Recipe Card Swap!

I forgot to mention that Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine is conducting a swap of vinyl recipe cards, using the ideas from my article!

Isn't that fun?!
The info is on page 45 of the May/June issue.
More info on their site, here.

Magazines have a limited amount of space to get ideas across, so I thought I'd offer more details that the article was not able to convey.

The unique aspect to these cards is that they have a floating element--some sort of loose filler sandwiched between two layers of vinyl.
I describe them as the card version of a snow globe.

As I said earlier, I used a photograph of myself as a kid.

(you can click on the images to get a larger view)

I love this image--I'm seated on Jerry's car (my oldest brother's friend, but more like my fourth brother).
I am wearing a silver necklace that was an eagle that Jerry had given me. I loved it, but unfortunately lost it.
I'm wearing granny boots, a peach-colored dress, and a big toothy smile.

And I'm drinking, as was my usual routine (still is), Coke from a bottle.
This is what inspired the Cola theme.

I hand-stitched that orange fun fiber around the exterior with burgundy embroidery floss (I think maybe it was my grandma's).
That was a time-consuming but worthwhile detail.

The recipe on the back is for Cola Cake.

The filler here is silver micro glass beads (they look like bubbles!)
Because of the thickness of the cardboard pieces, for this particular card I opted to glue the collage together, versus add some stitched areas.

What would you do with a vinyl recipe card, you ask? Well, the possibilities are endless.
Wouldn't it be fun to receive confetti and balloons floating over a photograph as a birthday invitation, thank you card, or a holiday card?
And what if the other side of the card was Grandma's famous coconut cake recipe? What a festive way to receive a recipe in a gift basket!

This idea takes a traditional item everyone has (a recipe card) and makes it into a keepsake, a piece of art, a silly gift, or a family heirloom.
Vinyl is the perfect vehicle for merging childhood photos or old family photos with important recipes to pass down to generations, along with memories applicable to the history.
The recipe card might be attached to a significant item--a favorite spoon, perhaps--becoming an objet d’ art.

One side of the card will be the recipe, but the other side might be pieces of fabric, a paper label off a soup can, a vintage spice jar, or a candy wrapper. Maybe you'll create a collage of images from magazines, newspaper, old menus, grocery ads, fabrics, or use actual photographs.

Maybe you won't collage at all--maybe you'll paint, stamp, embroider...

Basically two sides are placed back-to-back under vinyl, thereby protecting the 'canvas' while keeping the two pieces together.

The second card I made is also a collage with a photograph.
This lady is my friend Sue's mom--someone I considered a second mom growing up.


I used just a hint of the photocopied recipe (handwritten by her daughter),
a photocopied paprika can,
torn label from canned tomatoes,
label from a tomato soup can,
and 'eat' scrawled inside piece of an aluminum can
(Louise always took pride in her cooking. Cooking was interwoven with her identity. When she would serve food, she would say, always in a low growl, "eeeeeeat!")

Miscellaneous beads were used for filler (freebies that came with clothing, for repairs), and the exterior was embellished with vintage buttons and green metallic thread.


For the reverse (not shown in the magazine) I made it like a postcard--the address is a photocopy of a vintage French postcard from the 1920's.
I then color-aged it with a variety of stamping inks applied with a cut Nerf ball.

This collage is both stitched and glued, but I misjudged where to place the recipe on the postcard (oops, stitched over some of the words on the back).
It's always a learning experience!

Note: I make copies of the photos onto photo paper, using a special machine at the copy center. The detail is greater than a color copier can provide. The best option is an actual photo reprint.

Other ideas to consider that might ignite your own spark:
Postcard/letter/ATC
Invitation
Just a recipe for the card box
Holiday or Special Occasion card
Wedding Keepsake
Gift
Art

Go one step further and consider a collection of several recipe cards as wall art. Perhaps a collection of recipes to be passed down as family favorites, each card linked with eilets and jump rings, that commemorate a family reunion.

Or make an album with vinyl pages, held together with colorful snaps.

See the details of my ideas, embellishments, and filler suggestions on the Cloth Paper Scissors site, here.

The article says not to use perishables for filler.
But magazines have to be more careful with potential lawsuits from copyright infringement, allergies, etc versus one friend giving a card to another friend.
I personally do, however, use sugar crystals, silver drages, red-hot candies, cake sprinkles, Jordan almonds, spices, seeds, etc. Shoot, I'd even use a dried wishbone.
Find a filler that best coincides with your recipe, but for submission to the magazine, keep within their guidelines.

Anyway, you have until June 15 to submit a card to the magazine for the swap.
I can't wait to see how creative you guys get!