My book of hats.....

It all started innocently enough...I bought this great old photo album at a flea market.

Hey, I can do something with that! 

Then one day, while looking through my collection of old photos I noticed how many photos I had of men, women and children wearing hats.  Great hats, hats of the period with feathers and ruffles and brims out to here hats...that's what I'll do....make an altered book featuring some wonderful hats! 

So, I started making pages for my book......

This page features a photo of two women covered by a clear overlay of a postcard.  The facing pages look like this......children in hats!

I used watercolor pencils to add color to the flowers on these three beauties bonnets.....to me they look like Easter bonnets.  See the facing page below......

On this facing pages I used Easter post cards, buttons, lace and flowers to compliment the  Easter theme.

I cut these photos out and glued them onto canvas that I had already  painted and stamped...then stitched the whole page together.

I love the photo on this facing page...do you really think you could dance with one of those hats on your head?

  I just finished this page...it is a photo of my mother about the time she left Norway for America, she was four years old.  She may have even worn that outfit during her travels.

This is a page....that is under construction...a lot could change!

Here are a few more potential photos for the book......

They are all great photos, but notice the two men in the back with their derby's and the ladies in front with "boater's"....such great pictures. 

In spite of having a great book and some fantastic photos, I've had  trouble getting "fired up" about this book, until today! 

That's when Melissa posted a blog about the great ATCs she has been making.  Check them out here at her blog "Red Tape" .  She does wonderful things with cabinet cards.  While your reading her blog, I recommend you click on her Flicker page and check out the whole body of work.

This is the great thing about blogging and belonging to on-line art groups....artists, like Melissa, share something on their blog that can truly inspired another blogger....clear across the country...and get her excited  about trying some new ideas.  Thanks, Mellissa.  I hope one day soon, I will be ready to share my completed book with you and my other readers. 

This Wednesday, the 21st, I will be joining Seth Apter at The Altered Page for the fun collaboration he is hosting called Paper Stacks.  I don't think you're going to want to miss it!

  Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your comments.