Book and Paper Arts Archives - Page 6 of 15

Free Downloads of Redouté Flowers

April 24, 2021 / by Kelly

I have a huge thing for the work of artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté. He was official court artist of Marie Antoinette (imagine putting that on your CV) and is considered one of the greatest botanical artists of all time. Today I have some high-res scans for you to download and print, or use in your digital collage work.

1. Click on any image to get a larger version.

2. Right click and copy.

3. Paste into an editing programme such as Paint. (I use Word which is not as good but I am used to it😁). You may want to size them down. Experiment and see what [read more]

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Vintage French Post Cards for Poisson d’Avril and Easter

March 28, 2021 / by Kelly

What’s with the French and 1 April, the day when school children go around pasting paper fish on the backs of the unsuspecting and yell “Poisson d’avril !”. No one knows for sure but there are plenty of adorable, probably not-entirely true theories behind the tradition.

One comes from the fact that back in the day the new year began around the first of April. That changed in 1564 when King Charles IX took France into the modern world by adopting the Gregorian calendar and a new year beginning with January. This caused understandable confusion and frustration. (Think about it. As it is, Daylight Savings Time throws me off for weeks. Imagine shifting a whole season.) The response was to jokingly continue to celebrate the beginning of the new year on 1 April with gag gifts of fake fish.

Okay, but why fish? It may have been connected to Lent which often fell about this time of year. Meat was forbidden and fish was a big treat, ergo giving someone a fake fish was hilarious. (Don’t ask me, I don’t understand pranks at the best of times.) It is more likely to be linked to the fact that fishing [read more]

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Altered Postcards With Vintage Birds

March 6, 2021 / by Kelly

These altered postcards are one of a kind miniatures. Each postcard dates from the early 1900s (circa 1902) and has that beautiful, old-world handwritten script. The birds are from an old Swiss field guide to birds, 1912. Each one has been hand-cut and added to the post card, then altered with charcoal and graphite for maximum pop. Each card measures 13cm x 7.5cm (5″ x 3″), and will come on a card that is from a 1920s French post card scrapbook. It is not fixed and can be removed and framed, if wished. Cost is £27 GBP with free worldwide shipping. To buy use the Buy It Now button UNDERNEATH the image that you want to purchase. If there any problems, please contact me by email.

Click on any image for a larger view:

[read more]

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An Expat in Wales: Life in Swansea

February 13, 2021 / by Kelly

Growing up on a farm on a dirt road in Mississippi I dreamed of travel, of one day living someplace far away and glamourous. Like Swansea. Okay, maybe not glamourous in the sexy sense of the word but in the sense that it is unfamiliar and offers endless opportunities for discovery. This is in itself a kind of enchantment.

For me, a trip to Swansea Market is a strange delight. Fishmongers! Of course you can get fresh fish in America but until I moved here I had never seen honest-to-gosh stalls devoted to nothing but fresh, shiny seafood. Pig’s trotters! You know what you just do not see in America? Severed pig’s feet piled in a cardboard box and skinned porcine carcasses on a pallet. Gruesome, yes, but fascinating and a deeply important reminder that our food comes from a living source, not some sterile styrofoam factory. Oops, my proofreader (otherwise known as my husband) says that we say “polystyrene” here.

Well, there you go. Hubby is a nice boy from Manchester. We’ve been together for ten years and after all this time we still find differences in our so-called common language. For instance, did you know that in [read more]

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Mother of Pearl Vintage French Rosary 1890s

February 2, 2021 / by Kelly

This is a mother-of-pearl rosary from France. It has silver bead caps on the Pater beads. The Christ figure on the crucifix is also silver. This is an old piece, from the 1890s. White rosaries like this were often given as gifts for a first communion or on a wedding day. While this, of course, makes a unique and lovely devotional object, it is also makes a lovely piece for someone who just loves old French antiques, and it can also be worn as a necklace. Please note, there is tiny nick (chip) in the MOP in the crucifix. It is not noticeable and in fact I bought it without noticing it but it is there.

It measures 18″ (45cm) and the crucifix alone measures 1.5″ (4cm). To see larger images just click on any photo below.

Comes with a vintage French postcard of an old-timey nun circa 1910s and a vintage French tin as a presentation box. Please note that tin is distressed but that is meant to be part of its charm. If you prefer something a little less eccentric, I can switch it out for one of my hand, faux-rusted tins that you can see in my other listings [read more]

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Vintage French Rosary Blue Crystal

February 2, 2021 / by Kelly

This is an outstanding piece. A vintage French rosary (1910s). The beads are multi-faceted crystal in a pale blue. The fittings are silver and include a lovely art nouveau link piece (see photos). The crucifix has two hallmarks on the bale. An unusual feature of this rosary is that it has 12 miniature silver medals (one for each station of the cross); on one side is the face of Mary and on the other is the face of Jesus. The six linking beads have silver, filigree caps.

While these are gorgeous devotional objects, they can also be enjoyed as a piece of vintage French ephemera and worn as a necklace.

It measures 21″ (53cm). To see a larger image, click on any photo below.

Cost is £135 with free worldwide shipping. Click on button below to buy instantly. Go here for a currency converter that will show the price in your currency. Please let me know if you have any [read more]

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Vintage Women from The Girl’s Own Paper (1892): Downloads

January 24, 2021 / by Kelly

The Girl’s Own Paper was a periodical published in Britain from 1880 until 1956. I really enjoy the older versions for their plates and engravings that I use a lot in my altered books and art journals. They also have some writing that is as ridiculous as it is humourless: sanctimonious advice to young women about the quality of the verses, suggestions for becoming lace menders or lady’s maids, and serialised stories that were meant to be uplifting but today seem terrifying in their narrow expectation for the female half of the species.

Here are a few plates for you. Click on any image for a larger version then right click, copy, and put into an editing program. Paint is a good one although I also use Word (because I am used to it). Below is a video flipthrough of some of the prettier (and cheesier) selections from the book. Let me know if you have any questions and please get back to me and let me know what you [read more]

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End-of-Year Pep Talk: You Got This, You Just Don’t Know It Yet

December 26, 2020 / by Kelly

Anybody need a Sunday pep talk? A call to rally imagination and curiosity and go into the new year with hope and a sense of possibility. Ready?

Am I wrong or lots of us trudging up to the new year worn out and worn down? If ever a year kicked us when we were down, this was it. Or – did we allow ourselves to gradually be buried under relentless reporting that depended on our outrage and exhaustion until our spirits stretched thinner than we thought ever possible and still, more came, burying us deeper and deeper?

Well people, this won’t do. Viktor Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning after his life in a concentration camp in WWII, and he said:

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

And so we are, challenged to change ourselves and this is where it begins. There is magic in the transformation from one year to another and you can ride that wave of strange but real energy. Today. Now.

You still have time. You have all the time you need if you are ready to take your one, precious life seriously. January will be the [read more]

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Vintage French Postcard Images

December 19, 2020 / by Kelly

Here are some high-res scans of vintage French postcards with gorgeous handwriting in old ink. To use them in your work, click on an image for a bigger view then click, copy, and save into an editing program such as Paint. You can then add a light card for some backing and hey presto, you can play around with them to your creative heart’s content.

And here is a video tutorial showing how to use vintage postcards to make pockets in an altered book. This technique would also be good in junk journals or art journals or other mixed media work. Please let me know if you have any [read more]

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French Holy Cards to Download

November 14, 2020 / by Kelly

I recently acquired a batch of French holy cards (images pieuses) from the 1870s. They are utterly charming engravings on paper surrounded by a lace border, which is why they are also called “dentelles,” which is the French word for lace. Cards like this were often given as gifts for a first communion, baptism, or other important events in one’s church life and were cherished.

I have made this into high-resolution (300 dpi) scans that you can download and print or use digitally in your own collage, journal, or other mixed media work. TO USE: click on an image below for a larger resolution. You either print from there or right click and copy into an editing programme such as Paint and then size and print from there.

Please check back soon as I will be adding some images pieuses in colour!

[read more]

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Book and Paper Arts (page 6 of 15)

Free Downloads of Redouté Flowers

Vintage French Post Cards for Poisson d’Avril and Easter

Altered Postcards With Vintage Birds

An Expat in Wales: Life in Swansea

Mother of Pearl Vintage French Rosary 1890s

Vintage French Rosary Blue Crystal

Vintage Women from The Girl’s Own Paper (1892): Downloads

End-of-Year Pep Talk: You Got This, You Just Don’t Know It Yet

Vintage French Postcard Images

French Holy Cards to Download

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