Vintage Sewing Kit

A new kit with a set of warm-colored, vintage-themed papers, a blank board book, buttons, elastic, cloth tape and miniature wooden spools — everything you'll need to make a sewing-themed altered book and probably quite a few extra cards. We've designed five new collage sheets — two are included in the kit and others are listed on the same page.

New sewing- themed items are also posted on the same page, including some vintage buttons from my stash (Victorian shoe buttons, mid-20th century Czech glass buttons, carved shell buttons...).

The book cover from the kit, at left, is by Miz Bella. A larger photo and more sample art are on the kits page.

More Theatre Collage Sheets

Six new Shakespeare collage sheets plus a few new collage supplies:

- Rubber stamp mounting foam

- Memories permanent ink pads

- Metal foiling tapes

- Brass arrows

- Brass hook & latch closures

Also, the illustrator bios that were on the giftwrap pages are now on the history page (including some explanation of the Victorian clothing and hair styles of these Shakespeare illustrations).

Naked Shrines

Just waiting for you to complete them

We just received these one-of-a-kind wooden shrine forms by a woodworker in Marin County. They're all unique and handmade. Some have little hidden compartments. More are available on the site.

Also shown are some small paper mache birdhouses that are awaiting your handiwork.

Happy Spring!

Quick Update

I've been scanning some late teens/early '20s magazines for an upcoming project and thought I share these embroidery ads and instruction pages with everyone.

Click on the photos for 200 dpi images sized to fit a letter-sized page. After the larger image window pops up, you can control-click on the scans to save them to your hard drive (control-click is on a mac; right-click on a pc? who uses that antiquated system anyway?!). Please email me if you make something out if them (collage art or actual embroidery).

Red & Black

New blank books, diamond-patterned printed papers and coordinating stickers with a Commedia/harlequin theme.

- Four New Blank Books
One of four new books (a swatch book with a screw post as binding) is shown

- Four New Scrapbook Papers
Two 12" x 12" sheets shown

- More Printed Cloth Tape
Warning/Evidence tape

- "Thanks" Stickers
Stickers in varying sizes to address a gift or make a card.

Mermaids

More yummy collage supplies, and a couple new mermaid collage sheets.

- Metal Items
Civil war reproduction buckles, beautiful escutcheons, metal index tabs ...

- Printed Cloth Tape
Black tape with white printing in two styles

- Two Sheets of Rub-Ons
Ornamental capital letters or architectural elements

- Two new mermaid collage sheets (one sheet with dreamy Art Nouveau women and another with illustrations from vintage children's books) and some aqua/blue fibers

New Collage Sheets by Tracy Roos!

We are thrilled to announce a new line of collage sheets created for Alpha Stamps by Tracy Roos Studios. Tracy is a multimedia artist and popular art retreat instructor from Portland, Oregon, who has been published in numerous magazines including Somerset Studio. These are the first products in an exclusive partnership with Alpha Stamps.

Six new sheets with a Spring/Easter theme are ready to ship:

- Two Vintage Easter sheets

- Spring Flowers

- Flower Girls and The Garden (both sheets with images from vintage photo postcards)

- Easter Bonnets

(New) Vintage Cardstock

Lots of yummy new collage supplies, and some new Coccoina paste to glue them down with. Stickers and printed cardstock Adhesive-backed measuring tape

New Collage Supplies

Before I get to the new supplies, do you know there's a listing of current submission themes for rubber stamp and scrapbooking magazines (with deadlines and links to submission details) on the site? Click on the text "Submission Calendar" in the left nav of any page.

On to highlights of the new collage supplies:

Small Box Latches
Antique brass-colored metal (light-weight, hollow forms; the hinge on the latch does work (about 1” tall)

Calendar Girls Playing Cards
Each card in this deck shows a reproduction of an early 20th century chinese calendar. You can buy the whole deck or just a few for using in collage projects.

Four Fiber Sets
Each set has 5 yards of a four-strand mixed yarn plus 1 yard of rayon seam binding (very drapey and silky). The yarns include a little metallic strand.

Small Glass Bottles
Miniature glass bottles with either a cork or plastic stopper (stopper has a hole for hanging on a string).

Mounted Rubber Stamps

Quick note. All rubber stamps are now available mounted, unmounted, or mounted and trimmed on EZ Mount foam. So images previously sold only on unmounted sheets are now available as single images.

I've also reorganized all the stamps into new categories.

That fellow at left is the Small King stamp from the Kings and Queens page. And the stamp at right is the C, Clock, Cat stamp from the Miscellaneous Letters page.

[More] New Collage Supplies

I’ve returned from a trade show and have new goodies:

Shakespeare's Flowers Playing Cards
Each card in this deck shows a flower, with its Latin and common name, together with a short quotation from Shakespeare. Buy a full deck or just a few for collaging.

Adhesive-Back Letters or Numbers
1/2" diameter; slightly domed clear plastic; full alphabet with extras of most letters (60 letters or numbers in each set); 3 more designs beside the 2 shown.

Scrapbook Paper
12" x 12" sheets in game pieces, antique playing cards and two da Vinci drawing designs; coordinate with our own collage sheet designs.

New Ribbon Packs
Beautiful brown/rust/tan set with 11 ribbons and a cotton twill tape set with three widths for stamping your own designs.

New Collage Supplies

Many new bit and bobs including some original vintage ephemera pieces (and I've reorganized the collage supplies section). These are just a few examples of the new items:

• miniature alphabet baby blocks
• brass watch parts
• game pieces including some fab Pai Gow Dominos
• more gold foiled german scraps
• vintage cigar box trim paper

Also, the journals are all on sale.

Lastly, the sale on new Valentine collage sheets continues thru next weekend.

New Photographic Rubber Stamps!

Many new rubber stamps — including some half-toned photos like this ’20s flapper.

	Tip for Detailed Stamps Use dye ink (instead of pigment ink) and use a brayer to apply a thin layer of ink onto the stamp

- Queen of Hearts (and the King and that naughty Knave stealing tarts)

- Cherubs

- Nursery Rhymes (Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle...)

- Puppies! (and more stamps of Toby from Punch and Judy)

Gallery Added to Site

I've added an Art Gallery to the site. I'll add more info about each photo (and more photos) in time.

Go take a look!

I've also added photos of an Etched Metal Book that we're going to start offering as a technique class in Berkeley later this Spring. The front cover uses our Antique Maps #2 and Ornamental Corners rubber stamps. Click on image, at right, to see a larger photo or here to see the inside.

Finally, I've added these adorable, embossed, gold-foiled cupids.

New Collage Sheets for Valentine's Day

Twenty New Collage Sheets — for making Valentine's Day cards (and other romantic projects throughout the year):

• Art Nouveau Advertising and Theatre Posters
• Art Deco Perfume Labels and Valentines
• Vintage Sepia Photographs of Beautiful Women
• Paintings of Venus
• Pre-Raphaelite Women
• Queen of Hearts Playing Cards
• Puppies!
• And, of course, many Vintage Valentines

Happy New Year!

Everything for Christmas on Sale!

All giftwrap on sale!

And Christmas-themed Art Deco and Victorian collage sheets on sale, too!
These lovely Christmas cards and gift tags were made with the Victorian Umbrella Kids and “Laying his finger aside of his nose...” collage sheets. Here are close-up photos of a couple of these cards by Miz Carla.

New Christmas Cards and Art Deco Collage Sheets

New greeting cards have been added just in time for Christmas:

- Electrical Christmas

- Art Deco Fashion

- Alice in Wonderland

- Horizon Celestial Globe

- Jovial Christmas

- Queen of Heaven

- Santa Claus

- Two Months fron Victorian Almanac

- Medieval Tapestry of Card Players

New Art Deco collage sheets (including a Christmas sheet) have also been added and all Deco sheets are on sale.

New Rubber Stamps, Larger Tin Ceiling Tiles and Lightweight Metal Mesh

ew unmounted rubber stamps added:

 - Set of Four Ornamental Corners

 - Elephant Matchbook Cover

 - Scroll Border
   (Looks great with the Antique Map
    frames sets posted last month.)

New items in the collage supplies, including lightweight copper and brass metal mesh, and larger tin ceiling tiles.

Finally, the pre-season sale on Christmas collage sheets will be ending Friday.

New Ceramic Tiles, More Collage Supplies

Two Six new designs and all of the tiles now available framed (like Puss in Boots, at right). Framed tiles can be used as wall pieces or as trivets.

New items in the Collage Supplies:

 - Brass Chess Pawn Charms

 - Metal Frames

 - Red Liner Tape (Double-Sided)

 - Wooden Cigar Boxes