1905 Dennison Art and Decoration in Crepe and Tissue Paper book

Today I received a 1905 Dennison Art and Decoration in Crepe and Tissue Paper book I won on eBay.  It is missing the front cover and the last few pages but I figured when was I ever going to see another one.  

 

My hope was to find a bit more information on the Dennison Ballerina and Prima Donna Dolls I have been collecting and this book did have just a few pages with information on them; not much but a little.  Their catalogs originally started showing the Ballerina and Prima Donna paper dolls around 1895 and they stopped around 1907 so with this 1905 version they probably figured the public was very aware of what their adult dolls looked like and unfortunately did not include many pictures of them in this publication.

I have enjoyed reading through this book of Dennison's 1905 paper goods and the old time use of language is a hoot, so I thought I'd share some of it on this blog.  I hope it gives some of you lots of Grins and Giggles.

 Doll Box Set as shown in the 1905 Dennison Book

 An Actual Dennison Doll Kit from 1907-1909

The Girl Dolls came boxed in kits, you could get a set of 4 dolls in an envelope.  

It was also possible to purchase dolls individually.

This page was the doll price list showing the sizes and pricing for each doll if purchased individually.  It also told how many versions of each size and type of doll were available. (This is where I wish it had also shown pictures of the available dolls so I could have it for reference but alas, I was not so fortunate.)

This was the last page about the paper dolls.

 Doll set from the Dennison 1913 line of Dolls

L&B made many of the dolls for Dennison but they also made additional dolls so I'm still trying to figure out which dolls were L&B dolls for Dennison and what dolls L&B sold under their own label that were not sold by Dennison.  It's a good thing I like a mystery, because it's probably going to take me quite a while to figure this one out.

The price list showing doll sizes and how many different versions of each was made.

 Page 22 has this example using on of the Ballerina Dolls
It appears in 1905 that Dennison called Glitter "Flitters" - what fun!

Close up of the Doll Example

Here Are Examples of L&B Dolls I am aware of, some of which were sold by Dennison

L&B Ballerinas

 

I believe this doll may represent Princess Dagmar of Denmark the younger sister of Alexandra who married Tsar Alexander 2nd.

I think she represents Alexandra Princess of Denmark who later became Queen Alexandra of England after she married Edward VII. She had a scar on her neck due to a childhood accident so she always wore a tall collar of pearls to conceal it. - A few places have this same doll listed as Lillie Langtry so until I know for sure if she is Princess or Actress I'll leave her listed with a ?

I'm still trying to get an original of this doll

This one came up on eBay but I was not the winner

set of 3 attached ballerina heads - these are one of the smaller sized sets

a set of attached legs to go with the ballerinas above

One of my eBay finds - not perfect but at least I have her in my collection

displayed at a paper doll show - I'd love to have an original or a better digital copy

displayed at a paper doll show - I'd love to have an original or a better digital copy

L&B Prima-Donnas

Available for download - HERE

I'm only aware of these three Prima-Donnas.  
I own some of these in the 14" doll size but would love to have 
a complete uncut set of these smaller dolls for my collection.

L&B Indians

I've seen these on auctions sites a few times 

but they seem to go for really big money.

L&B African Baby

There are 3 in this series of the African Baby Doll

L&B Child Dolls

There are 6 pretty girls and then a matching set of hands and legs

These are the matching legs and arms for the girls above

Another set of girl heads but I'm not sure what the arms and legs look like for them.

A sweet set of girl dolls

I may never know the full mystery on the L&B and Dennison Dolls but I sure am having fun on this journey to discover all I can on them.  I've been fortunate to collect some of these original dolls and on some others I have fairly nice working scans but on several of the dolls I only have poor quality or low resolutions scans that I hope to one day either have an original or a nice quality scan to replace them with.  

It's still amazing to me that I'm able to find originals of these paper creations considering many of them are over 100 years old.  Just thinking about the fact that a large ballerina in 1905 was 12 cents and today they go for between $60-$125 shows that some things do keep their value over time.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn (EKDuncan)

Butterfly Necklace - Glitter Art - Paper Jewelry Project

Today I was in the mood to play with glitter, so I pulled out a great butterfly stamp image I had, some fun glitter colors and created this sparkly butterfly necklace for the grins and giggles of it.

 

This Necklace was created using a bold butterfly rubber stamp by 

Blockheads Rubber Stamps.

This stamp measures 3 1/4 x 2 1/8 inches and is part of a half sheet of rubber  

Essential Elements - DE501

  

Glittered projects using rubber stamps are fun and easy but they are messy and you do seem to get glitter everywhere no matter how careful and tidy you try to be. I currently have remnants of this project all over my work area and myself, but hey pixie dust makes me smile and I loved the way this project came out.

Tools you need for this project:

-Bold patterned rubber stamp (bold lines with lots of channels are best for this type of project)

-Various colors of Glitter (fine or ultra fine glitters are my choice rather than the chunk glitters)

-Glitter Glue with special tip by Art Institute Glitter (it's the tools that make the job easy)

-Versamark Ink or another sticky ink that will hold embossing powder to the image

-Embossing Powder

-Heat Gun

-Eyelets and Jewelry Findings 

Some of the items used in this project. 

Art Institute Glitter has an amazing array of glitter colors and their glue and applicator tip are a must have to make this job so much easier.  I use various brands of glitter for this project.

I start by dusting baby powder on my paper and brushing it off  before I heat emboss to keep stray powder from sticking where I don't want it.  Next I stamp the image with Versamark ink and sprinkling on my embossing powder.  For this I chose Midnight Bronze Obsidian Two-Toned Moon Glow embossing powder by Lindy's Stamp Gang.

 

Stamped Image with the Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder - before heat

Using a heat gun I carefully melted the powder remembering to keep my heat tool moving so as not to burn or scorch the paper or the powder.  If you melt the powder too long it absorbs into the paper and you don't get a pretty raised image.  Also, heat guns get very hot so don't burn yourself in the process.

   

Stamped Image with the Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder - after heat

Working in small areas at a time I apply the glue using the special tip.  The tools of a project really do make the difference and this small metal tip is a must have for this type of project.   

Add glue and glitter to small areas where the same color

 will be used to keep from mixing your colors.

 

Sprinkle your glitter directly over the glue, wait a second or two and then tap it off and move on to the next section.  I use a clean sheet of computer paper for every shade of glitter I use.  This helps me collect and reuse each color of glitter as well as keeps my mess to a minimum  or at least more contained.  Basically you just keep gluing and glittering one section at a time till you are done.
 

In this part of the butterfly wings I added a light pink glitter to the outer parts of the glued areas first one side at a time and carefully taped that off. Then I covered the remaining exposed glue with the darker pink glitter over both sides as seen above.  This gives areas a two tone or color fading look.  It takes longer to do and is a bit tedious at times but it has a wonderful effect and is worth the time and trouble in the finished product.

 

After I tap off the excess glitter; you can see the two shades of pink on that section of the wings. Darker pink towards the body and lighter pink as it moves out to the wingspan.

 

This is a close up of one of the side butterflies from the necklace. I only used two colors of glitter for those two butterflies; but by mingling the glitters, via the two-tone effect in some sections and then using each color individually in other sections they worked out great.

 

Some color variations using the same stamp and different glitter colors.

 

Once the glue had time to dry I carefully cut the butterflies out, inserted eyelets in the wings for added support and then attached my jewelry findings and chain to create the necklace in full.  Even though this is paper jewelry; with the combination of heavy cardstock, layers of embossing powder, glue and glitter plus the eyelets the butterflies become substantial enough that I have not worries that they will easily tear or come apart during normal wear.  They are just a fun piece of whimsy that will brighten up a dull day.
  

Close up of the center butterfly showing all the fun colors and the eyelets I added for extra support in creating this paper jewelry piece.  I also added extra glitter dots here and there to show you don't have to add glitter only to the channels outlined by the embossing powder.

 

These butterflies are such fun to create and can be used in lots of ways. 

I think they would be great all over a Christmas Tree or framed on the wall.

 

When working on my color combinations I had one lone pink butterfly left over and could not let her go to waste so I created a fun folding ATC (Artist Trading Card) to keep her safe.

 

 All the stamp images used in this ATC are by Blockheads Rubber Stamps.

  

Butterfly Gate ATC - Closed

 You only get a peek at the sparkly wings when the gate is closed.

 

Butterfly Gate ATC - Open showing the gate sides.

 

Close up of the Center portion with the ATC open.

 

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn (EKDuncan)

Vintage Images from old books are great for Altered Art Projects

I love collecting vintage images to use in my altered art projects and a great source is antique books; it's amazing what great art you can find in old books - the quality of the engravings back in the day was just fantastic.  

I was lucky enough to purchase a 1924 edition of Herbert Norris' book Costume and Fashion the Evolution of European Dress through the Early Ages.

Here are some of the great art plates found inside the covers.

 

 

 

These can be printed and cut out or with a bit of playing in Photoshop the backgrounds can be removed and the people used in digital creations.  The black and white images can be left as is, colored by hand or altered digitally - the possibilities are endless.  What Fun and I have a whole book of these to play with.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn (EKDuncan)