Wednesday, May 18, 2011

WOYWW/Hitting the Paper Loot Jackpot/Announcement!

What's on Your Worktable? Wednesday:

I took “close, closer, closest” photos of what is on my worktable this Wednesday.
Here's the general work space in my living room, tucked between
a toy box and shelves full of my kids' books.
Aside from working in my art journal, I’ve been cutting papers from discarded books for projects inspired by Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book by Jason Thompson. Just go take a peek at the cover, and you'll want this book!  Some people cringe at the thought of cutting the pages from “perfectly good books,” but I have defaced and disemboweled books for collage images for years.  Jason includes 28 projects and an artists' gallery that will send you to the very next library book sale you can find!
These circles are intended for a particular Dimensional Circle Ornament project in Jason’s book, but as I was cutting them, I was getting ideas for art journal pages as well. Frankly, it’s just kind of therapeutic to mindlessly cut out circles for awhile!

I am using Circle Cutting Patterns and Blade Cartridges from Making Memories. I’ve had them for years, and absolutely love them for cutting circles for scrapbooks, cards, and all kinds of paper projects. I’m sure the blades should be dull by now, but I have yet to replace them, and they are still working for me!

So, there wasn't a whole lot going on in my workspace until....

Hitting the Paper Jackpot:

My friend Sue sent me an email yesterday to find out if I was coming to our church’s Women’s Association Spring Dinner last night, because she had some crafting things she found at a yard sale that weren’t really her style; she wanted to pass them along to me if I was interested. Figuring she had found a box of rubber stamps with a few in a vintage style that she doesn’t prefer, I told her “sure!” and looked forward to seeing her that evening.

Talk about understatement!  This is what I came home with:

This amazing bag of loot included....
vintage flashcards...
modern collage packs...
a collection of vintage Thanksgiving postards with handwritten
greetings on the back... 
a selection of vintage-style pins and magnets...
an issue of Somerset Studio Gallery from 2007 and some old
publications about motherhood...
and (from my perspective the very best "find" of all)
the most amazing array of handwritten letters and documents from
the early-(1910) to mid-(1959) 20th century. 

I can't believe my amazing good fortune that Sue thought of me when she found these items, and gave me such a wonderful gift for my art.  I may just sit around and look through the bag a few hundred more times before I do anything with them!

Announcement:

The talented and inspiring Julie Fei-Fen Balzer has begun a series of features on her web site about participants in her Art Journal Every Day challenge, and I am excited to announce that this Friday (May 20) you will be able to learn a little bit more about me on her site! I hope that you will visit her (every week day—she is amazing, inspiring, and talented in so many artistic fields), and I will link to her site from mine on Friday morning as well!

Happy, creative Wednesday to you!



26 comments:

laurie said...

what a fabulous collection of ephemera!!! you did hit the jackpot. have fun creating. :-)

scrapwordsmom said...

Gorgeous stuff...you are one lucky girl;) What a thoughtful friend!!!

Your desk is so cute and cozy...thanks for sharing...and I need to check out this book. I love tearing up old books much to my daughter's protesting.

Have a wonderful day!!!!!!

Leslie

April said...

WOW what a great collection of stash from your friend! and the cutting up books thing... I've thought about this very briefly a few times and now I think I will pop to my local charity shop and pick up a cheap book to see what I can do with it, I am a card maker but am sure I could make some great backing papers / layers out of some old pages! Thanks for sharing.

Minxy said...

Ok firstly i have to say shame on you for making me go and buy that book lol
and secondly wow what a lovely friend you have, you lucky thing thats a right loot of treasured things
Happy wednesday

Emma Williams said...

I love tearing up books too...it can be so satisfying to turn those wonderful pages into something creative!! Fabulous collection of items...you are so lucky to have such a wonderful friend!
Thanks for sharing your desk and your comment over on my blog~hope to see you again soon!
Emma x

Unknown said...

You definitely hit the jackpot with that little haul ... you lucky girl. I had the pleasure of teaching in Paris with Julie Fei Fan Balzer ... she is a great gal and uber talented as well as side splittingly funny!

Helen said...

Jackpot indeed!! What a great assortment.

DottyA Cards & Things said...

Wow, that was very nice of her to share her finds with you... and such GREAT finds too... know you will have FUN with all of that!!!

Janet said...

I have that book by Jason Thompson and I love it!

You really hit the jackpot with all that ephemera. What a great friend to save it for you.

Julia Dunnit said...

Wow, jackpot indeed! Ephemera heaven! How great of your friend to think of you. I have to run off and check out this book about books now.

Parabolic Muse said...

OOOH! I'm going over there friday to learn more about you!

These circles are yummy just by themselves. But did you cash in, or what? LOOK at those ledger pages? And the vintage thingies! Well, I think you could probably just throw gel medium down on a big oversized piece of cardstock, throw the papers you have up in the air, and let them stick right where they land! That's how pretty all of them are. You could get 4 pages done at once!

Chrissy said...

I'm definitely going to have to pick up that book you recommended! Congrats on the jackpot of paper! Thanks for visiting earlier.
Chrissy

HeARTworks said...

What a wonderful friend!!! Where can I find a friend like that!!! I love cutting up my books too after I read it and know I won't go back to it again. There's just something about the written page that is inspiring! Patsy from
HeARTworks

Geri said...

Wow! You hit the jackpot with that paper find! I love garage sales!

Anonymous said...

No I can't do the book tearing thing but I love what people do so wish I could - maybe one day. Love all that lovely collection your friend found for you - how lucky is that and what a friend to pass iot on.
Thank you for visiting no %£
x Tricia

Carin Winkelman said...

Wow! Those are some amazing finds you have there. Lucky you! As for cutting up books, it's just paper. I have an old copy of the memoirs of Casanova that's being used for collage fodder and just the thought of that makes me smile.

Jason Thompson's book looks very interesting indeed. I have an older book by him about journals. I forget what it's called, but it's the first book on art journaling that I ever bought and it got both me and one of my friends hooked for life!

angelfish said...

What a wonderful collection of ephemera your lovely friend gave you:) I must check out that book.
Thanks for the birthday wishes for my daughter. Fiona xx

ShazInOzCardsCalligraphy said...

Hi there Andria, thanks so much for popping over and I do so love your new stash some interesting things there indeed! thanks for sharing and happy WOYWW too! Shaz in Oz.x
PS totally impressed you craft in such a small space you are totally organised, well done!

SueH said...

I have one of those circle cutters Andria and I think it’s the best around.

What a lovely friend to think of you and pass on all that beautiful stash. You’re going to have fun playing with that little lot!

Happy WOYWW!
Sue
X

Di said...

What a fantastic haul - and how great to have a friend who thinks like that for you. Di x

Rosie said...

Wow indeed!! Happy days! I too would sit looking at all that stash for the longest time...
Just wanted to stop by and thank you for the great comment you left me on my Cee Lo Green spread! Made me giggle!
I look forward to reading about you tomorrow! =)

Anonymous said...

That's an amazing amount of lovely goodies from your friend, who obviously knows you very well.

Hugs
Brenda 84

minnie_mac said...

Lovely work space, and what a wonderful collection of goodies from your friend. Bet those letters make fascinating reading.

Marilyn

Joyfulploys said...

Hi Andria...wow! What a nice lot of ephemera...the handwritten stuff is amazing! I got your postcard today...I love it...sent you an email. I don't have the book you mentioned...I must check it out!
Cheers,
Mary

sandra de said...

Ohhh I am still sighing over your vintage collection.

Aud said...

What a busy desk, loads of nice stash there hope you have a fun day. Aud