Illustrated Template for Announcements, Invitations, Journaling and Various Other Design Projects: The Lark's Nest

A lark began to sing in the tree above her. Dortchen opened her eyes and looked up. It was such a small, plain, grey thing, yet its song was so full of joy. She could see its breast swell, its thin throat tremble. It lifted its wings, as if seeking to draw more air into its lungs. Song-notes were flung into the air, like golden coins thrown by a generous hand. All the lark's strength was poured into its music, all its joy. Dortchen took a deep breath, so deep that she felt her lungs expand and the muscles of her chest crack. She wanted to live like the lark did, filled with rapture. She stood up, looking up at the bird through the sunlit leaves. It flung its wings wide and soared away into the sky. She wanted to fly with it.
― Kate Forsyth, The Wild Girl

Late 19th century illustration of a lark's nest in a meadow surrounded by fluttering butterflies and nodding spring flowers, paired with lightly distressed painted old paper to create an illustrated template that can be used for announcemnts, invitations, journaling and various other design projects. High-res 12” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG without any words/watermark can be found here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.”

Illustrated Template for Announcements, Invitations, Journaling and Various Other Design Projects: The Young Naturalists

I love the stillness of the wood;
I love the music of the rill:
I love the couch in pensive mood
Upon some silent hill.

Scarce heard, beneath yon arching trees,
The silver-crested ripples pass;
and, like a mimic brook, the breeze
Whispers among the grass.

Here from the world I win release,
Nor scorn of men, nor footstep rude,
Break into mar the holy peace
Of this great solitude.

Here may the silent tears I weep
Lull the vested spirit into rest,
As infants sob themselves to sleep
Upon a mothers breast.

But when the bitter hour is gone,
And the keen throbbing pangs are still,
Oh, sweetest then to couch alone
Upon some silent hill!

To live in joys that once have been,
To put the cold world out of sight,
And deck life's drear and barren scene
With hues of rainbow-light.

For what to man the gift of breath,
If sorrow be his lot below;
If all the day that ends in death
Be dark with clouds of woe?

Shall the poor transport of an hour
Repay long years of sore distress—
The fragrance of a lonely flower
Make glad the wilderness?

Ye golden house of life's young spring,
Of innocence, of love and truth!
Bright, beyond all imagining,
Thou fairy-dream of youth!

I'd give all wealth that years have piled,
The slow result of Life's decay,
To be once more a little child
For one bright summer's day.
― Lewis Carroll
Late 19th century illustration of five Victorian children looking at a nature exhibit, paired with lightly distressed painted old paper to create an illustrated template that can be used for announcemnts, invitations, journaling and various other design projects. High-res 9” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG without any words/watermark can be found here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.”

Printable Vintage Art: A Trio of Rabbit Paintings

“Hare in a Wooded Landscape,” 19th century by Carl Franz Gruber (1803–1845)

“A Hare in the Forest,” 16th century by Hans Hoffmann (1530–1591)

“White Rabbit, Standing,” 1910 by Jan Mankes (1889–1920)

She died--this was the way she died;
And when her breath was done,
Took up her simple wardrobe
And started for the sun.
Her little figure at the gate
The angels must have spied,
Since I could never find her
Upon the mortal side.
― Emily Dickinson, Selected Poems
The idea of rabbits as a symbol of vitality, rebirth and resurrection derives from antiquity. This explains their role in connection with Easter, the resurrection of Christ. The unusual presentation in Christian iconography of a Madonna with the Christ Child playing with a white rabbit in Titian's Madonna of the Rabbit can thus be interpreted Christologically. Together with the basket of bread and wine, a symbol of the sacrificial death of Christ, the picture may be interpreted as the resurrection of Christ after death. [Source: Wikimedia]

My digitally enhanced versions of the above paintings can be downloaded as high-res JPEGs without a watermark here (top), here (middle) and here (bottom).


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.