Beautiful images from old books...

On our trip to Tumby Bay our op shopping was a big part of the fun. I came home with three books I chose for the gorgeous images.  One was a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic book and two were books on roses. Each were between $2 and $4 in price. The whole idea was that these give me images for making lovely cards!

I will get over 100 cards and tags from these! Cards really are very inexpensive to make this way! I had enough images to share with a friend as well.

This weekend I started making some cards up. These are really simple. I have made fancier cards ie with ruffles and written tutorials which you can find in my craft section. But these are stunning images and so I just make a simple card.

I began with the Shabby Chic book and made a series...

I love these, the chandeliers, the sparkle and soft colours!

Then I started on roses. These are lovely too! In some cases the pictures were stunning on both sides of the page and I had to decide! 

Also in early posts I showed how you can take a plain or recycled gift bag, add a picture and end up with a lovely gift bad for your gift giving. These are expensive in shops! But sometimes stores use these when you make a purchase. Then they have a logo or something on them. Well, just cover that and make your own gift bags! In our news agency gift bags are expensive. Cards are mostly about $8, tags even are a couple of dollars. Each thing like this you make is a big saving.

In another early post I showed how you can use lovely magazine images or book images as gift wrapping for small gifts. I always keep a selection of the larger pictures for gift wrap. The uses are endless! On that note posters, sheet music, jewellery catalogues... lots of things make lovely gift wrap...

I start with the largest images. Some were full page... these are great for wrapping something or for a larger gift bag. Then I make cards and small bits get used up on gift tags. This gets you the most value.

An example of wrapping is this time I have made wrapped soaps to go with my cards. I just buy boxed Dove soaps. I like the pink soap but any are fine. I wait and get them on specials. Usually $1 each. What started me on these was seeing a gift wrapped soap in a gift store for over $20. Seriously. So I have made so many of these!

Some of the larger rose images were big enough for this. I just add a bow or an embellishment... you can really use anything you have. 

These are really handy as a small thank you gift, teacher gift...  Also I often add one to a gift I am posting. Every time I have heard back how wonderful the parcel smelled when it was opened! 

These also would be a nice party favour. My tips are wrap tightly and neatly. Place your sticky tape so that your ribbon will cover it. Use tacky craft glue to secure ribbon and embellishments. 

These are so handy! 

My next gift is to pack up cards into a pack as a gift in themselves. You could add a pen or stamps or an address book. But really you don't need to... they look lovely. I use cellophane bags and tie them up with a bow. For my aunt I make gardening or cooking themed cards. You can personalise them to what someone loves. Then I finish that with a bow. This is a lovely gift and will save the person money as they don't have to buy cards for a while! 

So my three books which were $8 all up have supplied me with months worth of pretty pictures for all of these little projects. Books have much better quality paper than magazines so the pictures have a good finish to them. You could also cover gift boxes, plain books. diaries... the list goes on! 

I keep on saying that you don't have to be artistic to be crafty! There are so many ideas and once you get going it is surprising how the results encourage you to go on. The savings certainly do too. 

Beautiful images have so many possibilities. A stunning gift tag can become a bookmark. If you have lovely frames fill them with images from books are your art. Imagine doing this with gorgeous childrens illustrations for a nursery! (I have nurseries on the brain at the moment!)

I hope you had a good weekend! I have so many things on the go, several crochet projects, cards and soaps, cooking... then I decided to alter some winter scarves I have that are lovely but just too bulky for me so I never wear them... so the sewing machine is out and I am making them over. (or under really)

But now it is Monday I have a long list as there are a errands to run and we must eat and things like that!

Have a wonderful week! See you Wednesday for Pantries! xxx