Ten little Santas ...

Ho! Ho! Ho! 9 [SOLD]

Ho! Ho! Ho! 10

Here they are, the final Santas in the "Ho! Ho! Ho!" series. That's it - at least for this year. I'm moving past the holiday to new series and extensions of some past ones - Out on a Limb, False Sense of Security - for exhibits I'll be in during the spring.

Ho! Ho! Ho! 9 features an engraving of a DIY pinecone Santa from Godey's Lady's Book that I scanned to use on a postcard promoting last week's open studio and this month's extended studio hours. Isn't he splendid! Behind him: 1950s greeting cards, a sliver of a map of Ohio (yeah, the same Harper's map from 1877 that I've been using every last inch of during the past month) and a strip of wood veneer. 5" x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel ready to hang. [SOLD]

Ho! Ho! Ho! 10 is strictly '50s/'60s via recycled cards from the era and, yes, authentic Christmas seals. I lucked into sheets and sheets of vintage Christmas seals last year.  5" x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel ready to hang. $55 + $5 shipping/handling.

Down through the chimney ...

Ho! Ho! Ho! 1

Opps! Meant to post two Santas today, but just realized that I didn't scan one of them. So, this Santa is solo. Well, not quite, since there are two Santas on the collage. The central image is from a vintage Hallmark postcard that reproduced an antique image. The Santa in the background was printed on an envelope for a newsletter. The other background elements are (from left to right): antique book spine lining, recycled greeting card, a border from the "Intertype Book of Intertype Faces" (1928) and recycled marbled wrapping paper. 5" x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel. [SOLD]

He knows when you are sleeping ...

Ho! Ho! Ho! 6

Ho! Ho! Ho! 7

The Santas keep going and going and ... The collage at top features an 1877 map of Ohio not just behind  Santa but also on the sides of the panel, which is about an inch deep. At first, I left the sides of all the Santa panels bare. The wood is attractive with a natural varnish, and it makes the pieces feel a bit cleaner and more modern.

Then, I made a mistake when trying to add stamped dots to the side of one and had to cover them with something (the bingo Santa in yesterday's post, if you must know). Next thing, I was tackling the sides of a few more. On the bottom collage, I stamped "confidential" on the wood, allowing the ink to fade so that it has a random, rushed feel. 5"x5"x1" on claybord/hardwood panel. $65 each, + $5 shipping &handling

Santa

Ho! Ho! Ho! 6 $65.00 USD Ho! Ho! Ho! 7 $65.00 USD

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Ho! Ho! Ho! 4 [SOLD]

Ho! Ho! Ho! 8 [SOLD]

Two more depictions of the Jolly Old Elf from the new Santa series. The top collage is a recycled greeting card that, in turn, used an antique illustration. The background includes a brochure that featured Edward T. Hurley's 1911 painting "The Midnight Mass," which depicts Cincinnati's Mount Adams' neighborhood on a snowy night. It's quite beautiful and can be seen in the Cincinnati Wing at the Cincinnati Art Museum and they offer it as a poster; (although the image on the web site does it little justice). 5"x5" on claybord/hardwood panel. [SOLD]

The bottom collage also is a recycled greeting card. I just loved that Santa being doted on at the salon. The bingo card was a long, paper one. I topped it with dotted vellum rescued from an invitation and a sliver of a gorgeous, screen-printed envelope liner from the 1920s. I found it in a cache of letters and greeting cards that were being sold years ago at an estate sale. 5"x5" on claybord/hardwood panel. [SOLD]

Santa, baby

Ho! Ho! Ho! 2

Ho! Ho! Ho! 3

As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm enamored with Ampersand's 5"x5" claybord/hardwood panels, so I used them as the base for my new Ho! Ho! Ho! series of Santa collages. I'm a sucker for Santas of every era and am trying to mix it up in this series. The Santa at the top is a vintage German scrap from the days when Germany was divided and it was printed in West Germany. The Santa at the bottom is from a vintage American greeting card that didn't have a publisher's name - or copyright - printed on it.

They are backed by a variety of papers including vintage sheet music, a type maker's catalog and antique endpaper (top), and recycled wrapping paper, greeting cards and a vintage price tag (bottom). Right now, there are eight in the series, so you'll be seeing more. They are ready to hang and are $65 each + $5 shipping & handling.

Santa

Ho! Ho! Ho! 2 $65.00 USD Ho! Ho! Ho! 3 $65.00 USD

Holiday hours at Paper With a Past Studio

I adore this DIY craft project Santa from the December 1868 issue of Godey's Lady's Book, so I thought he'd be the perfect image for the announcement of extended holiday hours at my studio. I put all this info on the studio page but thought it would be good to repeat it here. Instead of being open only during the second Friday night open studios, Paper With a Past will be open noon-8 p.m. Thursdays ('cept Thanksgiving) and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 22.

Please stop by to see what's new. I'll be whipping up all kinds of holiday goodies from ornaments to greeting cards to tags to, well, whatever else comes to mind. I'll also be squeezing in some new non-holiday collages. For directions to the studio: go here.

Oh, I'm usually at work every afternoon, so if you want to stop by at another time, please call or text 254-9776. I'll try to keep my cell on - really!