Getting Back on the Bandwagon

I really need to get back on the decluttering, organizing bandwagon. My brother, who was off work for six weeks due to medical reasons, kept himself busy going through and getting rid of a lot of accumulated stuff downstairs. I can’t even remember how many times I took him to the dump to get rid of things!

My progress has been slowed right down since my recent fall at work. Most of my injuries have healed but the knee is still very unhappy and bruised. I’m so afraid of falling again, that I have been extra careful. I was lucky that I did not get really injured this time. I don’t want a next time. I may not be so fortunate.

There is one box ready to drop off at the thrift store, mostly clothes that my granddaughter and I do not wear anymore. Hopefully, that gets me back on the bandwagon. My brother wants to have a yard sale this summer so some things will be set aside for that. A yard sale seems like a lot of work though. I hope it is worth it in the end. Anything of mine left will definitely be going to the second hand store. I will not bring it back in the house.

Autumn / Halloween Journal Cards

I found some free autumn images on a Facebook group I belong to. I copy and pasted four to a page in Word, to get four journal cards per page. I took the file to Staples to have printed on their colour toner printer. My printer at home is an inkjet and does not print colour pictures very well.

After tea/coffee tying the pages, the colours were toned down and muted a bit. This fit perfectly with a Halloween theme. The images were glued to black card stock next. I added teeny, tiny diecut bats on each of the cards.

Coffee dyed paper was added to the back of each one and I stamped a different image on each with archival ink. I love how they turned out!

Creating With Used Postage Stamps

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of used postage stamps. The first thing I ever created with them was postage stamp mandala. What is a mandala, you ask? We often associate the word mandala with the circular designs that have repeating colors, shapes, and patterns radiating from the center. Mandalas can be precise, carefully measured, geometric, and perfectly symmetrical, or in contrast, free flowing, organic, and asymmetrical.

Here are some of the first ones I made with used postage stamps.

I was inspired to try this from a couple of ATCs that I received in a swap.

By using the same stamp design you can get a totally different look depending on the way you orient them.

I made a whole bunch of these ATCs for a group swap, one for each member.

Here are some other ways that used postage stamps can be utilized in projects much to the horror of some ardent stamp collectors. Let’s start with Christmas gift tags.

Artist trading cards.

Mini journal cards.

Dangles to hang on junk journals. (These were made by a friend.)

I have SO many used postage stamps, mostly hoarded over the years that I’ve decided to see how many other ways I can use them in my crafts this year. Just while writing this post, I've thought of a couple more ideas.

Digital Papers

Not only am I addicted to acquiring scrapbook paper pads, but also to collecting digital papers. Digital paper refers to electronic artwork files used as background patterns, often in image formats like JPG or PNG, and mimicking the look of traditional scrapbook paper

The real benefit of these is that they don’t take up much physical space to store. They are all on an external hard drive the size of a small notebook that holds two terabytes of data. I’ve only used 34 gigabytes so plenty of room left for more.

The range of themes is quite broad…Halloween, Gothic, Christmas, fairies, gnomes, vintage ephemera, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit, spring, winter, autumn, nature, flowers, etc. You get the idea. There are more themes than I can name. I’ve purchased them on Etsy or Kofi, and many of them are freebies from various digital artists.

I really need to start using more of them. If only there were more hours in a day and more energy in my body!