Vintage Montreal Style

Hello Lovely Blog Friends

Here in Toronto these days we are so lucky to be having bright sunshine and the clearest blue skies outside of Taos, New Mexico - in November, no less!  

(I seem to remember creating this l/o for a challenge some time ago at OUAS... but I missed the deadline.)  Since we're having such glorious weather,  I thought I would post this summery vintage layout:

"Oh, never mind the fashion.  When one has a style of one's own, it is twenty times better."

The two photos are of my mother and her friends in Lafayette Park in Montreal on a sunny June day. The year is 1946. They are celebrating the end of school and the beginnings of new jobs, new lives right around the corner.

Montreal women (and men, too) are known for their sense of style. I just love their darling outfits and clutch handbags - which you can see in the photo on the left. The Webster's Pages summer handbag motif was perfect for this layout. I added white eyelets and did some lacing with satin ribbon, which I finished in a twisted rose.

I used tiny classic roses and slid this Summer Land poem (Glitz Layer) under the chartreuse chiffon flower.

Dusty Attic frames are painted with white crackle paint.

Looking at these pictures makes me want to go outside and take a walk in the park!
Hope that everyone can enjoy some lighthearted time with good friends this weekend or spend time outdoors.


Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Materials List:
Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages, Pink Paislee
Book Page: Glitz
Chipboard Frames: Dusty Attic
Spellbinders Dies
Journalling Cards: Prima
Flowers: Prima, Recollections

Lavish Brown and Sophisticated Amber: CCG Challenge #210

This is my layout for Colour Combos Galore Challenge #210:

And here is the inspiration pic:

Finding the colours in my supplies was relatively painless.  The design challenge was not so simple for me. The design challenge was to use architectural, ledger, woodgrain, or geometric patterns in the project.  Yikes!
Architectural PatternsI have to admit - I do not "get" the current trend of woodgrain papers. I am baffled by the popularity of ledger paper. 
So I chose a lovely Bo Bunny paper with an architectural medallion motif, and a Graphic 45 pattern with a repeating pattern of corsets!  (Which I counted as an architectural pattern because corsets alter the architecture of the body.)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Challenge
As usual in CCG challenges, something happened:  mid-creation I found myself experimenting with a numerical grid paper as the second  background layer - and I liked it! 
I chose my photo for many reasons:  they are wooden (woodgrain), they have nice neat rectangular sections like the bookcase in the inspiration board, they are themselves an architectural detail, and the beautiful tribal design has hourglass-type curves like the corsets and dressmakers form.
Doors I Have Loved
I have always loved doors, for some reason.
In the photo are the front doors at Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, New Mexico. I was attending a women writer's workshop when I stayed here.  I walked through those doors and I knew I was home. And since "home" was the musical theme song this week, the photo was the perfect one for this challenge.
Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend.


Materials List:
Patterned Papers: Bo Bunny Gabrielle Collection, Promenade
Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante Collection, Victorian Transformers
Dusty Attic Laser Cut chipboard Dressmaker's Form
Flowers from my stash
Leaves cut with Spellbinders die
Thickers letters, Sunrise

Good Times in California

Dusty Attic September Challenge

This month's sketch at Dusty Attic is just scrumptious!  My page is built around the sketch, with a few modifications.  

The photo is of my son and his girlfriend in San Francisco earlier this month. I was inspired by the current colours at Color Combos Galore.  Here is the Dusty Attic sketch:

I did a criss-cross lacing with eyelets and a fabulous fibre thing-y which has been in my stash for...years! The use of fibre and criss-crossing echoes the structural elements of the bridge in the photo background. 
My storehouse of DA items is not extensive, I had to do some substitutions.  Instead of the suggested baroque corner and scrolling vines, I used one of my favourite Dusty Attic nesting frames.  I did some paper punching and tucked in some Bo Bunny Noteabilities, one of which I used as a journalling tag.
Thank You to the Muses
There are a couple of techniques here that are relatively new for me: 
lacing and 
using string as an embellishment.  
Like many scrapbookers, I  gain much inspiration from other scrappers on line.  Right now is a good time to credit these artists for their ideas and creative inspiration. We are all one big creative family, whatever our level of expertise.  Everyone, no matter how renowned, can use more "thank-you's".
Among my muses are Natasha Aguirre ( lacing technique) and Lilith Eckels for the use of fibre and twine.  You can visit Natasha' blog Moments of Tranquility here; you will find many wonderful tutorials there.  And here's the link for Lilith's blog, Lilith's Scrapbooking Venture.
Thanks to all the wonderful papercraft artists who inspire me and others every day with their creativity!
Thanks for looking, and happy scrapping!

Happy

My little niece at the end of summer discovered her love of horseback riding.

The picture was taken in St-Etienne-de-Lauzon near Quebec city. Riding a horse was a dream come true for her.  Doesn't she look born to ride? She is simply the picture of happiness.


The layout was made with the July Scrap That! kit. The flowers came in the kit; the brown leaves were added from my stash. I painted the leaves with a layer of Rock Candy Crackle Paint. 
I made the curling swirls from slender strips of corrugated cardboard.

The beautiful frame is a Dusty Attic piece, painted with Distress Stains and inks, especially Faded Jeans.

Wishing my fellow Canadians a lovely long weekend - with lots of scrappy time!
Thanks for stopping by, and for your sweet comments.

Law & Order Back in The Day: Retro Days 4

Continuing with my retro obsession during the summer of 2011:

One look at a car like this, and I'm thinking malt shops, ponytails, poodle skirts, and Happy Days.
I really had fun with this one.  I enjoyed the contrast of the big, serious vintage police car with the flowers, polka dots and lacy trims on this l/o.

I did a little sewing around the edges and added a stencilled flower with acrylic paint.

The black frame is a Kaiser Craft piece, covered with Enamel Accents.  The centre frame is Dusty Attic chipboard, covered with distress inks and crackle paint.  I tucked some lace in behind the frame for contrast.
Hope you enjoyed this little retrospective of a by-gone era that surfaced in my life that summer in My Little Town!
If you have some spare moments, feel free to leave a brief comment - each one is most appreciated!

Materials List:
Paper: Crate Paper Emma's Shop
Hanging Sign: Kaiser Craft
Baroque Frame: Dusty Attic
Tim Holtz Enamel Accents

Treasure On The Beach

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

--Jacques Cousteau 

At this magical moment, my daughter was delighted at finding two large white seashells on a Florida beach, and she was running to her father with her treasures.  Now she is about to be a mother herself,  so some time has passed since the photo was taken - but I chose this photo because there is just something so timeless about the beach.  There is also a beautiful timeless element in the sheer joy on a child's face when they discover something new and wonderful in the world.

On the left side of this l/o, you can see my newest obsession: Dusty Attic laser-cut chipboard embellishments!  This one is a Garden Fairy:

I took a few dabs of white paint and altered the Garden Fairy into a sun-and-wind-weathered Beach Fairy, looking down upon my daughter when she was 2.

I also added a few DA mini-flourishes in the corners of the l/o:

Flowers were cut from cardstock and burlap using Tattered Flowers Alterations die.

 

Then I added a little Stickles, a little white paint, and a lot of paper -distressing to give everything a more weathered look.

I am working on my next vintage/heritage layout - hope to have it up later this week!

“The beach is in our blood. Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles.”

--Sandy Archibald

For other beach people like me, or anyone who just craves some beach therapy, there's "A Gift From The Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. (You can read excerpts here) This little book is filled with  bits of timeless beach wisdom and reflections on being a busy wife and mother in mid-20th century America. The book was wriiten on Captiva Island in Florida.  (And that's where the photo of my daughter was taken.)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Hello and a Surprise

Here is my entry for the Let's Get Shabby contest #23.

The photograph is my sister when she was 3 years old.  This layout is the fourth in a series of vintage family layouts I am working on in 2011.  (Since the picture was taken back in the 50's, I guess we have to call it vintage!)

The layout started out to be a more traditional heritage style, but something strange happened while I was working.  After I distressed and Glimmmer - misted the background paper, the little girl in the picture just called out for a more colourful and free-form style.  Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing - the elements virtually selected themselves.  I found myself adding butterflies, bright flowers, and metal design elements.

It really isn't my usual style at all.  I don't know what kind of style this layout is.  Little bit vintage, little bit shabby, little bit steampunk?

More Surpises in Creation Process
I put it all together and took it apart many times.  Once I was finished, I hated it.   So I left it alone in my scrap room for a day or two.  When I looked at it again, I loved it - surprise!

And I didn't intend to enter a contest, either.  By chance, the first website I visited after  I loved the layout was Let's Get Shabby, and the aqua and rose colours are the main basis of this particular challenge.    It just would seem wrong NOT to enter now that everything has lined up like this.

This was a lesson in "you just never know".  The creative life does makes for some really interesting experiences!  I will keep you posted if anything else happens.
Thanks for stopping by.

Fran

materials list:

Bo Bunny papers (Timepiece)

Dusty Attic chipboard butterfly

Tim Holtz Ideology metal elements

Bo Bunny (Gabrielle) stick-on lettering

Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist (Chocolate)

Ranger Distress Inks