Cottage 6 Studio

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Sepia Saturday - Machine Shop Crew

The image prompt this week at Sepia Saturday is a wonderful photograph and a powerful image which you can see here.

Using the theme of laborers, I am sharing the photographs my grandfather took of the crew of the machine shop at The Bell Mine.

Of course, these men are just some of the hardworking laborers who worked at the mine.  Of all the laborers, these men probably had it the best.  I'm assuming they, along with the workers in the saw mill, would have had the least contact with the actual asbestos, and of course, they were able to work above ground.

Until I visited the Museum of Mining and Metallurgy in Thetford Mines, Quebec ten years ago, I had no idea that women were were also employed at the mines as crushers and baggers and also to separate the rock from the fibre.  If you're interested, you can see some more images here from early asbestos mining in the Thetford area in an online exhibit from the McCord Museum in Montreal.

Last year I was inspired to use copies of these images in my page of a round robin with the theme, "Vintage Factory Workers."  As a background, I used a copy of an time sheet from 1912 (though not from the mine).

To see what everyone else is posting this week, don't forget to head over to Sepia Saturday.

Anna

VTT - War Correspondence

Those of you who visit Cottage 6 only for Vintage Thingie Thursday may not realize that this blog started out as a place where I share the handstamped greeting cards I have been making for about seven years now.

This month I started donating handmade cards to a wonderful organization called Operation Write Home.  They send blank, handmade cards to active duty military and NATO troops overseas so that they can write home.  OWH has sent a grand total of 911,600 cards to these brave men and women.

As I sent off a dozen Mother's Day cards earlier this week, I thought about some of the correspondence between my maternal grandfather and home during World War II and that I had been meaning to share it with you one Thursday.

Although these envelopes are labeled as "Armed Forces Air Letters", flimsies, as the seem to have been known in slang terms were used for almost all overseas mail in those days.  If you sent a regular letter, it would cost a fortune and take forever to get to its destination, as it would go by ship.

 

A letter to Daddy.

And a letter from Daddy.

Here is what they look like open.  And they are very flimsy, practically as thin as tissue paper.

My mother was five when her father went overseas.  I love her letters to him.  It was three years later when he came home.  I just realized that I did not post these in order.  As you can see, she was clearly making her plans for his return home in this letter written a few weeks after VE-Day.

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge.)

 

 

While he was overseas, Grandpa carried this picture of my grandmother and mother.

I can only imagine what it was like then, with rations and food stamps and a life that was affected by the war in every way.  With today's conflict we barely notice it on a daily basis unless we know someone in the military.  Its a very different world.

Be sure to head on over to Coloradolady to check out this week's participants at Vintage Thingie Thursday.

See you soon,

Anna

Sepia Saturday - Construction

Happy Late Saturday Everyone!

After a busy week where I did not participate in any challenges or linky parties, I decided that I should at least put up a post for Sepia Saturday.

Again from my grandfather's albums and following the loose construction theme at Sepia Saturday, here are a few pictures of the construction of what my mother believes is a rail bridge being constructed by and for The Bell Asbestos Mine in Thetford Mines, Quebec to cross Notre-Dame Street at the top of Martin Bennett Hill.

At the time these pictures were taken, sometime between 1912 and 1919, my Great Grandfather George R. Smith was the Vice-President and Mines Manager of the Bell Mine.

Eventually my grandfather and all of his brothers and some nephews would work for the mine, but when he took these pictures, Grandpa George was a photography-loving teenager with an interesting subject.

I'll be around to visit everyone tomorrow.  Hope you're having a great weekend.  And if you didn't come here from Sepia Saturday, be sure to check it out here.

Anna

Finally done and out the door.

Well, with all that studying this week I was wondering if I would get any Mother's Day cards sent to Operation Write Home.  I  just sent out a dozen, and I really hope they make it in time, especially since Sandy put the word out earlier in the week that they were desperately needed.

Per Sandy's suggestion, I did make them Mom cards, without mention of Mother's Day so they can be used even if the shippers are inundated with Mother's Day, or if they are late, which is not out of the question.

Of the dozen I sent out, ten were exactly the same as the card I posted the other day.  Its just so much faster that way.

As you can see, though, I did take some time to make a couple in some different colors.  This one is definitely my favorite; you can't beat vintage rick rack and distressed designer paper.

For the first time in months, I don't have a crafting "To Do" list.  Maybe I'll get a jump on my own Easter cards, or work on more cards for OWH.  Or perhaps I could start work on one of those bigger projects that never seem to get going.

Whatever I decide, its nice to have the time pressures off of both school and crafting for just a little while, and I do plan to spend some time creating this weekend and I'll be back to share the results with you as always.

See you then,

Anna

Almost at the Finish Line

This Thursday evening is the last class of the final course in the certificate program in Medical Coding that I have been attending since last February.  I've been doing a lot of studying and reading this week because I know it is my last chance to ask questions before I take the certification exam in early May.

This afternoon, in between cleaning my pantry and fridge in honor of spring (or perhaps because they desperately needed it) I started some Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home.

 

I used a lot of old favorites on this card.  The blue cardstock I've had in my stash for about six years, the designer paper is what's left of a few sheets I also bought years ago and used to make one of my first birthday cards.  

The stamps are from Rubber Stamp Tapestry, a set called Porcelain Bouquet, and Cornish Heritage Farms.  So sad that they went out of business.  But I'm glad that I heard about it in time and was able to snag their Mother's and Father's Day sets before they were all gone.

That's it from me for now.  I really want to get these cards in the mail tomorrow, so I hope to be back soon.

Anna

 

VTT - Grandpa Smith's Albums Part IV - Family

March 3, 1886 was the wedding day of George Robert Smith, aged 26 to Isabella Frances Parker, aged 18.

Together, George & Isabella (known as Fannie, much to her dismay) had nine children.  Two of those children, Benjamin & Norman Parker, died in infancy.  The rest lived to adulthood, two girls and five boys.

Here they are all together on Christmas day in what Mum and I have decided must be 1913 at the earliest.

Although this particular copy does not come from Grandpa's albums, there is a copy in there.  I chose this one because it shows who everyone is.

As the story goes, my grandfather was given this camera for Christmas that day.  He took a number of pictures of the family (some of which are below) and at some point Grandfather decreed that there would be a formal family portrait taken when they were all dressed for dinner.

This did not please Granny, who was in the kitchen supervising the preparations.  The children remembered her being annoyed at this interruption, which does show on her face.

At any rate, my grandfather's best friend, the station master's son who lived across the street, was recruited to shoot the picture after my grandfather had it all set up.

The pictures in my grandfather's albums date from 1911 - 1919 and we think my Great Aunt Ruth may have been responsible for taking the earlier pictures.

Unfortunately, these hundreds of wonderful photos are not in chronological order, so mine will not be either.

I believe this is one of the earliest pictures I have of my grandfather and his siblings.  From right to left, this is Francis Parker (Parker), William John White (Pin), George Washington (my grandfather) and Frances Ruth.

Here are Herb, Great Grandfather, and my grandfather, George.  We're not sure that the little girl is Ruth, but it could be.

This is Lucy with an unnamed dog.  There were quite a few dogs around the Smith household it seems.  My grandmother used to talk about Granny's yapping Chihuahua, but that would have been much later.

These three are Kim, Lena and Terry.

And this adorable Boston Terrier shows up in at least half a dozen pictures, but none of them are captioned with his or her name.

And here he/she is again being held by my Great Uncle Parker in a photo with Aunt Ruth's friend Freda, dated 1919.

 

Pin, the baby, and Lannie (Orlando Chauncey), the eldest boy.

Lucy, Father, Mother, Herb

Ruth & Parker

Herb & Pin

You may remember that Herb and my grandfather served in World War I.  Herb was captured by the Germans and spend the end of the war in a POW camp.

Lucy & Fred

Since I don't know when this was taken, I can't say if Fred is yet Lucy's husband, but he would be.  I never knew either of them as they both died four years before I was born.

I wish I had known Lucy though, she surely appears to have been quite a character.

I asked my mother if there was any significance to these pictures.  She said no, but that it seemed like a Lucy thing to do.

I didn't know Lannie either, he died in 1951.  I did know his widow, Rachel (pronounced like Rachelle).  She was the great aunt who always had sweets or money to get some when my cousin, Trevor, and I would visit.  Lannie and Rachel had three children, George Robert Louis (Bobby), Pauline Louise & Walter Herbert.

Here he is in later years.

 

I didn't know Herb either, but his school photos showed that he was something of a character like most of the family.  He married Georgia Talbot and had a daughter, June Monro.

As Chief Photographer, pictures of my grandfather are few and far between and you've seen most of them.  George and his wife Marjorie Dean, had one daughter, my mother Janet Isabella.  Here he is as I remember him.

Ruth died in 1974.  I have only vague memories of her, but they are very pleasant; filled with warmth and love.  She and her husband adopted a girl, Philippa.  I should also say that I do have later portraits of the women as well as the men, but I didn't set out to find them in time for this post.

Uncle Parker was the survivor of his siblings.  He married Ruby Lavers.  They did not have children.

And here he is as I knew him.

 

And last but not least, the baby, Uncle Pin.  He married Mary Emmeline Hurley one of the most warm, wonderful and down-to-earth people you could ever meet.  Together they had four children; George Robert Hodgson (Young George), John Lannie Hume, Mary Frances & William Frederick Hurley (Bill). 

 

 

 

 

As an only child I can only guess at what it must have been like to grow up in such a large family.  I'm sure it was fun and loud!

There are so many great pictures, I almost can't stop adding them.  But I'll save them for another post on a different theme.

Unnamed doggie says, "Until Next Time!"

Take a tour of vintage goodness by joining the party at Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Anna

Sepia Saturday 65

Today I am joining Sepia Saturday for the first time.

I had never heard of Sepia Saturday until Peggy (queenmothermamaw) at Daylily told me about it in a comment to one of my recent VTT posts.  It's a great linky party featuring vintage photos of all kinds, they don't really have to be sepia.  There is also a loose theme every week, but it is up to the participants if they want to post on the theme or not.  This week, I say, "Yes."

For those of you visiting my blog for the first time, I am the lucky keeper of three albums of photographs taken by my grandfather almost 100 years ago in and around the Eastern Townships of Quebec.  I have been sharing some of the pictures in a weekly linky party called Vintage Thingie Thursday for the last three weeks.

I took this week off from VTT because I am determined to finish scanning all of the photos now and not put it off any longer.  However, there are two pictures that I scanned this week that intrigued me and I thought I would share them here.

 

These photos are pasted onto the same page of this particular album and both are frustratingly uncaptioned.  I believe that it is the same car in both, but I can't tell for sure.

And I don't know what type of car it is or when the photo was taken, although probably between 1914 and 1918.  Could it have been my great-grandfather's car?  Or the car of the family of a friend from school?  Or was it just a car that my grandfather saw and admired?  It is a beauty whatever the story.

If anyone out there knows anything about antique cars and can point me in the right direction, it would certainly be appreciated.

A big thank you to Peggy for letting me know about Sepia Saturday and I'll be around to see you all sometime tomorrow.

Anna

WYOWW #92

Happy Wednesday!

Here is my workdesk with materials I have out in the midst of making a few St. Patrick's Day cards.

I showed off the first of them in a post yesterday, but here it is again...'cause I'm a show-off!

 

A couple of people have commented on the size of my workspace and I am lucky in that regard.  When Don's parents were cleaning out their home to get it on the market, we found this piece of countertop balancing on two file cabinets as a desk.  We brought it home and Don attached it to my old changing table.  Its a great surface, because just about anything comes off of it, but the color makes for a really bad background for these weekly peeks..oh, well!

 

More stuff to the left of me which may or may not be used for these cards, and a pile of scraps that I thought looked good together so I'm determined to work them into a project one of these days.

 

To the right of me, the mess begins anew if I'm not careful.  The unmounted stamps are still out to remind me to finish reorganizing them, there's a stack of designer paper sheets and scraps and some stamps that I've been too busy...ok, too lazy, to put away.  And these magazine holders I can't decide what to do with now that I have "cured" myself of my magazine addiction...or did blogging do that for me?

Anyway, that's it for me this week.  I'll be around to peep into your spaces later today.  And if you're not a regular participant, you can join the nosing around here.

Anna

A St. Patrick's Day Easel Card

My mojo is back!!  I have to tell ya, I was not too happy with the last few cards that I have made, but with some inspiration from fellow bloggers, I am really happy with this card that I made for Don's parents.

I was looking for a good fold technique that I could use that would give me a card-front with the same dimensions as an A2 card and I thought of an easel card.  I found a tutorial here on Splitcoaststampers with measurements for a vertical A2.

I started playing around with different backgrounds and ended up finding a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of cream cardstock in my stash which I had already distressed around the edges with my seam ripper.  I decided to age it with some Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Inks, embossed it with the Textile CB folder and then used the Cuttlebug Highlights technique from Technique Junkies to make the embossing really pop.

I knew the card needed some embellishment, and decided I wanted to try my hand at some paper flowers.  I had seen a really cool tutorial here during the OWH blog hop (which I just saw was featured on Tutorial Tuesday on the OWH Stars & Stamps blog today) and a further search led me to this video.

Ages ago, I bought some scalloped-edge circles punched from old dictionary pages and they were already on my workdesk, so I got to work cutting, curling and gluing.

But, they needed some color.  Tim Holtz's "Pearlized-Distress" mist spray came to mind, so I found the recipe on his blog here and made some using Shabby Shutters reinker and Perfectly Gold Perfect Pearls.  For the red roses, I used the only shade of Glimmer Mist I own, a nice cheery red.

Aren't they cool?  I'm really happy with the way they came out!

This piece of lace from Dollar Tree keeps the easel card standing open and this sentiment from Inkadinkadoo, stamped in Vintage Photo Distress Ink is the only stamp on the whole card.

Well, its time to get this in the mail.  I'll be posting again in the morning for What's on your Workdesk Wednesday.

Anna