Skip to main content

Vintage Guest Checks


   Happy Saturday you lovely crafters! Just think, a whole weekend to work at your happy desk and create: cut, paste, spackle, paint, sew. . . .or whatever it is that you do to make jolly. I've joined a few swap-bot swaps that I'll be working on and sharing later. I also started an art journal that is strictly for the sake of creating with no "goals" in mind other than to express myself. If I'm being critical of it, so far, it's a hot mess. But, on to the current project I'm sharing.

Guest check collaged with beutiful blue bird image and colorful rubber stamps.

    These fun vintage guest checks are great ephemera for junk journals or a tuck-in for a pen pal who loves vintage items. I like guest checks because they remind me of the past. How often do you actually receive an old-school guest check like this in restaurants anymore? My guess is probably not often, as everyone is using thermal tape receipts these days and those aren't that great. 

So, let me share my steps in creating these little dandies. 

  • Tea dye your guest checks. This step is not a must, you can age your checks with some distress inks or oxide or not at all if you're going for a more contemporary look. I threw a whole book of guest checks into my tea dye bucket last time I was tea dying and so I have plenty to use. Also...if you're wondering where to procure these guest checks, I bought a big lot off Amazon. 
  • Gather paper scraps, die cuts, stickers, lace, ribbon, and fabric and arrange colors and designs that complement each other. 
  • Distressed around some or all die cuts and paper pieces. This gives an aged appearance to the whole piece.
    Guest check with music paper and rubber stamps collaged to it.

  • Incorporate tools or your favorite products. I used some edge punches on different papers and then layered the different designs. I also used some tiny staples on a different check. Other options could be embossing to add texture, using brads or rivets, or even adding a thread nest under an image.
  • When you think you have everything distressed and arranged, glue everything down.
  • Tip: When I collage, I loosely arrange how I think my papers should go. When I find a configuration I like I only lay one tiny strip of glue down the center of the paper leaving the perimeter loose so I can tuck papers under the edges if need be. When everything is where I want it, I'll go back through and glue down all the corners. 
    Guest check that's been collaged with images and patterend paper.

  • Stamp as a finishing technique. I like using rubber stamps throughout the whole process both before college and after. Stamping to finish your piece helps to fill blank spaces and can help give direction or flow to your piece. 
  • Lastly, sew around or through your guest checks. I also added the tabs onto the top in this step. Some are ribbons and others are more paper scraps with tulle layered over top. If you don't have a sewing machine or one that you want to use to sew paper, you could always attempt hand stitching or just staple on your tabs and make stitches with a black gel pen. You can use a quick-drying glue like fabrifix or fabritac if you'd like to add any fabric or tulle. 


    Thank you for checking out my blog. Hope you'll test out this fun idea and let me know how it worked for you. I hope everyone has a great weekend and makes some fabulous things. 💕

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Floral Gold Foiled Greeting Cards

Spellbinders Glimmer of the Month November 2022 Good morning crafty friends. Today I'm sharing with you cards I've made using the Spellbinders glimmer of the month for November 2022, "Glimmer Edge Stylized Floral". One of my favorite features of this month's glimmer plate is that the design is all connected in one piece instead of having separate pieces to manage. This makes foiling and die-cutting a breeze since there's no fussing with aligning all the elements perfectly during the process. You're able to use less foil and cardstock with this design. Thanks, Spellbinders for the efficiency. I also used Spellbinders embossing folder of the month for Nov. 22 to create the background panel. All these cards are A2 size.  Reverse foiling technique colored with distressed oxides. In this first design, I used a reverse foiling technique and a solid plate to pull the leftover image off an already-used piece of foil. I didn't get the foil transfer ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tools for New Paper Crafters

Are you a new paper crafter?         Hi crafty friends! If you're here checking out my blog it's because you're a paper enthusiast like me. Today's discussion is for those who are new to the world of paper crafting and are curious about what basic supplies every paper crafter needs in their arsenal to make beautiful pieces they'll love and want to share. Here are my top five supplies or supply groups, that have made all the difference in my creations.      The staples of my craft room are scissors, glues and adhesives, paper, and ink. If you're going to make cards, art journals, collages, or create happy mail you'll need these basic items to get started. Stamps are also another important staple in the craft room, but we'll leave that for another post.  1. Cut   You'll need a large pair of scissors to make bigger cuts for things like taking images out of a magazine. You'll also need a smaller pair for fussy cutting or doing detailed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Specimen Envelopes

      Good morning my paper-loving friends. I have another upcycle project for you today. I call these specimen envelopes because they feature a clear widow like a slide with a "specimen" in the middle. I've had these envelopes in my stash for a while now. I love them so much, that I haven't been able to part with them. These would make a lovely addition to a happy mail for a pen-pal, a swap, or of course, tucked into a journal. I could also see these tied to the outside of a gift package with a note or a little something extra inside. So, let us get into it.        I used some pages from my German English dictionary for these envelopes. I got out my Gelli plate and swiped some Distressed Oxides onto it and misted it with water before I pressed my paper onto my Gelli plate. If you don't have a Gelli plate a regular craft mat or piece of laminated paper (or any non-porous flat surface) would work just as well. I used my h...
Post a Comment
Read more