ETSY IS HAVING A LABOR DAY SALE! Click for 15 % off all packs of note cards in my shop, Aug. 30 – Sept. 1.
ETSY LABOR DAY SALE!
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Tag Archives: note cards
Sweet Summertime… Beach Themed Note cards!
Just like a sunset, summer is beginning to slip on the horizon. Are those school bells I hear in the distance?
No, waves. And gulls. At least for a few more days – or if you’re lucky, a few more weeks.
If you’d like to send along a bit of the beach with your summertime correspondence, I have a couple of new designs for you! These are new note cards, but the original pen and ink drawings were actually penned long ago. I hope they stand the test of time – and sand!
The images are black and white with a background color of something akin to light olive. These are printed on premium cardstock from environmentally sustainable forests with gloss coating on the outside.
Thanks for taking a look!
Click here to see these in my Etsy shop.
Click here to see these in my Etsy shop.
Wishing you and yours a relaxing rest of the summer….
Art Break Wednesday: NEW “Book Nerd” Gift Pack
Greetings, Book, Letter, and Art Lovers! Do you have a special bibliophile in your life?
As a new school year looms, I’ve got books, books, books on the brain. How much does my family love books? We are beginning to process of gradually relocating (more on that later), and pretty much the first things my husband has packed are boxes of books. We need to donate some from our teetering stash, but how to decide? I’m putting some of my zillions of children’s books aside for our oldest, who will be teaching young readers just two years from now (after she graduates and then completes her masters.) We’ve already given our youngest some books to take to college, as if he won’t get enough there!
Well, if you know someone who can’t resist the turn of a page, the crisp smell of the latest bestseller or the musty aroma of a time-tested classic, the heft and weight of words in hands – all stitched up in a glorious volume of board, cloth, paper and ink – I’ve come up with a new gift package that might suit.
First, a package of “Book Nerd” note cards. I made the original design for these with my little book relief print carving and hand-stamped the words “BoOk NeRD” with vintage metal letterpress type, all on torn paper. (The notecard reproductions suggest this texture, but are completely flat.)
These come in packs of eight cards, printed on premium cardstock from environmentally sustainable forests with gloss coating on the outside. White envelopes are included. (Packaged in clear, archival 2 ml polypropylene.)
Next is – what else? A bookmark! This design was made with the same vintage metal letterpress type, and features a black relief print border. It’s printed on premium cardstock from sustainable forests with a gloss coating, finished with a black ribbon and an antique brass-colored cord crimp. It’s packaged in a cello sleeve.
Finally, who couldn’t use a fun magnet to keep track of all those reading lists? A smaller image of the book design and stamped letters, printed on premium cardstock, is cut with a deckle edge and layered on a like-wise deckle-edged piece of copper cardstock. These are collaged onto a 2″ X 2″ canvas board (painted black) and covered with acrylic gloss. A strong 3/4″ magnet is secured to the back.
Each item is sold individually (just click on each picture if interested, and you’ll zoom over to the appropriate listing in my Etsy shop), but I’m offering a little bit of a break and a fun presentation for the whole bundle. The cards, bookmark, and magnet, each wrapped in its own clear packaging, are placed in a clear cello bag with gold woven tissue. Gold and black raffia tie up the nerdy ensemble. 
Wishing you and yours a happy August. I’ll be in and out of town, and working like crazy to stock up for the Decatur Book Festival street fair at the end of the month, so I’m declaring myself an honorary European and will take some of the month off re. blogging. But only a couple of weeks – I’ll see you back here before the festival!
Art Break Wednesday: Connections and Combinations
Greetings! I’m not exactly sure where the past week went, but between travelling, enjoying the last bit of spring break with Morgan, and a couple of work things, it slipped through my fingers! Oops.
Happy to be back and eager to share art and inspiration this spring.
Today I’m thankful not only to have been a creator but a recipient in the Pocket Change Artist Trading Card project. Folks participated from all over the world: the US, Canada, Italy, Australia, India, Mexico, and New Zealand! Beth mailed out my own cards to keep (or share) a couple of weeks ago, and they have been brightening my days:
Images © the artists
The “Flowers of Time” card from Nancy is particularly special because she put the date on the back – and it was created my birthday, January 30! Its collaged text reads:
The truth, that painter, bard, and sage,
Even in Earth’s cold and changeful
Clime,
Plant for their deathless heritage
The fruits and flowers of time.
Isn’t that beautiful? I was cheered by the other cards as well – Leslie’s lively hot pink and ink drawing, Fiona’s happy Friendship card, and the colorful collage from.. Spain? Well, it has Spanish postage stamps. I love knowing that the creators put not only their imaginations into these delightful pieces, but their hearts as well. Thank you!
For more about the project, here’s a post on 6 Degrees of Creativity with links to other blog posts by participants.
In other news… customers often have the best ideas. I was recently asked about putting together a combination package of note cards from my Etsy shop, an idea which I’ve been stirring on the back burner and whose time has come. After sending off her custom package, I decided to offer a couple of themed packs as well as a “Your Choice” option for those who can’t decide. Finally got them posted today:
Literary Combo Pack (Click for Link)
Literary Combo Pack
Animal Combo Pack (Click for Link)
Animal Combo Pack
Custom Combo Pack (Click for Link)
Custom Combo Pack
The price per pack is slightly higher than my same-design packs, simply because there is a little more time involved in assembling them.
Thank you, Dear Customer who spurred me on, and I hope other folks will enjoy these options as well.
Now, I’ve got some new projects coming up with the daffodils – what are your artistic plans for Spring?
Art Break Wednesday: Just My Type
My wonderful friend and author Kim Siegelson left this intriguing note on my artsyletters Facebook page last month: “I found the coolest addition to your artsyletters set up today.” Curiousity was killing this cat! You see, in addition to sharing the writing life, Kim is the one I’ve turned to in past months for Etsy advice. She has a lively vintage Etsy shop (two actually), and I love seeing what new items show up in Perfect Patina. On my author blog in November, I shared another special gift she found for me and my appreciation for our vintage hunting adventures.
We finally met up at our SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle in Atlanta this past weekend, and Kim gave me my new surprise. (Drumroll….)
The Complete Second Edition of 20th Century Typewriting
by D. D. Lessenberry and E. A. Jevon, published by South-Western Publishing Company in 1933.
I love typewriting manuals! I have a couple others I’ve picked up in antique shops, but what makes this one stand out are the amazing illustrations of typewriters inside. (I couldn’t find a credit for these.) Here are some more samples:
Aren’t these great?
At art shows, one thing I’ve loved to offer is my old Underwood typewriter available for attendees to try out. Especially kids – most have never used one before! I make them type enough of a line to hear the magic bell…
Jessica and Wyatt try out my old typewriter, as my daughter and “assistant shopkeeper” Morgan looks on.
One of the first products I wanted to offer in my new art business last fall was some typewriter notecards. 
This image was drawn with pen and ink (and some colored pencil and other media worked in as well) on paper I had painted to suggest a parchment effect.
In the mixed media department, I was delighted to find on Etsy a dealer from Great Britain who had parts from an old Remington typewriter for sale. I’ve used these in a few pieces, and still have some left for future projects. This collage I made and sold on Etsy incorporated some of these metal parts, my own typewriter image above, a vintage flash card, some vintage metal letters, and a line of exercises from another old typewriting manual that reads:
“Write it on your heart that every day is the very best day in the year.”
I was delighted when a customer purchased this collage with the following note:
My husband is a “collector” of typewriters and we both love to live with our hearts so I cannot imagine anything much more appropriate for him than this framed piece.
Even more delighted when she kindly sent me a follow-up note as well:
Just wanted to tell you how much my husband LOVES the framed artwork and note cards. He opened it today and it is now placed happily on our piano. We can hardly believe how perfect the message and collage of unique items come together to match our lives.
Let me tell you, words like that fill my own heart and soul. I’ve been blessed to realize that beyond making items to sell, starting an art business has given me connections I treasure. These might be the happy thought that my work has made someone else smile, or the special knowledge that a friend would pick up a vintage typewriter manual with dynamic black illustrations of old typewriters, and she would think of me!
Thank you, Kim.
Anyone else have fond memories of clacking away on a heavy metal typewriter (or those sleek electric ones that slid into the market)? Do tell!