travel journals

This is such a nice, easy rainy-day project using hubby's leftover cardboard from collegiate bike race season, recycled buttons, baker's twine, vintage maps, decoupage paper scraps and cool retro number stamps.  They are headed for Knack, go snap some up.  Get started on your holiday shopping.  Hanukkah comes so early this year I am calling it Thanksukkah!

inside view - pages are sewn in and
inside covers are lined with maps

inside cover

thank you god and the Christmas Tree Shop

I've always had a soft spot for the Christmas Tree Shop, but reclaimed crafts has given me another reason to love the store, in conjunction with god.  Those in the know recognize the Tree's love of all holidays, and in keeping with the name, none is more beloved, and celebrated with the production of utter ugliness, than Christmas.  

These trays eventually find their way to tag sales and the side of the road.  I've never had anyone offer to pay me to take them away, but I feel we may be close.  But they are metal, and nice and sturdy, and the perfect size for serving drinks, food or just displaying your tchotchkes, carefully procured from the Tree. 

non-demoninational, I realize

happy carolers!

the happy couple

where paganism and religion collide

what is produced the other 11 months of the year

But wait!  There is hope for the ugly tray.  Thanks to this great tutorial, some beautiful salvaged maps and my outstanding cutting and mod podging abilities, ugly is now beautiful.  Take a look at these beauties, soon to be for sale at the fabulous Knack:

  

just look at those adorable sail boats!

a creative riff on the capitol

look closely for the sweet adventurers!

collegiate bike racing

It's not often that my business and my husband's collide:  he does race results for bike races. However, he's in charge of all of the numbers for the collegiate bike races in New England and the Mid-Atlantic...

...and so there's a lot of cardboard left over...

...which is where I come in.

I found a great tutorial for mini notebooks, and put a few twists on it, using vintage maps

a scrap of decoupage paper, a vintage-y rubber stamp

baker's twine and a fabulous salvaged button from my collection.

I also got to use my 2 favorite features of my new, gorgeous paper cutter.

score!

rounded corners!

Creme de la craft's tutorial is terrific, so if you're interested in doing this fun and easy project, go there.  I add just one suggestion:  if you prick your finger so hard it bleeds, put a band-aid on so you don't bleed on your nice white paper.  Also, it's easier to complete this project without a large cat on your lap:

That's right, folks, you can always come here for your highly technical craft tips.

Here's the finished product!

thank you cards: big bang for the buck

My mom taught me well:  always send a thank you card.  I've been fortunate to have lots of amazing guest speakers for the class I'm teaching at Smith College this summer, so I had a great excuse to make a bunch of adorable thank you cards using maps, scraps, a vintage dictionary from my friend Laurie and old magazines.

disk harrow.  of course.

locally made strawberry ice cream

(good thing I'm a better crafter than photographer...)

love that car stamp!

from an old new england cookbook

this is my favorite, and the best part is that it went to

my friend's mom whose name just happens to be Buzzy!

crafting + beer = serious creativity

let's Twist again!

We were very sad to not be able to be at Twist next month, as Laurie (literally) has her hands full with newborn twins Amelia and Elliott, and Jen has her annual Pride brunch to attend to.  

Then...we were so excited to be invited to put a Reclaimed Crafts treat in the famous Twist goodie bag!  Last Twist, we did clothespin magnets:

Still love.  But we needed something new, and something that also showed off our amazing stash of reclaimed, recycled and salvaged goodies.  The idea of bookmarks started to take shape...

We love the bookmarks because they are useful (the first requirement of a Reclaimed Crafts project), and they are made almost entirely from reclaimed items:  mat board from the free box at Eastmont Custom Framing (thanks!); reclaimed gas station maps; layers of garage sale buttons; and all of our fabulous old books.  Finish it off with simple twine and a rubber-stamped message, and you have yourself a Reclaimed Crafts bookmark.

In addition to a useful bookmark, you will also be treated to advice from the Power of Personality Manual, circa 1920 ("Be enthusiastic, interested, vivacious.  Personality literally bubbles over in the atmosphere surrounding the man who is bent upon making himself liked."); recipes from La Belle Chocolatiere and Favorite Recipes of New England; and grammar advice from Building Good Sentences, a War Department Education Manual, circa 1944.

Check them out, then make sure you get to Twist early enough to grab one of those goodie bags!