Aging a Vintage Scrapbook Page

Do you ever get great ideas when you see a patterned paper but it is not quite right for what you have in mind? My Mind’s Eye has a great line of papers and I found this to be the case with this great hive design. It was so intriguing that I just had to do something with it.

I started digging through my treasure trove of old photos and came across a really old photo of my mom and a cousin when they were children. It was so charming and I could see it working with the paper. But it the paper just didn’t look old? Some papers are vintage friendly even if the shading is not quite right. By using a background sheet of neutral pewter colored Bazzill as the base paper, the gold was toned down a bit.

Once I decided on the first photo, I realized that I had one of my grandmother and aunt as children and then one of my grandmother and grandfather as young adults. By copying the other photos in sepia or black and white, the correct tones can be achieved and they all seemed to go together. I lightly rubbed the edges of the photos with a sponge dabbed in a brown ink pad to take the white paper look off. Tim Holtz Distress inks are great for this, lots of cool brown tones.

To bring out the gold from the paper, I mounted the photos on a coordinating gold cardstock and arranged them in a nice pattern. This page shows a three photo grouping nicely. Once the photos were in place, I looked and found some blank areas. A light sanding in several spots around both papers and taking a sponge in the same light toned aging ink over those spots to take the shine off and help match the golden tones even further.

I had a “  “ set of stamps with some wonderfully, quirky stamps that was giving me some trouble deciding what to do with them. They were great but not center stage type designs. By stamping them into the design of the paper, they found a place to shine. Tiny words set into the hive and random hives in the background to further align the patterned sheet with the base page. These great turquoise butterfly rub-ons gave a bit of contrast to the gold and pewter.

You can stop by the shop to see more detail on this new favorite page of mine. Find a great sheet of patterned paper, some old photos and whatever odd stickers or rub-ons to get you started.

I just love these crabby little girls, my grandmother and her sister, who apparently did not want the picture taken. So they could be next. I have to find the perfect paper and then...