Vintage Spring Collage Swap

In honor of the one-year anniversary of the Zunky Chic blog, I thought I'd host a little swap. What better way to drive out the winter doldrums and freshen up for spring?

Theme: Vintage Spring
Create: One 4x4 collage and receive one 4x4 collage in return
Cost: $5 for shipping a swapped collage to you
To Sign Up: Email me at erica@zunkychic.com by March 8; space is limited to first 12 respondents
(Be sure to include your email address, mailing address, and blog address in the email.)
Due: In my hands by March 29 - no exceptions

Feel free to add the image above to your blog.

Here are the details:

1. Create a 4x4 collage. Theme is "vintage spring," representing what you think of for spring (for example - fresh flowers, new dresses, pastel colors, crisp linens, laundry lines, bird nests...)
Does not have to be on a canvas, but must be have a sturdy backing - mat board, cardboard, thick chipboard, etc. Do your best work - you want to be proud of what you send in, and you want the recipient to be proud to display your collage in their home.
2. Collage must use at least one vintage image. This does not have to be an original photo (reprints OK), but must be vintage.
3. Use more vintage items from your stash - ribbon, lace, millinery flowers, fabric, beads, etc. to embellish the collage.
4. Add a hanger to the top so your recipient can display it proudly.
5. Be sure to sign your art! Add your name and email/blog address to the back.
6. You will mail your collage to me, to be received no later than March 29, along with $5 to cover return shipping. I will mail a collage back to you on March 30.

*Open to U.S. participants only.*

Thanks for participating and let's have some fun!

Randomness

Here are some random photos of a few things around the house.

This is a recent etsy purchase from Haiti-by-Hand. She is proudly displayed on my entryway hutch. Love the bright blues.

Here is a little nest I made using stuff from around the house. I had this rusty little metal bird bath that was just taking up space in the craft room. I added some paper shred from a recent package and made some out of vintage sheet music. I have a bag full of the speckled eggs, so I tucked a few in. Now it's a little treasure on display in the living room.

* Update: This nest has never looked the same since. One night after we went to bed, little kitty spotted the nest and just had to get her paws on those eggs. The next day, I recovered two of the eggs - with two sets of fang marks embedded in them. The next night brought more of the same. (I think she's helping me decorate for Easter and hiding the eggs for me.)

Lastly, here are some ruffly flowers that I've been making and will have them available in the shop soon! I found a tutorial online and fell in love. I thought you would, too.

(The enameled silver bowl was another Valentine's Day gift from Husband. He knows my taste, and pays attention when I say "I want this.")

A Little Sugar

Today is my monthly post for MOSD. Please stop by their blog and leave me some love!

Here is the project that I'm sharing. I made a little album using MOSD's Cover 2 Cover Mini Flip acrylic and chipboard album to finally get some photos of my kitties scrapped. The acrylic cover got a makeover using Staz-On ink and a stencil cut from an MOSD Paw Print Intricacy. I added a title that I made with my Dymo label maker, which perfectly describes our two little kitties. I added some ribbon and a 7 Gypsies buckle.

On the inside pages, I used up scraps of various patterned papers, including 7 Gypsies papers from the Swirlydoos February kit. I stapled a piece of ribbon to each page to use a tab. I tied a Tim Holtz Word Stick onto one of the rings. Now it's ready to fill with photos of my little fur-babies.

A Star Is Born

I finally cut up some of my Graphic 45 paper! I made this little tag using a Clear Scraps acrylic tag. The images are from Graphic 45's Communique collection.

First, I stamped on the back on the tag using Staz-On ink and a herringbone pattern stamp that I got in the Michael's $1 bin.

I adhered the images to the front of the tag. I added gold metal stars and a Dymo title to the journaling spot, and added a Prima flower with another Graphic 45 cut as the flower center. Finally, I tied some vintage trims onto the top.

2S4Y Sketch

For the first time, I decided to play along with the 2 Sketches 4 You card sketch. My parents' anniversary is coming up and I needed to make a card, so I figured I'd use their sketch as my inspiration.

Here is the sketch:

Here is the card that I made:

And the details:

Paper: K&Co, Daisy D's, vintage sheet music; Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick; Trim: Webster's Pages and Making Memories; Embellishments: Prima flower (distressed with inks), K&Co, Stickles; Butterfly Punch: Martha Stewart.

Theme Thursday

I've been wanting to play along with the "Theme Thursday" blog and this week I finally did! This past week's theme was "flowers". This started out as an ATC, but I decided to turn her into a little mini hanging.

Here is "Day Dreams":

I used up some paper scraps and a vintage image that I've had in my stash for a while. I added a flower cut from a vintage card, to which I added pink Stickles.

I added some pink posies and a butterfly punched from vintage dictionary paper. I twisted the copper wire to create a hanger just the perfect size for this little lady.

Valentine Gifts

A while back, I shared the projects I made for a couple of Valentine swaps that I participated in. I never got a chance to show off what I received from these talented ladies, so here they are.

For the handmade swap, my friend Diana made me a lovely package of treats. First, her card:

She made two treat boxes, filled with heart-shaped chocolates that she also made. Here is one of the boxes (the chocolate is long-gone).

And she made this beautiful mini book for me. It's filled with library card pockets with tags so I can add lots of photos and journaling. I can't wait to complete it!

Here's a peek at one of the pages inside:

She did a fabulous job on everything, and I'm so lucky to have a friend as special as she is.

For the Cupid's Kiss swap, I received this treasure from Katie a.k.a. Ragamuffin Gal. Isn't it so lovely?

For Valentine's Day, I received some wonderful treats from my husband. I even started a new collection of vintage candy boxes. On Saturday, I bought two huge boxes at my favorite local antiques shop, that I plan to redecorate for next year. Then on Sunday, I received two more from him.

Here are the two that I purchased and plan to alter:

And the two that Husband purchased for me:

This shiny pink one is my favorite! I have them displayed around the house with the rest of my Valentine's decor.

Recent Treasures

I've done a little hunting and gathering of treasures recently. Here's a sampling of my bounty.

I'm using the tin to store my sewing machine accessories. The Paris magazine was a surprising find, and now of course I wish that I had bought them all. I've already used some of the old trim on a project that I hope to share next week. The book is an old copy of Pride and Prejudice. I loved the design on the cover, so I hope to use it in a future project. The black box contains a player piano roll. I've been hoarding the one I bought last year; now that I have two, I can use one of them! The trims were bought for cents!

The one item I'm not showing is a bag full of old buttons that I picked up while visiting my family in NJ. I took my 2-year-old niece with me to go antiquing. I wasn't sure how she'd be. She was an angel! She held my hand and let me look at everything and never touched a thing, until she spied some vintage party noise makers - then all bets were off. Now back to the buttons. We were in the basement of an old mill-turned-antique shop when I saw a barrel full of old buttons and a little cup with a sign "$1/scoop or 5 scoops/$4". I got a little bag and had my niece count out five scoops of buttons (she can already count past 10 - she's such a smartie). When I took them to the counter, the woman wouldn't charge me anything; they were her buttons. She said she loves children and I can use those buttons to teach my niece.

I made a lovely memory with my niece and have a little treasure to go with it. If she behaves herself like this all the time, I'll be taking her with me on more hunting trips.

This Morning's View

The weather man said it wouldn't start until this afternoon, but apparently it snowed all night. When I woke up this morning, I had this view outside my window:

It's still snowing. It looks beautiful, but I'm so glad that I don't have to leave the house today.

Sharing the Love

I organized a little Valentine Handmade Swap with some long-distance scrappy friends. I got my friend Diana up in Chicago, and here is what I made for her.

For her card, I had this paper from K&Co and loved the little birdie and music notes. The paper was printed with "You make my heart sing," but it was too big to fit onto a card. So, I cut out the bird, layered it on some other Valentine paper and then onto a sheet music heart, and punched out a red Dymo label title.

Next, I made a couple of ATCs. I again used paper from K&Co and embellished the images to make them "special." On "Lovey Dovey," I added tiny sead beads to the heart and put Glossy Accents on the title. I added a heart-shaped eyelet and threaded baker's twine through it.

"Love is in the air" is embellished with vintage sheet music, stitching, a ribbon rosette, and fancy pin.

I also made this "Hugs and Kisses" bottle for her. I had a box of old glass bottles that I've been wanting to dig out of my shed forever. I finally did and decorated this one. The outside is decorated with vintage sheet music, lace, and dress pattern tissue. I made the title with my Dymo and tied on a vintage rhinestone heart brooch. Inside I put red, gold, and silver sequins, beads, and glitter.

My favorite project to make was this little heart hanger. I was inspired by a tiny snippet of a project on Teresa McFayden's blog. I cut out a heart from vintage sheet music and then cut another heart slight larger with my scallop-edge scissors. I added black stitching around the perimeter and coated the paper with clear glitter. I also stitched a length of red satin ribbon up the middle. I pulled the string on the ribbon to create a ruffle, and then stitched it to the paper heart.

I made a ribbon flower using the same stitched ribbon. Then I had fun embellishing! I cut out the little girl's photo and added silver German foil wings to turn her into the sweetest little cherub. I stitched a little heart onto a scrap of a vintage white tablecloth, and then stitched this to a piece of felt. This little embellishment is adhered with a pearl-topped stick pin. Then I took a little "fairy capsule" and filled it with beads, glitter, and iradescent heart confetti. I used sterling wire to attach it to the assemblage.

I punched two holes, added white eyelets, and tied on a length of pink seam binding.

I hope these little treasures remind her of how much she's loved.

Another Etsy Treasure

Look what came in the mail!

I saw this beauty on Ellen's blog and had to have it! It was for sale in her etsy shop and I snatched it up! Now it's hanging on a shabby cabinet in our bedroom. Since the colors aren't the traditional Valentine pink and red, I'm thinking of leaving it up all year.

More Projects With Amy's Creative Treasures

Yesterday I shared the layouts that I created with the February kit from Amy's Creative Treasures. Here are two cards that I made with the same kit.

This card uses GCD's Cloisonne Collection "Amour" and a cut from Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Paislee Postcards." The lace trim is from Webster's Pages. It is so soft and luxurious! The cupid ruffle is from Making Memories ("Love Struck"). The flowers are all in the kit. I also tucked one of the Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons among the embellishments.

From my own stash I added the background paper, which is from Melissa Frances, and baker's twine. I also added some Diamond Stickles around the crepe paper ruffle.

This card uses the "B side" of Making Memories' Love Struck "Pattern Heart" paper. The Jenni Bowlin journaling card needed some dressing up. So, I added a piece of trim from Webster's Pages and stitched on three buttons. The "Paris" cut is from GCD's Paris Nights "d'Orsay" paper. The border stamp is also in the kit. I stamped it onto tracing paper and embossed with Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Embossing Powder.

From my stash, I added black tulle and vintage dress pattern tissue.

Even after two cards and three layouts, I still have so many supplies left from this kit! I think I'll use some of the Paris themed supplies for a mini album...

Amy's Creative Treasures Kit

The February kit from Amy's Creative Treasures is now available! Here are the layouts that I created with the kit.

For this first layout, the background paper is GCD's Cloisonne Collection "Fanciful Hearts." I added a large pink doily under the photo to provide a slightly solid backdrop over the patterned paper. The photo of my naughty little kitty Macy is mounted on GCD's Cloisonne Collection "Amour" paper and Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Bow & Arrow."

The gorgeous lacy trim is from Webster's Pages. The red paper scrap is also from the kit - Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Love Potion." I added a journaling card cut from Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Paislee Postcards," to which I added a couple rub-ons from My Little Yellow Bicycle.

In addition to the items from the kit, I added the heart doily, crocheted flowers, brad, vintage posies, and butterfly (Martha Stewart punch).

This next layout is titled "Keep the French Champagne, I Want Paris Couture." The background paper is Jenni Bowlin's "Love Song." The papers on the heart are Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Love Potion" and "Bow & Arrow." The Eiffel Tower is cut from GCD's Paris Nights Collection "d'Orsay." I made the ruffled flower from Webster's Pages trim.

In addition to the kit items, I added a ruffle stitched from vintage dress pattern tissue, Maya Road crystal pin (to which I added a vintage pearl bead and rhinestone bead), posies, vintage brooch, butterfly (Martha Stewart punch), vintage advertisement, and Dymo label title.

This layout with our big lazy kitty Angel uses Making Memories Love Struck "Heart Vine" paper for the background. Big kitty's photo is mounted on Pink Paislee's Cupid Collection "Love Potion," to which I added Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Embossing Powder.

The black border across the photo is made with the border stamp from kit, stamped onto tracing paper and embossed with more of the Black Soot Embossing Powder. The paper ruffle is a scrap from the kit - GCD's Cloisonne Collection "Amour." The Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons are also in the kit. On the large brown button, I applied Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle Paint, and then dabbed on some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink once it was dry. On the red button, I applied a layer of Glossy Accents. The flowers are from the kit, as are the Making Memories "Love Struck" alphas at the bottom.

I added the pink doily, vintage sheet music heart, printed title, baker's twine, and Kaiser Craft chipboard letters (with vintage dictionary paper adhered on top).

I have a couple of cards that I also created with the kit. I'll share those tomorrow.

Love Letters

I enjoyed making one of these Love Letters collages for a swap I did, so I made a couple more. Each is unique, but have the same soft and vintage feel.

I made this one for my mom:

I used a Jenni Bowlin Valentine Bingo card for the background and stitched up a dress pattern paper ruffle. I used vintage sheet music and lace, a scrap from an old letter, and a pen nib. I layered it all together for a romantic collage.

I made a very similar one for myself, which is hanging from our old general store hutch.

I added a pearl flourish to mine to fill in some of the white space. I added a gather of old lace and ribbons to the top, attached with a large rhinestone brad. Here are a couple of closeups: