Total Art Soul - for artists

So today I have been out and about treasure hunting and thought I would show some of my treasures and explain what I will do to transform them into my next creations.

I usually travel all over the UK searching for goodies (if my budget stretched to global I would be doing it EVERYwhere - french antique markets one day, cocktail in hand digging for shells and precious stones on the beach the next, bliss).  Boy I sound spoilt, it is not that I necessarily travel intentionally to scout, more that I'm lucky enough to go many places and can never resist the opportunity.

So here are my favourite finds of the day:



I didn't get the best price imaginable on these metal findings, but I improved my haggling skills a bit. They're going to be used on the front of my journals (I'm a journaling addict, art journaling inside and creating journals for others).  I may post once they have been cleaned and repurposed.



These vintage tins I found on a car boot stall of a guy that said he had about 800 recently delivered and all sat in his front room.  He left them there as he didn't think they would be popular! By the time I got there these were really the only good ones left.  I will be making books in boxes with these.



I'll just finish with these antique and vintage postcards.  They are all stamped and postmarked except for the one that is my ultimate find:



This is an antique postcard of my most favourite house in the world. If I had all the money imaginable and could only purchase one property it would be this one.  It is of what I call the 'cat house' because a cat sleeps in the flower bed in front of the house - I hardly would ever pass without seeing him snoozing there.  It is in Winchester (the old capital of the UK before London had the honour) in the Cathedral grounds and just through the arch you can see there is the house were Jane Austen lived and died.  I lived in Winchester 10 years ago to go to university and like everywhere I have lived miss it dearly - if you treasure hunt yourself you will know how fabulous it is to find something that is so personal to you too.

I love finding personal ephemera, well any ephemera really, I'm addicted to making art and journals with them - because they are already such unique items themselves they just add this individuality and history to your projects.  I'm currently creating a video on howto incorporate ephemera into your journaling so if you art journal or keep a written diary yourself they will be on my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/jennibellie in two parts if you're interested.

Finally I just want to say a big thank you to anyone who has read this blog entry - this is my first ever, on any site, and to be honest blogs scare the stuffing out of me so if you are a seasoned blogger I would really appreciate any comments you have for me - and don't be afraid to be critical on me, I can take it - or have a tub of hagen daaz ready and waiting in the freezer if not lol

Peace and Love to all

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 We are writing this to remind all of you that occasionally it’s good to look up from your scribblings and take note of your surroundings. Not only is it better for your posture and assures your loved ones you are in fact still alive, but you never know what you might find.

We are compulsive hoarders and like all creative types, are sods for bringing home interesting objects because of their colour or texture. A few months ago we were boring a friend to tears with our most recent selection of shells and pebbles when he spotted a piece of glass we’d picked up. He asked us to keep an eye out for more as he was thinking of maybe making some earrings for his girlfriend. So, next time we were out barking at the waves we had a nosy round in the pebbles and discovered loads of the stuff.

Now curious we got online and found that some of what we had was much older and more interesting than we’d ever imagined. Since we started, we’ve found some very ancient black glass, a good three hundred years old, maybe more, some cobalt blue, rare because it’s very fragile and even some red glass, one of the rarest colours going !

We are now completely hooked and spend hours shuffling up and down the beach together.  We often get approached by people who can’t stand it any longer and have to ask what we’re up to, the lovely thing being that they usually come back minutes later having found some for us J Whether they think it’s some kind of care in the community programme or what we have no idea but we’re keeping them amused, which is the main thing.

For us, its a double bonus. We get to spend lots of days out at the coast together having silly amounts of fun and getting to claim our bus fares back off the tax man because we’re out on business. Then when we get home we have a pile of unique pieces of gorgeously tactile glass in so many colours and shapes for us to play with. What started as one small jar is now about fifteen big ones and we’re going back for more tomorrow. It’s cost us nothing other than travel and a pasty (even then we’ve walked it some days and taken our own), and what we come back with is unique every time with its own character and history.

Wherever I’ve been, there has always been something to inspire me, be it things to photograph, found materials or just the drive to get the hell out which has pushed me to do things.

Put your pencil/mouse/pliers down and go outside, even if it’s for five minutes and really look. You might be surprised at what you find.

Go on, we'll know if you don't :)

Karen and Rich

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