Vintage Findings

Looking for Color ~

A bit of sun, yet still quite cold in the shade ~ not much color outdoors yet, so looked for some around the house.  Beadboard paneling in my laundry room (where the best light is), an old scale usually hauled out in the Fall to put a pumpkin on top, some of my old books, a necklace made with a vintage compass purchased at a Flea Market in Paris, and my new cup from Anthropologie.  Very cheerful to have an orange and white polka dotted cup :-)

I hope your week gets off to a great beginning. . . 

~K

Vintage Play

Seems I've used a lot of processing on this one:  LightRoom, PhotoShop, and Corel. Hope to do more in this style. Not only do I get to use the programs I love, I get to incorporate vintage photos, ephemera, brushes, and texture.

Hope you are headed into a wonderful weekend.

~K

 

Buoys of Oysterville

Quite some time ago, my friend Mary and I set out on a road trip and had a great girl's weekend.  We spent some time in Long Beach, Washington, and stopped at all the little towns between points of destination.  One such town was Oysterville. I used Corel to paint some of the colorful finds.

We stumbled upon a house that had thousands of buoys ~ they were hung as a fence row around the property, they were piled on the back porch, they were overflowing from boats, they were tangled in nets, etc. Everywhere you looked there were more. My reference image is shown below.

We just had to capture these colorful beauties swaying in the wind. No dogs barked, no one yelled at us, so we just kept creeping around the backyard snapping photos. What a great time we had :-)

I hope your new year will be filled with adventure . . .

~K

Sweet Wishes

What is more magical than waking to a world of white ~ climbing out of bed and peering at the transformed landscape? It settles a hush deep into the crevices of time and answers the thousands of wishes of children (young and old) everywhere. I hope all of your wishes come true this holiday season. 

The original image for the view out the window is from my friend Alan who lives in Wisconsin.  It is a gorgeous winter scene which he graciously let me attempt to paint. I could not do it justice. This is an image viewed best just as he presented it. Thank you, Alan, for letting me have a go at it.

I am attempting to paint in Corel, but could not do Alan's image justice. In an effort to save a poorly painted image (I have many LOL), I have hidden the attempt under layers of texture trying to use texture to give the look of peering out a screened window while retaining the frosted glass look.

All the very best to you this Christmastime.

~Karen

The Tacky Tinsel Tree

I am taking a few steps without the crutches secure in the immobilizing boot ~ what freedom to carry something in my hands! So I've picked up the camera and snapped more than a few images of Christmas. Still unable to drive, but I just might start cooking again :-)

Several years ago I was recuperating from a major surgery and knew that I would not be seeing anyone for 3 months. I used the 3 months to solder copies of vintage photos between glass. By the time I had soldered 100 of these little gems I was pretty good at it. I had taken a class from Sally Jean Alexander at her studio in Portland and used the time at home to work on the idea that I had. PA-LEEZE do yourself a favor and look at her work: www.sallyjean.com

I made simple photocopies of old family photos, reducing them to fit the glass pieces. Some are 2" x 2", some are 1" x 1". I bought a box of new microscope slides which are 1" x 3" and those worked really well, too. After adding words and a pretty paper or a miniature collage on the back, the paper photos were sandwiched between two pieces of glass. Copper tape covered all edges. Flux was added with a Q-tip and silver solder was added with my soldering iron. Fusing jump rings into place took some practice. To hang the ornaments, junk jewelry chain was used ~ found at Goodwill or flea markets, adding to the tacky-theme nicely.

Each year I adorn the Tacky Tinsel Tree with my soldered ancestors and vintage photos of my past. The tree is 4' tall and is very shiny, full of bling ~ no lights needed, it sparkles all on it's own.

I got the bug to photograph some of my collections from the inspirational work of Jennywww.flickr.com/photos/bw4444/ I adore her vintage sewing still life work.
Jenny, pretty soon I'll break out the miniature sewing machines for you to see, too. I can't go upstairs to get them yet LOL

Happy Holidays 

~K

Palette Knife Background

Playing in Corel ~ I swear I will get the hang of this powerful program at some point ~ I painted a background that I really like.  And while driving around town I spotted several tennies on the power lines ~ must have something to do with cleaning out old lockers for the start of school.  At any rate, this is what I came up with today.

I really like how "real" the paints look in Corel.  It is a step up from what I can do in PhotoShop, so I want to stick with it.  I must!

Getting ready to head out of town for a few days ~ the ocean is calling.

~Karen

Macro Monday

Theme this week is turquoise. Just glancing around my workspace here I spied my Smith Corona and it's lovely turquoise color ~ couldn't resist using it for the theme. I added the vintage typewritten German text between the keys ~

It is in perfect working condition ~ got it at Goodwill for $4

Hope your weekend was a great one full of summer sun.

~karen

Black and White

No surprise here, I love vintage photos. I love the black and white images that really let me read the faces. I love how they capture a certain time and place in history. I know, images today capture a certain time and place in history, too, but I am drawn to these snapshots from yesterday.

I have folders of "knowns" (family) and folders of "unknowns" (non-family).

Besides, I really wanted to use my new bird clips :-)

~karen

Daily Walk

On one of my daily walks this week I spotted this fragile egg shell ~ it measures almost one inch by almost 3/4 of an inch. I carefully carried it in my hand for the rest of my walk and kept it safe until I got home. Then it was tucked into a little nest that I have on display in my laundry room.

LEAVING HOME

Yes, they all do leave home eventually, and it is a wonderful thing.

Enjoy your weekend.  Unusual, but it will reach 106* today ~ cooler tomorrow at 99*.

~karen

Just a Little Fun

Change of pace here - my challenge this week is to depict IMPULSE. I went the whimsical route, as you can see. 

There I am, standing on the letter 'S' gazing at chocolate - LOL!  I'm not really a chocolate lover, but those kisses seemed to work for this image. I tend to pick and nibble throughout the day. I don't care for heavy meals, so it seems that I eat on impulse on whatever I find at home - a bowl of cheerios, a handful of almonds, a few carrot stix, some fruit, a little cheese, maybe a yogurt. I tend to nibble during the day whenever hunger strikes. Then I try to have a balanced meal at dinner time.

So those thoughts led me to IMPULSE.  The background is my own texture, the vintage image is from my collection, and other elements have been collected along the way in my PhotoShop journey. I especially like the vintage street map clipped to the leafy branch.

It is mid week and you are probably already looking forward to the weekend!

~karen