Fishing Tackle Vintage Collage and Flying Fish Get Well Card

The 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America in my stash is full of beautiful images that I've started to mine for collages.  Today I'm sharing two projects featuring fish.

This collage started with the lovely brook trout.  He appears to be leaping out of the water after a fly, which sent me on a search through some old geography textbooks for water photos.  The fishing tackle text came out of a reproduction 1900 Sears and Roebuck Catalog.  I chose the vintage orange postage stamp because its color complimented the fish, and the final touch was a postal cancellation mark stamped on top.

Since the first fish collage turned out so well (if I do say so myself), I made a second one as a get well card for a co-worker who was recently in the hospital.  She and her boyfriend love to fish, so I think she'll like this card.  I believe this fish is a tuna, and he is really leaping out of the water.  I chose a pink vintage postage stamp which played nicely against the green water, and stamped on two postal cancellation marks.  This collage was matted on vanilla cardstock before being adhered to a black card base.

In case you're wondering where I got a 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America:  it was in a box of books that my dad purchased at an auction.  After he pulled out the books he wanted, he let me sort through them and take what I wanted.  My vintage book stash has definitely benefited from my dad's joy of reading!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fabulous day.

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.

O Tannenbaum - Postcard Mail Art

This is the postcard I sent to my December partner in the Envie Addicts Unite exchange.

I started by adhering Tim Holtz tissue paper to a watercolor postcard.  To that I added a layer of spray ink through a polka dot stencil.  The additional colors came from Gelatos.  I created the Christmas tree by collaging old postage stamps to a separate piece of watercolor paper cut into a tree-shape.  Stickles added some necessary glitz to this card.

Have a fabulous day!

One Dozen - 4x4

Over the weekend I tore into some new vintage ephemera (meaning new to me) to create this 4x4 collage.  I started with a page from a 1942 math book for elementary school children that has adorable and colorful graphics.  I got the book for a mere $1.50 at an antique shop.  It was labeled "as is," but the book is actually in great condition for its age so I snatched it up.

I started with a section from the math book about how to write numbers and how many items are in a dozen.  I added a list of words from a 1935 spelling book; next to the words someone had made check marks in blue ink.  The piccalili recipe is from a 1942 cookbook purchased at the same antique shop.  I love the tiny yet crisp font.

I then started digging through a box of old postage stamps that I bought last week, trying different colored stamps until I found two that I liked (the blue postage stamp matches the blue in the dozen eggs graphic, and the blue of the check marks, almost perfectly).  It wasn't until after I had them adhered that I realized the stamps added up to 12 cents!  What serendipity, since I was planning to call this collage One Dozen.  With the theme now firmly set, I went back to the math book and found additional text relating to the number twelve or the word dozen.  I outlined the text and the postage stamps with charcoal pencil and rubbed on some distress inks to integrate all of the pieces together.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Chipboard coaster; vintage text: 1935 spelling book, 1942 cookbook, 1942 math book; vintage sheet music; red polka dot scrapbooking paper (unknown vendor); vintage postage stamps; medium charcoal pencil; antique linen and frayed burlap distress ink; a blue distress ink (stormy sky maybe?).

Birds, Trees and Wind Gothic Arch

I created this Gothic arch to trade at ARTzona 2013.  You'll probably see quite a few arches here in the next week or two, as time is growing short and I want to have plenty of arches to trade.

I started with the bird clip art and thought these Graphic 45 patterned papers coordinated well with the bird's colors. I fussy cut the poppies and added a vintage postage stamp for additional interest and color, as well as to cover up some advertising on the clip art that I didn't like.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Monday.

Supplies:
140 lb watercolor paper; patterned papers by Graphic 45; clip art from Red Lead Paperworks; vintage book text; vintage postage stamp; postmark stamp by Stampa Rosa; walnut stain distress ink; black die-cut border by Bazzill.