Vintage Ladies

I have a lifetime love affair with anything vintage.  Anyone who knows my mixed-media work, especially my greeting cards, knows that I love to work with old images.  I find what I call the "Vintage Ladies" especially beautiful.  Something about the softness of the photography, the muted colours and their haunting expressions make the portraits so appealing to me.

Some of my favourite portraits are of Maude Fealy. She was an actress of the early 1900's, a star of stage, and mostly the silent movie screen, although she did make it into the "talkies".  Other favourites include other actresses such as Bessie Love, and Lily Elsie. 

My mother gave me this 7 Gypsies Printers Tray quite some time ago. I knew right away that I wanted to feature some of my favourite vintage ladies. Even though I chose a colour scheme early on (one of my personal favourites), I got as far as laying in the paper backgrounds, but then I went no further.  Years went by, and there it sat.

I was in no rush. I was waiting for it to sing to me. And in the meantime, I collected bits and pieces of jewellery from friends and garage sales, and found other embellishments at the craft store.  I even crocheted some little medallions with embroidery thread. I kept a jar on my desk where I dropped in pieces that I knew I wanted to include in this project.  A favourite button was put aside until the time was right.

Finally, this past weekend, I sat down and finished the project.  I will be honest, it took a long while. I still got stuck a few times, rearranging each portrait, until the right balance was achieved.  I didn't want the ladies fighting for attention, each needed their own place to shine. I also wanted to add lots of sparkle.  I love sparkle!

I am very happy with the end result.  Gotta love those vintage ladies! We girls will all be one some day!