Altered Vintage Postcards

I've been thrifting a lot lately and some of my favorite finds have been vintage postcards. Mostly there from the 1950's and 1960's, and I've been lucky about finding ones that have never been used and that are pretty pristine.

Cleaning Up City Hall - Altered Vintage Postcard

I've been using them as backgrounds for collage elements. All of my collage bits of paper and ephemeral are also vintage and of the some era.

Swimming Beach - Altered Vintage Postcard

It's been a lot of fun, mostly tongue in check humor, and a touch of irony. After I alter the postcards I seal them with a protective acrylic finish, low gloss to preserve the vintage look. You can find these altered postcards in my Blue Valentine Etsy Shop. Oh, and there's lots more to come.

Highway 101 - Altered Vintage Postcard

Holy Crap! Long TIme No Post

Pendants made from collaged vintage Domino

How does it happen? You log in to blog and realize it's been over a month since your last post. How it happens, at least in part, is two trips to Minneapolis to celebrate weddings and graduations. Tons of hours spent on the road and in the pool training for another triathlon. And lots and lots of life's little details like lawns to mow, plants to grow, and dogs to walk. None of it the stuff worthy of a blog post, and yet I just managed to include them.

There's also been time for crafting, although there never seems to be enough. It's the great unsolved puzzle in my life, and I'm sure in lots of my readers' lives: Where do you find the time to craft?

"Cleaning Up City Hall" - Altered Vintage Postcard

The work with paper has continued to involve lots of collage - right now the x-acto and glue are more fun than the press and ink, so I'll stay with it until I get the urge to print. It's a funny thing about me, I can't just stick with one thing - I can't just run so I bike and swim also, and viola it's the makings of a triathlon. Like wise I can't just print, I sometimes would rather collage or sew some bindings. I don't just knit, I also full my knitting, needle felt, and now I'm learn to weave (more on that in future post). The variety keeps me sane. I think... Either that or it makes me crazy. I guess that's the other unsolved puzzle in my life.

"Highway 101" - Altered Vintage Postcard

Back to the work with paper... I've been altering some vintage postcards that I found at my favorite thrift store. I've also been collaging on old game pieces, mostly vintage domino and old wooden nickels, also thrifted. I've been using them to make some really fun pendants. Some have been listed in my Etsy shop, and some will be listed soon.

I'll share some knitting news and the learning to weave in a future post soon. But right now I've left my bike on the porch so I can get in a ride after I write a blog post, and before I sit down at the loom... Crazy? Sane? And when will I walk the dogs?

Some Thoughts on Collage

I've been doing more and more work with collage lately. And not just on the journal covers. I've been working with watercolor paper and then mounting the collages onto greeting cards. I've got a few other projects planned as well, with new materials and media, but I won't reveal the details until I have photos to post.

I've always been a collector of paper and ephemeral bits and pieces. I especially love the vintage stuff circa 1940-1965, sometimes a bit older, and sometimes a bit younger, but mostly that's what I seem to gravitate towards. I love the colors they used then, the muted tones. Collecting papery bits is one of those uber-addictive things. I have boxes, and drawers and stacks of papery goodness all over my work space. Some things I especially love: sheet music, maps, sewing patterns, and books that are beyond repair.


Collage is all about juxtaposition, that's what makes it fun. It's about working with colors, contrasts and compliments. It's about being true to an era or a theme, without being literal. And it's about irony. I especially love the irony. I noticed the other day that it's not unusual for me to chuckle out loud to myself when working on a collage. That almost never happens when I'm standing at the press.

As a word lover I find myself almost always including text in my collage. Sometimes the words are the starting point, but sometimes they come later. I'll never get away from the words, I really don't want to.


Collage is also about experimentation. Trying new materials, and media. It's a way to really explore the vast world of art supplies, and sometimes you discover something you love. I recently went to the craft store and shopped the sections I never used to, I also went to a bead store. I didn't buy much, just a few odds and ends, the idea was to push myself creatively, to look at new materials.


Like the journals, I've been posting the collaged greeting cards in my Etsy shop. I think it shows that I've been having fun. At least I hope it does.

Grow Your Own - Wheat Grass!

Here's another super simple way to have fresh greens and to add a little life to the kitchen; grow your own wheat grass. Get yourself some wheat berries, they are available in bulk at most co-ops, natural food stores, and finer groceries. Put several tablespoons in a small dish, cover with water and soak over night. In the morning, find yourself a container for planting - you can use a pot, a dish, or I recycled the containers my raspberries and blueberries came in.
Fill to almost full with an organic potting soil, sprinkle the surface with the plump soaked wheat berries. Barely cover with more soil. Keep them moist with daily watering, and put them in a sunny window. It doesn't even really need to be that sunny. Once your grass is 4 inches long, mow some off for use, and it'll keep growing. You can juice it in a juicer if you have one. Add some to your smoothies. Or feed it to your dogs and cats, they can either graze right off the plant (cats especially) or you can cut it up and add it to their kibble. It's really good for them and you.

Happy planting!

Earth Day Project Update: New total on re-crafted re-usable totes is 134!

And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to the lucky 6 winners of my Earth Day Contest - They are Christine P. , Amy C., Hoganfe, Contessa Kris, Kim aka Images by Kim, and Antjamie. Please send an email to bluevalentinepress@hotmai.com with where I should send your re-crafted re-usable totes and your issue of Croq "The Trash Issue" and I'll get them on their way to you asap.

Thanks to everyone who played along. There were some great comments and emails with some great ways to live a little greener. Kim would like to implement this idea in her home town, I say go for it, and right on! The less plastic in this world the better. Including plastic water bottles, which is why antjamie's comment about ditching the disposable water bottles is so great - I myself made that change some time ago and it's amazing how much money and plastic you save, for myself personally, I drink a lot of water, like on average of 90 ounces every day, and that's a lot of refills. I love the idea of swifter covers, and riding your bikes to work. I thankfully get to work here at home but my partner has been making a real effort to commute via bicycle when ever it's possible. I also really really loved the idea of getting rid of disposable cups at the office - it's the perfect way to put all those free-be coffee cups to a good use. All it takes is a little effort and a little dish soap. Perfect!

Here's some updates on the project: As of right now I have 124 shirts, and I know there is more on the way. Almost all of these are prepped and ready to sew - thanks to my super next-door friend who spent her Friday evening helping me cut shirts. Some of the finished shirts have made their way out into the world - like 36 of them. And I've only had one person say "no thank you" they didn't want a free re-usable shopping bag, but he was a little weird anyway so...

Here's the biggest most exciting update: Blue Dog Rescue, the local mixed breed rescue group that I volunteer for has an annual fund raising 5k run - Run for the Rovers. They have asked and I have agreed to recycle last year's left over runner shirts into this year's swag bags. This should be about 60 re-crafted tees, and will probably be distributed to the first 60 registrants. Although myself and my partner are already registered to run, so that'll be two more re-crafted re-usable totes for me to get out into the world. If you're reading this and you're in Central Texas, hop on over to the race website, and get yourself registered to run. It's a lot of fun, it's for a great cause, and you can run with your dog, as long as it's spayed or neutered, and current on it's vaccinations. We'll be running with Layla. Way to go green Blue Dog!

I have to say I am so pleased with response I've gotten to this silly little project. My hope was to get my friends and family and their friends and family and maybe a few strangers excited about not using plastic bags anymore. Clearly this has happened. And that my friends, makes me very happy! So thank you all for your enthusiasm, and thank you all for wanting to jump on board and go a little green, and thank you all for not using plastic.

THERE'S STILL TIME...

There's still time to enter my Earth Day Contest! I've received some great comments, and some great emails from the shy folks - You have until 11 PM cst time today to enter. I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow, along with some updates on the project. Leave your comment, and send that email.

EARTH DAY 2008! The Project -

Happy Earth Day readers! I have a crafty recycling Earth Day project of my very own this year, and a contest to kick it off...

I had this idea for turning old Tee-Shirts into really cool, re-usable totes. Like a lot of my ideas this one has become sort of project. My own personal Earth Day project. I've had a ban on plastic bags in my house for some time now and this is my way of encouraging others to use a little less plastic.

Here's the logistics - Last week I sent an email to basically everyone I know and have an email address for, friends and family, asking them to give me their old tee-shirts, the ones they've been meaning to bring to the Goodwill anyway, the ones in the deepest darkest corners of their closet or drawers, the ones they'll never wear again. And I'll make them into totes. As an added incentive for them to give up their old tees I promised them one completed tote for every three shirts they give me. For example, they give me 3 shirts they get 1 tote, 6 shirts = 2 totes, 9 shirts = 3 totes, you can do the math.

All I ask is that you use it! That's sort of my theme with this project. I asked that you keep some in your purse, or a pile of them in the car, or in your panniers and use them everywhere you shop. Most grocery stores have caught on to this idea and are into it, but it's pretty amusing the response you get when you say "I have my own bags" at places like Target, or Petco, or Lowe's. Really it's fun. The goal is to have less plastic floating around the world. Which brings me to the scary stuff...

WARNING: This paragraph contains the scary stuff - you really should read it. At their most basic level, these plastic bags are made from petroleum and all that that inherently implies in terms of fossil fuel harvesting and harmful emissions. Every year Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags. No that's not a type-o, 100 BILLION. That's the equivalent of dumping 12 million barrels of oil. A goodly portion of those 100 billion bags end up in our landfills - forever! They don't bio-degrade, they do eventually break down into tiny toxic particles, and release toxic gases all the while. Worse yet, the ones that don't end up in the land fill - forever - take flight and end up in our waterways and oceans. I read one estimate that 1 million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles are killed every year by eating or getting tangled up in plastic bags. I read another estimate that 50% of all marine litter is plastic. Want more of the scary stuff? Do a google search on "plastic bags" and if you weed through all the ads from manufacturers and distributors of plastic bags you'll find several conservation groups with articles and FAQS about the horrors of plastic bags. I gleaned most of this scary stuff from a Salon Article.

Back to the regularly scheduled program - my Earth Day project. The response I have gotten from my friends and family has been astounding! Really! In just four days I have collected 110 tee shirts. I have sorted, piled and logged each of those 110 shirts. And I have word from several people that there is more to come. I think a very reasonable goal is 200. I am going to turn 200 old tee shirts into 200 re-usable shopping bags. Think of the plastic that will save.

So what happens with these 200 shirts I'm re-making into totes? They will all be given away for free - All I ask is that you use them! The first batch to be given away will be the 40 (out of the 110) bags that will go back to my original contributors. Several of them have said they intend to use their tee shirt totes as gifts, giving them to people who would maybe not otherwise think of using a re-usable tote. And that is exactly the spirit of this project.

The next batch to be given away will be to the winners of the Kick Off Contest - Yep, here it is the Earth Day Contest: Leave a comment, or if you're shy send an email to bluevalentinepress@hotmail.com, and share either a recycling tip or an Earth Day resolution of your own. Everyone who comments or emails will be entered into a random drawing. You have until Friday April 25th at 11PM cst to enter. I will announce six winners, here on the blog on Saturday the 26th. Each winner will receive 3 re-crafted tee shirt totes and a copy of CROQ Craft Zine The Trash Issue, which is chock full of crafty recycling projects. That accounts for the next 18 bags, bringing us to total of 58 tee shirt totes out in the world.


This is an ongoing project, as it will obviously take some time to sew 200 totes, and I won't stop at 200 if my loved ones keep giving me shirts. My goal is to save the Earth from having to deal with so much plastic. Every shirt that is given to me will be re-crafted into a tote and that tote will be distributed for free. I have visions of myself out front of the local pet food store handing out free totes...

I will continue to blog my progress with this project and share with y'all how the shirts have been distributed. So stay tuned, and don't be shy, enter the contest before Friday night. Happy Earth Day!

National Ride Your Bike to Work Week Sale

It's National Ride Your Bike to Work Week and to celebrate I just posted a tiny sale in my Etsy shop - Now through Friday April 25th - Buy one of my On Your Left Notebooks and I'll ship it for FREE and throw in a FREE GIFT!



Get on your bike and ride!

Earth Day Project in the Works

I wanted to post quickly just a little teaser that I've got a huge Earth Day project in the works. It involves lots of recycling, and lots of crafting. It will even involve a kick-off contest. Be sure to check back next Tuesday - April 22 - Earth Day '08 - for all the details.

An Etsy Find - Ker-bloom!

Every once in a while I like to share something I find on Etsy and love, and think you should all love also. This time it's Ker-bloom! A letterpress printed zine from Artnoose. Yup, you read that right, a letterpress printed zine.

I have a very real mad love for all things letterpress. I also have a pretty vast collection of zines and indy comic books. Ker-bloom! is by far my most favorite - The writing is always way above par and the slice-of-life glimpse into the mind of Artnoose is always worth a look. And it's letterpress printed - in some of the more recent issues she has used polymer plates, and the current issue was screen printed with a letterpress cover, but amazingly Artnoose has been hand setting lead for every issue since 1996. That my friends make me giddy!


I buy every new issue that come outs. I've amassed a healthy lot of back issues. I even recently did a special order to fill in some of the gaps. I dream of a complete run, although I fear it will be near to impossible.

If you've got a spare minute or two or six hop on over to Artnose's Etsy shop and grab yourself some back issues of Ker-bloom! You'll thank me for it. I love Ker-bloom! and you should also.