My little collection is growing... i do love the colours and textures of old wallpaper and find it hard to resist!
This pink floral number is my latest acquisition and i got it out to make some more elephant notebooks. The elephants always sell so well but have been out of stock for ages... they'll be in the shop soon! Promise.
No secret that i love old paper... be it books whose pages are yellowing at the edges, old sheet music that has been turned so often that it's softened in the corners, wallpaper in bright colours or whatever. The latest thing i've been using in my cards is an old dictionary i salvaged from the recycle yard.
These cute critters available over in the shop :)
A while ago I wrote this little diy project for The Creative Collective blog... click over for full instructions. Great way to reuse some of those kid's paintings that you can't bear to throw away.
I have to confess, initially i had an issue with cutting into the Moonlets artworks. Do you think i'm heartless? Seriously though, there are so many! I have folders full of the cutest drawing and best paintings and there are always some on display on the walls and fridge. But we do so many, inbetween school and crafting at home that i've become accustomed to using them... gift wrap, cards, letters and book coverings.
Rather than throw them into the recycling i'd rather put them to a practical use. How about you? Do you have any suggestions to add to the list? Would love to hear how you store or use them.
I'm time-poor and i insist on something sewn and lovely on my parcels, so these are excellent...
I tend to gather endless bits of ribbon, ric-rac, lace, binding, material, gift wrap, etc from just about everywhere. And i love when the op-shop ladies bundle up little bags full for $1! Perfect to have on hand for a little crafting. When i need some tags to go out with my parcels i sew up a batch of standard shipping tags with said pretty off-cuts. A bit of colour across the bottom leaves just enough space to write a quick 'thank you' or whatever.
Just goes to show that you should never throw out any of those pretty scraps!
It's hard to find great cards for guys, don't you think? So make some yourself! I've put together this quick diy tutorial type thing for you which makes three little gift cards, perfect for pressies.
You'll need: old encyclopaedias or books you can cut up, 1 piece of A4 cardboard, sewing machine + thread, scissors (or paper trimmer), gluestick.
Step 1: Take a few pages from an old book with great black and white images. These can really be of anything you like or would be appropriate for the man you have in mind. I chose a few pages on architecture, all different styles.
Step 2: Fold your piece of A4 card in half lengthways. You get a neat finish if you score it first with the pack of a knife along a ruler and then fold. Open up again.
Step 3: Cut up your black and white pages into small rectangles. Position randomly over half of the A4 card and lightly glue in place with your trusty gluestick. Cover the entire half so no gaps show between the pics. Make them overlap and look messy, it's part of the handmade charm.
Step 4: Neaten up any edges that are haning over the edges of the card.
Step 5: Thread your sewing machine with a dark grey or black thread. Sew long lines of straight stitch over the top of the pictures. Do a few rows lengthways and up/down. Best to have a row close along each edge to hold edges of images down.
Step 6: Trim the threads on front and reverse of your card.
Step 7: Fold you card in half lengthway. Cut into three cards each approx. 9.5cm wide. If you like you could punch a hole in the top corner for a ribbon.
Done.
You could do endless variations on these little cards... make them for kids with old illustrations or comic books with different coloured thread. Make them with pics from cooking magazines for the foodie friends. Whatever. Let me know if you give them a go!
New roll of wallpaper from eBay has hit my desk and i'm loving it, but it kinda reminds me of a kitchen lino pattern. What do you think?
Brown, grey and orange... one of the reasons i love old wallpaper is the colour combinations it uses that i probably wouldn't have put together myself. Have started cutting it up already. First project is a little adventure wall art set.
New notebooks! Perfect for whatever you need to write down, perhaps some or all of the following?
Contained herein.... much rambling, a little prattling on, random thoughts, musings, meditations, scribblings, infrequent doodlings, rants, observations, grand plans, good intentions, jottings, heartfelt outpourings, wild extrapolations, baseless theories, flights of fancy, lofty aspirations, an occasional dissatisfied grumbling, evil schemes, proposed projects, lists (glorious lists!), contemplations, ponderings, imaginings, thingsscrawled illegibly, ruminations, deliberations, reflections, pure conjecture, current preoccupations, tedious self-examination, numerous notes and the odd good idea.
I'll have a few at the market tomorrow and get them up into the shop next week. Have a nice weekend lovelies!
Yesterday i was loving books. Today i'm cutting them up.... some old science books rescued from the op shop. This is a sneak peek of a whole lot of new wall art coming next week! And i may also have picked up a few extra things to cut up at said op shop.
More creative space over here.
As promised, there are some of my new bookmarks up for grabs this week... They're pretty and tactile, made from vintage wallpapers and thread. If you're a paper person or a book person, they're for you!
If you'd like some immediately, they're in my etsy and madeit stores.
I'm giving some away this week... To bag a set of four in mixed colours just leave me a comment on this post and tell me what you're reading at the moment. Is it good/bad/bland? An extra entry for those who tweet or facebook the giveaway too. Winner will be chosen at random and announced in Wednesday's post. Open to everyone, of course i'll happily post to you international lovelies!
As for me... just before midnight last night i finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Have you read it? I was totally absorbed. I like a couple of days after finishing such a great book to contemplate and absorb it, so it hasn't quite settled in me yet. I would absolutely recommended this one, it's amazing.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys are reading at the moment!
Fresh from the sewing machine are a new batch of bookmarks! I'm actually quite chuffed with them for a couple of reasons, not the least of which are...
1. More and more i'm using repurposed papers, these are made from my growing collection of vintage wallpapers.
2. I love books. Love them. I have too many yet still buy more. Even as the digital world runs me down and beats me into submission, a reader will never mean quite the same thing to me as a book in my hands.
3. I don't know about you guys, but there is never a bookmark close by when i need one.
4. They're pretty.
There are four bookish type sayings:
"A good book must be savoured... morsel by morsel, page by page."
"Books... glorious books."
"A good book is good company." and
"Life's too short to persist with a bad book."
I'm hereby declaring next week book week here on the blog, in which i'll be giving away a couple of sets of said bookmarks! I'll be photographing these lovelies and getting them into the shops over the next couple of days. Enjoy the weekend guys.
