P. Kelly Smith
Welcome to Freebie Friday! Has everyone found some time to paper craft this week? I myself will be spending the weekend making two sets of cards (20 total!) for our upcoming card group. Like many of you, I often struggle with “Where do I begin?” With so many pretty papers and endless embellishments, I often spend more time conceptualizing than creating. And while that’s important, I’d much rather be “playing” than “thinking”.
Lucky for me (and all of you!), our fabulous creative editor Cath Edvalson just returned from the CHA trade show with her top picks for products and trends. If you didn’t get a chance to read her CHA Trends by the Dozen post this week, it will definitely whet your paper crafting appetite!
And while Cath cited a dozen tasty trends, she said the runaway hit of the show was the vintage look. We recently featured this timeless trend in our July/August 2009 issue. I love the fact that people are now incorporating antique lace, buttons, ticket stubs, game pieces, costume jewelry and a million other priceless finds into their paper crafting. It really gives a whole new meaning to the word recycling!
And for those of you who scrapbook, there’s finally a plethora of vintage product to complement those heirloom family photos. Here’s a few of my favorites from the Smith family vault:
My great-grandmother Ruth Turner Smith. She was born January 1, 1900.
Here she is a few years later with her husband and two young sons. The youngest is my grandpa.
That little baby grew up to marry my grandma, seen here with my uncle, aunt and dad (far right). Circa 1963.
Aren’t these photos amazing? Last year my grandma went through all of her old photo albums and slides and put close to 1200 pictures on CD’s. She then gave one to each member of the family for Christmas. What a memorable gift!
Are you ready for today’s vintage-inspired giveaway? If the vintage trend is one that speaks to you, leave a comment telling me why. I’ll pick three random winners to receive either Graphic 45′s Playtimes Past, Botanicabella or Times Nouveau collection. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Sunday, August 16. I’ll announce the three winners on Monday’s blog.
Three winners will each win one of these vintage collections from Graphic 45.
Here to making old new again!
Kelly
P.S. It’s time to announce the winners from Cath’s CHA Trends by the Dozen post and Kim’s My Creative Process post! Here they are:
Cath’s winner:
Jing-Jing (August 11, 10:42 a.m.)
Kim’s winner:
Lindsay (August 12, 8:36 a.m.)
Congrats, ladies! I’ll be e-mailing you shortly to get your mailing addresses and discuss your prizes. Thanks to all who left comments!
I love the vintage style and the Botanicabella has been a favorite of mine since it came out! I’ve always loved music from the 1950′s and before and absolutely love the styles and movies from the 1940s and Victorian times. Thanks for the chance to win!
When it comes to vintage pattern paper, I like how images overlap and are not always symmetrical or even. I’m a fan of earth tones and the rugged look to vintage papers give a warm welcome feel.
love, love, love the pictures! as the family genealogist, i have so many photos that have been handed down through the years–and too many favorites to count!
cath has us thinking waxing nostalgic today about aprons–too many happy memories! ‘vintage’ is one way to get us thinking back to childhood, or even before we were born! thanks for sharing the family today–btw, i see a real family resemblance in the last photo! ~k
I would love a chance to win this Graphic 45. It just makes me think of my heritage and wanting to preserve the photos.
I’m surprisingly into the vintage look lately. It all started with beautiful Jenni Bowlin vintage papers and accents! It’s fun to mix and match with modern elements, because it tends to soften the look or give a country feel to projects. Looking at these products gets the wheels starting turning! I hope I win
I love vintage because you can make cards that are so soft and romantic. I especially love beautiful white ribbon and vintage buttons with dazzeled grunge board.
Your pictures remind me of my family photos…my GPs came from Holland and were married in 1916. I have my GMs dress….if that’s not vintage, then I guess I’m not with it. I love the way Graphic 45 has taken the vintage concept and run with it. Theirs are one of my favorite products.
I’m trying to figure out how to explain what vintage means to me. Well to me vintage images are so innocent, from at time gone by mostly in black and white (kwim). Thanks and have a SWEET weekend!!
How fortunate you are that your grandmother was feeling so industrious. Just sorting through all those photos was probably a lot of work-then to have them scanned to disk too?!?! WOW.
Thanks for sharing your family photos.
MissWibb
I have always loved vintage things but to give a reason why is tough. Hmm. I guess there’s just something special about old things that continue to bring joy to others. I recently bought a couple very old rusty metal chairs with the clamshell backs. I had them stripped and powder coated in pale pink. They sit on my front porch. I would so much rather have those than new chairs. So much charm. Another old treasure I recently found: a vintage bowling pin, complete with peeling paint, for my little boy’s room. OK I’ll stop! This vintage trend in papercrafting is very exciting to me.
I simply love the vintage era so much that sometimes I feel that I was born in the wrong century, however, I do appreciate all the comforts of today.
I especially appreciate the modern convenience of scrapbooking yesterdays photos with todays’ tools and supplies.
I think by using new papers and embellishments with old bits of lace and ribbons, tickets, buttons, photos, faded letters and other pieces of ephemera, these things all help tell the story and preserve the memories for everyone.
Nice photo’s. I still have some beautiful old pictures of my mom ready to be scrapped. I love the vintage style.
I love anything vintage. I have several old magazines showing the clothing from the early 1900′s that I want to eventually incorporate into my scrapping. I also collect old patterns, materials, lace, etc
Recently my 93 yr aunt (mom’s sister) gave me a bunch of old family photo’s when she went into a retirement home. I hope to scrap some of these amazing photos as well as include them in my genealogy I’m doing. I also was lucky enough to get a bunch of photo’s from my dad’s side of the family when his sister went into a retirement home a few years ago (she has since passed away). I am so fortunate to have these photos of my family members and eventually will scrap them for DS.
Wow, what an awesome gift you received from your grandmother! My family doesn’t have many pictures from the past. I think that’s one reason I love vintage so much. What few precious pictures we have are treasures, so for me, vintage = priceless treasure. I also love the colors that are usually in the vintage pieces, they seem to just speak to me and provoke a feeling of peace. But most of all, I love vintage because it’s a reminder that people have gone through tough times before, and flourished anyway or, perhaps, because of it. And if they can make it through those times with happy memories and dignity, so can we. They remind us to focus on the ‘simpler’ things but those things are the most important things-family, love, faith, and hope.
What pretty papers! Your vintage photos made me wish I had more of my own. I know someone in my family has some….but it’s not me. I wish I knew my grandparents better and photos of them would help a little. Thanks for the reminder of days gone by!
Vintage family photos remind me of the link we have to past generations and make me wonder what our photos of today will be considered 100 years from now! A fire destroyed most of my husband’s family photos when he was a teen. Recently, we traveled to the east coast and were treated to a “going through” of packed away boxes from a great aunt who recently passed away. My husband was blown away by “vintage” photos he’d never seen before-especially of a grandmother he never knew.
Love the look of vintage. The muted colours and old photographs…
I like vintage, because I like the idea of hold things… Things that have been around for a long time, or appear to have been… I love it…
I love the vintage look because it gives us an artist look to the past.
It is perfect for creating layouts with your own vintage photos as well as creating new vintage looking items.
Vintage speaks to me in reminding me of my ancestors who did their best to make this a better world for us. They lived in a time where they had to work harder than we do, and yet, they still cherished family and friends.
I adore the vintage look and all of the little details I’ve been seeing on projects lately. It creates a much more thoughtful card or layout.
Vintage is always good, reminds us of where we have come from. Speaks to our children about what their heritage besides it is just so darn much fun to look at
It’s about time we got back to some of those beautiful classics. Love them!
Absolutely love this vintageness!!
Would love to win!
Lori
Oh my goodness—I LOVE my old family pictures—and seeing yours just makes me want to get my mom to go through all of hers, too. She did just put them ALL in albums—10s of albums….now, I’m trying to get through them with her and write down who everyone is—sweet, sweet memories!
When my mother left “the old country” she took only a ahndful of pictures with her. Her brother died in a concentration camp, and everything else was destroyed by the war. The few old pictures that she took along are all I have of that side of the family -so they’re truly priceless!
I love vintage! they give a different aura on a layout. Hope to win
Vintage is a style that does draw me in, unfortunately, it’s not one that I have ever tried. I am not sure that I could pull it off! If I win, I will sure give it a try!
I love the vintage style because it is timeless. Often a photo that is not so good in color is fabulous in b&w…so you can always create with vintage papers and b&w photos. Love these new lines!
My oh my! I adore all things vintage! Most of my special belongings are from my two grandmas, and now also from my husband’s family. Vintage pictures are a treasure that I’ll always love- they keep us connected to our past and are there for us to share with our future generations as well.
Almost two years ago I lost my mother and my husband’s parents are now gone, too. I have been pouring over old family photos and think about how they would look in a vintage spread. They would certainly look wonderful with vintage accents and papers. I want to try that style of project.
I love the vintage style papers. I think They would work well with cards as well as scrapbooking.
Not many opportunities to purchase vintage paper here in Hawaii. Very limited. All online purchases only.
I’ve always had a love for vintage, since childhood. I think I was born in the wrong era! Love watching movies set in the 20s/30s or watching the Brady Bunch and studying what they wore and even the home decor!
I just love the feel of the vintage products! So many possibilities! I have really been looking at the Graphic 45 lines lately!
so gorgeous! i absolutely love the vintage look!