Thursday, April 16, 2009

This is a child's suitcase that I painted with many layers of blue, sage and antiquing glaze to provide depth and a wonderfully rich patina. The sweet prim angel is based on a design by Terrye French. She wears a wooly coat that has been adorned with our favorite prim elements: a fluffy sheep on wheels, grapevine wreath with baby's breath, a cabbage rose and a shiny black crow. Her cape collar has a "stitched" flower and little pearl buttons. The wings on the angel are decoupaged ephemera paper. She wears a baby's breath wreath on her head. A large, heavy cast iron key is tied to the handle with a lovely piece of old sage green ribbon. The back of the suitcase is decoupaged with music torn from a vintage church hymnal. Oh the memories I have of standing between my sweet momma and daddy at church and singing this song ("by heart"). I think my next piece will have to be a "precious memories" theme.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your post brought a little tear to my eye as my memories of this is with my Sweet Grandmother. Her name was Blanche & I loved her so. She left us in 1964 when I was only 12 but I have carried her in my heart all these years.....
Love,
Marilyn
xxoo

Apple Tree Cottage said...

Oh Marilyn, BIG HUG from me to you!!!!

Jody said...

Adorable!

I Play Outside The Box said...

Beautiful as always!!!

Anonymous said...

I think you've outdone yourself, again! Martha, this is sweet. The decoupaged elements only add to the charm. Is your swirly background painted or is that the actual original surface of the suitcase?
I think that really brings everything together and makes it so delicate and feminine.
Thanks for posting about my give-away. It's a simple thing compared to your suitcase for sure!
Diane