Gothic Arch #5 - Hats

This arch is for the Inkurable Stampers Gothic Arch Challenge #5 - Hats. I found a great bit of vintage clip art in my stash, this one is for a record I think. I trimmed out the woman (note hat!) and the title, and credits. I love the words, so sprinkled them all over. (Nobody turn on a fan!) According to the picture, this song is a "Sentimental Waltz Ballad", and then the fine print adds, "with ukulele accompaniment". Isn't that great! I loved that. It had to stay.

I started with a grey arch, stamped in pearl paint using a Hero Arts damask stamp. I found a nice piece of turquoise tsumugi that fit perfectly. Then, I had some sheet music clip art that I tore into strips, and inked the edges (Nick Bantock, Deep Turquoise). Those got glued down and gessoed on the edges. Next on top was some more of that black linen that I sponged white paint on through sequin waste. (This scrap has been serving me well and I still have some more left!). The lady got glued on next (with a bit of colour added to her cheek with pencil crayon), then the words, ransom-note style. I felt it needed something else, so I stamped that border (Tim Holtz, Stampers Anonymous) along the bottom and embossed it with Lapis Lazuli. I like that stamp, vaguely reminiscent of German scrap (of which I have none). Last was some rock candy distress stickles on the words and hat and blue flower on her waist. It doesn't show up well in the scan, but it has a nice sheen without being overly glittery. The embossing powder and pearl paint also add a nice lustre to the arch. Last one was some turquoise sponging around the edges. And that's that! A nice sentimental arch, requiring some ukulele accompaniment. (As it was, it was accompanied by Dee Snyder's House of Hair on the radio - Not even remotely sentimental, waltzy or ballad-y! And not a hint of ukulele either.)

NSR: We went out to Carp Fair today and had a lovely time. We got to see some great horse and carriage competitions, the ponies, some riding, some 4-H cattle shows, and of course the midway and vegetable/handicraft exhibits. The exhibition hall smelled fantastic in the hay booths. I could have drunk in that perfume all day. I love the smell of hay. Carp Fair is a big one and it was their 147th, so older even than Canada! Some things like the old exhibition hall and the vintage carriages and tractors really evoked a past era. We had lunch from the kiosk belonging to the local United Church, with some wonderful, kind volunteers running the place. It made me think that probably 147 years ago, that was where you could buy lunch, also homemade by parishioners. The girls enjoyed the midway and I tried to be a brave mummy on the ferris wheel (or Ferrist (fairest?) Wheel as DD2 calls it) but I suspect relief was naked on my face when the ride was over. After the fair, we went for a scenic drive home, taking the Quyon ferry across the river and going to the foot of the Gatineau hills for a nice walk in the woods. Then more scenic drive home, back across the river, and the girls and their dad played (and raked) leaves in the yard while mummy recovered her senses in the stamp room. Much as I love the Fair and the nostalgia for the past I never knew, I am not a huge fan of crowds and noise.

It was funny - our DD2 (age 4) is really into reading road signs at the moment. We were rolling along the main road on the Quebec side, on our way home, when she piped up, "This way back to Canada." We were somewhat taken aback, not realizing she was so au fait with separatist politics. DH dutifully explained that Quebec was part of Canada and so was Ontario, and we never left Canada, and so on, when we spied the maple leaf icon on a sign. This was what she saw, as they are sprinkled here and there on main routes pointing people towards Parliament Hill. We realized that she is still beautifully innocent of politics and merely fascinated by road signs and becoming part of the group of people that can read things and know what they mean.