Today I wanted to talk about using random things from around the house to make cards and in mixed media pieces. I am not quite as bad as my Grandmother was for not throwing anything away. Her house was full of colour coded styrofoam egg carton stacks, boxes of old nylons fabric tiny pieces, etc. I do like to use and reuse anything and everything I can think of a repurpose for and so this post will be about some of the things I have done.
Firstly, I don't have a subscription to any magazines but the odd one comes in the mail or is given to me. The following is what I did with a Vesey Seed catalogue. I bought a new bird die to share with Zoo and before I mailed it out to her to use I did up almost the entire seed catalogue with them. As it was a very thin paper it was printed on I glued each page onto printer paper before cutting out the bird. They turned out so sweet!
Secondly... In recent years some of the companies that send out junk mail have incorpoated cute little animals and things to catch your eye and make you remember their brand. Instead of throwing them into the recycle bin I have used some of them. [My favourite one I cannot find a picture of. I am hoping Zoo will add a picture of it when she sees this. It is of a cute little red monster with lime green teeth and I made some cute kids cards out of him. He came in two sizes and was too adorable for words.] Here are some of the ones I do have pictures of...
This next one is from packs of cards I bought on clearance from Michael's. Each card pack had 6 cards and envelopes and cost 25 cents... yes cents!!! Scrouge me could not pass that up. Each set had a pair of shoes and a monogram letter. I have made mixed media journals for each of my daughters and I did a 'Soul Mates' page for one of them. It turned out great! I layered the buckle or bow again to give it some depth.
More magazines...
I love stamps and keep ones from mail I receive and have also bought some cute ones specifically for use in my crafting.
I saved the label of a friend's favourite wine and made it into a birthday card for him. A reminder to me of what wine to buy him and also a cute card to give him on his next birthday.
These last ones are from a couple of colouring books that the nieces and nephews finished off. I couldn't part with the covers so made cards from some of the bits cut out of them . They are bright and cheerful and the kids will love them (and remember colouring the pages from inside the book??)
Well, I hope you all have an awesome 2018 and have a blast crafting away all year. I am off to visit Zo soon and if I remember I will find the picture I sent her of my little red monster card and I will add it in here. Being frugal in your crafting doesn't mean that things have to look cheap or tacky. It is fun to reuse things and make them live again in something someone will love. Enjoy!!
Red Bear : )
