is a clock/time theme by ZAIcouple. Here are screen shots, or click to go shopping!

More Vintage Stickers

Now that my airmail sticker craftiness has been satisfied, it's time to do something with my juicy collection of vintage milk caps. Now in the shop, Vintage Milk Cap Stickers!