Your uncle was a spy . . . #2

Here's another "secret" message he sent out. Remember "The Order of the Silver Bee?" Well, apparently he also created "The Order of the Red Raven." I know he went overseas a lot. What the heck was he doing? Wait a minute. Nobody held this card over a candle flame, did they? There aren't any burn marks. Maybe there's a clue still on the card! I'll check and will let you know soon. The mystery continues . . .

Love, Aunt Sarah

©Carol Leigh

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

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

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

Man of Mystery

We first saw him sailing a felucca on the Nile and then, curiously, aboard a steamship on Lake Tahoe. He never looked at us straight-on, always presenting his profile (of which he seemed inordinately proud), his ever-present dark glasses firmly in place. Linda surreptitiously photographed him, but somehow I think he knew. And was pleased.

©Carol Leigh 

Love in Paris

I knew they were trouble the moment I laid eyes on them. Their sidelong glances, their velvet, pearls, and lace. They whispered softly in French that I couldn't understand, but wanted to hear more. Mother warned me about Paris. Luckily, so did Father. . .

©Carol Leigh

Republique du Effarig

The "story" behind the card:

Stephan, when we opened the safety deposit box, we found this card inside. I 'm sending it to you because I know you'll like the colors. He always talked abut living among the Effarigians, how tall and gentle they were. His stories were fun, weren't they? Love, Aunt Claudia

The backstory: I photographed just a section of a colorful sign depicting a giraffe. I added more colorful dots, created a sticker using a photo of a manhole cover and a number, a photo of a Hungarian butterfly stamp, cancellation marks, and a variety of other things. The Republique du Effarig? It helps to be dyslexic sometimes. . . ©Carol Leigh

Avoidably Delayed

Sis, I'm trying to figure out where she was when she sent this. The postmarks are smudged and illegible, but the scribbling on the right looks sort of Arabic, doesn't it?

Someone tried to pull the postage stamp off, so I can't even read where it came from. There are Japanese or Chinese characters on the left-hand stamps, but the monkey on the water buffalo has me puzzled.

Let me know if you have any brilliant ideas. xoxo Jill

The backstory: I combined a lot of things here, including a photo of a heart, photos of old cancellation and immigration stamps, Swedish matchbox labels, part of an address on another postcard, and then drew my own squiggles and blotches here and there. ©Carol Leigh

REFUSED: TOO MANY BIRDS

Ruth, little Alfred tried to mail this card but it was returned. He was what, maybe 10? And even then, look at his fascination with birds! I am so glad I hung onto it, even though it's really kind of creepy, don't you think? Looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving — we've got a huge turkey! Love, Emma Hitchcock

The backstory:
The elements I used are a Swedish matchbox label, my own rubber stamps, a swallow from a door in Tucson, a gull stamp I made, two birds I made into a stamp (the birds are from an 1800s magazine), a chickadee advertising card from Kathleen A. that I made into a stamp, an "Express" stamp with my birthdate on it made by me, and a bunch of other stuff.

©Carol Leigh

Timmy Boy

"Timmy Boy" is the name of a fishing boat here on the Oregon coast. The duck stamp was made from a picture I took of a mural in Salem. The poppy stamp is one of my own poppy photos. "JC" is, well, you know who you are. The white triangular things are from a wall in San Diego. "McGinnis" is the name of an old friend of mine. ©Carol Leigh