it has been a great phase of second-hand finds for me. I have been thinking more and more about the great, unseen costs of the kind of rampant consumerism I am often tempted by. and, as a result, I’m paying more attention to how to buy things second-hand. but, not just second-hand…also how to buy things that support all the things I love and believe in…like the proliferation of art and other ways to make my world beautiful. so, I was thrilled when I chanced upon these golden guide books at our library book sale. the boys and I have poured through them. they are so beautiful. I already have ideas about hand-carved stamps and printed fabric based on some of the images.
I also picked up these art books…at $2 a piece I figured we can look at them or even tear them up for an art project. why not?
later in the week, my husband and I took a much -deserved afternoon date to a local artsy town. I saw these great wooden stamps. I was tempted to buy them but ended up walking away from them. as beautiful as they are, I just couldn’t add to the house clutter with an incomplete alphabet.
I did, however, take this guy home. what an incredible stamp, right? I can’t wait to play around with how this one looks stamped on fabric! on a tote bag, perhaps? we will see. I was drawn to this stamp and I’m running with it. finally, my luck brought me to a chest in the basement of a huge antiques shop where I found yards and yards of great wool fabric, a beautiful piece of lace/eyelet fabric(?) and fantastic red vintage buttons. I couldn’t believe my luck. I’ve had a few ideas rolling around to use wool so I was thrilled to snatch that up. as for the other items, I’m going to let them inspire me…who knows what the outcome with be.
[…] sandwiched in between. last I added on these beautiful rust-colored vintage buttons I picked up recently. it is all decorative, though the end result makes it look a bit like a sailor […]