Record Album Covers

Every once in a while, I go to the Goodwill in hopes of finding something that looks like junk but worth a million dollars. So far, hasn't happened. What I HAVE found are some fun vintage record albums for a buck. I don't even care what the record is like as long as the cover has cool graphics. The Russian Accordion album below was only the front of the album-no vinyl in sight ( The Goodwill gave me that one for free). The last LP shown has cover art by award winning American illustrator Joseph Low. Not only did he illustrate children's books, but was also known for his New Yorker covers. You can read a little more about him here.

Did you know that the Goodwill has a website (www.shopgoodwill.com) and you can bid on items from Goodwill shops all over the country? The photos are usually pretty bad (worse than Ebay) and little info is given on the items but it's fun to check out the site every once in a while and search for bargains. Check it out here.

Flea Market Sunday

Well, I've found a new flea market to shop. On the fourth Sunday every month is the year old Topanga Vintage Market in the parking lot of the Promenade Mall in Woodland Hills, CA. There were many vendors I had never seen  before, and some I had purchased from at other markets. Here are some of my favorites of the day.

 

The trunk full of old frames was from Porthole Vintage, who also happens to have an Etsy shop. You can see more of their items here.

Vintage Cottage Finds offered all sorts of vintage crafting goodies and decor like the velvet ribbon and sparkly Christmas trees in delicious pastel colors. I purchase vintage wallpaper sheets to use in my collages. They also have an Etsy shop which you can find here. 

I loved these Kantha quilts from Kismet. These quilts are made from vintage textiles in India using Fair Trade. They were all so colorful and the backs were made from completely different, coordinating fabric. After much comparing and debating, I finally chose one (second photo). The back uses fabric with the same orange combined with pink. You can find out more about Kismet here.

This booth had lots of repurposed garden-themed items all beautifully displayed- unfortunately they don't seem to have a website.

Flea Market Finds- Cigar Boxes

I collect a lot of stuff-buttons, birds, vintage children's books...and wood boxes. I have vintage cheese boxes, vintage sewing machine drawers, vintage knife trays. In my world, anything that will hold my stuff counts as a box. I have lots of them mounted on the wall or on shelves housing collections. Some hold wood letterpress type. One holds spools of ribbon.


I found these cigar boxes at the City College flea market in Pasadena and couldn't say no. My favorite is the "Mack's Best". I love the type and decorative borders. There is a bit of the label on the inside and it closes with a brass clasp. I've searched but can find no info on the company.



 I like these other boxes because they are divided (look at those cute knobs on the front!). Useful in so many ways, one is already holding jewelry supplies. One will probable be put to use holding letterpress type and if I can find a spot, will go on the wall.  And the third with the handle?  Well, I haven't found the perfect spot yet,

I Love Letterpress

I pretty much like anything letterpress printed so, when I was at a trade show last weekend, I was excited to find this skin care line with letterpress packaging. Worker B is small company based in Minneapolis and like the name suggests, the ingredients in their products come from bees. I haven't had a chance to try the products yet... too busy admiring the packaging.

You can purchase products, or learn more about the company here.

Bingo 3

Here's one more bingo collage. This bingo card was a little smaller and fit perfectly mounted on an old Reader's Digest book cover. I used a leaf stamp, vintage wall papers, an old cigar label, and vintage postage.

Bingo and Buttons

Bingo cards are also an excellent was to display a button collection. I love vintage mother-of-pearl buttons and sewed these from my collection onto a bingo card. The cards I did my collages on were really thick but many bingo cards are thin enough to stitch through.

The crocheted pincushion on the left was purchased from etsy shop Namolio. You can see more of her lovely work here and here

New Collages

I haven't done any collages for awhile but I had purchased a stack of vintage bingo cards and I got inspired. (The bingo cards are large and measure 5.5" x 7.25".)

This collage was made using a butterfly printed on an old letter, rubber stamps, hand made papers and a part of an old (bus?) ticket.

This collage was made using a piece of a label from sandalwood soap purchased in Chinatown, hand made eraser stamps, hand made paper, a Russian (postal?) stamp, and letterpress scraps known as make-ready. Make-ready is the paper that you test print on to get the color and positioning correct-some pieces are used over and over and build up interesting textures and patterns.

This last collage is made using rubber stamps, letterpress make-ready, hand made papers, vintage wallpaper and postage stamps. I had so much fun doing these that I think I'll have to get more bingo cards!