I’m not sure I could be any more in love with these vintage posters over at GrainEdit today (especially the Swiss one):
More HERE. GrainEdit rules, huh? I pretty much swoon over everything posted on their blog.
I’m not sure I could be any more in love with these vintage posters over at GrainEdit today (especially the Swiss one):
More HERE. GrainEdit rules, huh? I pretty much swoon over everything posted on their blog.
Posted in Design & Paper, French, Type, Vintage
Tagged Africa, Air Afrique, Air France, airlines, Belgium, Bruxelles, cheese, deer, Design & Paper, Europe, French, fromage, Grain Edit, hunting, Orly, Paris, Poland, poster design, posters, Swiss, Switzerland, travel, travel posters, turkey, Type, Vintage
Louise Best is an artist, a diarist, a designer of books and all things awesome, and the creator of one of my favorite new-to-me blogs, called Loulou Loves Books. There, Louise/Loulou offers us snippets of life “from behind the hedge and beyond,” whether in postcard, journal, or typewritten form. No matter what the medium, the effect is charming and lovely. Thank you to @Typoretum for introducing me to Ms. Loulou!
I love the Griffin & Sabine quality of the postcards and the journals. I just love handmade collage-y mail in general. So lovely.
All images above have been graciously borrowed from Loulou’s BLOG and SHOP; however, I strongly strongly encourage you to visit her in the following realms:
WEBSITE
FLICKR
ETSY SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can’t sufficiently exclaim my excitement here…)
TWITTER
Posted in art, collage, Design & Paper, French, handwriting, Journals, sketchbooks
Tagged art, blogs, books, butterflies, collage, Design & Paper, diary, drawing, Eiffel Tower, Griffin and Sabine, Handmade Artists, handwriting, Jack Kerouac, Journals, Louise Best, LoulouLovesBooks, Paris, passports, poetry, postage stamps, postcards, sketchbooks, stamps
Considering my extensive French background and the bajillion French papers (vintage and modern) that I’ve collected over the years, I decided to create what I call The Paper Clips Journal – Version Française! Now for sale in my Etsy shop! It’s like my regular Paper Clips Journals, except even awesomer, because it’s French-centric. The result is a lovely compilation of mixed pages to satisfy anyone who has a bit of a French fetish, comme moi. 🙂
For most of my journals, I use an old postcard as a sturdy cover. For the V.F. (version française) edition, I’ll top it off with one of the fabulous French postcards from the collection I’ve accumulated from my many research trips abroad. In the V.F. journal pictured below, I used old black & white postcard of a Parisian lamp post that I got a few years ago in Paris (near the Centre Pompidou, to be exact). I slapped a red label on the front, and it’s ready to go!
Oh, and one more thing: If you ever order a Paper Clips Journal from me, make sure you always peek inside any envelopes I include. From flash cards, to stickers, to postcards, to decorative postage stamps (still very much usable!)… you just never know what you might find! I love hiding little prizes…
I had way too much fun compiling this journal and putting it together. Please order one so I can enjoy the h*ll out of making another. 🙂
Packaging is just another fun aspect of creating the journal for you. In order to seal the package up all nice-like, I plan on taking full advantage of the beautifully fun Japanese washi tape that I won in a blog giveaway last month.
See more images of this and other Paper Clips Journals in my Etsy shop HERE!
Posted in collage, French, Journals, labels, scrapbooks, Stationery & Cards, Vintage
Tagged birds, butterflies, custom, decorative paper, envelopes, France, French, Handmade Artists, Japanese washi tape, Journals, labels, mixed papers, packaging, paper, Paper Clips Journal, Paris, postcards, stamps, tape, Vintage
Thanks to swissmiss for introducing me to the amazing linocuts of Mark Andrew Webber’s typographic map of Paris. The following images are borrowed from his Flickr stream:
MAW maintains an ongoing series of linocut maps and other carved wonders. Here are some additional examples from his Linocuts Flickr Set:
Amsterdam map…
London map…
Misc….
Posted in art, Design & Paper, French, French Friday, Type
Tagged Amsterdam, art, carving, Design & Paper, Flickr, France, French, French Friday, linocuts, London, maps, Mark Andrew Webber, Paris, Type, typography
Posted in French, French Friday, photography, Type
Tagged bookends, books, Eiffel Tower, film, French, French Friday, Paris, photography, Sugar Monster, Type
In the summer of 2000, a handsome 36-year-old single Parisian posed (clothed) for a full-page photograph in a popular, large-circulation French woman’s magazine. Readers desiring a romantic relationship were invited to read an interview with the man and write him, care of the magazine, with details of their lives and romantic aspirations. 185 single women replied. Each letter was a manifestation, often powerful, of female desire. The bachelor, overwhelmed, decided to not meet a single woman.
Further detailed below, the letters collectively represent a striking case study of female desire and loneliness, impulsivity and creativity. And they can be yours for a paltry $12,200. All sales final.
NOT one of the 185 letters, but still awesome (Image: http://www.mayoph.com/images2/02d185.jpg)
Further excerpts from the seller’s eBay listing, where you can view several enlarged images of mixtures of letters:
185 love letters in French, sent from 185 women to a Parisian, offering an unmediated view of female desire in turn-of-the-millennium France. Ten of the letters are typed; 175 are handwritten.
In the summer of 2000, a handsome 36-year-old single Parisian posed (clothed) for a full-page photograph in a popular, large-circulation French woman’s magazine. Readers desiring a romantic relationship were invited to read an interview with the man and write him, care of the magazine, with details of their lives and romantic aspirations. 185 single women replied. Each letter was a manifestation, often powerful, of female desire. The bachelor, overwhelmed, decided to not meet a single woman.
The manuscripts are sold as a single lot. Many contain poems, drawings and photographs. Some of the sheets of paper, parchments and envelopes have been sprayed with perfume, painted with watercolors. One envelope contains a stick of still-fragrant incense. The collection includes a large selection of stamps affixed to envelopes for replies. (The buyer will receive the part of the self-addressed stamped envelope with the stamp or France’s La Poste sticker, but not the part containing the writer’s name and address.) The letters were written in France, save a dozen or so penned in Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Spain and Switzerland. The letters embody France’s strong epistolary tradition, which greatly values detailed expressions of sentiments, romantic recollections and beautiful penmanship. (Only 10 of the letters are typewritten; one is partially typed.)
The letters offer an unmediated view of fair-sex sentiments in turn-of-the-millennium France. Taken together, the collection provides insights—unfiltered by academics and sociologists—into French women’s emotional prerequisites for sex. (Careful reading is not always necessary; a large number of letters were written with disarming directness.)
Broadly speaking, the writing styles are variations of come-hither prose, at times perhaps coy. One young woman writes: “Le plus beau cadeau que j’ai pu offrir est mon corp [sic] mon âme oui m’offrir à un homme est le plus beau cadeau je crois.” (“The most beautiful gift I can give is my body, my soul, yes, I believe that giving myself to a man is the most beautiful gift.”) Another writes of her “charmant accent du Midi” (“charming Midi [southern-France] accent.”). Another explains that her favorite way to lift her spirits when feeling blue is to “faire l’amour” (“make love”). Another promises her “premier cadeau” (“first gift”): A “massage très long et très doux” (“a long and tender massage”).
The lot is sold with the agreement that no letter in its entirety may be published (electronically or otherwise). The buyer must return a signed legal agreement before the box will be shipped. Entire letters may, however, be used in art projects. Excerpts of the letters may be used for art projects, scholarly works, press articles, poetry, scripts, screenplays, novels and non-fiction writings. Publishers or authors interested in publishing the letters (or a selection of the letters) in their entirety should contact the seller to discuss a special arrangement. The buyer is encouraged to use the letters for the teaching of French, French culture, psychoanalysis, psychology, gender studies, penmanship or other subjects. As time passes, the letters will provide an increasingly rare and poignant portrait of turn-of-the-millennium France and its women.
Interested buyers may review the letters for free and without obligation in Paris (contact the seller to discuss other possible arrangements for pre-sale review of the letters). Sales are final.
Posted in French, French Friday, handwriting
Tagged 185 French love letters, epistolary literature, female desire, French, French Friday, French love letters, handwriting, letters, love, love letters, mail, missives, Paris, penmanship