Card tricks

I field questions almost daily about my greeting cards, most of which re-use antique and vintage images. It's fun to talk about where material is found (flea markets, book sales, auctions, etc.), the process of scanning and manipulation, which can be extensive.

Images from my archive are the only ones used. This way, I know exactly where they came from (which is explained on the back of each card) and there's no worry about permissions, etc. Respecting copyright is a concern of mine, so copyright-free images are all I use. (Copyright is complicated; find out more at the U.S. copyright office web site.)

Some images are works-in-progress; tweaked before their next printing (oh, the printing? done by me). Complicated, antique engravings are the most difficult to reproduce clearly, and often require a pixel-by-pixel facelift. But the best way to explain the process may be via the evolution of a recent card …

The girl illustrating a story in the Dec. 1873 issue
of  St. Nicholas magazine catches my eye.

She seems perfect for a book plate

So, the image is scanned, duplicated,

then, the copy* is cropped

and lightened. *I always leave the

original image intact in case I need

to go back to it later,

She is removed from the background,
and cleaned up a bit by erasing lines,
which will make a crisper image.
Then, she is flipped to face right
(because at this point, I decide to
make her into a card and want her
to face the side that opens).

Next, she and the books are colorized
using Photoshop, and more books are
added to the bottom right since she
is looking in that direction.

The card looks a little bare, so a gradient
background is added, and a thin border.
The background color is altered during
printing to add more variety.

She is put into a card template I developed, then the information
is added to the back of the card, and she's ready for printing! 

A very Victorian Christmas

Over on the Paper With a Past Facebook page, I've been counting down to Christmas with daily posts of Victorian cards from my collection. It suddenly dawned on me that the images ought to be posted here, too, for those not on Facebook. Enjoy …

MERRY CHRISTMAS. The final card.
Published by Boston's Louis Prang in 1881.

Two sassy "You Said It, Sister" holiday cards

I tend to be sentimental when it comes to designing holiday greeting cards. But while restocking the card above from the "You Said It, Sister" line for a shop, it occurred to me that it could be converted into holiday card for Christmas and Hannukah. So here they are, fresh off the printer … they're available in the studio, at The Framery in Hyde Park, and sometime today, at Indigenous in O'Bryonville.

"Deja Boo!" New line of Halloween cards

These are not only new, they're also my first line of Halloween cards. They are adapted from antique postcards and anatomical illustrations, vintage bridge tally cards, and vintage decorations in my collection/archive/stash.

They're available, to varying degrees, at the Cincinnati-area shops listed below - and all styles are at my studio at Brazee Street Studios in Oakley, and can be ordered by getting in touch with me:

• Bonbonerie (O'Bryonville, in the bakery)
• Dandy Haberdashery (Pleasant Ridge)
• The Framery (Hyde Park) 
• Indigenous: a handcrafted gallery (O'Bryonville)
• MICA 12/v (Over-the-Rhine)
• NVISION (Northside)
• Redtree Art Gallery and Coffeeshop (Oakley)

Meet me at The Flea this summer

Look for Paper with a Past at the first three City Fleas of the year: May 17, June 14 and July 12 in Cincinnati's beautiful Washington Park, across from Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine. But there is a twist: I'll be selling the fabulous finds from my "Stuff I Can't Bear to Cut Up" files.

The image above is a sampling. There will be everything from medical oddities and magazine covers to advertisements and fashion engravings. Most antique. All original. Some are matted (to fit standard size frames), others are as is.

I am sorting, sorting, sorting though the vast archive. Cannot wait to share these treasures.

Also on hand: Paper With a Past greeting cards, postcards, and bumper stickers. I'll be posting more in the weeks to come.

   

Love struck

Okay, between the Tweeting, Facebooking, writing about art, designing "Love Me Tender," my first line of Valentine cards, hunting for paper for two new series of collages, and fighting a cold given to me by my dear husband, well, I've neglecting the blog.

Hoping to remedy that by taking a break from one of my writing gigs. Meanwhile, for those of you NOT on Facebook, here's a peek at the Valentine cards that I have been posting there for the past few weeks, all are available at my studio, and a selection of them can be found at MiCA 12/v, NVISION, and Redtree. And, later this week, at the Bonbonerie.

Adapted from a circa 1920s fold-over Valentine made in the U.S.A.
The publisher and artist are not IDed. I found 5 cards in what, apparently, was
a series during my only trip to the Burlington Antique Show last year.

The illustration is adapted from a 1905 postcard, published
by Raphael Tuck & Sons, London.  It was not mailed, but is addressed
to Mr. John Lauder, Brad St., Beachmont, Mass.  The original featured
the man as a pear, but with serious tweaking, I turned him into an apple.

llustration adapted from a postcard, circa 1910, that was printed in Bavaria.
 The publisher and artist are not identified, and it was not mailed.
 But the art has the softness, and sweetness of an Ellen Clapsaddle illustration. 
We're up in the air on whether the child is a boy or a girl. 
The message on its back? Simply: “Paul Baker from Mary B.”

Illustration adapted from a greeting card, circa 1920s,
that was die-cut. The back of the card shows
the boy's back and the back of the tag, which
reads "Please be mine." The publisher and artist
are not identified but it has the unmistakable style
of a WhitneyMade card.

This sly guy was a dense, black & white engraving from
"Good Things for Little Ones," an antique children's anthology
 of stories, poems, illustrations. It took about 20 hours of work
to "open up" the image - line by line, pixel by pixel -
and to create the final colorization.

The illustration is adapted from a 1922 WhitneyMade postcard,
published by the George Whitney Co. of Worcester, Mass.
It's postmarked Bainbridge, Ohio, 6 a.m., Feb. 14, and was sent
by Catherine Jenkins of Cynthiana, Ohio, to Mr. West, sans a message
other than “Valentine Greetings” on the front of the card.
The artist is not identified. At one point, Whitney was among
the largest publishers of Valentines, even so, it rarely identified its artists.

Illustration adapted from a 1909 postcard published
 by H.W. Taggart Co. (NY). The card was never used.
I've created a 2nd version: two MALE hearts
(both sporting an oh-so-trendy 'stache). 

The illustration is adapted from an antique trade card
advertising the handsome Winsome Banner stove made
by the Baxter Stove Co. of Mansfield, Ohio. As with the cupid card,
I spent a few days at the computer
"opening up" the engraving so that the stove's wonderful decorative details
would pop. And, of course, had to add that blazing fire.
While researching the stove and company, I discovered
 that Mansfield was the stove capital of America 'til the 1970s.
It was home to Tappan & Westinghouse, as well as other manufacturers.

When creating the web image for the "Love Has Gone to My Head" cards,
I put the two cards together, and, voila!, a new idea was born.
Why not put the two hearts together in one other card?
The illustration is adapted from a postcard that is
postmarked West Alexandria, Ohio, Aug 22, 1910.
 It was sent to Alice Tester of Rockford, Ohio, by her niece Alma Dorman
with a message asking her aunt to visit.
A Valentine sent in August? No. On the original, the female heart
is frowning deeply, with big tears running down her cheeks,
and the text reads: "Do you sometimes think of poor little me."

Illustration adapted from an antique chromolithograph
of D.M. Ferry & Co.'s Sweet Pea "Miss Blanche Ferry,"
which the California company introduced in 1889.