"Mother" Antique Assemblage

Set in a rusted hinged tin box, this ode to a Mother consists of a soldered tintype, pages from a vintage book, starfish, rhinestone button, antique key, old lace, and family diary excerpts. The front is made up of a snip from a vintage novel book cover and more shells.  Love these shells!

~~Sea Shells, Charlotte's and Rosettes~~

More of the Sizzix rosettes.... thanks to everyones comments a few weeks back I have mastered the art of rosette making.  And yes, they are fun!  I've layered them with vintage ledger paper, old novel pages, decorative scrapbook paper, glitter, vintage seam binding and the focal point,  Frozen Charlotte dolls and paper birds.  To finish them off,  I adhered tiny pearlescent sea shells on the edges...

New Addiction~~ Fabric and Old Lace

In the past, paper was all I needed to work with... paper images, vintage novels, paper embellishments, etc.  But recently I dove head first into fabric collage, and am having a hard time getting enough of it!  I've acquired large lots of old lace and trim,  and have studied and experimented with the secrets to printing on muslin.  I look at tapestries in a whole new way now, as well as vintage seam binding, velvet flowers, buttons and rhinetones.  Old book covers are my favorite substrate.... before they would have gone into the garbage. Below (available in my Etsy shop )are a few samples of what has been keeping me out of trouble. Or should I say "in trouble"?

~~Tim Holtz Rosettte Die Valentine Project~~Advice Anyone?

Valentines Day has never been one of my favorites, not even for decorating.  But I recenlty purchased the Tim Holtz Sizzix die to create paper rosettes, and thought they would do up a nice Valentines project.  I like the finished product.... now, after wasting several sheets of paper (including vintage sheet music) and spending what felt like hours trying to figure out what I was doing wrong.  If you know this die, you know it cuts perforations where you fold accordian style, to create the rosette.  Well my perforations cut right through the paper, leaving it in pieces when I folded them.  Sheet after sheet of paper ripped to shreds! I used thinner paper, and I used thicker paper. And I tried other weights in between.  Finally I stacked several sheets of paper together, but only could use a few of the layers as others, again,  tore at the perforation . Has anyone used this die with their Sizzix?  I would be forever grateful for any help that would make these cute rosettes more fun to make!

JACKPOT on Vintage Books and Old Used Ledgers!

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope the new year brings lots of art and relaxation for all. I am excited to start some projects that have been stashed in the back of my mind for some time now. In the mean time I had to share some needful things I recently acquired. During the holidays I headed to Ann Arbor with my oldest daughter and oldest son (who love the thrill of the hunt as much as I do).  There is a shop there called FOUND that I have wanted to scout for some time now. I was not disappointed.  I have been obsessing with old used ledgers for a month or so, and hoped to find some there.  Wow,  what a find I had at Found! I picked up 6 old ledgers from the 1920's through 50's for a steal. Not too long ago at an out of the way antique store I picked up a Dictionary from the 1940's with (yes, you ARE reading this correctly) 4,900 pages in it for $3!! The pages are age to perfection and there are loads of amazing illustrations in it.  I can't stop wondering how I got so lucky to find this treasure!  Then a few days after Christmas, my daughter (same one) and I headed to the local library, down into the basement where they sell old books and magazines where I picked up 2 wondeful old novels, and an old Russian  poetry book. My luck usually does not go this way!  To top it all off, my son (same one) knew of my recent obsession with old paper and books, and in one of his outings, he discovered an old astronomy book with page after page of nothing but rows of numbers in it.  It was my Christmas present from him. How cool is that.  All of these books have rather shabby covers (which I will use for something, I am sure) and the spines are very week, so I won't have guilt over tearing pages from them. I have an overabundance (if that is possible) of this wonderful old paper, so I have listed some ephemera kits in my supply shop at Etsy, WhatRemains .  I call them inspiration kits, because when I look at old paper and ledgers and take in the aroma of aged books, I feel inspired to create.  Take a look at these finds: