Sisters ….. vintage photos of my sister and I

By on 7-05-2011 in Christmas Patterns, Vintage Patterns

When the ATC theme of sisters came up on the Art For the Creative Mind Yahoo group, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had these two great photos of my sister and I when we were very young in Toronto. I’m the little blonde. One was taken with us dressed in our ballet tutus and the other in dresses made by my grandmother. She was one of the best artists with a needle I know. She could take a bit of this and a bit of that and make wonderful outfits for us. The little kitten in that photo just did not want to be there….I can still remember the scratches even now.

sisters
I gave us both new outfits in Photoshop Elements along with Princess crowns…lots of glimmer and bits of threads as well.

sisters

These dresses had bright red trim and buttons … I loved this dress and wore my sister’s hand-me-down as well. The front bib bodice was pleated as well…where the bruises were I added band aids and another pair of Princess crowns of course. These were so much fun to do as they brought me back to the early years.

sisters,backs
sisters, backs
These are the backs of the ATCs … I create a back that is interesting and holds all the information as well. The front of a piece is not the only canvas to cover and it is always important to sign your work.

Paris in Summer …. digital 4×4 with tags

By on 7-05-2011 in Christmas Patterns, Vintage Patterns

This little 4 square inch square was done completely in Photoshop Elements 11. A swap piece for the Art for the Creative Minds Yahoo group, it was so much fun to do. Lots of effects and styles were used to create the piece.
Paris 4x4

The back of a piece for a swap should always have your information; who made it, title of the swap piece and your blog. Be proud of what you have done and sign all that you create that is sent to someone else. Take ownership of your art.

Paris 4x4 back

When I had finished the piece I felt it still needed ‘something else’ … you know that little feeling at the back of your brain that tells you that the piece is not quite finished. I created two tags and tied them onto the 4×4, attaching a tag to each end of the tie.

Paris tag

Paris tag

Wooden Spool Ornaments and an Inspirational Advent Calendar Wreath

By on 7-05-2011 in Christmas Patterns, Vintage Patterns

These pieces were all made for the ArtForTheCreativeMind Yahoo group. The three wooden spools had a mind of their own and my muse just went with the flow. I had originally wanted all white and light blue and glittery spools, but they told me they wanted to look a bit like French vintage. So French vintage it was. I used large beads and small as well as cord and wire for the hangers, even a pipe cleaner. Some French vintage papers helped give the ‘French’ feel to them.

wooden spool ornaments

My advent calendar wreath was another piece that grew as I made it. I knew I wanted the Matryoshka dolls to be a part of it. First the pattern had to be drawn and I chose to create that in Photoshop Elements which made it easy to create the little faces. Christmas papers were used for the outfits. Finding the right size of prints became a difficult task as many of the paper’s designs were too large. I then glued them onto black card and created 25 different inspirational words instead of numbers for each December day until Christmas. These little dolls can be removed from the wreath to be used as tags at a later date.

paper doll wreathe
paper doll wreathe

Owls, three of the perkiest little fellows sitting on a branch

By on 7-05-2011 in Christmas Patterns, Vintage Patterns

These owls were published in the McCall’s Needlework and Crafts 1965-66 Fall Winter magazine. Made of metal in this version, I can see them made from paper. How cute would they be painted in a border along a chair rail in a country cottage kitchen? Matching cushions on the wooden chairs would be so cute embroidered on linen.

owls

owls

I have redrawn the owl in Photoshop using layers and then filled with patterns. I then used a different sized stroke around each layer and bevelled each one differently. I then filled the background with black. He is too cute.

Owl created in Photoshop

Printing Plate Images from the Almonte Mill Museum

By on 7-05-2011 in Christmas Patterns, Vintage Patterns

My visit to the Almonte Museum last year yielded several wonderful printing plates. I couldn’t resist using them for digital images.

Printing Plate Image

The original plates are the orange plates. I changed the image from colour to black and white and then recoloured them. Faces were left as is and I rotated the others to give a right side up print.

Printing Plate Image

These images could be used on a digital or scanned background, set into transparency to hover above the background and another image set over top of that. Lots of play with these old plates.

Printing Plate Images

You could also transfer the images to fabric to use in your fabric arts or onto paper for a little ATC.