Free E-Book of Mixed Media and Collage Scrapbook Pages From the 1880 Little Women Book

Last July I posted about my love of books and my grandmother's and great Aunts influence on me. Two of the first books I got from my grandmother back in 1966 when I was a young lady were Little Women and Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.  

I loved the books and especially loved Jo because she was so fiercely independent.  I also admired Louisa May Alcott as she was an abolitionist, feminist and involved in the women's suffrage movement.  

For several months in 2020 I had been looking for illustrations in some of the free e-books that are in the public domain on the Project Gutenberg website.  To my surprise I found the Little Women free E-Book (cover shown above) on the Project Gutenberg website from 1880 that had more than 200 illustrations by Frank T. Merrill and a picture of the Home of the Little Women by Edmund H. Garrett. 

Even though they were all black and white I was still thrilled.

The books my grandmother had given me had 4 color illustrations for Little Women and 5 color illustrations for Little Men, which is certainly not a lot of illustrations. Plus, they currently aren't in the public domain.

As I started looking through the pages, looking at the beautiful black and white illustrations, and reading some of the chapters again I felt inspired and thought they'd make for some adorable mixed media, collage, decoupage  or paper-craft creations. 

Just like Louisa May Alcott "I want to do something splendid...." however, unlike Louisa my creations would involve crafts not writing books.

I thought you might get inspired by the books and illustrations too, so I decided to post the illustrations back then for you all to enjoy.

In thinking about my post from 2020 I thought it would be a lot easier for all of you if I created a free e-book with all the illustrations in it that you could save and download to your own computer, which would make it easier for all of you to use the illustrations in your mixed media or collage crafting projects.

So, shown below is my free E-Book.   

The Beautiful Artwork of Hally Levesque's "The Spirit Woods" Exhibition

 

In the spring I saw a Facebook post from Hally Levesque about an exhibit she was having at a local Canadian art gallery where she would be exhibiting and selling some of her beautiful  "The Spirit Woods" art pieces. 

Lady of the Woods Tryptich by Hally Levesque

I was thrilled as Hally is an exceptional artist who creates art dolls, mixed media art, paper art, collage art and more.  Not only is she an exceptional art doll artist, but she is also an art teacher, storyteller, photographer and a bit of a history buff. 

Her online class video's are easy to follow and beautifully taught as well as being sprinkled with all sort of historical tidbits or stories, which I just love.

Victorian Books Collage Sheets For Crafts Free E-Book

As you know from my previous posts in thinking about some of the crafts projects I wanted to do this summer and fall I thought about all the Victorian images I had created and thought it would be nice to offer two free e-books with printable collage sheets that could be used for scrapbook, mixed media, collage, decoupage and other paper crafts.

There were a LOT of images to choose from so I decided to start with the Victorian book related images and separated these into two categories for two e-books: 1) Harper's Young People Books Illustrations and Sayings For Crafts Free E-Book, and 2) Victorian Books Collage Sheets For Scrapbook Free E-Book.  

In the first e-book the images are the actual Harper's Young People Books illustrations with the backgrounds removed.  In the second e-book the images are several on my Victorian books toile designs in the blue, burgundy, brown, and black/white colorized versions.

My previous post contained links to the first e-book.  My second e-book contains contains eleven individual 8 1/2" by 11" Victorian toile book collage sheets.

Harper's Young People Books Illustrations and Sayings For Crafts Free E-Book

Some of the mixed media projects I created this past summer required quite a bit of old book papers for collage purposes.  So much so I ran out of the book pages.  Truth be told it wasn't the projects themselves that used up the paper it was the number of projects I was creating..... lol

Mixed media, collage and decoupage crafts use a LOT of paper containing pictures, illustrations, graphics, words, ephemera, etc.  and I am always on the lookout for papers of this nature.  In thinking about some of the crafts projects I wanted to do this summer and fall I decided that some of the Harper's Young People Illustrations from the old book I had would be perfect.

Sir John Tenniel and Arthur Rackham Illustrations From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Free E-Books

Like many of you I can remember my grandmother and mother reading "Alice In Wonderland" to me and reading it myself when I learned how.  I always loved the story and the illustrations.  My favorite characters were the white rabbit, the mad hatter, the caterpillar, the footman frog, the mock turtle and the queen.  I always had visions of making my own versions of dolls for these characters but haven't done so yet.  They are, however, on my bucket list.

Recently I created a new "We Love Books" category with 12 book related designs.  One of my recent designs was inspired by one of the characters in "Alice In Wonderland" - the white rabbit.  I don't know if it's the red hearts on this design that makes me think of this book, but it does.

So, given how much I love history and old books I decided to see if there was a copy of some of the old "Alice in Wonderland" books out there on Project Gutenberg which displays books that are in the public domain.  To my delight there were several.

I found Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll with illustrations by Arthur Rackham.  After finding that ebook I them looked at The Tenniel Illustrations for Carroll's Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel ebook and decided to post them as well as they are all so wonderful and inspiring.

My Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things Online Class At Artful Gathering by Mary Jane Chadbourne

I don't know why it is that I can never do anything in moderation.  I try to, but always fall prey to loving what I'm doing and wanting to try this or try that.  That is definitely a formula for over doing and, one of these days, I am truly going to run out of space for everything I make.  Hubby and my sister would tell you that I'm way past that point right now.  They're probably right, but when my creative juices have a hold on me - I make way more than I should.

Such was the case with the miniature houses I made for the Tinytopia class I'm taking during the 2nd session of Artful Gathering.  My Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things online class is being taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne, who is an amazing mixed media artist.  I love her class and love the way she teaches.  Her classes are always a lot of fun and filled with all sorts of different projects and methods to try.  I always end up buying the DVD from Mary Jane's class as she teaches so many different mixed media techniques which I like to go back and review once the class is finished.

This is the 2nd class I've taken at Artful Gathering taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.  The first was "ART-S2-307 The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll " which took in 2014 and I reviewed here.  That class was my first introductuion into mixed media and I loved it and Mary Jane's teaching methods so much I decided to take her Tinytopia class this year.

I still haven't finished the miniature house canvas projects from her class.  I'm working on them so, yes, there will be more to show you.  For now here's what I've made so far:

The picture at the beginning of this post is a collage of the 12 different miniature houses I made.

Nine miniature houses in a row.

My Romantic Journey On Canvas Online Class at Artful Gathering by Debby Anderson

In July of this year I spent two weeks in crafting bliss working on my projects from Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" at Artful Gathering and have to tell you that I may have found a new passion - something I absolutely love.

I can hear you all saying - what a surprise, Linda! You've found a new passion. When it comes to crafting is there anything you've ever tried that you haven't absolutely loved? Probably not.

Well, it is true that I absolutely love to craft and love everything I've learned through my online classes, but when it comes to passion - well, that's a little different. I have a passion for the Victorian era - especially the dresses, for doll making, for genealogy, for floral design, and for history. To all this I would have to add mixed media. I absolutely LOVE mixed media.

My husband doesn't love it as mixed media utilizes lots of different types of supplies so my living room was an absolute mess. You couldn't even see any of the furniture in there. It was all covered with arts & crafts supplies of one sort or another - all needed for the mixed media projects I'd been working on for my online classes.

I have to tell you that I absolutely LOVED Debby's class.  Debby Anderson is an unbelievably talented and inspiring jewelry designer and artist.  Her online class was fabulous.  Her video's were very easy to follow and she explained everything she was doing beautifully.  I couldn't be more pleased with her class.  If you've wanted to try creating mixed media canvas collage dress form projects Debby's class is a MUST TAKE.

There were 3 projects in  Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" mixed media online class: one to create a corseted tutu, one to create a wedding gown, and one to create a mixed media angel collage.  I made two corseted canvas's - one on 12" x 12" canvas and one on an 8" x 10" canvas.  I've also created a wedding gown on an 11" x 14" canvas.

Here's my first corseted tutu on a 12" by 12" canvas:

My Artful Gathering 2014 Session 1 Finished Project Piece - Let's Go For A Ride

I had been anxiously awaiting the start of Session 1 for Artful Gathering and was so happy when class finally started on June 6.

This is my 3rd year taking online classes at Artful Gathering and I have to say I have loved each and every class I've taken. The instructors are fantastic and I've had a blast in each class learning something new and, best of all, making wonderful new friends.

There were so many fabulous classes to choose from this year it was hard to decide. I really only had time for two and decided to take Julie Haymaker Thompson's Let's Go For A Ride class in Session 1 and  Mary Jane Chadbourne's The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll class in Session 2. Both classes dealt with mixed media, which I've been anxious to try.

So, for the last two weeks I have been taking my 4th online class and working on my project. The project called for making an adorable little mixed media shadow box scene with 3 pets sticking their heads out the window of a car that was driving over a hill. The class looked like it would be a lot of fun to take.

A kit was available for purchase from Julie's Etsy shop so I ordered one as it's a lot easier to do that than run around to get supplies. The kit came with everything you needed to create the project including thread and needle. It was fabulous.

For my online classes I like to view all the video's first and then go back to watching them as I follow along with the instructions. Here's where my Ipad comes in really, really handy. It's great for this as I can zoom in and out of the video pictures, advance and reverse them as needed, etc.

I tend to be a bit of a rebel when it comes to my classes. For the most part I follow the instructions, but sometimes I just have to be me and do it my way. Such was the case with my "Let's Go For A Ride" project.

Linda's Review of Artful Paper Dolls - New Ways To Play With Traditional Form by Terry Taylor

As a very young girl I can remember playing with my very first paper doll - Betsy McCall. I would cut Betsy and her clothes out of the magazine ever so carefully. Of course, being a young girl my first attempts at cutting every so carefully didn't go as smooth as I had planned and my mother or grandmother would try to correct for my errors.

I didn't like the paper doll tabs and didn't always utilize them. I quickly learned, however, that the clothes would not stay on the paper doll without them.

I must have a thing for tabs and markers as I also didn't like the triangle placement tabs in sewing patterns when I first started to sew. I would cut them off as well until I learned that for clothing they served a very useful purpose.

Since I had a passion for Victorian dolls from a very young age I loved playing with my Victorian paper dolls. I could sit for hours on end just putting this outfit on or that outfit. When I was finished playing with my paper dolls I would put them back in a cardboard cigar box that my grandfather had given to me for storing them.

Back them I would never have foreseen the enormous explosion in the paper industry that has occurred over the last decade. Nor could I have foreseen that paper dolls would become and art form in its' own right. Who would have know that altered art and mixed media creations would rule the art world in the 21st century.

One of the books I bought last year was Artful Paper Dolls: New Ways to Play with a Traditional Form. Even at first glance I was immediately taken by the visually stunning paper creations of some 22 well known designers.

On every page was yet another beautiful paper doll creation that I wanted to try. Of course, there isn't any kind of doll, paper included, that I haven't wanted to try and make. My problem is always one of time. There are just not enough hours in the day, nor days in the year for me to try everything.

Artful Paper Dolls is not just a compendium of project after project, it also includes a little bit of history on various paper dolls and paper doll artists. So, it's a perfect book for me as it offers a little bit of history as well as project after project after project.

It is divided into four chapters: Figuring It Out, Playing Dress Up, Playing House, and Learning From Books. Each chapter has a multitude of sections and a multitude of paper doll creations to try. I, of course, loved them all but was especially taken with the Disjointed Figure, Elisabeth's Doppelganger (which is a life-size paper doll), My Memory Doll, Secret Messenger Doll, the section on playing dress up, Old Woman In Purple, Stitched Paper Dolls, Sunday Best Dress, and Paper Doll Magnets.

I also enjoyed the chapter on "Who Is Betsy McCall" and "Tom Tierney's World Of Paper Dolls."

If you love paper dolls, mixed media art, and altered art images then you will love "Artful Paper Dolls." Several of the corners of the pages in my book have been turned over as a reminder to me that I want to try that project. I know that I shouldn't do that to the pages of my books, but sometimes childhood habits are hard to break. You could also say that sometimes childhood loves last forever. For me a love of paper dolls certainly has. Now where are my scissors?