Auction Winnings...German Scrap

Well, finally got some photos of the goodies I won at the auction I told you about last week.  First, I have to tell you I was SOOOOOO excited when Mom told me about this auction.  Here's why.... this is the auction listing....

ANTIQUE AUCTION

OF

EPHEMRA – ADVERTISING – TEXTILES – BUTTONS -  ANTIQUES

30,000+/- post cards – real photos, buildings, Christmas, holidays and more; 60+ Scrap Books trade cards, old photos, calling cards, people, animals, botanical and much more, a great selection; adverting calendars; stock certificates; sheet music; Buster Brown; calendar prints; 100’s of old valentines including 3D and others; chain framed advertising pictures; Dan Patch pictures and other items; photo albums; Kate Greenway and Palmer Cox books; children’s books; Modern Priscilla magazines; Ladies Home Journal; Prairie Farmer; almanacs; playbills; The Little Corporal; farm equipment paper items; Railroad time tables and more; patches; World’s Fair items; large selection of political buttons and posters; 50+ advertising yard sticks; books; Camel menu sign; advertising signs and tins; DeLaval tin cows; trade cards; tine types; lots of horse pictures and prints; old photographs; The Sun Garter oak advertising display; Duro Decorative Decals tin box with 100’s of decals; travel brochures; Websters Mammouth Packet Seeds wood advertising box; TEXTILES:  nice selection of early quilts; table clothes; napkins; vintage clothing; hankies; needle work; dresser scarves; doilies; pillows; BUTTONS:  1000’s of old buttons – Bakelite, brass, glass, military, figural and others, many carded, jars and boxes, a huge collection; Bakelite buckles; glass beaded pillows; ANTIQUES:  McLoughlin Bros. World’s Fair building block puzzle and other picture puzzles; baskets; dolls; Christmas and Halloween items; small oak curved glass display case; crocks and jugs;

Did you notice they spelled ephemera wrong?  Anyway, you all know how much I LOVE vintage ephemera - so this was like a dream come true.  It was so much fun to look at all of the amazing vintage bits up for grabs there.  Alas I am not the only lover of these types of goodies.  There were TONS of people there - mostly dealers which translates into big bucks.  I knew things would go high - especially the vintage Valentines and Victorian Scrap books.   

Mom got a real education as well.  She didn't think others would be interested in these types of things but I tried to tell her it would go high.  The Valentines cards were in various lots but they went for hundreds of dollars...needless to say we did not get any.  

I had hoped to get some of the 30,000+ post cards BUT 3 people got them all...the first guy was buying them for 110 - 250.00 per box (there were about 50-75 boxes).  Then another lady was paying 150.00 a box and finally the last lady took all of them that was left (17 boxes) for 125.00 each.  

So on to the Victorian Scrap books.  I am so pleased to say I got 3 baggies full of individual pieces of "Scrap" plus some Christmas Scrap - including several sheets of the same German Scrap (Victorian Santas) from 1890.    I paid far more than I wanted to but the old fart who was bidding against me honked me off.  I had set a price in my mind on what my worst case scenario price would be and luckily I didn't have to go quite that high so I was pleased.

AND...I was able to get 3 of the Victorian Scrap books I wanted!!!!  I was so excited...I paid dearly for 2 of the 3 but each of the books was special in it's own way.  They are all from the 1890's...one has a few bits from the 1900-1910 era but most are pre-1900.  

They are each in varying conditions.  This first book has some loose pages but most are in tact.  

Here are just a few of the many pages.....

Here is the second one I got...it was the most expensive because it is in pristine condition...no missing pages and only a couple loose pieces in the entire book.  Hundreds and hundreds of pieces of ephemera.  It's a beautiful book!  The image on the front is just stunning...

And here are some of the pages....

Check out this cat German Scrap piece...it's 8.5" tall!!!

I haven't taken photos of the last book yet...it's in the worst condition.  Virtually all of the pages are loose but it too is filled with lovely scrap.  The pages are deteriorating pretty bad so I am going to try to remove the pieces from the pages before they too deteriorate.  

I will be over time scanning each image from all of the books and sharing many with you all.  I can hardly wait till you see all of these wonderful vintage images!  

Valentine's Day Basket & Template

Today I have a fun little basket perfect for St. Valentine's Day, St. Pattie's Day or any other time you need a little vessel to fill with love!

Here is the template for the basket....

and/or

Little Basket PDF version

Note -  Since you'll be cutting the lines so close to the edge you'll need a thinner type chipboard.  While I was experimenting with the template to come up with a good workable design I used up all my thin (think cereal box) chipboard without realizing it.  I ended up using a corrugated cardboard for my example which looks a bit wonky because the cardboard is so thick (I'll point it out when I get there). 

Supplies:

Template
Chipboard (thin)
Pattern Paper
Embellishments - stamps, inks, Dresden trim, German scrap, die-cuts, doilies, tinsel, ribbon, fibers, etc.  Anything you're "heart" desires!

Instructions:

1. Print and cut out the template.  Transfer it to your chipboard.

2. Cut the components from your chipboard - DON'T cut the slits just yet.

3.  (optional) If you would like, cover the chipboard pieces with pattern paper now.

4.  (optional) Ink the edges if desired.

5. Cut the slits and crease the fold lines.  Assemble the basket by slipping the front & back basket sections into the bottom/side piece. 

NOTE: this is where my basket looks a bit wonky...the cardboard is so thick the legs stick out at the bottom...  It won't turn out this way if you use thinner chipboard.  My experimental basket looked just fine but of course I used up all my thin chipboard so I had to use this stuff to make a decent looking finished example.

6. Decorate your basket as desired.  I used a bit of vintage looking tinsel, German Scrap images, ribbon, crepe paper and paper doilies.  I am going to add a bit of glitter as well for a bit more sparkle!

Now, you're all set to make a nifty little basket for your sweetie(s)!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a few VERY old Valentine's Day cards I found at a local antique mall...

be sure to stop back in and check em out!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Synchronized Swimming Gothic Arch

Today is my day to post a creation on Altered Pages blog, I though about all the various events going on in the world today and a bright positive spot in the news is the upcoming Olympics in London. 

So, here is my tongue in cheek Gothic Arch dedicated to the Synchronized Swimming Team....

Synchronized Swimming Gothic Arch

Supplies:

AP Collage Sheet - At the Beach 1907 - 1803D
AP Collage Sheet - Before Bikinis - 1140D
AP Collage Sheet - Labels - 279D (Sprinter Pepper Label)
AP Collage Sheet - A Little of This and That - 2131D
Glitz Graced Lace Pattern Paper
Glitz Gem
Pennant Point German Scrap
Glitter
Gathered Crepe Paper
Chipboard
Gothic Arch Template
Black Ink
Deco masking Tape
Computer Generated Sentiment

Instructions:

1. Print the images, trim and ink the edges with black ink.

2. Cut two Gothic Arches from chipboard; cut one of the GA in half to form the wings of the arch.

3. Cover each piece of the arch with desired pattern paper and ink the edges with black ink.

4. Glue the images and sentiment to the panels.

5. Use masking tape to affix the wings to each side of the gothic arch.

6. Finish off the GA by adding trim and gemstone.

Close up of the center panel....

Close Up of the wings....

 

And there you go...

2012 Technique Calendar - May - Colorized Bleach Stamping

Today's technique kicks one of my favorite "experimentation" type techniques up a few notches...  It's bleach stamping but we're going to color it to add a little different look.

When you give today's technique a try you'll want to make sure you take the proper precautions...good ventaliation, protect your clothing and your hands if you have sensative skin.  Bleach is very caustic and will burn you both inside and out if you're careless.

Now I mentioned that this is an experimentation type technique.  What I mean is you're going to have to experiment a bit with your cardstock.  Every paper manufacture has their own process for making paper - the pulp, colorants, and finishing process are all effected differently when the bleach is applied.  It's fun to just sit and dab the bleach onto a variety of papers to see how it reacts.  Some papers instantly turn white, while others don't react at all.  You'll be surprised at the rainbow of colors you get from different paper.  When you find one you like the looks of it's time to begin.

2012 Technique Calendar

May

Colorized Bleach Stamping

Supplies:

Bleach
Black or dark colored cardstock
Paint Brush
Stamps
White Gel Pen
Your favorite medium to color with  - Distress Stain, Watercolor Pencils, Markers, Pastels, etc.
Embellishments to finish off your calendar

Instructions:

1. After you have chosen your cardstock it's time to apply the bleach.  I like to use two differnt styles for applying the bleach to my paper....  Painting and stamping.  It's totally up to you which you decide to use.

Option #1 - Painting

I just pour a tiny bit of bleach into a plastic cup and paint the bleach directly onto my paper...

You can see what it looks like as it begins to dry...

Option #2 - Stamping

Fold a napkin and place it in a pie pan, plate, lid, etc.  Pour enough bleach over the napkin to wet it entirely.

Press your rubber stamp into the moist napkin...

And press the wet stamp onto the paper.

Doesn't look like much now but as it dries....

The image magically appears!

2. After you have stamped your images and they have dried completely it's time to color.  I used markers for this example.

3.  To add a bit more contrast I like to highlight parts of my image with a white gel pen.

Now when working with my calendar page I like to trace the outline so I know where to stamp...

Then I go to it...stamp, color and highlight!

Here's a peek at my page before I trim it...

And here is May's finished page!

I love this technique because you're never quite sure how the bleach is going to react. 

The color and highlights just add that extra zing.

I hope you all are having fun so far!

5 months down, 7 more to go

2012 Technique Calendar - April - Reverse Grid Stamping

I wanted to give a new spin on Grid Stamping...basically a technique where you section off your paper into smaller sections and stamp in each piece of the grid individually.  Since I haven't played with embossing powders for this years calendar I thought it might be fun to toss some of that into the mix as well.  So here goes....

2012 Technique Calendar

April

Reverse Grid Stamping

Supplies:

Stamps
Inks
Cardstock
Masking Paper
Embossing Ink
Embossing Powder
Embellishments to finish off your Calendar

Instructions:

1.   Ink up your paper using your favorite technique.  Here I used my Distress Stain, smeared it on my craft mat and dipped the paper into each color (drying before the next color). Since it's for April I stuck with bright Spring-y colors.

2. Stamp up a storm!  You want the images to be really packed in there... 

3. You are now going to need to cut your masking paper into whatever shape you want...I am using circles and a paper punch but you could make squares, rectangles, ticket shapes, hearts, etc.  You'll need enough to cover the area of your calendar/project.  I drew an outline of my house template here so I knew where I needed place my dots.

4. Now you need to remove the backing piece from the masking paper and place it on your stamped paper in whatever pattern you would like. I'm working with a diagonal design but you could go straight lines, alternating checker board pattern, etc.

Keep going until it's completely covered....  In retrospect I wish I would have used one of my larger circle punches but  I didn't even think of it at the time.

5. Now ink the entire paper with embossing ink....

6. Sprinkle with desired color(s) of Embossing Powder. I'm using 4 different graduated colors of green.

7. Heat to melt the powders.

8. Peel off the masking papers to reveal your finished pattern.

9. And now you're ready to finish your calendar page....

And there you go!

I hope you're enjoying and giving some of these techniques a try.

Have a super weekend!!