PPS Collage Freebie: Tickets & Tonic

There are bits of flotsam here at the Studio, so it was decided that another Collage Sheet was overdue. This one includes every spot, acid paper burn and messy appeal of things old and gnarly. The tickets here caught my eye more than the rest. But the homework notes portion, all rusty brown and toasty after 100 years in a drawer, is also, I think, quite usable.

It is hoped our readers may find lots of uses for any of our freebies. I plan to get some use out of this one, believe me! ;)

Happy Creativity!

Be kind--and please don't copy us. We offer our stock for free and hope you will accept that as the final say on how our sheets and separate images are put up online. 

Thanks so much

Rose

PPS Collage Sheet: "Tickets & Tonic"

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Postcard from 1916 Iowa: Paddling Her Own Canoe

Isn't this a fun bit of ephemera?
Our story on the postage side is a bit comical, in that "Mollie" has a request that her mother should remember to fetch her some new stockings, " size 9 1/2." :)
I love old messages on postcards. They take me on a journey to the times and attitudes of another century, when life was less about machines and more about people.
The pansies on our illustrated side signify thoughtfulness, while our canoe paddler is ready to take on more fun.
As is our habit, we offer both the old and the refreshed looks to both sides of our quaint little postcard. We hope our readers may find more than one use for each of the 4 images we offer this time.
Happy Summer Creative Fun!
Rose

Old Time Vacation Postcard

Illustrated Side--Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

Old Look

Downloadable Version HERE

Postage Side--Messy Look

Downloadable Version HERE

Postage Side--Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in your artwork, for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Thank you for respecting the rights of the public.

Antique Postcard from Wales (with postmark)

This postcard has a lot of charm and makes me smile. Here is a young officer, probably part of the British Royal Navy, romancing his sweetheart by the sea. The lovely view, with the seagulls floating above the water, is truly refreshing, as is the loveliness of our young lady's person.
On our postage side is evidence of where this postcard came from, as well as where it got sent. Note the somewhat unusual postmark! And the stamp is quite fresh looking, despite its 104 years of age.
We're offering two versions of the illustrated side, along with the same of the postage side. We hope you will find plenty of reasons to use our postcard collection to its best advantage.
Happy Creativity!
Rose

A 1907 Postcard from Wales

Illustrated Side--Refreshed 

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Look

Downloadable Version HERE

Postage Side-Some Cleanup

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Look

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

make artwork for fun or profit with the above images.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Please respect our gift to the public.

Thank you.

Steamy Collage Freebies: Two Themed Collage Sheets

Meet the two newest Collage Printables, both intended for the Steampunk style everybody loves to play around with. ;)
Both are designed to fit comfortably any 81/2" by 11" sheet of printer paper, so anyone can use them. 
I've used a 1907 book's cover liner as the basis for each design offered. 
I love the textures in both of these, and I hope you will too!
Happy Creativity!
Rose


P.S. Please do not package to sell any of the offerings made for this blog. They were made to be FREE for all time. And please credit all of the makers of the brushes chosen for these, as their input is invaluable to the art process for both. Obsidian Dawn's rules for use are posted at their website. Please check there before using either of these 2 backgrounds.
Thank You
Rose H. McGuinn

Steampunk Themed Collage Backgrounds

Steamy Starlight

Downloadable Version HERE

Steampunk Dream

Downloadable Version HERE

Digital Sources: Obsidian Dawn, and JS Scully and gojo123 of Brusheezy.

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in your artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage either of them in any way for sale.

In other words, make art, 

please give credit where credit is due, 

and

Don't sell either of these two images as is.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.

Rough Cut & Wrinkled: Antique Handwriting in French

Isn't this fun? I dearly love all things French, including our funny little jotting for this afternoon's post.
Letter writing itself is vanishing. A fine art once, those who wrote a "fine hand," or cursive, were often sought after to redraft their friends' correspondence. Nowadays, it is no longer in the curriculum of many of our schools here in the U.S. Pretty soon, nobody but those over 40 will be able to decipher the scribblings of the past unless taught for the purposes of, say, research.
For now, let us ponder our quickly scrawled brief epistle to find clues as to its history.
For one thing, we don't have enough French between us to fully comprehend what this was all about. :)
On the other hand, the free translators online are there for anyone to use--if, let us say, there are no mystery words left over. With a dictionary, we had been able to determine only a brief sketchy outline for you, while the online free translating service we chose took parts of what we gave it and made it sound a bit weird. "Eles" became eels. Go figure.
Ultimately, it was decided there were too many variations within speech to complete our free translation. However, there were some decisive victories over this mystery, one being how the person writing our note wanted news of his or her tobacco or a camera (free translations can be tricky!). Had these items arrived as planned? Apparently somebody was soon marrying and all were invited. An apology was given for the poor quality of the writing paper chosen. Nothing historic, for certain. But fun? We think it could be.


With our refining process, though, the image began to lose some of its potential for fun. It began to look middle aged, not 4 years shy of its 100th birthday. [Note: It is now over 100 years of age as of 6/12/16] A decision had to be made: to post as is or delete it from our archives altogether.
Well, you know the rest. :)
Happy Creativity en Français!
Rose

French Handwriting (Rough Cut)

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Antique Postcard: for the 4th of July

Postcards say so much more to us than the time of year in which they were sent. They speak of the times in which they were made, the science of the times contributing to inks, printing, paper quality. They also speak of human relations in their scrawled messages.
I love this one for the simple way our Lady Liberty stands, looking very human, indeed, in her Edwardian corset and Phrygian cap (which see HERE).
(I may only just be able to spell that word--just please don't ask me to say it LOL)

She's really quite a stunner, and not in the least our perfected ideal of a woman. Perhaps no one in today's society would think of her at all as exemplary or noteworthy. And her cap seems really an oddity unless we consider its origins. But most children never get to hear about ancient political freedom fights nor the Greeks nor Romans. 

This means, of course, our somewhat portly Lady "Libertas" might not be respectable, much less viewed as being Liberty herself by our modern terms. I think that's sad, don't you? I wouldn't have understood these things about her if I hadn't once read a little something about the ancient world, enough to learn there are such things as "Phrygian caps." (They reminded me a little of Snow White's dwarves' hats) This led to a little more research via Wikipedia, where we may also turn for the real story of our own national symbol, our Statue of Liberty.

She's not a national heroine by any stretch of the imagination, but I think we look upon her long robed figure and serious expression quite fondly and humbly. For we are here, aren't we? In some countries,  our many freedoms would not be taken so for granted. I hope we can recall how others may view our country come this 4th of July.

In the end, our Liberty is comprised of us all, as one People. And by the People, may this country rise to become ever stronger, ever wiser, ever better all the way around.

From all of us in our Studio, here's an early Happy Birthday salute to America!
Rose & Studio Friends

Fourth of July Postcard

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Brightened

Downloadable Version HERE

Reverse in Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Reverse Brightened

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them for sale in any way.

Please respect our gifts for the public's use.

Thank you.

Three Vintage Postcards: "Wish You Were Here"

Normally, we'd share both front and back views with our readers. However, as international copyright laws must be adhered to, and these postcards aren't nearly old enough for showing online, we're making this post all about the "wish you were here" factor. Our love of things foreign, plus the idea behind each message as it was sent midcentury from places like Seville and Venice, makes this a fun way to go. We hope you'll enjoy it for the same reasons we do. And anybody with a liking for handwriting may find any one of our three choices for you a delight to read through and use.
Some things withstand our cleanup process better than others. In this case, we aren't too pleased with the cleaned up variety, and feel certain there will be plenty of those among you who won't mind a bit any of the warts we've left on the faces of our 3 views. As a result, we offer this selected trio in their partially cleaned up states, and hope you'll like them as they are. 
Meanwhile, as Blogger's being a bit wobbly again here of late, I hope our many readers will find they are able to get into our blog! Lots of problems reported around today.
Oh well!
Happy Creativity!
Rose

Three Timeless Beauties

From Seville

Downloadable Version HERE

From La Spezzia

Downloadable Version HERE

From Venice

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use these images in artwork either for fun or for profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Please respect this gift for the public's use.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Antique Postcard: Souvenir of Minnesota

Here is another from our stock of the old, the freckled, the wrinkled, and the beautiful. I know we've had it around for a while, so it's kind of a nice surprise to see we are ready to show it to you.
As usual, we offer the reader chances for that antique look so many of us prize, along with our newer, "refreshed" look. This time, our postcard's front looked pretty enough at every stage, so our choice now is to let you decide which speaks to you.


Here they are then, the three versions of our illustrated side, along with the regular two versions of our postage side.
Happy Creativity!
Rose & Studio

Antique Yellow Rose Postcard

FRONT

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Partway Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

POSTAGE SIDE

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.

PPS Collage Printable (#3) Freebie: Scattered Antique Postcards + Steampunked Version!

Who doesn't enjoy making collages using older ephemera? But how many of us really take the time to hunt that down before they begin? Many of us have no time for the hunt, and would much rather just dive into their creative mode.
Here is the answer: our PPS Collage Printables Collection. 
This time, we are offering you the best of our archive's postcard collection as a scattering of images in various sizes in a collage printable format. We're allowing that some printers may not adjust to fit every square inch of that imagery by centering it inside a border, which hopefully will do the trick for one and all.
We hope you'll find many uses for this fun Printable, and that you will share it with anyone interested. It is free for use here and elsewhere. 
Please do not sell it as your own. It takes time and considerable practice to get a look like we're offering. We ask that everyone please keep us in mind, as well, and credit back to us, wherever applicable, using links, etc., just as we would do for anyone--including you, our readers. It is easy to credit others who provide anyone with use of free ephemera and/or digital brushes. And think of how many times this helps others remember to do likewise! :)


So, without further ado, here is your Collage Printable Freebie, entirely free and all for use by anyone. 
Thanks again for visiting and--
Happy Creativity!
Rose & Studio Friends


P.S. After 2 polite requests regarding our font size here, we finally got around to expanding to a more reasonable size. We thank these fine, observant friends and credit their help for making us a more user friendly organization. You two are such a great help to our group! 

PPS FREE Collage Printable:

Scattered Antique Postcards

Downloadable Version HERE

Steampunked Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.

In Time for Shakespeare's Birthday

Now, I realize nobody can really tell us the exact day of the Bard's birth, but it is a long held tradition to celebrate it right around this time of year. Some say he wrote the sonnets I've posted as a nudge toward his patron to kill his lazy ways and start doing something with his life besides party and have a good time down in Merrie Olde England. Having reread it (for the first time since college days) during the process of preparing it for print/digital art-making for you all, I came to believe the same.
Also included this time will be a portion of All's Well That Ends Well, one of his comedies. (Okay, so no one's certain if he wrote it or not, but we'll say he did, just for his day)
Best of all, I have that old portrait (not the best likeness, so I hear), in both the "rough cut" versions with no cleanup, and in the Black and White, cleaned up version. We hope you'll make use of them all in fun or for serious study, take your pick, it's up to you.
The book scanned for these images comes to us from the late Victorian era. I lost the frontispiece to this one in the shuffle of moving 2 years back, and haven't found it in among the things it was with--so far. However, I can recall it as having been a late 1800's edition, so we'll call it good.
I love its pages, so lightweight and almost see-through, with gilt edges that still retain their gloss. I suppose this must have cost a fair amount in its time. It was coming apart at both ends by the time I spotted it and gave it a home.
So Happy Birthday to "Willy the Shake" and
Happy Creativity, everybody!
Rose

Shakespeare's Portrait

Downloadable Version HERE

Sonnets, First Page

Downloadable Version HERE

All's Well That Ends Well Outtake

Downloadable Version HERE

Portrait Page--Rough Cut

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Postcard: "Bonjour, Mam'zelle Therese!"

En Francais, here we have a little bit of fun from the turn of the last century, where two (perhaps then famous) stage actors are cutting it up before a live audience. The backdrop is of a forest or park-like glade. The front sports a lovely French postage stamp, the cancellation date for which is indistinct, unfortunately.
The back has what, for me, pleases the eye most of all: all that lovely old fashioned French script. It's a page out of history, in a way, don't you think?
The message seems a bit indistinct as well, for it doesn't contain any complete grammar. The basic gist is about someone whose brother shook hands. Very curious. I tried Translator twice, but got no better result.
This one took a good bit of cleanup. it really looked a sight before we got finished.
Let's just say, it's working and call it good.
Bonsoir, mes amis!
and Happy Creativity!
Rose

French Comedic Postcard

Downloadable Version HERE

Reverse

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them for sale in any way.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.

Easter Postcard #6: "All Easter Gladness" + a Decorative Page Frame

Dear Visitors to Plush Possum Studio:
Thank you for stopping by here. 
I so appreciate the many visits that have been made by all of you over the years since I first began this Free Graphics blog. Most visits here have not involved your commenting, and I do not mind that at all. Guests here might like to know that as of April of 2016, there have been well over 1,000 comments left here by guests for over 500 posts, not counting my own responses. A number of these still really do make me smile. 
The top 2 posts of all time have so far had well over 34,000 Pageviews between the 2 combined--and that excludes my own visits here. And even when I was away from blogging for several years, and could provide no new content, guests still visited here fairly often.
By your coming here, you have shown me that you have trusted that I could provide you with something useful to you toward the creation of something that I might never get any chances to see, but which I know must have occurred. And this, too, makes me smile. That is my entire purpose in keeping this blog, so naturally I am smiling. (Imagine providing a coloring page for children to use on rainy days, and knowing some moms have been able to use them!)
:)
This blog was created so that some free things can be kept free to the public, and ready to use, as well as for as long as possible. I wanted to give images as it is best to receive them: a cleaned up and ready-to-use collection of usable, free images made for those without much time for bother. What I find is that many free images online tend to be of very poor quality. Of course, not all of the ones here are very good, either. That is because this is also a blog about learning how to become acquainted with the uses of Photoshop products. The quality here did grow over time, but not without a few hiccups or mistakes along the way.

About this post:
This particular post has been a fairly popular one for years. I loved this postcard once. When I first saw it in the Antique shop, I thought of it as charming or cute. Today, although I like pretty pictures and find old correspondence art fascinating (anything sent in the mail a long time ago is of interest among history nerds LOL), the real history of the celebration of certain spring or seasonal holidays has begun to trouble me.
This is because some further study has taught me that not every Easter tradition fits with how I practice my beliefs. The same would apply to Christmas, that I do not see as having been Jesus' birthday after all, even though I once saw it that way.
Now, some traditions are different, and I mean no one any disrespect through saying so. I like my readers to be at ease with me, after all. Growing up, it seemed perfectly natural to celebrate both Easter and Christmas. In my family, we kept both holidays for many years with much eager enthusiasm.
Today, however, I find that I must ask myself, "What is it that I am actually celebrating here?"
Lately, as I keep learning new things about certain old practices, I have found out much that really does trouble me. 
It isn't always easy to see how certain cultural ideals have crossed paths and been combined in ways that won't really fit with what I do believe. For some people, there would be no real problem, as they are at ease at all times with all traditional belief systems, and find combining fun. I am uneasy with the idea of Easter now based upon some of the things that I've learned.
Today, both Easter and Christmas do make me rather uneasy. 
Again, I mean nobody any disrespect. I am simply reassessing my own life, including certain beliefs. So this pair of images may well soon be removed for that very reason. I thought that it would be more fair to give fair warning than to just suddenly remove some things without any reasonable explanation for doing so.
Today, and for me personally,  the enjoyment of spring is not an Easter-y thing at all. Spring offers all sorts of fun things such as young animals and birds nesting. To enjoy such a refreshing start to another season seems only natural, but I will not call it Easter myself at all. I now observe Christ's Passover, and I take it seriously. What others choose will, of course, be a matter of decision for them.
In other words, I won't have any qualms offering my wild bird eggs or my Spring Garden Sets, as per usual, whereas my ideas have changed about both Easter and Christmas, in general. Enjoying the changes in weather or season is a part of the enjoyment of life, isn't it?
Please forgive me for being so blunt. I like openminded company, and prefer to be at ease being myself, and so I would never judge or put down anyone else for doing the same. 
And yet. Easter, for me, is not really faithful to the way I practice my faith today.
Please forgive me while I pause to reassess.

Thank you for your understanding.

The old way that this post was written is:
Isn't this a lively, colorful edition? As it never got posted, it still has that same fresh look of long ago. Published by Philip Sander in the early 1900's (right around 1910, more than likely), you can see the registration mark still on the lower left margin. We offer the border alone for the fun of it.
Happy Easter and--
Happy Creativity from all of us to all of you!
Rose

AND DON'T FORGET TO JOIN OUR GIVEAWAY!

"All Easter Gladness"

Downloadable Version HERE

Reverse

Downloadable Version HERE

Frame

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them for sale in any way.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.

Easter Postcard #5: Peaceful Village Scene

Dear Visitors to Plush Possum Studio:
Thank you for stopping by here. 
I so appreciate the many visits that have been made by all of you over the years since I first began this Free Graphics blog. Most visits here have not involved your commenting, and I do not mind that at all. Guests here might like to know that as of April of 2016, there have been well over 1,000 comments left here by guests for over 500 posts, not counting my own responses. A number of these still really do make me smile. 
The top 2 posts of all time have so far had well over 34,000 Pageviews between the 2 combined--and that excludes my own visits here. And even when I was away from blogging for several years, and could provide no new content, guests still visited here fairly often.
By your coming here, you have shown me that you have trusted that I could provide you with something useful to you toward the creation of something that I might never get any chances to see, but which I know must have occurred. And this, too, makes me smile. That is my entire purpose in keeping this blog, so naturally I am smiling. (Imagine providing a coloring page for children to use on rainy days, and knowing some moms have been able to use them!)
:)
This blog was created so that some free things can be kept free to the public, and ready to use, as well as for as long as possible. I wanted to give images as it is best to receive them: a cleaned up and ready-to-use collection of usable, free images made for those without much time for bother. What I find is that many free images online tend to be of very poor quality. Of course, not all of the ones here are very good, either. That is because this is also a blog about learning how to become acquainted with the uses of Photoshop products. The quality here did grow over time, but not without a few hiccups or mistakes along the way.

About this post:
This particular post has been a fairly popular one for years. I loved this postcard once. When I first saw it in the Antique shop, I thought of it as charming or cute. Today, although I like pretty pictures and find old correspondence art fascinating (anything sent in the mail a long time ago is of interest among history nerds LOL), the real history of the celebration of certain spring or seasonal holidays has begun to trouble me.
This is because some further study has taught me that not every Easter tradition fits with how I practice my beliefs. The same would apply to Christmas, that I do not see as having been Jesus's birthday after all, even though I once saw it that way.
Now, some traditions are different, and I mean no one any disrespect through saying so. I like my readers to be at ease with me, after all. Growing up, it seemed perfectly natural to celebrate both Easter and Christmas. In my family, we kept both holidays for many years with much eager enthusiasm.
Today, however, I find that I must ask myself, "What is it that I am actually celebrating here?"
Lately, as I keep learning new things about certain old practices, I have found out much that really does trouble me. 
It isn't always easy to see how certain cultural ideals have crossed paths and been combined in ways that won't really fit with what I do believe. For some people, there would be no real problem, as they are at ease at all times with all traditional belief systems, and find combining fun. I am uneasy with the idea of Easter now based upon some of the things that I've learned.
Today, both Easter and Christmas do make me rather uneasy. 
Again, I mean nobody any disrespect. I am simply reassessing my own life, including certain beliefs. So this pair of images may well soon be removed for that very reason. I thought that it would be more fair to give fair warning than to just suddenly remove some things without any reasonable explanation for doing so.
Today, and for me personally,  the enjoyment of spring is not an Easter-y thing at all. Spring offers all sorts of fun things such as young animals and birds nesting. To enjoy such a refreshing start to another season seems only natural, but I will not call it Easter myself at all. I now observe Christ's Passover, and I take it seriously. What others choose will, of course, be a matter of decision for them.
In other words, I won't have any qualms offering my wild bird eggs or my Spring Garden Sets, as per usual, whereas my ideas have changed about both Easter and Christmas, in general. Enjoying the changes in weather or season is a part of the enjoyment of life, isn't it?
Please forgive me for being so blunt. I like openminded company, and prefer to be at ease being myself, and so I would never judge or put down anyone else for doing the same. 
And yet. Easter, for me, is not really faithful to the way I practice my faith today.
Please forgive me while I pause to reassess.

Thank you for your understanding.

It is a quiet spring morning, and all the birds are chirping. Here rests our peaceful village, with its quaint houses, its steeple, its soft landscape. Many of us feel this way when Easter has arrived. It's as though they were waking from a long sleep.
Even though it was never sent, we knew this one should be a part of our lineup. The writing on the back details a family gathering with a new baby's arrival on a "Sunday morning," and ends with the phrase, "With love from Ellen."
Peaceful Creating, everyone.
Plush Possum Studio

Peaceful Village Easter Postcard

Downloadable Version HERE

Postcard Reverse

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

You are free to:

use the above images in artwork for fun or profit.

You are not free to:

repackage them in any way for sale.

Please respect our gift for the public's use.

Thank you.