Archangel

Sometimes you just need a little eye candy. ;-)

Please see my Flickr page for credits

Heritage Photos

I love creating images with vintage photos.  There's just something magical about them that you don't find in contemporary photography.

A few years ago, I inherited a group of old family photos from my Grandmother, some dating back to the late 1800s.  I look through them every now and again and then I put them back in their box, but recently I've decided that they need to come out and see the light of day.  So, my scanner got a workout and then they went back into their box safe and sound.  Don't you just love technology?

In this first image, I used a photo of my Great-Grandfather (he's the one in the middle) and his siblings from the early 1900s and I placed them on one of the new Dramatic Backgrounds by Holliewood Studios.

Please see my Flickr page for full credits

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how I'm related to this woman but I love her.  She has such a great smile and looks like someone who loves adventure and doesn't care about the rules. I thought this old photochrome image from the Library of Congress fit her perfectly.  Now that I think about it, it's possible that she's one of the little girls in the image above.

Please see my Flickr page for full credits

I love that I'm able to honor their memory by letting them live again in art.  I plan on creating quite a few more of these so stay tuned! :-D

Scrapbooking

Like a lot of expectant mothers, when I first found out I was going to have a child I suddenly became very excited about learning how to scrapbook. This was long before digital scrapbooking was the norm.  That's what "good" Mom's did.  It wasn't enough to just take pictures and throw them in an album.  You HAD to make cute pages with coordinating papers and doodads and whatnots, right?  So I bought some books and even went to a scrapbooking party and bought papers and rubber stamps and ink and everything.  I was ready.  Just bring on this baby!

Well, then I had a baby.

Long story short: I never did open those packs of paper or assemble those rubber stamps.

Now, 9+ years and two kids later, I find myself surrounded by scrappers.  How funny is that?  Actually, I think it's pretty cool.  I am so inspired by the incredible art I see every day in the DeviantScrap gallery.  I feel like I have a second chance to start documenting the experiences of my children in a more artful way.

I chose to jump at that opportunity with the latest releases by TotallyWild Dezinez.  The following images incorporate Masks #1, Fabric Blend Paper Pack, Little School Clusters and Funky Frames as well as elements from the following kits by Holliewood Studios:  Toy Box, A Rose is a Rose, Wild Kingdom: Butterflies and The Collector.

I few weeks ago, while I was cleaning my garage, I came across the box with those old scrapbook papers and rubber stamps.  They're going to be perfect for the art journaling projects I'm working on now. Everything happens for a reason, right? :-)