Vintage Shabby Chic Style

Vintage style altered file folder with pockets

I entered this into a Portrait Challenge in April 2020 on the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group on Facebook. The image is from Gecko Galz Sweet Little Cuties on Etsy.

I watched a tutorial on youtube by Robin Dudley Howes on how to make an altered folder.

To start I used a file folder and made it to the size that I wanted. I use Tyvek to strengthen the folds on the folder. I made a pocket for the front and also added two strips of card cut and folded in half and then glued one on each side to give more room inside the pocket

I sprayed the file folder with two types of ink to give the folder a vintage look and when dry lightly went over the top of some areas using Gesso. Then I hand stamped onto the folder using a script stamp in different areas to give it some interest.

Using different digital paper patterns that I had printed out and tore these into different size pieces, then I coloured the edges with Distress ink and also lightly coloured some paper doilies. Then I layered the paper and doilies randomly on top of each other to get the look that I wanted and then glued them on to the front of the folder.

I had printed the image out onto photo paper so I glued that on top of the layers to make the image the focal point. Using a section of cheesecloth I put this behind a crochet flower that I had purchased in the past and stuck that down on the bottom right of the image of the girl

For the flap at the top, I cut a large fabric doily in half and glued one edge onto the back of the folder at the top and this allowed me to drape a part of it over the front of the folder. I then used an applique that I had previously dyed, a small section of cheesecloth and a smaller crochet flower on the top of that and glued those together. Then I glued these on the top left-hand side on to the crochet doily and then added two small tickets again digital images printed out placing them behind the large crochet flower at the bottom right to finish the look of the project