Small works of art

Before I went to the flea market on Sunday, I was reading a blog on inchies. I love the idea of such lovely art created on a small canvas - duh - isn't that what beadmakers do? Yes! But paper artists love small canvases too. So while I was at the flea market, a couple of vintage stamp collector books caught my eye.


I'm not a stamp collector. Never have been. I don't know what caused me to open up these books but I did. When I did, I found small works of art like these....


...graphic representations of the stamps in black and white. Two books full of them! I thought they'd be wonderfully reproducible for mixed media jewelry.

There were even some real stamps in excellent condition....



In one of the books, a piece of newspaper fell out revealing a small collection of stamps that hadn't made it into the album yet.

The newspaper was a local paper gone out of business now. Christmas 1958 - before I was born but such colorful stamps!



I spent a few hours going through the stamp books after I got home on Sunday - dreaming of which I would reproduce first and what kind of mixed media jewelry I could make.

If you had been with me, would you have bought these books or set them back down again and gone on to the next thing?

Flea Market Finds: Watch backs as pre-made bezels

I made a trip to the flea market early Sunday morning. I make one or two trips per season to see if I can find vintage pieces to combine with the metal work I'm doing. I was on a mission to find watch parts. I can use them in all sorts of ways but I'm becoming particularly fond of the backs as ready-made bezels. I could pour resin in them or drill a hole and attach a jump ring.

Do you have a favorite "found object" for your craft or jewelry?

Inspiration found while wandering a bazaar

On the annual trek to Anime North, it was expected that the parents would stay away. So The Bean Counter and myself set out to explore. This exploration lead to a surprising bit of inspiration in a very unexpected place - the flea market. No, not a flea market full of garage sale finds but a flea market like the five and dime or the dollar store.

There's a flea market/five and dime near my home but the mix of cultures in the one we ventured into in Ontario near Toronto made the trip almost like walking through a bazaar - spices, clothing, jewelry, electronics, dvds - everything you could want to buy. Among the booths of saris and salwar-kameez I found stalls of Indian jewelry sparkling Indian jewelry this one below:



You know I find inspiration in rhinestones and include them in beads with abandon. So I was happy to be among so many rhinestones.

The jewelry was beautiful in the stalls but when worn, it's even more lovely! The picture below is courtesy of The Style of India Blog.



I walked out of the flea market/bazaar with a big happy rhinestone smile on my face!

Score at the Flea Market

As if I don't have enough of my own junk, I made a trip to the flea market before it gets to cold to go. I found a vendor who repairs watches so he has a lot of old watches and small watch parts. He was amazed to find out that people are making jewelry and art out of the old parts. I scored some fabulous antique and vintage watch cases with crystal intact. The square watch case has an amber crystal - sooo cool!

Can't forget the other vendor I found who had tons of old brass hardware and skeleton keys.

It's finds like these that inspire me and make me want to go back!

Do you have a favorite piece of junk or junk store you frequent?