Robins and Robinabilia!

Is there such a word as Robinabilia?  That is collecting anything to do with the little red breasted garden bird we know and love and which adorns so many Christmas cards not just here in the UK but  all over the world.

My mother, Marion, had a small collection kept in a simple ring binder, of stamps, cigarette cards, tea cards and postcards, together with Christmas cards and a few random articles about Robins.

Cigarette and cigar packets, tea packets and other packaged food items often contained cards making up sets on various subjects, including birds!  You could buy albums in which to keep these and there was of course an incentive to buy more products to try and complete your set!

  Together with a handful of little ornaments, these form a rather charming little collection. Although I'm certain other collectors of ornamental china birds may have far grander displays, this is for me a  fine example of a small selection of items put together by someone who always loved to watch the birds from her window!
A robin was the subject of my Christmas card design made in 2014 and shown on the Seasonal page of my website, together with other Christmas card designs.  I used a variety of suitably coloured stamps to created the robin in the centre and British and US stamps  to make the borders! Cards are available direct from my studio - you can contact me via e mail : markwickrachel@gmail.com for full details.

Christmas is coming .. and my studio will be open on Sunday 7th December 10 - 5

It's a busy time of year and having also been away in Portugal for a few days, everything is a bit of a rush!!
My studio will be open tomorrow and luckily it was mostly ready before we went away or I would be in a real panic by now .. well, I must admit I am in a "slight panic"  but that's pretty normal for me ..
Running up to Christmas (possibly literally!), I will have my range of Christmas cards out on display and these have proved very popular so many have been reprinted.  Some are completely made of stamps and others have some painting in the  background as this one does.

I used the view from my own studio window as inspiration for the snowy hills where people sledge and build snowmen as you can see on the picture!  
Hoping that it won't be such a snowy view tomorrow, but hot drinks and cake will be available as always! Also available is a Quiz which children and adults like to have a go at!

At the moment our lane is a bit muddy but not as bad as it can be - I think the frost helps!!. Please park in Bisley road near the cemetery and walk the short distance along following the signs ..  Look forward to seeing as you!

Christmas Open Studio Sale on 7th December 10 - 5 - I Saw Three Ships

Another  opportunity to visit my studio before Christmas will be on Sunday 7th December from 10 - 5 and I will have a variety of Christmas cards on sale, as well as prints and original work both framed and unframed.

The title of my Christmas exhibition is I Saw Three Ships to tie in with the well known carol but it also has a very personal link.

The first stamp collages I made were the three ships featured in the poem Cargoes by John Masefield, the Quinquiremen, the Stately Spanish Galleon and the Dirty British Coaster.   I have prints available of all these three  but for sentimental reasons will never part with the originals!   Ships seem to have become a recurring theme for my stamp collage work over the years and I've produced quite a few!

Inspired by visits to the banks of the River Severn at Purton - known as the Ships' Graveyard, I made The Dispatch and the Severn Trow Norah, just two of the many ships' hulks now resting there. It's a great place to visit.  Britain's last remaining coastal steamer, the S S Robin, now restored and shortly to be opened a s museum and ehibition centre in the Royal London dock was another subject for a stamp collage, and recently I've also made my version of the S S Great Britain. Two clipper ships, the Sower (La Semeuse) and The Blue Lady have been named for the French stamps used in their sails .. there is a whole collecting area dedicated to this little definitive stamp and a book has also been written about it.

"I Saw Three Ships" is a Christmas Carol and each year I make a Christmas card to send to friends and  family. These have included an angel, a Christmas tree, a Christmas wreath, a robin and a dove of peace, and Saint Nicholas, whose own story as Saint Nicholas of Myra, a town in Turkey, included his performing several miracles, one of which featured using the wheat cargoes of three ships to save the starving people of the town.  

Christmas Robins

Some stamp collectors specialise in a certain subject or theme for their collection rather than collecting everything. Children usually start by collecting everything but as a collection grows, unless you have unlimited space, it's good to narrow it down to a certain area. My mum, for instance, now just collects stamps of cats, places she's visited and robins! She also collects postcards on these themes, so Christmas  is a bumper time of year often with a new influx of Robins and cats in the form of Christmas cards.

Stamp Collage Christmas card  incorporates mainly GB and USA stamps 

As I always try to create a new Christmas card each year, this time I decided to make a Robin, and managed to find enough stamps from Great Britain and the USA to make a suitable border to frame  the image of the robin itself which is a collage of other stamps in brown and red. It was also part of a series of Patchwork style designs which I've recently enjoyed making and will continue this theme in the New year.

A selection of stamps featuring robins

Isle of Man Christmas cover with Robin stamp 

Typhoo tea card 

Taunton Stamp Shop also sells my cards!

Just one of the card designs now stocked by Taunton Stamp Shop.

I'm often in Taunton now as one of our daughters is at college there.  I found there is also a stamp shop in the town!   Taunton Stamp Shop,( 66 Bridge Street, Taunton TA1 1UD)  is a lovely old shop which has been run by the same family for more than 35 years.  It has a wide range of philatelic material, including a vast amount of stamps as well as accessories for stamp collectors, postcards, cigarette cards, coins  and model vehicles. They now also have some of my stamp collage greetings cards in stock, so if you're in Taunton call in and have a look around!  It's easy to find, just slightly out of the town centre and a short walk over the bridge, near the Antiques centre, which is also worth a visit.  

Stamp Collage Christmas tree card

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I recently made this Christmas tree from postage stamps. The idea came initially from US Greetings stamps featuring a Christmas tree bauble. I thought they would look lovely hanging from the tree along with other "stamps" including a Christmas stocking, bell, angels and toys.

Merry Christmas!

These are available in Made in Stroud Shop, Stroud, Gloucestershire and also in the pop up shop in Beechwood Shopping centre, Cheltenham which is called Artshop run by the disabilities charity Artshape. They have a great range of reasonably priced artwork made by students, tutors and supporters of Artshape. A great place to purchase unusual and individual gifts.

The shop will be open until 24th December.