What Should Girls Read?

When I was cleaning and organizing the garage last month I ran across a couple shadowbox frames that Jay made me for a project many years ago.  I decided I either needed to use them or get rid of them. 

Today's project is the result of that "use 'em up" decision. 

The frame opening is 12 x 12" to fit a page of scrapbook paper.  I painted the frame with Black Soot Distress Paint and let that dry while I decided on the paper for the background.
I chose this one from the Correspondence Paper Stash because of the great graphic and the gray tone.  Once it was glued down, I added a thin coat of MM over the top to seal the paper.
Once dry, I added Distress Paint Hickory Smoke and Vintage Photo to the surface, manipulating the paint with a wet wipe to control the opacity.  I wanted to see the graphic through the paint.

While the paint was drying, I dug through my ephemera and picked out a report card from 1913-1914 I had been saving.  I also cut out a few pictures from the idea-ology Photobooth Strips.  Since I'm going with a vintage look... I must have Vial Labels included in the mix!

I also cut the Sizzix Globe Thinlit (my favorite die) from Distress watercolor cardstock. 

I colored the globe with Tumbled Glass and Fossilized Amber Distress Stain and added it to the shadowbox with Multi Medium.

 Hickory Smoke Distress Paint worked well to grunge up the globe a bit.

 And then a Walnut Stain Distress marker to add depth.

Here is the finished collage.

 (please click on photo to enlarge)

When I was going through the small stack of saved ephemera I found a page that said. "what should girls read?"  It was an advertisement for a woman traveling the country, talking to girls about books and reading different subjects.  That one phrase, cut from the page, was the catalyst for the rest of the piece.  I took out the pictures of men I planned on using and replaced them with more pictures of women of different ages.  The string starts with the arrow pointing to the phrase and then winds around to each woman, like information passed along as we read, learn and share.

 The rest of the photos are just closeups.  Hope you enjoy!

Adornment arrow + gold alcohol ink
Dual Duty Button and Carpet thread

Picket Fence Distress paint was used to frame the photos.

The tiny names are also found ephemera (one of my favorite finds to date).  I first used them here last October.  Maybe I should have made a copy before I started cutting them up because I sure don't want them to end!

Vial Labels + Remnant Rubs

Writing done with a Stabilo pencil

Hope this gives you some inspiration to make something on the fly.  Nothing planned, just a small bit of ephemera.  You will never know what the words you find will lead you to create.

Carry on,
paula

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