Happy Halloween

It's Hallowwen, when all good children dress up as ghoulies, ghosts and princesses. I thought this illustration by Martin and Alice Provensen was perfect for the day. It's from "The Provensen Book of Fairy Tales" and the story is "The Last Half Hour" by Henry Beston.

Halloween Eve

It's Halloween eve.
I got this little paper mache spook
from Off The Beam on etsy.
He's all ready for his big day tomorrow....are you?

2012 Calendar

My calendar is finally finished! It's now available in my shop here

The Owl and the Pussycat

I've always like "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear. Here is a vintage illustration by my favorite children's book illustrators, Alice and Martin Provensen. It is from the 1965 Childcraft Series Volume 1-Poems and Rhymes. I purchased it as as single page from The Print Makers.


I did this linoleum block version for my 2012 Calendar (Available October 24 in my Etsy shop!) This is just a proof- the final version is in Pea Green, of course.


And here is the poem, in case you have forgotten the words...

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Flea Market Find

I got these nifty vintage travel guides at the Long Beach Flea Market. They date from the early 1960's and I just love the graphics on the cover. (The insides are really just travel guides with only one or two images.)

On the Road

We just got back from a road trip. Picture it...2 adults, 3 dogs, 3400 miles in a Mini Cooper. I only took a few photos (no room in the car for my camera bag so I only had my cell phone).

We drove from California to Arkansas and back on interstate 40 which follows the old Route 66 most of the way (Route 66 goes north after Oklahoma City but we continued east to Arkansas).

(Image from http://route66.backroadsplanet.com)

Northern Arizona/New Mexico gets the award for best scenery.

We spent our time in the car counting Fed Ex trucks (288 in 4 days including Fed Ex Freight, Ground and Custom Critical and one flipped on it's side with packages strewn about) and listening to one-hit-wonders on satelite radio.

We drove through the following Native American lands-Navaho, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Muskogee (Creek), Seminole, Sac and Fox, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi. Many of these tribes were relocated from their native lands to Oklahoma in the 1830's and their journey became known as the Trail of Tears.

We passed near these interesting-sounding places but didn't stop to explore:
Hog Trough, AR
Possum Grape AR (not to be confused with Possum Trot, AR)
Roman Nose State Park, OK (named after a Cheyenne chief)
Deaf Smith, TX (yes, there actually was a Deaf Smith)
Zuzax, NM
Searchlight, NV

The dogs loved sleeping on the bed in the hotels (found thanks to petswelcome.com) and not allowed at home.

and no one got car sick. The dogs enjoyed snoozing in the back window and enjoying the view.


These cute critters advertised Pig Out Palace in Henryetta, OK. We didn't eat there but I was really tempted to buy a t-shirt.


All in all, not a bad trip.

Calendar Creating

Wow, I've been so busy that I've sorely neglected my blog (which doesn't get much attention anyway). I've been working on my 2012 calendar which involves sketching all of the images, scanning the sketches, laying out the calendar, redrawing the images, carving the images on linoleum blocks and finally printing everything on the letterpress. Did I mention changing my mind on some of the images and re-carving some of the linoleum blocks because I didn't like the way they printed? Here's a sneak peek of what's to come...

The Old man and the Bird

I just purchased this fabulous Swedish children's book (luckily translated into English) from Etsy seller sorrythankyou79.
The book was written in 1964 by Hans Peterson, published by Ab Rabén and Sjögren Bokförlag with illustrations by Ylva Källström. It tells the story of an old man and his pet bird. When the bird becomes ill, the man gives it a pill which cures the bird but makes it grow and grow until it is as big as a circus tent (and still growing). The story is as delightful as the pictures.

Japanese Artist Serizawa

Every since I my first trip to Japan, I have loved the art of Serizawa. Keisuke Serizawa (1895-1984) was a Japanese textile artist and designated by the Japanese goverment in 1956 as a "National Living Treasure". He specialized in Katazome stencil dying, a technique popular in Okinawa. He was also known for his works on paper, especially calendars, done in the same technique. Some of his calendars are still being reproduced today. I have a few greeting cards, prints, a furoshiki (cloth for wrapping) and one of his calendars.

Greeting card front and back


Calendar pages


Pottery making and Paper making prints

Flea Market Sunday 2

This is what I purchased last weekend at the Rose Bowl Flea Market:
• Vintage stamps on envelopes for collage projects.
• Vintage playing cards for other projects
• Several pieces of crocheted lace (I really need to learn to crochet!)
• A silk scarf (new but a bargin at $3)
• A children's book (Rosalie, the Bird Market Turtle)
• An old train case (I'd been wanting one of those for awhile)
• and last but not least, a straw hat because it was so darn hot out!

Here are more pictures of things I didn't buy (but really wanted to!)

Funky metal animals- a whole menagerie!

A vintage dress that would have been way too big for me but I love the floral pattern.

Anyone need a door knob?

Really cool clock faces. Susan, the owner of the booth (#HM93) stocks all sorts of vintage pieces for artists to use in projects. If you need something special, you can contact her at rubyandpearlgirls@yahoo.com.

I love these lights made from mason jars. The owners of "Chandeliers" (Row W5 at the flea market) also have a really nice blog that you can see here.

I love old buttons so these bracelets really caught my attention. They were made by the owner of the booth and you can check out her blog here.

Flea Market Sunday

L.A. has lots of flea markets and the Rose Bowl Flea Market happens the second Sunday of every month. So last Sunday, we got up early, braved the hot sun and went shopping! What I love about going to the flea market is that there is something for everyone-treasures priced from as low as 50 cents on up. After blowing my limited budget, I could only admire and take pictures of some of my favorite things:

Vintage perfume bottles make a statement


Beautiful velvet ribbons in muted colors. This booth had lots of great antique train journals, buttons and lace among other things and all were artfully arranged. The owner also sells on Ruby Lane and you can find her here.


How cool are these antique toys...


I would love a collection of these stools..the colors are so fun!

Match Book Art

I love anything vintage and graphic, so naturally I was attracted to these vintage Russian match box labels that date from the mid 1950's.

Trip To The Zoo

A few weeks ago, we actually went to the zoo. I hadn't been there in years. We spent lots of time watching the Gorillas-a male (silverback) and his harem. The two in the photo are some of the females.

Some of our other favorites included the Elephants and Meerkats

Big Horn Sheep

Pink Flamingos

and Giraffes

Party at the Zoo

This fun Disney record album dates from the early 1960's. I'd like to think it was illustrated by Mary Blair, but it has no signature so I can't be sure. It's up on the wall in my office and makes me smile.

Etsy Greetings Challenge

I am a member of the Etsy Greetings Team and this month we had a card-making challenge. Everyone used the same digital paper pack from Katies Wish to create their cards. Here are my 3 contributions. You can see all of the card designs on the Etsy Greetings blog here and even vote on your favorite design. My cards are available for sale in my shop.

Vintage Postcards

I purchased these vintage postcards years ago from a Belgian dealer. The images are done in black on a kraft card stock and highlighted with white and one other color (yellow and brown). I love the graphic quality of these cards.


One of the cards was mailed and is postmarked 1909. The handwriting on the back and the stamp make the back almost as nice as the front!

Oh Baby

In honor of my soon-to-be-born niece or nephew (any day now), here are a few baby items that I wouldn't mind receiving if I were having a baby myself. I wish stores in my area carried such fun stuff-thank goodness for Etsy!

Top (from left): THE REAL TEAL Cotton Hand Knitted Ivory Lace and Teal Baby Cloche (sgardner) Hugo, Joshua and Morella - giclee print (29blackstreet)
Middle: Toot - A Mini Owl (tiddlywinks) COLORS Fabric Quiet Book (turnbowdesigns)
Bottom Row: Three Tangerines Quilt (scarletthreadquiltco) Creative Kids Art Buckets (momnmiaquilts) Pogo with sleepsack (pogoshop)

Sally Go Round the Sun

Here is another of my recent children's book finds. "Sally Go Round the Sun" is a book of children's songs, rhymes and games collected in Canada by Edith Fowke (a Canadian folklorist) and published in 1969. It has wonderful illustrations by Carlos Marchiori (born in Italy in 1937 and emigrated to Canada in 1956, currently a muralist in Northern California) I wish I could show the whole book, but these few illustrations give an idea of the style.