Monday, April 16, 2012

my favorite "ingredients"

today on the pixie blog miss kirsty has gractiously allowed me to waffle on a bit about one of my favorite things... adding uniquely beautiful vintage bits and bobs to the "latest and greatest" modern products for completely original cards and artwork!

you may already know that i call my etsy shop "JUST ENOUGH STUFF" because that's what i'd like to provide for my fellow papercrafters: a happy medium between "not enough stuff" (lack of inspiration); and "too much stuff" (overwhelming); and that the first category of items i added over there in september were themed ephemera packs which showcase my favorite--and i think most useful--vintage goodies:  sheet music, foreign text and nature-themed ephemera.

what you may not realize is that i've been collecting and using vintage paper for ages; i love old dictionaries, childrens' books, encyclopedias, sewing patterns, maps, game pieces, magazines, postcards... well, let's just say if it's made of paper, and has a beautiful design or illustrations i either have some, or i want some... or BOTH, lol! :) a few years ago i realized that i had what the awesome miss leslie calls a S.A.B.L.E. situation:  "supplies available beyond life expectancy" (no, SERIOUSLY!) so i started sharing a few bits and bobs with some of my artsy pals. at some point someone said, "you know, you could SELL this stuff" and thus my idea for themed ephemera packs was born!

each pack has a variety of sizes and shapes as well as a cool mixture of paper color, finish and patina; some sheets have lyrics, some have illustrations, there is everything from kids' songs to german hymns to guitar string charts!

languages include spanish, french, german, hungarian, icelandic, chinese, japanese, thai, hebrew,  arabic, russian, greek and more; every type of publication from phrase books and dictionaries to cookbooks to childrens' stories and gossip magazines!

i confess to a weakness for vintage illustrations, especially of birds; but these packs have lots of other images and text as well: volcanoes, space, dinosaurs, all types of animals, fish and insects, plants and flowers... publications range from calendars to childrens' encyclopedias to wildlife handbooks of every age imaginable! 

of course, i have lots more ideas... and plennnnnnnnnnnnty more STUFF!!! so i'll be sharing other packs with you in the coming months. i hope you'll stop by my etsy shop to check them out!

ps: last october's BLUE MOON pixie dust paperie kit and last january's MY FUNKY VALENTINE kit both include a bit of vintage sheet music, plus a few other older goodies, along with lots of modern-day fabulousness for your creations, and this is a great way to "get your feet wet" if you're new to the idea of using vintage products. more inspiration from ALL the pixies for great ways to combine old and new things together can be found in the october kit blog posts and the january kit blog posts!

1 comment:

  1. Love you vintage papers. Hugs and kisses.
    I will pin some of you beauties and I know you will get som hits.

    ReplyDelete

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