Patty Van Dorin

vintage Rolodex finds

This weekend, I found two nice vintage rolodex files and have just listed them on the etsy shop.

If you ever wanted to start your own scrapodex project, either one of these two rolodex card holders would be perfect.
click here to go to the River Bend Ranch etsy shop

and for more ideas and cards from my scrapodex project, there is a scrapodex category on the right column.

This is a really fun project and can be adapted in many ways from using scraps, keeping quotes, ideas and project notes, the possibilities are endless.

when great stuff comes in the mail

The past few days, I have been the lucky recipient of some really great stuff that has come in the mail.
 
Really good things, like scrapodex cards
 
These two beauties came from Karenann.
 
How about a case, yes a case of halva. I certainly am spoiled.
حلاوة طحينية

 
Gorgeous Dubai postage stamps.
 
A box of cool rusty stuff.

What can I say and it's not even my birthday.
All of my favorite things.

more stuff that involves paper

 
 
 
 
There are more scrapodex cards that could be shared but I have completely lost track of what has appeared on this blog and what hasn't.
 
 
and a couple of pages from the withDRAWal sketch book

the paper that makes the scrapodex - part two

 
more stitched paper
 
and even more stitched paper - you see a pattern emerging here
 
why, yes it's even more stitched paper and a cowboy from a greeting card - Yippy ti yi yo get along little doggies

 
more fragments of original collages that have been photocopied.
 
an airline baggage tag and on the right a page from an Italian phone book and a scrap of fabric found on the street.
 
painty page and scrap collage

I will show more tomorrow.

the paper that makes the scrapodex

Paper of all kinds and types are used in my scrapodex project, there is no holding back and all paper is fair game.
 
little pieces of paper stitched to make bigger pieces of paper that are then cut down into rolodex cards
 
small pieces of photocopies of original collages that I have made
 
tossed paint paper - when paint gets to thick or old, I dump it on paper and spread it out, I then use this paper in my projects
 
scraps of paper, more stitched paper and the bird is from a paper luncheon napkin
 
left is more painty paper and along the bottom of the paint paper is a small piece from a security envelope. On the right a piece of recycled gift wrap

More tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone who has sent me such nice emails and linking my site.

scrapodex: tips and hints

 
Every day, I get questions about the scrapodex and I thought I would do a little post to answer a few of the questions I get.

The vintage rolodex that I use holds cards that are 2 1/4" by 4".  I think there are larger size rolodex.  The 2 1/4" by 4" is considered the standard size.

I collage right on the original cards.
If I have a piece of paper that is heavy, I will draw around a rolodex card as a template and then cut out the paper to size.
 
One thing I had not even thought about was orientation. Most of my card I use as a horizontal orientation and my rolodex is like a book. It wasn't until Brian sent me some finished cards that I realized that a vertical orientation may be more in keeping with the original flip type rolodex.(The above card is one of Brian's) I also noticed that some holes are shaped a bit different than mine. I don't think any of this matters and I think a rolodex with cards in different orientations make it more interesting.
 
The most frequent question I receive is how to cut the tabs of the card. I don't use a punch even though there are rolodex punches. I find that my cards are too thick with paper and paint for a punch to work. I cut out my tabs with a small scissors. I have also found that you don't need to be neat and perfect when cutting these because once they are in the rolodex you don't notice the cut tabs.  Just don't cut them too big or too small.
 
Because I like to make these cards up quickly, I use a tape runner to adhere paper to my cards. I will also use a glue stick and I don't have a problem with paper lifting up but I know some people who this is an issue. 

I will also use white glue or mod podge. When using a liquid glue, the cards can have a tendency to curl or roll. One way to help with this, is to lightly coat one side of the blank card with glue before using the card for collage, let dry and then coat the other side with glue and let dry.  Then you can use this card to make your collage.
 
When I collage and work on a card, I work on one side at a time. Then I trim the edges and cut out the tab. Once that is finished I will work on the other side and trim and cut out the tab once again. I find that working one side and cutting it keeps it easy to keep these cards and tabs in the correct size and position.

This is an easy project but don't hesitate to ask questions.

more scraping in the scrapodex

 
 
 
 
 
 

more rodolex

 

vintage rolodex

Looking for an nifty vintage rolodex to start your own scrapodex?
I came across this nice one in pristine condition and have just added to my etsy shop
 
I love the aqua tabs on this one
 
click here for more picures and details - etsy shop   Sold, I will keep an eye out for another

 
the scrapodex that I am working on is getting full
 
it's to the point that I will need to take the blank cards out to figure how many finished page that it will take to fill it
 
I want it full and chunky but not so full that the pages will not flip easily
 
once I have all the cards with background, I will go back and add to each card with more collage
 

What is Red?

 
Page on the right inspiration is from the crazy colorful pages from an early 70's reader that I repurposed into my "Secrets" daily journal.
When I made this journal, I used the original school book cover and included some of my favorite pages from it.
 
Sometimes I stamp on the original pages and sometimes, I just let them stand on their own.
The 70's really wasn't that long ago but it is clear that it was before certain politically incorrect things were common place in text books.
 
it has been so long since I have posted about the scrapodex project, that I forgot where I left off
 
no matter, here are a few pages
 
my goal is to get the backgrounds down
 
then come back and add more
 
page on the right with the dots is a liner from a tin of cookies
I rubbed an ink pad lightly over the top to give the dots some color and contrast
 
adding more tiny collage bits
this is an ongoing project and is just too much fun