Vintage Cottage Charm Inspiration

My dear friend HB (Carol) sent me a birthday card with such a nice hand written letter inside. She asked me what my summer theme was going to be this year.....last year it was strawberries and she sent me the most wonderful vintage teapot with strawberries on it. So it got me thinking and I have to say that my decorating theme right now is what I would call Vintage Cottage Charm.

For my birthday, I purchased this old kitchen cupboard at an antique store. I just love the layers of old, white paint...the kitschy red strip and scallop cut outs. I wasn't sure it would fit where I wanted it in my kitchen/dining room but it does! I'll have to take photos of some of my other vintage treasures I've found too!

Then, Jordan picked out this bedspread(yes, all this pattern is on one bedspread) from Land of Nod. The girls get to redo their bedrooms this summer. Josey picked a more modern fuzzy bedspread. Jordan decided (with a little help) to do her room in the Vintage Cottage theme. Everything in her room will be inspired by the patterns in the bed spread. Her new furniture will be thrift store/garage sale/antique store finds. We've already found an old shutter headboard, a door panel we're going to make into a cork board, some old white shelves, etc. After we oohed and aahed over the girls' new bedding, I got inspired by all the fun patterns in Jordan's bedspread. So I challenged myself to recreate each pattern in the bedspread and make my own patterned paper. Below are the six patterns I created. These are 1/4 sheets of cardstock and I'll use them like little quilt pieces on cards. I'll be sure to post my creations!

I wanted to show you how I made each pattern. These are all just representations, not exact replications. It was fun to dig through my stamp stash to find just the perfect stamps. For the first samples, I made a plaid pattern that resembles the pink gingham pattern of the quilt. I used the Ticking CHF backgrounder....stamped it both vertical and horitzontal with Papertrey Berry Sorbet ink. Here's the stamped patterned paper up next to the fabric sample. Gingham and Ticking just screams Cottage Charm to me.
Next I used the Karen Lockhart Millinery Rose stamp to create an overall floral pattern. I used a polka dot from Papertrey Ink to add some fun. Ink color was PT Berry Sorbet.
Here's the patterned paper sample next to the fabric.
Then I used another CHF background called Victorian Pattern to stamp a paisley-like pattern.

Here's the patterned paper sample next to the fabric piece.
Here's one of my favorites, these giant polka dots! I used the big ones from the PT set called Polka Dot Basics and PT Berry Sorbet ink.
And here's the patterned paper next to the quilt. I love how polka dots add a touch of whimsey to everything.Here's another Cottage Charm basic......stripes. I used the PT Faux Ribbon set and PT Spring Moss to create stripe after stripe.
Here's the finished piece next to the striped portion of the bedspread.
And here's another one of my favorite the cottage rose. I use one of the flowers from the PT set called Garden of Life. Ink colors were PT Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush and Spring Moss.
Here's the two pieces side by side. To create this look, I inked the flower in Sweet Blush then tapped the edges of the flower onto the Berry Sorbet ink pad..then stamped the image. I added a few more polka dots just for fun.
Sooooooo, now I have my very own collection of patterned paper......just like when you see a rack of coordinating papers and you MUST have it all. It's fun to make your own though too. So I hope you give it a try. Be sure to link me up if you create your own! I'll be posting samples soon with my new paper. Have a great day everyone!! I'm off to pick paint colors for the girls' rooms.

Supplies: All CHF backgrounds can be found at Ellen's STORE. Papertrey products can be found at the link HERE.