FROM THE ARCHIVE 6th July 2014
Blue Bird of Happiness harks back to my early collages such as Postcard Kingfisher or Bird in the Hand for which I used vintage postcard backs with lovely squiggly handwriting. In this instance, I …
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![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Photograph by “Nicolai Bernsten”:DJ;KGH; at “Unsplash”:http://unsplash.com Textures “2LO Confetti 17 and 2LO Distressed 12 from”:http://2lilowls.com](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/e289blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "The Boat House")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Photograph by “Nicolai Bernsten”:DJ;KGH; at “Unsplash”:http://unsplash.com Textures “2LO Confetti 17 and 2LO Distressed 12 from”:http://2lilowls.com
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Adapted from François Boucher’s La Toilette de Vénus of 1751. Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
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![Romance in Stone [framed] © Sarah Vernon](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/romanceinstoneframed.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "romanceinstoneframed")
Romance in Stone [framed] © Sarah Vernon
The Lynx Has Landed © Sarah Vernon
Syncopated Lady © Sarah Vernon
Une Valentine parisienne © Sarah Vernon Framed Print at Crated
Midnight Shipwreck © Sarah Vernon Tank Top at Redbubble
Homecoming Pirate Framed Print from Fine Art America © Sarah Vernon
#photorehabcovermakeover Week 3 Moon © Sarah Vernon
Remembrance of Times Past © Sarah Vernon
The Fruit Look © Sarah Vernon at Crated
David Garrick as Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing 1770 © Sarah Vernon
Tallulah Bankhead 1902–1968 © First Night Vintage
Christmas Still Life by Eloise Harriet Stannard
A Private Place in the Mediterranean © Sarah Vernon
Glass Ceiling © First Night Design
Pre-Raphaelite Beauty Mugs © Sarah Vernon
![Photo Unsplash Texture - 2LO Haunting 14 & 2LO Haunting 23 - “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/e285blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Night Landings © Sarah Vernon")
Photo Unsplash Texture – 2LO Haunting 14 & 2LO Haunting 23 – “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
Castle Flowers © First Night Design
Once Upon a Time © Sarah Vernon
Through a Glass Darkly
Decaying Light © Sarah Vernon
Pink Salmon © Sarah Vernon [Crated]
Save the Elephant © First Night Design
’Such Serviceable Flowers’ © Sarah Vernon
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Vintage Henry Irving and Ellen Terry as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing from The Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97514042/ The background is a blend of the interior of The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 from an old encyclopaedia — the venue was originally built in Hyde Park and the exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole — and textures from “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition/](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/e284blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Beatrice and Benedick")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Vintage Henry Irving and Ellen Terry as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing from The Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97514042/ The background is a blend of the interior of The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 from an old encyclopaedia — the venue was originally built in Hyde Park and the exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole — and textures from “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition/
Dark Angels © Sarah Vernon
Garlic is for Heroes © First Night Design
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/e221blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Bring up the Curtain")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
Sea Breeze © Sarah Vernon
Gravestone Hell © Sarah Vernon
The Louise Brooks Tattoo © First Night Design
You’re the Cream in My Coffee
#photorehabcovermakeover Week 6 What Dreams May Come Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
The Lookout © Sarah Vernon Buy at Crated
Bringing in the Harvest © Sarah Vernon – Buy a print at Crated!
Stay, little cheerful Robin! © Sarah Vernon
The Lady Ponders
![Butterfly Cascade © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/e250blog1.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Butterfly Cascade © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
Butterfly Cascade © Sarah Vernon [Crated]
Vesta Tilley (1864-1952)
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ma077blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra - Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
La Poire #1 © Sarah Vernon
A Bountiful Thanksgiving © Sarah Vernon
Viola Translated © Sarah Vernon
Georgian Stripe Duck Egg © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art America
Striking a Theatrical Attitude © Sarah Vernon
Nijinsky dans La Peri – Ballets Russes Tote Bag from Fine Art America © Sarah Vernon
Buy Turning Windmill Tile © Sarah Vernon at Zazzle
A Bird in the Hand © Sarah Vernon
Birds of the Jungle © Sarah Vernon
Parrot with Plums
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/photorehabcovermakeoveraugust.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "#photorehabcovermakeoverAugust")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
Ruddy Duck © Sarah Vernon
Saint Étienne Re-imagined © Sarah Vernon
Margate Translated © Sarah Vernon
Black Stallion © Sarah Vernon
Femme Fatale in Sepia Serving Trays © Sarah Vernon
Casanova’s Waterway © Sarah Vernon
Taking Tea with Clara Butt
Draw Back the Curtain Duvet Covers at Redbubble © Sarah Vernon
The Albatross Did Follow © First Night Design
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Green-painted fence https://unsplash.com/photos/FxeeNx_yMpw Lake Annecy by Mindy Sommers Celestial Eruption by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/NvesrDbsrL4](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/v057fb.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Valentine Blush")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Green-painted fence https://unsplash.com/photos/FxeeNx_yMpw Lake Annecy by Mindy Sommers Celestial Eruption by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/NvesrDbsrL4
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#covermakeover Week 1 STORM BOY by Colin Thiele
Buy a framed print of The New Look © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art England
Goose and Frog’s Easter Journey © Sarah Vernon
Day at the Exhibition Serving Trays © Sarah Vernon
The Magic Lighthouse © Sarah Vernon
Romance in Stone by Sarah Vernon ©
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Japanned Butterflies © Sarah Vernon
![Gabrielle d'Estrees and one of her sisters [unknown]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ma015frame.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "ma015frame")
Gabrielle d’Estrees and one of her sisters [unknown]
Diomedea © Sarah Vernon
Parrot Fashion © Sarah Vernon – Buy from Crated
The Playbills Postcards
Clowns of the Sea © Sarah Vernon at Crated
![Photograph from the ex-Mrs FND Photograph from Unsplash Texture 2LO Ancient times 2 Clock created for Behind Time Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/e353blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Beating the Blues")
Photograph from the ex-Mrs FND Photograph from Unsplash Texture 2LO Ancient times 2 Clock created for Behind Time Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
Fagin’s Den © Sarah Vernon – Buy prints, cards & home decor
Homecoming Pirate Laptop Skin from Redbubble © Sarah Vernon
Framed print from Fine Art America
#photorehabcovermakeover Week 8 This Desert Life © Sarah Vernon
Sailing into Harbour © First Night Design
Travelling with the Buzzard
Beached Dinghy @ Sarah Vernon
Abandoned Hideaway © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art America
Buy Searching the Sands © Sarah Vernon at Crated
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Shadow Deer © Sarah Vernon Greeting Cards
Buy framed print of Green Leaf © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art America
#photorehabcovermakeover Week 17 On Golden Pond
![Artful Pumpkins © Sarah Vernon [Redbubble]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/hl008blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Artful Pumpkins © Sarah Vernon [Redbubble]")
Artful Pumpkins © Sarah Vernon [Redbubble]
The Gloria Swanson Tattoo
Midnight Shipwreck © Sarah Vernon Framed Print at Redbubble
Remember the Fallen © Sarah Vernon at Redbubble
Garlic is for Heroes
Female nude draped in a blue veil, autochrome by Robert Demachy
Looking for Fossils © Sarah Vernon
Cosmic Collision © Sarah Vernon @ Crated
Today’s Special © Sarah Vernon
![Yacht: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakhark/572331622/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Texture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/19581317079/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/e303blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Sailing to the Moon")
Yacht: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakhark/572331622/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Texture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/19581317079/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
Blue Bird of Happiness © First Night Design
Capricorn Abstract
Two Delicate Screens © Sarah Vernon
Roses of Yesteryear © Sarah Vernon at Redbubble
Made for Waling © Sarah Vernon Scarves @ Redbubble
Christmas Emporium © Sarah Vernon
The Windmill © Sarah Vernon
![Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea: “Biodiversity Library”:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45490916 Texture: “Kerstin Frank”:https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/9181048645/in/photostream/ Flowers: “Rijksmuseum”:https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/150967--sarah-vernon/mijn-eerste-verzameling/objecten#/SK-A-3899,0 Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/e309blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "‘Happiness is a Butterfly’")
Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea: “Biodiversity Library”:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45490916 Texture: “Kerstin Frank”:https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/9181048645/in/photostream/ Flowers: “Rijksmuseum”:https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/150967–sarah-vernon/mijn-eerste-verzameling/objecten#/SK-A-3899,0 Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]
The Criterion Theatre 1890s © Sarah Vernon
Waiting to Travel © Sarah Vernon
The Gloria Swanson Tattoo
The Merry Widow Greeting Card by FirstNightDesign
Finches Looking © Sarah Vernon
Parrot with Plums
A Côté de la Mer © Sarah Vernon
Through a Glass Darkly © Sarah Vernon
Buy Clown in the Mirror © First Night Design on prints & posters
![Venetian Rose Water © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/e257blog1.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Venetian Rose Water © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
Venetian Rose Water © Sarah Vernon [Crated]
Buy Greeting Cards
Spring Passion Mug © Sarah Vernon
The Dancer and the Pierrot © Sarah Vernon
The Haunting © Sarah Vernon
The Cynical Halloween Raven © Sarah Vernon
Halloween Skeleton & Cherub © Sarah Vernon
Day at the Exhibition
Silhouette Sunset © Sarah Vernon
To see a fine lady upon a white horse © First Night Design
Woman in Black © Sarah Vernon
Garlic is for Heroes
Oriental Glimpse © Sarah Vernon
A Night at the Palace © First Night Design
Sea Breeze
Love Letters © First Night Design
Waiting for the Dawn framed prints © Sarah Vernon at Redbubble
Pier into the Depths © Sarah Vernon
Petite Rose Confection Laptop Sleeve © Sarah Vernon
![Bird on the Beam © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/e254blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Bird on the Beam © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
Bird on the Beam © Sarah Vernon [Crated]
Patchwork © Sarah Vernon
The Lady in the Big Hat
The Chinese Vase © Sarah Vernon
Angel Love © Sarah Vernon – Greeting Card Universe
The Clara Bow Tattoo © First Night Design
Buy The Louise Brooks Tattoo Take 2 © Sarah Vernon from Redbubble
Spring Passion Drawstring Bag © Sarah Vernon
‘Like a Lapwing’ © Sarah Vernon
Emerald Arches © Sarah Vernon
The Glass Cloche @ First Night Design
Bound for Santiago © Sarah Vernon
Birdcage Blossom Postcards © Sarah Vernon
And Don’t Forget the Garlic! © Sarah Vernon
Thanksgiving Hideaway © Sarah Vernon
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Advert from The Graphics Fairy](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/e286blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Vintage Pettit’s Eye Salve")
Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Advert from The Graphics Fairy
A Stroll Along the Seafront © Sarah Vernon at Crated
The Cuckoo’s Note © Sarah Vernon
Tangle Mountain
Under Full Sail II © First Night Design
![The Boat House Tote Bag © Sarah Vernon [Fine Art England]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/totebagfae.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "totebagfae")
The Boat House Tote Bag © Sarah Vernon [Fine Art England]
Made for Walking Framed Prints © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art America
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
23 comments
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23/05/2016 at 16:26
MichelleMarie
Oh I love this so much! I’m here visiting your blog for a bit. ;D
LikeLiked by 1 person
23/05/2016 at 16:29
First Night Design
Bless you, M!
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23/05/2016 at 16:35
MichelleMarie
Blessings to you too! ❤
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23/05/2016 at 01:34
sydspix
This is really wonderful! Love the overall effect!
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23/05/2016 at 12:14
First Night Design
Thank you so much, Syd!
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21/05/2016 at 09:10
Mention in Dispatches – Late night phone calls, Kindle Formatting and The Blue Bird of Happiness | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life
[…] https://firstnightdesign.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/first-night-design-blue-bird-of-happiness-art-repo… […]
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21/05/2016 at 09:06
Mention in Dispatches – | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life
[…] https://firstnightdesign.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/first-night-design-blue-bird-of-happiness-art-repo… […]
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19/05/2016 at 17:25
Marje @ Kyrosmagica
Such a beautiful blue bird Sarah. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
23/05/2016 at 12:14
First Night Design
Much thanks, Marge!
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19/05/2016 at 15:18
Mary Smith
You are so talented, Sarah, and must be incredibly patient to do all that’s involved in creating this lovely image.
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19/05/2016 at 15:41
First Night Design
Bless you, Mary! Such a lovely thing to say.
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19/05/2016 at 11:58
Moon in Capricorn
A very happy bluebird. Finding him here is a nice way to begin my day.
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19/05/2016 at 12:53
First Night Design
I’m so glad. Thanks!
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19/05/2016 at 11:14
olganm
We all need one. Thanks, Sarah!
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19/05/2016 at 12:52
First Night Design
Yes, indeed, Olga. Thanks!
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19/05/2016 at 10:58
beetleypete
That bird does indeed look happy. We all need a bluebird of happiness now and again.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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19/05/2016 at 12:52
First Night Design
We do. I have one sitting on my shoulder as we speak! It’s been a while…
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19/05/2016 at 10:58
janetweightreed10
I love this….I am going to check if this is in pillow form….janet. xxx
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19/05/2016 at 12:44
First Night Design
Thanks! If it isn’t, I’ll do one! xxx
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19/05/2016 at 12:51
First Night Design
It was done and it’s here: http://www.zazzle.com/blue_bird_of_happiness_pillow-189628017202697462?rf=238506839148079358
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19/05/2016 at 10:07
ksbeth
i love this collage – what a great idea to use writing on the postcard
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19/05/2016 at 12:43
First Night Design
Thanks so much. I’ve always been potty about the combination of words and images.
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19/05/2016 at 09:57
First Night Design | Blue Bird of Happiness #Art #Repost | ' Ace Friends News '
[…] Original Article: https://firstnightdesign.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/first-night-design-blue-bird-of-happiness-art-repo… […]
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