let's get *ECLECTIC* by lauren bergold

Pixie Dust Paperie

presents

"Just Enough Stuff"

by Lauren Bergold

(day 5)

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i'd hate for the other items in my etsy shop to find out that i have a ♥FAVORITE♥... but secretly, i really REALLY love the eclectic decks:

they come in full size, with 52+ different cards, and half size, with 26+; and include everything from playing cards of every shape and size, to foreign language and math flash cards, plus game cards, tarot cards, alphabet cards, vocabulary cards, memory game tokens, tickets, play money... and lots more! the photo above is of a full deck, and here's what's inside that particular packet:

ok, admit it... you're smiling just a teeny bit right now, aren't you? yeah, me too! :) i mean, who could see inspector clousseau and NOT smile? or a playing card with bowling pins on it? or the count from sesame street?! who can think of monopoly or rack-o or mille bornes and not remember rainy saturday afternoons spent indoors playing cards or board games? who can gaze upon vintage tarot and not think of teenage slumber parties?! and the great thing is that every single deck is DIFFERENT, so it's sort of like a lucky dip to open each one!

when i showed these to one of my non-crafty friends, she admired them a lot, but after a few minutes she wanted to know, "yes, but what do you DO with them?!" so here are a few ideas:

this tag features an eiffel-tower-adorned card from--believe it or not--a pink panther game that i found at a garage sale (the same one that had the "inspector clousseau" we saw above!):

 the tarot card inspired this super-embellished creation:

here i used a regular playing card as the base of a holiday-themed artist trading card, which featured this fun tree-shaped playing card:

later i used the ATC as centerpiece on a full-sized christmas card:

finally, a reminder that we don't necessarily have to use the *whole* of anything in our designs; this anniversary card for my sister and her husband is made up of "inchies" which include part of a six of hearts and part of a carnival ticket, as well as lots of other vintage and new elements:

i hope i've inspired you to think about what sort of old cards or game pieces you might have laying around, what memories they hold for you, and to perhaps even look at them with fresh eyes and see a layout, an ATC, tag or greeting card in your crafty future! remember, if you can't bear to part with the originals, you can always scan and print copies... or keep an eye out for likely candidates at your next garage sale! now go have some ♥FUN♥!!!

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