My husband and I just returned from a fabulous vacation at Monarch Beach Resort in sunny California. We had such a wonderful time, and I returned full of sunshine and ready to do some summer-time scrapbooking! Are you in the mood for summer yet? We have a lot of beautiful new summer papers that will be perfect for my California pics, like the 'Grafton' collection from Scenic Route, the 'Island Collection' from Three Bugs, Crate Paper's 'Static' line, and of course the adorable 'Shore Thing' from Imaginisce (still our top seller).
During our stay in beautiful Orange County, we visited San Juan Capistrano. The old mission gardens were in full bloom! While in this historic town, we had to visit the antique mall (my husband is a big collector of all things old). As he wandered around looking at, well, everything, I busied myself browsing curios as well. I had never thought of using items from an antique shop for scrapbooking, but I found several things while I was there that would be positively fun to include in a layout (probably not acid free however). Here are some things I spotted that I thought would be really fun to include in projects and layouts:
- Old, 1950's luggage tags from Hawaii Airlines. They were so cute and 1950's tropical!
- Old postcards, particularly of the area we were visiting. A great way to add a vintage flare to your pages (pair with the Coredinations vintage cardstock for a great look);
- Old hankies - embroidered and adorable - what a beautiful accent for a sweet 16 page;
- Paper advertising - like matchbooks and wine, beer, or can labels. So many feature fun slogans and sayings;
- Old milk bottle caps - really cute in a baby book - especially if you can find one that says wholesome!
- Old button pins - remember, even things from the 80's are vintage now, so who knows, you may find one or two from a favorite band and pair them with some old photos to tell the story of your younger years!
- Old sewing buttons - there's nothing like those vintage grandma style buttons;
- Old valentines - I found several child style 1950's Disney valentines. Very cute.
All in all, there were dozens of fun ideas to be had, and lots of inspiration:
- The brilliant color combinations found in old fiesta ware and crocks;
- The adorable patterns and ric-rac from vintage pot holders and aprons;
- The vintage type fonts found on old advertising pieces;
- The graceful and sometimes funky patterns of old china.
Most towns have an antique store of some sort or the other. Next time you are feeling stumped, stop by for some inspiration.
If you have a favorite place you glean ideas and inspiration from, please share it in our comments section! If you've used vintage items to create adorable altered gifts or layouts with, please e-mail a photo! We'd love to hear from you.
For modern day inspiration, don't forget to stop by our store at www.ScrapBugLane.com. We have lots of great products waiting for you!
Lisa
