My Trip to Egypt 1914

A "faux poste" card depicting Egyptian reminiscences from 1914. ©Carol Leigh

Mastodons Are On Their Way

I just uploaded this "faux poste" card to Fine Art America this morning. If you'd like to see it larger and to look at the details more closely, that's a good place to do so.

I used my photos of various stamps, stickers, papers, and inks to create this. The background is a photo I took of the inside of an old scrapbook. The store owner told me he had removed all the paper currency that the scrapbook-maker had pasted onto the pages, leaving little bits still clinging to the old, faded, and weathered pages. And it was those old faded pages that caught my heart and compelled me to buy the book. See the little piece of paper over mastodon #3 (from the left)? That's a bit of the currency still hanging on to the scrapbook page.

See the faded orange stamp over mastodon #5 on the right? That's a document stamp that CJ gave me a couple of years ago. All the other stamps are from my own little stash. The beautifully written address on the postcard is a photo I took of an actual postcard, again from my postcard collection. ©Carol Leigh

Jimmy Plays With Boats

The elements here are my photos of a cabinet card (old photo) found at an antique store, photos of postage, cigar labels, numbers, handmade rubber stamps, handwriting, and more. It's the absurdity of the title combined with the postcard that amuses and delights me! ©Carol Leigh

Mammoth Mail

I am trying to create one physical postcard a day. It's a tough go, but I finished this one this morning, then scanned it and added more to it in Photoshop. I have no story for it yet, but the process continues . . . ©Carol Leigh

Your uncle was a spy . . .

Your uncle was a spy, but not a very good one. He sent his secret correspondence on postcards, for crying out loud! No one took him seriously. They should have.

His "Order of the Silver Bee" is just one of the many undercover organizations he formed. As I'm looking through his correspondence, I'm stunned. Will send more soon.

Aunt Sarah

©Carol Leigh

The postcard mania continues

I have no stories for these two yet, but they were a lot of fun to put together. Components range from bolts and weathered wood to hand-created rubber stamps, stickers, labels, foreign currency, matchbox labels, and more. ©Carol Leigh

Deer Abby . . .

Somewhat humorous if you're aware of my cat, Abby. . . ©Carol Leigh

Cattle arrived . . .

"Cattle arrived healthy and get along well with my own. They moo in a heavy Russian accent that has my herd perplexed, but I figure a little mystery is good for them. My best to Elena. Sincerely, D.K. Miller."

©Carol Leigh

Still working on the story for this one . . .

I'm in the process of writing the "story" for this card. Think it may have something to do with a guy and his predilection for bicycles. We shall see . . . ©Carol Leigh

It took awhile, but I've solidified my "Faux Poste" concept, created my first box of postcards-in-envelopes, sold it, and poof! Time to make another one.

What I do is create a box that holds 12 postcards, each in its own envelope

So, welcome to this "Faux Poste" box of mysterious missives, curious correspondence, and silly scribblings. The envelopes inside the box are handmade, embellished with old postage stamps, coffee- and tea-stained rice papers, vintage matchbox labels, old ledger sheets and book pages, labels, tickets, handmade and burned papers, and so much more.

Inside each unique envelope is an actual postcard print, created using bits and pieces of my own photographs (as you've seen here in this "Faux Poste" blog). Each postcard has a "story," which is either on the front of the envelope or on the card itself.

It was fun creating each of the cards, writing the "stories," constructing the envelopes, and embellishing the box. I hope you enjoy receiving this one-of-a-kind handmade box of oddities as much as I enjoy putting it all together.

Each handmade box contains 12 handmade envelopes, each containing a printed, heavy-duty postcard. Each card has its own story and each envelope is different. Each box is unique. As Kathleen A. remarked to me, "It's the kind of box you'd love to get!"

The next box is in progress right now. Priced at $72. Let me know if you're interested and the next "Faux Poste" box can be yours.

© Carol Leigh

Mlle. Joubert

I finished another "Faux Poste" card this morning, which I'm not going to show right now, but as I was working on it, I really liked how this one section of the card looked all by itself.

Thanks go to Kathleen Amt, who sent me the background paper, as well as a 1922 collectible bird card that Arm & Hammer used to give away in their boxes of baking soda. One of the postage stamps I used on the final version of the postcard also came from Kathleen. (The woman knows her ephemera!)

©Carol Leigh