SAF 2014: Explore the 1940’s with Betsy Veldman

Join Betsy Veldman as she takes you back to the 1940’s!

Betsy’s grandparents during the 1940’s.

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You can check out Betsy’s entire 1940’s Pinterest board HERE!

To help set the tone of this era, Betsy has composed a beautiful letter, as if a young woman were writing to her true love overseas during the war:

May 15, 1945

My Dearest James,

The war is over!  We have been glued to the radio listening for news of the troops. I can hardly believe you’ll finally be coming home soon!  It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since you left.  It feels like a lifetime!  Who would’ve thought when it started that the war would change our lives so much.  I am so very anxious to have you home again, to have you by my side, and for life to resume a normal rhythm.  Just cooking you dinner will be pure bliss!  By the time you get home we should be starting to reap the bounty of our victory garden.  Mama and I just finished planting a few weeks ago, but things are already coming along and we are starting to see some shoots peeking through.  I can’t wait to sample the fresh green beans and tomatoes.  My mouth is already watering!  Hopefully the rations will ease up soon and we’ll be able to get enough sugar to make a few pies…I’ve been craving Mama’s homemade apple pie, I’m sure you are too.  

It probably sounds frivolous compared to the things you’ve been managing there, but Linda and I did a little window shopping on Saturday.  It was so nice to have a day out in the sunshine after working all those long days at the factory this week.  No new dresses for us, but we decided to try our hand at remaking a few things her Aunt Betty had stored away.  You know what they say…make-do and mend.  Getting fabrics to sew anything new is next to impossible anyway, so make-do is what we do.  It’s the least we can do for our men. 

In your last letter you wrote that got to hear Bing Crosby in real life!  His voice is just dreamy! I think it’s swell that he does so much to keep up morale for the men there. And did I mention that his voice is dreamy?  Oh, I forgot to tell you, Linda and I finally got to see Casablanca.  I think Linda might have a crush on Humphrey Bogart.   Don’t tell Robert if you see him.  

I best be signing off for now…I’m not sure if it’s easier or harder now that I know you’ll be home soon.  The wait seems as if it’s becoming even more painful and I miss you more each day.  Come home soon, I’ll be waiting.

Yours forever,

Mary

Below you will find a Spotify playlist that has been put together just for this era!  There’s enough music to entertain you nearly two hours while you are working on your challenge projects! 

Now onto the amazing challenges!

During wartime, supplies were scarce and the essentials were rationed.  This meant that new clothes were hard to come by.  So women would “make-do” and spruce up an old dress or hat by creating a flower pin or brooch out of scraps of felt and fabric.  It was their way of breathing new life into a tired, old outfit.  In this video I’m going to show you how to assemble a felt flower brooch using the flower and leaf dies found in the 1940’s Stamp-A-Faire era set.  I’ll also show you a pretty way of presenting it as a gift.  They’re also the perfect way to dress up a package, or even add to a card.  If you are choosing dies from your collection you will need a small flower and a leaf.

 

Your challenge is to create a small corsage from felt, paper, or other material of your choice using the technique shown in the video.

–Now it’s your turn!  Create a project featuring a corsage or corsage-styled embellishment.  You can choose to re-create an exact project from the designer above or design your own. Your project must also incorporate at least one Papertrey product.

–Post your project on your blog, in your gallery or on any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

–-Add your project to the InLinkz list below.

–You will have until 7am EST, Tuesday, August 26th, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win. And you can enter as many times as you like.

I absolutely love the brightly colored tablecloths that were popular in the 1940s and I have a collection of my own.  They were the inspiration for the stamp set I created for the SAF kit.  I’m always inspired by the bright colors as well as the symmetrical patterns on these tablecloths.  In this video I’m going to show you how to take several different elements and build them into an elaborate, symmetrical pattern.  I’ll give you some tips on where to start, how to line things up, and which stamps work best for this technique.  So grab some stamps and ink, and let’s start stamping! (I’m using the 1940’s era set, but if you’re choosing something from your collection, a set with symmetrical images as well as a mix of large and small elements will work best.)

 

Your challenge is to build a symmetrical design or pattern using various stamps.  You can choose to use the 1940s Stamp-A-Faire set, or get creative with a set (or several!) from your collection.

–Now it’s your turn!  Create a card featuring a hand-stamped symmetrical vintage pattern.  You can choose to re-create an exact project from the designer above or design your own. Your project must also incorporate at least one Papertrey product.

–Post your project on your blog, in your gallery or on any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

–-Add your project to the InLinkz list below.

–You will have until 7am EST, Tuesday, August 26th, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win. And you can enter as many times as you like.

–As a reminder, you will have until 7am EST, Tuesday, August 26th, to add your link to the list to be eligible to win. And you can enter as many times as you like.

–TWO randomly selected winners will be chosen from ALL the entries within this list on Tuesday,  August 26th. The winners will be posted on our Tuesday night Stamp-a-faire winners page at 9pm EST.  The randomly selected winners will each get a $25 PTI gift certificate to spend however they like!

Thanks for joining Betsy Veldman on this journey!  We look forward to seeing your projects!