Simon Says: Vintage/Past Times

Hello Monday, my friends! Our challenge for you this week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is: VINTAGE/PAST TIMES. 

It's been wonderful having Lucyna with us for the month. She is so talented!! I know I will be looking forward to her creations.

I chose the wonderful vintage papers from Graphic 45 for my scrapbook page, and I realized as I worked on this today, I haven't scrapbooked in a long time! It also gave me a chance to try out my tiny HP Sprocket printer that I won at a crop. You can print right off your phone.  (I was super lucky that day!!)

I was inspired to make my page by my recent "Sisters Visit" to St. Augustine, Florida, where I enjoyed sunshine, the ocean and temperatures in the high 70's and low 80'sF. I am back home to the cold and snow, but it was such a great time.  I have a tradition with two of my sisters to meet somewhere each year in honor of our Mom. I'll share a few pics from my trip first:

Sunset over the Matanzas River our first night.

 This trip we called ourselves the "Flamingo Sistas"

Freedom Park chimes

Washington Oaks State Park - Look - green and flowers!!

One of the ocean's many moods

Old Town area of St. Augustine

All dressed up for Sunday brunch in our new butterfly tops (of course, we had to do some shopping!)

Now that I've set the mood, let's get on to the project!

St. Augustine Beach Escape

I started with the great vintage papers from Graphic 45. I love their old style designs and wonderful images. Then, I had an idea to make my new photos look old. I rubbed some Vintage Photo Distress Stain over them with a baby wipe. You can see the difference here. 

Adding in a mix of words...

I found a bit of a palm frond and brought it back with me. It's almost like string or wire, so I wrapped it around the photos.

I distressed the blue paper layer and added some Ranger Ink Fire Mixed Media Powder for a bit of pizazz.

A few dots of blue glittery Nuvo on her flower head band...

Photo of a shell I got on my trip, which I printed and used. Love the amazing textures!

I discovered afterwards, that I should have done the embossing before I put the photo on. Apparently the heat changed the color. But, I also thought, sometimes you see old photos like this too. 

I had a wonderful escape to the beach with my sisters, and my page will bring me some wonderful memories each time I look at it. 

Are you ready to make something in the Vintage or Past Times theme? I hope you will join us this week! One lucky participant will be drawn at random for a $50 shopping voucher from our generous friends at Simon Says Stamp!

SUPPLIES:   

                                        

                                                    

 

Graphic 45 Travelogue 12x12 collection

 

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Paper Stash CLASSIC KRAFT STOCK

 

Tim-Holtz-Idea-ology-QUOTE-CHIPS

 

Vintage Photo - Distress Stains

 

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND ESPRESSO Ranger TIM43270

 

Tim Holtz Paper Distresser tool

 

Ranger FIRE Mixed Media Powder

 

Maya Arts Kraft Bakers Twine

 

Tonic NIGHT SKY Nuvo Glitter Drops

 

ranger mini round ink blender

 

3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Permanent

 

3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE GLIDER

 

Fiskars Reinforced Paper Trimmer 12 inches

 

Craft Scissors - Tim Holtz

 

Ranger HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL

                                        

A GREAT place to shop!!

Simon is on Instagram - use #sssmchallenge

Be sure to check out the wonderfully creative makes from my team mates this week!

India Mixed Media Scrapbook: Take 1

I traveled to India last fall with my husband, and we fell in love with the country, the wonderful people we met, and the glorious colors everywhere we looked! I wanted to make a scrapbook of our journey, but not in the traditional sense...I wanted to take a mixed media approach. 

I started by printing a lot of my own papers, using DecoArt Americana Premium acrylics, my gelli plate, and stencils. This way, I could recreate some of the colors I saw on my trip in my papers.

My dancing hula girl, bunny, and water garden accompany me as I work.

Samples from some of the pages I made, using marks and stencils.

I also added gold touches to a number of pages.

Now, I have a good selection of papers I can pull from as I work on my pages.

I decided to use an old art journal I had on hand and removed the pages. I began by adding lines or splats with watercolor, then went in with acrylic paints and stencils. Here are a couple of samples.

Since I had deconstructed the album, it was easy to  paint the cardboard covers. I started with a layer of gesso, and once that dried, went in with a couple of blues. To get the variation you see here, I wiped off areas with a baby wipe.

I stenciled in some partial mandalas with gold paint, layered on some wonderful papers, images, ribbons, laces and objects. I also colored some of the elephant in with gold doodles. I got these awesome materials to use from Gwen Lafleur, who was a fellow traveler on our journey, and a mixed media artist. I love how the cover turned out!

My first page inside will be this compass rose mandala. I found a map of India in an old atlas and cut that into some of the points, used some of my handmade papers for others, and cut apart a photo I took while there that shows the exact location. Lots of layering, color, and doodles in this one.

Pages in progress...I'll probably go back in and add some journaling and maybe a bit more.

One of the wonderful aspects of making a scrapbook of your travels is reliving the experience and memories as you work on it. I hope you've enjoyed seeing my work in progress. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Maura