Hidden Jewels

In an earlier life I was a costume designer. I spent many hours perusing the local fabric stores for luxe prints and thumbing through pattern books for inspiration. Sadly, the economy took its toll on my favorite fabric shop. It was filled with every type of cloth imaginable and had rows upon rows of trims, buttons, notions, and treasures.

I still visit the local "big box" fabric store, however, and there is a distinct benefit to shopping in these types of stores: the crossover of other crafts into the scrapbooking industry and vice versa. Recently, many scrap companies have been branching out into other crafts and hobbies simply for the obvious business strategy of gathering more customers. Makes sense. Look at Making Memories with their Vintage Groove line of jewelry findings, for example.

But scrappers have been doing this for as long as scrapping has existed. It is our very nature to see with "scrap eyes" and find page elements all around us. So when I now visit the fabric store I make a game out of finding non-scrap products to use on my projects. You can really find some hidden treasures if you know where to look!

Here is what I found on my last (short... the baby was not thrilled with the shopping on this day!) trip to the fabric store:

Crocheted doilies near the felt. Use them as is or mist/ink them. You can even use them as masks.

Hemp cord in the jewelry section... good for threading buttons and other fun stuff!

Buttons! You'll find all manner of buttons at a fabric store and you can get just a few. The frames were in the jewelry section and I will put tiny photos or papers in them and then cover them with Diamond Glaze. I like to hang these sorts of things from the binding on mini albums!

The styrofoam balls and pins are for an upcoming project using paper supplies... stay tuned!

Burlap is hot right now. And cheap! Cut it into strips and fray the edges for burlap ribbon/trim or cut blocks for backgrounds. You can mist it, ink it, or even stamp on it.

Basic canvas. I have big ideas for making my own canvas alterables. I have been seeing them everywhere and just *know* I can make my own for a fraction of the price!

And of course you can find eleventy billion different ribbons and trims to use on your projects. I am partial to extremes, apparently: rustic, basic twill... and fancy shmancy upholstery trims.

So, I had some fun, yes? Next time you're in the fabric store looking for cloth take some time to dig through the other aisles and find some hidden jewels. Just don't blame me if you get lost for a few hours. :-)