Art for Katrina Relief

Some of my talented and generous friends at Collage Cats have donated art to be sold here for Katrina relief. The group "mom" for our online group lives in Louisiana and is supplying direct aid at her house and via her church to displaced families. All proceeds (total cost minus postage and California sales tax, if applicable) from the sales on this page are going directly to her. Please email me for more information.

See this special page for more information and photos of the artwork.
 

Tote Bag Sale, New Collage Supplies

ots of new gifts and collage items added this week:

 New "sale" page so you (and me!) can quickly find
 what's currently on sale.

On this 'sale' page, please note the links to 5 limited edition canvas tote bags: 3 art deco designs (one of which is shown at right), 1 alphabet design and 1 phrenology design.

2 new items in the Collage Supplies:

- Set of 3 Brass Crown Charms

- Metal Filigree

Here's a page from a 4" x 4" chunky book made with this metal filigree and the British Queens #1 collage sheet. (Click on photo for a larger picture or here for the back of the page.) This is a page for an "Artist's Alphabetique" swap. I created the page for the letter "F." I'll scan more of the pages when I receive my copy of the book.

More New Art, More Collage Supplies

love ornament. And illuminated letters. At right is a page from a "C is for Cards" deco using some of the images on the "Card Players" collage sheet. (click on photo for a larger picture or here for the back of the page.)

Image, below left, is from one of three new Cherub collage sheets which have great images of all nine Muses drawn as cherubs. The Muses are the Greek goddesses who preside over the arts and sciences and inspire those who excel at these pursuits.

More images have been added to the Shakespeare's Heroines Collage Kit. (see image at right)

Three new items in the Collage Supplies:

1. Larger Blank Board Books
6" x 8-3/8"

2. 4" x 4" Tin Ceiling Tiles
Perfect size for chunky books in two colors

3. Metallic Leafing Pens
Copper, gold or silver leaf

Finally, a new mounted rubber stamp. Whew.

New Art, New Collage Supplies

I've added some "History of Typography Playing Cards" Decks in the Collage Supplies section (which were designed by moi). At left is a page from an Alchemy deco using one of these cards (click on photo for a larger picture).

I've also added the first of some color-themed ribbon packs in the Collage Supplies section

Finally, we added some wood-mounted stamps of our most popular designs.

New Art, Updated Artist's Links; Sale Continues

I'm working on adding a Gallery section to the site. In the meantime I'll continue posting art samples here. At left is a sweet page Lenna Andrews made in an altered book round robin using the Aesop's Fables — Watercolor collage sheet in fabric (click on photo for a larger picture).

Here's a silly page I made in Shelley's "A is for Aeroplane" deco:

Click on the photo to see a larger picture or here to see the back of my page or here to see the deco cover.

The sale on the new collage sheets (Mythology and Circus) and the blank board books continues.

Blank Board Books!

These are great! I found these fab blank board books. They're 5" x 5" and have blank (unvarnished) white pages. (I don't know if you've painted or collaged onto kids' board books, but they're usually so shiny you have to sand *and* gesso them before anything will stick.) These blank ones are just white pages — but still heavy pages about matte-board thickness — so you don't have to prep them.

I've been cutting out little paper things while recovering from a sinus infection. I was too sick to sit up at the computer for more than 3-4 hours a day (which was totally taken up by client work — so I couldn't do Photoshop collage, which is my normal way to do collage)

I made this little "B is for Bacchus Board Book" via the old-fashioned paper, scissors and glue method:

Click on the photo to see a larger picture or here to see more pics. See the new Mythology Collage Sheets page for Bacchus and Maenad collage sheets or the Collage Items page for blank board books.

New Artwork plus New Collage Kits Posted (and on Sale)

First, catching up on some recent projects. The "Letter P" composition book cover, at left, was made for a "Letterheads" swap (click on the photo for a larger picture).

Lots of new theatre collage sheets posted and a new card-making kit including sepia giftwrap, ribbons, tags and 2 color collage sheets.

The photo, below, is my "Zany Stage" from a "Home is Where the Zetti is" ATC construction swap (you were supposed to create a shrine from 3 playing card-sized "Artist's Trading Cards" but I kinda broke the rules).

Click on the photo to see a larger picture or here to see the back. See Victorian Zany (Clown) for the "Zany" rubber stamp or Bennett Fox for the rubber stamp on the back.

New Artwork plus Final Week of Childrens' Collage Sheet Sale

The new childrens' book illustration collage sheets continue on sale through the end of this week.

The photo, at left, is my page from another "Letter A" Deco (see below for more details and photos). I've used part of the "ABC Books" Collage Sheet and some ribbon from the Bennett Sepia Kit.

See a larger photo or the back of my page or the cover/theme of the same little book (with a little pocket holding a manila tag with "Aunt Ada's Apple Pie Recipe"). The vellum on the back page is from the Apple Pie ABCs giftwrap.

NEW Children's Collage Sheets (including fabric) on Sale!

Lots of new collage sheets posted and on sale.

Note: We're now offering fabric collage sheets. They have a soft hand (they're not stiff like fabric sheets made with iron-on decals) and they are washable (for all you quilters).

The photo, at left, is 1 page from a 2-page spread I created for another "Letter A" Deco (see below for more details and photos).

See a larger photo or the cover of the same book (which kinda explains why my pages are so silly).

Greek Goddess Rubber Stamp Sets on Sale!

I've put the Athena and Artemis Rubber Stamp Sets on sale (to coordinate with the new sepia Greek Goddess paper kits that are also on sale).

The photo, at left, is the cover of my "Letter A" Deco (see some photos of 2 pages I made in another "Letter A" deco in the same round robin, below).

See a larger photo or the Inside Front Cover spread of the same book.

New Sepia Greek Goddesses Vellum Giftwrap on SALE

Cardmarking (or giftwrapping) kits with two sheets vellum paper, six manila tags and three ribbons now posted:
Sepia Greek Goddesses

And on sale!

The photo is of a Deco page I made (for a "Letter A" Deco) using this paper.

Note how the text stamped on the background paper is visible through the vellum.

See a larger photo or the other side of the page (using the Athena Faux Postage Rubber Stamp Set).

Intro to Decos
Some nice Deco examples

New Links Page Added

May not sound earthshaking but rummaging through all my links (collected over the years) of online art exhibits this afternoon has been wonderful (trying to decide who to include, seeing what's evolved, seeing what's disappeared...).

Enjoy!

New page is at Links.

New Rubber Stamps in Stock!

Lots of new rubber stamps: illustrated alphabets, children�s fairy tales, Robin Hood... Links to all the new stamps available here:
Rubber Stamps.

Or view by category:
Alphabets,
Art Deco Designs,
Children's Book Illustrations,
Mythology and Playing Cards or
Theatre Illustrations

The Cat and the Fiddle, at right, is here.

12 New Greeting Cards

One thing led to another... and I've added a dozen more greeting cards. It started with a request for more Shakespeare and then half the day was gone. Links to all the new cards available here:
Greeting Cards

Still working on adding all the new collage sheets. It may be another week or so.

And there's some new giftwrap paper ready that needs to be photographed...

ABC Collage Kits on Sale

Animal ABCs collage kits are on sale. See:
Bennett Kit with Blue Paper

I was at the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland this week. I took a great class on Poloroid transfers from Terry Berg. Here's a "before and after" pic showing the image I used and the transfer I made:
Poloroid Transfer

I have a whole slew of new collage sheets. More info coming when I get a minute and get them posted.

Valentine's Day Paper!

Our new Valentine�s Day giftwrap has been added: The Queen of Hearts! Available in:
Blue
and
Sepia

We've also created vellum collage sheets of The Queen of Hearts illustrations.

I'm participating in an Abecedarium swap (I'm doing the letter "E") and have finished my page.

I'll post more photos when I receive the finished book.

Lastly, we have found a better supplier, so all journals have now dropped $2 in price!

Thanks for looking.

New Giftwrap, Journals and Collage Sheet ABCs

Lots of new goodies!

Two new journals are available and on sale until January 15th:
Greek Mythology Playing Cards
and
"Palmer Cox's Queer People"

New alphabet transparency sheets:
Art Deco
and
Victorian

Last, but not least: Our latest giftwrap design has been added (in time for the new year): Victorian Almanac (from The Book of Days of 1869):
Blue
and
Sepia

I actually read the entry for each day of the year during the year 2000 (the "Book" is actually a 2-volume set of approx. 1500 pages). It's a fascinating glimpse of what was probably common knowledge in the Victorian age. More info:
http://www.thebookofdays.com/index.html

Thanks for looking.

New Christmas Papers Added!

Christmas ABCs have been added:
Sepia
and
Blue

If I could clone myself, maybe I could keep up! We had an 'art party' over the weekend (with a dozen attendees) and some of the cards created are found on the Christmas ABCs pages (more will be posted soon).

We'll be at "Art and Soul" in Portland in February, in case anyone wants to meet up and say 'hi.'

That's enough for tonight...

Type History... Where to Begin

Per a recent email query asking how to begin studying type history, here’s a list of typography textbooks I find useful. Phillip B. Meggs’ “A History of Graphic Design” is the standard. Allan Haley’s “ABC’s of Type” is a little dated but still a good intro to standard contemporary typefaces (mainly body text serif fonts) — but does not have the breadth of history of the Meggs book. Also, Erik Spiekermann’s “Stop Stealing Sheep and find out how type works” is good and entertaining (it’s aimed at Graphic Designers needing to educate their clients).

Here’s a couple pages w/reviews of type history books:
http://www.design-bookshelf.com/Type/index.html (a little overwhelming)
and
http://www.design-bookshelf.com/Type/manual.html (2nd graph gives links to 2 good texts I didn’t list above — plus the link itself is a review of a typography book)

Alpha Stamps Site Is Launched!

Drum roll please... the Alpha Stamps site is launched. Yay! This has been a long (but enjoyable) project. Thanks to all my friends for their patience while I’ve been working on the site (and special thanks to Curtis and Doug for their copywriting assistance). Things always take longer than you think they will...

I will be using this “news” space as the webmaster’s (my) blog. When new products are added to the site (or special sale pricing is announced) a notification will be emailed. (You'll not receive an email every time the blog is updated.)

In honor of the release of the latest issue of the Art Deco Society’s annual, The
Sophisticate, we’ve added two new Art Deco gift wrapping papers: Cocktails (blue or sepia) and Travel (blue or sepia).

The first two kits available on the site are the blue and sepia Charles H. Bennett Animal ABCs. We have lots of plans for other kits — if you’d like to see a kit based on any of our giftwrap papers, let me know and it might be moved to the front of the queue.