Vintage and 2nd hand finds

Hello all,

On Saturday, I spent some time looking for treasures at a local Vintage/2nd hand shop, Needful Things.

I loved the shop and the store owners were great to interact with. I also found several great finds; one of which was a little 4″ x 4″ chipboard album.  I have been wanting to put together a mini art journal book and, when I saw this item, I knew it would work perfectly!

Project steps:

1. I painted over the cover with white gesso and then applied texture paste over a stencil (front and back cover).
2. After dry, I stamps with a script stamp in archival black ink (front and back cover).
3. Next I applied color with acrylic paint sprays until I achieve the look I was happy with (front and back cover).
4. To protect my work, I then applied a coat of clear matte varnish (front and back cover).
5. Stamp bird stamp on to pattern paper, cut out with circle die and adhere to metal rimmed tag.
6. For embellishments, I used several pieces from my junk jewelry collection along with a metal rimmed tag, metal bow and ribbon (front cover only).

Materials used:

• Li’l Davis Designs 4″ x 4″ chipboard album (purchased 2nd hand)
• Fiskars Simple Stick Stamp set by Teresa Collins
• DecoArt Premium White Gesso
• Acrylic Paint sprays
• ArtMinds Matte Varnish
• Ranger Texture paste & Black Archival ink
• Plaid Folk Art Stencil, MS31047 – Cross Stitch
• Metal Rimmed Tag
• We R Memory Keepers Nesting Circle Dies
• Crate Paper Inc, Designer Pattern paper
• American Crafts Ribbon
• Other Ribbon
• Junk Jewerly

Re-purposing and finding items second-hand is a nice way to stretch your crafting dollars (album was only $1) as well as being kind to the environment.  It really is amazing what you can discover!  I also find that it inspires me; as I walk through the store looking at items my mind is active, thinking of the ways I can use each of them.  I often come away with a host of project ideas that I have to right down, so I won’t forget!

So, I would recommend that you take some time to explore your local Vintage, Antique, or Thrift shops to find some treasures for your next mixed media project!

Happy Day!

L