I signed up for Mary Green's vintage gluebook pages swap. Gluebooks may appear simple at first glance - no ink, no stamps, no embellishments, nothing but paper - but a good gluebook page has balanced composition, a cohesive color scheme, and a story to tell. The swap is for 6 pages, 5"x7" each, using actual vintage paper or copies of actual vintage paper. Since I'm working on 'using it', not storing it for posterity, I cut some 140lb watercolor paper to 5x7, got out my drawer of vintage papers - old ledger sheets, book pages, vintage dictionary pages, sheet music, labels from old crochet threads, postage stamps - and went to work.
Based on a previous class I'd taken of Mary's, I did my backgrounds first. A strip of text, a strip of map or floral paper, maybe some sheet music. Once those were dry and flat, I started going thru my old images of women mostly, but I found a little girl I liked and a class picture from a school and a trio of girls. I began playing with layouts and 'extras,' the little bits that round out the composition and add to the story. I ended up with the following 7 pages - 6 for the swap and one for Mary. I'll let her choose which one to keep.
I like a few of these well enough that I may make a second round so that I can keep a couple cause the problem with using real vintage paper is that once you use it, it's gone for good. You can get the same look with a copy of it, but you never get the same feel that you do with the real thing. Everything is offset slightly to the right because holes will be punched along the left margins so that they can be bound with rings and a cover from Mary that's included in the swap.
Which ones do you like best?
Oh my gosh, they're all fabulous!!! I may have to keep the one with 'my' logomachy bird!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Leslie! Now I wish I would have signed up. Can't decide which one I like best-I think the lady with the high collar and the sewing labels. I would definitely want to keep them for myself. I know what you mean by using it rather than storing it......maybe we should do a paper swap.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, these look wonderful.
I think they are all great L...I just did not have time to join (there will always be more later I am sure). My fave...hmmm....I'm partial to the first and the last ones....
ReplyDeleteOh I love all of them, my favourite the last one, girls on the loose in foreign countires
ReplyDeleteIt's too tough to decide, they are all beautiful! but I suppose my favorite is the girl with the big bow in her hair...such a cute bird on the page too...though that woman wearing the fur is quite fetching as well!
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are the last two, but they're based on the photos. No way could I choose if it were based on design and interest of the page - they're all terrific!
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