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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Paper and Piecing and Trims, Oh My!



The cards shown here are for a vintage notecard project on Creative Lenna's site, Creative Swaps. I was so happy to find her site which, for a modest fee, offers both instruction and the opportunity to swap creatively crafted items. In mid-December Lenna began this notecard swap, and it's still open for enrollment if you are interested. There are nearly 40 participants so far, and each of us will make three vintage-style notecards with envelopes. These will be sent to Lenna by the deadline date, and she'll trade them among participants. Then we'll each receive back three notecards made by our fellow participants. In addition to the instruction, Lenna has also provided some vintage images to download and use as we wish.The cards below include one of her images used in different ways.





Although this is the first time I've done anything like this, I dove right in and could not stop making the cards! As I'd be working on one, ideas for three more would be swirling in my mind. Or I'd trim something off one design, and immediately think of how that small piece could be used in another. Because I was cooking right along, I made lots more than the required three. But I needed the practice and my enthusiasm was in high gear. And Lenna was way ahead of me because she gave the option of swapping 6 sets if we like. Now I just need to pick the six.

I seem drawn to images of ladies in hats... so quite a few of the cards I made feature the lovely portrait shown at the beginning of this post. She looks so pensive. And the hat put me in mind of the costumes in "My Fair Lady". Imagine this hat and a windy day! The image is offered for use in artwork projects on the Clearly Vintage site. I learned that there are lots of free images available to download and use, giving credit to the site.


So now, in addition to fabrics and threads, I have paper scraps all over the floor. But those laces, buttons, and embellishments I've been saving for a long time are now seeing the light of day, and finding a home in these notecards. A busy time gluing and stitching and beading. Messy (see below), but great fun! Stitching on paper is fun, too. There are many more cards to show you, coming soon.



4 comments:

Robbie said...

These are great! I do enjoy anything that resembles antiques or the 'old days'. Wonderful!

Jan said...

They are lovely, no wonder you are so enthused about making them, you are very good at this! Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm.

creativelenna said...

what a lovely post, nancy. Thanks so much for your email too. Your note cards are just beautiful and I can't wait to receive them! wow. Love your use of fabric, lace & trims -a real treat!

Barb said...

I just received some very old photos of my mom and her family. This would make a lovely project. Thanks.