As I go about my day, I will sometimes have an idea for an ephemera set pop into my head. It might be because I saw some resource that I thought could be fun, or because I just had an idea that went off in a new direction while I was developing it. A couple of interesting things about the process.
I had the idea to use vintage telegrams for backgrounds, for journaling cards and a collage page background. That seems to be ma jam, if you will. I always like to make a page using the same elements so if people download the set they are getting something a little extra. I also think it helps tie in varied elements in a journal that is not made from a single kit. I was working on a set and needed a large floral element for it. I picked this one:
I think you can immediately see there are issues – so much to erase, the background is not a “solid” colour but lots of variations on similar colours…. After doing the easy first step of selecting a colour and deleting the contiguous instances of that colour (and maybe some close ones if you get the tolerance exactly right so as not to delete any of the image itself – in this case the flower bits that are nearly the same colours as the background – the worst!) you then have to inch over the edges to remove all the bits that can’t be done with a click. And that looks something like this:
A tiny little 6-9pixel brush is what it needs. And every time I have to re-learn the lesson that while it might be fun to keep your finger on the mouse wheel and slide the eraser along an increasingly longer, larger area, one stray twitch of the finger and you just have to UNDO and begin again. Ugh.
But I got it done, over a couple of days of sips of time, between the clearing for the window guys and moving Dear Son and Cat (waaahhhh!) to his girl’s house, and was pretty happy with the results. Here is a peek:
Here is where the weird comes in.
I was happily collecting up the telegrams, and focusing mostly on the handwriting styles and sometimes the colours, when I came across one that I read and went WTF?
I will help, in case the image here is too hard to read:
The body is phys[ically] without doubt [weidall? a name maybe] has lost his head. (!!) is most decidedly protest against a note of doubt.
So yeah, no idea if the lost his head is about a headless body or not but it sure gave me pause! You don’t always get any context for these assets. You just get the telegram. But this one is just a little too dark for inclusion in a journal, don’tcha think?
Not sure how I will share this when it is done, so watch this space.
So yeah, the house will be in chaos again due to the window workmen, but hopefully for not too many days. It’ll seem quite quiet without Cat….
scrappystickyinkymess 