Letter Fun

As I was walking through the grocery store the other day, this caught my eye. Being a big fan of type, I found it amusing ... it looks like some of the letters are trying to make a break for it! I think I'll include this in my altered alphabet book ...

Tinnies & Treasures

I've been working on some "tinnies" for Valentine's Day (inspired by Lisa Kaus as seen in Somerset Studio). Fun, fun, fun!

I went on a wonderful treasure hunt this week at the home of the mother of a friend of a friend ... lots of games, patterns, old metal stuff, ephemera. I'll be posting much of it later this week.

Altered Snowmen

Here are some snowmen I've been working on ... those of you who are "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" readers will probably recognize these from the cover of the Nov/Dec 2008 cover. They're very cheery on a dreary, cold January day. The middle one was made with a vintage glass baby bottle. I also used prisms, an old tape measure, costume jewelry and vintage metal cake-decorating tips.

An Introduction

Welcome! Let's start with a little introduction. My name is Trina and I'm the owner of The Paper Flea Market (PFM for short). I've been a collector and user of lovely old treasures and ephemera for many years ... before I ever even *heard* the word ephemera. I think it comes from my maternal grandmother who saved *everything*. She lived during the Great Depression. Years later, she worked at a Goodwill and had an eye for good stuff. Each room of her house was crammed with wonderful treasures. When we'd tell her we were coming for a visit, she'd say, "I'll clear a path for you." And she meant it. Fast forward to the summer of 2007. I was looking around at my own collection and got to thinking I'd never be able to use all these wonderful finds in my artwork in my lifetime. Thus the idea for the store was born. We've had a lot of fun and have found homes for many of our treasures. And now we've decided to create a wonderful blog to offer a little glimpse behind the scenes, share some of my artwork and to get to know our customers. So, here we go!