Vintage Illustrations From Old Books
I cut up a lot of old, vintage books. Usually, they have been scribbled on by previous owners, which puts a stop to any guilty feelings. This is most of what I’ve got shoved in my crafty drawer; some may have fallen down the back, lost for a brief time.
I’ve got a lot of birthdays in October, and my collection comes in handy when I don’t have the time to draw a card design. You upcycle those old pictures into something new, like a card! That’s another thing to feel bad about; If you make a birthday card just by sticking a picture onto some card, is that cheating? Well, it’s what I do when time is an issue.
Here is my favourite box of pens and things. I have a scalpel in there wrapped in a tatty masking-tape protective thing (Husband made it a long time ago, and I have stolen it along with the blade), it’s the dirty thing on the left, next to the brown pencil. We’ve tried to find those Stylo pens, but they don’t make them anymore. This one is used sparingly; it is lovely to draw with.
Anyway, I use that scalpel to slice up my old pictures and then just bung them on some card with a bit of glue. Easy!
See? Easy! A bit more slicing and done.
Lazy, or what? No, it might be simple, but it’s also very creative.
I regret not having made the effort to do some drawing, but I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to think of ideas. I really don’t like drawing something if the idea doesn’t please me greatly. Which reminds me, it is another birthday tomorrow…. Husband’s… I have lost my thinking cap.
(The fabric in the background of the pic above is for a project I did at the beginning of the week. I’ve taken pictures, so it will deffo become a blog post soon.)
Not forgetting to sign your “work” after. Sorry to everyone who gets these from me. I do try to match the picture to the person, but it isn’t always possible.
I love this idea! Xx
Ta very much!
Wonderful idea that I am definitely stealing! LOL
Go for it! 🙂
Great idea, I love the illustrations in the old books. x
Me too. I need to frame some, I think.
Do you remember what book these were from? I like the way they use the colour. I’m planning on recycling a heap of old books; I’m a sucker for a vintage image and just ended up with too many books from the op shop. Found a good one the other day – 366 Bedtime Stories. It has some very quirky stories and poems for each day of the year. Will make gift tags out of the smaller ones and maybe some cards out of the bigger one. Here’s one I did. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jodeswa75/25779844201/in/dateposted-public/ Actually wish I’d made it into a card; by corner punching the top left I stuffed up the text and I don’t really like the hole placement.
Hi! It was an Enid Blyton book. I can’t remember which one, but it was a collection of stories, poems and activities. Stuff like that. Hadn’t thought of gift tags. I really want to frame some vintage images but I’ve messed that up so many times!