TSTR - Vintage Charm

This is my fourth week as the October Guest Designer for The Shabby Tea Room, and I'm really enjoying this experience. The inspiration photos and challenges have been so much fun this month that I can say with surety that I would have participated in all the weekly challenges whether I was Guest Designer or not!

And this week was absolutely no exception...just take a peek at this inspiration photo that Tracey asked us to base our project(s) on...

Oh my stars...look at those beautiful ribbon bookmarks!  Our challenge was to use the colors in the photo, and in addition, use a charm. Well, I went so ga-ga over those ribbon bookmarks, I searched through my accessories and findings drawers, hoping I still had a ribbon clamp or two hiding in there...otherwise, I was going to have to make a special trip to the store.  A charm just wasn't enough for me...I had to make one of those ribbon bookmarks.  Not only did I find a clamp, but it was aqua...perfect for my handmade ribbon charm.  I knew I couldn't realistically put a beautifully heavy and bulky one as in the picture onto a card to be mailed, but I could follow the idea.  So make one I did...and put it center stage on my card...

Atop the charm is a layered flower, with a shabby aqua rose at the bottom, a layer of gathered airy crocheted lace, and a trio of scrunched seam binding bows, all topped with a craft store fabric rose with a large pearl center...

The metal memo pin was dry-brushed with white acrylic paint to shabby it up a bit...there's a pink crystal spacer and a cream colored pearl added to it, too...

This ribbon bookmark accent was a lot of fun to put together. The ribbon clamp was dry-brushed with white paint to lighten it and shabby it up just a bit. A piece of cream satin ribbon with a strip of soft lace added to the center was crimped into the clamp. The pink heart is a rusted heart that's had pink acrylic paint applied over it, then rubbed off until some of the rust shows through.  (I punched a small hole in the heart with my Crop-a-dile so I could attach the jump ring through it).  The crystal bead came off an old, old, old charm bracelet many years ago, so that got added to the same jump ring as the rusted heart. I positioned the three marquis-shaped pearls at the bottom of the heart to appear as though they're part of the bead, but they're actually simply adhered to the heart itself.

Originally, I had a random cluster of pearls at the base of the ribbon just above the clamp, but that seemed to bring the eye down to the bottom of the card. So I changed it to an "arrow" shaped cluster of pearls, hoping the eye would go back up to the sentiment at the side of the flower...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Authentique Gathering collection (cream); Prima Zephyr collection (blue)

Dies: Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeabilities & Classic Ric Rac Insert A Edgeabilities;

My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Rusted heart and narrow crochet lace trim: TheFunkieJunkie.com      Aqua shabby flower: Frogfeathers on Etsy

Pearls: Recollections and Prima      Tim Holtz memo pin (painted and embellished)     Hug Snug seam binding

Miscellaneous craft store supplies: pink fabric rose, satin ribbon, ribbon clamp, white lace, bead charm,

crocheted lace (in flower)

Thank you for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!