Collage Week 13

I love combining different kinds of type for my collages. My collage for week 13 is done on canvas. The background is made up of an old book page, part of a letter in Japanese, a piece of a vintage ledger and an old British ticket. I've then layered some blue and gold patterned Japanese washi paper, old sheet music and a tiny round label with the number 7.

I had actually done a different collage on this canvas, didn't like it, so collaged right on top. Sometimes, it just doesn't come out the first time.

Collage Week 13

What's Inside

Well, I finally opened my package. Very carefully, I slit one side. Curses, the inside package won't slide out. I carefully slit the inside package and ease out...a fabulous 18th century French document with the most beautiful handwriting. For your very own antique document, visit the shop Oscar Naylor on Etsy.

Lovely antique document

Beautiful Package

It's no secret that I purchase lots of hand crafted and vintage items online. Some have come in very nice, creative packaging. But I was absolutely floored today when I opened my mailbox and found the most beautiful package I have ever received. So beautiful, in fact, that I haven't even opened it yet. The seller said my package would be "well wrapped" and "packed with greatest care".  I expected some tissue in a cardboard mailer. What I received is an an envelope created from an antique document, collaged with washi tape, a vintage illustration in a paper hat and hand made labels. Stunning. Too pretty to open just now...maybe in a few days. All this from the Etsy shop Oscar Naylor, a purveyor of antique documents and other "French treasures". (You can also visit the artists' blog  La Belle Brocante to see beautiful photos and musings).
 

A package too pretty to open!

I do know what's inside...at least I have seen a picture. But you'll have to wait until I can bring myself to, very carefully, open a corner and slide my purchase out.

Collage Week 12

I don't know why but I've always liked doing artwork in a square format. My collage for week 12 is done on a 6" x 6" canvas. The background is stamping and acrylic paint. On top is collaged 2 different antique French documents, vintage music, 2 old postage stamps and a tiny bit of a Japanese letter.

Collage Week 12

Collage Week 11

Last week , my collage was done on a tiny 2.5" x 3.5" canvas. My collage for week 11 is done on a larger 5" x 7" canvas. It incorporates a page from a 19th century French ledger, vintage music, a piece of hand made paper from India, a vintage postcard, postage stamps, rubber stamps and last but not least, a a vintage Chinese ticket. I like using type as pattern and it doesn't really matter what is written or if it's in a different language.

Collage Week 11

Collage Week 10

My collage for week 10 is done on a tiny canvas. The back ground is acrylic paint with rubber stamped type. I then combined pieces of vintage French chocolate and perfume labels, and the border from an old book plate.

Collage Week 10

Around the Office

Sitting on my windowsill is this beautiful lucite bird made by the Brazilian artist Abraham Palatnik. It dates from the 1960's- 1970's. The sunlight comes through the bird, highlighting the pattern and color. You can see more of Palatnik's pieces here on Pinterest. The small red glass bird was a flea market find for $1.

Collage Week 9

Here's another collage done on a paint sample chip - this time a single color. I used hand carved rubber stamps in the background in different shades of blue. I then used some scraps of decorative paper, another hand stamped piece cut with a scallop circle die, a vintage ticket and parts of a type sample book.

Collage Week 9

Collage Week 8

Here in sunny California, unlike most of the country, we're having warm spring weather. Of course, this does have it's drawbacks. Namely, drought conditions since it's our rainy season and not a cloud in the sky. This in turn means my yard is dead and brown and not springy green. So in response, my collage for week 8 is what my yard should look like - green and leafy.

I started with a paint chip sample card in 4 shades of green. It's combined with rubber stamps, handmade and decorative papers, some vintage music and a piece of an old bookplate. The cut paper vase is embellished with pen and ink and the paint chip is backed with vintage wallpaper and mounted on a heavy weight textured paper.

Collage Week 8

Vintage Matchbook Covers

In honor of the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, I'm posting some vintage matchbook covers from my collection. These are from Russia and depict winter scenes in great graphic style. I think they date from the 1960's and they measure approximately 2" tall x 1.25 " wide. I got mine on Ebay - there's always lots of fun ones to choose from and they're not terribly expensive.

Valentine's Day Collage

My collage for week 7 is Valentine's Day inspired, of course. The collage is done on an antique red book cover. It combines handmade and vintage papers with rubber stamps. I never want to cut up an old book to use it for collaging, but if the book is already falling apart I do take advantage.

Collage Week 7
 

Collage Week Six

I love to collage on vintage bingo cards - they make a great graphic canvas. Like week 5, my collage for week six is another done on a bingo card. I've combined it with a piece of a round playing card, some vintage wallpaper, rubber stamps, type from an antique book cover and piece of an old postcard.

Collage Week 6

Collage - Week 5

My collage for week 5 was inspired by quilt designs. Decorative hand made papers are collaged on a bingo card along with some rubber stamping. The bingo card is mounted on a heavy weight rag paper. I think I may get out my sewing machine and do some stitching on top.

Collage Week 5

New Valentine Cards

I created two new Valentine cards this year. The first one is letterpress printed from calligraphy I did a few years ago. It's printed on a nice pearlescent paper.

The second card is printed from vintage wood letterpress type. I was trying to get away from having every Valentine's card red and pink so I printed this one in red and aqua. I've always liked this color combination. It's blank inside so could be used for other occasions.

Both cards are available in my Etsy shop.

Collages - Weeks 3 and 4

Here is the collage for week 3. It was done on a cover from an old Reader's digest and incorporates an antique postcard from Hungary, vintage wall paper, a butterfly print and rubber stamps.

Collage Week 3

Next is the collage for this week - week 4. It was also done on an old Reader's Digest book cover. Other elements include a vintage business card with a Japanese-looking fan, handmade paper and stamp from India, rubber stamps and vintage paper scraps.

Collage Week 4

I think I'm caught up in my weeks. Next week will be week 5 and collage no.5!

A New Year

So, it's a new year. Not sure where last year went....One of my goals in 2014 is to create a collage a week. 52 collages, and I will post them here. So, here is week one. This is a mini collage, done on canvas. It incorporates vintage music, a vintage bit of advertising and some decorative papers.

Collage Week 1

And here is week number two. This collage was done on an antique postcard from 1909. I've combined vintage wallpaper, a bit of ledger paper, a Chinese character, rubber stamping and a scrap of letterpress border.

Collage Week 2

Vintage Graphics

I found this cool magazine from 1960. I particularly like the mix of fonts in the title. The magazine was published by Edwin H. Stuart, Inc "Type Stylists for Advertising". It was a monthly magazine published for the Pittsburgh graphic arts industry. The magazine is not very interesting inside but does feature a whole page of sexists jokes. I guess there weren't a whole lot of women in the Pittsburgh graphic arts industry in 1960.

Shanghai Girl Collage

My husband went to Chinatown for the day and brought me home a Chinese newspaper. I can't read it but I didn't let it go to waste. It became the background for my most recent collage. I also used a vintage advertising piece featuring a Chinese beauty that I found in New York's Chinatown, a bit of joss paper, a vintage postcard to Shanghai and part of a sandlewood soap (Bee & Flower Brand) wrapper.

2014 Calendar

I've been slacking off lately on my blog - mainly because I've been busy but also because I've been a little lazy. There, I said it. Anyway, here is my 2014 calendar. The images were printed on my trusty printing press from my hand cut linoleum blocks. This year's images were inspired by my Japanese tea pot collection, bouquets of flowers at the local farmer's market, one of my vintage ink bottles, and oak leaves and acorns from trees in my neighborhood. I also printed a gift bag with the bird image from November, and made a coordinating gift tag.

The calendar, by itself or as a gift set, is available in my Etsy shop.

New Collage

Just finished a new collage. I printed the bottle and feather from my hand cut linoleum block onto a vintage 1911 postcard. That got mounted onto a piece of vintage wallpaper along with a few pieces of lace doily, vintage music, a letterpress scrap and a few more bits of wallpaper. I finished it off with some rubber stamping. I though the doily would be great for collaging but found that when I put glue on it, the whole thing becomes transparent. So, I put a layer of white acrylic paint on the back to keep the glue from seeping in.