Even the Cat Was On Edge

I've been deep into Halloween for a few weeks now, so expect to see a few more collages. This one has a vintage cat decoration - courtesy of my friend Shirley Tenhover - as its centerpiece and a cast-off watercolor painting in the background. Yeah, I found it in a dumpster. The translucent paper behind the cat is embedded with a spider web pattern and came from a University of Cincinnati theater program from the 1920s. I didn't know it was in the program until I opened it. I still have more of it but am using it sparingly! 4.75" x 4.75" on archival mat board. [SOLD]

Holy Grail of paper collectors? Halloween

During the past fews decades Halloween has become a major adult event. And why not? It's a holiday with costumes, sugary treats and cool tricks - and one minus the baggage of other holidays. No long hours in the kitchen - well, unless you're Martha Stewart. No family reunion, er, not that I don't love my family and not that they haven't been behaving unusually well at Thanksgiving.

The holiday has always been a decorating op but never more so than now. Along with its surge in popularity among adults has come an equally strong desire for Halloween anything from collectors. I have as much nostalgia as any baby Boomer for the now-vintage Halloween decorations of my youth but refuse to pay the skyrocketing prices that come with them. I do trawl for Halloween bargains and nailed this one at a flea market for a mere $6. Topping that off: the box held 10 stickers not 6. Bingo!

Along with Halloween, products made by the Dennison Manufacturing Co. have become highly collectible during the past decade or so. The company merged with office product giant Avery International in 1990 to become AveryDennison, so its easy to tell whether you've got a genuine vintage product by looking at the label.

I also keep my eyes open for Dennison stuff - gummed labels, cloth reinforcements, tissue paper booklets - to use in collages. I already used two of the labels from this box on collage tags. I can hear the collective gasp! from collectors as I type.