Photo booth Beauties Revisited

One of my all-time favourite themes for my designs is vintage photo booth photography. These tiny little photos let you have a glimpse of the past and the mood of the person posing for the picture, but in a way that is so much more interesting that today's selfies...don't you think? I have collected quite a few and every time I look at them I wonder about the person on the photo...some looking confident and fierce,some hopelessly shy or just giggly having fun with friends or a loved one. Now and then I seem to recognize a look or a smile that reminds me of a person I know today and I wonder what people will think of our photo's in 60 or 100 years from now and if they in turn will recognise themselves in a cheeky smile or a distracted glance. I have been using these old photos as a theme my for vintage restyled handbags and with success, as they have become a very popular item at Things British shop in London. 

I wondered if there was a way to take the theme to the next level and perhaps create a jewellery collection that could connect with the handbag collection. I wanted something light and fragile, something that could bring back that feel of the little piece of photo paper that captured that instant moment of happiness, sadness or shyness so many decades ago.
I think I might have found it.

I used vintage puzzle pieces and transformed them into vintage photo booth picture frames. I embellished them with embossing powders and then I tied them up in very fine metal wire decorated with beads, rhinestones and other small findings. The result is a unique piece, elegant and shimmering (a lot more than you see in the pictures) and almost ephemeral...so light it might vanish into thin air in front of your eyes. I am so pleased with the results and will include pendants, earrings and bracelets in this new collection. It will be possible to request custom made pieces with vintage pictures of your loves ones. To find when this collection will be available, please favourite my etsy shop.

TTV - Abandoned Boudoir

It's been a while since my last experiments with ttv photography. Through the viewfinder photos are shot with a (digital) camera through the viewfinder of a vintage camera. The shape of the viewfinder and the dust and dirt it has collected through the years add a magical and surreal effect to these photos. Last sunday I bought a vintage conway camera (again at a car boot sale!) for just 4 £. I struggled a bit to make a contraption to keep my digital camera focused on top of the conway, so by the time I was ready it was dark outside. I then tried to shoot a pictures inside the flat and this is the creepy result. Now tell me, would you think these photos were taken in a brand new home in 2009...or rather a century ago in an abandoned boudoir filled with ghosts?

Through the Viewfinder
I have a new addiction. It's called TtV. TtV stands for "Through the Viewfinder" and is a photographic technique that gives your photos a very old, vintage style look. I always thought i was an effect created with photoshop or with those really antique cameras, but i recently discovered how to do it. You take a digital camera and take a picture through the viewfinder of a vintage or antique camera, in my case a Kodak Cresta III. My original plan was to take pictures with the Cresta, but it's too complicated for an amateur like me (don't know where to get the right film, can't develop the photo's myself etc). And if i would take real pictures with that camera they probably won't have that nice TtV effect anyway, and that's what i was interested in, in the first place. Here are my first TtV's, but have a look a the the Flickr Group for the best TtV's from other photographers.

My Moo cards are here! I was so excited to find my Moo cards in the mail today! I had seen DecadentDiamond's beautiful Moo cards on her blog and i instantly loved them! I had heard about the cards before, but i didn't know they were entirely customizable and the unusual shape is a nice feature. They look more artistic than regular business cards, so i just had to try this out! I've been printing and cutting my own cards for over two years and to be honest, i've had enough of that...for some reason my colours are off when i print them or i don't cut straight, i don't know why but i'm just not that good at it. But I don't think i'm just going to hand out my Moo's to anyone, (ok i had to give one to my sister because she modelled my trashion jacket and i made a moo card of her picture), but i will include them in orders. I wanted to use the photos i made of my designs because i thought it would be fun if someone bought a bag or a pair of earrings and received the matching moo card! Well, atleast i know i would like that :)

Here's the whole collection:

And two of my favourites: