Saturday, March 2, 2013

Five-Minute Vintage Cards

The trouble with vintage style is that it requires a lot of detail. 
Creating detailed cards can be a tedious and long process and result in a
treasure that you really don't want to give away if you think there's even 
a slim chance that the receiver might toss it one day...
Do you ever have those thoughts?  

So my personal challenge for the past few weeks was to use the new 
Oxford Impressions With Love collection to create quick, vintage-style cards.

I began by hitting the fifty-cent bins at Michael's, and oh what a sale it was:


Can you believe each item was just fifty cents???????

I picked out 7 card to work with:

I gave the floral ones a quick go over with a sanding block to dull the shiny surface and 
give them the worn look of an old book cover.  I punched a few borders, made a few die cuts,
prepared a few stamps, and in no time, the cards were transformed:


All stamps are from the With Love collection from Oxford Impressions. 
(See this post of mine to learn how to mount them) Now for some 
closeups. The card below on the left uses one stamp.  The card on the right uses two:
 a bee and a sentiment, both of which are embossed in brown. (Love the one on the right!)

 


The card below is probably my favorite--reminds me of a grandma's dress. I cut the
card edge with a die, added a punched border, an oval die cut, a punched tag, and two stamps.
 

The card below on the left is fun and young and kinda trendy. I added the heart and sentiment. 
The card on the right probably took longer than five minutes, but it was worth it.  I stamped five images from the  With Love collection, cut them out, and adhered them to the card along
 with a scrap of ribbon.
 


A quick, basic birthday card below. I punched an ivory scrap, 
stamped it, and then added two score lines to finish.


And the next card makes a great "Congratulations" card (flying to the top of the hill).  
I added the sentiment and the Paris postal mark in red.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with the results.  It was a fun challenge, stimulated my creativity and produced some quick, pretty cards. I would give these to anyone and feel they would like them.  

(Now I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of my Michael's haul!)

I'm linking up with
 Sunny Simple Life Sundays
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Share Your Cup Thursday
French Country Cottage Six Days of Spring
Metamorphosis Mondays
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Tweak it Tuesdays
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Thrifty Things Friday 
                                                            Laura

14 comments:

Laura Turner said...

Thanks,ladies! I love making quick cards and not obsessing over the details like I usually do! lol.

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Laura, these are amazing! You say that they were quick and easy, but you could never guess that. Love the wings added to the bike and key. I know what you mean about giving cards that take so much time to someone who might just throw them away. I always save and sometimes recycle cards that are given to me.
hugs,
Jann

Anonymous said...

I love making cards...embellishing them with my own crochet accessories has become my latest passion!!!
Personally, I think that giving beautifully made cards (whether or not the receivers keep them or not) is a lovely thing to do. It speaks volumes as to the kind of person you are. Usually extra caring, extra friendly, extra creative people go the extra mile to create something unique and from the heart! Keep on crafting girl!


Ciao bella.
Creative Carmelina

Laura Turner said...

I must say that I do agree with you, Carmelina! Your crochet accessories are divine. May everyone keeps you busy and your Etsy store empty!

Mindi@MyLove2Create said...

Such a great idea! The cards look fantastic! I love them! Thanks so much for coming and commenting on my blog! I am now following you!

Custom Comforts said...

Your cards are just beautiful!!! Lucky person who receives them from such a creative and caring hand.
Cindy

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

You did a great job dressing up plain cards, Laura! Such a great way to get and have a selection on hand for every occasion. I see you got those great little frames, too. I pick them up, too, even though I don't have any immediate plans for them.

An Oasis in the Desert said...

You did a wonderful job! I love making cards, but sometimes it's nice to upcycle an inexpensive one into something very special.

An Oasis in the Desert said...

I just saw that you had visited my blog and left a sweet comment; and you are also following -- thank you! I am now following your blog, too!

Have a super-great day!
Carol

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Laura,
Email me and we will talk..... I can't find your email addy....

Hugs,
Deb

Rhonda said...

Your cards are so pretty. I have a special box for such beautiful cards as these.

Curtains in My Tree said...

Yes, I have had the same feeling , make a special card that we spend hours on, put some of our best trims on it and then think, this person I am sending it to will throw it away.
I made a sister a special card and she threw it away, said Oh I thought it was a bought card

you made great cards out of the 50 cent pile

Diane said...

Very nice! Yes, I've thought about my cards windind up in the circular file too! Not a pleasant thought.

Diann said...

Your cards turned out gorgeous! What a great bargain on all the supplies! thank you for sharing them with us at TTF.