Found a great post over at
Design Sponge on the history of
decoupage. Decoupage is actually a 20th century word that was derived from the French word
decouper, meaning to cut out. It was considered the poor man’s art form to the Chinese inlay work. Ladies of the era would hand-color prints, cut them out with scissors, paste them to furniture, and then add multiple layers of varnish until the print was completely embedded. It was a time-consuming process, although it was easier and cheaper than the original inlay work done by the artisans from China & Venetia.
According to
Amy's research, "
At the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the ladies cut up original paintings by Boucher, Watteau and Fragonard in their quest for new decorations for their decoupage fans, boxes or screens."
OUCH!This site also has some interesting decoupage information, along with great recommendations on books, should you feel the need to further study the art form.
I became fascinated with a concept that used a process similar to decoupage to cover six sides of a wooden block to form a puzzle. These puzzles would sometimes have 30 or 40 blocks in the set to form lovely images of popular fairy tales of the day. Because my husband has roots in pioneer heritage, I found it interesting to learn that western children didn't give up their much loved toy because they didn't have access to lithographs of their favorite bedtime story. Their parents used the wood blocks as a canvas for a painted version which usually portrayed images of farm animals or scenes of nature.
This gorgeous example is described to have come from the Germany in the late 1800's. Because the picture is copyrighted, I simply share a small portion of the puzzle. I found the aging process around the corners fascinating. This is the look that we try to replicate in our projects. Be sure to check out the puzzle
here. I'll be jealous if you decide to drop the requested $148 US on the set. I've always wanted to see one of these originals up close and personal!
Stories by Me's roots began with this
simple puzzle concept. I wanted to create something that would help my kids identify with their heritage. I had no proof, but I hoped that my great-great-great grandparents might have been lucky to have a set of wooden blocks to enjoy in their childhood. I knew that my kids LOVED puzzles and just might pay attention if I used pictures of my ancestors in the process!
Since my rough first attempt, I've probably made more than 50 puzzles to share with family and friends. (And that's not counting the 100's of puzzles I've helped other people make in class settings!) My blocks now feature family gatherings, favorite pets, a trip to Disneyland... all sorts of important events that need remembering. I love using wood as the base for my story!
Almost as distressed as the 100+ year old puzzle!
Check out how to distress your project
here.
I'm now dreaming of ways to incorporate family faces into the
DIY project that Amy offers at the bottom of her post. (Be sure to scroll ALL the way to the bottom to get see the instructions!)
Wow. Where does the time go? I can't believe it's nearly been a month since our last posting. It's not that we have nothing to talk about. We're just running too fast to share what we've been working on.
If you set up your pictures ahead of time you won't need to make any alterations.
You'll make one call-out card for every featured picture. Here are a few of my stories:
Our son's LDS mission papers have been submitted. Now it's a waiting game to find out where he will spend the next two year's of his life. I hear that the turn around is fairly quick...quick, I guess depending on your definition of time. We could hear later this week, or next. I'd be fine waiting another year or two! I'm still in shock that we're at this point of our life. It seems like the last year has been a series of reality checks. First came high school graduation. Moments later we were saying goodbye as oldest son took off for his freshman year of college. Now, I am trying to steel myself for the realization that the next phase of our life takes my son away from the family for two whole years. As hard as it is to comprehend not having him home for holiday's and summer vacations, I really wouldn't have him anywhere else. 
Spots called...
Accepting all entries until our grand 'Opening' party.
Some people would say that Halloween was a bust this year. Just as the prime time for Trick-or-Treating rolled around, big dark rain clouds blew in and we were deluged in a downpour. I think we saw a total of 8 trick-or-treaters, and that's for the entire evening!
Yup, they're marshmallows, covered with mint chocolate and then dipped in milk chocolate. They really are too cute to eat, but my 13-year-old couldn't resist and snuck the first one while we were still visiting with our neighbor.
I know that Halloween is now a year away, but this creative idea could easily be converted to snowmen. Knowing my neighbor Erica, she's already thought of that!
I can NOT believe that tomorrow is July 1. It seems like just last week we were wrapping up our school year and making plans for all the things that we wanted to do this summer.
All you need to do is download the .jpg file to your computer. Print the file to a sticker sheet. I used a standard shipping label (2 across, 3 down). I left a bit of white space around each design to make sure it would fit a variety of sticker sizes.
There you have it. 30 faces that are worth remembering!
Found this yummy picture over at Skip to My Lou. Cindy offers a fun activity of taffy making with the kids. Go here to check out her recipe and to see pictures of the work in progress.
Found a great post over at Design Sponge on the history of decoupage. Decoupage is actually a 20th century word that was derived from the French word decouper, meaning to cut out. It was considered the poor man’s art form to the Chinese inlay work. Ladies of the era would hand-color prints, cut them out with scissors, paste them to furniture, and then add multiple layers of varnish until the print was completely embedded. It was a time-consuming process, although it was easier and cheaper than the original inlay work done by the artisans from China & Venetia.
I became fascinated with a concept that used a process similar to decoupage to cover six sides of a wooden block to form a puzzle. These puzzles would sometimes have 30 or 40 blocks in the set to form lovely images of popular fairy tales of the day. Because my husband has roots in pioneer heritage, I found it interesting to learn that western children didn't give up their much loved toy because they didn't have access to lithographs of their favorite bedtime story. Their parents used the wood blocks as a canvas for a painted version which usually portrayed images of farm animals or scenes of nature.
This gorgeous example is described to have come from the Germany in the late 1800's. Because the picture is copyrighted, I simply share a small portion of the puzzle. I found the aging process around the corners fascinating. This is the look that we try to replicate in our projects. Be sure to check out the puzzle here. I'll be jealous if you decide to drop the requested $148 US on the set. I've always wanted to see one of these originals up close and personal!
Since my rough first attempt, I've probably made more than 50 puzzles to share with family and friends. (And that's not counting the 100's of puzzles I've helped other people make in class settings!) My blocks now feature family gatherings, favorite pets, a trip to Disneyland... all sorts of important events that need remembering. I love using wood as the base for my story!
Check out how to distress your project here.
Personally, I'm one of the few women in the world that hates shoes. I'd rather go barefoot any day of the week! I share the idea simply as another way to use leftover Mod Podge from any of our projects. I doubt that I'll ever try to transform my shoes. Now, if these shoes had family pictures on them...that would be a different story!
The food choices were unbelievable! We stuffed ourselves on seafood, Italian food and comfort food. I rarely pick favorites since I'm relatively easy to please, but this restaurant must have been near the top of the list since we hit it twice in three days! The tomato soup was heavenly especially because it was sooooooo cold!
I couldn't get enough of the history! Everywhere we went, we ran smack into something right out of the history books! I loved how the 18th century was so tightly interwoven into the 21st century.
{Karen holding a little white box of heaven}
{Bostonians even look out for their elderly!}
