A Small Score - but Fun!

Daughter Jenny and I hit a small thrift shop 

earlier this week- didn't find a lot - but a few good things.

 A lovely rubber stamp for a (!) $1.00

A 60 year old bridge score card!

And 2 white escutcheons, 

that will look stellar on the front of a journal! 

More Michael's

 The second half of the Michael's buying frenzy!

Very cool ceramic embellishments,

Blue mesh with tan twine woven in...

... these small denim panels in blue and tan. 

Both of which are perfect for an upcoming

Civil War project I have in mind.

And I discovered a new, to me, magazine -

  Just Steampunk!  Will have fun pursing this one I'm sure!

Gotta Love Michael's!

At my retirement party last May my oh-so- yes-we-get-you friends

 gifted me with an incredible amount of Michael's gift cards.  And of course, since daughter

Jenny is a Michael's manager in Santa Maria, every gift card was actually worth more

because I get her friends and family discount.  So here it is March, 10 months later

and I still had one card left with a goodly amount on it.

Older daughter Bronwyn had some extra time to get to the airport for her

trip back home, so since Michael's is about three blocks away, I said let's

go use up my last gift card.

So we did!  She got a few cool things to take back with her - that would

fit in the carry-on, and I got the cool stuff you see here.

Love it all, but my faves are the denim ribbon and denim tags!

The possibilities - stamping on them, stenciling on them - you get the idea!

Also cool retro labels in a size and colour I didn't have,

and gears - this steampunk gal can't pass up a new pack of gears!

Exciting use of the last of the gift cards - thanks everyone.

More Goodies in the Mailbox!

Love these cards from Lynne Perrella -
based on the art of Romare Beaden, 

and using photos taken by Lynne's husband
 John on a hospice visit to South Africa.

As always Lynne's use of design and 

colour shine through

 and make these very special little pieces of art.

In the same mail run, I also received this gorgeous vintage

 wall paper sample roll from 

a wonderful friend up in Los Gatos.

Here's the pattern up-close.

And she topped it off with these ever 

delightful retro sewing thread spools.

Postcards from Morocco

Found these 2 beauties on eBay last week.
 Morocco fascinates me - I don't ever plan to travel there
 but I love collecting ephemera, making faux travel journals
about it and reading about it.

I love these old '20's postcards, especially the ones that
 are hand tinted. Don't know where hey'll end up,
but I'll make good use of them, 

you can bet on that!

Birthday Score!

Birthday score!  Several Tim Holtz items,

 including, portfolios-big and small- letterpress blocks,

 "found relatives", and a rubber stamp. 

And Rare Bird of Fashion -

the story of Iris Appel's amazing fashion and jewelry collections.

Wonderful black cat from Marylinn Kelly!

The new Joni Mitchell CD and a coffee card!

A vintage punch card and retro Christmas price tags.

A very vintage suitcase made of leather with a wood frame,

decorated with Oregon State labels,

and fascinating old hardware and straps.

Happy Birthday Girl!!

Fun in the Mail Box

A few yummy goodies from eBay and Etsy.

Vintage Master combination lock - check out the graphic 

in the center and the word "Champ".

Very vintage Cracker Jack harmonica.

And 4 retro locker tags with numbers and mysterious writing.

All waiting for assemblages to come.

Santa Barbara Score!

  

And here's the lovely score from the Santa Barbara Trip.

From Art from Scrap - Appliques - flowers and nautical, 

and vintage Oriental wall paper,

vintage postcards,

old envelopes and a time stained pair of child's socks,

and prize ribbons from long ago horse shows.

From Antique Alley - a small tin Easter egg that opens to hold a tiny treasure.

From The Random Store - Pink and white cameos

 and a faux Bakelite jewelry finding.

And from Paper Source - a retro-looking Periodic Table, 

a constellation chart and colourfully painted clothes pins.

Can't wait to start using everything in future art projects!

Shopping Spree

On Saturday, we went to San Jose Airport to

 pick up a friend who will be visiting for a couple of weeks

 But before hitting the airport, we went to Scrapbook Island -

 a wonderful store full of vintage goodness, great products and 

aisles and aisles of paper!

I indulged in some paper with great graphics, resin roses,

 2 vintage water spigots. a delightful little clipboard and some ink pad accessories.

And the find of the day - this wide

 printed linen ribbon - delicious!

Thrift Store Score

 A couple of new thrift stores opened
up in town in the last month

so I spent a fun few hours perusing their wares.

Great prices, I spent under $15.00 and got some cool stuff.

Stay tuned to the blog -

you'll be seeing most of these items in up-coming art projects.

Thrift Store Fun

Stopped by a local thrift store yesterday,

and found some of my favourite things.

Used art supplies.  They always seem to have a bit of

 leftover magic from the previous owners.

 Sometimes I use them as art supplies,

and sometimes I use them in assemblage pieces.

Also found another 6" ruler to add to my collection!

Lots of fun for under $10.