Just Walking Around (in Berlin)

Walking around Berlin on a COLD day we spotted this.....

Hummmm....what do we have here?

Some very intrepid vendors were out in the cold selling books and paper ephemera and , of course, we had to stop and look.

I am always happily surprised at how OLD the paper ephemera is in Europe. They were just around longer than we have been here in the US, especially here in California.

Right in the middle of everything it started SNOWING! Vendors were rushing around throwing tarps and plastic over their wares. Luckily I did manage to make a purchase or two before scurrying away to someplace warm.

That superman has nothing on my husband who continues to amaze me by Finding flea markets and street markets and stamp markets all over the world. And, he waits patiently for me to paw through everything or he pitches in to look for treasures for me.

I think I owe him a hot lunch -- and maybe a beer -- after hanging out with me on the streets of Berlin on such a chilly and rainy day.
We did have a blast!

Next stop -- Strasbourg, France!

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Treasures from the Berlin Flea Market

One of the things that fascinates me about old ephemera like this is wondering what  happened to the people who owned the ephemera. Many of the papers were and books like this (ration book?) were dated right before WW2. There are a lot of questions and thoughts to ponder.

See what I mean about turning the postcards over? The backs can  definitely be better than the fronts sometimes. I can look at old cursive writing for hours.
And postmarks too.

I love tiny photographs like these - perfect for cutting up and putting in my altered passport project. Unfortunately the one thing I didn't find at all the flea market I went to were old passports for my project.

This is a whole notebook filled with this cool writing. I think it is a student's notebook.

After the flea market we walked around and went into (one of Germany's many)  a bookstore. I was delighted to see a wall of book spines -- old book spines were embedded right into the walls. Very cool.

And, in Germany, there is ALWAYS cake.

I promised I'd show you some of my flea market finds, so here you go!  Now I am in the process of making books and journals and collages with a lot of the ephemera I found.  
So much fun to use such wonderful old papers.

What are you doing over this long holiday weekend (here in the US)?
Well, I'm making things, of course.....and I might have some cake.

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A Berlin Flea

This  is no time for slacking - there are treasures waiting out there - so get that cup of coffee and get going! The subway stop is right out there.

It was a long subway ride and outside of any touristy neighborhoods and it was COLD (trust me) and rainy but oh! it was totally worth it. And so much fun.

Alwas a good sign when things are casually tossed out on the table and not all fancied up...

Seeing all these cool old negatives made me wish I still had my darkroom.

Bring it on -- paper ephemera -- my favorite.

Vintage tins

I only bought ONE!

But I did get quite a few vintage postcards. I look for beautiful cursive writing and great cancellations on the backs.

Oh boy. Yes, boxes and albums of postage stamps. Kind of daunting to go through....

This flea market had quite a lot of food trucks -- and beer trucks -- but I have to say I've never seen a  Country Potatoes truck before.

You could get potato pancakes and wurst very cheap and it was delicious.

Do I speak German, you ask? Sadly, no. But I speak flea market -- I always bring a little notebook and pencil for the seller to write down the price and for me to bargain. Everybody bargained -- and, with a good attitude and friendly smile you will go far.

After freezing for a couple of hours we voted for cake. Wouldn't you?

And I could write about my experiences at the flea market -- and what I got -- in my travel journal that evening.
Are you wondering what treasures I found?
I'll show you next time.
Now I've got to think of projects to use them in. No hoarding. If I buy it, I've got to use it.
One thing I love about traveling is all the art material I have when I get home. I am always inspired to make things! ACT's, books, collages, zines.....and that is just what I've been doing.

Thanks for coming along with me to the flea market.
It was fun, wasn't it?

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Bella Roma

Roman letters dated from the 1800's for less than a euro......was it a dream?

Yes, I am back from my latest travels and heck no, I don't want to be....but I am busy looking at my hundreds of photos, putting the finishing touches on my travel journal, printing out the zines I made while traveling and looking at my beautiful flea market ephemera.
Want to come over and hang out with me?

My wonderful husband found flea markets in all three countries and I scored! I owe him big time, especially for all the time he spend going through boxes of paper looking for things I would like...

I enjoyed seeing all the mail boxes around town too. The ones in Rome are usually covered in graffiti.

When I wasn't looking in boxes of ephemera I was looking UP a lot. Those ceilings! I really want some angels and saints painted on my ceilings here at home.

Just looking at all the beauty in the small details was so inspiring. In Rome, beauty is everywhere you look.

It is so inspiring. I came home filled with ideas of things to make...

We had cake just about every afternoon. We needed it to keep our energy up, don't you think? When in Rome.....

There is also a daily stamp market in Rome (with prints and books as well). So civilized ...I wonder why we don't have things like this in the USA?

I've got lots of collage materials to keep me busy till my next trip...

And, aren't these little tin boxes perfect for storing stamps? Italian stamps I'd say.

I have LOTS more to show you of you are interested so let me know in the comments. There is still Berlin and Strasbourg and the travel journal and zines -- but I don't know if you want to see it if you don't tell me.
Now, I think I will go and play with paper.