Scrap bits

FDF- Free Vintage Music Paper

Sorry this is a little late today... Here is another FDF (Free Download Friday) for you. This one is from my mom's old music lessons. It is from 1953 (you can even see the date written on one of the sheets) It is a grade two music book from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. I scanned it and aged it a bit in photoshop. I love the handwritten notes! 

 

 
Check out my Flickr set if you missed any previous FDF.

As always, these downloads are for personal use only!

Hope you like it! (Thanks Mom!)

update on my sketchbook project 2011

It's been a long time since I posted any progress with my sketchbook. Awhile back, I talked about how I ripped out the pages because they were too thin, and decided to make my own pages.

When I took on the sketchbook project, I had no plans to buy anything new. I would use my stash and up-cycled materials. My first thought when deciding on the new paper was heavy weight watercolor paper,but that would have been a new purchase. After a bit of thinking I decided to use bits and pieces of stuff that I already had: scraps of paper, magazines, vintage book paper, scrapbook papers, and junk mail. I sewed them together and made enough pages to make 2 signatures to sew back into the cover. 

I made these pages in the style of Mary Ann Moss's fantastic online class "Remains of the Day". 

Now I LOVE my pages and they feel more like me. The book is looking chunky and messy and full of textured goodness, just like my other Remains journals! 

Here are some shots of the pages so far;

  I used my sewing machine to sew bits and pieces to each page.

 

The page below has a sewn on Hambly transparency. I love the vintage feel it has.

 

For the page below, the heart is cut from graffiti canvas I painted. Also used some cool vintage text paper

 

 

below, I incorporated a photo of mine,

 

Below, I used a piece of my "under paper" that I use when spray painting- I don't throw anything out, and this is why! I can always find some use for even the smallest scrap of paper or fabric!

I have some ideas on what to do in each page, but I need to try them out and see how it goes first. I think I will sew in the signatures AFTER I sketch/draw/paint on each page.

I am finishing up my cover and I am really happy with how it has turned out. I will take some photos and post as well....stay tuned!

FDF- Free vintage pattern papers. Perfect for collage, or shabby journals

Hello again, Welcome to my weekly series "Free Download Friday (FDF)".  Today I have another vintage pattern for you. And-since it's such a beautiful day, and since I accomplished so much off my to do list yesterday- how about 2 pages?

Print it up and add to your Shabby journal,(or your remains of the day journal) or use it digitally in scrapbook projects. This would also be perfect for altered art and collage. 

Visit my flickr set for past downloads if you missed any. I would love to see what you use these for. Tell me in the comments section.

Enjoy!

-and remember, this image is for personal use only

More FREE vintage papers, and the launch of FDF (FREE DOWNLOAD FRIDAY)

I thought I would start a regular post every week called "FREE DOWNLOAD FRIDAY". Every Friday I will share a fun download for you to use for your personal use. Sometimes it will be vintage (my favorite!) and sometimes it will be... something else!

This week I have some vintage images from kids' sewing patterns. I believe this is a catalog of sorts, but hard to know for sure because it is not in English...I believe it's in German, but I could be wrong. Images are from 1964. Enjoy!

If you use any of these downloads I have here, please link back to me. I would be very interested to see what you have done with them. If I get enough I will start a Flickr group with your submissions. For now, you can download it here on my blog, or pop on over to my Flickr set to see the whole collection. However, Flickr will not be updated as often as my blog, so all images will be available here first.

Free Vintage collage sheet

Happy Friday!

Here is a free download of a digital sheet I collaged. I used old book pages, old sewing patterns, vintage maps, and other interesting paper i had in my stash. I plan on using this in a piece of art I am working on. This would be perfect if you are working on a Remains of the Day journal, scrapbooking, collage, and altered art. Print it out or use it digitally. Have fun!

Click on the image above for a larger view, or click here  to see it on my Flickr page to download different sizes. The image is free for you to use for personal use. Please do not sell any images you see here. If you post anything online using my image, please link credit back to me.

If you use it I would love to see what you did with it. Please share your results!

Last week I found some great vintage ephemera, so I will have more old images to share with you.

... stay tuned

Yep- It's ANOTHER Remains of the Day shabby journal

I realize I may be addicted to making these journals. I admit it. Here is another remains of the day shabby journal, from Mary Ann's class. This time for my son- he saw that my daughter had one, and he wanted one too. He liked the messy shabby pages, and i wanted to incorporate some stuff that would appeal to a 10-yr old boy, and him specifically. 

here is the cover

 

 

and some cover detail...

 

the tie and closure....

he loves skulls so I added one to the cover...

and I stitched his initial on the back...

 

a shot of the cover page, with a photo of him- I was going to turn it into a stencil, but used it as is- without cutting it out. The initial "r" is covered in his hockey tape-hard to see in the photo, but it's kinda like bookbinding tape-it has a nice linen texture to it...

here are some of the inside pages with stuff that he is into now... sports, cool cars, skateboarding, snowboarding...

 

here I used a page from his "Sports Illustrated Kids" magazine...

 

some of his own art/coloring-he did this while waiting at a restaurant. You can see a bit of his journaling as well...

 

This is a tag from his hoodie...

He likes to save tickets to sporting events he goes to, so there are a bunch of pockets- this one is from where his dad works

this pocket is from the packaging from his ski goggles, with more tickets stuffed in....

My favorite view of these journals is from the side where you can see all the stuff packed in, and hanging out...

 

and a small, discreet dedication from me...

Check out the flickr page for more samples of these books through Mary Ann's class.

working on my journal OR journaling on the road

we went skiing for March break here in Canada. I packed a small case of stuff and worked on my journal while I was there.  I just took some papers, lots of tape and a stapler and some pens.  The shabby journal already has so much on the pages to start with, there is really not much need to  add too much more.

messy shabby scrap flowers, and glue gun burns

Another cool way to use up your scraps. There are a bunch of these tutorials around but thanks to Roben Marie'stutorial I was inspired to give it a try. Don't you think these would look great on a shabby journal? Or on a headband? Or pinned on a jacket? Endless possibilities....well, maybe not endless but you know what I mean.

They were pretty easy to make once you got the hang of it.  Also, I couldn't find good fast drying fabric glue, so after a couple of trial and errors, I ended up using a hot glue gun. It worked well- except for a few burns- yeeowch!  It really sucks getting hot glue on your fingers, doesn't it? That glue is so hot AND it sticks, so you get extra burn time while you try to pick it off your blistering fingers..... or maybe that's just me?

Let me know what you think of these- The pink one was made with my 7yr old daughter, and I think one of the brown was has already been claimed by my mom, so gotta make some more. Maybe put some in my etsy shop?

Cool! Vintage printables. perfect for your shabby journal

Thanks to Kira who posted the link on her site.  Check out the hundreds and hundreds of FREE printables at Vintage Printables. There are so many to choose from. These are perfect if you have a shabby, messy journal. And perfect for my Remains of the Day journal.  Check out some samples;

 

Remains of the day journal for my brother.

After I made my first Remains of the Day journal from Mary Ann's class, I knew I wanted to make a bunch more.  I decided to work on one for my brother's birthday. I figured he could use is as a journal, and a place to keep his song lyrics instead of the old binder he uses now.

the front;

the back;

inside pages;

I wanted the pages plain so he can add what he wants. I am happy with how it turned out- i hope he likes it too!