Those Cofer Boys

Aren’t these two a pair of studs? Those are my great-great uncles, Lee and Ellerson Cofer.  My dad used to tell me stories about Uncle Lee with his stuttering problem and his penchant for moonshine (Note the mason jar on the lower left, the container of choice for illegal moonshiners in Mississippi. I added the XXX with a French General tag glued over the original label).

The journaling tag is hidden between the frames.

I’ve have pondered over this photo a long time because I couldn’t figure out what type of badges they are wearing. At first, I thought they were from a Christian convention of some sort, but this summer, I saw some similar badges in a museum in Sacramento from an AFL-CIO convention. That makes sense. This photo was from an era when the AFL and CIO were making headway in the South, unionizing trades right and left. The only occupation I ever knew these two to have is that in later years, they ran one of the largest stills in Yalobousha County, Mississippi. I guess they weren’t happy with their union work.

I have been on a quest to use up my stash, so this page is made of many different manufacturers’ products. I tried to list them all, but a few, such as the tag with the bottle cap, were made several years ago when I was on another Use-My-Stash quest.

Here’s how I created this page:

Supplies

• KellyCraft Get-it-Straight Laser Square
• Cardstock:

        Black, 12”x12 and a rectangle to fit photo and title
        Green 8 1/2” x 5 ½”. Cream, 8 1/2” x 5 ½”., 
        Printed, 10 ½” x 10 ½” (Graphic 45) and assorted scraps

• Stencil (UmWow)
• Inks, Black and Chestnut , Clearsnap
• Stickers (Jolee’s Boutique, French General)
• Dies (Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities LF-190)
• Die Cutting Machine (Spellbinders Grand Calibur)
• Assorted Embellishments (Graphic 45 and Wendy Vecchi, Studio, 490)
• Double-stick tape
• Tissue tape (Tim Holtz for Ranger)
• Glue Dots
• Printed title, journaling and photo printed on cream card stock
• Sponge, paper trimmer, scissors

Instructions

Note: All elements are lined up using the KellyCraft Get –it-Straight Laser Square

1. Line up printed cardstock onto black cardstock, leaving a ¼” margin all around. Trim photo leaving a 1/8” edge along the outside of the photo. Line up photo and title on the black rectangle. Set aside.
2. Use Chestnut and Black ink to ink stencil on large Spellbinders frame, offsetting the stencil between colors (Photos 1-3). Ink the frame edges with a sponge to add extra dimension to  the frame edges. Line up and adhere. Layer the smaller Spellbinders frame onto the larger and adhere, placing double stick tape at top and bottom and leaving the center open to hold the journaling block (Photo 4).
3. Sand the 12” textured strip with sanding block or emery board. Line up and adhere across the bottom of the page. Line up and adhere tissue tape over textured strip.
4. Adhere photo block to page.
5. Layer journaling block onto the cardstock scrap and place a punched tab on the right side. Slide the journaling block between the frames so that only the tab shows.
6. Line up and adhere remaining embellishments.