Tagged: thrift shop
Cute Christmas Graphics
A lot of people ask me where I find such cute Christmas graphics for my December Dailies. I tell them, “Anywhere I can”. I don’t say that to be evasive or cryptic, I say it because it’s the truth. When you work on December Dailies and junk journals, you learn to look at the things that pass through your hands carefully. You want great graphics for your journals, however, most people don’t really even look at the papers that pass through their hands.
Here are a few cute Christmas graphics that may make it into my December Daily this year and the place where I found them. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for collecting great graphics for whatever project you are working on.
From and old Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer book from a Salvation Army thrift shop.
I got a whole box of these cards for $1.00 at a church thrift shop.
Snowmen plushie patterns from the Goodwill Outlet (by the pound store).
Cut from a children’s Christmas book from the library’s free book cart.
Vintage greetings cards purchased at a flea market.
Vintage sticker that was stuffed into a bag with old Christmas ornaments from a thrift shop.
These are just a few examples of what types of graphics are good to use for journals and where you can find them. But don’t forget to look at napkins, coasters, food bags, labels, newspapers, magazines, flyers, food boxes and shopping bags. Great graphics are all around, you just have to slow down and look for them.
I hope you take your time this Christmas to see all the wonderful images marketing professionals put out there for us to enjoy!
My $2.99 Craft Supply Haul
Okay it’s confession time. I promised myself I would not buy ANY MORE craft supplies until I made a BIG dent in the ones I already have. I mean really. My office/studio is a total disaster because there is so much stuff that I don’t have enough storage space for it all. I am a neat freak and it is really starting to get on my nerves. So that is why I made an iron clad promise to myself that I would use up what I have, not only to make some space, but to save some money as well. It was all going so well until I went to the Goodwill today and found this!
It’s a big bag of crafty embellishment type of thingies.
For about 3 pounds of goodies, the price was right. Goodwill had taped the bag shut with packing tape and I couldn’t really see what was in the middle. I took a gamble and laid down my $2.99 anyway.
So I decided to look at the contents with you.
Wow! That’s a lot of embellishments. Let me sort them out a little and we’ll see what we’ve got here. Some of the items didn’t make “the cut” and will be for sale at my next yard sale!!!
First, some fairly flat ribbons and flowers. These are great for putting on journal and album covers.
These frosty little bells are on wires so they will be perfect to use in next year’s Christmas corsages. Side note, I had intended to make some corsages this year, however, I completely ran out of time. Could it be because I was thrift shopping?
Strings of pearls, pearl sprays and pearl beads. There are at least 1000 uses for these!
Packages and packages of flat white embellishments made from lace and satin. The fact that they are all white is okay with me as I can always spray them with glimmer mists to add color.
Lace trims, cord and seam binding tape. Again, all white and ready to be colored.
Last but not least some other items. There are two bags of naked babies which will be fun to use on Spring crafts. Two blue and white cameo type cabochons. A package of pink epoxy stickers (need I say more)? Some hook and eye closures for a future sewing project, one of which I already had in mind. And last but not least, a tiny little metal clothes hanger! How cute is that?
Well I have to say that even though I’m disappointed with myself for breaking my “no more buying craft supplies” rule, I am happy that I spotted such a great buy. So now that I’ve added to my big mess, I must go watch youtube crafting videos make something fabulous!
A Daily Dose of Art
I think everyone should make some form of art every day. There are many forms including drawing, collage, painting, coloring, stamping and even doodling. Making a little piece of art is very satisfactory as it provides a visual finished product. But who has time to finish a 9 x 12 canvas everyday? Not me, that’s for sure. So I needed to come up with a way to make daily art that doesn’t take a big time commitment. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do?
Pinterest to the rescue (again). Check out what I found on this website.
http://ramblingrose.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c589d53ef014e88c686a4970d-popup.
It’s an altered rolodex! What a brilliant idea. I wanted to get one for myself and start making my own miniature masterpieces (or just doodles). On my first thrift shop outing after seeing this great idea, I was lucky enough to find this.
Lucky Find!
A couple of cards done and it looks like this.
Wow, really?
As you can see I have a loooong way to go to even begin filling this baby up. And I also have the backs of the cards to do. I’m thinking this one rolodex will keep me busy for the rest of my life. I have no idea how many cards are in it, all I know is there are a lot. Here are some close-ups of the cards I have actually done.
Kindergarten Busy Work
Nest-ology
Running In Circles
Sisters
Little Things
So maybe the next time you are at that yard-sale, thrift shop or flea market and you see an old rolodex, you will look at it as a new form of art instead of an out dated office supply. Now if you will excuse me, I have to start working on 1538 more pieces of miniature art!
A Sad Little Case
Happy Labor Day everyone! Wow, has the summer ever blown by fast. I have had a very busy summer which included a cruise and a white-water rafting and zip-line trip to West Virginia. I also went to many flea markets, yard sales, estate sales and thrift shops. It was at one of these venues that I found this….
It is a sad little suitcase, probably for doll clothes. It is an old one, and certainly one that has seen better days, but then again, haven’t we all? If you look at the top right corner of the case it even looks like a mouse might have sharpened his teeth on it!
Why would I even consider spending good money on this? I had three reasons. First, it is sturdy and the hardware is all intact. Second, it only cost $1.00. And lastly, it is so sad I just couldn’t leave it to a fate of ever being tossed in the trash can, unused and unloved. Yes, I really do get emotional about inanimate objects! But I could not leave it in this miserable state. I decided since I will never be able to afford a face-lift, this sad little case would get one instead.
First, a coat of white paint around the edges and hardware. Sometimes you have to get ugly (or in this case uglier) before you get pretty. If you’ve ever had foil highlights put in your hair you know what I’m talking about.
Then I applied a bunch of scrap papers around the whole case. This is a view of the top.
And here is the front. As an afterthought I decided to cover up any white paint around the edges and hardware with some distress ink.
It gives it a little more vintage flair.
I wiped out the inside, which was not so bad, but it needed a little upgrade too.
I just put some paper in the lid and in the bottom, but left the sides in their original state. I love how this sad little case ended up. Not so sad anymore! I am mainly going to use this case to carry art supplies when I go out (can anyone say, Donna Downey class in October!!!!). I was going to stamp some “arty” words inside the lid but decided I may also use it for displaying lace and such at vintage shows. I’m sorry my pictures do not do this little $1.00 beauty justice. She actually is quite pretty now.
So my challenge to you is to take a chance and spend that whole dollar on the sad little object nobody else will buy. You never know, it could be a diamond in the rough!
glitteronmyface 