Un peu Français à un Vintage Voyage

Ok so I’m trying out a bit of French and I have probably got it wrong because it’s decades since I learnt it at school, but you probably get the drift.

It’s the amazing Astrid’s turn to choose and host this new challenge at A Vintage Journey and she has chosen ‘A little bit French’,  in her description she says -

“Give your project that little bit of a French feel. Tim has so many products that can be used to create a Springtime in Paris make, or if that does not take your fancy, why not something grungy and / or vintage but with a bit of a French flair? Think stamps, embossing folders, distress products, the possibilities are endless... Whatever you do enjoy the journey, but take it to France....”
 

So I have made a shadow box frame to tell the story of Cécile.

 

I started by using Tim’s postage stamp frame cutting one in pink coredinations paper and then three frames and one backing in greyboard.

I sanded the coredinations frame and stamped some text on it a little before giving it a coat of clear crackle paint.

I painted all the chipboard pieces in spun sugar distress paint and the bottle in picket fence distress paint.

I began gathering and making bits for embellishing.

 

The background was blended with spun sugar, worn lipstick, victorian velvet and tattered rose distress inks and dried thoroughly.  I stamped the collage stamp from Paris memoirs in tattered rose DI and immediately brushed heirloom gold perfect pearls over it. I added some wrinkle free technique with walnut stain and frayed burlap DIs and some torn Sketchbook tissue tape.

This is Cécile, she lives with her parents in Paris, the year is 1855 and France is at war. Her young man is in Le Garde Imperiale and fighting in the Crimea she looks wistful and melancholy waiting for his return.

I found Cécile’s photo in the Laboratorie paper stash and framed her using the Bigz tag die  I finger washed some watery white acrylic paint over the frame and added two pretty brads.

Whilst Cécile’s young man is in the army she writes to him when she can and in her spare time she also loves to write poetry, keeping it to give to him when he returns.

The pen nib has a natural aged bloom to it as it is a vintage one from my collection. The butterflies are cut using the Butterfly Frenzy strip die.

Like all young ladies of her day Cécile loves to buy some of the most beautiful perfumes that are available in the shops and has several bottles on her dressing table……

The apothecary bottle was made into a perfume bottle with white and silver embossing powders and I added my own spin on the name of a famous French perfume using remnant rubs and the no: 1 (great artistic license here) which was cut from the 1/2 metal number. The Eiffel Tower behind it was cut out from a stamp from the mini classics set of stamps.

…. she also has little jars of imported face cream and lotions sitting on a shelf nearby.

The bottles were painted with picket fence distress paint and I added some strange looking labels

Often Cécile can be found in the drawing room reading and dreaming of when her fine beau will return home......

I painted the word band with picket fence distress paint and before it was dry I rubbed it off leaving the writing white.

....... she hopes that time will be soon so that they can start to plan their marriage.

I also collected together some charms, dabbed them with the same picket fence paint and let them dry before hanging them on the side.

A small fleur de lys from my charm box also shabbied with paint …….

I hope Cécile’s young man comes back to her and that they live a happy life together – I so love happy endings.

I hope you will travel a way on this French part of A Vintage Journey, it would be great to share it with you. Hopefully I will see you there?

Have a fabulous weekend. I won't get to Paris but I will be in Wales having fun on a double workshop for some lovely ladies near Abergavenny.

hugs Brenda xx