Collage Club

I've been playing with a Collage Club lesson from July 17. I did so well at the beginning of the year with the club lessons and trying each one but then summer happened. I had to pack and move and unpack so it became impossible to keep up. Mary was teaching how to do a romantic glazed background in an altered book. Well I didn't do this in a book but I used book pages for my background.

It was so fun to do I did two more pages in a mini Moleskin I found at Target.

                                     ( I forgot about the little one so I didn't finish it yet.)

Then I added the glaze. Or so I thought. I actually used too much paint and lost the words on the pages.

It still created a neat texture but I'll have to try again on the glaze.

The image of the girl holding the sign is from Besottment.

The top half of this girl is from The Graphics Fairy. I love these half images that allow me to create the other half however I want it. I tried out a couple different skirts for her but liked the colors in the map the best.
I messed up on several different parts of this project but that's ok. My blog is about the journey of creating and perfection is not guaranteed here. It's just so fun to sit down and make something.

Be More Agreeable and Roll on the Floor

As stated in "The Ladies Home Journal" of May, 1902, "In order to be beautiful a girl must have the qualities that make beauty. One of these, and a most important one, is the cultivation of the habit of always being agreeable. This characteristic will do more to make a girl beautiful than any chemical formula known." ... Things that make you go "Hmmm!"

I found these magazines while I was out picking this weekend. (I'm in love with the American Pickers. I want to marry them.) I paid too much for the condition they are in but I'm still happy I have them. It's so fun to read these old magazines. The advertisements are just as great if not better than the main features.

Sure beats all the drug ads in today's magazines!

Look at the price on this house!

I have enough room on my credit card for that. I wonder if it is still available?

Time for one more beauty tip:

"A teacher of physical culture has recently described a method used for reducing the superfluous fat of hips and abdomen. This instructor lays a sheet down on the floor, on which the pupil rolls over a certain number of times. The excercise is a good substitute for massage."

Well, if that's all it takes I'm going to try it as soon as I finish making dessert.

I finally finished my gluebook pages for Mary's swap. I'll show you all of them

except for the one I made for Mary.

They were fun to make! I used some vintage paper on every page with the addition of some backgrounds from Mary's classes and a piece or two from The Graphics Fairy. I can't wait to see the book I get back!

I hope you had a creative weekend! If you're not too busy, go roll on the floor a little and don't forget to be more agreeable!

Mother Lode

I went with my sisters to a huge flea market last week in Rogers, Ohio. I had one goal and that was to find some old papers to do my gluebook pages with. Well, did I ever reach that goal!

For $10 I got a huge stack of these magazines from the 1870s. I couldn't believe it! I was so happy!

They are chockfull of the greatest black and white images.(not so white)

What's nice is that they are falling apart so I don't have to feel bad about tearing pictures out. Or so I thought. Sadly, I'm still struggling with that.

A few are even older.

Check out this Kate Greenaway drawing. I've loved her artwork for a long time!

I got downright giddy when I saw this in the pile!

I know, right?

Yep, giddy!

Then I found this old children's book. It also has wonderful pictures and text in it.

Lastly, I found this adorable old photo album.

There were only a couple photos in it but the frames are nice.

Look at this little boy.

 That's the same face I would make if you did that to my hair!

Nice bunch of stuff for less than $20, wouldn't you say?

I'm working on my gluebook pages for the swap but being so serious about it that I only have three done. I need to get less serious and just create. I'm just so worried since they are going to other people so I find it much harder to do.

I also signed up for Hope Wallace Karney's To The Letter workshop since I hate my handwriting.

Here is my practice page.

I love Hope's style! I want to do a journal but am so uncomfortable with my writing that I don't even try. That's why I signed up for the course.

I hope you are having a great creative week!

September Collage Challenge

It's September and it's time for a Green Paper Collage Challenge! Yay!

Mary Green supplies three beautiful images and you have to make a collage using at least a part of each of the three images. I decided to shrink the letter and the advertisement so they could be small enough to be the lady's mail. I used chalk to color in Fanny's dress. I found the awesome frame on The Graphics Fairy website.  The writing in the background is from one of Mary's classes.

Look here for the images and to see what everyone else created.

Thanks, Mary, for another fun challenge!

An Old Bear

                  I haven't completed any projects this week so I thought I'd show you an old one.

I made this bear for my mother quite a few years ago and I just noticed it again recently. The quilt is something that she and my grandmother made together many, many years ago.

At some point in time it became the dog bed.??? How does a beautiful quilt get chosen as the dog bed? Maybe it was ruined by something else before that.  I got my hands on it long after the dogs enjoyed it and decided to make something from the not too horribly ruined sections of the quilt. I found a pattern for a bear and carefully cut out matching flowers to make his tummy.

Then I found two more for his back. For the rest I just used the white quilted parts that had no flowers on them.

Then I embroidered around every seam using different stitches.

Do you ever look at something you made in the past and wonder how you ever had the patience to take that project on? That is what I wonder about this one. I'm so glad that I did take the time to make him.

Just Playing

I haven't had much creating time in the last few weeks due to unpacking and stuff. I did manage finally to carve out a little creating space in the center of the garage. Not quite the shabby chic studio of my dreams (just shabby, so far) but it is a space to work and where I don't have to clean up every time I work on something. Sometimes I start a collage and have to walk away and think about what I am going to do next with it and I like that I can just walk up to it and start again without having to pull out everything.

This collage is a real mix of things. A little bit of background from Mary's Collage Club , a free download from Hope Wallace Karney and some pictures from magazines. I made her skirt from a stack of sweaters in a J. Crew catalog.

I also played with my fashion magazines in a journal I started last year.

Yesterday I stopped at an estate sale and found this scrapbook.

I paid more than I wanted to but I couldn't leave it there. It is filled with plans for someone's dream house. There are papers inside from the 40s, 50s and early 60s. The creator cut out pictures and glued them in her scrapbook.

She even picked out her choices for a vanity.

Most of the book has unfinished pages and there is an unglued stack of floor plans inside.

There are some really cute advertisements in it too.

This next one is hilarious!

I love that this woman made a book to keep her house dreams in. I wonder what her name was. I couldn't put the book down once I saw it and I really tried to talk myself out of it but I couldn't. I want to work in her scrapbook and continue to glue the pictures that were tucked in the book.

Also, Mary Green is hosting a Vintage Gluebook Page Swap.  Check it out and join in. I can't wait to work on it!

Embroidery

I love to embroider! It's so relaxing to sit and stitch away. I have several projects in the works but until today, haven't finished one since before Christmas. This sampler is from Rebecca Ringquist.

This is her Cake sampler. I certainly had to have it since I live for cake! This pink was from an original batch of samplers. I saw she still has pink but it appears to be a darker shade.

                                                   Here is a link to her Etsy store.

Next on my to-do list (embroidery list... there are so many lists) is this stitch sampler which is Rebecca's original sampler. I started it first but put it down to work on the cake sampler.

She has a gorgeous new Paisley sampler too.

Now I need to decide what to do with my cake sampler. Should I frame it or make a pillow? Are there other things to do with them? Let me know if you have other suggestions.