My Nanie, O!

Some time ago I stumbled upon the delightful blog Cappuccino and Art Journal by Pamela Gerard.  Pamela is a mail artist extraordinaire and her use of vintage papers, postage stamps and other postal-related ephemera really sends me.  So I was thrilled to learn that I was the winner of a 2017 datebook that Pamela offered to her blog readers at Christmastime.  It arrived in an arted-up envelope and the whole package really made my day.  I've been "using the heck out of that datebook," let me tell you.  As a thank you, I created this mixed media collage for her.

I knew I wanted to use an old bingo card and this lovely girl's photo, but the piece of Victorian scrap (the hand holding the flowers) and the stanza from a Robert Burns poem were pure serendipity.  I found both of those items in a pile of scraps that I was sorting through and they were just the right size for this collage.

I found the photo a couple of years ago in an antique store and bought it because the photography studio was not only located in my home town, but in the part of town where I grew up. With just a little online research, I was able to find a reference to that very studio in a 1922 trade publication for photographers; it was a one-sentence announcement of the opening of the studio.  (It's amazing what people have scanned and uploaded to the internet, isn't it?)

After mounting the finished collage on a piece of poster board, I decorated the back with vintage postage stamps and faux cancellation stamps. 

Happy last day of February!   Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Print of bingo card; print of old photo; Golden gesso; Tim Holtz flourish stencil; pumice stone, fired brick and gathered twigs distress inks; spatter background stamp by All Night Media; cursive text stamp unknown (Stampington maybe?); Ranger Archival black ink; Victorian scrap, French postage stamp and Robert Burns poem from my stash; black Stabilo All Pencil; Ranger tarnished brass and espresso distress paints.

Believe - Pickle Lid Christmas Ornament

In preparation for the Pickle Swap I participated in, I saved a couple of pickle jar lids.  I wasn't sure how (or even if) I would use them, but I ended up making myself a rather traditional-looking Christmas ornament with one.

This ornament was made with a lid from a small jar of pickle relish.  The Father Christmas image is a piece of English scrap from a Victorian Christmas craft book that I bought about 20 years ago (more on that below).  I cut a piece of vintage book text to fit inside the lid and antiqued it with acrylic paint and distress inks before adhering my Santa.  I lined the inside of the rim with silver Stickles, which you can't see in this picture but which gives the ornament extra sparkle when hung on the tree.  The wonderful snow around the outside is small Pearl Mica Flake by Golden dabbed on using a palette knife.  I guess I should backtrack and tell you that the first thing I did was paint the lid with gesso, in order to create a surface that all of these products could adhere to.

However, I did not paint the back of the lid with gesso because I did not want to hide the fact that this ornament started out as a jar lid.  I glued on a jewelry bail and added the silver cord as my hanger.  I made the bow on top with a narrow satin ribbon from my stash.  It finished off the ornament beautifully!

Like I said above, my Santa image came from a Victorian Christmas source book that I bought years ago.  At that time I was fully engrossed in my career and professional pursuits, and didn't have much time for hobbies.  I wasn't making any art and certainly did not envision that one day I would be making all kinds of creative items for myself and others.  But definitely the desire was there and I'm so glad that I held on to this book over the years and through several moves.  And believe it or not, the book is still available for purchase here!

So, who's going to start saving jar lids?

Supplies:
Pickle jar lid; Golden white gesso; vintage book text; titanium white acrylic paint; one of the blue distress inks; Father Christmas English scrap; stick-on word from Tim Holtz; black Stabilo All Pencil; silver Stickles; Golden small Pearl Mica Flake; silver jewelry bail from Michaels; E-6000 adhesive; silver cord from Hobby Lobby; blue ribbon from my stash.