Game, Set, MATCH!

I LOVE great design.  If you're on Pinterest, you'll eventually run into someone who is posting images of these fantastic Czech matchbox labels from the 60s and 70s.  I have quite a few and they're my favorites of all of my matchbook labels, in a collection that is getting embarrassingly large.  :D

Not only is the design wonderful, but they serve another purpose for me - they have a lot of teeny-tiny illustrations I can use in my work!  Let's take a look at some labels that will most definitely be used at some point:

*SWOON*  They're all so lovely, aren't they?  Striking design, wonderfully illustrated, awesome colors - they just don't make 'em like that anymore.  And they all have teensy little images that I could use in my tiny work!

Here's one label that's chock-full of little pictures:

You may notice that a couple of images are already gone - why, yes!  I DID use them in some recent work, work that I had never attempted before last Thursday:

I took the pear and the glass/pitcher from the matchbook label (which measures 1 1/3"W x 2"H) and made some collages with them - each of these tiny collages measures less than a quarter inch square.  Here is the collage shown at approximately the actual size:

You may ask yourself if I am a masochist.  Maybe I am!  But when you've got such great design elements to begin with, maybe they were just BEGGING to be used in a challenge!  :D

I am teaching a class at the fabulous Moondance Studios on February 21 called "Tiny Works" and I wanted some examples for the folks who attend the workshop.  In the blown-up shots of the collages, you can see that my cutting isn't up to my usual standard, but you can't really tell once you see the collage in its actual size. So I'm going to cut myself some slack for these.  :)

I'm kind of hooked on these collages now - they're easy to start and a bit wonky to execute, but I love a challenge!

Thanks to Retro Cafe Art Gallery for making these little masonite squares available - you can find them here!  :D