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.

Printer's Fair

Last weekend was the 5th annual LA Printer's Fair at the International Museum of Printing in Carson, California. The museum is really cool and has a large inventory of working vintage presses and related antique printing machinery. They have lots of events, classes and demonstrations. In addition to letterpress printing, they also offer classes in book arts.

In addition to printing demonstrations, the fair has vendors selling everything from hand printed cards, to paper vendors and printing press supplies. I purchased a number of items including press ink, some "furniture" for my press, and some awesome cards. Here are a few snaps of what I saw.

Printing block on a flatbed press.

A really large press that I wish I owned

An antique Albion press that I was able to try printing with.

Antique type storage drawers

Cards by De Milo Design

Hand bound book from Pie in the Sky Press

New Art

Once again, I have been so busy that I have been neglecting my blog. It's the time of year where I have lots of shows coming up AND my calendar needs too be printed and finished. Luckily, I finished printing the calendar this weekend. One of the calendar images is a Japanese teapot, inspired by one in my collection. While I was printing the calendar, I printed the teapot onto an old scrap I had and made a new collage. The scrap already had a Japanese calligraphy pattern letterpress printed in the background so it was perfect for my teapot. I also used a bit of Japanese newspaper, some washi paper and a character seal. The collage is available in my Etsy shop here.

Vintage Find

I found this great vintage coffee pot at my local junk shop. I love the mustard color and am SO tempted to keep it but, I have way to much stuff so it's for sale in my vintage shop, Two Hand Too.

The ceramic bird was purchased from Etsy shop Mungo and Midge and flew all the way to me from Ireland.

Happy July 4th!

In honor of the Fourth of July, I'm highlighting this book Yankee Doodle. I found it at my library sale room and since it is illustrated by artist Ed Emberley, I snatched it up even though the condition is rather poor. Published in 1965, Emberley's woodcuts illustrate the words to the famous song, Yankee Doodle. It also has a bit of history behind the lyrics such as Macaroni meant fancy trim and not the stuff you eat with cheese. I've scanned most of the book, but not quite everything, for you to enjoy.

A bit about Ed Emberley- he is a Caldecott Medal award winning children's book author and illustrator. In addition to illustrating books, he also has instuctional books on how to draw using simple shapes, lines, thumb prints, etc. His early books are quite collectible and many are hard to find and his instructional books are for children of all ages. You can visit his website here or see more of his illustrations on Pinterest here

Best Pickle Ever!

Growing up in Ohio, we always ate Don Hermann Kosher Dill Pickles. They were the best (and still are in my book). When I moved to the west coast, I had a hard time finding a good pickle. I finally looked up Hermann's Pickles online. I emailed them and told them I was having a hard time finding a good pickle and could I order online? They kindly wrote back telling me that in California, they sell under the name Nathan's and the pickles I craved were the Half Sours. I went right out and bought myself a jar! Yummy, yummy, yummy. Still the best pickles ever!

Best Pickles Ever!

A watercolor I did a few years ago of...Pickles!

Writing about pickles has made me hungry. I think I'll go eat one now....

Eric Ravilious Coronation Mug

Angie Lewin's linocut featuring the Ravilious mug

I first saw the1953 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation mug by Ravilious in a print by British print artist Angie Lewin. Known for his paintings and prints, Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) also designed for for Wedgewood Potteries. Ravilious was killed during World War II while working as a war artist. The mug was reworked posthumously for the coronation. I was lucky enough to win this lovely mug on Ebay.

The real thing with paler colors

While I would love to have an original print by Lewin to go with my mug, I shall have to make do with the greeting card above of the image. It's published by Art Angels and I purchased mine online from One Brown Cow (they have lots of other images by Angie Lewin, in case you are a fan!)

Two by E. Probst

Who is E. Probst? I can't find any information on this mid- century illustrator but their illustrations of fairy tales are fantastic. Today I am sharing two of my books- Tom Thumb and Little Red Cap (aka Little Red Riding Hood). Both of these books were published in 1965 by McGraw-Hill and printed in Belgium

Little Red Cap is from Grimm's Fairy Tales and was adapted by Evalyn Kinkead. 

Tom Thumb is from Grimm's Fairy Tales and was adapted by Audrey Claus. 

 

Other's in this series that I have seen include Hansel and Gretel, The Brave Little Tailor,  Puss in Boots, The Good Elves, and The Magic Table.

Patchwork Long Beach Part 2

Since the Patchwork shows are always busy, I like to walk around before the show starts to see everyone's booths and to do a little shopping. Here are some of my favorites.

Spiral bound notebooks made from vintage book covers by Brown Bag Books (of course, I was attracted by the vintage suitcases!)  You can check out their blog here.

 

 Accents had a great looking booth (with more suitcases!) full of vintage looking bow ties, scarves and pocket squares. Check out their shop here.

I really liked the packaging from Wildflower Botanicals. In addition to bath and body products, they also sell candles. Check out their shop here.

Whimsical original artwork and art dolls were offered by Little Sage Creations. There's lots more to see in her Etsy shop here.

Being a pottery lover, the ceramics of Lizbeth Navarro really caught my eye. The little pot on the right went home with me! Check out her website here.

Patchwork Long Beach

The last two Sundays were spent at the Patchwork festival. Here are a few pictures of my booth in Long Beach on June 2.

 

I'm getting quite a collection of vintage suitcases. They make excellent displays and I can pack everything up inside for transport and storage.  A trip to Home Depot gave me an easy and inexpensive way to hang my tote bags. A few bungee cords, plastic chain and some carabiners make an easy display.

I have new zip pouches to go with my tote bags. I printed the pouches on my letterpress from some of my linoleum blocks. Now I just have to photograph them and get them in the shop!

Pattern

I love to cruise my local Cost Plus World Market- they always have such interesting things. These papier-mâché bowls were from a special African exhibit. How cool are these patterns!

The bowls are from a South African non-profit, Wala Nani. They are made by women who are affected by HIV and AIDS. A few bowls are still available on the website here.

Bird Inspiration

I purchased this bird tile a few years ago at the flea market and it has been the inspiration for many of my birds, including the following. The tile is marked "mosaic" on the back and I have seen it in other color combinations such as green and yellow.

 

These birds were letterpress printed from my hand carved linoleum blocks and then embellished with pen and ink.

New Tote Bags!

A new project I've been working on is...tote bags! I had these silk screened from my illustrations. I did screen printing back in college but, with my letterpress, I don't really have the room for the set up. So, I had a local shop do these for me. I have to go back and modify my art a bit but I think they came out pretty well. They're now available in my Etsy shop, and I will be selling them at Patchwork next week in Santa Ana.

 

 

I've started with 4 designs- Flower Bouquet in Lavender, Birdie in Pink, Flower Garden in Orange, and Owl Buddies in Aqua. The totes are a really heavy weight cotton, made in the USA.

Spam

I get a lot of spam on my blog which no one ever sees because I moderate my comments. This, however, made me laugh.

"Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!"

  I did this watercolor of shells a few years ago.

Ticket to Ride

This is a collage I made out of new and vintage tickets. It reminded me of putting together a quilt- arranging the type and colors to make an interesting pattern. It's for sale in my new shop.