Inspiration Elevator- Vintage Findings

You may recall from lastmonth's challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. 

This month our challenger was the very talented Laurel Seabrook. Laurel loves flea markets and garage sales and would love to incorporate more of those items into her art. In fact, we have invited a valued guest designer to join us this month; her name is Christy Riopel. We welcome, Christy from her regular writing and creating job at Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

Here's a bit of what Laurel had to say in her challenge this month.

"I love going to garage sales, flea markets and thrift shops to find fun items for me to upcycle into something else either for my own home or to give as a gift. I also love just to pick up some old things that appear to have some sort of story to them. I love the shabbiness of old, worn items and the warm comforting feeling they evoke.

My challenge for you is to scrap an old photo/photos. Not only that I want you to incorporate something that is not normally a scrapping item, upcycle/recycle something to include on your layout. Vintage is definitely not my style when it comes to paper crafting. I like clean and simple so this will be a challenge for me."

I'm not much of a vintage scrapper, so this was for sure a challenge for me.  But I was up for it!

To start this challenge, I was going to go through some old photos to look for the perfect photo, but I happened to be going through a desk of my mother's that contained old sewing stuff, and I found an old doily.  I asked my mom who made it and she said my grandmother.  I knew this was the item I had to use!   I also found this old plastic heart that looks like it may have been a button or something, and some old brass brads that were a bit scruffed up.  All of these were in an old tin of sewing notions, and I think they are quite old.

So then to search for the perfect photo.  My mother has bins and bins of old photos, somewhat neatly kept.  I spent hours and hours pouring over them, looking at the details, trying to remember names and places.  It was such a great journey!  I chose a few photos, but I didn't feel like I had one that matched the doily and other tidbits I found.

One of the last small containers I looked in had some really really old photos of my parents when thy were born, and even of my grandparents before they had children.  And then I saw this photo.  I didn't care who it was, but the look in the eyes of the woman looking at her child was just so special to me.  I loved this photo.  And as I stared at it longer and longer, I realized that that little girl was my mother, and the woman my grandmother (who passed away in 1992).  My mother reminds me so much of my own daughter in this photo.

I used a wood frame from MME and added the brads to the ends. The heart is the plastic one I found in the sewing tin, already distressed!  :) I couldn't bring myself to put glue on the doily or cut it in anyway, so I tacked it down with some small stitches.

Even the background paper on this page has special meaning for me.  It is a light print of a cross stitch pattern, and my grandmother is the one who taught me how to cross stitch. So instead of machine stitching on my page, I actually did some small cross stitch patterns here and there. Thanks Grandma!   It is difficult to see in these photos, but the edges of my page are also covered with clear crackle finish.

I used some cream paint and a herringbone stencil, and splattered some gold mist to accent the gold brads.  There are some bits and some papers from Studio Calico Heyday collection as well.

My journaling is hidden behind the photo.  I wrote about how good mothers raise more good mothers, and a few memories of my grandma.

I have TRULY enjoyed this challenge, and have even dug out a few more old photos to scrap in the future.

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Laurel Seabrook

athy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Ann Jobes

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker 
 Audrey Yeager
 Lisa Moen
Guest Designer, Christy Riopel 

 We would love to see what you are inspired to create. Add your comment below with a link, I will be sure to drop by and say hello.