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.

Well, if you REALLY need an excuse to visit The Bonbonerie ...

... I'm here to offer one: Paper With A Past is participating in the Cincinnati bakery's Annual Holiday Art Show 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday. Yes, this Saturday, Dec. 3. There will be 14 artists in the space between the bakery and the cafe.

My daughter, Laura, will be there selling wreaths (three sizes, $15, $18 & $22) and ornaments (3 sizes, $5 each) from our new Punch Drunk line, above. They're made from recycled greeting cards, file folders, gift bags and anything else in my stash that I'm not using in collages. She'll also have holiday collage gift tags ($5 each), some of the new collage ornaments ($18 each) and the last of the postcard ornaments I've been making for the past seven years ($4 and $6 each).

Me? Well, as promised, I'll have my studio at Brazee open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Then, I'll zip over to O'Bryonville, providing my own excuse for checking out the baked goods.

Click here for more details on the sale, and the bakery.

Welcome December!

I've been working on collage tags for the Fit To Be Tied® line and thought I'd post a pair to usher in December. These screen-printed '20s cuties were together on a cardboard cutout found in a used bookstore. Wish I could tell you who the publisher and artist are, but there wasn't any info on it. I was attracted to them by the unconventional, yet seasonal, colors.

I cut the card in half to make a matching pair. Behind the girl on the left: antique endpaper and an illustration from Christmas: An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art, which was published by Augsburg Fortress from 1931 to 1997. Behind the girl on the right: vintage sheet music and recycled wrapping paper. By the way, see the reinforcements at the top of them? Well, I hand color each one. Not kidding.

I'm thinking about how to show - and sell - tags online. It's cumbersome for the blog - there are just too many at a given time - so, it may be time to open my Paper With a Past® Etsy shop. Time to wake up that post-undergraduate studio assistant who's working for me 10 hours a week to pay her room & board while she applies to grad school ...

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

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! 

Every time I say I want to go bigger, I go smaller.Now, I'm customizing, too!

Well, I couldn't resist trying my hand at collage ornaments. In this case, tiny collage ornaments. As in 1.5"x1.5" and 1"x3" and 2"x2." The result: my new merry&brite® collection. They are $20 each - and  are available in the studio and Brazee's gallery One One downstairs as part of the Multiplicity/Hang it Up group exhibit.

I didn't realize how difficult working this small would be. The main issue is finding images that will "read" at this size. So, these took much longer to create than I thought they would. There also was the issue of not making them too thick so they could fit into the frames with the glass. That ruled out a lot of recycled greeting card images I planned to use - they were too thick.

The original plan was to make soldered ornaments. I took a class, bought the materials and equipment needed, but once I spotted these frames, well, I bailed. I do think I will solder some day, if only to make pieces the size that I want. I have some beautiful, old, beveled-glass squares I've been itching to turn into ornaments.  

Still, I'm happy with these. So happy that I'm offering to make custom ornaments using your materials or that include a map of the city, state, country you select. Interested? Contact me. The deadline to order is Nov. 25 and delivery is guaranteed by Dec. 16. The price for the custom-made ornaments is also $20.

Ogden Was Bent On Mischief

Oops! I know I said that yesterday's post was the final Halloween one, but I forgot about Ogden. He's a Victorian engraving from The Chatterbox magazine and is one of the many illustrations of chubby-cheeked children from that era that creep me out. I can't explain why. Even minus the mask, he disturbs me. So, what better image for a Halloween collage?

I added the color to his cheeks and lips, and now that I'm looking on it on the computer screen, well, I may go back in and add some color to the mask. The text is from a holiday crafts book and the smidgen of orange is from a recycled book proof. 4.75" x 4.75" on archival mat board. It is matted to fit a standard 9"x9" frame. $55 + $7 shipping & handling.

Hog heaven

This is the last of the Halloween collages. As with some of the others, I topped it with a piece of vintage, spider-web patterned, glassine paper to make it look like she's riding through the web. I wish I knew more about the toy. The image is recycled from a book publishers' fall catalog from years ago. I didn't think back then to check what book it might be illustrating or whether there was more info before ripping  the cover off the catalog. Sigh. 4.75" x 4.75" on archival mat board. Matted to fit a standard 9" x 9" frame. $55 + $7 shipping & handling.

Jane And Isabella Shed Their Inhibitions on All Hallows' Eve

Now what would the genteel readers of Godey's Lady's Magazine make of this reinterpretation of the fashion plate found in the November 1865 issue? I'm not sure. But when I spotted this pair - part of a larger plate in bad condition - their dresses screamed Halloween. So, into the Halloween file they went. I resisted the urge to dress them up more. Keeping it simple allows viewers to focus on the details of the lovely, hand-painted dresses. 4.75" x 4.75" on archival mat board. Matted to fit a standard 9" x 9" frame. $55 + $7 shipping & handling