Author: AlesiaKaye

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Vintage Print Advertisements from Alesia’s Attic

As I mentioned in a previous post my mother and I started going through the many things our family has collected over the years to sell on eBay as we begin the process of downsizing. Within the many items we have around the house we found hundreds of old magazines, most in great condition and some dating back as far as the 1960s if not older.

I’ve begun a Vintage Print Ad business as I have really fallen in love with these old advertisements. I’m eventually going to fully get into the Ephemera specialty. I have found old Greeting Cards, Advertising Booklets, Recipe Booklets, so many of these type of items that I’m gathering quite an inventory.

Definition of Ephemera:

In a nutshell, to collectors “ephemera” are vintage printed or written items which originally served some specific purpose and were not expected to be retained or preserved, but which are now cherished.

https://www.ephemerasociety.org/definition/

Those items that do not sell on eBay will eventually be moved to this website and available for purchase. This is because I can only have so many items listed at one time on eBay and the goal with my shop there is to downsize the stuff my mother and I have amassed over the years.

Here are some examples of the current ads I have listed at eBay:

1980 Full Page Magazine Ad for Tupperware. Taken from a 1980 October issue of Family Circle Magazine. Very good condition. No rips, tears, or stains. Please view photograph closely. Photo is of actual original product that will be shipped, no reproductions sold. Rough edges on magazine glue side left untrimmed so buyer can trim as desired. Mild age related discoloration.

Currently listed at eBay for $10 with free shipping.

Vintage 1980 Full Page Magazine Ad for Levi’s Youthwear  Taken from a 1980 October issue of Family Circle Magazine.  Very good condition.  No rips, tears, or stains.  Please view photograph closely.   Photo is of actual original product that will be shipped, no reproductions sold.  Rough edges on magazine glue side left untrimmed so buyer can trim as desired.  Mild age related discoloration.  

Currently listed at eBay for $10 with free shipping.



Keep an eye out for my new listings of products available for purchase directly from my website. As they cycle through their time on eBay they’ll be moved over here for archiving.

Happy Hunting!!

~ Alesia

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Distractions Needed

I saw this on FaceBook today…

This is exactly what happens to me.

I finally found a job outside of my own personal business to help pay the bills and begin building a benefits package, and that job has the added benefit of “distracting” me. It keeps me busy and I actually do pretty good on my work days. But the job is only part time and I still end up with quite a bit of “free” time. That’s when the days still turn into hard days.

Almost two years since I lost my husband and very little has moved forward in my life. My free days are dedicated to providing care to my aging mother but that’s not enough to keep the thoughts away. Eventually I believe I will need to spend my time volunteering at some high-demand non-profit to keep the distraction levels up enough to stay sane.

In the meantime, please forgive my lack of posting on this blog and my participation in the real world. I’m really trying, but it’s so, so, so difficult.

Starting over with literally nothing and nobody is the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

Being on your own when your young is hard but so much easier then this. You have the future to look forward to and know that there is still hope that a new and exciting path is open to you. It’s not the same once you’re older. No dreams of a marriage, family, exciting career – all the things you look forward to in your youth.

So, my advice to all of you young people – be excited about the unknown future – you still have possibilities and you never know when happiness and joy will find you! But, please, everyone – plan for that possible future where you may find yourself alone and starting over. Have a backup plan that allows for you personal health & happiness independent of your current family and support system. And in the meantime –

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE, no matter how crazy it may seem on some days, it is beautiful.

Be well…

Alesia

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New Year Products

Like most of you, I can’t wait to get this lousy year behind me.

Things are starting to look up with the elections soon to be over, one of many vaccines on it’s way and hope that our economy will soon recover once the pandemic is as under control as we can manage.

So, it’s been fun to turn my design skills to celebrating the upcoming New Year!

Today I’ve been working on “Happy New Year” Champagne & Food Labels at my Zazzle Pattern Store.

Here area few quick examples:

If you would like to see more of my Pattern’s Food & Bottle Labels, you can find them at this link: AlesiaKaye Pattern Labels

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Patterns, Patterns, Patterns

Way back in 2002-2005 I was really into making seamless patterns from vintage artwork and public domain pieces. I decided to bring them back because they make great face masks and phone covers! I’ve always loved these and it’s nice to find a good use for them. I have thousands, so keep an eye out for new ones every day!

The source for many of these patterns was either original artwork, vintage Victorian Christmas cards from the 1800’s or kid friendly, brightly colored public domain clipart.

I really enjoy making these patterns and seeing how good they look on a variety of products. This example is a floor pillow available at Society6. Very cool!

At Society6 you can even find sheer curtains and black out curtains featuring my original patterns. As soon as I find my cottage I’m probably going to get a set for myself.

As I said above, I have literally THOUSANDS of patterns and source material for many more so be sure to check often for new ones.

You can find my patterns by visiting this link: https://society6.com/alesiakaye/collection/patterns

When you follow the above link just pick on the pattern of your choice and then scroll down the page to the “More featuring this artwork” to find more products featuring this pattern.

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New Additional Storefront

I’ve had a storefront at Society6 for about four years now but never really used it all that much. That finally changed this week! You can find me there at this link: https://society6.com/alesiakaye.

I started utilizing this website because I love some of the unique products they offer, stuff I’ve not seen at other print on demand locations. Like this credenza pictured at the left. How cool is this? Furniture – with my art or photography printed on it – stunning!

Another unique item is this cutting board featuring my photography. I’m really enjoying seeing the many products my art & photography can be integrated with.

Of course you can also find traditional items there such as art prints, framed prints, greeting cards, coffee mugs, etc., all the favorites your used to finding at any of these type of storefronts.

So, be sure to stop by and say Hello! I’m in the process of uploading select photos right now and building the storefront and I should be adding some of my old art that used to be featured many years ago at other print on demand sites. I’m really excited to get back into the digital art realm of my work and creating new designs to feature! I’ll post here as I add new stuff.

I look forward to seeing you at Society6 soon!

~Alesia

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Another Goodbye

This has been a very difficult couple of weeks for me. On November 12th I had to say goodbye to another loved one and one of my best friends – our dog Samantha.

She started showing signs of nasal cancer about the same time my husband passed away. Unfortunately this was also during the pandemic and my having to move from our rental home to Illinois. I couldn’t find a vet that was taking new clients nor could I afford treatment for cancer. I was hoping the symptoms were incorrect and things would clear up. Needless to say that didn’t happen.

We were so lucky to come across Samantha in September of 2007 at a local shelter on Long Island, New York where we were currently living. She was a rescue so nobody knew for sure her exact age, but the vets estimated at just under a year, so she was born sometime in 2006. She was a member of our family for thirteen years and lived to be a little over fourteen if not closer to fifteen, which, unfortunately, is pretty good for a dog her size. I just wish it had been longer.

Sammi (as we called her) was very loved by every member of our family and I honestly don’t know if I would have survived the death of my husband without her. She was the only one available for me to hug and cry with since the pandemic wouldn’t allow any other family members to travel to me. I had to go through everything alone and she was the stabilizing comfort big enough for me to hug. My cat, Millie, also did her best to comfort me but it’s just not the same as a big dog’s warmth and unbelievable loyalty during these type of events.

She kept me sane.

Anyway, in the past couple of weeks the cancer had grown and pain was starting to become a very serious issue. I won’t describe what we went through as it was too horrible but I would advise anyone dealing with a cancer issue in a pet to be prepared to have to make the awful decision of putting your pet down once it reaches the pain point. Believe me, you do not want them to go through this if avoidable.

My sister thankfully was available to help and was able to convince her vet to help me out since I still couldn’t find a vet taking new clients. My sister went with me and the vet came out to the car to perform the procedure. So my beloved Sammi passed peacefully in her favorite spot in the world – the car. She was a real road warrior and have travelled with us from New York to Florida to Michigan to Arizona to Alaska and back to the east coast in New Jersey. She loved every moment in the car. I was glad that her last experience was a car ride and I didn’t have to take her into the vets office which was a place she hated. I was able to sit with her, hold her and say goodbye.

So things have been rough again, and I’ve gotten behind on my work but I’m just starting to get back to a normal routine. Hopefully work can keep me a bit distracted as I deal with another loss. I know so many of you have experienced much loss during this horrific year, and my heart aches for all of us. I pray that each and every one of us will soon find peace and hopefully a new normal where we can move forward together with love and compassion for each other. Very few of us have found this to be a good year and empathy will be the key to surviving it.

I wish each of you health and happiness.

~ Alesia

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Hunting at Home

As mentioned in my previous post, I am currently living with my mother.

She is seventy-five years old and has been living in the same Victorian Home located in a very small Southern Illinois community for over forty years. What this means is that she has accumulated a LOT of STUFF! LOL

Because we can not really afford to have the house repaired the way it needs to be, and due to the fact that it’s just the two of us now (along with assorted pets, of course), we are looking to “down size”. This means I’ve started an eBay page to facilitate finding good homes for the stuff we have that isn’t ready for the dumpster but that we don’t need to take with us when we move into a smaller home.

While not technically “hoarders”, my family does have it’s share of “pack rats”. 🙂 We like to hold onto things that might be needed by the younger generation someday or that have a lot of sentimental value to us. As with most families, each generation is getting smaller as young folks don’t seems to have as large of families as they used to, and much of this stuff just isn’t needed anymore. I was finally able to convince her that this was the perfect time to start slowly finding new homes for many of these items.

So far we mostly have old books, clothing & some knick-knacks listed. Eventually we will have more of a variety as we head into the attic and other storage areas. My mother has been a craft & artist person her entire life and many of her hand-made items will eventually be listed as well as unique stuff various family members collected over the years such as rare coins, jewelry, etc.

If this is something you think you might be interested in, please bookmark my eBay shop and keep an eye out on new listings. You can also follow my Facebook Page and my Twitter account I’ve created for this eBay store.

For all of you, and I know there are many of you, doing as we are and cleaning out your families storage areas – good luck and happy hunting! We’ve found a few treasures we would never part with and it’s nice to think that we can finally get this more meaningful stuff we love out in the open where we can actually enjoy it, as opposed to having it stuck away in a box in the back of a closet or the attic.

Be well, Be safe & Be Happy!

~ Alesia

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A New (unwanted) Life

It’s been 18 months since I’ve done anything with this website. A lot can change in that time period. Your whole world can turn upside down.

And that is exactly what has happened with me.

Six months ago to the day, I lost the love of my life. The man I had been married to for thirty-six years had a massive heart attack and passed away at the young age of fifty-five. It happened at the height of the pandemic while we were living in New Jersey. Because of the pandemic I could not go with him to the hospital, our kids could not travel to be with me and I was left completely alone to deal with horrible things I had never had to deal with before.

Things like a medical examiner, a funeral home, and other death related duties. I don’t know how I managed to get through it all. At times I would just fall to the floor and scream. There are days I still feel the impulse to do that but I have more control now then I did in those early days.

Our lease was up on our home in NJ two weeks after my husband passed. My landlord was gracious enough to give me an extra month and to apply our security deposit to that months rent since I now had no income. (I still don’t have any income & there was no life insurance). But the pandemic still left me on my own to deal with the move. I had to pack everything in the house, by myself. I had to move everything to a storage unit with only my car, by myself. I had to arrange for transportation of my stuff to my family in Illinois, by myself. Luckily my son was in a position at that time to help financially or I wouldn’t have been able to even consider getting those things accomplished.

Then, once all those things were accomplished, I had to drive halfway across the country, during a pandemic & protests, with my dog and my cat to get to my mother’s home. I didn’t have anywhere else to go that I wouldn’t be completely alone. It’s not where I wanted to be, but it’s where I had to end up.

Once I arrived at my mother’s home a whole new nightmare started. I didn’t know until the moment I pulled into her driveway the state of disrepair her home had become. She is seventy-five years old and has been living by herself for the last eight years in a 100+ year old Victorian home in a small Illinois community. She was unable to keep up with the maintenance and cleaning. I walked into a disaster.

So now, I’m stuck in this small Illinois community, which would be fine if I was anywhere but this house. I have to find a way to buy a new home and get my mother to leave this one. I’m not sure she will leave but I at least need to be close-by to help care for her until her life is over. Only then will I be able to figure out what I want to do for myself.

All I want in the world right now is a small cottage in the woods where I can work from home, tend to my pets and a small garden and try to surround myself with nature. Nature has always been my medicine. But I seem to be denied that at every turn. I haven’t even begun to heal and I’m not sure when the process will start, probably not until I can get some stress levels down. Existence is a day-by-day list of “have to” tasks to accomplish, and nothing more at this point.

So please, bear with me as I try to navigate this new highway life as thrust me upon. I promise I’ll try to get something going here and I’m going to be honest and up-front about all that I go through. People need to be aware of how absolutely devastating an event like this can be. It happens to too many of us and until it happens to you, there is just no way to understand the magnitude this type of upheaval and loss can have on a person’s will to survive and ability to think.

My best to all of you, I hope you are staying healthy and finding a way to cope mentally & emotionally with the horrific pandemic. It’s such a rough time for so many and my heart aches for each of us for a varying degree of loss we are all feeling.

Much love,

~ Alesia

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Welcome

For any of you who are familiar with my website, you’ve probably noticed that almost everything has vanished! This is true – I ditched all of it and am starting over.

It’s not just the website though – I’m doing this with almost everything in my life. I’ve decided I want a true “clean start” for 2020 when it rolls around so I’m using 2019 as the year to PURGE. This includes my digital life as well as my real life.

If you’ve read about “Death Cleaning” – that’s kind of what I’m doing. Not that I anticipate leaving this world anytime soon (fingers tightly crossed) but because I don’t want to leave a mess for others to go through should something happen to me. It just makes sense as a good way to look at all my “junk”. I’m kind of doing the “keep / toss / donate” thing, but maybe not quite as adamantly as others preach.

Anyway, this means I have to finish going through 50,000+ photos and 5,000+ digital design files and decide what to do with each. I’m prepping & sharing personal photos with appropriate family members, ditching those that are 20-year old “maybe” files that I kept way too long and finally doing something with those that have been around for a long time but never utilized.

Soon I’ll have links up to photo’s, digital paintings & designs offered for sale. As for now I know I’m using Fine Art America but I’m also looking into other platforms.

So, thanks for stopping by and feel free to check back often. Hopefully I’ll be updating at least once a week and will have some interesting links, new products and random thoughts to share.

Be Well!!

~ Alesia