JUST TO LET YOU KNOW:
if you notice, on some of my listings I may say that I do not find many vintage books anymore so I don't know how many more kits I can make of a certain theme, which has been true since moving from Iowa to New Hampshire ten years ago. however now that will be taken a step further as my husband is planning on retiring soon and we will be moving to a (probably) smaller place with less room for my shop which nows fills our master bedroom (we sleep in the spare room). because of planning for our future I will purchase very few if any ‘new” old books. so you will now start to see more of "this is the last kit I can make" on many listings. I will still continue to make kits but if you are interested in a special theme, please know for some kits I have limited images. if there is no mention of this on a kit, that means I can maybe make multiple more of that theme.
I love making collage kits. putting together vintage images to tell a story that my customers can use in their journals, scrapbooks or art projects is what makes me happy. I enjoy writing a story to go along with the images to inspire and create a world full of magic and happiness where no animal is ever killed and dreams really do come true.
my love of making collages started when I was just a little girl in Iowa. my sister and I would cut up magazines together to make collages and frame them on our bedroom walls. then we would make up stories to go along with the pictures and tell them to each other. our favorite places were going to Africa on safari and down the Amazon on a boat! as I grew older I made collages of my favorite singers on my notebook covers in high school.
I started making kits to share my passion for making collages over 18 years ago. I first sold them on eBay and then discovered Etsy and have been here ever since! my ideas for kit themes and my collection of vintage books both started small. my first kits were dogs, cats, birds, flowers and Africa. I had maybe 25 books to gather images from.
I slowly began going to book and garage sales until my collection was over 3,000 books and filled a huge room off our house which became my studio. when we moved from a house in Iowa to an apartment in New Hampshire in 2014 I had to downsize my book collection and spent six months cutting them up and saving images in file boxes.
I was inspired by my customers who requested custom kits to the possibility of opening my mind to new (and sometimes kinda crazy) collage themes, like Cats and the Sea. now after all these years I am happiest when I am on the hunt for images for a very specific theme that I have never created before. many times these kits are one and only kits that a very special person discovers in my shop and feels like it was made just for them!
Collage Kit Land is a world that I have created from my imagination where all my collage kits are born.
Look for "Fun Facts" on my listings to learn little interesting things about me!