Treasure hunting Recycled materials

In this general NC area, the grand recyclers of them all is a place called the Scrap Exchange located in a huge old warehouse in Durham, NC. When my children were small, we'd wander over to their original location and examine all manner of "trash" to see what we could do with it.

  
The basic concept of the Scrap Exchange is that individuals and businesses donate their outdated, old, unused (or used) scrap items to be sold to the general public and re-purposed in some way. It takes a discerning eye to wander amid the dimly lit, stacked shelves and sift through the vast array of stuff in order to find items that can be used for one's purpose!

Everything from old electronics to a million plastic "what nots" to discarded magazines, cards and envelopes, art, paper, paint, fabric, tiles, medical supplies, guts of old equipment......is available. I spent almost two hours and $40.00  collecting items such as rubber stamps, wallpaper books, corks, spools of ribbon. Oh yes, an old Atlas for my travel art journal!  If it was closer. I would check more regularly but as it is, the odd bits and pieces tend to be perfect for Art Journals  :-) 

assorted ribbon

wallpaper and fabric sample books

There is no doubt that the wallpaper and fabric sample books will be a huge source of inspiration. At just $3.00-$4.00 each with easily 75-150 one of a kind swatches, they are a bargain. I can't wait for the women coming to my Ladies Art Retreat the end of June to select from and enjoy the huge variety of materials that will be on hand.

Let's see what I can make over the weekend!