In this master class I will show you how to design a postcard in the Vintage Fabric card style. I don’t pretend to “discover America”, I just show step by step how I do it - aging a background for a vintage fabric postcard.
Step 1. Tear off (do not cut) a piece of fabric, preferably thick cotton. 
Step 2. Using texture paste and Finnabair mask, apply the design to the fabric. Let's dry it.
Step 3. Take spray paint, I use Color Wash Nespresso and spray it on our piece of fabric (i.e. age it).
Step 4. Using white acrylic paint and a foam roller, we do something like a restoration - carefully, without pressing, we roll our fabric according to the design. Let's dry it.
Step 5. I take archival ink and a stamp with handwritten text and stamp it in two corners of the fabric. That's all. The background is ready.
Using a second Vintage sepia stamp pad, I aged the edges of the picture.
Next, I assemble the card in layers. White linen (it also serves as a backing under the picture in the frame), dark beige lace, then our aged fabric - I’m stitching this sandwich.
Now let's move on to the frame.
Step 1. I have this wooden frame. I cover it with white acrylic primer. Dry (you can use a hairdryer).
Step 2. Brown acrylic paint I paint. I sushi.
Step 3. Using fine sandpaper, I use #180 (pictured), partially remove brown paint. The frame takes on this aged look.
Under "vintage" in fashion and design usually mean original item the previous generation (that is, at least 30 years old), in which the “squeak of fashion” and the peak of style of the times of its creation are clearly visible. That is why, when becoming interested in vintage, it is necessary to constantly refer to the history of fashion of different decades. XX century.
Although there has been a demand for vintage clothing since the beginning 1950s , vintage style appeared and then came into fashion in the beginning 1990s.
Vintage style exists 2 criteria:
- The main criterion for vintage is age subject - he must be from 30 to 60 years old. Things created in the last 15 years are considered modern, those from 15 to 30 years are called retro, and those older than 60 years are called antiques.
- Another criterion for classifying an item as vintage is style reflection characteristic of a certain period: vintage items should express fashion trends of his time.
Vintage happens:
- authentic - rare items created many years ago;
- neovintage- aged things;
- combined - a combination of antique and modern items.
Vintage in scrapbooking- is an artificial creation of antiquity, i.e. This is fake vintage.
I would like to note another style in scrapbooking, very close to vintage, the style heritage or heritage (Heritage) - “heritage”. There are several definitions of this word in scrapbooking - some consider heritage a separate style, others say it is a way of transmitting information.
Heritage is used when they strive to tell the story of their ancestors in their works and pass it on to future generations. Only original antique photographs or copies thereof are used here. If the pages contain journaling(comments on the photo, suitable statements) - this must be reliable information. All techniques and techniques in heritage are the same as in vintage.
Thus, the main differences are in the two styles: vintage is a pseudo-aged style, while heritage is a true history.
It uses two styles: heritage and vintage. Although the concept of the album is to tell a real story, photographs are used from different times, including aged modern ones.
The Vintage style is one of the most popular styles in scrapbooking today. Calm and muted colors, textured decorations, an abundance of cute details, openwork napkins, worn plaster frames, cracks, scratches - all this does not leave almost any scrapper indifferent.
Now let's figure it out vintage features in scrapbooking.
Colors are selected from darker, matte and black and white color motifs, no brightness of shades. As a rule, the more antiquity, yellowness and wear, the better.
Vintage style is characterized by:
abrasions
rust imitation
aging paper
frayed or burnt edges
aged photographs
the use of truly vintage elements (antique postcards, letters, photographs and jewelry, locks and keys, arrows and dials, buttons and strings of beads)
Modern photographs, when used in vintage-style works, are best pre-processed in any graphic editor, making them black and white or sepia. Or you can use the same methods as when aging paper: soak it in coffee.
I would also like to note a subtype of vintage style in scrapbooking - neovintage.
Neo-vintage carries a modern spirit and reveals itself with individual elements,strokes and details, color, is an overt stylization of a certain era.
It is generally accepted that the basis of style is eovintage there is a light pastel range of colors - milky, cream, biscuit flesh, as well as the presence of 1-2 bright colors, in fact, these bright accents are the difference between the neo-vintage style and the classic vintage one.
Technicians to create works in vintage style:
- Distress- This is artificial aging and tinting of paper. To do this, you can use sandpaper, ink, stamp pads, tea, coffee and even milk!
With sandpaper everything is clear - three, where necessary, and we get the “scuffed” effect.
A brown stamp pad will also help us age the edges of the paper and photographs.
To create “old” paper from modern paper, you will need tea or coffee. Soak a leaf in a coffee bath, take it out and let it dry! Simply and easily!
But the most sophisticated method is to use milk and an iron!
To do this, you need to moisten a sheet of paper in milk, let it dry slightly and iron it with an iron. Some craftsmen claim that in this way you can get paper that is “burnt” along the edges. Don't forget about safety precautions! - Torn edge method: we tear and crumple the edges of the paper and the paper itself if these are decorative elements (craft, newspaper, print, book and music pages). You can use special scissors to create a raised edge, as well as regular scissors or a special tool to trim the edges of the paper.
- Craquelure- creating beautiful cracks on paper using special paints.
- Embossing - embossing on paper.
- Best option for journaling is handwritten text made using ink and fountain pen, or text on an old typewriter. For those who do not have such vintage items, there is a special font on the computer that imitates an old typewriter or handwritten text.
- We also need to tint or burn the lace, dye it in tea/coffee (we create the effect “from grandma’s chest”).
- Metal jewelry in bronze shades (charms, pendants, brads, frames).
Word " vintage"is associated with things that were once very fashionable a long time ago. But it’s surprising that the fashion for vintage doesn’t go away. Let's try to understand the features of this complex style and its application in scrapbooking.
"Vintage" (English vintage) is used as a term in winemaking and means aged, vintage wine. In fashion and home decor, this word refers to stylization of past eras. It should be noted that we're talking about more often about the period from the 40s to the 60s of the 20th century.
Things created before the 40s are called antiques, and the retro era begins in the 60s. Everything that was created in the last 15 years is considered modern. But as time goes on, the boundaries in this classification shift. Formally, items from the 60s are already becoming antiques. That's why I wanted to clarify that the vintage style in scrapbooking usually refers to the 40-50s of the 20th century.
But age alone does not give an item value. The style in which the item is made is important. We choose as a role model not what simply happened in a given era, but what was characteristic and fashionable for it.
Let's move on immediately to the features of the vintage style in scrapbooking, remembering that vintage is an imitation of a "antique" look.
Characteristic features of the vintage style in scrapbooking
- Using modern photographs processed using techniques of the last century: black and white or sepia. It is possible to use color photographs if they do not have bright accents.
- When choosing colors, preference is given to soft, calm tones. Often there are shades: coffee, beige, yellowish. Dark, contrasting accents are possible, even dark brown and black.
- You can find collections of vintage-style paper or age it manually using well-known methods: torn edges, burnt edges, scratches, creases, abrasions, darkening.
- Patterns like the wallpaper of that time, large floral motifs, stripes, polka dots. As a background, you can use sheet music, newspaper clippings, imitation of old letters and postcards. For journaling, handwritten text or a typewriter is preferred.
- Jewelry like from grandma's chest. It could be lace and fabric, yellowed as if with time. Metal and plaster frames, corners, figures. Pearls, flowers, watches.
Vintage Scrapbooking Supplies
Since vintage is always in fashion, you can find collections of scrapbooking paper and decorations in this style in stores. To create an antique effect, you will also need ink and tools.
Examples of works in vintage style
Now let's look at the examples. I tried to choose pages that have the most characteristic features of the style, for example, torn edges, brown color, black and white photo ().
On the next page, among other things, a gathered ribbon, a napkin, and a watch () are used.
But vintage can be more vibrant and still remain stylish ().
I’ll also give an example of a couple of postcards. The first one is contrasting, but very gentle. It is also unusual that the wish is written on the front side. More precisely, this is a quote and it is very touching. “If you live to be 100 years old, then I hope to live 100 years minus one day so that I will never live without you - Winnie the Pooh” ().
Vintage is a style with French roots, and initially it had absolutely nothing to do with the interior, much less with scrapbooking. And this word meant wine that had been aged for many years. Over time, vintage has penetrated almost every area, from interior design to the perfume industry. Vintage is a style of memories, an attempt to stop bygone moments by surrounding yourself with things that have preserved the spirit of the times.
How the vintage appeared and who invented it is not known for certain. But there is one story... They say that once a certain architect, already during construction, spent all the customer’s money allocated to him for the construction of a house. But there was no money left for furniture, he had to get out... and he went to the landfill)). There the artist found pieces of furniture, which he modified a little. And voila - the customer liked the resulting furniture so much that the architect barely had time to fulfill more and more new orders, and the vintage style thus conquered the whole world and took a strong position in the art of interior design.
IN English language vintage means antique, old-fashioned things. Vintage is considered to be items that bear the imprint of time, but are not younger than 20-25 years.
In scrap, to achieve this style, it is necessary to use artificially aged things, for example, aged lace, worn paper, stamps, antique pictures.
They also use real antique objects for decoration, for example, brooches, hairpins, door hinges, metal and even rusty things, for example, the same buttons, buckles, nail heads...
Even more vintage can be emphasized with the help of a color palette. The style of a certain time will help here. For example, the 50s. We can borrow the cheerful and relaxed spirit of female models advertising stylish clothes at that time, the prints of which can be repeated on a scrap page.
And for the 30s, for example, the color of the mallow is characteristic (this is a herbaceous plant that usually grows under everyone’s window). Beige, khaki, brown - for the 40s. The main thing is to create the impression that your page belongs to another era.
You can also make a baby album in a vintage style, but you need to work a little on the photos: stylize them, for example, as colored images in the style of the same 30-40s, tint the edges or age them with scissors, wrinkle them...
Vintage is often confused with shabby chic. Honestly, while making a selection of photographs, I myself got confused about what style was which. Here are a few tips to give some clarity on the differences in this style. First of all, shabby is distinguished by the palette of materials used; they are light, pastel colors, mostly white, soft pink, soft blue, and ivory. Characteristic are light floral motifs, roses, and angels. The main feature is “attrition”. In vintage, the main thing is not only “wornness”, but also the aging of the elements, the color range is more saturated... There are brown shades and even deep wine reds. Lace and the presence of homemade decorations in vintage determine the overall style of the work, when, as in shabby, this is not a necessary element.
