Antiquin'

In case you can't tell by now, I LOVE old stuff. I really do. In most cases, I prefer it to new:

• I don't see me living in a new house...I would so much rather fix up an older home
• I know the words to every oldie
• I love looking at old photos
• Most of my collections are of outdated things

I'm a little torn at times...I think I belonged in the early 1900's (love the clothes, houses, artwork, photography) yet I am glad that I live in the here and now (indoor plumbing, Internet, AC, 4 wheel drive, TV, the ability to vote, etc). I really love antiquing/junking/flea marketing cause it's so much fun to find a treasure and there's so many interesting things to see. It's fun to find something unique to express yourself with. What's nice about being in the East is that there are a LOT of little shops to explore! Stuff is generally cheaper out here than out West as well. This weekend, as a celebration of getting through last week, I stopped at one of my favorite antique stores and then on Saturday I wandered the local flea market and the junk store. I wish I'd had more money with me, but I still had fun.

The other thing about shopping this way is that it's green...you're reusing stuff instead of needing new stuff produced. And you're keeping it out of landfills!

Sometime soon I'll have to show pics of what I actually collect, as I have several (too many! ha!) collections.

Here's the Whistle Stop in Corry, one of my faves:

I love re-purposing items...I think this fireplace insert would look fab on a wall!

On a side note, this was upstairs in the junk store...just had to take a pic of this FUNKY flower-shaped display...who made that and how??? Unexpected!

Most of the time I prefer the natural aged patina, I find it to be interesting looking- like this chair (it looked cooler in person than in my photo). I mean, you couldn't replicate this if you tried:

So what did I come away with this weekend? While I wished I'd had more pocket $ at the flea market (saw a great pink depression glass cake plate for cheap), I came away with this vintage tabletop aqua ironing board for $2! I love junk stores. Someday I want an aqua kitchen, and this is flat so storage for it in the mean time isn't too big an issue.

It's ever so slightly greener than the aqua metal doll highchair that I acquired a couple of months ago (I'm such a sucker for this color!).

It was funny cause when I went to pay for my ironing board, the shopkeeper was all "those make really great ironing boards" and I'm like "I just bought it for the color"!

I guess that's an added bonus for my $2 investment!

Creativity

I mentioned in October that I really liked the talk given by President Uchtdorf about women and creativity and thought I'd share some of his comments. I really do feel happier when I am using talents and creating. I also liked the point that it's not just about painting or singing or something, but creating a peaceful, happy atmosphere in your home:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before."Everyone can create. You don't need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty."Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty. . ". . . Remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn't it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination."But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy (see 2 Nephi 2:25). Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things."

"If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next."You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us (see D&C 46:11–12). The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter."What you create doesn't have to be perfect. . . . Don't let the voices of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 118–19

Niagara Falls

I got a page done, it had been in Unfinished Limbo Land for awhile:

You like my bfly tin? It holds my glue runners perfectly. It always feels so nice to get things done- I always seem to be good at starting things...but not finishing them! It was a great day with my family and I'm glad to have the page to show it.

I Spy

...with my little eye:

Good friends

Cute babies

A temple sealing

The Golden Gate

Little girls from Fairfield that aren't so little anymore

Two of my six kitties

Goofing around at the Black and White Bash

Junior Prom my Senior year

Twin Day

My mommy as a little girl

Butterflies

Halloween 2001

Young Women's

Me wearing the same outfit in two photos

People from Connecticut

Brought to you by the letter "e"

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I re-did my ribbon board (from good ol' BB&B) the other day and updated and rearranged it. It's a good place to stick random photos that I don't really know what to do with. It hangs above my bed, I like to look at it and think about the people I love. There's still a few people that need representing, one of these days I'll get around to that. I bought the butterfly prints on either side at a couple of different antique stores (the large one from CT, the two small ones back home). My wall is too stark of a shade of white (the people who built this house made a lot of strange decor choices that drive me crazy), I want to paint my room a nice shade of ivory, which would go much better with my bedding and wall pieces. I miss a lot of people that I've gotten to know over the years and so I like to remember them with my ribbon board.

Family Tree

I made this awhile ago but thought I'd show it here. I wanted to show that it's not hard to make decent looking home decor items using scrapbook supplies. The 9x9" frame came from Ikea, complete with mat. I put a piece of patterned paper behind the mat, then used a metal tree & frames set made by Creating Keepsakes (was sold at JoAnn's, don't know if it is anymore). I copied or printed vintage family photos of my mom's side of the family, cut them out with the included template, and glued them in place. The frames come with adhesive on the back already, just had to stick them in place. I used pink and yellow embroidery floss (it coordinates with the paper) to tie onto the loops of the mini-frames for a more "finished" look. I typed the word "Family", printed it out and adhered it to a white scalloped label from Martha Stewart Crafts and glued it in the corner. It didn't take very long to put together.

I like the look of it- I don't like when people try to put really trendy stuff with old photos in an attempt to "modernize" them- it ususally doesn't work. I try to be more timeless with my scrapbooks than most people. I think you have to respect what era it came from.

My mom likes the family tree a lot, I'm like "It's MINE!";)

Jen's page

My cousin Jennifer had Baby Cashew, aka Raegan in October and since I know she loves to scrapbook but has no time cause of the baby, I made a baby shower layout using the pics my aunt sent us:

My cousin is doing a jungle theme in Raegan's room, so hence the critters:

I only glued the large pic on three sides, creating a pocket for a tabbed card that holds all the gift info on it. Even if this is in a page protector, you can still grab it out from the top (I hate it when people make interactive page elements that you can't access through a page protector!).

What do we learn from this? Save your scraps! This layout was dirt cheap because I didn't buy anything for it- all the animal pieces are cut from cardstock scraps. I designed the animals myself, but you could find animal or other shapes online to trace or even trace cookie cutters. I pre-poked holes in the cardstock before stitching with embroidery floss (which is pretty stinkin' cheap) so that sewing was easier. When sewing on cardstock, you have to be careful that you don't pull too hard or you'll rip through your paper. You don't even have to have knots on the back- I secured the ends of the thread with a little adhesive. I used ric-rac for the alligator's teeth- I love glue dots for attaching things like that on pages. I used my smaller scalloped scissors on the big pic and my huge scalloped scissors on the smaller pic.

Another trick on this page was the collage of all the shower pics- I scanned the pics, then created the collage in Photoshop Elements (I made sure it was 8x10) and then got it printed as an 8x10 enlargement at Walmart. Much cheaper than getting a bunch of little wallets printed (which is what I had to do before I had Photoshop at my house!). With most pictures, you don't need to see them big, you just need them to get a sense of what took place.

I haven't made a page for awhile, it felt good to do so. I liked it alot, it was hard to mail away!

Pattern

I was going through my mom's box of old patterns this weekend- most were ugly clothes patterns from the 70's and 80's, but I found this gem. It was made in 1963! One of these days I'll make me a bag...and if it turns out well enough this could be an Etsy item!

Blue Foam

Ode to Blue Foam

by Elizabeth Chaney

Blue Foam is everywhere

In my nose,

In my hair...

Yes even in my underwear!

Blue Foam is everywhere. (cough)

I've spent the past few weeks working on my final project for 3-D art- an abstract sculpture carved from dense insulation foam. All the little bits of foam stick to you, no matter what you do! After class I looked the abominable snow-woman! The room looked like a snowglobe! I would shed blue foam wherever I went. I'm so glad I don't have to breathe it in anymore and that this project is over! It was hard coming up with an interesting abstract sculpture and I think mine was fine but maybe now I'd tweak it. It was interesting to learn a new building technique- now I can make anything I want!

The maquette:

You laminate pieces of foam together with spray adhesive:

Then carve with a small saw and files:

Then I pegged the appendages on and covered it with Durham's- a dry putty mix that you mix with water to create a hard skin:

Here is my turkey-stegosaurus-bunny ear-cat whisker-melted peep:

(I got so many funny comments as to what it looked like!)

Don't ask why I gravitated to BRIGHT yellow- I don't know!

Here are a few that I liked alot from my classmates:


And here's some not-so-hot ones, unfortunately two of the worst offenders took off with their project before I could snap a picture:
Boring shapes, boring color, boring assembly



A Renaissance Yoda Mermaid?

A shrimp? A fetus? And not well carved or painted at that. That kink in the tail is terrible!

My friend Mike did this one...not bad but he needed more dintinct shading. It looks like it could be in a park! We joked about it needing some graffiti!

The shape is pretty interesting, but the paint does nothing for me! The muddy gray just makes it blah and takes away from the shape. (below)

Everyone in class really gravitated towards this one...but not me. I think they were all distracted by the fact that it was covered in candy....if it was just painted would they find it as interesting??? I think not.

Here's D's bug (or an antelope? I don't know):

D (the girl who couldn't see the carousel horse in my cardboard project) made an ugly bug thing (above) and I was so tempted to walk over to her and say..."You know what I see in your project? If I look real close it looks like...hmmm...a bug!" But I guess I had some class for a moment or two. I liked the bug's body shape before she put a head on it and I don't think the painting goes with the hard edges on the body.

I am getting tired of bailing out crappy slacker art students...I was nice the other day and let a guy from sculpture borrow my leftover spray adhesive...and he thought I gave it to him! And then he walked off with my leftover Durham's cause he thought I said yes to that too. When did I become the supply fairy?? Buy your own! Those cost $16! I probably wouldn't use the leftovers much, but I'm the one who bought them!! And now I'm kicking myself about the Durham's- I got the idea to make little foam ladybugs too late. I guess one of these days I'll buy some more and make some smaller sculptures out of foam leftovers.

Which leads to the question....what do I do with this sculpture now?? It's kinda big (2.5x2.5 ft) to keep but I spent so much time on it to throw it out!

Q&A- Scanning

My friend Megan asked me this question:

Q: What is the best way to get QUALITY digital copies of photos when all I have are the actual printed photos?

A: Well, Megan, sounds like you need a good scanner! There's a lot of great scanners out there and I love how technology is getting cheaper and cheaper. Right now I use the crummy scanner at school but all I'm doing right now is scanning photos that go on the web so quality isn't a huge issue. Santa is bringing me an Epson Perfection V300 for Christmas and I can't wait. It has a lot of great features for being only $99!

Now the experts recommend scanning negatives (you always get better clarity from the source than a copy) over prints but you can still get good digital images from your prints.

Ask yourself: Where is this photo going? If you are wanting to make a print from your scan, you'll want to scan at a higher resolution (like 300 dpi) than if the pic is only going on the web (you'll only need a 72 dpi). You'll want a high resolution especially if you want the print to be enlarged.

Make sure your photo and your scanner bed are clean and free of dust and fingerprints. Some scanners come with dust-fixing software, but it's still important to reduce problems in the first place. You can crop and tweak your photos with photo editing software- I enjoy Photoshop Elements cause it's pretty easy to do what I want.

Both Kodak machines and Wal-Mart 1 hour machines have a scanner attached to them, but I don't know how well they work (and who can guarantee that they'll be clean?). You could test it out and see if that works ok for you. You can make prints or cds (or both!) with those machines.

You can visit www.scantips.com for more info on scanning.

A word about photo printing: I HATE Kodak picture machines with a passion but many people use them- I always find their printouts to be really low quality and the color is terrible. Do yourself a favor and use the Wal-Mart 1 hour photo processing instead- they do real good quality and I prefer the matte paper that they use. And they're inexpensive! Your scanned/printed images can look better or worse depending on where you get them printed.

Megan, I hope that answered your question. Let me know if you need any more help.

-Liz

Archival Preservation

Note from Liz: This is a subject that I find interesting, I'd love to study museum science! I gathered information on preserving items and thought I'd share. I'm pretty passionate about this subject and I hate to see people making mistakes that will cost them their heirlooms. I think this is an important topic- those who read this blog are generally young, if we learn now how to take care of things, we won't have to try to undo our mistakes later. Also one day you'll probably be inheriting some keepsakes, you should learn now how to take care of them.

My qualifications: My family has always had stuff in storage- some has fared well over the last twenty years and other stuff not so well. We discovered a lot of disintegrating items in the move. I know from experience what works and what doesn't. I have also read extensively on the subject. If there are any questions, let me know.

Above: My first grade class! I am in the top row on the right and I was stinkin' cute if I do say so myself! Sadly these photos are still trapped in an evil magnetic album from the '80s!

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Guide to Archival Preservation

What causes things to compost?

Answer: Heat, light and moisture!

Do you want your items to become compost? Then keep them away from the biggest offenders!

Heat speeds chemical reactions and causes decay more quickly. Light also does the same thing, especially sunlight or fluorescent light. Ultra-violet radiation from these types of light speeds chemical reactions. Humidity levels above 70% promote mold growth and rapid changes in humidity causes damage as things quickly expand and contract.

Do not store important items in an uninsulated attics or damp basements! They are either too hot or too moist for your items to properly store. If you must store things in your basement, control moisture (both on the ground and in the air) and store items at least one foot off the ground (you never know if your basement might flood!).

The rule of thumb is to store important items in an environment that you find comfortable: not too hot, cold or humid.

Other things to avoid:

• Acid: Acid eats away, discolors, and destroys items over time. It also turns things brittle. Acid will leach into surrounding non-acidic items and damage them as well. Look for photo albums, paper, adhesives, pens, containers and other products labeled "acid-free". If a product does not say "acid-free", do not assume it is just because it is made for photos.
  
• Lignin: Lignin is a substance that gives plants and trees their strength and rigidity. When trees are broken down to make paper, the lignin becomes unstable. Paper that has high amounts of lignin, such as newsprint, is very acidic and yellows very easily. Look for products labeled "lignin-free".


• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): This unstable plastic emits corrosive and acidic gas, which is harmful to photos and other items. PVC generally has a very plastic-y odor.


• Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA): This is an acidic plastic that causes photos and documents to deteriorate and fade.


• Dust: It appears soft, but is actually abrasive. Remove dust regularly and keep items as clean as possible. Dry dusting is recommended over sprays and chemicals.


• Hands: The oils and salts in your hands are very damaging to items. It is helpful to wear white cotton gloves when handling paper, photographs or textiles. Metal objects are also vulnerable to damage from your hands. Handle your items carefully, do not overhandle.

Good things to store your items in:

• Mylar, Polyester, Polyethylene, Polypropylene: These are inert plastics that are safe for photographs and documents. They do not release harmful gases.

How to care for:

Paper:

• Remove post-it notes, paperclips, rubber bands, brads and staples before storing important documents. Those items will either break down and stain (rubber bands), leave acid or adhesive (post-it notes), or rust (staples, brads and paperclips).
• Do not place newspaper clippings, photos and letters in the same storage pocket- separate them out.
  
• Archival Mist can be sprayed on newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, etc to neutralize acid.


• Store important letters, documents, etc, flat when possible. Uncurling tightly curled papers leads to fiber breakdown. Store folded papers (like letters) unfolded and avoid unfolding and refolding as that breaks down the fibers and makes ripping more likely.


• To store an acidic document, place it between two sheets of quality paper- the acid will leach into the quality paper instead of surrounding documents.

Photos:

• Color prints, negatives and slides are more delicate and prone to chemical breakdown than traditional black and white.


• Handle negatives and prints by the edges.


• Never write on the front or back of a photo- Ink can bleed through over time and pens can dent photos as well. If you must write on your photo, use acid-free, fadeproof, waterproof inks. Sharpies are not archival!


• Keep negatives separated in plastic sleeves. Do not store negatives touching one another. Negatives from before the 1950's are prone to sticking together and the chemical process used then was prone to combustion!


• Keep photos and negatives in appropriate acid free sleeves, albums, boxes and containers. The envelopes that photos come in from the developer are not acid-free! Old magnetic albums are BAD for your photos!
• Don't cut Polaroid photos- they release harmful chemicals.
• Display copies of photos, keep originals safe from sun damage.

CDs and DVDs:

• Once thought to last forever, new studies have shown that it is unknown how long cds last. The best guess is 10-15 years.
• Use high quality, archival discs (like Archival Gold) to store important photos and files. They claim to last several hundred years.
• Avoid flexing discs, as this creates tiny cracks that can let in moisture and lead to the breakdown of your disc.
• use an archival pen when labeling discs, as inferior ink can leach into your disc over time and lead to its breakdown.
• Keep discs away from moisture, especially the kind you burn (I lost my Napoleon Dynamite cd this way!)

Videocassettes and Audio tapes:

• Store tapes upright (like books), not flat. Storing them flat could lead to distortions.
• High temperatures can damage tapes.
• Each use causes wear on the tape, eventually leading to a breakdown of the material. Try to get important recordings transferred to a cd or dvd.

Textiles:

• Make sure things are truly clean before you store them.
• Do not store items in a cedar chest- they do not protect items and can actually damage them with fumes and oils.
• Avoid storing items in plastic- this traps in moisture. You want items to be able to "breathe".
• Store heirloom items in acid-free boxes. Use acid-free tissue inside garments to limit creasing. On a regular basis, refold item in a different way to avoid permanent creasing.
• Avoid harsh detergents, use a gentle detergent made for heirloom items (there's many quilt detergents on the market). Vacuuming is often effective.

Paintings:

• Do not store valued works of art over a frequently used fireplace.
• Avoid direct sunlight, use indirect lighting. Do not use spotlights on your artwork.
• Avoid halogen light- it emits high levels of ultraviolet light which is damaging to light-sensitive items.

Printing:

• When printing documents, laser ink printing is more archival than printing from ink-jet printers. Printing from an ink-jet fades rapidly and will run if you get it wet.
• Some ink-jet manufacturers (Epson, HP) now have archival printing. You must use their recommended paper and ink to achieve these results.
• Sprays are available to spray on printed photos to reduce fading. Older home-printed photos are highly susceptible to fading.

Organization:

• Do for your descendants what you wish your ancestors had done for you...do you wish they had been organized? Labeled photos? Kept a journal? Then do it for the next generation!
• Don't do what can't be undone! Do not crop, laminate or otherwise alter original documents and pictures. Make Photoshop corrections on a copy, not the original file.
• Make several copies of important documents and files onto discs,websites, or external hardrives...do not store everything solely on your computer or you will be in trouble when it crashes!
• Make prints of important files and photos, these could wind up being your only copies if your other options fail.
• It doesn't matter how much money you've sunk into something if it is going to ruin your items. My mom has a hard time wanting to take photos out of magnetic albums because she "spent so much money on them".
• Develop a system of organization for photos, documents and computer files.
• Play the "what if?" game to cover your bases (example: What if I store all my documents on my computer and it crashes? What if I store this in the basement?)
• Upgrade items to the next technology while it is still relatively easy to do so. Technology moves faster and faster and we have to act fast before our items are lost forever. My mom has things stored on floppy discs from the 80's, I can pretty much guarantee that that info will never see the light of day again. I need to move my digital art projects from zip disks onto cds before it is too late. Small diskettes have pretty much become obsolete, move that info while you can!

I hope that this information helps you preserve your items. I know it sounds like a lot, but a little prevention goes a long way. Think about things before you do them. I'm not perfect at this, but I try. One of these days I'll get my childhood photos out of those magnetic albums!