Inspiration Board: Recycling, upcycling vintage books

I just found this Etsy shop called Carambatack Design with original illustrations, prints, postcards, stickers and more – by Norwegian artist, Annette Mangseth. Instead of cardboard, or plain old primed canvas, the artist is using a different medium as her drawing board: Vintage paper.

The artist draws her illustrations on vintage paper from old books that carry some really cool fonts, such as the one above. The illustrations are dreamy, simple, and quite inspiring.

Although Mangseth draws faces of little girls besides the Scandinavian nature motifs, I find myself drawn to the trees, leaves, and deers, more than anything.

I love these post card trees, below; very dreamy. The worn-out, yellowed color of the pages adds to the whole upcycled/recycled vintage look and makes the designs look a bit Shabby Chic.

I have been integrating pages from old books in some of my crafts lately, a step that I have been contemplating for such a long time. It does look easy at first instance, but I think you need to develop a ‘vision’ for what exactly you want these pages to do for your over-all design. The type of color you use with the vintage pages is also crucial to the end product. Last year I tried watery-water color with yellowed book paper, but the final product looked like it missed something.

The designs that are offered by Annette Mangseth, on the other hand, look very “together,” and her designs transmit a clear message, a very strong feeling... that’s why I think she is an artist to learn from!

Thank you for the inspiration, Mangseth!

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