Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2014

Mail Your Valentine Cards Soon


 
from the Mayor's collection of antique Valentine Cards


A History of Valentine Cards by Vivian Krug of Emotions Greeting Cards:
“Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages when lovers said or sang their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400... In the early 1800's, Valentines began to be assembled in factories.  Early manufactured Valentines were black and white pictures painted by workers in a factory.  Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid 1800's.  By the end of the 1800's, Valentines were being made entirely by machine.  In 1850, Esther Howland, an American printer and artist was among the first to publish and sell Valentines in the United States.   In the early 1900's a card company named Norcross became one of the first companies to manufacture Valentines.  With the exception of Christmas, Americans exchange more cards on Valentine's Day than any other time of year.”

Here are few of my Valentine projects from images of my antique Valentine collection. Pendants are at my shop here:


Pendants made from antique and vintage Valentine Cards at LittleTown.etsy.com


Like the postcard and stamp collage handbags, this series was made from scanned Valentine collages.
 
Valentines and Christmas Cards from the 1900s to 1920s
 
 


Monday, January 20, 2014

The Mayor Visits the Post Office

"But here I am, and here I'll stay. I want the world to know I'm happy.” [Stella-Rondo in Eudora Welty’s wonderful short story "Why I Live at the Post Office"]

Eudora Welty
No, I do not live at the Little Town Post Office, but I do have a small connection. When my mother finished high school in 1940, she moved to a “small” Little Town and began working at the post office. Although my mother was not the Stella-Ronda character in the Welty story, I can hear her also saying, "But here I am, and here I'll stay. I want the world to know I'm happy."

With the next few posts, I will spend time at the Little Town Post Office sharing step-by-step DIY gifts, jewelry, art, and home projects that use vintage stamps and stamp scrap sheets. 

For now you might enjoy reading the funny and poignant short story "Why I Live at the Post Office." (You can read it online, but I have not linked to it for copyright reasons.)