Birthday Surprise!

Good afternoon, my friends!

Well, today is a special day in our house…it’s my youngest daughter Annie’s birthday!  I can’t believe she’s 14 already…a freshman in high school…and she looked like this just yesterday…

…my sweet Annie, about 5 years old--one of my favorite little girl photos of her--and this morning…

…just before school, putting on some new birthday bracelets from her sister…where does the time go?!

Here’s the card I made for her this morning:

I combined a couple of cute images from Crafty Secrets…the little fairy is from the “Childhood” Images & Journal Notes booklet, and the cupcake is from the “Altered Fairies” Creative Scraps…love them!

I used the banner and music stamps from Crafty Secrets’ new “Artsy Banners” set:

…so many wonderful elements in this set!

…and the yummy cupcake…

I grunged it up with a little “Creme de Chocolat” Glimmer Mist, then made a little “icing” with some of my favorite clear, chunky German glass glitter.  Topped the whole thing off with a generous spritzing of “Iridescent Gold” Glimmer Mist and some platinum Stickles…oh, and a bit of Dazzling Diamonds.

Now, for a little birthday present for all of you…I thought I’d share a couple of fabulous vintage birthday cards from the 1920’s that are part of the huge stash I came home with this summer from a fabulous antique shop in Utah…

Isn’t that pretty?  I love this style…

…and this one is pure Art Deco fantasy!  Love the style, the color…everything!  You’ll probably notice the border on top is crooked—that’s how it’s printed!  Things were done more by hand and a little less precisely back then, I think.  Makes it more charming in my mind…

I’ll have much more to share with you as time goes on…haven’t had time to dive in and scan them all yet!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and to my sweetest Annie, Happy Birthday, my dear girl!  I love you!!!

See you soon with something new…

 

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Banners,Birthday,Annie Grace

Seaside Memories…

Good afternoon, all!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day!  Sorry I haven’t been around to visit much this week…since my daughter’s been home from college, we’ve  been spending so much fun time together…I’ll get back on the regular visiting track soon, I promise!

I woke up very early this morning…it was still quite dark and everyone was still asleep…perfect card-making time! 

Still had the seaside on my mind today…summer’s flying by, but it’s still here, so…

I took a couple of vintage images from Crafty Secrets’ newly revised “Travel” Creative Scraps for this card…one, the postcard-style background, and then the cute couple were cut out and popped up on top…I love doing that!

Some fun paper from Graphic 45, a few seashells, some braided hemp, and a bit of sparkle courtesy of some Dazzling Diamonds and platinum Stickles…that’s about it!

Next:

I really love how this one turned out…a bit simpler than some of my cards, but it just needed to be.

Another one with images from the “Travel” Creative Scraps…I cut the life preserver from another image to pop up on top—looks much better in person! 

Some cording with a couple of knots in it frame the card, and a bit more sparkle with my same favorite sparklers to finish it off…

I love how this couple are staring off together at that beautiful sunset….did you notice the sparkly sand they’re sitting on?  A bit of my favorite clear, chunky German glass glitter…it just looks so marvelously sandy!

Now, as you know I love to do when I can, I have a few family pictures to share with you…seaside, of course!

Okay…this one isn’t by the sea, but poolside in Phoenix…but it’s my adorable mother, Karen in the 1950’s…isn’t that great?!  Not sure why it was newsworthy, but there you have it!

This one would have been taken near the same time…a family friend on the far left, my grandmother, Velda in the center, and my Mom on the right…

My newlywed parents on the balcony of their motel in Laguna Beach, California in June, 1960…one of my very favorite photos…

…and lastly, another favorite of mine…not sure what happened to this one, but it’s been through the wringer, apparently! 

Dad, Mom and I at Cape Cod in 1963.  I was born in Boston while Dad was attending school there, and this was one of many weekend trips to the Cape.  Notice Mom’s wearing the same bathing suit she was wearing in the photo BEFORE she got married and had a baby….good job, Mom!

Well, that’s it for me today…I’m off to pick up my two high school daughters from field hockey practice…hope you all have a wonderful evening!

See you soon with something new…

 

Julie

 

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Travel,Seaside,Family Photos

Girlfriends…and Vintage Twins

Good afternoon, my friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Ours was busy, as usual, and we had a great time…VERY full of family and friends.

Well, I have a couple of cards to share with you today, and some beautiful family photos from my husband’s side of the family that I think you’ll really like…

First, the cards…

Isn’t this image adorable?!  It’s from Crafty Secrets’ newly revised and fabulous “Girlfriends” Creative Scraps…

…so many vintagely wonderful images to play with!

Just used some wonderful black & white gingham paper, a vintage satin flower I made while on vacation in Utah—my sister-in-law Karen taught us how to do these one night…so much fun!  A pretty old rhinestone in the center…lace, ribbon, and platinum Stickles and that’s about it!

Next…

Another from the “Girlfriends” set—such a cute image!  Love the saying…”You don’t look a day over fabulous”…isn’t that perfect for a friend’s birthday?!

I can’t remember what company made that flower—sorry!  I just gave it a quick spritz with “Cherub Pink” Glimmer Mist to warm it up a little.  A bit of Dazzling Diamonds on the flowers in the image for a bit of sparkle…then just finished it off like I usually do!

Well, speaking of girlfriends, I thought this would be a good time to share these old family photos with you…the ultimate girlfriends…TWINS!

Fern (my husband’s grandmother) and Faun Ellsworth were born in old Mesa, Arizona in 1905…

We’re lucky to have so many beautiful photos of them as they grew…

…and grew…

…such adorable little girls!

…always together…

An interesting thing about the Ellsworth family, is that they grew up near my Stapley family in Mesa.  The two families weren’t connected until my husband and I were married in 1988, yet they were friends and near neighbors, and it’s been so interesting to find out all the interconnecting stories between the two families through the years…

…like this one:  When they were about the age they are in this photo—10 years old, their father George Ellsworth passed away late one night.

So as not to frighten and worry the young sisters too much, they were sent to sleep for the night at the home of my great-great-grandparents, O.S. & Polly May Stapley, who were known and trusted by the girls.

Early the next morning, an older Stapley son (a great-great-uncle of mine), being a prankster, and used to teasing the girls, tipped them out of bed for a joke, not knowing what they’d just been through the night before….needless to say, he felt terrible when he found out!

Another edited version of the same photo…with them here is there older sister, Alta, who interestingly accompanied my great-grandmother Estella on the piano while she sang on a number of occasions…

 

Beautiful young women…

I love them here in this very stylish pose—just look at those beautiful outfits!

And lastly for today, here they are around the time they were married, with their mother, Sarah Follett Ellsworth…more stories for another day…

Thanks for indulging me in a little more family history…it surrounds me all the time, so it can’t help but pop out once in a while!

Hope your day is wonderful…

See you soon with something new!

 

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Girlfriends,Fern and Faun Ellsworth,Twins,Estella Stapley