Tag 85

Tag 85 uses patterned papers in black and tan with a letterpressed piece in the middle.

Tag 85

Pattern and Type

This tag combines pattern with vintage type-rubber stamp in the background with hand made papers an a bit of a vintage document.

Tag 84

Blue and Green

I did 2 more patterned tags for this week- both in shades of blues and greens

Tag 81

Tag 82

Patterns and Paper

This week I have series of tags. I used hand carved rubber stamps and layers of colored tissue paper to add pattern and color to the tags, then layered on hand made papers.

Tag 76

Tag 77

Tag 78

Tag 79

Tag 80

Portugal 2-Azulejo

Everywhere you look in Portugal, there is decorative tile (Azulejo in Portuguese). And I took pictures every chance I got.

Blue and white is popular but there are many different colors as well. Sometimes there will be just one kind of tile but other times there is pattern upon pattern. The doors, windows and balconies are often decorated with wrought iron as well so that every turn is a visual feast.

Door - Tomar

Window - Lisbon

Balcony - Lisbon

Windows - Lisbon

Balcony - Porto

Window - Lisbon

Church Window - Porto

Balcony - Porto

Window- Tomar

Train Station - Vila Franca de Xira

I spent an enjoyable morning at the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo) which was an easy 20 minute walk from the Santa Apolónia train station in Lisbon. The museum is located in the former Convent of Madre Deus, dating from 1509, so in addition to seeing all the tiles, the building itself is worth the visit. At the bookshop, I purchased a book called "Tiles in Lisbon" which is just photos of tiles (you can purchase the book on Amazon here). The book was shrink wrapped so I didn't open it until I returned home. In the back of the book was a whole pamphlet with self-guided walks around Lisbon to view the tiles. 
Something for next time!

Patterns in Pink

This week, my collage is a little different. I used a selection of hand made papers from my scrap box and combined them with rubber stamping, pen and ink, and a bird cut from letterpress makeready (makeready is the process that gets an image ready to print. I use paper over and over again to get the color and position of the letterpress plates in the correct spot and the patterns and textures that occur can be very interesting). I'm offering this collage as a print in my Etsy shop.

Collage week 22

New Shop

I decided to open another Etsy shop for my collages. They don't really fit in with the letterpress and I also want to keep the vintage shop separate so,  a new shop -Two Hand Gallery.  Here is one of the new collages that is in the shop.

I like how all of the type becomes pattern. I used vintage music and advertising, an old ledger page, and a document from India combined with acrylic paint and hand made papers.

Reader's Digest Covers

I've said in previous posts that sometimes I DO judge a book by its cover and these Reader's Digest are the perfect example. At the moment, I really have no interest in actually reading these but the patterns on the cover are what attracts me to the books. My local library book sale room is an excellent source of vintage Reader's Digest books. They hold all the ones from the 1950's and 60's for me and charge me 25 cents a book. Here are a few examples of what I've bought.(Yard sales are a good source too!) These covers are popular for crafting but I can't bring myself to cut up a perfectly good book.

Card Designs

My cards come from all sorts of inspirations but the following designs were inspired by mid-century fabrics.

I created my leaf card (on the right) after seeing this Scandinavian influenced 1960's bark cloth. (on the left)

I did this one (pink birdie on the right) after seeing a fabric by designer Lucienne Day (on the left) that dates from the 1950's. What inspired me was the rectangular shapes and the line art going through them and what evolved was this bird and flowers. The following are two books from my collection, each with great mid-century reference.

"Fabulous Fabrics of the 50s (And Other Terrific Textiles of the 20s, 30s, and 40s)" by Gideon Bosker, Michele Mancini and John Gramstad was published in 1992 by Chronicle Books. "1950s Fashion Print" by Marnie Fogg was published by Batsford in 2010

The Fireside Book of Children's Songs

Here is a newish addition to my children's book collection purchased from Etsy seller booksmusicnmore-The Fireside Book of Children's Songs collected by Marie Winn, musical arrangements by Allan Miller, illustrated by John Alcorn and published in 1966. I love the color combination used throughout the book and the groovy illustrations.

Here are a few of my favorites-

Mod Fabric Find

There's a little "antique" store near where I work that always has really cool finds like this mod sixties shirt. It's 100% polyester, and nothing I would ever wear but I love the pattern.