Behind the Blog: Keren from Free Pretty Things for You
Peeps! It's a new edition of Behind the Blog– with a blogger who is as genuine and sweet as the vintage images she shares… Keren from Free Pretty Things For You. She's even gifting us with a darling new image right here– at the end of the post.
How did “Free Pretty Things For You” come about? I believe the Lord works something negative into something positive when you’re trusting in Him. FPTFY was created after I was laid off from a staffing agency—while I was pregnant. As I searched and applied for work online, I would wonder off to beautiful blogs—and long for a little place I could call my own in cyberspace. I wanted a place where anyone with a love for prettiness could come and enjoy my work.
Do you collect vintage books and ephemera? Where do you find the images? What if someone wants to send you images to share… is that ok? If so, what format would you like them in?
Favorite Vintage Image
I collect vintage greeting cards and Valentine’s Day cards. I also collect vintage and baby shower and arrival announcements. Mostly I find and buy them at my local flea markets and antique shops. But you get the best deals at the flea market! I LOVE it when fellow readers send me images that they cherish and want to share with others. Both JPEG or PDF work.
How do you choose which vintage images to post? I have hundreds of images. The only way to really do it is just scan through them and what ever speaks to me that day; I pick apart and start editing away. There’s no real science to my madness.
You’re very generous in that you “give” the images away—what’s your philosophy?
I can't draw to save my life and for a really long time I didn't know how to use Photoshop. Before then, I yearned for pretty vintage art images with a modern spin, but I could never find any. Now that I know how to create them and see how much people love them, how can I not share them?
My motto is the Golden Rule: “Do unto to other as you would have them to do unto you” Matthew 7:12
What are your favorite images?
If I had to pick, it would be my banner image. I started creating an invitation to use for my little girl’s first birthday party. By the end, I loved it so much that I decided to use it for my banner!
These are my other Favorites:
Lovely Deer
Vintage Girl Sewing
Bluebird
What makes you happiest about sharing your work? The joy that comes from reading all the wonderful comments I receive on a daily basis make it all worth it!
Are you a trained graphic designer? I always giggle when I get asked this. I just learned how to use Photoshop six months ago. I am nowhere near advanced at it! I still have along way to go. Basically, I just like playing around with it and figuring out things as I go. My next step is to take some classes to get better.
Can you share your creative process? What type of equipment/scanner do you use?
After choosing the images I want to work with, I start picking them apart and taking different pieces of images and put them all together to see if they work. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but that’s the fun part! I have an HP photosmart Plus Scanner-Printer-Copier. It's a good scanner but not very printer friendly. The cartridges are super small and very expensive. I think I have the oldest version of Photoshop known to man LOL. It has worked for me up until now, but I am definitely going to upgrade soon. Can’t wait to see what else I can create with the newer version!
Tell us about the Flickr group…
My new Flickr group is called You Made It with FPTFY! Followers can upload any of the projects they have created using my images or projects inspired by any of my DYI crafts and will be featured on my blog. It's really fun and it gives exposure to your site!
Can you share any tips on how to get the best results when we use your images?
If you don’t have Photoshop, you could use Picnik, Picasa or FhotoFlexer to add text or re-size the images. Then just print them.
What other types of crafty projects do you enjoy doing?
My followers have described my crafts as "user friendly crafts" which I never thought of until they said so. I love doing crafts that are super easy to create and very budget friendly– and pretty! One of the most beloved by my readers are the "lasercut cupcakes wrappers” I recreated using paper doilies. So simple, so pretty and so CHEAP!
Cupcake Wrappers
Tell us about you…What inspires you? Pretty Packaging has to be on the very top of things that inspire me! I love making the person that receives my packages extra special when they see it.
Photo Source Unknown
Pretty Dessert tables with extra details make me swoon.
Photo Source Unknown
My favorite places to visit are: Such Pretty Things, Style Me Pretty, A Field Journal, oh hello friend, and One Pretty Thing.
Hmm, I'm seeing a pattern that most of them have the word pretty in them…
Keren’s Favorites
Color Combo: Aqua and Pink
Aqua and Pink
Favorite Movie: I have two favorite movies: Life is Beautiful (I ALWAYS cry in the end) and my big fat Greek wedding (I can’t stop laughing every time I see it. Even though I know all the words to it. So hilarious!)
Favorite Snack: Sun Chips!
Song: Lord I believe in you By Crystal Lewis
TV Show: Wife Swap (lol) can’t get enough of it.
Keren's Little Inspiration
Take us through your idea of a perfect day… Having slept more than five hours the night before and then having my baby wake up in a good mood makes a good start to a perfect day. Then getting struck by a brilliant new craft idea, having all the supplies to make it, getting at least one awesome picture of it and posting about it right away! At the end of the day seeing that everyone loved my project and want to try it too makes me smile.
What’s ahead for Free Pretty Things For You? I’d love to (one day in the near future) start doing high quality daily giveaways. That has been my dream since the beginning. Can't wait to see it happen!
Anything else you want to share? If you ever have a specific design you would like me to create please feel free to contact me. I love to hear new ideas and love the challenge of it. I wanted to say thank you to my loving husband, Joshua, for being my biggest fan! He is always helping me with the baby, cooking and even cleaning up. I have the most wonderful man. Love you, darling!
Also– thank you, Malia, for giving me a chance to share a little bit of my world with you lovely readers. Your sweet comments always encourage and uplift me.
You're too kind Keren. Give us your info…
Check out this "new" vintage image– a cute kitty Keren is sharing with YOT readers…
She even made a special version for me…
Thank you Keren!
Tomorrow I'll be sharing my friend De's Monkey Bread Recipe… and next week we'll go Behind the Blog with Rory from Tools are for Women Too. Hope to see you again soon!
Malia my dear i just sent you an email :)
it looks wonderful my dear!! everything came together so wonderfully
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! you made my month :)
XOXO!
Keren!
Another wonderful interview! I am gogin to send my friend who is a lover of all things vintage over to keren’s place – she will be in love (me too)
Hi! I have an award for you on my site, Dropped Stitches. Please stop by to pick it up!
xo Erin
Love this. thanks for sharing. My finger is hurting a little but hopefully healing just fine – it is me that is losing patience – oh pity party here today – can you tell?
You are fabulous!
This was great! Keren, you do beautiful work!
Keren’s work is adorable! I am off to check out her flickr group. And I must use those cupcake wraps for my girl’s birthday party. They will go perfect with the doily banner!
Oh my goodness, I love these vintage images! I’m definitely going to be a new follower. So excited! Everything in this post just makes me smile. :)