New craft supplies often serve as the impetus for making my cards. I recently added the Tim Holtz (who else?) Picture Wheel die to my collection so I was off and running. Also for our anniversary my husband and I gave ourselves a new color laser printer. When we first looked to buy one many years ago, they started at a staggering $25,000!! Obviously that was - and still would be - way out of our price range!!! Fortunately this technology has dropped over the years to a very affordable price. Although the cartridges are pricey, it is still a better bargain than buying colored ink jet cartridges that seem to run dry every other day. The advantage of laser over ink jet is that the ink is permanent and you can use Distress Ink to alter the black and white images. You can also use the laser prints for photo transferring using packing tape to make translucent images.
I began by selecting a favorite photo of my mom when she was four years old which I printed out and color tinted with Distress inks. I aged some TH (who else but Tim Holtz) metal numbers, dyed some of his shabby chic flowers, layered a few vintage-look papers as a background, die cut the layered photo frames using both the Time Wheel die and Scalloped Rectangles Nestabilities, and added some buttons.
The inside of the card used the TH picture wheel holding pictures of my mom, her parents and siblings, and her husband and children (and it actually spins). Wasn't it fortunate that there were the exact number of openings that I needed for all the family members?
It's quite difficult to buy a gift for a 90-year-old! With only a few days before the big event I was in Hobby Lobby and found a great memory tray that inspired my gift for her. When I got home I measured each of the 23 openings, then chose and sized photos of my mom, her parents and siblings, her husband and children and grandchildren. I also added a tiny photo of her Grandma Murphy with whom she lived after her parents died. The photos were printed out in black and white (using our new printer :), and I aged them by stamping Antique Linen Distress ink all over them. I have quite a collection of metal embellishments which added to the vintage look. My favorite item was a parking coin for the Harvey Bank which was from our hometown over 50 years ago. There is a tiny frame with her maiden name, Ritchie, printed on it, and I wrote out her married name, Joyner, in coppery discs. I threw in a few TH elements atop several vintage looking papers and her piece was finished.* My mom seemed very happy with her gift, and I hope the memory try will spark many memories for her!
*Notice that I did NOT use any lopsided roses!
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