I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.
― Edna St. Vincent Millay
The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer,
the top of the live-long year,
like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.
The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring,
and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn,
but the first week of August is motionless, and hot.
It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons,
and sunsets smeared with too much color.
― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting
Antique fashion history illustrations from 1893 showing two young Victorian ladies in their fine summer wear. Free high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
Crossing the Lotus Lily Pond, 19th century
by Francis Coates Jones (1857–1932)
I am no bird; and no net ensnares me;
I am a free human being with an independent will.
― Charlotte Brontë
Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth,
it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does.
It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing.
It is addictive and with each drink you want more.
― Maya Angelou
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
― W.H. Davies, Common Joys and Other Poems
Antique illustration of four Edwardian ladies on a leisurely stroll; originally published in 1909. Free high-res 8" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
― J.K. Rowling
May your adventures bring you closer together,
even as they take you far away from home.
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Antique fashion history illustration from 1893 showing two Victorian ladies on an evening out around town.Free high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
I think insomnia is a sign that a person is interesting.
― Avery Sawyer, Notes to Self
Moments before sleep are when she feels most alive,
leaping across fragments of the day, bringing each moment into the bed with her
like a child with schoolbooks and pencils.
The day seems to have no order until these times,
which are like a ledger for her, her body full of stories and situations.
― Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
Victorian illustration from 1893 showing a young Victorian lady pouring a cup of milk before bedtime. Free to download for use in mixed-media collage, journaling, and various papercrafts projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Fill your life with women that empower you,
that help you believe in your magic
and aid them to believe in their own exceptional power
and their incredible magic too.
Women that believe in each other can survive anything.
Women who believe in each other create armies that will win kingdoms and wars.
― Nikita Gill
Antique fashion history illustration from 1893 showing four Victorian ladies strolling in a wooded park or garden.Free high-res 11" x 8.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
He knew he would always remember her,
standing there with that expectant, forward-looking smile,
enough to turn the future into summer.
― Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark
Mystique saturates, gluts the air,
Adventure’s even more than rare,
Excitement’s everywhere to share,
And Novelty’s beyond compare.
― Mariecor Ruediger
Antique fashion history illustration from 1893 showing four Victorian ladies strolling in the park.Free high-res 12" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
I thought of you and how you love this beauty,
And walking up the long beach all alone
I heard the waves breaking in measured thunder
As you and I once heard their monotone.
Around me were the echoing dunes, beyond me
The cold and sparkling silver of the sea --
We two will pass through death and ages lengthen
Before you hear that sound again with me.
― Sarah Teasdale
Victorian ladies outdoors at a beach party. Originally published 1893. You can download the high-res 10" x 10" JPEG without a watermark here.
Life is full of challenges, seen and unseen,
so to look and feel great, you must hold your head up each day
and project your inner confidence.
― Cindy Ann Peterson, My Style, My Way: Top Experts Reveal How to Create Yours Today
Starlight beats when heart twinkles
Youthful sky beyond cloudy wrinkles
Muse of glory to flame the night
Verse inscribed as written light
― Munia Khan
TWO antique illustrations of Victorian young ladies wearing ruffled outfits from c1890. The first portrait is of a young lady with glossy chestnut brown hair and clear, beautiful brown eyes that look out into the world serenely, lending her an air of easy, calm confidence.
The second portrait is also of a brunette. She is wearing a cluster of tiny, pink flowers pinned to her bodice and her crystal blue eyes gaze dreamily out into the world.
Free to download for use in cardmaking, journaling and scrapbooking projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEGs without a watermark here and here.
There's always another storm. It's the way the world works.
Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms.
Some are fierce and others are small.
You have to deal with each one separately,
but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow.
― Maria V. Snyder, Fire Study
Antique fashion history illustration from 1904 showing a veiled Edwardian lady and her daughter on the deck of a ship in the midst of a stormy sea.
Free high-res 6" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
When you lost sight of your path, listen for the destination in your heart.
― Katsura Hoshino
There’s something about arriving in new cities,
wandering empty streets with no destination.
I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I'm born to leave.
― Charlotte Eriksson, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles: in search for The Great Perhaps
Two Victorian young women in walking and travelling dresses. Originally published in 1893. You can download the 10" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude.
To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility,
is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire.
For politeness is like a counter ― an avowedly false coin,
with which it is foolish to be stingy.
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Wisdom of Life and Counsels and Maxims
Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Antique illustration originally published in 1857 showing two Victorian ladies in (one-sided?) conversation in a conservatory.
Free to download for use in cardmaking, journaling and scrapbooking projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
In the Orchard, 1891
by Edmund C. Tarbell (1862–1938)
About the artist: Edmund C. Tarbell represented the so-called Boston school of impressionism and was a member of the group known as the Ten American Painters. When he showed In the Orchard at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Tarbell became the acknowledged leader of a national impressionist movement.
While Tarbell claimed that he was unaffected by the impressionist paintings he had seen while in Europe, In the Orchard is clearly indebted to a major work by the French impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Luncheon of the Boating Party of 1880–81.
About the painting:In the Orchard is Edmund C. Tarbell’s image of his wife, Emeline Souther Tarbell, her siblings, and a family friend conversing in a bucolic setting on a summer’s afternoon. The figures have been identified as the artist’s sister-in-law, Lydia, standing at left and shown again, seated and with her back to the viewer, on the right; Lemira Eastman, a family friend, in dark blue; Richmond Souther, leaning over the back of the red bench; and Emeline, wearing a black hat and looking directly at the viewer. Poses and glances tie the five together in an intimate, convivial circle in the beneficent dappled sunlight of the orchard, which stretches away to a white fence in the distance.
Tarbell painted the orchard landscape while in France in 1886, near the end of a two-year stay interrupted by a brief return to his native Boston to become engaged to Emeline. Following his final return from France, he painted the figures, posed in the backyard of the Souther family’s home in Dorchester, then a near suburb of Boston.
How then does light return to the world
after the eclipse of the sun? Miraculously.
Frailly. In thin stripes. It hangs like a glass cage.
It is a hoop to be fractured by a tiny jar.
There is a spark there. Next moment a flush of dun.
Then a vapour as if earth were breathing in and out,
once, twice, for the first time.
Then under the dullness someone walks with a green light.
Then off twists a white wraith. The woods throb blue and green,
and gradually the fields drink in red, gold, brown.
Suddenly a river snatches a blue light.
The earth absorbs colour like a sponge slowly drinking water.
It puts on weight; rounds itself; hangs pendent;
settles and swings beneath our feet.
― Virginia Woolf, The Waves
19th century sheet music, originally published in 1866. The arrangement is called "Sunshine Schottisch" by Septimus Winner, an American songwriter of the 19th century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton.
In 1855, Winner published the song "Listen to the Mockingbird" under the Alice Hawthorne name. He had arranged and added words to a tune by local singer/guitarist Richard Milburn, an employee, whom he credited. Later he sold the rights, reputedly for five dollars, and subsequent publications omitted Milburn's name from the credits. The song was indeed a winner, selling about 15 million copies in the United States alone.
Another of his successes, and still familiar, is "Der Deitcher's Dog", or "Oh Where, oh Where Ish Mine Little Dog Gone", a text that Winner set to the German folk tune "In Lauterbach hab' ich mein' Strumpf verlor'n" in 1864, which recorded massive sales during Winner's lifetime. Here's a happier, modified version by the Frazee Sisters:
You can download the sheet music for "Sunshine Schottisch" as an 11" x 8.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
― Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them
An Edwardian lady in the park with a border of valerian flowers on the left side of the image, 1904; from my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée.
The genus name of valerian comes from the Latin “valere,” which means “to be strong” or “to be healthy,” in reference to the plant’s medicinal properties. It is an ancient herb; the Greeks used valerian to ward off evil, hanging valerian bunches in windows. The Celts hung it in their homes to ward off lightning. The herb was included in both love and sleep potions. Other magical uses include purification, such as consecrating ritual tools, promoting peace, breaking hexes, and providing stability and happiness. Valerian is used for grounding during emotional turbulence and for aiding in creativity.
Free high-res 7" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
Some people will hear you louder in silence.
Those are your tribe - they'll get you through the tough days
and give you something to laugh about on the ride.
― Nikki Rowe
Two Edwardian girls keeping warm at recess, 1904; from my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. Free high-res 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.
Each friend represents a world in us,
a world possibly not born until they arrive,
and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
― Anais Nin
How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give 'em.
― Shel Silverstein
Antique illustration of two Victorian ladies enjoying a meal and warm conversation in a Parisian café. Image was originally published in 1893 and was captioned "Entre Amies" (With Friends).
Free to download for use in mixed-media collage, journaling, and various papercrafts projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
People of our time are losing the power of celebration.
Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.
Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.
To be entertained is a passive state
― it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle....
Celebration is a confrontation,
giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.
― Abraham Joshua Heschel
Two Victorian young women in formal dinner gowns, standing in a formal foyer or reception area. Originally published in 1892. You can download the 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
If you choose to not deal with an issue,
then you give up your right of control over the issue
and it will select the path of least resistance.
― Susan Del Gatto
The sooner a problem is recognized and acted upon
– the less damage there is.
― Mozammel Khan
Antique engraving from an 1866 issue of Peterson's Magazine. This vintage illustration shows a Victorian mother tenderly coaching her daughter in repairing a torn skirt.The original caption that appeared with the picture was "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine."
Free to download for use in mixed-media collage, journaling, and various papercrafts projects or simply print and frame as wall art. You can find the high-res 6" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed
For a dream's sake.
― Christina Rossetti
And, at such a time, for a few of us there will always be a tugging
at the heart — knowing a precious moment had gone and we not there.
We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours for ever
— the way things looked, that church alone in the fields,
a bed on belfry floor, a remembered voice, a loved face.
They’ve gone and you can only wait for the pain to pass.
― J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country
Printable vintage fashion illustration from an 1866 issue of Peterson's showing a gathering of five Victorian ladies in the drawing room after dinner. One of the ladies is sitting by the window looking melancholy, causing another lady (possibly a relative or close friend) to look at her with some concern.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts, scrapbooking or wall art projects. You can find the free high-res 12" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
I'd rather be standing here with you than out there without you.
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, From Blood and Ash
Life teaches us to
Bend like the willow during a storm
Glide like an eagle
Under the sun mighty and warm
But to stand together
No matter the weather
Unity is all for the better
― Marie Helen Abramyan
Two Victorian young women in double-breasted outfits, an arm around each other, standing on a balcony, and looking fearlessly out at the world. Originally published in 1892. You can download the 8" x 12.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Solace can be measured in the quiet silence between heartbeats.
― Anthony T. Hincks
Winter Jacket and Cape - 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (1st link below)
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Some women are truly beautiful. The light of love shines through their souls.
And the world gets drenched in their inimitable light of love.
But do not try to dominate them. Let them keep their softness and tenderness.
― Avijeet Das
The Butterfly Sleeve - 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (2nd link below)
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You see, women are like fires, like flames.
Some women are like candles, bright and friendly.
Some are like single sparks,
or embers, like fireflies for chasing on summer nights.
Some are like campfires,
all light and heat for a night and willing to be left after.
Some women are like hearthfires,
not much to look at but underneath they are all warm red coal
that burns a long, long while.
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Cloth Dress with Velvet Bands - 6" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG (3rd link below)
A trio of delicate ink and wash illustrations featuring Victorian ladies in winter fashions of 1896. The designs featured are: a winter jacket and a winter cape, the butterfly sleeve, and a cloth dress with velvet bands. You can download the high-res JPEGs without a watermark here (Link 1), here (Link 2), and here (Link 3).
But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned.
I don't want to know what people are talking about.
I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder
than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything.
Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything,
you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work,
you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life.
Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.
― Bill Bryson, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.
― Hans Christian Andersen, The Fairy Tale of My Life: An Autobiography
Two Victorian ladies in travel costumes; originally published in 1893. You can download the high-res 8.5" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Advice is a dangerous gift,
even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
This is one more piece of advice I have for you: don't get impatient.
Even if things are so tangled up you can't do anything,
don't get desperate or blow a fuse
and start yanking on one particular thread before it's ready to come undone.
You have to realize it's going to be a long process
and that you'll work on things slowly, one at a time.
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Two Edwardian ladies in conversation as they pause to look at a grand castle across the river; from 1904. From my personal collection of La Mode Illustrée. You can download the high-res 9" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Whatever you choose for your stationery is your favorite color
because it's where you pour your heart out.
― Mary E. Pearson, The Miles Between
It is late now, I am a bit tired; the sky is irritated by stars.
And I love you, I love you, I love you ―
and perhaps this is how the whole enormous world, shining all over,
can be created – out of five vowels and three consonants.
― Vladimir Nabokov, Letters to Vera
Vintage fashion illustration of two Victorian ladies dressed in walking dresses, one in purple, the other is a soft dove gray. The lady in purple is intently reading a letter. Originally published c1860.
Download and use in various altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects. You can download the high-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
