...celebrating the shiny scraps

The big de-clutter at work (in preparation for the move to our new office base) is gathering pace. This week my colleague J and I were sifting through the craft drawers in the storeroom and came across a collection of collage materials she had donated a couple of years ago, after her own children outgrew the 'cutting and sticking' stage. Amongst the assorted bits and pieces were some little squares of delicate hand-made paper and an envelope labelled "shiny scraps" containing brightly coloured foil sweet wrappers and pieces of irridescent / glittery wrapping paper that she had saved from various Easter / Christmas / birthday celebrations over the years.

We paused to reminisce about happy times spent playing with our children when they were little, and debated whether to discard the remnants we had found. I am an absolute sucker for irridescent paper because I have a collection of craft punches that I use for occasional card-making and it is perfect for dragonfly / butterfly wings. After the briefest of hesitations I said I would take it all home with me. Later that evening I sat down to sort through the contents of the envelope, and before I knew it Crowded House was on the CD player and I was making a tiny collage with the scraps. So much fun! 

I mounted the collage on some black handmade paper from my stash and dug out a little wooden Ikea frame, also from the stash, and 'Hey presto'! A memento for J and a happy evening of making for me. 

The photos were taken hastily, in bad lighting, after 10:30 at night, so aren't very good at all, but I just wanted a 'note-to self' reminder of the fun I'd had.