This morning we went into town to do a little bit of shopping. While I was waiting for the chemist to fill scripts, I went next door to the opportunity shop to have a little look see. Whilst I was beowsing, I saw some old knitting machine cards. You know, from those knitting machines we all thought were really great in the '70s? I didn't think much about it, but as I was looking at them I had a what if moment.
These are some of the cards. They are made of a thin white plastic and have little holes punched in patterns all over them.
These were out drying after I had used them. You can probably guess what I did by the state they are in.
I suppose that is how those old machines worked out what to knit. They reminded me of the key punch cards I had to use at university to write programs for computer science, lol. No keyboards and mouses in those days!
Anyway, I couldn't wait to get home with them. I got out my journals and paints and went to work!
I used them as stencils! And wow what great stencils! These ones above were the first ones I did, with my dobber bottles and you can see my techniques was not great.
I used my stamp pads for these, and although they are sharp, they are not even - and used a lot of ink!
These were done using diluted acrylic paint in spray bottles, and they worked really well.
Here are some more - absolutely fabulous, if I do say so myself.
Of course after I sprayed them, there was a ton of paint on the top, so waste not want not,
I turned the cards over and stamped with them, getting a positive image as well. I loved this one, it looked a bit like lace.
And here I stamped a whole lot on one page. I am really liking these and sure I will use them in my journals a lot. They are about 5 by 12 inches, so quite large. I wonder what all those lovely dots would look like stencilled on sheer organza! Or any fabric for that matter!
I showed my hubby what I had done and he suggested that I could make more of them with different designs with my silhouette as well. What a creative hubby I have!
So I am quite happy with my 50 cent purchase this morning. That is why I love junk shops.
You never know what you will find, or what you can use it for.
Happy creating!
