Making (Things and a Special Request)

Any parents out there who remember reading that book IF You Give A Moose A Muffin? (Or maybe it was a mouse?)
Well....I kinda feel like that moose (or mouse)....I had a book of old photos, some vintage sheet music I found for free and some brown Kraft card stock all sitting on my work table....

(A friend gave me the photo album)

And all of a sudden I was tearing and pasting and painting and collaging to my heart's content.
I should have been doing a long list of other things but there you go.
I have been having a lot of stress in my life lately and tearing and pasting always helps.

Some inked out the face in this photo and wrote "too fat" on it....hummmm

I could tell this was the same MOM holding the tiny baby in that photo on the left and then later with her daughter much more grown up -- it's all in the hair-do!
Don't you wonder what happened to them?

Sisters?

I had to dab in some color on some because the photos were so faded you couldn't see what was there. I knew she was holding a baby!

So, now I have a sweet little stack of collaged photo cards to send out....using stress wisely!

You like collage? You've got to get this book. Trust me....No, this is not a money-making blog (God knows) and no, Amazon doesn't pay me....but I am loving this book.

Here you go -- maybe your library has it? Melinda Tidwell (an artist I love) is  in here.
And the woman who wrote the book loves using old, discarded books in her collages.Oh yes--Ido too.

Here's a photo that's not getting torn up on my watch! This little cutie is......

....turning 101 years old in October! Can you imagine? He is JB, my lovely father-in-law and Pasadena's oldest fire fighter (retired, of course). I have started a 101 Card Campaign for his birthday month of October andI've been asking all my mail art friends to send him a card -- any time in October.
It can be plain or fancy. Bought or handmade. I'm hoping to give him 101 birthday wishes and cheer up his mailbox all monthlong.
Here's a chance to make a very old guy happy.

Here's mine.
He's getting homemade cookies too. (Good thing he doesn't read the blog).

JBF
1575 E. Washington - APT 530
Pasadena, CA 91104
USA

Are you in? Please let me know if you are. I'm trying to keep tabs on how close we are to 101 cards.
Lots of lovely folks on the blog's FaceBook page have already said yes so we are well on the way.

So, back to tearing.....I guess it is better than doing some other things to relieve stress....and at least I have something to show for it.

SEND AN OLD GUY A CARD -- 101 Card Campaign needs you!

Too Much of a Good Thing?

This has been a good week for paper -- a wonderful ephemera sale in San Rafael...and five days of the Library Big Book Sale. (No, I didn't go all five days but I did go twice!).

I bought two old ledgers...

The more I look at my own photos, the more I wish I bought more of this fabulous paper.....

I feel happy just being around paper ephemera like this....thank God others love it and preserve it too. With everything on hard drives and in clouds now I wonder if future generations/artists will have any luck finding beautiful paper ephemera for art-making.

If this wasn't enough excitement for one week, then there was the San Francisco Library Big Book sale...

I always go to the members preview and then back on the last day (today!) for  Dollar Day.

Today you just couldn't get me out of this section -- Foreign Language Non Asian. (I went to the Asian language section too).
Nature and Birds and Garden sections were pretty picked over today but this table still held fabulous finds.

I mean -- just look at this cover! Doesn't it make you wish you could read Russian?

Score!
1927. Amazing vintage ads and recipes inside -- of course, all in a language I don't know. In fact, I can't actually tell what language it is but I love it. $1.
(anybody know the language?)

Another fabulous Russian cover!

This one is Hebrew and lovely, aged, foxed pages....

I loved seeing the various book plates inside many of the books too. I figure I should just go and photograph one day......nah.....

This one is Russian/German! A useful combination to someone I'm sure.....

The Reference section is always fun too. Even on the first day of the sale, the dictionaries are only $1. They seem to think no one wants dictionaries and outdated atlases but I know for a fact a lot of us DO want them.

Ok, I am wiped out. 93 degrees again. If you don't think Global Warming is real, think again.
A lovely sushi lunch and a chance to think about all those books and all that wonderful paper.
And, to think about what I'm going to do with all I've got.
25 Dollar books today -- I cannot resist.
But I have lots of ideas for them. I will show you what I bought and a terrific new collage book (that suggests tearing up old books) next post. I can't bring myself to tear them ALL up but I will certainly use at least half in collage making and altered books.
I think I have enough material to eep me going till the next book/ephemera sale, don't you?
What would you do with them?
Too much of a good thing??? No, I don't think so. But I hope to stay in most of next week and make things.

Repurpose/Recycle/Make Stuff

Getting Out the Mail

OUTGOING
to Virgo in Russia

OUTGOING
to my mail art pal in DC

OUTGOING
To Australia

OUTGOING
to one of my favorite artists, Planet Susannia in Germany

OUTGOING
to the BAD GIRL of Mail Art in Australia

OUTGOING
for a September birthday girl....

OUTGOING
to Portland to Olive Cinnamon

OUTGOING
to my SF pal Miss JU who is always so incredibly generous to me

OUTGOING
to Connie in CA

Stamp Heads

OUTGOING #1
to my bestie in mail art Dori 

OUTGOING
All packed up and stamped and ready to go

And they're off! I braved the HORRIBLE 93 degree heat here in SF to go to the post office so I should get some extra credit, don't you think?
It is hard to find air conditioning here in SF so I had to go stand in the meat department at Safeway to cool off.
Now with all this output I really think my INCOMING mail should improve because it hasn't been pretty around here.
We just had a long holiday weekend so I got a lot done. Happily my studio stays cool.....
so I will try to hide out here during this heat wave and get a lot more done.

If you don't see your name here don't despair.....I am still working on mail and really trying to get caught up....so many projects...so little time...
How anyone can ever be bored is beyond me. I keep thinking of projects faster than I can work on them...and then there is reading and cooking and going to films and the farmers markets and seeing friends...oh! and work...
Keeps me out of trouble, I guess!

SEND GOOD MAIL
& GET GOOD MAIL