Daguerreotype Velvet Frames

Monday, August 31, 2009 by Cathe Holden

Last Spring, my family enjoyed a visit to the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Museum in Springfield, Missouri. I could not take enough photos of the dozens of framed Civil War daguerreotypes in the cases, which was no easy task as flash photography was not allowed.The photographic technique in itself is quite interesting, but I was very interested in the framework as well.They were small, folded leather-bound cases gilded with golden foil-like matting and velvet embossings (or debossing, technically) opposite the image.
This beautiful craft of yesteryear was what spurred me into action on this previous post of embossing velvet {LINK}.All the while, I knew I wanted to find the perfect rubber stamp to create my own velvet embossing to frame. So for months I kept on the lookout for a large, ornate stamp, which I eventually found at a flea market, to use with store bought velvet. I also added a center stamp from one I had in my collection.Here is an online tutorial on embossing velvet: {LINK}I found a frame that was similar to the style of the antique daguerreotypes at the Goodwill for $1. Another good day at the flea, I discovered a beautiful leather framed daguerreotype for only $20, in such great condition with beautiful golden velvet, would normally run close to $100, it’s shown in the last photo as well as in the image at the beginning of this post.
I scanned a photo of my great grandfather and touched up the image just a bit.

Replacing the frame glass to only the photo side, this is my enlarged version of an embossed framed daguerreotype.

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Thank God for Teachers

Sunday, August 30, 2009 by Cathe Holden

Teacher’s Prayer
Author Unknown

Lord, Please help me,
To strengthen their voices,
bodies and minds,
To express their feelings and
control them sometimes,
To explore what’s near
and venture afar,
But most important to love
who they are.

Who doesn’t love a teacher? There are many in my life, in my family and as my friends. Here are some darling 1920s illustrations to celebrate the teacher and all of those so important in the lives of children. Click to enlarge and use.

IDEA: The holidays aren’t so far away…print an image onto a large or small canvas tote for your child’s teacher to use as a book bag or lunch sack, and don’t forget to add their name.

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Pennant Rubber Stamp Roller

Friday, August 28, 2009 by Cathe Holden

While at the hardware store the other day, this seam roller caught my eye. It’s a tool for wallpapering.Then, from my kitchen junk drawer, I dug up a grocery store produce rubber band and a new project was born. A pennant rubber stamp roller!

I cut the band and measured it to fit around the roller without stretching.Then trimmed one side straight and marked off the tops of my banner for the tops of the pennants, and drew a string line close to the edge to keep the pennants connected.Along the bottom, I marked in between the top mark measurements for the bottom corners of the pennants.Using a very strong spray adhesive, I adhered the strip of rubber to the roller.I trimmed out the triangles along the bottom of the band with my Xacto knife to create the pennants.I dug out my stamp pads and with several practice runs on scrap paper- I was ready to roll. Curve your roller as you slowly go to get a great draping effect. I was only able to get one really good length of pennants per inking. It also helped if after inking my roller I wiped off the edge of the wood rollers to prevent those edges from accidentally printing above or below the pennants.Use a pennant roller to add a sweet message to a letter, or a nice message on a shipping package.Other ideas:

  • Use the pennants to write your kid’s name on their lunch sack
  • Drape a “Nice Job!” pennant across their homework paper
  • Add a fun touch to your letters or invitations.
  • With a pen, draw along the top of the pennants adding little curls or bows at the ends to simulate the extra string
  • Run along a gift wrapped package to add the recipient’s name

Of course, you could make a cool continuous design other than pennants, depending on your skill or ambition level. Have fun with it!

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