Create Photo Art the Easy Way

You don't have to be a graphic artist or even a great photographer to create unique photo art with some of the online digital tools available today.

Admittedly, I'm an amateur who likes playing with crafty-looking add-ons and altering basic photographs to change the style. I like to layer backgrounds and add overlays. I'm particularly fond of making my photographs look like ephemera.

Last week, I took this photograph out the window of my ninth-floor office during a light snow. It's not a high-quality photo, as the light was poor and I was using my iPhone 5. But, I liked the photo and posted it on Facebook. Then I decided to play around with it.

While there are many free digital photo-editing tools online, I generally use PicMonkey. It's easy and it feeds my need for cheesy, crafting-looking creations. There is a free version that offers many nice editing tools and a premium version that has many additional options. I pay for the premium version. It's worth the cost for me because I use it a lot.

The first image above could be featured in a small frame as a holiday accent or used as the front of a handmade holiday card.

Other styles of the same image open up many possibilities for the use of just this one photograph.

As you can see, photo editing allows you to make something interesting from a mediocre quality photo. The combinations of backgrounds, overlays, text fonts, frames and cutouts make the possibilities endless.

Explore some of these highly rated photo editing programs to find one that suits your needs best.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Inspiration Spotlight

Pardon My French (Ephemera)

Last weekend had to be a record here. Thirteen estate sales were advertised around the city. I can't remember another weekend with that many sales!

Sadly, since this was one of the first warm and nice weekends we've had here, I felt compelled to finish cleaning up the flower beds and pruning rose bushes and shrubs. That left little time for estate sales, but I did make it to one--the one closest to where I live.

I'm always on the prowl for ephemera I can incorporate into my handmade journals and wasn't disappointed at this sale.

My take included what I think is a French notebook--it's difficult to tell from the cover--and a French dictionary, as well as a cute bakery receipt book, a large stack of yellowed penmanship paper and several decks of playing cards with interesting themes. All the finds are vintage.

I don't know French, so I'm not sure what the cover of this journal says. Inside are several pages of handwriting. Guess I'll have to enlist my hubby to try to translate some of it for me. He knows a little French.

While not in the best condition, the journal is precious. The handwriting makes it so personal.

Whose was it?

What does it say?

Is it full of deep thoughts or is it merely a place to practice writing in French?

Regardless, I won't dismantle this gem for my journal and decoupage projects. I plan to digitize a few pages so I can leave the book intact and still use some of the handwriting.

At the same sale, I acquired a sweet little French/English dictionary. The cover is in pathetic condition, with the spine nearly completely detached. Someone had tried mending it, front and back, with masking tape. So sad.

Measuring about five inches square, it was printed in 1945. Considering the condition of the cover, the inside pages are in good vintage condition. They have that nice "yellow-with-age" hue.

Nice inscription inside the cover. Wish I knew what it says.

The receipt book is from Dale and Helene's Big Horn Bakery of Basin, Wyoming. The "fill-in-the-blank" date on the receipts indicates it's from the 1950s.  Could be as old as I am. Not many pages left in the pad, but what's there is in very good vintage condition.

Looks great on the antique Hoosier cabinet with some of my vintage kitchen items.

It's always a successful weekend when I come home with interesting ephemera.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

What's It Wednesday

Cottage Style Party
Time Travel Thursday

Thrifty Things Friday
Serenity Saturday

A Trip to France--Without Leaving Town

Do you have a favorite neighborhood for estate sales in your community? A location that generally means you'll score something great? I do. In our city, a handful of neighborhoods hold special excitement for me. They always seem to harbor some of the vintage tresures I love.

Recently, I noticed a sale advertised in one of my least favorite neighborhoods. Uber large, high-end (and often very weird) homes built in the late 1960s and 1970s. Having lived through that period, I just can't get too excited about most of what is offered at sales that feature an abundance of items from that era. I almost didn't attend this particular sale. But, at the last minute, my trusty Subaru steered me in that direction.

I felt certain my suspicions would be confirmed and that I would be disappointed. From the outside, the home looked to be the typical weird '60s monstrosity that is so prevalent in this neighborhood. Walking in the front door, I took a quick visual survey. Yep. The standard period pieces that generally leave me unimpressed and uninspired. I came close to walking out the door until I heard someone talking about an awesome wine cellar in the basement.

Curiosity got the best of me. I checked it out and I'm glad I did.

The wine cellar inventory was pretty picked over, but in the corner was a stack of disassembled wine crates that had held wines from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Coincidental to the age of the home, perhaps? Yes. Pure coincidence, I'm sure.

I picked through the pile of wood and selected 13 of the best looking panels.

When I got home, I added one to the shelf in the foyer. It coordinates nicely with the Eiffel Tower wall hanging. At least temporarily.

The wood panels are various sizes. Some have shipping stamps on them, others have shippers' writing. I think that just adds to the charm. These will be great for a repurpose or upcycle project. Some will likely end up in my Etsy store for someone else to play with.

When I was in the wine cellar at the estate sale, I noticed a man with an armful of nice vintage books. Most of them were in English, but a couple were written in French. So, I went in search of the books. I hadn't seen any on the main floor or in the basement.

The upstairs had a nice little nook with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a big beautiful window with a window seat. I've never seen so many French books in one estate sale here.

I found some nice ones that I'll use for display, as well as some that were in rough condition. I'll take those apart and add bits and pieces to my ephemera journals.

On my way to check out, I came across a box of maps of France. All regions and towns. Jackpot! Snapped those up for my journals, too.

Now I'm reconsidering my attitude toward estate sales in this neighborhood. Never know if the next one will take me on a trip to Italy or Russia.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
The Scoop
Knick of Time Tuesday
Thursday Favorite Things

What I Found in the Mail

On the way home from work one night, I stopped at an estate sale. This wasn't one run by an estate sale company. It was run by the family. A really nice family.

I picked up some nice things at the sale--for really good prices. Several lovely aprons. Some nice linens.  A sweet tulip salt and pepper shaker set. Some pretty metal trays.

But what I was most interested in was an envelope with about 50 photographs from the mid to late 1930s and early 1940s and a Ziploc bag of what I thought was just stamps and empty used envelopes with postage stamps still attached. Just the type of ephemera I use in my handmade journals.

I didn't even have to look far. Both were just inside the front door to the place. And, only dollar each for the envelope of photos and the bag of stamps.

When I picked up the envelope of photographs and the bag of stamps, I certainly didn't expect the treasure trove I found when I opened them up at home.

The collection of stamps was nice and will be quite useful for my craft projects. The corner of the envelopes containing the stamps had simply been torn off and thrown into the Ziploc bag.

At the bottom of the bag, however, were a few whole envelopes. All but one were addressed to the same woman. One was addressed to a man who I assume was woman's husband. Over the course of the 12 years the postmarks represented, 1925-1937, the couple appeared to have lived in Texas, western Nebraska and, eventually, central Nebraska.

To my delight, four of the envelopes still contained the original cards.

Such a lovely Mother's Day card, dated 1925.

And, why wouldn't someone with "moonbeams" in her blog title be bowled over by this adorable Valentine card also from the 1920s? It reminded me of how much I loved the imagery in the movie "Paper Moon."

A whimsical birthday card, dated 1935, for the mister, is just doggone cute.

And the icing on the cake is this tease of a Valentine. A true treasure. Like Russian stacking dolls, the outer envelope opens to another, and another, and another. Ten times over. The prize in the tenth and final teensy, weensy envelope--a construction paper heart. Each envelope has a fun rhyme printed in red ink on the front coaxing the reader to open it. As if I needed to be coaxed to look further!

The cards and empty envelopes are all addressed to members of one family. And, let me just say, the package of photographs--the same family--is a delight. Many have detailed, hand-written descriptions on the backs. I'm excited to share those with you in a future post.

As for the little mailbag featured today: It definitely has my stamp of approval.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Knick of Time Tuesday
Share the Love Wednesday
All-Star Block Party
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady

Cool Cooler Coolest

From about mid-December to mid- or late January, estate sales are few and far between around here--the holidays get in the way. Imagine that. And, living in the Midwest, garage sales are virtually extinct this time of year.

So, a couple of weekends ago, I was thrilled to see a single estate sale advertised in the newspaper. I scored some wonderful ephemera for my handmade journals and this terrific vintage cooler ($4).

It has vibrant red-clad handles and a cushy gold vinyl top. A perfect complement to my thrift wicker settee and vintage glass shade lights, it will be great for cooling drinks on the deck in the summer. The nifty padded top will provide an additional spot for someone to sit a spell. For now, I'm storing the canvas deck chair slipcovers in it.

Also grabbed this nice, tall Thermos for $1 at the same sale. I already had a smaller version of this one in my collection.

I love that the gold cooler top coordinates so well with the gold in the gray Thermos and the fantastic Pelican cooler I scored at a garage sale last summer (for $1--can you believe it?).

Even with the mild winter we've had here in the Midwest, I'm looking forward to even warmer weather, the sparkle of my fairy lights and an ice-cold drink from my fun vintage cooler on the deck.

Don't forget to enter my 100th-follower giveaway. There's still time:  enter by 11:59, January 27, HERE.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady
Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World
Potpourri Friday at 2805
Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense
Wait a Wee Meenit Wednesday
Sunday Blog Love at Cherished Treasures

A Shameless Plug and a GIVEAWAY . . .

The snowbirds are fleeing the cold-weather coop even though the weather in most of the country hasn't been too bad so far this winter.

Those who alight in Arizona, particularly the Scottsdale area, truly will miss out if they don't make a stop at my sister Nancy's unique boutique, The Embellished House--A Workshop Extraordinaire. A magical mix of whimsy and stately, shabby and elegant, many of her beautiful offerings are one-of-a-kind.

She finds, reclaims and--working with artisans in the Scottsdale area and around the country--revitalizes or repurposes antique and vintage furniture and lighting fixtures, industrial and architectural salvage, fabric, paper and miscellaneous bits and pieces. She also does custom projects.

Located on Scottsdale Road, The Embellished House is in a space with a history of its own. Nancy has beautifully renovated the former Drinkwater Liquor, preserving many of its original features and repurposing and reusing many of the original elements such as the cooler doors and the drive-thru space.

Here's a peek into the world of The Embellished House:

I'm partial to this beautiful black and white pillow with its gorgeous vintage brooch. (Smile.) It's one of my own creations that I make for The Embellished House.

The Embellished House doesn't sell on-line at this time. But, Nancy will do custom work. Feel free to contact her through her website. And, when you're in Scottsdale, stop in. But be prepared. It could take your  breath away.

Now for the GIVEAWAY I promised . . .

Back in December (coincidentally, it was the week of my birthday), I reached the exciting milestone of 100 followers--small potatoes for some of you, I know. But, when I started this blog last July, 100 followers wasn't even part of my consciousness. 

Now, about six months later, I have my followers and other readers to thank for keeping me motivated to continue this fun and rewarding journey. 

So, in appreciation of all of you faithful blog friends, I'm hosting a giveaway.

I'm so excited to offer one of my handmade For Giggles and Grins journals. Each journal is a unique compilation of vintage and found paper goods from sources such as estate sales, yard sales, thrift stores and my own lifelong collection. Most covers are salvaged from books that were destined for the landfill.

The winner will receive this French-themed journal. The cover is salvaged from a 1954 Reader's Digest--the Summer Selections edition. I embellished it with a vintage paper doily and a wonderful image from The Graphics Fairy. 

The book's personality is enhanced by the small flaws that one would expect to find in items that have experienced a previous life.

Each journal includes a few small surprises, including a handmade envelope. Be sure to look in all the envelopes. Doesn't everyone love a surprise?

Use your journal as a place to record your daily thoughts, observations of nature or to capture your poetry. It also makes a wonderful guest book in which your friends can pen a comment when they visit. I'm sure all you creative divas out there can think of many fun ways to use a journal like this.

At this point, most of the journals I make are by special request. They are available for direct purchase only at The Embellished House in Scottsdale.

I'm trying to get organized enough to open an Etsy store and offer the journals there, along with some of my other creations and vintage items. But, where does the time go? I've been saying that for months now.

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:

For each step you complete, please leave a separate comment. Each comment will count as a separate entry. You have up to four chances to win.

1.  Follow Moonbeams & Fireflies, or if you already follow, leave a comment to let me know

2.  Take a stroll around The Embellished House, then come back here and tell me what your favorite item on Nancy's site is

3. Tweet about this giveaway

4. Blog about the giveaway or post the button on your side bar

Be sure I have access to your email address, so I can notify you if you win.

Register before midnight Central Time, Jan. 27. I will select the winner at random and notify by email no later than Jan. 29. 

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Market Your Biz & Giveaways at Homemaker on a Dime
Whatever You Want Wednesday at Free Pretty Things for You
Sugar and Spice at Seven Thirty Three
Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound