fabric swatches |

I feel like I just won the lottery.

I just dropped by my favorite local Benjamin Moore.I needed to pick up some paint chips to help choose colors to paint my husbands new office. In passing I decided to ask them if they had any discontinued wallpaper books. I like to pick them up every once in a while for the kid’s classroom art projects.

Wink Wink..

..who is kidding who…they are for me! Well, I do share them with the kids. I just get first pick.

Anyhow today the girl pulled out a huge box. My eyes grew large and my heart started racing. You know that feeling you get when you walk into a large art supply store or an art studio? It felt like Christmas all over again.

All thoughts of painting my husbands office flew out the window….

Not only were there a few wallpaper books ,but swatch upon swatch of beautiful, deep, richly colored fabric. Beautifully patterned fabric. Suede and leather too..

Fabric swatches...large and small

Swoooonnnnn. I have been sewing a lot of paper lately, but no fabric.

Page upon page of hand painted papers..in all colors!

Did I mention the inner sleeves of ATC size samples of handmade paper? Jackpot!

After a long inner battle…

No you are not sewing, remember your goal is to paint this year. ( but look at all this beautiful fabric, deep rich colors, how can you resist…and its free..) No..you made a goal to finish the projects you have already started. ( but it will be going to the dump if I don’t rescue it. I thought I was supposed to be embracing my artistically afflicted ways) No… you are supposed to be engaging them in a structured way besides the poor children need it more than you. ( but maybe I could incorporate it into my art journals..mixed media right??) No….

I did take a few pieces and begrudgingly left behind the rest. I will report back to the teacher that it is there. Lucky kids….

Window shade samples in wood, reed and grass...what am I going to do with these?

Is this abnormal behaviour? I know if you are reading this that you are probably a little afflicted in your own way. Please tell me that it is so…. and while you are at it…please offer any suggestions as to what to do with this mother load?

A few things I have done in the past ~

Hand made paper collage

A large size collage of my hand-made paper collection. I was tired of it all sitting in a box. I have great plans for creating something on this …for now I call it my” log pile”. Another work in progress…

mix media~ paint chip, wall paper and scrapbook paper

I havent looked at this piece in a while. It was the first mixed media piece I made years ago. Funny as I was very limited in supplies so most of this also came from my favorite local paint store…again!

Look around….there is lots of cool paper to be found.

Old envelopes, postcards, old books, dictionaries, music sheets, wallpaper, magazines, paper bags,ticket stubs,wrapping paper, drafting paper,maps, old artwork…..