Old School

I love these colors. They spoke to me the minute I saw them...I already envisioned the papers to use on the layout...but what inspired me?  It took a bit of studying and letting the creative juice flow....I sat and doodled and I started writing "one two buckle my shoe"....images of jump rope and playing on a school ground w/ metal slides and monkey bars came to mind.  So I have an idea but no photo... then I remembered receiving an email from a family member with geneolgy notes.  There was a cool picture of family children playing... pictures chosen.

Tim Holtz grunge paper was perfect for this project.  I stamped three flower images from some Heidi Grace stamps I owned.  Cut out, pierced and then layered.  A good spritz of Tattered Angels completed the look.  Worn shoe leather.  I then took a sheet of sticky back canvas and punched several maple leaves with my EK Success punch.  If you own dies I suggest using them, they'll cut cleaner than a punch.  I then spritzed with Tattered Angels mist in a variety of reds & browns until I was satisfied.  Once dry I edged with chalk ink and outlined with a white pencil.  Taking a scrap of grunge, I stamped a smaller maple leaf with white pigment ink, sprinkled on some white embossing powder and got this funky surfaced maple leaf.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

Punched another scrap of grunge with a large maple leaf punch, then ran thru my cuttlebug embossing folders, inked and lastly added a nice thick coat of crackle medium.  It crackled PERFECTLY and it shimmers!  My title is more grunge paper, embossed and then touched with my versa mark marker to enhance the swirls.  A little ink, piercing and stickers, the label was finished.

  My border on the block of brown is a simple border stamped in white pigment and embossed with white embossing powder.  Because it's textured cardstock it's a muddled aged look.  I liked it.

 The last embellishment, was another stamp but this time onto the sticky back canvas.  I then traced with a cocoa brown marker and then cut out leaving a border on purpose.  Of course it needed something more.  Yep, more Tattered Angels mist.  It made the marker and ink bleed ever so slightly and it was fabulous.  Very happy with the overall effect I must say!

Lastly was the journaling.  I won't bore you with the whole thing.  And a piece of vintage lace that needed a home..more tearing, more distressing and finish.  After working on this, I'm getting the itch to pull out the genealogy, print some of the old photo's and work on it... hmm maybe we'll see.