vintage paper/collage art – Page 11

Inside a big, fat travel journal- Part One (with LOTS of How to details) and a story of bravery

Books, family, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 14, 2014

In the last few years, travel journals have become a big part of my vacations. I like to take an empty book and a box of supplies (I used those clear plastic bins with snap on lids, that are about shoebox size), and gather tidbits of goodies along the trip to add to the pages.

Now that I have a retro style instant camera (from Michaels) I can add some pictures as I go. But I limit myself and don't put too many in, I save plenty of space in the book for other photos once I get home.

On these pages, I used a tourist map of the area, torn out of a free guidebook. I glued down shells from a shopping trip in Venice Beach, and a sunshine yellow flower from a hat my sister, Bobbie Sue brought to me.

(Can you see more blooms from this hat peeking out of other pages? What I've done, is to kind of stair step style, layer the flowers over the pages,so that they make a row of petal ruffles that show when the book is closed)

These two pages are covered in crumpled tissue paper that was in a shopping bag. I've covered a large tag with scrapbook paper, and added some lace, a flower, and birds that I brought with me.

The name of the restaurant we were eating at in these pictures is hand written because I didn't save anything from the restaurant guide that had the name on it.

It is fun to add little surprises that remind me of the events, like the tiny alligator I glued on here. The restaurant was on the bay, and my sisters were certain that a gator might climb up the dock at any time.

When I put down a background, I don't know what photos I will be using on it. Usually, I gather up papers from the trip, and pack some scrapbook paper and wallpaper, and while I'm relaxing and watching the water, I make backgrounds. Some pages get details while I'm on the vacation, others get finished when I get home and add pictures.

But I do try to keep in mind where we are going and what we are doing, and semi-plan some pages around the photos I took that day.

On this pocket, I've glued a beach scene from a vintage photo album I found at a junk shop we stopped in. It is lined in ruffled ribbon.

Trim on the bottom of the right hand page is crumpled tissue paper, lace that I brought with me, some shells I picked up, and millinery forget-me-nots.

I like the shells combined with the flowers, so I used that on a few different pages.

For one thing, I like the way it looks. For another, I think the flowers help keep the shells in place. Since the shells aren't flat, not a lot of their surface area makes contact with the paper. Gluing flowers to the shells and to the paper seems to make them have a more secure hold.

This shark tooth from Venice Beach, also is not flat, so to make it fit more securely, I stuck it into a blob of glue on a piece of brown paper bag. Then packed sand tightly into the glue to cover the brown paper and to hide the glue.

It was then added to a border of gross-grain ribbon that I tore off the yellow flowered hat my sis gave to me.

The background here is a place mat from the restaurant we ate at after shark tooth hunting. So, I decorated the page with that fossilized tooth, and photos of us from that day.

On the right page, I took polaroids of my sisses as we worked on our scrap books, and wrote down funny quotes from them. I won't show you the whole page, because those aren't the best pics. But I liked them and wanted to use them in the book. They are just private, not to share, since they aren't all that flattering.

The white paper is that pretty, sparkly stuff. It reminded me of the Sarasota sand and seemed to fit the picture of Sissy walking there.

The green netting border is the lining from that same yellow flowered hat. And I found a vintage bird book at the junk shop with the photo album. It was nice to have the old pics of beachy birds to add here and there.

More crumpled tissue paper from a shopping bag was used for the pages about the three of us sprinkling our Daddy's ashes. And I cut out the picture of the bottle Sissy carried the ashes in, instead of posting the whole photo of her holding the bottle.

Some of the photos are matted with sparkling teal paper, others are outlined with blue marker. I like to vary the size and shape of the pictures I add to the paper.

Bobbie gave me the seahorse sticker, as well as some transparent, sparkly, sticker pages. I cut a strip of that sheer glitter sheet to stick over the words I'd written onto text from an old fairy tale book about a sea maiden.

It says, "good bye," for our Daddy.

Pockets to hold brochures or receipts are handy to have.

And the mermaid scrap book paper was too pretty to cover up, so I just glued a picture in a corner of the page. And I cut out the silhouette of me on the rocks instead of adding the whole photo with ocean and sky.

I brought vintage swizzle sticks with mermaids for all three of us to use in our books. And the "beach mist" paper was a soap wrapper from our hotel.

Wrappers, labels, brochures, tickets, postcards are all good things to snag while on a trip to add a sense of location to a travel journal.

This page of old fairy tale text about mermaids was just ideal for my trip! I loved the three sisters in the corner, so left it as is, except for a hint of glitter (which doesn't really show in the photo)

At the top, I glued a napkin with three more mermaid sisters and embellished them with glitter ink, and rhinestones. At the bottom of the page, is a strip of more rhinestones, and another bundle of flowers and shells.

Handwritten messages are always special and will keep memories of a trip alive.

This one is extra special. I was so proud of my sisters. They love being by the ocean, but HATE getting in the water. They have always refused to even wade in the water. I tease them about ankle sharks, and then swim away and have fun on my own.

But on this trip, they over came their fears. Off the beach, there was a sandbar, that ran for hundreds of feet. I waded out to it, and walked around out there, feeling like I was on the edge of the world. Being so far out, away from the beach, but being in water only a few inches deep was just magical. It was such a beautiful experience, I wanted to share it with my sisters.

Now, I don't think I bullied them…. but I really wanted them to have the same joy I did. And our father loved walking on the sandbar years ago, and had asked that we take his ashes there.

I thought I'd be taking the ashes out on my own.

But they surprised me.

Our mom had raised us to fear everything, but I have forced myself to ignore that voice in my head. I don't know if they had realized just how fearful she had made us. Maybe hearing me talk about our fears helped? Maybe wanting to honor Daddy's wishes gave them courage?

At some points, the sandbar was 30 feet or more away from the shore, but we found a spot where the shallows were only about a 10 foot walk through waist deep water to reach. We stood on the beach, and Sissy led us in some Tai Chi deep breathing exercises, she said a blessing, and we all marched off into the waves.

I hope they felt the same magic I did out there. They seemed to have fun. And while I promised to keep an eye on them and help, they were so engrossed in shell hunting that they kept wandering off in different directions. I told them they were as bad as Sugarwings and Dewdrop and were lucky I didn't give them a time out for heading out in two different directions at once and making me follow them back and forth.

But then, I realized, they didn't need me.

They were exploring the gulf. Free from their life long fears. I don't know if I've ever been so proud of anyone before.

And look at this. The next day, Sissy was wading out and hunting for shark teeth at Venice Beach.

Yep, I was very proud. And happy to have been able to share the experience with them.

****************************************************************

ps- Want to come to my cottage studio for a Christmas class? I have two available, how to see you here!

And I wanted to let you know that I have some flocked, pink, tiny trees in the Etsy shop now. They are a bit different than the typical bottle brush trees that I carry.

And I have them in two colors of pink.

A Fall Wedding in New Hampshire

celebrations, family, flowers, Food and Drink, guncles, holiday decor, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2014

What a perfect place for a wedding! The guncles have been together for a long time and had a commitment ceremony 17 years ago, but now that they can be legally married, we gathered in NH to celebrate with them.

We had a rehearsal dinner the night before the event at Ipswich Country Club. And oh my! It was something!

Great appetisers.

Exceptional food.

Wonderful company. (this is just some of us, I don't have a group shot)

And a serenade from Carol Swarbrick Dries (Aunt Carol). She sang a song that had tears in all of our eyes. We begged for an encore the next day at the wedding.

The air was crisp, the leaves were colorful, and the site for the wedding luncheon and ceremony was ideal for the occasion.

And did I mention that there was carrot cake? My fave! And so pretty with the fall colors. There wasn't a cake stand, but I slipped a couple of box lids from our centerpieces under it and that made a quick but cute, make shift stand.

I was so pleased that the boxes we worked on together to make centerpieces looked so festive in the room.

We also glittered and sponge painted some packages of tissue paper leaves from the dollar bin at Target to sprinkle around the table. And Randy framed a picture of each guest to create name cards for the seating.

17 years ago, we had to take apart two bride and groom cake toppers to get two grooms. Now, the guncles had plenty of toppers to choose from with two grooms. All this one needed was some highlights in one groom's hair and it was ready to adorn the carrot cake.

I was honored to be in the ceremony. The whole time I was up there, I watched Kevin's face and was moved by the emotions he showed.

That man is a treasure and we are lucky to have him in our family, and seeing the love and happiness in his eyes that day, moved me to my core.

I spent the entire day with red, weepy eyes, but a huge grin on my face at the same time.

A Fabulous Craft Day Bachelor Party

family, guncles, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / November 5, 2014

Our Sister Trip to sprinkle Daddy's ashes also included a bachelor party for the guncles. They live in Jacksonville, but were getting married the next week in New Hampshire. Our fab friend, Karen, has a home in Mt. Dora, which in my mind was about halfway from where we were staying in Sarasota.

In real life, it was a THREE HOUR DRIVE. And when gettting stuck in traffic on the way home, it was a FOUR HOUR DRIVE.

Still, the day in Mt. Dora was well worth the time in the car, (although I think I would have preferred a sleep over instead of doing it all in one day.)

We got to meet Queen Satine, one of the most delicate and delightful ladies I've ever known.

And experience the loveliness that is Karen's Kozy Kottage.

Not to mention a sneak peek at her new studio in downtown Mt. Dora.

Where prettiness abounds.

I was touched to see her little pink fairy from Birdsong sitting on a shelf there.

And a fabulously embellished angel on the wall that she made from a mini how-to that I did when I was visiting her another time.

Of course, everything about Karen is Fabulous. Just like Guncle Randy. When they get together, fabulousness starts emitting from them like shining bits of fire from a 4th of July sparkler.

The bachelor party wasn't a typical one. Instead of a wild party with cocktails and exotic dancers, we had a craft day.

We were working on wedding decor for the big event coming up.

These large wooden letters are for Randy and Kevin, we painted them metallic and covered them with moss.

Here is one as it was on the mantel at the wedding. We also found the perfect, old hat filled with fall colored velvet leaves and blooms, and took it apart to add a few pieces from it to the letters.

Guncle Randy found the hat on our jaunt downtown to do a little shopping at one of Mt. Dora's cute boutiques. What luck, it was just what those letters needed. And we had plenty of millinery blooms from it to use in our journals too.

My gift for the guncles was an album/journal for Randy to fill with wedding mementos. And I came across the perfect sheet music to use as backgrounds too. Here are a couple of them.

After the wedding, we had another craft day, and I used one to make this for their album.

The craft day bachelor party also included making a garland for the mantel at the wedding, and centerpieces, that I showed you before, here.

Plus home made goodies from Karen's pal and our new friend, Julie. She even made us jams and apple butter to take home.

Thanks, Karen, for the lovely day! And thanks, Julie for the lovely treats!

Customized Nature’s Blessing Journals

Books, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 26, 2014

When packing for my trip to Florida with my sisters and the wedding in New Hampshire, I decided that my sisses and I needed travel journals to work on during down time.

So, I customized a couple of the Nature's Blessing journals for them in colors and styles I knew they would like.

(By the way, there are still a couple left if you'd like one too. $30, US postage included. Or if you'd like a customized one too, please add $15 to pay for the bumped up supplies)

Bobbie's last name is Valentine, so all things "hearts" was a sure thing for her book.

I also packed markers, papers, glues, etc for working on pages beach side.

If you'd like a custom book, let me know what colors you like and I'll add some extras to your cover- old jewelry, more flowers, extra charms, and those sort of special touches.

I made a very special one for the guncles as a wedding gift too. This is a one of a kind book, since I used the original painting on it. The cover is an old book, covered in vintage papers, and painted with metallic gold, then dry brushed with taupe, and inked in forrest green. Over that, I layered the other elements, and coated it all with a water based, clear varnish.

The wedding took place during leaf peeping season in NH, so, I used that theme on the book too. These velvet leaves were green, and I inked them up to make them more colorful.

Here is the back of the book.

In my online class, Creating Art Journals, I have a segment about making a journal from an old book, if you are interested in making one yourself.

Here is the inside cover. And the pages are all cold pressed watercolor paper. I can't wait to see the happy pictures that Randy fills this album with!

An art journal made from a vintage prom dress and a cabinet card

Books, Dew Drop, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2014

When I made this book, I had no intention of making a book. Sometimes that happens. My son and I decided to clean out the fairies' closet. Sugarwings was a dedicated dresser upper (and still is) but had outgrown many of the play clothes.

Dewdrop, enjoys dress up tremendously, but is picky about her ensemble. She has one or two faves and will not try on anything else.

So, we decided to donate 5 bags (yes, an outrageous amount of dress up clothes!!!!!) from their stash to a thrift shop so other little kiddos could pick things out in time for Halloween.

Most of the stuff had come from thrifts anyway, so it was kinda like taking them home again. Or just borrowing them for a bit.

Anyway, in the closet was an old prom dress that I've adored since I bought it at a garage sale a few years back.

Here is Clover wearing the dress a couple of years ago in a photo from another album that I made.

When I saw the gown buried under a pile of fluff and nonsense under the bed, I decided to reclaim the it for myself. And HAD to go and make a book, right then and there.

I transformed an old cabinet card into a book, with a simple little trick and this lovely fabric. Most of the books I've done for the tutorial aren't sewn, and this one isn't either.

But in cutting up the dress, and using existing seams, it looks like a sewn cover.

Of course, I had to use some vintage wallpaper too! And I just happened to have the perfect shade of old velvet ribbon to add to the book.

This book is for sale. All of them will be, as soon as I get them listed in the Boutique. I've not done it yet, even though I have tons of photos to use. But I have been selling some through enquiries by people who have seen the pictures.

This one will be $55 if you are interested, just email me at karlanathan@sbcglobal.net. (postage included in the US) sold, thanks for all the interest!

Or, if you'd like to make a similar book yourself? Directions for turning a cabinet card into a journal are available here.

How to make an art journal

Books, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 24, 2014

I sure made a LOT of journals as examples for the tutorial!

What started out as a basic class about how to make a book cover, turned into a whole pile of books to use as examples for different styles and variations of the basic book.

I was so involved with making one book after another, that my poor dogs started to feel desperate for attention in the studio. Dorothy had to insert herself into the photo session to get me to notice her this day.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that the photos weren't all about her.

The workshop also ended up with design ideas for the interior of the books too, and different ways to add closures. But mostly, it shows step by step instructions to build a basic cover and make the signatures (pages) all in a easy, no sew way.

(But I did add a couple of sewing options, for those who don't find sewing machines to be torture devices).

And once I had the basic steps down, I realized that they could apply to any number of projects, with some variation on the theme, and a few simple tricks.

So, I started turning photo albums, vintage books, and cabinet cards into books too.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased this $15 class, and for the great feedback! I've put a lot of time into the prototypes and process, it's wonderful to hear from people who are reading the blog, that they like the posts.

Here is a little video with some of the books you'll find described in the class.

Stacks

Books, swaps, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 18, 2014

The covers for Nature's Blessings Journal swap are ready to be filled. And the pages are pouring in. There are boxes stacked on my porch from the mail lady every afternoon.

Here is a sample book I made up, and filled with my own pages, just so I could see how nice they looked filled and fat.

Are you a fast crafter? If so, you still have time to make some pages over the weekend to enter the swap. They are due to be mailed on the 10th, but I just realized that is a Saturday. I'm letting the swappers know that Monday the 22nd is fine for a mail by date.

There are also swap journal books with blank pages for sale, if you'd like to buy a book to fill yourself. $30 includes postage in the US.

Or, if you'd rather make your own book, in the style of the Nature's Blessings Journal, or from a vintage photo album, old book, or even an antique cabinet card folder, I have a new tutorial available here.

Vintage cabinet card photos turned into art journals

Sugarwings, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / September 9, 2014

Wow, it has been exciting for me to see how many of you love to make journals as much as I do! Thanks for the purchases of the tutorial!

On Saturday, I added another book to the class, it is the small cabinet card one in the front, covered in barkcloth. (I also added scans of the cabinet card folders to use as a pattern if you do not have a vintage photo of your own to make one)

You can never go wrong with barkcloth, can you? Especially, a yummy, rosey pattern.

Yep, yum. Double yum, I love that stuff. Almost as much as old Rosy wallpaper, but not quite, because I'm just not as mechanically inclined to work with fabric as I am to handle wallpaper.

Which is why Beth posted this hilarious sewing machine illustration for me, knowing that any monstrosity of a sewing machine is a mystery to me.

And why the tutorial I wrote for the journals is about making them with GLUE. Although I an proud to say that I did brave a couple of sewing ideas to show too.

All three of these cabinet card books are done with glue only.

My world is a happy place when I don't have to go near that scary monster of a sewing machine.

Of course, a page like this would be just as nice stitched as it is glued. But I've done something nasty to my machine and the cry hole is all wonky.

(Isn't the title of this article great!? I thought it was appropriate for the tutorial, it is nice to help someone become more arty)

Sometimes all we need is a few tips and some cheering on.

Seasons

swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2014

One of the blessings of living in the Midwest is the changing seasons.

Of course, when winter's turn is coming, I sometimes think of the changing seasons as a curse more than a blessing.

But only on those extremely cold days when it hurts to go outside. And even then, if you aren't forced to leave the house, those frigid days can be pretty nice, with a fire going in the wood stove and a good book to read.

For me, you can't beat springtime. Not only is it the "year's awakening" like this snippet I cut out of an old book says, it is just plain old cheerful. Winter can be gloomy, no matter how nice it is to read by the fire. Not many days of real life are conducive to goofing off and reading a book, plus, you have to go outside to get that firewood to build the cozy fire in the first place.

But spring? Cheerful, happy, and bright.

Still, would I love it so much if it wasn't so fleeting? Having the seasons change keeps things interesting, it marks time passing.

So, yes, the changing seasons are a blessing to me.

So much so, that I did 2 sets of pages for the Journal of Nature's Blessings in honor of the seasons.

One nice thing about this swap, it is open to a lot of interpretations. I'm very intrigued by the options and can't wait to see the pages rolling into my studio to see what choices the artists made to represent their own ideas of Nature's Blessings.

This theme can be very personal, and meaningful to the artists. I'm thrilled that we have so many people joining us in this swap (and yes, there is still room for more).

I hope to have time to make more page sets. I like to have a few extras around, plus some to swap, some to keep. I really think I'll need to keep a set of the season pages.

More Nature’s Blessing Journal Swap page examples

Books, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2014

I've been working away on the book covers for the Nature's Blessings swap, but I really should be more factory-like as I do them.

But I just can't be!

I glue some papers… iron some canvas… cut out some angels (oh my, there are a LOT of little feathers on those wings!)…White wash a few covers,well, you get the picture.

If I had a lick of sense, I'd do all of one step, then move on to the next step. Instead of having odd numbers of each step finished.

Then, of course, I need to take breaks to make some interior pages of my own so I can join the swap too! (this one features a crepe paper ruffle trimming a pocket made from an old advertising card.)

This page is backed with a page about gardening taken from a 1800s French magazine that I bought from Gwen for only $1.

Over that, I added a bowl of apples cut from a Victorian scrap album. And lo and behold, I actually was able to pull it out! Have you noticed how fantastic the glue usually is in those old scrap albums!??? Oh my goodness, what did they use for glue that is still holding so darn tight over 100 years later????????

I want some of that glue! But I think getting it involves rendering hooves, or something and I am fresh out right now.

The apples and the illustrations from the French gardening article made me think of harvest time and canning up nature's summer abundance to eat all winter long. So, I found the word "abundance" in an old dictionary and cut it out, then glued it to a piece of summer green, velvety ribbon.

The ribbon is only glued down at the sides, so that it became a towel rack to hang a tiny, vintage dish towel on. That seemed to complete my thoughts about canning summer produce, old kitchens, etc.

Whoever gets this page, can take the mini dish towel out for some other purpose, or keep it in the book. The page is fine either way, because the French text underneath is pretty dang cool.

I love that stuff.

Sorry, this photo isn't real sharp. It is old, lined, stationary paper with a rose on it.

I trimmed the top in more French magazine paper, some velvet and a flower. Plus some lace across the top.

Each of my pages has a little something peeking out from either the top, bottom, or side. I think that the book will be so much fuller and prettier looking if the swappers have embellishments that are protruding to show outside of the book.

Like the sheer flower petals showing from under the nest on this page.

People have asked me if it is okay to use fabric or something other than card stock to make their pages. I really want the pages to be card stock, for ease of putting the books together. But, like on this page, you can use other materials over it.

This is card stock, with fabric, that I have sewn on. The center is more French text (thanks, Gwen!!) that will be a pretty back ground for the book's soon to be owner, to glue a photo or momento over.

It isn't too late to join, if you are interested in making some pages of your own. Or you can purchase an empty book, ready to fill yourself. I've sent out quite a few of those already, and we are up to almost 75 swappers. The more the merrier! We will have a lot of variety in the pages. I'm so pleased to have a good turn out for this. I know it is a bigger swap than I've done in the past, commitment-wise.

Packages are starting to come in the mail, but I won't be opening them yet. As boxes arrive, they go into tubs, stacking up until almost time to start filling books. It's much easier to keep track of hundreds pages if I keep them in their original packages till I need them.

Also, I am working on a book binding tutorial. So far I have photographed and written instructions for 3 styles, I want to add at least 3 more before having it ready to market. Details to come.