Collage Greeting Cards From Old Book Pages

I have been thinking about different ways to recycle old books that are tattered and torn. Many of these are no longer useful as reading copies.
I made this collage greeting card this morning using a page from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. This page was printed in the early 1900s and has a nice aged color.

I like to find pages that have inspiring quotations on them that the recipient of the card will enjoy. The chapter title of this page is "Artistic Attempts". I thought that was very appropriate since I was using the page to create an artistic project.
I also liked the last paragraph on the page;
"Very well, Amy; if your heart is set upon it, and you see your way through without too great an outlay of money, time and temper, I'll say no more. Talk it over with the girls, and whichever way you decide, I'll do my best to help you."
"Thanks, mother; you are always so kind;" and away went Amy to lay her plan before her sisters.

I tore off a strip of blue Mulberry Paper and attached it to the book page with glue dots. (I found the paper at Big Lots.) I then used a piece of flocked patterned paper that looks like fuzzy piano keys across the blue paper. I used a small piece of silver/white patterned paper right under the chapter heading (I found both sheets of the patterned paper on clearance at Hobby Lobby). I applied an embossed reproduction of an image from an antique card on top of the piano keys. I found the package of antique art reproductions (Artifacts, Inc.) on clearance at Michaels.

I think this is a creative way to recycle old book pages and bring some joy into a special person's life. Who knows, this card might inspire someone to find a copy of "Little Women" and read the entire book. 

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Make Your Dreams Come True

"Getting an idea should be like sitting down on a tack—it should make you jump up and do something about it."   Unknown

I imagine this young boy is dreaming about what he might do when he grows up.  We have all had dreams but we don't always have the dicipline to make those dreams come true.
You have to have definite goals. You also have to get off your duff to be a success at anything. You have to start doing something about it now!

If you're going to be a great novelist, you had better practice writing at least one hour a day, starting today. If you plan to be a successful salesman, you'd better call on some prospects today. If you hope some day to own your own business, you'd better decide how much money you'll need to launch yourself, and start saving. There is only one time to take the first step toward realizing your goal. Right this minute! 

*The illustration above is "The Stars" by Johnny Gruelle.  From Rhymes for Kindly Children: Modern Mother Goose Jingles, 1916.  From Old Book Art.

Old Book Art

I recently discoverd a site that scans illustrations from old books and makes them available to the public for no charge.  Old Book Art is owned by an antique book dealer.  The purpose of this site is simply to share public domain resources. Zephyrus Books comes across a lot of antiquarian books with wonderful old illustrations in the public domain. Many of these are not available for public sharing anywhere on the internet, at least not in an easily accessible or larger scale format, so this site was started as a free resource for anyone looking for out of copyright images.
Are there restrictions on how these images may be used?  No, commercial or personal use for any purpose is perfectly fine. This site posts only public domain content and as such cannot put any restrictions on it.
I love illustrations from antique children's books.  This picture of the girl looking at the moon is an example of an illustration from this site.  WARNING:  Do not go to this site unless you have plenty of time to browse...you won't want to leave any time soon.