Framed

Good Morning Dear Readers,

I've been busy with my wall art project and have made significant progress.  I wanted to re-purpose and reuse as much as I could for this project because I did not want it to be an expensive project, so I went in search around the house for things that could possibly fit the words/lettering theme.  As I rummaged through the attic for usable frames (I have so many) I came across a project I had done for my husband shortly after his father died.  I had found letters his dad had written to his mother (my husband's grandmother) from Europe where he was stationed during WWII.  I had framed the letter and a picture of the young Donald in uniform.  I thought this would be a perfect choice of picture to include in my current project.  Here is the picture I had done.

As I recall I had purchased this vintage frame from a local antique shop.  It had a black and white photograph of an aerial view of some factory site.  I remember thinking that would be a perfect backdrop for the war-era ephemera.  Resurrecting this picture lead me to search for other letters or primary documents from deceased loved ones.  The wall would then take on an even deeper meaning than the glorification of the word which I initially had intended.  I thought about framing some of my husband's love letters that he had written to me in the early 70"s ( I've got them all safely stored in a box that is stashed in the spare bedroom's closet), but that might be just a bit too personal and not to mention embarrassing.  So, I searched even further.  Two weeks ago, I had surprised Bob by making him crepes from his mother's recipe.  As I searched for the recipe, I realized it was one of the few things we had with her actual handwriting.  A ha! Perfect subject to be framed.  The recipe was written on a lined sheet of notebook paper and in pencil; the text needed to be darker for anyone to see it from a distance.  First, I photocopied the recipe so it would not be lost if I messed up in tracing her handwriting in black ink. Then I reused one of the photo frames from my girls' pictures, placed the recipe against a solid black backdrop and Presto! Another item for the wall.  This one only cost $.79 for the black paper.

The recipe idea spurred me to search  through my own mother's recipe cards.  I was rewarded with a great find, not only did I find several written in my mother's handwriting, but I also discovered one written in my grandmother's hand.  I decided I would do a generational picture of 3 recipe cards one written by my gram, one by Mom, and one by me.  Again I reused a photo frame from my girls.  The result is seen below:

I was on a roll now, so I dug through some of the rememberances my husband had received when his grandmother died.  She was the sweetest old lady I had ever met.  She was 107 or maybe even older when she died.  Nice longevity in his family. I found two letters that were written to her.  I decided the envelopes themselves were more interesting than the letters.  One had a post mark of 1907, this was before she was even married, but was I believe either when she was a teenager or early 20's.  The letter was from a friend who recounted all the fun they had flirting with a group of boys.  I guess no matter what the era, life follows certain patterns.  Anyway, the postmark was intriguing. Guess how much stamps were in 1907?  2 cents! The second letter was postmarked 1947 and came from England.  During the war, my father-in-law had been stationed in England and married a war bride.  Her family became friends with Bob's grandmother and corresponded with her.  I put both letters in their respective envelopes and framed them together.They will make nice conversation pieces as well as lovely art.  See them below:

I have a few more ideas for things to frame, single ABC letters for example.  I'll let you know how the search turns out.  I'm hoping to complete this project by the end of the week.  Unfortunately, I do have to include Bob in the project.  He insists on nailing things up on his newly painted walls himself.  I guess I don't mind the help, but it will be a challenge.  He's not the most patient person when it comes to making changes and especially in taking directions!  This could be fun.