Tagged: vintage graphics
Sassy Girl Bookmarks
This post is about some more bookmarks I have made recently. These feature women cut from old pattern sleeves and colorful scrapbook papers. I’ll show you how I made them.
Cover bookmarks with pieces of vintage text and pattern tissue. Don’t think about it too much. Just place the papers down and glue them on.
Select some nice brightly colored scrapbook papers.
Cut papers into circles of varying sizes. I used some circle dies I have but you could always draw around round objects of different sizes and cut them out.
Glue the paper circles, pattern lady and quote on each bookmark.
I cut the quote into strips so they would fit on the bookmark. They look like they are just floating on the paper so I take and extra step to make them feel more incorporated onto the bookmark.
I used black watercolor pencil to loosely trace around each word strip. Now the words blend in better with the background.
Pop the bookmarks into plastic sleeves if you have them. I used the same colorful wool for the tassel that I used on the mixed media bookmarks from my last post.
Don’t forget to cover the backs to give them a proper finish. Now it’s your turn to use some vintage papers and pictures to create your own fun bookmarks!
I hope you like these fun bookmarks. They will also be for sale at the Spring Vintage Home Market.
Burlap Heart Embellishments
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I decided to make heart embellishments out of burlap. The process was really easy, but I think they came out really well. Here’s the simple process.
Cut some ordinary burlap into smallish pieces. The bigger ones in the picture above measure about 6″ square.
I painted the burlap for interest as well as to keep it from fraying when I cut it into smaller shapes.
I cut the fabric into heart shapes. Some were cut with a die and others I free-handed.
Here’s the fun part! I took out a lot of my Valentine’s Day stickers, bling and graphics. I also took out some sequins and plastic flowers.
Here’s the finished heart embellishments.
I will use these little embellishments on cards, tags or gift bag toppers. I hope this has inspired you to get out some of that plain old burlap you have lying around and make some fun embellishments!
Finished 2017 December Daily
Just a quick post to give you a glimpse at my finished December Daily for 2017. I must say I wasn’t really loving the bare book before December.
Now that it’s finished, however, I really love how it turned out.
It’s a big, chunky monkey!
I didn’t add any charms or ribbon to the rings before December, but was able to get some cute things on during the month. The bells on the red elastic was a jingle bracelet I wore to Zumba for two weeks!
Here are some random pages from my December Daily.
As you can see, I do not use photos in my journals. This is partly due to the fact that I don’t take a lot of pictures and partly because there is already so much cute ephemera out there to fill the pages.
I have been doing December Dailies for quite a few years now, and I must say that this year it was a real pleasure to work on it. I took a few minutes out of each day and recorded the events of the previous day. I was completely finished by New Year’s Day.
If you have never kept a December Daily before, I urge you to give it a try in 2018. There is nothing quite as fun as pulling journals out from previous years and reliving the wonderful Christmas memories!
Easy D.I.Y. Shaker For Journals
If you read my last blog post, you would see that I am doing another December Daily this year. I love December Dailies because Christmas packaging, stickers and ephemera are just so darn cute. As I am just a big kid during the Christmas season, I also like to make shakers for my journals. There is something so fun about making the sequins and beads move around. Most of the time I just use the cellophane wrappers from things I buy but this year I had a different idea.
I found a bunch of these in my junk journal closet (yes, I really have a closet full of junk journal supplies!)
These are the plain white sleeves you use when you make your own CDs. There is cellophane covering the circle cut out. I stamped mine to make them extra festive.
This is the marked up cover of an old Rudolph kids book. I didn’t feel bad cutting up this particular book because it wasn’t in very good shape.
I glued on some sequins in different sizes to give the picture some dimension. Then I put the picture into the CD sleeve.
I got out a few of my packages of sequins and seed beads (and yes, I have many more than this!), and poured them into the CD envelope.
I sealed the sleeve with glue and viola, a cute Christmas shaker to add to my December Daily. I will probably just put it in with a paper clip so I can take it out and play with it when I want.
These can be made for any holiday and can also be used in junk journals. If you don’t have any CD sleeves, just take a look at your crafting stash and see what else you may have to turn into a shaker. Go ahead, your never too old to let your inner child out, especially at Christmas!
December Daily 2017
I just finished setting up the basic structure of my December Daily junk journal for this year and I thought I would share it with you. Please ignore the fact that one of my “O” rings is missing, I need to order more of that size.
So here are just some basic things I have done so far.
I used covers from a hard back book and glued a piece from a vintage ornament box to the front.
I used a variety of papers for the pages. I always like to do my December Daily journals for the entire month and usually put in about 40 sheets of papers in varying sizes.
A calendar for the month was added right inside the front cover.
I also added a December Daily prompt list I got off Pinterest in case I need some inspiration on those less than interesting days.
A little hand painted paper bag was glued to the inside of the back cover to put elements in that I don’t necessarily want to glue, tape or staple.
I added glitter glue to the candle flames and gold glittered letters that read, “Christmas 2017” on the front cover. I’m still debating if I will add any other graphics to the front. You can see how skinny the book is now, but I will keep you updated every once in a while during December to show you my progress.
If you are interested in purchasing a December Daily from me please leave me a message. I still have several to choose from and have time to mail them out before December 1st.
My DIY Traveler’s Notebook
Most people who are in the arts and crafts or planner worlds know what a traveler’s notebook is. There are tons of videos and blog posts about how to set up your TN (traveler’s notebook). And what you use them for is only limited by your imagination. I have watched many YouTube videos showing pretty TNs filled with TN inserts and paraphernalia all which add up to the cost of a new car! I’m not kidding, the bare bones TNs, without inserts, sell from $30.00-$70.00. Yeah, I’m so not cool with that.
So I decided to make my own TN. Basically all they are is a piece of leather or vinyl and some elastic cord. So how hard could it be to make my own? Not hard at all. I used two pieces of sample vinyl wallpapers from one of those huge sample books. First I glued them backsides together so I have a pretty cover and inside. Then I followed a video detailing how to attach the elastic pieces.
This is what my bare bones TN looks like.
Okay, I know it doesn’t look great yet, but that is because I haven’t worked on any of the pages inside.
I am using my TN as a prayer and Scripture book. But if that’s not your thing, you can use them as day planners, art journals, junk journals, glue books, etc…
Here are some of the pages I’ve made for my journal. As my prayers are private, I photographed these pages before I wrote my prayers on them.
Traveler’s notebooks, however you deem to use them, are a great way to use your creativity as well as use your stash!
If you don’t already have a TN, check out some videos about them. I bet you’ll get hooked just like I did!
Great Junk Journal Fodder Haul
I have already started making junk journals and such for the upcoming Christmas season. Although I really don’t need a lot of ephemera to make new journals, I did want to beef up my stash a little bit. So I picked up some really cool stuff in the last couple of weeks and wanted to share it with you. So without any further ado, here’s the stuff I hauled.
Cool old books and magazines. The pictures in these books are fantastic!
More vintage books with great graphics.
This book is not that old but…
the inside is chock full of vintage street signs. These will also be great to use in my mixed media projects or as embellishments in my journals!
Two more vintage cookbooks, but check out the insides of these…
great pages for journaling. The top one gets extra points because it’s a binder!
Vintage wrapping papers and tissue papers, because the one huge box I already have is apparently not enough! Again, these can be used in junk journals or in mixed media.
Vintage kitchen labels, a note pad and vintage sewing supplies. These are great additions to junk journals.
A box crammed full of vintage matchbooks. The matches have already been taken out so these will make great tags and embellishments for my journals. This photo doesn’t show the quantity too well but there are at least 250-300 old matchbooks here!
And lastly, a yummy box of old ephemera. There are all kinds of receipts in this lot. Also included were some cards of vintage rickrack and some old pens, some of which are fountain pens.
So all in all, I feel well stocked for a while and am ready to get on with making the journals. If I remember, I’ll show you some of the finished ones.
It gives me a great feeling to know I can reuse these old treasures to make journals and mixed media projects people will enjoy. Recycling is always a win-win situation!
End Of An Era
Moss Cottage Vintage has just gone through a major change. Due to the sluggish economy these last years, I have felt that my profit margin at the Fredericksburg Antique Mall isn’t were it should be. I am doing well on Etsy, but that is because my overhead is so low.
I like having a space in the mall because I like to “play” at displaying my items. But the space I was in was just too big and too expensive to make it worth my while.
So, out with the old…
And in with the new!
I love my new space! It’s surprising how much stuff I was able to fit in there and my sales have already increased!!! If you come to the Fredericksburg Antique Mall, my booth is the third one on the left on the ground floor, right before you go into the back section. Send me a message if you are coming and I’ll try to meet you there.
Now onto some arts and crafts. Here are two cards I made recently. One for my nieces 16th birthday (she loves anything Tudor) and one for a gentlemen who loves fishing.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Moving the shop was quite a big ordeal and I’m also busy with some household renovation projects. I hope I’ll have a chance to “art” again soon.
Back To Mixed Media
During the months leading up to Christmas I am busy crafting for my shows. I don’t get any time to “play” with my paints, sprays, pens, etc… Now that the holidays are over, I’ve had some time to get back to mixed media. Here are a few of the projects I’ve finished.
I had a lot of fun layering and layering. I hope you like these pieces. I’m finishing up a couple more and will share them when they’re done.
Make some time during this “down time” and yucky weather to get out your paints and play!
After The Party Up-Cycle Tags
The Christmas holiday season is over and all the goodies are gone, including the 3 batches of Chex mix I made. So it’s time to say goodbye to the empty cereal boxes.
Some went the way of the recycling bin and others… well, they went the way of my craft room.
I cut a box into tag shaped pieces.
Then I covered one side with printed paper and the other side with plain white card stock.
I layered on pieces of different papers and sandwiched trims, pieces of paper doilies and snippets of tulle between the layers.
Here are the finished tags.
I didn’t buy anything for this project. I only used supplies from my stash. I think they turned out pretty well considering they started as waste.
I hope this inspires you to look in your recycling bin, pull something out, and use items in your stash to create something pretty and new!
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