Fond Memories - A Vintage Journey Challenge

I found a great vintage challenge site - A Vintage Journey - and their latest challenge (which is almost over so I had to get this made and posted!) is Fond Memories - to let some personal 'fond memory' be your guide in creating your project being inspired by Tim Holtz.

While I could have used old photos of past generations of my family -  at this point in my life my fond memories are of the babies being born in our family -  they grow so fast and their infant times are already 'fond memories' (accept for Madelyn - our newest baby who was born in April!)

So - for my Fond Memory project -  I used photos of my 2 grandnephews and 2 grandnieces as infants AND I made my first ATB (artist trading block)!!!   I have L-O-V-E-D these wonderful boxes from the first day that I saw them in blogland and I FINALLY made one -  I love them even more now! And you can bet you will be seeing many more here on the old 'blogo'!

I'll show you the steps I took to make my wonderful little Fond Memory Box.  I started out using 2 of the largest panels on the Sizzix Blocks/Cubes Die that makes a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" box.  I sponged over the panels with Mustard Seed and Salty Ocean Inks.

When I was done sponging - I flicked water on both panels - then blotted it with a paper towel.  At this time I also folded the panels and held the two together as a box to see which way I should place my photos so they would be right side up .  I drew little arrows in the center of the sides showing the direction that was up.

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At this point I sponged all the creases and edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I had printed my photos using my computer and printer on Natural Sticky Back Canvas in Sepia (an option on my printer).  I cut around the photos with a pair of pinking shears.

I had just purchased the Faucet Knobs and Compas Coins by Tim and I thought they'd be perfect on the top of my box.  I inked them with Archival Orange Blossom ink -  dried it with my heat gun - then inked it some more with Leaf Green and dried it again.  Let them cool after you heat them as they get HOT!

I adhered the sides of my box together with ScorTape -  as well as the bottom flap -  but left the top piece open as I thought I might want to use this as a box that opens.  (I have seen it recommended to decorate all sides before putting the box together - I think it depends on what you are putting on the sides.)  On my cover, I stenciled Wendy Vecchi's Check Mate using Archival Cornflower blue ink.  I put some Remnant Rubs/Botanicals on the edges and then punched a hole in the top and screwed on the compas and faucet (the screw that comes with the faucet fit PERFECTLY through the compas coin! that Tim thinks of everything!)

I added some Chit Chat Stickers and more Remnant Rubs/Botanicals over each of the photos.

Here is James as an infant - he is now almost 3

Here is Madelyn - James' brandy new sister (born in April!)

Here is Landon as an infant - he will be 4 in September

and this is Landon's sister - Mila as an infant - she will be 2 in August

So there you have it -  my Fond Memories!

The faucet top is SO fun -   you can pick up the box by the faucet handle to look at all the pictures.  I used Little Sizzles for my box - it's a very sturdy chipboard - the 6"x13" size fits the box die perfectly - you can make 1 box of each of the 3 sizes with two pieces of the chipboard and they come 6 pieces to a package.

I'm also linking this to the eclectic Paperie May ePlay challenge - to use stencils - this challenge goes until the end of May.

Paper:  Little Sizzles 6" x 13" chipboard - Sizzix, Natural Sticky Back Canvas - Claudine Helmuth/Ranger
Ink:  Archival Cornflower Blue, Orange Blossom, Leaf Green, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed and Salty Ocean.
Accessories:  Remnant Rubs/Botanicals, Chit Chat Stickers, Faucet Knobs, Compas Coins - Tim Holtz/Ranger, Scor Tape, Check Mate Stencil - Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi, Pinking shears, photos printed from computer.