Something New

          A few weeks ago, I stopped in an antique mall to browse and ended up walking out with an armful of cool vintage stuff.  My pile included several women's magazines from the early 1900's, old sheet music,  hand-crocheted doilies and lace, old dress patterns from the 40's and 50's, and lots of neat buttons.

       I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my treasures, but after purchasing a new (for me) magazine called SEW Somerset,  "the art of creative sewing with mixed media," I was intriqued and inspired.  Pulling out some fabrics, I  began to play, and ended up using a little bit of each of the items displayed above.   Super FUN!!!!

     This is one of my standard portapads:  an 8x16 inch "mini-quilt," tri-folded around an 8x5 pad of paper and fastened with a magnetic snap.  I printed  my "Old Keys" sketch on a teabag and backed it with Misty Fuse.   After tearing bits and pieces of ephemera from the magazines, sheet music, and dress patterns, I used gel medium to adhere them to the fabric.  I free-motion stitched the whole piece piece together with a pseudo-Greek Key design and added some ribbon and rickrack trim.  Finally two small keys found their places on the front. 

This shows the front and back laid flat and open

        and this is the inside with the right side folded over the pad.

    I also made a journal cover using the same basic materials and process.  (Be sure you click on the photos because they will enlarge to show the details).  Love the creative zing I get when experimenting with new "stuff."