Category: recycle it

Jingle Journal Pages (Batch 1)

I had intended to make something or work on my journal during this unseemly hour of the morning, but instead, I am sharing some work I’ve been doing for the past week or two. Dawn Sokol runs a class each holiday season that focuses on journaling to help process the holiday season and winter. It’s a great class that I’ve taken a couple of times in the past. Here is some of my work, along with some works in progress, that I have so far.

It’s a homemade book, set up in the style of a travelers notebook, using elastic bands to keep in each signature. The pages are made of old cereal boxes, magazine pages, old Christmas cards, cardstock, regular ole white heavyweight paper, and more. Some of these pages are still works in progress, mostly needing some doodling and journaling. #JingleJournal2021

  • cover of first signature
  • just some fun trees
  • random page with doodling to match the wrapping paper scraps I used
  • journaling between checking on dinner and watching the parade
  • unfinished page listing what I’m grateful for
  • on the left, a page setting my intention for the journal/class. on the right, a page where I intend to vent when I get overwhelmed and stressed
  • I was making a list of people who get wee gifts to show our appreciation (list unfinished)
  • an Advent calendar page where I add one thing each day
  • just a fun collage page I did because I couldn’t wait for the class to start
  • my Christmas icon, when I thought about it, seems to be ornaments
  • the theme for this page is Wish. I plan to hide my little wishes underneath the Christmas card, as it’s a little tuck spot
  • do I have Christmas spirit? not sure, especially since the page is unfinished
  • we learned about higgle (pronounced “hooga”) and I listed what I find to be appropriate for that word
  • a faux chalkboard doodling page

A little bit of fun.

My pal Karen saw that I was in need of a little art pick-me-up, so she found this project online and brought it to my attention. We lugged our mixed media stuff to the most recent Always Be Creating Art Play Date and gave our paper scraps the Finnabair treatment! Here are my finished pieces. The tag went onto a page in my sketchbook for the 2018 Sketchbook Project. The other 3 pieces are waiting for their forever homes. Or I might do something more with them before sending them out into the world. Who knows? 😀

A few cards

My sister always tells me how she goes into the shops in her town and thinks that my cards are something that should be in those shops, too. So I made a few for her to take in there and see what happens. 🙂 These cards have dyed fabric, dyed paper towels, found objects, beads and sequins, fibers, paper fabric that I made, and are stitched together, then glued onto the card front.

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late night arting

The past few nights have seen me in my studio, hard at work on journals and other random things. Here’s this week’s journal spread (WIP) and some corrugated cardboard pages I’m making, also WIP. I am not sure if they’ll be postcards or if they’ll be pages for a book — what do you think?

 

crazy things artists do

The day before yesterday, I was in a car accident. We won’t talk about that in detail. But here’s where we make lemonade: My automobile is being totaled. Yesterday Tim and I went over to the mechanic’s and got out all of our personal items. I also found some bulbs and pieces of metal and grabbed the CD magazine out of the smashed CD changer in the back. I’m taking a class tomorrow with Leighanna Light at The Artists’ Nook and it’s entitled “Reliquary of Inspiration”. I was originally going to do a shrine for my former dog, Zuni, but decided it would be more timely to do one for my beloved 1992 Ford Explorer, which is about to be laid to rest.

So today, I called my mechanic and asked him to pull off the rear view mirror and save it for me because I’m going to make art with it. He was amused, but I’m sure he thinks I’m a wacko.

And I’m ok with that!

Tip: Save Everything!

Tonight, I was working on a project where I needed to stamp outlines of squares onto my surface. Not having that kind of rubber stamp, I knew if I could only find a square gift box or similar somewhere in my stash, I’d be set. I found a 2″x1/2″x1/2″ (approx) matchbox in my “trash” cabinet! I spread acrylic paint onto some waxed paper and made a makeshift stamp pad. I stamped the end of the matchbox cover onto my project! It was perfect!

The best part was while I was stamping, I wondered where the matchbox came from. I realized that I picked it up in a restaurant in Kansas City when I worked for Hallmark Cards around 1998. I kid you not, that matchbox went from Kansas City, to my home in Albuquerque, then moved back to New Jersey with me, where I moved two more times and now it’s settled in Colorado, where I’m at my second address.

The point is that you never know when something is going to come in handy. As long as you are collecting a stash and you have the space for it and you USE stuff from it, it’s never a waste of time and effort when it comes to your altered art. 🙂 Whenever you are about to toss something into the trash, take a second look at it. Can it be used as a stamp? Try it out! Not only are you expanding your design potential, you’re saving that stuff from going into the landfill. I’m starting a drawer called “Weird stuff to use as stamps.” Comment and tell me what you’re using!