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!

Girls Trip-Portugal

Portugal was on my list of places to visit so when a high school friend suggested a trip, I jumped at the opportunity. I travelled with two high school friends - Girls Trip - and had a fabulous time. We visited Lisbon, Tomar, Obidos, Sintra, Evora, and Porto. I learned a little Portuguese and was easily able to navigate the train and subway system. There is so much history - castles from the 11th century, Roman ruins and much, much more.

One of the things that struck me was all the color.

Street in Lisbon

Balcony Lisbon

Doorway Tomar

Doorway Óbidos

Rooftop Óbidos

Balcony Porto

Wall detail Lisbon

Wall detail Lisbon

Window Óbidos

Óbidos

Authentic

Tag 28 was done on a chunky cardboard hangtag that came with something my husband bought. I rescued it from the trash. I can't remember what the item was but I liked the word "authentic" and kept it visible. I used some old music, black and white hand made papers and a piece of a French document.

Tag 28

Seeing Red

Two tag collages this week, inspired by the color red.
The first tag has Asian flair, using handmade and vintage papers and a tiger matchbox cover.

Tag 26

For the second tag, I colored the tag with a red ink pad and then layered different red papers and a rubber stamped image from Latvia.

Tag 27

New Tag Collages

This week, I thought I would do some colorful tags because it's spring. And since it's Easter sunday, I used colors that reminded me of Easter eggs. I colored the tags with rubber stamp pads. It gave a rather nice texture in the back. I collaged with mostly hand made papers but I included a vintage revenue stamp on the yellow tag.

Tag 22 Pink

Tag 23 Yellow

Tag 24 Green

Tag 25 Aqua

Collage Tag Challenge - number 21

I did another piece using a vintage German luggage tag. This one incorporates vintage French documents and a page from a vintage book.

tag 21

Collage Tag Challenge

I purchased some 1940's German paper luggage tags from Etsy shop Betty Was A Bombshell and one is the base for this tag. It's got an unusual shape at the top and is a nice kraft paper. I used some numbers from a bingo game, a Chinese ticket and another coffee filter.

Tag 20

Collage Tag Challenge

I did 4 new tags, all using my little coffee filters. The filters get really nice patterns from the coffee (they smell good too!) and the transparency is nice for layering.

Tag 16

Tag 17

Tag 18

Tag 19

Flea Market Finds

I went to the flea market and what did I see....

Vintage record albums for adults

this one I purchased

and children

Chippy wood toys

skittles

baby rattle 

Dala horse

items with color

and a vintage  bag by Enid Collins (?)

Collage Tag Challenge - More Polka Dots

One more tag with polka dots. Tag 15 is an oversized tag made with a page from a vintage book, a part of a vintage post card, coffee filters and hand made paper. And polka dots.

Tag 15

New Designs on Vida

I've finally gotten around to posting a few new designs on Vida. There are lots of new products including scarves, totes and shopping totes that fold into a zip case. You can see all my products here.

Scarf design made using cut paper

Scarf design made using cut paper and a white background

Scarf design  "Pattern Play" based on my Spoonflower design

Scarf design  "Pebbles" based on my Spoonflower design

Collage Tag Challenge - Scraps and Polka Dots

Two more tags, this time using polka dots and pieces from my scrap box.

Tag 13

Tag 14

Collage Tag Challenge

This week for my collage challenge, I did 3 tags all with an Asian theme.  All use a variety of hand made and vintage papers. I dyed the string a muted peach.

Tag 10

Tag 11

Tag 12

Pysanky

The Spoonflower design challenge this week is Pysanky - Ukrainian decorated Easter eggs. Using wax-resist to create the folk art based patterns, each egg is an intricate work of art

Decorated eggs can be found all over Europe.  I visited Budapest, Hungary and purchased some eggs as gifts. A Polish friend made me this one many years ago.

Hand made decorated egg from a Polish friend

For my Spoonflower pattern, I intended to paint a variety of eggs but completely ran out of time. So I decided I didn't have to be so literal and painted folk art inspired designs that might be found on the eggs. I used one of my books, Folk Art of Europe (by Helmuth Bossert) for inspiration. So while my designs may not be traditional Ukrainian designs, I tried to give them a folklore feel.

Art painted in gouache

I painted in gouache on Bristol board, then scanned to my computer to put together the repeat pattern. I added eggs in the background, as though the birds and flowers had popped off them. 

My final design

The voting ends tomorrow, February 19. You can see all the submissions (and vote) here.

Tag Collage Challenge

I am so behind on posting my tags! So here are 2 for this week.

First is Tag 8, a Love themed tag that was intended for Valentine's Day. I used a vintage postcard to make a tag and then added a Japanese washi paper heart, the word "Love" stamped on an antique document and a cute red vintage label with XO.

Tag 8 - Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Last weekend, I exhibited at a paper show and purchased some cool tags from one of the other vendors, A Stamp in the Hand. (I would link but their website is down). The tags are made to look like old postcard backs and are larger than my usual hang tags. For Tag 9, I used some vintage wallpaper, a fortune from a fortune cookie, a print of a bird and an old postage stamp with a kiwi bird from New Zealand.

Tag 9 - sending good fortune