oldest + newest

one of my favorite ways to use older items from my extensive (ahem!) collection of papercrafting schtuffs is to mix it in with my newest and most favorite bits. it just seems to freshen up the older things, and keep the new from looking too faddy. at least, i hope it does, lol! i mention all this as a reminder that this fortnight at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we've teamed up with the lovely ladies from shopping our stash to make holiday cards that feature supplies we've owned for at least a year. here's what i made this week:

vintage sheet music and seam binding; old stuff: studio calico snowflake paper, core'dinations cardstock, doodlebug flower sequin, joann fabrics heart brad; lace and pearly trimming: may arts; snowflake border die: memory box; snowflake die: tim holtz/sizzix; glitter paper: best creation; glitter paste: viva decor in "champagne"; flourish stencil: tim holtz/ranger; colorburst watercolor powders in alizarin crimson and merlot: ken oliver; watercolor paper: strathmore; ink: colorbox; black outliner pen: faber-castell pitt in xs; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, scotch gluestick, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

so, old stuff? well, the sheet music and seam binding are vintage and i've had them for a while and i love them both as much as the day i found them* so there's that; but of the actual papercrafting products, the snowflake paper, flower sequin and heart brad have all been around for a bit; easily more than a year on all counts. the "latest and greatest"? ok, yeah, i'm definitely in a stencil phase, especially when used with colorburst powders, which is how i made the ornament. i already loved modeling paste, even before elisabeth at paper anthology turned me on to its more glamorous cousin, glitter paste. holy wow, where has this been all my life?! elisabeth's favorite brand is viva, which is made in germany. it seems like it's a lot pricier than similar products made by dreamweaver and bo bunny... (which are called glitter embossing paste and are also good) ...until you realize that you're getting almost twice as much in a jar. plus, it has a kind of  vintage patina to it, like when you find old xmas ornaments where the glitter has slightly tarnished, which ought to look a bit sad but is actually even more beautiful. (or is it just me who thinks so?? nahhhh... surely not.) anyway, it's good stuff and i'm confident you'll be seeing LOTS MORE of it! :)

speaking of lots more, there is inspiration galore to be found both at shopping our stash and ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ why not give yourself a little treat and check those out!

*at a booksale and rummage sale, respectively. i got a whole (1903!) volume of the former, and an entire roll of the latter. the women who were in charge of the cash drawer at the rummage sale seemed utterly bemused that anyone would even want seam binding when (apparently) now there are much better, easier-to-use products that you iron on, and apologized for the rather steep .25cent price tag. :)