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.

Welcome to 2022

It's a new year and I'm committed to posting more often on my blog. I wanted to post earlier but our electricity was out New Year's Eve and as a result, we had no internet for the past week. I actually spent the time reading books instead of surfing the web. 

So we start 2022 late. Here's the month of January from my 2022 calendar. 

Stay tuned for a new collage project...

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.

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

Shades of Blue

 I did this collage using a bunch a letterpress scraps and various papers in shades of blue.

First Collage

My first collage of the year. This one was done on late 19th century McGuffey Reader book cover. I used vintage French papers and a French postage stamp with an image of a sailing ship. I may mount the collage on a wood panel but I haven't decided yet.

French Stamps

Now that my Christmas gift buying, wrapping and shipping are all done, I had a little time for a new collage. I received these nice stamps on a package from France, and combined them with scraps of handmade and vintage paper, a coffee filter and some type rubber stamps.

Gift Wrap

I did these 2 patterns for a Spoonflower fabric challenge but they both are perfect for gift wrap. I also made die-cut gift tags from some of the elements. Both designs are available in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Treat Wrap

Sweater Bear Wrap

New Letterpress Print

I did this cactus print for a custom order and now have it for sale in my shop.

I seem to be terrible at keeping real cactus alive so I purchased the faux ceramic ones from Etsy seller Woggie's Place.

New

New letterpress cards in my Etsy shop.

100 Tags - The Book

I decided I needed a permanent record of my collage challenge so I put together a book. I used Blurb for the printing - I like Blurb because I'm not forced into using a template - I can design in InDesign. Also, their print quality is really nice. I chose the hard cover but a softbound version is also available. I do want to color correct the cover - it came out a little too blue.

Welcome to 2020

My calendar for 2020. Letterpress printed from my hand carved linoleum blocks and available in my Etsy shop. Images include a leaping bunny (in honor of the bunnies in my backyard), an Owl duo (because I like owls), and a little mouse ( for Year of the Rat and the mice living in my garage who watched me print)

January thru April

May thru August

September thru December