1804

Sometimes, something simple works the best. An antique document dated 1804, a vintage postage stamp, rubber stamping, and a few fragments of decorative paper.

 

Among the Daisies

I carved some new linoleum blocks and did a test letterpress print on a vintage document. A piece of vintage music had the lyrics "Among the Daisies" and fit my floral theme perfectly.

 

Pink Rose

Brown with a touch of pink. A handwritten document, some old postage stamps, and a scrap of vintage wallpaper.

Scraps

Some rubber stamps, coffee filter, vintage wallpaper, and parts of an old money bag.

 

Birdie

 Birds and ledger paper, two of my favorite things.

Not always a winner

I was experimenting with the background and this collage came out a little darker than I wanted.  Well, not everything has to be a great success.

Collage Time

 I did this collage ages ago and forgot to photograph it. I used some old scrapbook papers, a bingo game and a stamp from Germany

Japan Blue

 This collage was done on a vintage Japanese book cover that I mounted on a wood board. The board has layers of paper from a vintage Japanese book. I also used patterned Japanese papers, an old label and a Japanese envelope with a vintage stamp.

Makeready Collage

I did this collage using letterpress makeready. Makeready is what happens when you get ready to print something new. I use scrap paper to get my colors and position correct on press. You can get all sorts of interesting patterns and overlays on the scraps. Sometimes it's one big mess, and sometimes the results are save-worthy. 

Blue Star

I was going through my stash of playing cards and found this one with the blue star. It goes perfectly with vintage stamps and an international envelope fragment.

Valentine Collage

 Happy Valentine's Day! 

February 2

The background for this collage is a postcard that came with  an issue of Uppercase Magazine. If you don't know about Uppercase Magazine, it's a design magazine published in Canada, full of all sorts of inspiration and interesting articles.

 

No 19

These collages are great for using up some of my scraps. I call this one No 19 because of the scrap of type left from a vintage receipt. If I had planned better, this would be the 19th collage but...

Last of January

 I'm running a little late posting my last collage for January but better late than never.

This collages uses random scraps in shades of teal. The background is from a bingo game, there is a piece of vintage wallpaper and some vintage money.

Calendar Book Collage

Two collages tonight since I am trying to keep up with the calendar.

This collage uses some textured straw fabric, a piece of a Bingo game, hand made papers and a postage stamp.

This one uses a hand print that I did from a hand carved linoleum block on an old letter. I've used this image before on some other collages. I like the black, white and gold together. I still wish the pages didn't get so wrinkly. If I used a glue stick, that would help but I have found that it doesn't last over time and I don't want bits and pieces falling off.

New collage

2 collages to start off the year, made with lovely vintage French documents and other bits and pieces.

Geisha Collage

 I'm working on a series of collages based on vintage postcards of Japanese Geisha from the early 1900's.

This collage is a portrait of the a Geisha named Sakae. She was very popular and is featured on many postcards. I scanned the original postcard so as not to ruin the original. It's combined with pages from a vintage Japanese book, handmade washi papers, and a fan letterpress printed from my own design.

Spring Butterfly Collage

I thought I'd do a spring-y collage. I used antique French documents including one dated 1898, vintage floral wallpaper and a butterfly stamp from the Republic of Guinea. This collage is available for sale in my collage shop, The Torn Letter.

Collage Re-do

Sometimes I do a collage that after a while I look at it and think to myself, "I could use that canvas for something better". You won't see the before, but here is the after. 

I used some vintage Japanese documents, washi paper, and a piece of a damaged print by Keisuke Serizawa (1895-1984). Serizawa was a master of katazome stencil dyeing and in 1956 the Japanese government made him a National Living Treasure. I have several of his limited edition calendars and have posted them previously (although it may be time for another post!)

New Collage

Here are a couple of new collages. Vintage documents, postage stamps, handmade papers - all of my favorite things to collage with. On the first collage, I also used a metal bird and branch with a nice green patina. I purchased them a number of years ago to make some jewelry that never happened.

Soon to be for sale in my Etsy shop TheTornLetter