More Old Fashioned Inspiration

I have some more inspiring artwork to share with you today.  Guest Artist Electra created this stunning book with the Vintage Page Gentleman Kit and the Neutral Seam Binding.  Each of the gentleman kits contains a cabinet card, and Electra used hers as the focal point of this journal.

 Here's a couple of detail shots - check out those great paper beads!

Artwork by Electra

Go to my Etsy Store to purchase this kit and more vintage book pages and ephemera.  And don't forget to enter the Vintage Gentleman Challenge for a chance to win at $25 gift certificate!

Vintage Gentleman's Challenge

Good morning!  I will be launching a new Vintage Page kit this week and to celebrate I have another challenge for you....

G e n t l e m e n

Your gentleman themed challenge piece can take any form - an ATC, card, scrapbook or journal page or 3d item.  And you can use any media - paper, fabric, stamps, ink, paint etc.  Go to town and have fun.  Post your creation here by July 31, 2012 and I will randomly draw 1 lucky winner, who will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Vintage Page Store.  Please include a direct link to your post and a link back to this challenge.

I'm excited to showcase the work of two designers this month - Cathy Calamas of A Surcee Life and Electra from Wishin I Knew How to Blog.  Their work is amazing and I'm sure you'll enjoy their work as much as I do.  They both used the new Vintage Page Gentleman Kit.

Cathy created this lovely altered cigar box for her husband:
 

 

 Artwork by Cathy Calamas

Electra created a beautifully altered recipe box:

Artwork by Electra

Altered Bird House by Cheri Weston

Cheri Weston made the most adorable altered bird house book with my Vintage Bird Kit and seam binding.  I' m so excited to share some pictures of it on the Vintage Page blog - you can read more about it on Cheri's blog Stamp n Boomer.  Pop over and say 'hi'

For more vintage bird project to inspire you, click here and to purchase your own Vintage Bird Kit, click here.

Ali

Fabric Bird Collage

I'm just loving playing with fabric at the moment.  The base of this 6" x 6" collage is a piece of grunge board that I sewed a piece of tea-dyed ticking to.

Then, I just layered up things I love:

• stamped, tea-dyed tag
• piece of handmade paper
• page from a vintage book
• old postage stamp
• scrap of an old vintage map
• vintage buttons

The main focal image is a bird from an old book page (found in the Vintage Page Bird Kits) adorned with an old lens.  Everything was either sewn onto the fabric base or adhered with gel medium.  Here's some close-ups:

 

 

I'm linking to the following Brenda's Tuesday Treasures.

Happy Creating!

Ali

Altered Book Cover by Trisha Too

I'm delighted to share with you today a beautiful piece of art by Trisha Too of Easily Amused, Hard to Offend.  Trisha is an amazing Mixed Media Artist - you should definitely check out her work if you're not familiar with it. 

To make this piece, she used the Vintage Page Bird Kit and Neutral Seam Binding to create an amazing altered book cover.  I love how she created a sheet music pleat at the bottom!

Created by Trisha Too

If you love birds, don't forget to play this month's bird challenge.  You're in with a chance to win some lovely seam binding.

Come back tomorrow and I'll share with you a fabric collage I created this weekend. 

Ali

Upcycled Jars

I had a little time to play the new Frilly and Funkie challenge today, which is Upcycling.  {The items I upcycled for the challenge are the glass jars, old books and maps and a vintage button.}

I plucked two glass jars out the recycling tub and created a pair of votive holders.  I glued small scraps of vintage paper (maps, music and dictionary pages) around the center.  I finished them with seam binding, a button on one and a little tag on the other.  Very simple, but kinda cute!

  

Remember to link up pictures of your studio space at the end of this post.  I'm dying to see where you create!

Hope you have a creative weekend!

Final Gingersnaps Challenge & WOYWW147

I posted the last challenge on the Gingersnaps Blog today!  There's some lovely artwork on there by our talented design team and visiting artists for our final copper, ginger or rust color challenge.  It's sad to see it close, but it's time to try new things and take on new challenges :)

Here's the piece I created.  I seem to have a fabric thing going on right now.  I'm not loving the corners - I've got to figure out a better way to deal with that.

 

The different layers you see here are from bottom to top: chipboard, batting, muslin, 2 pieces of vinyl wallpaper, patterned paper by Graphic 45, embossed copper c/stock and a strip of rust linen (scraps from my living room curtains!).  Here's a close up:

The main panel is made up of 9 inches that include stamped images from Stampin' Up! and Artistic Outpost.  The circular thingamajig is a key from a vintage cash register.  I love it and have been trying to find a use for it for a while now.

I took a photo of my work table when I was done making this - it was a ocean of orange!  I'm linking it to What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday 147.

Hope you're having a creative week!

Ali

Wearable Art

We had a lazy Sunday today and I had some time to play.  I've been inspired by all the entries to Linda's Grungy Monday challenge - Wearable Art this week, but it's something totally out of my comfort zone.  So, today instead of playing it safe, I decided to take the challenge and try something new.

I figured a pin or brooch would be the most straightforward thing to attempt.  So, this is what I created on a piece of 2.5" x 2.5" grunge board.

The grunge board is covered with a piece of sheet music and some stamping.  I added an aged paper flower with a vintage hat pin, one of Tim's word sticks and hing clips.  I finished with a vintage flash card and typewriter key.  There's a little metal pin on back, but I don't think you need to see a picture of that!  Everything was adhered with soft or heavy weight gel medium.

Come and share what you've been working on today on my Facebook page.  I'm curious....

Hope you like it :)

Have a happy Monday!

Ali

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