There are Angels Among Us!

Recently I've been thinking about all the ways that God send people (and even our sweet pets!) into our lives who just might be angels in disguise. I remember a book from many years ago entitled, "Angel Unaware," by Dale Evans Rogers, in which we read the story of how their disabled daughter brought her family closer to God and to one another. If we have eyes to see, we too will discover that there are angels among us.

I was prompted to create this beautiful altered book with the theme of angels . . . vintage angels, of course . . . with a focus on words and music, as a reminder of all the different times and places angels touch our lives. 

Here is just one of the inside sections that includes not only beautiful imagery of music and an angel, when you unwrap the gold cord from around the vintage button that holds the pages together, you will find tea-dyed, "aged" paper pages for journaling your own story. 

It is definitely spring around here!

 

When the daffodils and crocus pop up just outside my kitchen door, I know that it is time to celebrate the arrival of spring! Even though we had just a tiny bit of snow after the appearance of my spring blooms, they stood tall and straight (all while shivering from the cold and wind) and survived the last frosty breath of winter.

And of course, the robins arrived and there were cardinals, sparrows, blue jays, and black birds flocking to the bird feeder. The chipmunks popped their little heads out from the "doors" of their burrows, but hubby decided that they were too destructive to be ignored . . . . so a live trap was set, but they were just to smart to let that stop them. 

Meanwhile, in between all the other daily tasks that were calling my name, I had great fun playing in my sewing / art room making more altered books. Some days I would "make" the paper that I use for the journal pages, other days I would prepare the book for the next steps of adding pages and lots of other "stuff." And that's when the real fun would begin!

Vintage Black and White

 

It is actually quite amazing how being creative can help me focus on the positives in life and catch my breath from thinking about all of the chaos and confusion in the world right now. No matter who you are or what you are going through, the simple process of making something is a great way to refocus your energy and your mind of all of the blessings we all have in life.

The more I listen to the voices of others, especially other women and mothers, the more I am convinced that no matter how alone we might feel in the midst of family drama and crisis, we are not traveling this journey of life all on our own. Not only am I convinced that God is always by our side to guide us through the scary and dark times, there are other women who understand and will walk along side us as well. 

A few weeks ago when so many things around me seemed to be heading in a pretty dark direction, I was feeling that sadness and fear creep in around my heart . . . so I decided to make something . . . anything . . . to stop worrying and battling the anxiety. That's when I came across a few images in my searching that expressed a bit of how I was feeling. So I thought I would pull some of those images together in another altered book. This one is totally in black and white - well, kind of. 

Visit my Vintage Kitchen

 

Some days I would love to go back in time and visit my grandma's kitchen. It was really small but I remember the curtains and the wall of cupboards with the old white table right next to it where my grandma would be sitting every time we came to visit. 

The big white kitchen sink had a drainboard on one side with barely enough room for all the dishes to dry, and from the window above the kitchen sink you could see out to her tiny backyard where there was a clothes line for the weekly laundry. There actually wasn't much to my grandma's kitchen because it was so small, but the memories of that little room with the pretty curtains, the worn linoleum on the floor, and the back door where we would run outside on a spring day are still with me all these years later.

I also remember the dining room with the "real" table and chairs. There was always a lace tablecloth covering the table, but on top of that pretty tablecloth there was also piles of mail and magazines. I loved looking through all those pretty magazines with pictures of lovely ladies (most of them wearing aprons and cooking something), beautiful homes that were so different from my own home, and lots and lots of recipes. 

But my favorite room at grandma's house was the front porch! There were windows on all three sides so I could watch the neighborhood kids playing on the sidewalk, and even though there were piles and piles of "stuff" all around me on the porch, I still loved being there in the spring sunshine. Outside the porch door, on the cement steps was the milk box where the milkman would deliver milk, cream, and butter every day. And when the daffodils popped up every spring, that was truly a lovely place for a little girl to dream.

So, when I was a young wife and mama, I was determined to create those kinds of memories for my little ones . . . and eventually we had a big, old-fashioned kitchen with floor-to-ceiling built-in cupboards with a flour bin and a countertop for all my baking utensils. The pretty curtains, the hearts-and-flower wallpaper, the blue tile floor, and the old-fashioned phone on the wall were all a reflection of my memories of grandma's kitchen. And the big kitchen table, right in the center of my big kitchen, was the center of the whole house.

With my Betty Crocker Cookbook in hand, along with all the recipe cards I had collected over the years, we baked bread and cakes, canned tomatoes, green beans, and peaches, and made jams and jellies to last through each winter. There was even, at one of our houses, a milk box outside the back door where the milkman would deliver milk, cream, cheese, and eggs a couple of times a week. 

All of those memories inspired me as I was working on my Vintage Kitchen altered book / journal. It was so much fun including real vintage recipes and advertisements, images of old cook books, dairy cards, and vintage apron pattern envelopes. I even made a tiny blank book to use for adding more recipes!

There are pockets and envelopes filled with tiny recipe cards and tags, and there is even a little file folder with lined paper inside to write on, too. 

The strawberry paper and red accents just seemed to remind me of an old-fashioned kitchen, with a bit of red ribbon and ivory lace, as well as old newspaper advertisements, and tea-dyed paper give this sweet altered book the feel of a true vintage kitchen. Out the back of the book is a tri-fold embellishment with button closure that features a large clock to remind us that time does not stand still, but memories remain for a lifetime.

Inside that tri-fold page is a pocket with the tiny blank book for adding more recipes or notes, along with a few more tags and vintage recipes. And then, the whole beautiful book is tied up with a red gingham ribbon! How perfect is that as a reminder of a simpler time when mama in the kitchen was just part of life. 

This altered book / journal was created with love and sweet memories . . . . I hope that you enjoy looking at the pictures of my book, and if you would like to learn how to make an altered book of your own, you can always email me at vintagewhimsystudio@gmail.com 

You can also visit my new Etsy shop, Vintage Whimsy Studio, to see some of my other altered books / journals as I will be adding more new listings every week. Thanks for stopping by!

Nina

Celebrate Spring!

 

There are amazing resources for anyone who wants to create either digital or paper art projects. One of the best places to find just the perfect image for your project is over at the Graphics Fairy, where you can download thousands of beautiful images for FREE. You can also join her premium membership for access to even more resources for your creative projects.

Here is a sweet vintage spring poem that I found over there . . . . 

and if you like to include vintage sheet music in your creations, you will also find a great selection of images that will be just perfect for your next project . . . .

This week I'm working on my next altered book, "Vintage Black and White," which will include lots of old photos, poetry, letters, music, and whatever else I can find that is all in black and (almost) white - since most of the vintage images are no longer bright white, but then that's one of the reasons that I love them so much!

Be sure to stop back to visit me here on my NEW blog and before long, you can also visit my NEW Etsy shop at Vintage Whimsy Studio. 

Back to work,

Nina

Taking a trip back in time

 

This past year has been challenging for all of us. Between the quarantines, the anxiety about COVID, all of the missed opportunities because of cancellations, and then the winter . . . well, all of this has had me feeling rather lost and confused. No routine, no schedule that we could count on, weather that was unpredictable - it all added up to a time of very little productivity and creativity around here. Anyone else feel that way?

After Christmas I decided to do a bit of research on Ancestry.com to learn about my family history. As it turns out, I come from a long line of Irish immigrants, beginning in the 1600s, long before the Great Irish Potato Famine. It broke my heart to read about the people who experienced those years of starvation, homelessness, unemployment, and general abuse and oppression by those in charge of the British Empire at the time. 

So, although it seems that my ancestors were not direct descendants of the millions who suffered through that harrowing time in history, I still feel a sense of connection and compassion for their struggles, both before and after so many Irish immigrants settled in America - where apparently they again faced oppression, exploitation, and rejection.

In honor of my discoveries about my own heritage (which I always knew was predominantly Irish as my maternal grandfather was an Irishman who owned a small restaurant in southwest Michigan when I was a child - the "Wee Diner" it was called), I thought it would be fun to get back to my creative projects and do another altered book. This time, I did a bit of research on this art form and added to my own creative ideas to come up with this cute flip-out, tri-fold design that features lots of little treasures hidden away in pockets and envelopes, as well as blank journal pages for writing my own stories.

At the front of this beautiful altered book is a flip-out section with lots of Irish-theme ephemera including music, poetry, and vintage images of old postcards and other digital downloads. I created several little tags from various scrapbook papers, old book pages, sheet music, and vintage handwriting scraps.

One of my favorite parts of creating an altered book is all the fun stuff that I find to include in the pages! I love to make these cute little envelopes, line them with coordinating paper (old book pages, handwriting scraps, sheet music, old postcards), and then tuck something tiny inside. On this page I also created a little "banner" in green and white and attached it to the page with a safety pin and a bit of green and white scrapbook paper to make sure it stays in place. 

When the book is opened all the way, you can see that there are three complete "pages" where I have added lots of other fun stuff. 

Inside the little fold-up on the left side is an image of an Irish harp, and then on the next page is a small fold-out that features more images.

Then on the far right side of the opened book is a small journal with blank pages where I can write or add other fun stuff I find along the way. 

And at the very back of the journal pages there is a pretty pocket made out of vintage sheet music, filled with a luggage tag I made from scrapbook paper and an old book page, a page of vintage sheet music, an Irish poem and more images from old postcards.

Finally, on the back of the book I created a sort of notepad with a vintage image on the front, blank pages inside, all held together with a vintage button and some gold cord I had in my ribbon drawer.

Have you ever thought about embellishing and altering an old book? At first, I was really hesitant to try it because I LOVE my books so much. But after reading about different ways to create these works of art, I realized that I would be restoring an old book that would otherwise just be tossed in a junk pile eventually (well, not MY books actually, but old books that I found at the thrift shop for 50 cents or a dollar). The pages can be used for a million different creative projects, and the covers are perfect as a base for building your own altered book.

With a few sheets of cardstock to expand and add pages, along with some plain old copy paper and notebook paper (tea dyed to make them look old!), lots of glue, scrapbook paper, ribbons, buttons, a bit of lace, a lot of imagination and a bit of time, you will have great fun designing and creating your own altered book!

This is my first entry on my new blog, Vintage Whimsy Studio, but I'm working on several other fun creative projects to share with you. I stepped away from blogging, writing, editing, publishing, and my Etsy shop for over a year to take time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up . . . and as it turns out, I really missed all of these little projects.

So, if you find that any of my creative ideas and designs are of interest to you, let me know. I've been thinking about doing a few tutorials or videos of the process of making these altered books, so stop back soon to see what I'm working on next.

Happy to be back blogging!

Nina