Weekly collectors collection

I've found a lot of great and fun (and interesting) blogs on collecting, and I thought instead of blogging about them individually every time they post something I like, I'd do a weekly update of my... I don't know, say top 5 blog posts of the week. So here they are:

1. Do What Now has a very funny picture of an old magazine ad, where the actors are... well, awful!




2. Ephemera interviews a futuristic advertisement collector, where he notes that research is your best friend when it comes to buying collectibles




3. Kitschy Kitschy Coo offers up 13 ways to know that you are obsessed with collecting




4. AKPhilately mentions that stamps in the late 1800s were given out to postal workers, so they knew what each stamp looked like (and from there work out the fakes from the real ones!)



5. About Postcards has a nice little intro to silhouette postcards; what they are, the history behind them, etc.

Some random ephemera

For those of you who like your paper, you've probably heard of the term ephemera. If not, it refers to a range of objects that are made using paper; like postcards, magazines, newspapers, etc. Well, I've been tripping over some great ephemera collectors sites lately, and I thought I should share them!

Suzy, you are bound to love Do What Now, which has a lot of humorous posts about fifties-type advertisements and magazines. There's also a lot of really gross meal ideas (check out the Kidneypalooza... ewwwwww!). Even if ephemera isn't your thing, this blog has some of the best satire on the subject of 50s ads I've ever read!

Next, you can't go past the aptly-titled Ephemera blog. This blog interviews all sorts of collectors, from the collector of old passports, to the guy who collects Tolkien ephemera. And it doesn't just cover paper objects, but collectors of all sorts. A must read for anyone interested in finding out what makes a collector tick!

And lastly we have Kitschy Kitschy Coo, a blog for all sorts of random kitschness and kitchy collectibles (is that a word?). Actually, I came across a really great post about collecting for the family. There's a whole list of fun ways to collect; I personally wouldn't mind collecting the cookie cutters! :)

(Mom, don't get any ideas from the list - I think we all collect enough without making it a family thing!)

Diamonds are a collector's best friend

Here's my origami for today: a star box!

And the news for today....

Who would have thought that taking a walk in a state park would be a collector's dream day? The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is apparently the best place to go diamond collecting - for all you mineral geeks out there, mom included - with visitors allowed to pick up AND KEEP any diamonds they find.

James said he'd take me one day ;)

The park comes to attention after a young girl found a 2.93 carat diamond at the end of a long diamond-hunting day with her family. Apparently there have already been 332 diamonds found this year alone (!!), with one appraised between $15 000 and $60 000. Wow! Now James really does have to take me :D

Read all about it here.