Making Gift / Pricing Tags Look Vintage

Yesterday I showed you how I made my white card stock look vintage.  My goal was to create tags for my items in my booth at Knot On Main Street. This is me paying attention to details.

So first I had to iron the sheets of coffee stained card stock so they would not jam up my printer. To be truthful I tried to skip this step with the result of my printer getting jammed. So out came the iron and a fast once over on each sheet corrected the problem.

QUICK TIP; those sheets I didn't print on but did iron are now stored under a very heavy book to keep them flat so they will be ready to use when I'm ready.

Next I created the images. I used Photoshop Elements to create my tags.

I first started looking at Karen's wonderful vintage images at the Graphics Fairy  and I found this wonderful frame called Fanciful Frame that I just love. With the magic wand tool in Photoshop I removed all the white in this image so I could layer the images of the ladies under it.

Fanciful Frame From Graphics Fairy

Next I picked out some images from my Dover Publications CD of Victorian Women's Fashion Photos .
I used the following three ladies to create 3 similar but different tags.

Such a sad pretty face don't you think?

She's my favorite, with the tilt of her hat

Lots of drama on her face, right?

I then re-sized the ladies images so they would fit nice and snug in the frame. I also set the opacity on the ladies images to 75%. (this actually lightened up the colors so they looked a bit more faded).

I added my booth number on each and also included my blog address. Here's how they looked in Photoshop. 

Next using Word I created a table and inserted the tag images into each box. Then printed on my coffee stained vintage looking paper. Below is how they came out.

My photo skills need sharpening. They look great in person.

The space between the booth number and the web address will be used for me to write a description and price with a fine point black sharpie.

I'm joining these parties 

Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy 
Nifty Thrifty  Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Just Frames!

A few weeks ago I had found a new flea market that I loved and scored some great items. One of those items were 6 plain wooden frames minus the glass. You can see them in the front of the photo.

I had the idea to create a french country look with them and Just Frames by themselves can make a nice decorating element and that was my vision as I redesigned them.

I'm not a big fan of spray paint but I opted to use it to make this process go much faster. Time is money, so they say. So I purchase yellow, red and black in gloss finish.  As I didn't want all 6 frames to be the same I switched them up a bit so that they were different but would still look great grouped together.  Each frame got a base coat and then after they were dry I painted on a bit of vaseline in areas and then sprayed the contrasting color. With the vaseline trick all you have to do is wait till the top coat dries and then wipe off and it will reveal the under coat. Some light sanding over the whole frame and then they ready for the umber glaze.

So frames were done but they needed a bit more to finish it off. So I tea dyed some muslin & gingham and then with that fabric added the bow in each corner.  I also designed a tag that suggests the use for these Just Frames

  I used one of the Graphics Fairy black and white borders and then just added my text. I like the idea of suggesting uses to my customers.  I also personalized it by signing my name at the bottom. (not shown)

These frames will be at my booth this week sitting in my red Coco Cola wooden case with a price of $6. each.

I'm joining these parties 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense 
Inspiration Fridays At The Picket Fence
Sunday's Best Par Tay at My 1929 Charmer
Newbie Party at DebbieDoos  

Fabric Napkins Take On A Whole New Look!

I've had these linen type napkins for quite a few years stashed in my fabric pile . Originally they were my aunt's and I think her plan was to embroider on them. I confiscated them because I loved the feel and look of the fabric and always thought they would make really cute little pillows. Plus you know they were like a blank canvas waiting to be something else. They measure 14" x 14"

Napkins waiting for the day to become pillows

But you know how you have these great ideas and they (the napkins) just sit there until tomorrow or the next day or maybe even the day after that. Those tomorrows became years.

So I'm here to tell you I finally got them made. What explanation do I have for finally getting them done?  I think I heard them calling to me from the fabric stash begging to be the promised pillows. When napkins start calling it's time to listen and do.  Sorry folks that's the best reason I can come up.

The edges were already hemmed so my idea was to just sew two together just below the hem line and then stuff with some loose fill. 

Plain white little pillows are just...... plain and I wanted more pizazz  like transfer image pizazz. I love the vintage french looking black and white images and the graphic fairy has some really great ones. So I went browsing on her web site and came up with a few that I thought would be perfect for the pillows.

This brings up the point of transferring images onto fabric.  Browse the web and you will find all these different techniques on how to do it.  It can be a bit overwhelming. After much research I decided that Lesley Riley's Transfer Artist Paper would be my method of choice. It does a wonderful transfer and it's so easy and I'm all for easy.

So I had enough napkins (10) to make 5 pillows. I used 5 different images from the Graphic Fairy.

Black and white pillows with a french flair

The above picture is just 4 of the 5 pillows and you only get to see 2 of the images I used from the Graphic Fairy . Below is a close up of another image.

This one is my favorite.

I think these little pillows make a great accent up against some larger pillows, maybe on a bed.