Green Paper

On a Grand Tour...

Have you ever heard of a Grand Tour?

Wikipedia has a full description, but I'll just give you a few lines:  "The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means…The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, laid in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent."

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

photograph credit here

So, when you wonder why I haven't posted to my blog in forever, just imagine I'm on a Grand Tour. That sounds much more exciting than I-got-a-demanding-new-job, and sadly, I'm-not-very-interested-in-my-art-or-my-blog-lately.

As far as the winner of the November challenge...They all won! I am sending the French Dictionary Collection to each of the artists who entered. I am missing emails for 3 of the artists who entered, so if you entered but haven't been contacted, just send me an email at [email protected] and I'll get your collection to you.

I plan to keep my Etsy shop open as I sell off some of my extras and things I know I really won't use again, so feel free to stop in from time to time to see if there's anything new.

And, of course, Classes and Images are available in the e-store, as always. If you've read this far, I have a bonus for you - 50% off anything and everything in the e-store. Just use the discount code grandtour (all one word). The offer's good through January 15th.

I hope you're well, and that you're enjoying your art. Have a wonderful Holiday season!

Vintage Gluebook Pages

When was the last time you backed up pictures from your computer? Did you find things on there you had forgotten?

I backed-up today and thought I would repost some of my favorite vintage gluebook pages from last year...

Looking back through the pictures reminded me of the papers I was working with back then and the places I found the papers, and even who I was with when I made some of the pages.  It's always fun to look over the actual gluebooks, but seeing all of the pictures lined up was a treat too. 

Vintage Gluebook Pages

I haven't posted in a week! How does this happen? But I have been art-ing...in fact, here are some Vintage Gluebook pages from the last few weeks. I hope you like them...

 
 
 
 
 
By the way, if you've been thinking about the Vintage Gluebook Page Swap, there's still time to join us. Just click HERE for the details.

And if you'd like a chance to win some of my antique magazine images, enter Karla's Craft Day Giveaway. I donated some of my magazine pictures to the stash (the originals of course), so check it out HERE.  

Storing Your Vintage Books and Paper...

I had a couple different questions recently about how I store my vintage books and paper.

So, today I'm opening the door to my non-glamourous methods for storing my supplies. Please be kind, I will never be in Where Women Create.

First, book shelves. I have some cheap industrial shelving in the closet of my craft room. These were supposed to be a temporary measure but they've actually worked out pretty well, so I still haven't replaced them. 

I have very few 'complete' books on these shelves. I go through each of them as I buy them and take out pages that I particularly like, or those I know I want right away. The books are then put on the shelves, and they're loosely sorted so that all of the foreign language is stacked together, all of the children's books, etc. So it's really not too hard to find what I need when I get into them. I do go through the stacks periodically and resort, and it helps to remind me of what I have.

Loose paper I pulled out too much of, or I'm not using right away, goes into file folders in a big plastic tub. It's sorted by what type of paper it is. I also use these files to build the 30 page paper assortment I sell on Etsy. So, you can actually buy the paper I use myself.

Lastly, I keep the paper I am currently working with in an office in-basket. As you can see, it's overflowing right now, it's time to go through and put some back in the folders. I have a bad tendency to over-estimate my needs and add too much from each book.

If you've taken the Your Vintage Gluebook class, you've already heard about this in more detail. I keep three baskets on my desk - small, medium and large, they stack up in each other. When I need a little accent of something, I go to the small basket first and look through the little pieces of papers and images. It helps me use up what I have. 

In the past I sorted all of my images by style or subject, but now I sort them in these baskets by size. May be odd, but it really works for me.

Thanks for following along. How do YOU store your papers?  

 

A Swap!

I'm doing my first-ever Vintage Gluebook Page Swap!

That's right - create 6 vintage style gluebook pages, send them to me and I'll swap them out and send 6 back to you.

 There are loads of extras in this swap, like your own vintage book cover (!) from my collection, binder rings and genuine vintage pages from my stash! You even get a couple downloadable collage sheets just for signing up.

Your 6 pages should be 7" X 5"; you decorate one side and put your info on the back.

The deadline to have them to me is September 30th, so you still have lots of time to make your pages.

There are only enough spaces as I have book covers, and I'm still counting those. So sign up soon, just in case I have to close the swap!

Go HERE for all of the details and to register your space!

 
This is a little peek at what your swap package might look like. Each will be different, of course!

Patterned Papers...

I was asked a while back about some of the patterned papers I use in my gluebook. Were they scrapbook paper that could be purchased somewhere? I keep meaning to do a blog post to respond, so here goes!

I use papers I've created with patterns from a variety of sources. Here are a few examples:

The following paper was copied from an end paper in an antique book. This is one of the papers included in my Collage Basics class.

 
This next one is created from a portion of one of my Antique Holy Cards, that's the original card on the right. I don't think this one is available anywhere yet, but the Holy Card it came from is HERE.

 
The one below was created from a portion of a page in an antique French Zoology book. See the strip of bees at the top of the page?   This is also available in the Collage Basics class (even though it says Collage Club for some reason...)In case you think creating your own papers is hard, the 2nd and 3rd patterns were created using the software Microsoft Paint. It comes with Microsoft Windows, so if you have Windows you already have Paint.  I demonstrate how I make these papers in the Your Vintage Gluebook class - it's so quick that students were showing their patterns in the Flickr group on the day I posted the lesson!

Creating your own patterned paper is a wonderful way to truly personalize your art. There's nothing like using your own papers and images to make your work really individual!

If you don't already do this, I hope you give it a try because you WILL become addicted, I promise!

By the way, if you're ever curious about where I got a pattern or image I am using, I'm happy to share the info. Just email me or leave a comment and I'll get back to you with the source.

GluebookPages

I did a few gluebook pages at Karla's on Friday - it was so nice to just play in my book and relax for a while. Karla's studio is an excellent place for that!

 
 
I was videotaped on Wednesday for the Artful Gathering class I am doing this Summer. My friend Scott from SkillCasting did all of the technical stuff and is a dream to work with - he took care of everything for me.  It's so nice to  have that completed - at least my portion!

Seeing the pictures from Karla's Bird Song gathering two weeks ago, and the first videotape I saw...I can really see that I've gained back every single pound I lost last year. I look about 10 years older (not to mention pretty chubby), so wish me luck as I once again try to improve my eating habits. So hard to be 'good' in stressful times of our lives, isn't it?

If you'd like to start your own gluebook,  you might like to begin with my online class, Your Vintage Gluebook. It's all there for you as soon as you sign up - all of the images and all of the lessons -  no waiting.

It would be great to have you join me!

From me to you...

I'm offering a little discount to everyone who'd like to shop in my e-store this month - $5 off your total order - image collections, online classes, Collage Club memberships, or a combination of all three! 

Actually, you could even pick up any of the calendar collections for $5, use the discount and get it for free!

 
Just go to the store: http://www.e-junkie.com/greenpaperpackages. Place your order and use the discount code: aprilshowers (all one word!)

 
That's all there is to it! The discount code is good all month, through April 30th. Shop more than once if you want to, I won't mind.

 
And don't forget to send me a picture of what you make so I can show it on my blog!

A Video...of Lenna's Collage Art

I 'met' Lenna Young Andrews online a few years ago, when we were both in the ARTchix Yahoo group. We caught back up and became friends during my first class, Your Vintage Gluebook. Lenna has done a lot of truly beautiful vintage collage work; I've shown some here on my blog before.

She recently made a video of her vintage paper creations. It's really fun to watch and she told me I could share it here with you, just click on this link: http://animoto.com/play/hKJuM9uunkGfio0b8FN6TA

I hope you take a minute to watch it (and maybe make your own?) and let me know what you think.

Ephemera Prize Reminder

This is just a reminder that I'll be giving away a package of paper to one of the participants in the Miss Mary Hayes collage sheet challenge. 

 

 

There are 2 more days left to create something and be in the drawing, which will be held on Thursday the 17th.

Stop by the original post to get the details and download the collage sheet.

And if you love vintage images, be sure to check into my online Your Vintage Gluebook Class. In addition to the self-paced class, you'll receive access to more than 2 dozen downloadable pages of images, backgrounds and accent papers. 

You can learn more about the class HERE. To see what some of the participants have created, visit the class Flickr group HERE.