alter with care…

i’ve been busy putting away my goodies from Canton and continuing to sort and stash some other vintage finds that have been sitting around.

just for grins, i decided to look up a few things on e-bay to see what they were selling for. imagine my surprise when i found this book, secrets of charm…

 — selling for between $100 and $500 depending on condition! mine is a first edition with the dust jacket!

another unexpected find came when i was sorting through a box of watch crystals i bought for $8. i found a rolex and several omega, seiko and bulova crystals, all of which i found selling for $10 to $25 EACH on e-bay…

i figure that if i can sell these few items, i’ll more than pay for my trip to Canton last week. making some BIG bucks on selling a few of my finds gives me an unexpected BOOST in my SPENDING budget to buy more! LOL!

i cringe whenever i see an altered art item using vintage patterns, i’ve sold hundreds of vintage patterns and some sell for $10 to $200 each depending on the design.

i personally prefer to use broken items for my altered art pieces. or to upcycle items that would just be considered “trash” or “junk”. when i do decide to work with vintage items that might still be useful or have some value, i like to check the internet to see what they might be selling for. pieces and parts, like the watch crystals, have gone UP in value instead of down. people who own or fix vintage watches have trouble finding vintage parts. so some parts for better companies are selling well. the box i purchased contained many “budget” crystals that don’t sell for much, so i will be using them!

i like to scan or photocopy book pages, pattern envelopes, leaflets, postcards or other ephemera to use in my projects; you can’t tell the difference between the images in most cases, and i can use the image over and over instead of just once. i’m also considering scanning pages of vintage anagram pieces, letters and numbers as they have been steadily rising in price. i used to be able to find boxes FULL of small letters for $2 and $3, now they are going for $20-$40 on e-bay! at that price, i can’t afford to use the originals in my classes, but scans of the pieces result in the same look for a lot less.

my feelings are that if an item has survived intact for 30, 40, 50 or more years, i don’t want to be the one to tear it up now! unless of course that is all it is good for!

so a word to the wise, CHECK FIRST, before you incorporate vintage items into your altered art. otherwise, your project may be costing you a FORTUNE!

alter with CARE!