Common Themes

These notecards are tremendous. Would love some.

I love journals.

This rocket ship journal is A5 with approx.45 pages of white 90 gsm paper cut to size by hand. The covers are adorned with digital images printed on quality card, laminated for durability and superb gloss finish. Finished with hand stitched edges, for a personal touch.

Hubble Holiday Cards are back (see last year’s post), with three new designs at the top. Image above is my favorite of the three.

I couldn’t let Valentine’s Day go by without showing off what my lovely husband found for me yesterday: Space Mates valentines by Punch Studio of Culver City, CA. (Sadly they only sell to retail businesses.) So cute, so retro, I’d love to know more about the artwork itself, whether it’s a reproduction or just something styled on the illustrations of old… extremely cute, at any rate! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Mazaika.com has a fascinating collection of aerospace-themed Soviet New Year’s postcards online. These range from minimalist and modern to a meld of traditional folklore and the latest space hardware. The above depicts Santa’s sleigh, drawn by a combination of lacquer-box Russian horses and the Vostok, Voshod and Soyuz launch capsules. Below, a traditional Russian maiden rides behind Santa on a rocket.

It’s interesting to see, mixed with the rest of the outlawed holiday sentiments, a brandishing by the Russians of their aerospace technology. It’s not just Father Christmas (or Ded Moroz, his government-approved equivalent) on a sleigh under the sparkling fabric of the night sky, it’s Father Christmas flying Russia’s latest jet and making a much more efficient Yuletide trip!

There’s also a strong focus, not just on cosmonauts, but on children as cosmonauts. The next generation! With Santa! Flying advanced Russian aerospace hardware! What could be more charming or inspiring?

I hope to post once more with some final holiday-themed space items, later this week. I also plan to archive this collection of scans, for reference, and will post the link when I have one.

Sometimes the Hubble Site is even more brilliant than the astrophotography they present: holiday greeting cards, featuring images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Eighteen types of cards to choose from, all gorgeous. (I only wish they’d announced them earlier!)