Saturday 24 July 2010

Ghosts of the Past

A few weeks ago we visited an antique and reclamation store, hoping to find something special. Everything was too expensive, but I did find a pile of old photos on a table in one corner of the shop. It was fascinating, and a little creepy, to look at all these people, long gone and forgotten, in their 1920s or even 1890s suits and dresses.

My mum has been tracing our family tree for a few years now, so she has lots of old photographs of our ancestors, already scrapped on beautiful heritage-style pages. But the anonymity, the forgotten-ness of these people, moved me almost as much. I picked out three photos, with the intention of scrapping about them and testing out the heritage style.

This is what I came up with. I worked on a piece of K&Company paper (Blue Awning Ivory Medallion Swirls), cut to A4 size. I added my own stamping, inking and masking to it - the chandelier (Papermania), the corner pieces (Personal Impressions), the script (Artemio) and the keys (Royal Brush) are all my additions, as is the faint pattern in the bottom left corner area.

I've seen a lot of layering lately (for example, here, here and here) and I love it, so thought I'd try it myself:


The other day I finally went to a junk shop in the middle of touristville that is usually closed (!), and found it to be a treasure trove of old... well, junk. But some of us are looking for junk, and I picked out a couple of old keys:

... and some old tram tickets:


I am quite haunted by these photos. Not in a bad way; they just make me feel very mortal. Funny then that I've 'immortalised' these strangers on a page.

3 comments:

  1. Wow. great finds, great page. You have really achieved a great look. Love it.

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  2. my my... what beautiful memories lie upon these treasures... think this page is one to cherish! Nicely done...

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  3. What a fabulous idea, a very creative one too! I love your vintage style and the key is really cool! I've not scrapped old piccies yet but I do plan on doing it at some point so thanks for the inspiration :)
    Katie

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