Book Review - Treasured Notions - Vintage Beads and More

I am so glad that you could join me for in the studio.  I am reviewing the book Treasured Notions, which is a lovely book especially for those of us who like to collect a range of materials and elements for our creative work.  You can access the book on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3Enp4vE

I had a look through some of the things that I have collected and use in my fabric work and you can see a selection of the beads that I have in my collection.  The  beads which come in all shapes and sizes, you can make your own out of recycled material as well which can be great fun. 

I have been using beads for years.  These particular ones I brought around 20 years ago, which I think makes them Vintage!  I used to wear my hair in plaits and would add the beads at the end - using the colors Red, Yellow and Green.  I was rocking it back then:)

The beads are glass so quite a few of them over the years broke.  I now use them in my mixed media stitched projects.  

As well as purchasing the beads individually or in a set, you can sometimes find some great beads at the local charity store.  At one point my local charity store was making bundles of unsold jewelry and beads, it was like a treasure hunt and you always came away with some amazing pieces, I had some great finds that are being prepped for many different projects.

One way to be creative if you don't have time to get on with a project is to maybe spend time sorting your supplies.  You would be amazed at what 5 minutes create play can do when you try and fit it into your schedule. 

Check out the Video Below that I shared as part of my Essential supplies series to get a better look.

Thank you for joining me

Clearing the Clutter Challenge - Day 12 and 13 - Ephemera and Magazine cuttings

 

Nearly half way through the challenge and understand just how big a challenge I set myself.  Want to make it as practical as possible so that I don't find myself being overwhelmed and lose interest along the way.  Being flexible I understand the most important thing for me to do now is to for each area decide what needs to happen to it.  I had half hoped to be super efficient and have all the areas locked down by the end of the month, but I have not been feeling it, and had lost enthusiasm, was change too bigger price to pay!!  

 

Rome wasn't built in a day, and my collection won't be cleared in a month but it can be better organised the Pottery Barn has some interesting 'schedule systems' ...little and often rather than all at once and fizzle out.    How too when the cares of life come and weigh down on us we feel as if we need to solve the problem there and then, but often taking a fresh set of eyes, talking about it, looking at the possible benefits that may come out (lessons we can learn) then we can see the problem in a whole new way.  

One of the things I knew about the collection was that I wanted to clear it, and knew I had to look at the individual area, why was I keeping it, what could I use it for, could it go to a better home, how long would it take to clear....then when you do have 15 spare minutes it can go to one of the tasks on the list that has already been identified.  So, back to the list.....

Ephemera 

I have got quite a lot so after going through them decided to use a lot more attachments to my paintings and journals, looking at ways to use more of it in my work especially some of the smaller pieces of work....I will also be using more in the journals and assemblage art that I would like to do. You can find some free printable ephemera at Sweetly Scrapped to get you started.

News paper/ Magazine cuttings 

I had seen some of Teesha Moores work and wanted to do some myself with the cuttings.  I put them all in a large folder, and will separate them into categories to make them easier to find.  Some of the images will go into my source book and I want to find a space to put my dream board.  A virtual way of combining the images that I like as been the pinterest board.  Do you have a dream board? Are you are on Pinteres?  leave your details and we can have a look.