Looking for a Custom Charm

[Tlouey]

Hello! I posted this in the ATCs for All (http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?p=539282) forum as well, what I'm looking for is for someone to make me a wee antique charm with a particular photograph in it. I want to use it on a special scrapbook page I am making. It needs to be a smallish charm as I'm using it as am embellishment and because the photograph is old and not high quality. The scrapbook page is of a photo my daughter, Alysha, wearing a very special dress that was actually my mother's when mom was a baby!

I have a cropped in and slightly edited version of the photo attached as well as the full photo... you can decide which to use, either way, I'd like the charm to only have my mom's face in it (the baby). Also, if any of you collage fiends want to use that old photo for your own purposes, that's fine with me... just please don't do anything nasty to my Uncles and Mom, please!!! LOL!

Also attached is a photo of the supplies for the scrapbook page that I've gathered so far and the photo of my baby girl in the dress... for an idea of the project and curiosity's sake. I usually do more "modern" or "new" looking scrapbook pages, but I want this one to look more antiquey - so, this is kind of an undertaking for me, lol. I'll be distressing the papers I'm using. I'm going to try to snitch some bits of old lace from my mom's sewing box for this as well. Any other suggestions anyone has would be fab.

I'd just message one of you privately for this trade, but I'm not familiar with who all does this sort of mail art. Anyway, I do illustrated atc's, so, if you'd like one or two in trade for this charm (depending on the complexity), that'd be perfect. So, yeah, like I said, I have this posted on ATA as well... so, this request could be filled by someone from either side.

[OriginalYouth]

It depends what you want it on.... did you find someone at AFA for it?

[katilady]

a scrabble tile charm could be really sweet for this, and you could probably do it yourself!

[EraserQueen]

Have you worked with paper clay? You could stamp a design into paperclay and paint it with rose gold paint, adding beads or whatever. If you haven't already found someone, I can attempt it for you :)

You mention a scrapbook though..wouldn't a charm be too bulky?

[Tlouey]

Yay, thanks everyone! I haven't had any concrete takers yet. I'm sure I could figure out how to make some sort of charm myself, but kind of don't feel like now's the time to start tinkering in another medium for me, lol.

Yes, it is for a scrapbook page, but I'm planning on framing it in a deep frame... of course, later, I'd like to be able to put it back in my scrapbook, so, I wouldn't want anything too bulky. But those bottle cap charms and the like aren't too bulky for a scrapbook page.

The layout of the page that I'm planning is going to be somewhat -similar- in arrangement to the layout of the scrapbook page titled "just a summer day". I'd like the charm possibly hanging from a bow like that key is... of course, my layout plans always change when I actually start working on them.. but that's kind of my jumping point, inspiration wise.

Someone on AFA has some vintage dress patterns that they might be sending me to tear up and use on my page and I have some prima flowers coming in the mail (Attached is a photo of what they look like) if they ever get here, seems like I ordered them eons ago. And I'm going to try to get some pretty lace and some other little things to put on the page and maybe do some sewing directly on it.

I'm usually pretty graphic and modern or uh.. I dunno how to explain... more simplistic and geometric with my layouts... although, I love the slightly more artsy, collagey looking ones that I see other people do, somehow the clean layouts just come to me more naturally... so, for this one, I really want to stretch myself to make it more, uh... earthy, scrappy, vintagey, girly, artsy. I'd like to do a mixture of new, old, vintage, modern and antique.... we'll see if mine turns out even remotely how I want it. LOL, sometimes I think I should just mail my photos to one of these artsy scrapbooking ladies whose blogs I follow and have them do it, cuz it'd probably turn out better, haha.

Attached are some other scrapbook pages and mini albums that I'm getting some inspiration from in one way or another... don't know if they'll serve any purpose here other than to be pretty, scrapbooky, eye candy. If you mind can mentally connect the dots of those layouts, then you might get a picture of my plans from looking through them.





EraserQueen, that sounds super interesting, I'm not exactly sure how that'd look or if it would be in keeping with the style I'd like... but if you're willing to give it a go, I'd be curious to see! I'm not normally picky, especially with work from you... cuz you can do no wrong in my books and I'm always excited to get some more art stuff from you... but, if you did go through the trouble of making it and it wasn't so much the style I wanted for the page, would you be able to trade it to someone else or use it for something else?

OY, no one has took me up on it yet. One person offered a charm they already had that I could put the picture in myself and I asked them for a picture of the charm but they haven't gotten back to me. Even just a bottle cap charm would be fine. Or like a flat square or rectangular one with just the photo in it.

Katilady, thanks for the suggestion! That sounds neat :)

[EraserQueen]

Well, it didn't take me too long :) I made it anyway lol. If you don;t like it, no biggie, I might join the Charm swap here and trade it there!

It's only one inch wide, you said you wanted it fairly small...so the picture is big lol.

[Tlouey]

Thank you for doing that EQ, the charm looks great. Is it just the photo, or is that little picture really blurry, though? Did it print that way? Or is that just cuz there's a bit of a shine to it?

[EraserQueen]

Yeah, my printer is crap, I can try replacing the photo...I found some photo paper somewhere... but only If you like the charm though lol. it's okay if you had something else in mind! Like I said, I can recycle the charm and make it into a pendant or something :) Just lemme know :)

[Tlouey]

You're so kind :)
I was just wondering if maybe it was my resizing the photo wrong in photoshop that made it a bit blurry, was why i asked. I did kind of have something with a bit different style in mind. Thanks so much for making that, though! Hope I'm not being too much of a bother!

[LisaB]

Make a bunch and send them in for my charm swap, EQ! I love that you used the paper clay, it looks fabulous!

Oh, and I thought of something, tlouey, have you done a search for "charm" at AFA? I know you started the same thread there, but if you found the style you were looking for, you could ask that person directly. Just a thought.

[EraserQueen]

Your photo was pretty bad with noise and surface scratches (And lines the scanner may have caused?), I also had to adjust the contrast (very important if you're printing them that small) and heal some areas on the hand and baby head. I can send you the edited photo if you want. it's better than paying someone to clean it lol. :)

re: the charm: It's okay. Sorry I don't know how to make the bottle cap things. :sad:

[Tlouey]

Thanks Lisa. I did PM one person who I've gotten bottlecap charms from before, but she's busy with some family emergency stuff. I did do a search for charms on the afa site gallery but it didn't seem to turn up a lot of charms... weird.

[Tlouey]

Your photo was pretty bad with noise and surface scratches (And lines the scanner may have caused?), I also had to adjust the contrast (very important if you're printing them that small) and heal some areas on the hand and baby head. I can send you the edited photo if you want. it's better than paying someone to clean it lol. :)

re: the charm: It's okay. Sorry I don't know how to make the bottle cap things. :sad:

Thanks EQ, I thought that perhaps because the image was to be printed so small, that most of the problems with it wouldn't show up as too big of a deal, but I guess I was wrong. Thank you for cleaning the image for me :)

[EraserQueen]

Yeah, in fact those problems only get intensified when printed small :shocked:

[Tlouey]

eep :/

I think a lot of the scratches on the photo are from the photograph itself as it was in one of those old photo album with the black pages where it isnt covered or anything, just held in with those little black photo corners.. and it been like that for over 40 years :p

I found a few little pendant charms on ebay that I like and could just buy and put the picture in... problem is, the store sells them in bulk... don't really want to pay all that money for 25, 50, or 100 of those charms and then pay to have aaaall those charms mailed here from China!

[EraserQueen]

Scary! I have some metal ones I think... I just remembered (I never use them..lol)

Why don't you post a photo of them, or of something that you want, if I don't have it, someone else might.

[Tlouey]

well, here are some various examples :)

I have these bottlecaps from Trina that I really love... http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/gallery/index.php?n=75741 and was thinking about using on my layout. Right new they are on my fridge as they are magnets.


but yeah, something like this http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/gallery/index.php?n=70641 that I could put the picture in would be neat, too.

Some of the frame pendant charm thingys I found on ebay are attached :)

[LisaB]

I have some silver-colored bracelet frames like you have pictured on the far right in gold tone, all you would have to do is glue it in yourself and cover with a clear sealer like Diamond Glaze.

Do you want me to send you a couple of the empty blanks so you can try this yourself???? Wait, they have hoops on two ends (bracelet) but I would envision you could put ribbon at the top to attach and hang a bob or more ribbon on the bottom?

Oh, and just so you know, #1 is pretty deep/thick and #6 is very heavy, it would take a big glob of glue snot (WackyTac) to hold them to the page. I use them in my altered art/jewelry all the time.

[EraserQueen]

Oh! Okay! So you're looking for something more formal..you kept talking about loosening up and there was so much pink, I was confused LOL. I do have something similar to the frames..I'll see what I can find.

[LisaB]

I can't find my loose jewelry frames, I kept them all together...... argh...... one of them is of ArteDar & Seraphic from my Artfest '07 and is half-finished, so I know they are here somewhere... this is so aggravating. My studio has never been this messy before.

[Tlouey]

Ooh, I'm sorry EQ, I meant loosening up my scrapbooking style. I think perhaps I supplied too much background info on this thread and the one I posted at AFA and perhaps it served to be confusing. If you have a similar frame, that would be awesome! Thanks.

LisaB, if you wanted to send one (if you can track em down in your studio) that would be super awesome. I do have access to diamond glaze, so that wouldn't be a problem. I don't have any ink in my printer and don't plan on purchasing any in a long time, which is one of the reasons why I was going to ask someone else to make one for me in trade... but I realize now that I could just print a copy of the photo at a kiosk (duh, sara).

[EraserQueen]

I found my frames, but looking at them I don't think they will work..they are those K&CO. Frames hung from the brads? But they are all portrait orientation, and you need a landscape one for the baby!

[Tlouey]

Well, I caved and put a bid on one of the bulk charm sets for sale on ebay because the auction was starting at only $0.99 - got an email yesterday from ebay saying I wont he auction, sweet. So, $.99 for 20 charms... but $8.50 or so for shipping, heh. Hopefully they arrive soon and that they work for what I want. But yeah, in a few weeks I'll have a lot of charms, so, if anyone wants any of the extras, let me know :p