Time for another challenge at the Gingersnap Creations blog…this time it’s a supply challenge and we had to use RIBBON somewhere in our creations. So this Timeless Beauty ATC is my creation for that challenge.
This Altered Art style ATC is a mixed media piece, combining paper, ephemera, ribbon, a vintage photo, and digital graphic elements. It definitely has a sort of timeless feel to it, don’t you think?
This is yet another Christmas gift I made this year (OK, well it’s last year now). This is a paper collage piece that I made for my mom using a vintage photo of her and my great grandmother.
This is made mostly with scrapbook paper and stickers, but I used a clear acrylic clock stamp as well, along with a brad for the center of the clock image. And when it was finished I framed it in a black frame for Mom. Just another little special photo memory captured in time. 
I was outside the other day and to my surprise and wonder and awe, I saw 3 fairies playing in the yard. So I decided to capture those three fairies and put them in some glass jars–at least for long enough to photograph each of them. I wanted to share them with all of you. So here they are.
This is Fairy Rose
This is Fairy Sunny
This is Fairy Pinky
After they kindly allowed me to take their photographs, they were starting to get a little irked in their glass environment. So it soon became time to set them free. After all, it’s never a good idea to irritate a fairy. If you do, they are sure to start stealing your socks from the dryer.
I’ve not been doing much artwork lately, nor much blogging. Trying to get back into the swing of things by joining in the Horror Stories challenge at Gingersnap Creations. We needed to create something with a Horror Stories theme…perfect for Halloween time. I’ve created this ATC that I’m calling Night Rider.
I’ve added lots of paper elements and some stenciling with paper doilies, along with some plastic gems. Then I enhanced the ATC with a bit of digital editing to help age it a bit and bring out more vibrant colors. I love the vintage witch image…she’s so fun (even if she’s not all too scary). And don’t you love the skull-headed bat? Now THAT is scary. LOL
The Hubs has had a couple of old windows saved here and there from our 1890-built home. I didn’t want him to throw them away, thinking that one day I would do something with them. After living here for 15 years, I’ve finally done something with one of them. And now I can truly say it’s a Trash to Treasure window I will keep forever.
I have filled each pane of this old shabby window with vintage photos, scrapbook paper, and assorted ephemera to make it sort of a Window to the Past. The upper left pane features of photo of my mother when she was a little girl. It’s one of my favorite photos of her; she’s wearing a dress my great grandmother made for her. The upper right pane features a photo of Nana, my grandmother when she was a young woman. I love how happy she looks in the photo . The lower left pane shows my mom when she was a very little girl, on a boat with Nana (my mom’s mother) and Nana’s mother. Mom was very close to my great grandmother, so I love photos of them together. And the bottom right pane features my mom and her grandmother. My mom is dressed up like the cutest little cowgirl, and she’s holding her grandmother’s hand. I just love that photo.
Here are some larger versions of each window pane so you can see the details a bit better.
Upper Left Pane
Upper Right Pane
Lower Left Pane
Lower Right Pane
This came out looking rather Shabby Chic, which wasn’t exactly my intention since my home decor leans toward country and primitive, but I love it either way. Nothing wrong with adding a little Shabby Chic flair, right? I love that it’s kind of crusty and old looking. And I love that it was a part of this house in the distant past. This window is going to hang above my couch so I can see it everyday. Just have to get the Hubs to help me hang it!
Since I have some other peony Flower Photos that I took the other day, I decided I’d play around and create something to add to my Digital Collages. I love flowers, and of course you know I love fairies, so I thought it would be fun to take one of my peony photos and a vintage photo and work my digital magic to create a fairy on the peony.
Click to View Full Size
I really wasn’t that thrilled with this particular peony photo all by itself. But once I added the fairy and her magic fairy dust and did a bit of editing, I fell in love with it.
This is an ATC I’ve created for the Gingersnaps Creations At the Mall Challenge.
Click to See Full Size ATC
This ATC combines my love of vintage photos, Altered Art and ATC’s, along with my new passion for digital art and digital collages. I’m going to leave it up to you to decide which parts are which.
Last week’s challenge at the Collage Obsession blog was to use some vintage photos of mermaids in a collage. I didn’t have time last week to create a collage for this challenge, but I still wanted to use those mermaids to create something to add to my Digital Collages collection. So even though I’m tardy to that party, here is what I created using the 2 mermaid images they provided.
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I started with a digital photograph of a rocky beach shore on Lake Erie that I took while on vacation a few years ago. I altered that photo quite a bit and added my usual watercolor effect, and then I added in the mermaids, along with some flowers for an extra pop of color. And that is my Sea Sisters digital collage. I really like how it turned out.
Since I was sick with a stomach bug for much of this past week, I wasn’t able to get into my art studio at all. So I unfortunately have no new projects to share for this week. I decided though that this would be a perfect time to share some vintage Christmas photos with all of you.
To snag any or all of these vintage graphic freebies, please click once on the photo to open it in a new window. Then, right-click on the image and click Save-As…and save it to your computer. Please do not hotlink to our images.
I hope you enjoy these vintage holiday photos…and I hope you can use them in your art and craft projects.
I use so many vintage photos in my altered art projects. I just love the way they look. So when my mom came for a recent visit, I asked her to bring as many old family photos as she could so that I could start using actual family photos, rather than just vintage strangers that catch my eye in photographs. Mom brought some wonderful photos, so I’m off to a good start in building a collection that will not only help me to be creative, but will be extremely meaningful for me as well.
For my very first effort, I decided to create a shadow box of sorts. I have several of these small square boxes around, made from old lath board. They measure about 6″ square on the outside, about a little over 5″ on this inside. To me, these rustic boxes were just begging to be altered and transformed into meaningful family art. And this one features my great Grandma and Grandpa Kephart. Definitely art with heart.
Click to Enlarge
I started by finding some decorative scrapbook paper that I wanted to use on the background. I found one a with rose, pink and blue-green colored pattern to it that I really love. So I cut that to size and put it in place in the box. I already knew that I’d be using the photo of my great Grandma and Grandpa, so next I went about looking for the right embellishments. I found a decorative paper element that says Family on it in a Tim Holz paper pack, so I cut that out to use. I also found a great paper rose that has a hint of glitter on, and the color matched the background paper perfectly. I found some old lace that I ran some thread through to create a fan effect under the rose, and I grabbed some old buttons as well, since the paper element has buttons on it, so I thought they would be a nice touch.
I used foam core to help me create depth with the items I placed in the shadow box. I used it behind the vintage photo and the paper element. The different depths of the items is a perfect way to create shadows in the box, and it makes it look more interesting too. I used some foam to raise up one of the buttons as well.
I love this piece, mostly because it has personal meaning for me. Now all I really need to do is find the perfect spot in my home to hang it. And I will definitely be making more of these shadow boxes too!
