Stamps and Framelits (and Family)

They're BAACK!  Yes, some of you have commented that you would like to see more projects done combining Tim's fabulous techniques with my family photos and stories.  After taking a break from using my photographs last week and instead using Tim's Three Gentleman (love that stamp!), who anyone can claim as relatives, I decided to use a beloved photo of my grandparents (my Dad's parents) on their wedding day for this ninth challenge. Here it is:

For this Stamps and Framelits challenge, I used Tim's wonderful French Flight set which includes Paris scenes as well as the butterflies we all know and love!

My grandparents had very little money when they were married.  Belle and Irvin met in Devil's Lake, North Dakota and instantly fell in love.  Grandpa traveled for work logging, harvesting wheat, etc. eventually settling in Bellingham, Washington, quite aways from North Dakota.  They exchanged love letters which I was thrilled to inherit in which Grandpa always called Grandma "Sweetheart"  He was determined to marry her and worked hard to save $50.00 to send her for the train fare to come out to Bellingham and marry him!  She got on that train and never saw her parents again (that part I find so sad)

As they had very little money, they had a simple wedding.  This photo was taken in front of a house.  I decided to create a canvas of a place where I imagine they would have loved to have been married and honeymooned, Paris...

I used a small white canvas as a base and colored it, using Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet and Shaded Lilac Distress Paints slightly watered down to paint the canvas.  I wanted a pastel, soft, romantic background and these colors worked well together.

I then found and printed out the sheet music to the song "Let me Call You Sweetheart" which seemed appropriate for this piece.  I tore around the edges and adhered it to the canvas with Matte Medium and more Distress Paints.  I wrapped some of Tim's Music Tissue Tape around the bottom on the canvas and painted it as well.

Following the technique found on Page 63 of Tim's Compendim of Curiosities III book, I stamped and cut out the Eiffel Tower and Paris signs, colored them and added them to my collage long with some wonderful Ideology pieces, including the Word Band and Word Key which I colored using the Shaded Lilac Distress Paint.  One of my favorite pieces is this adornment I created  from a length of Trimming,  an Accoutrements Fanciful Button and a Bauble placed in the top left corner.  Here is a close up:

I also used the Heart Charm and the Plaquette with the number 17 representing my father's birthday.  I used the  Stampers Anonymous Tiny Words stamp, stamping it directly onto tissue paper and cutting the words apart.  I then adhered my chosen words to the canvas with matte medium and, once dry, drew around them with Victorian Velvet and Shaded Lilac Distress Markers.

Hope you all have fun playing with Stamps and Framelits!  I sure did!  This 9th challenge is generously sponsored by The Inspiration Emporium who is providing a $50.00 gift certificate to a lucky random winner and, of course, by the fabulous Tim and Mario, who will be providing the wonderful package of goodies to the Curiosity Crew Choice winner!  Good luck to everyone.

Just joining us?  Head on over to Linda Ledbetter's blog where you can find all the information you need to play along with us, including how to get your very own autographed copy of the Tim's book and all the contest rules.  Upload your creation based on the technique and enjoy viewing the wonderful projects made by so many talented people!  

Thanks for joining us!

Susan