Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Making of a Bookplate

Each page brought her further and further into the story

Each page...
The making of a bookplate.

An Antique plateI love Antique Artwork, especially the beautiful work I find in rare old books.



As I browsed this book when I got home, I found this wonderful young woman reading a book.



An Antique plateOn a recent trip to a favorite old and rare bookshop I discovered this treasure from 1884.

Creating a bookplate

An Antique plateI thought what a perfect opportunity to show you the process I use to create a bookplate.

lady-reading-4-flickr

An Antique plateI find the image I want to restore and scan it into my computer.

An Antique plate

An Antique plateThen after I upload it to my computer I use Photoshop to soften the lines, and then color and smooth areas. I crop the image for framing.

woman reading

An Antique plateFinally, I upload it again and add text and framing using the editor on Flickr.

woman reading

An Antique plateThen I download it to my IPhoto software on my mac and fine tune the enhancement. Once I am satisfied with the image, I print them out on beautiful paper, package them and photograph the listing for my little etsy shop.

An Antique plate

An Antique plateOh, and this bookplate, my gift to you. So please feel free to copy her and print her out for your own books.

woman reading




ishing you happy reading.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann Bookplates

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1Bookplates look so lovely tucked inside a children's book.

Raggedy Ann Bookplates

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1I designed bookplates measuring 5 1/2 x 4 inches, printed on lovely sturdy paper.

raggedy ann bookplates

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1I distinctly remember my mother restoring an old tattered doll for me when I was little. She would wash the doll’s clothes and perhaps give it some new shoes.

raggedy ann with cookies

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1It was almost as good as having a new doll, except you could feel a bit of loving touch when you hugged her. It’s like that for me when I restore an old piece of art.

Raggedy Ann Bookplate with watermark final

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1I rescued this Antique book from 1918 by Johnny Gruelle. I have always loved Raggedy Ann, and especially enjoyed reading her stories as a child. No one wanted this book because it was so tattered, scribbled on and the pages were even ripped.

raggedy ann stories 1918

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1I scanned the images and began a labor of love. As I erased the scratches and brought the color back to life, I thought of the care that Johnny Gruelle took to create these beautiful images.

My creation

raggedy-ann-j.gruelle-book-1I believe a child had scribbled on some pages, yet on others had carefully tried to trace Johnny Gruelles lines in his drawing. Not too different than what I had done as I restored them back to life. The bookplates are available in my etsy shop.