Making French Vintage Style Recipe Cards

 

I was asked to design some recipe cards for a bridal shower that had some vintage style to them and a little French country feel.

 

 The cards need to fit inside a recipe box the client ordered and wanted 4" x 6" cards and dividers.

I selected a French Speckletone 80# cover cardstock in Oatmeal color and used black text and ink for the hand-stamped images.

 Came up with a couple of designs using different fonts and she like this one.  The fork & spoon and rose images are two different looks.  I have another Jane Austin that is coming out soon.  These can be printed on white, cream of the French Speckletone...which is my favorite paper right now.

 The client selected the rose patterned cards as the recipe box had a rose on it as well and would coordinate nicely.

 She wanted matching dividers of I came up with these.  Used a lovely Spellbinder die for the tab piece and mounted some on the left, center, and right with a rose image stamped in the center.

 Packaged them all up and off they go to a happy customer!

And as in most of my designs, there is scripture on the back that reads Love the LORD with all your heart. 

Have a blessed day,
Valerie

Mixed Media Prayer Journal Cover Design

So far, I really like the way this journal design is evolving.  I've had a chance to play with some of my favorite stamps, embossing pastes, laces, and artwork to pull together the covering for my latest project.

The cover art piece is a painting by Thomas Gainsborough, one of my two favorite artist, Reynolds being the other.  This portrait is of Countess Mary Howe painted in 1763.  There is a brilliance in how her costume has been painted.  Wearing a lightweight summer dress of pink silk overlain by an apron of lace and layers of lace on the arms. Her pearl necklace is stunning and set off her delicate face.

I used different laces and small pearls to compliment the artwork and bring out in a tactile way, those elements across the cover.

The use of mulberry paper flowers, stained, and brushed in clear gold glitter adds a richness that would be expected by Countess Howe if this were her book.  I added a vintage gold and rhinestone crown to add some metal detail to the design.  I feel challenged to add at least one piece of vintage jewelry (a passion of mine) to each item I design.

The books spine was a particular design effort as it is 2 1/2" wide and 9" in length and I wanted the book to be able to stand up on a shelve if that is the way I wanted to display it.  So the spine needed extra strength and attention. 

I used extra-heavy weight cardboard stock, then ran it through a damask embossing folder to create the relief.  Painted it with Silks acrylic glaze which added tons of shine. Wanted the look of rich oiled leather. Added the vintage style old gold metal plate and title paper Prayer Journal. 

Added a metal element of a key plate after dying with gold ink as it was copper color.  Put a title banner across the front Oh Lord, hear my prayers. 

You can watch the step-by-step mixed media tutorial of this whole process on my YouTube channel faithfulcrafter1.  If you like this type of tutorial, please like, comment, and subscribe.

Have a blessed day,
Valerie