Crafty Secrets Design Team Challenge "Fairy Theme" - Fairy Unaware

The challenge theme for Crafty Secrets this month was to create a "fairy" themed object. I am so in love with the Creating with Vintage Patterns CD, that I used it again for a digital LO.

I chose to focus on a "vintage" photo of me from about 1967, when my mom and dad thought I should take dance lessons. I was *so* uncoordinated. The thing I remember about my recital was that I was doing the dance steps slightly after everyone else. Thank goodness my coordination and abilities improved later in life.

The journaling reminds me that I was not only a fairy unaware, but fairly unaware! So instead of the art of dance, I eventually moved along to the art of music, which was one of the best experiences of my life.

How to make the layered Flowers in Photoshop Elements:
1. Select your paper from the digital CD.
2. Open in Photoshop Elements
3. Create a new file (I did a 1 inch by 1 inch; 300 dpi file with white background)
4. Cut a flower shape with the cookie cutter tool from the patterned paper and copy your layer to the new file. I duplicated this layer 4 times.
5. Add a drop shadow to each layer and adjust each layer so you have a flower that appears to be multiple stacked layers.
6.On the final layer, I used a plastic layer to give the look of a rounded embellishment.

That simple!

I also found yet another photo of my dad. I love how he is taking vacation movies (yep I'm a chip of the old block with photography) and wearing his "signature" flat cap. We lost more of those over the years than I care to remember, but he always had a flat cap on. I miss my dad <3. Fortunately a bit of my dad lives on in my DS, (and me I am sure) he is never far away.

Now, head over to the other design team members blogs and check out their fabulous fairy projects!

Crafty Secrets Design Team

Vicki Chrisman Team Leader
Pam Hooten
Heidi Blankenship
Linda Duke
Michele Kovack
Amy Teets
Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Fauve van Maanen
Julie Campbell
Gini Cagle
Jan Hennings
Tammy Roberts
Victoria Warren Mears (You are here!)
Viola Mahr

Heartwarming Vintage Blog
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Engagement Favors!

OM Goodness! I am so excited. My assistant at work got engaged on the 4th of July. She is having an engagement party in September and I am going to make candy holders for her guests. Shhhhhh! I made these prototypes using the Crafty Secrets Creating with Vintage Patterns CD. I printed hot pink paper with the damask pattern AND used the template on the CD to create the gift cone! We have since decided to go with black and white cones, with pink sheer ribbon. I can hardly wait to get started!

MUAH! Have a great day and here is to new love <3

Jewelry Time!

I just finished this necklace using a square slide mount and a wonderful bird image from the back of the Mini Vintage Creative Scraps from Crafty Secrets. I used the square with the large bird as my background. I cut out the nest and added some Stickles to the eggs for a tiny amount of bling. Finally I printed a patterned paper from the Creating with Vintage Patterns CD and added the tiny flying bird to the pendant. I hand tied the bow to the bail and added the pearls on jump rings. Finally I added the ribbon necklace. Now I have a cute and simple pendant to wear with a plain shirt.

Have a splendid week everyone!

Does Anybody Know What Time It Is? Crafty Secrets Altered Kitchen Clock

I have had a great time working on this quick and easy altered clock. The background tiles are printed from the Crafty Secrets Creating with Vintage Patterns CD. I then used the Domestic Goddess Creative Scraps at 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions. Finally, I added the numbers and the flower with the help of a circle template.

This is a quick and fun housewarming gift, especially in the land of the Ranch Houses, we live in!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Life On A Farm

I have been looking through my vacation photos. I love digital photography, so much easier than film and you can see if you have good photos ahead of time. It is a far cry from when I was little. I have so many photos of Preston and our vacations that it is hard to get to them all.
This is from last summer at a little farm near Kensington California where our friend Lyle lives. Preston had a great time with the animals!

I used the Creating with Vintage Patterns CD from Crafty Secrets. I did this LO in Sketchbook Pro, which I have to confess I am still learning. I was able to add paint splatters and hand doodling. It is a lot of fun but a steep learning curve for photoshop trained me!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!