Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I blame Google Reader

I saw a very talented American woman post a picture on her blog recently of an actual Le Crueset pot complete with lid that she found doing something she called 'thrifting'. I don't know about you, but whenever I go into a charity run second-hand shop I hardly ever find anything good. Not even anything quirky and interesting. Not even anything with much retro appeal, or even any nostalgic charm. Just sad smelly rubbish. Maybe it's my locality.

Anyhow, undeterred by my reality, and spurred on by someone on the other side of the planet's reality - I went into an op-shop today looking for an old crockpot, or an old urn that I could use for yarn dyeing. (I'm going to end up buying the yabbie pot from bcf I bet, but it's a hundred bucks and I'm still hoping the salvos will come through).

Nothing. Just sad dirty old plates and plastic junk. Hideous handmade dolls and leftover balls of wool in old plastic bags. Stuff that, quite frankly, is an insult to the people who shop there out of necessity. You wouldn't pull that crap out of a skip let alone pay money for it and put it on your children.

I know where all the good stuff goes - to the grandkids of the old ladies behind the counter. But anyway, I'm getting carried away..

I found some old sheet music. Having recently seen a very talented woman in Australia post pictures on her blog of some beautiful kusudama flowers made from old books, and I'm looking for ideas for Japanese themed goodie bags for the Black Japan yarn club, I thought I might flick through to see if any of the paper and typography was worthy of cutting up.

When I got them home, I kind of fell a little in love with them.



Look at the achingly beautiful engraving. I even love the yellowing and the foxing on the paper.



Amazingly, someone has written the French translation under the English lyrics.



I don't think I'll cut them up at all.

6 comments:

jp said...

I have seen a where someone laid out a whole heap of sheet music she found in op shops as a table and then had an edge and glass top added over the top. It was quite stunning.

Rose Red said...

Old sheet music is quite the find in op shops I think - it really can be a thing of beauty. But mostly my experience in op shops is the same as yours - or they have gone quite upmarket and are almost too expensive for the people they are meant to serve.

Sheeprustler said...

Old sheet music is VERY special. Op shop finds depend on so much serendipity. I never find wonderful crock pots, though I bought a fab dyeing pot in a Chinese homeware/kitchen supply place in Melbourne near the Vic market for $16 that is huge and very good. Just bought $43 worth of wonderful denim clothes for repurposing which covered something like 6 pairs of jeans in different sizes and states of wonderfulness, and a brand new denim jacket on which I intend to attach a fab beaded thing (yet to be done).

missfee said...

oh please don't cut them up - they are so beautiful as they are - as Jodie says put them under glass!!!

p.s. I was a musician of sorts in a previous life....

DrK said...

they are beautiful. i miss doing historical research just so i can fondle bits of paper like that. they make you wear white gloves in the archives, but those should be displayed for sure. and i dont know where all those great opshops are either....

Kim said...

Beautiful!! I love the idea of them being translated into French. Makes you wonder who owned them =)