Showing posts with label OriginalArt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OriginalArt. Show all posts

Saturday, August 20, 2022

World Ocean Day Postcard


Sometimes I design a postcard for a day of the year event we've all heard of.  And then I wonder what the day is about and why it was created in the first place, which means I have a research project on my hands. Back in 1992, the great nation of Canada proposed a World Ocean Day at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eleven years later, this started to become a reality when a website was created to support organizers in as many as fifteen countries. A total of 25 events were held at aquariums, zoos and museums and a multi-year campaign was launched to create action around World Ocean Day.  These efforts resulted in a petition being circulated and four years later, in 2008, the United Nations officially recognized June 8 as World Ocean Day. 

30 X 30

Today the World Ocean Day website states its goal as being to protect thirty percent of all land and water on the Earth by the year 2030. This will be done by putting pressure on government agencies all over the world to create regulations and laws in furtherance of protection of nature in all forms. The catch phrase is 30 X 30. If you go to the website you will find there are more petitions for you to sign. 

As I write this blog post in 2022, I am wondering how we are going to change laws in towns, cities and countries all across the world by 2030 after taking so many years to start a website and get signatures on a petition. We have eight years left,  to accomplish the rest of the work--and the rest of the work would be the hard part. But my blog is just about pretty and interesting and novel postcards, so let's stick to that. Being a fan of nature, I have designed quite a few ocean themed cards.


Krill Postcard


Krill is a tiny organism which is part of the massive schools of plankton in the ocean. While it may seem natural to assume that most of our oxygen comes from trees, a full seventy percent of the oxygen we breathe comes from marine plants in the ocean. In terms of total biomass, krill is one of the largest players on the planet. As Lemony Snicket would say, that means there's a lot of it. And what eats krill? Over half of this biomass is eaten by whales, squid, penguins, seals and fish, like the ones on our next postcard.

Fish in Hawaii on a Pacific Ocean Postcard


Thanks for reading!


Friday, July 22, 2022

Zodiac Signs on a Postcard

Zodiac Signs on Postcards

Sending a postcard for a birthday? 

Zodiac sign postcards come in all types, from vintage styles to symbols, to animals, all kinds of beautiful original art, even flowers, cartoons and rainbows.

All the signs

Some cards feature all the signs of the zodiac, such as this reimagined version of a vintage drawing by by Louis-Félix de La Rue. If you look carefully, you will see a pictorial representation of every sign from Virgo to Leo.

This eye-catching black postcard presents a tidy chart featuring each of the twelve signs of the zodiac, each represented in lavender with its astrological symbol. Every sign from Gemini to Taurus.


Each sign of the Zodiac 

Each and every zodiac sign has multiple beautiful, creative, colorful, artistic or just plain fun postcard options available. It was difficult choosing which cards to show you here. Below you will find a lovely postcard for each astrology sign.

Sagittarius on a Postcard

Ruled by Jupiter and the Archer, Sagittarius often loves purple; with a spontaneous and restless heart. November 22 to December 21. This card shows a beautiful feminine archer, in a colorful floral forest setting. 

Sagittarius Postcard 

Capricorn on a Postcard

Ambitious and ruled by Saturn, Capricorn is hard-working and builds life on a solid foundation. December 22 to January 19. The traditional symbol of the goat appears before a textured blue sky with the Latin name of the sign.


Aquarius on a Postcard

Contemplative, eccentric and different from the crowd. Hungry for knowledge and deeply focused. January 20 to February 18. The symbol is composed of two waves, shown here again a circle with sun and mood in the corners, along with the the word Air, the element that widens our lungs and gives us freedom.


Pisces on a Postcard

Getting along great with Virgo and Taurus, Pisces is ruled by Neptune and Jupiter. Its colors are sea green and various shades of purple such as lilac, violet and mauve as shown here on this postcard showing compassionate, wise, artistic mermaids. February 19 to March 20.


Aries on a Postcard

Enthusiastic for life. Daring, adventurous and unafraid. March 21 to April 19. Flowers on this postcard are shown with the symbol for the Aries Ram along with the key words Courageous, Determined, Competitive and Passionate.

Taurus on a Postcard

Warm, gentle, and resistant to change, able to persevere and stay on a path. April 20 to May 20. This Taurus bull on this postcard is framed in a way reminiscent of a Tarot card and is part of a set of twelve beautiful coordinating cards, one for each astrological sign.


Gemini on a Postcard

Intense curiosity and terrific communicator with a quick wit. May 21 to June 20. While the Unicorn may not be the typical symbol of Gemini, Twin is the key here, with two cute cartoon unicorns having fun together.


Cancer on a Postcard

Water sign ruled by the Moon, those born under Cancer the crab are said to be emotional and sensitive. Cancer is often at loggerheads with Capricorn. June 21 to July 22. She is shown here as the Cancer Moon Child Fairy Goddess.


Leo on a Postcard

Creative and loyal with an innate confidence. Leo is a Fire sign with Lion as mascot. July 23 to August 22. Warm Charming, Loyal, Entertaining ang Generous, says this black starry sky card with a bright orange lion.


Virgo on a Postcard

Tenacious and smart, able to impose order on the most chaotic settings and situations. Virgo the mutable earth sign is ruled by Mercury. August 23 to September 22. Rainbow and Virgo symbol on a black card.


Libra on a Postcard

A good negotiator who can be indecisive, constantly evaluating all the options and new information. This air sign is for people born September 23 to October 22. Simple black and white postcard shows Libra, the scales of balance and the zodiac symbol for Libra.


Scorpio on a Postcard

Scorpio gets what it wants, intense and passionate, dominating the surroundings and irresistibly emotional. October 23 to November 21. With a nod to the fact that all the Zodiac sings have their origins in the stars in the sky, this postcard shows the green scorpion against the celestial backdrop with a map of other nearby constellations.



A Cat for Every Zodiac Sign 

If nothing above strikes your fancy, check around for more  of the numerous imaginative options. Or maybe your intended recipient would prefer this cat zodiac postcard showing every sign from Pisces to Aquarius. Adorable!

Millions of Postcards Sent 

Just through one service, Postcrossing. com, 67 million postcards have been received to date, with 334 thousand postcards traveling as I pen this blog. Yesterday I took receipt of my first card from Australia, and just this morning, I sent one off to Malaysia.  Sharing postcards, whether they show Zodiac signs or lemons or angels or lighthouses or anything else, is a super fun way to appreciate a little bit more about the world. Try it out!

If Zazzle should send me a penny or two when someone buys something I have carefully chosen to display on this blog, the price stays the same. The card costs nothing extra. For the reader, my quest to find and post some nice cards in which you might be interested, adds no cost.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Starfish Postcards

Starfish on a Postcard


Having such an iconic shape, sea stars make lovely postcards, be they realistic, funny, antique, or hand-drawn.  In searching for good examples for this blog post, I even found a Starfish Independence Day Card to share with you, among several awesome vintage or vintage-inspired cards. Pick up a few starfish postcards. They are particularly great for penpals and postcrossing in the summertime.


Say Happy Summer with a Starfish Postcard 

On this summery blue postcard full of fish and ocean waves, you can send your own message. Click through and you will find a personalize button. With that, you can type in your own greeting.




Underwater Bliss


Do you just wish you were underwater looking at the splendor of the warm Caribbean seas? You can order this one and hang it on your fridge as a reminder to plan your next island vacation.


Upload your own photo to this pretty starfish postcard

The starfish, sea urchins and glittering seashells are beautiful as they perfectly frame this postcard. The orange and teal aqua beach theme postcard  offers a replaceable template for a photo of your own family.  Personalize your correspondence with this lovely elegant sea-themed card. It's a simple matter to pop in your own family picture, or a special photo of of your baby or grandbaby. Order a few and send them to friends and relatives at the holidays.



Scientific Starfish Cross-Section Postcard

This informative and educational starfish postcard was hand-colored with watercolor in modern times.  The bones of this starfish postcard are taken from a vintage mid-1920s scientific diagram of a cross-section of one arm of a starfish. There is so much detail about starfish particulars, from the vesicles and the liver, to the snapping claws to the tube feet. Fascinating!


The Grouchy Starfish Smirk 

Postcrossers often ask that the sender choose a funny card. Here is one that will satisfy the wishes of the postcard collector who wants something amusing and something colorful from the ocean. 



A Steampunk Starfish Postcard

Unusual black and white beach theme on this postcard places a starfish seashell ensemble in a birdcage for a cool look. What can you call this? Gothic? Grunge? Modern Vintage? The designer thought it was reminiscent of the french botanical tradition.  It's all overlaid on a dictionary page, for that literary touch so often found in french vintage postcards.




Sea Star Photo Postcard


Diving back down to the real world of the undersea, we find  this hyper realistic photo of  Pisaster Ochraceus & Ochre Sea Star. Wikipedia gives us the deets on this keystone species. Pisaster ochraceus is generally known as the purple sea star, ochre sea star, or ochre starfish. It's a common starfish found among the waters of the Pacific Ocean and an important indicator for the health of the intertidal zone.




Other Sea Creatures on a Postcard


I have not had a chance to identify the ocean organisms on this lovely antique historical card which may be based on scientific illustrations from 1900 or so. The designer calls them Ascidiae, which would include the sessile sea squirts. Some of these look more like Faberge eggs. Nature has so much beauty to offer us.


Fourth of July Starfish

It's nearly Independence Day in the US as I write this blog post, so I will close with wishing you a happy celebration with the Red White and Blue. The adorable yellow starfish holds an American flag and looks up a towering fish dressed like Uncle Sam. Cute!

 

Whether you are sending starfish postcards, or planning a mini fish art gallery for your wall, happy postcrossing, happy postcard collecting, and I hope you are off to a great summer!

If Zazzle should send me a penny or two when someone buys something I have carefully chosen to display on this blog, the price stays the same. The card costs nothing extra. For the reader, my quest to find and post some nice cards in which you might be interested, adds no cost.

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Cactus on a Postcard

Cactus and Succulents on Postcards

Beautiful Cards

I've been searching Zazzle for all the usual suspects, this time regarding the enticing topic of Cactus. I have found so many to share with you. If you look you will find so many more; just click on any of the cactus postcards shown here to get in and begin your search for the perfect personalizable POD cactus postcard. I've chosen one or two funny cactus postcards, cactus postcards with a cat, vintage cactus postcards, surface design cactus and original art cactus, including one night time view. I thought I would even throw in a cactus card you can make yourself from your own photo of a cactus, just in case you have been to the desert recently with a camera!

Botanical Illustration of Cactus on a Postcard

So many kinds of cactus are beautifully depicted on this lovely Kakteen chart postcard. The art is from the Botanik section of the 1839 German Encyclopedia known as Meyers Konversations-Lexicon.


Funny cactus postcard 

This cactus is not feeling too cuddly today. This is just as well as this guy looks a lot like the Saguaro cactus, the towering majestic succulent seen in Arizona and Mexico and parts of southeastern California. They can grow as high as fifty feet tall, keeping themselves well-protected with long and sharp needles. You don't want to be touching those spines; they are are not only sharp, they also leak an irritating sap which will bother the eyes and mouth tissues of any wanna-be cactus hugger. The Saguaro Cactus on this postcard is definitely not a hugger!


The Antidote


Perhaps you just can't resist! Maybe you gotta be hugging a Saguaro Cactus for some reason. After you tangle with that toxic stuff and start to feel slightly miserable,  there may be help nearby. You could head over to the Mojave Desert where some of the largest barrel cacti are found. That healthy barrel cactus pulp full of Vitamins A and C can be used on the skin as an analgesic.

The barrel cactus comes in another genus which grows in the Chihuahua Desert. We see that one here on this postcard showing a lovely white flower blooming on the Echinocactus Hexaedrophorus. This is another vintage illustration, a Walter Fitch lithograph as seen in 1847 in a London publication called Curtis's Botanical Magazine.

The words on the card, by the way,  are in a personalizable field. Click through if you would rather have this postcard printed with your own name or message instead of the scientific name of this beauty.




Put your own cactus on this postcard

Sure, you could personalize the words in the lovely vintage cactus postcard above. For that matter, you could click on the postcard below and look for the Personalize This Template button.  It's over on the right hand side, under the blue edit bar. Once you click there you will see a place to add your own words. Just under that, you can upload your own cactus image or a picture of your garden, or your favorite flower, or anything you like. On this card, the best option will be a square photo. If you make your own cactus card, or your own garden card, I would love to see it!


Nude Woman and a Cactus

This risk-taking lady looks pretty close to the spiny blue cactus seen in this original art cactus postcard. She probably ought to spend more time reading cactus blogs and save herself some trouble and heartache. 



Getting Close to a Cactus 


Maybe it is okay to get so close to a cactus if you're dressed right.  This cute little guy is surely equipped with some protective gear in the form of that striped fur.  He looks like he might be an Antelope Squirrel, and as such would feed on the seeds and the fruits of the Barrel Cactus and also the Prickly Pear. The Antelope Squirrel probably has less to fear from the spines of the Cholla and other cacti,  and is more likely to be harmed by the hawk, the snake, the bobcat, and the coyote.





A Coyote and a Cactus


Speaking of the coyote, the Antelope Squirrel really does need to watch out for those and here's the proof! This pretty blue and black postcard shows a coyote in the desert at night.  You probably never expected to learn so much about natural biodiversity by reading my little postcard blog, but nature is my thing, so that's what I write about. And now you can identify exactly which kind of cactus you are looking at and you can pinpoint his location. He's howling in front of the full moon next to a Saguaro Cactus which means he's in Arizona, or Mexico or California.
 


Red Flower on Cactus Postcard

I'm including this postcard because it's so pretty. While I am  trying to find out where this vintage beauty  comes from  it's not turning up easily. If you know, let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Cactus and Aloe on Surface Pattern 

The first card here shows Aloe and Saguaro, and the second shows Prickly Pear. Both are super pretty as a surface pattern!


Closing up with a Cat on a Cactus Postcard

For my cat-loving readers, here's an adorable green cat who looks just like a cactus! I love the pink flower, which is positioned to look just like a hair bow. Could you get any more cute?

Thanks for joining me on this cactus postcard journey. We've been through a large range of possible cactus postcards, from original art, to priceless historical vintage botanical illustrations, to cute photos, to wildlife. I've learned it's not just a cactus....it's always a certain kind of cactus. There's a story behind each variety of these interesting succulents, a scientific name, a range of which part of the world where it's found. Each variety of cactus has its own list of benefits, its hazards, its habits, it's synchronicities, its own spot on an endangered list, or not. It's a wild world out there. Let's go out and enjoy it! And send some postcards along the way.

If Zazzle should send me a penny or two when someone buys something I have carefully chosen to display on this blog, the price stays the same. The card costs nothing extra. For the reader, my quest to find and post some nice cards in which you might be interested, adds no cost.

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Get Well Already

Postcards with Well Wishes

Beautiful Get Well Postcards You Can Personalize

If this were a personal blog, I would tell you all about why I missed posting for a few weeks. Let's just say I am working hard on a post about postcards for grandchildren which I hope to share next week. Or the week after.  And for now, I present this beautiful Get Well Postcard with a Green Fairy on Gold Floral Sparkles. Enjoy this lovely art from Florentine Italian artist Bulgan Lumini. 


Personalize a few beautiful get well postcards and keep them on hand. You never know when a friend or family member is going to need one to cheer her up.

If Zazzle should send me a penny or two when someone buys something I have carefully chosen to display on this blog, the price stays the same. The card costs nothing extra. For the reader, my quest to find and post some nice cards in which you might be interested, adds no cost.

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Lemons on Postcards

Lemons on postcards you can personalize  


We see them everywhere, but what do we really know about lemons? Do we even know where the lemon comes from? It's not clear, but maybe this small evergreen tree is native to northeast India. Gene studies show it to be a hybrid between the bitter orange and the citrus medica, a large fragant citrus used in Asian cuisine. Lemons have been in Europe for some two thousand years; it was lemon juice which eventually kept seafarers from getting sick with scurvy. There are many varieties of lemons,  grown in tropical areas around the globe. These range from the Meyer Lemon, awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit,  to Italy's Sorrento lemon used in the making of the sought after limoncello liqueur, to the Eureka lemon we find in the supermarket because that variety flowers and fruits all year long. But the only thing we care about for this article is that lemons and lemon trees are pretty, and make a great subject for art on a postcard!

Just Lemons


If you want a beautiful print of lemons and greenery on a postcard, this could be the one! This is a beautiful watercolor all over surface pattern, meaning the image used for this light and airy postcard can be used on larger items like fabric or even wallpaper (the old fashioned kind that goes on the wall you are facing when you are looking at your computer screen, which may indeed have wallpaper as used in the more modern techy sense.)  This pretty lemon design was perhaps created for use in farmhouse decor. But in this case, it's on a lovely little postcard you can send to say hello.

WATERCOLOR LEMONS POSTCARD 

Vintage Lemons on Postcards


Vintage is a popular and wide ranging style. Sometimes vintage means art from the vintage of another era, and sometimes vintage can refer to a design made to look old.  This vintage image features a ripe, yellow lemon with leaves on top set against an antiqued craqueline background of whites and off-whites. What a nice postcard to send to vegetarians and cooks. And don't forget any postcard can be put into a small frame and used for decorating. Traditional designers might use this in kitchens and dining rooms. As the verbiage on the design is French language, le citron meaning the lemon, you might consider this pretty fruit postcard for a teacher gift. 

Vintage designs can arise from scientific art work, some of it done for natural world studies as was this lovely  Lemon Citrus Fruit Botanical Limonium Illustration by Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny. He was a  French botanist and the younger brother of a South American explorer who gathered specimens in his collecting travels. When his brother brought them home, the scientist-artist identified many of the flowering plants and made beautiful botanical images we still can enjoy today.
 



Another scientific illustrator painted these lemons so well that they look like they've been photographed.  Ellen Isham Schutt worked for the United States Department of Agriculture between 1904 and 1914, painting over 700 watercolors of fruits and nuts for the USDA. In 1910 she painted the Eureka Lemon mentioned above. If you missed that part, scroll up in case there's a quiz. 😉

 

Did I mention lemon trees are pretty? Here's the proof. With a little care, a Lisbon Lemon or a Meyer Lemon can do well in a pot. The prettier the pot, the better for a nice postcard.



Here's a cute Meyer Lemon Tree in a Terra Cotta pot. I wasn't sure which lemon tree I liked better, so I am showing you both.




Lemons and Weddings


I don't keep up with this kind of thing, but either now, or at some time in the recent past, lemons must have been a popular theme for weddings, because it's easy to find wedding invitations with lemons. Here's a pretty RSVP postcard which is probably part of a large suite including all the kinds of wedding stationery you could possibly imagine. If you are just postcard shopping, this card may not be exactly what you were hoping for, but on the other hand, maybe you are planning a lemon wedding. Click through to the card and then click the handy personalize button to fill in the entire form and find the rest of the wedding stationery suite.
 


Fun with Lemon Art


Here's a cute little bathing beauty cat lounging on a pool float that looks like a lemon. It's listed as an Announcement Postcard, and I guess the postcard creator expects you to use the Edit Design tool to add your own new address info. Just click Edit Design if you want to try it out. This lemon cat moving announcement would be ideal for anyone who has moved  their cat and the rest of the family from some cold and rainy place like Oregon to Sunny Florida.



I am not sure which artist comes to mind. Could it be Matisse? Matisse did a lot of work with lines on walls and other surfaces, and we do have stripes on the purple wallpaper here. Also the perspective looks pretty Matissy, don't you think?  On the other hand, one of the tag words the creator uses is clip, and then art, so perhaps this postcard design is made from some kind of clipart?  The description at Zazzle is A black and white cat sitting next to a table that has a big blue bowl full of lemons on it. She is wearing a collar with a heart. I just think the color of this little lemon cat makes this a super fun postcard.


Lemons as Transportation


Zest by Florent Bodart is an illustration which seems pretty famous now that I have taken a little spin around the web looking for more information about the artist and the drawing. I didn't find any info, but I still like the card and thought you would too. Lemon slices do seem reminiscent of bicycle wheels in all their spokey splendor.

Lemons and Lemonade


And finally, let's end with another lemon postcard with purple. I just love this Purple Violets, Lemonade Mason Jar Thinking of You Postcard.  We're told we can make someone smile with these pretty purple violets surrounding a mason jar with lemonade and lemon slice. I believe it. Moreover, this card is an excellent example of how you can personalize a Zazzle postcard in order to send a custom message. In this case, you can click through to the card, and find the Personalize button. Then you click there, and replace the current greeting with your own. Same can be done on any of the cards featured above, except most of these particular cards will not have that particular button. Instead you click the Edit Design button and then use the left panel to add your own text. It's pretty easy and it's what makes Zazzle unusual in the Print on Demand world. You can print up just one lemon postcard with your own message. How cool is that!


If Zazzle should send me a penny or two when someone buys something I have carefully chosen to display on this blog, the price stays the same. The card costs nothing extra. For the reader, my quest to find and post some nice cards in which you might be interested, adds nothing to the cost.


The Symbolism of a Lemon Postcard


The symbolism of lemons has a long and varied history. Though they are sour and can symbolize bitterness, lemons have other more positive meanings. Love potions of the Middle Ages used lemon blossoms due to a belief that this bright yellow fruit symbolized fidelity, and romance and adoration. Because lemons and other citrus fruits were imported to temperate cities from faraway tropical lands, lemons came to symbolize wealth. And of course lemons seem to have cleansing properties, so they can be a symbol of purification.  Many societies consider the lemon equivalent to love and friendship. I suppose this is why images of lemons are used in wedding invitation art. And this is also why you will want to send lemons on postcards to your friends and those you love. 

State Birds on Postcards

Red Cardinal, Illinois State Bird Pretty red cardinal by Original Artist WindyDesign against a burlap background, c. 2022. I say circa, beca...