Skip to main content

In Honor of the SS Eastland



Today’s blog post is about crafting and history. A few months ago, I slapped some Mod Podge® down on a cardboard binder and added crumpled tissue paper. After sealing it with another coat of the Podge and adding some Tim Holtz® Distress Stain by Ranger, I fell head over heels in love with the way it turned out. It has the appearance of poorly preserved leather made out of human skin. Perfect for the stash of Halloween catalogs the binder holds

After that experiment, I had an idea to create a sort of dark shadowbox with a giant human eye. After fussing about with the tissue paper and finding the right doodads, I think it turned out incredibly awesome.
Dark shadowbox...it sees what you've done and the secrets you lock away...

I wanted to make another, but with a lovely bluish-brown background. I thought of some diabolical mermaid as the focal piece or some deep sea creature, but both seemed forced. They weren't right. I studied the blue and it looked familiar and cold. It made me think of Chicago and then something clicked: the Eastland Disaster. 

Many years ago while antiquing in Arizona, I found a black and white postcard with the image of fire fighters and police moving draped gurneys onto a ship. Under those drapes were corpses. The back of the card described it as the Eastland Disaster in Chicago. I had never heard of the Eastland, but through the years, I would read articles about the tragedy that killed 844 people on the Chicago River July 24, 1915.

I sketched out my idea and it dawned on me that this year is the 100th anniversary of the Eastland and I really wanted to make something special…a small memorial of sorts. 

My husband purchased an authentic Eastland postcard for me and I copied it, aging the paper to nestle behind a large optical lens. I had various gears and star charms that I added oxidizing paint to and made them look rusted.

After unsuccessful attempts at finding a suitable top piece, I used a wooden plaque with wings and a crown from Tim Holtz®, using the same paint. 

I wanted balance for the top of the frame and found some extra metal book corners (again, Tim Holtz®) and gave them the rusted look as well.

The SS Eastland was "The Speed Queen of the Great Lakes" and I embossed a piece of copper with those words, torching it to give it some color. 

I severed the limb from a cake topper doll and added paint and stain and a layer of my favorite Glossy Accents® to give the arm a wet look.

The slender, pale arm reaching out of the murky waters asks not only to be saved, but to be remembered. The 844 lives lost aboard the Speed Queen are memorialized and their souls fly free instead of trapped inside.
SS Eastland Disaster shrine

I wish I could take better photos. Perhaps on a clear, sunny day I'll take more photos and add them to this post.

You can learn about the Eastland and remember The 844 by visiting www.eastlanddisaster.org or eastlandmemorial.org.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Witch's Lair

So a little while ago, Tim Holtz had a video showing all of the new Ideal-ology goodies for Christmas. You know me, I bleed orange and black, but one thing in particular made me OOL (ooh out loud). The Vignette Box Tops. When I saw the sweet scenes he made out of Vignette Boxes and those tops...my Halloween vein started throbbing! I ordered them and finally got them Thursday. I was off work yesterday and not feeling well so I created this neat little vignette! Everything used to create this project is Tim Holtz except for the black creepy drape cloth, the glass glitter, and the moss. It all started with larger Vignette box. I cut a piece of Halloween paper to fit the back and edged it in Black Soot Distress ink.  I took the largest box top and traced it out onto a piece of Lost and Found paper stash. I wanted to use a Halloween design, but the paper was just a bit too small. Once I had the box top traced, I cut it out and cut out the little window portion as well. I added B...
6 comments
Read more

I Have No Words

This post has been a difficult one to write.  Like so many others, the pandemic has really thrown me into a loop and brought many unexpected and unwanted changes.   I left my job of over 19 years in October. The stress, frustration, and unhappiness was too much and the negativity was seeping into my off-time and basically killed any motivation I had to write or make anything.  Around that same time, my sister's breast cancer returned with a vengeance and destroyed the funny, loving, energetic woman I had always known and loved. She became a fragile shell and then she was gone.  My heart was still raw when my mother, the rock of our family, died unexpectely on Friday. I'm stunned. Shocked. It makes no sense. She's gone.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me. I've been working in the healthcare field and I'm happy with the job but life keeps telling me how short it is and I think I need to really listen this time.
1 comment
Read more

My Submission for Needle's Flash Fiction Challenge

"Gone Fishing" Copyright 2010 by Carey Burns Prissy jumped down from Veronica's lap and skittered to the front of the fishing boat, her paws on the side rail as she barked at the kids fishing on the shoreline. "Von, will you keep that ratty dog quiet? She's scaring away the fish." Sam reeled in his slack line, wishing he would have left her and that damn dog of hers at home instead of letting her weasel her way into his fishing trip with Bailey. Baily Evers was the only reason Von had any interest in fishing and she flirted with him mercilessly in the truck and for the first hour on the lake until Sam told her to shut her silly mouth. Since then Veronica sat sulking with Prissy whimpering in her arms. Bailey chuckled. "Maybe we can hang ol' Pris over the edge and see if there really are barracuda in this lake." He tilted back his Dodgers' cap and wiped the sweat from his brow, squinting as he stared off across the lake. "Should we...
4 comments
Read more