Collage Challenge #21

This week's 5-prompt challenge came together pretty quickly.

Prompts:

1) portion of sewing pattern (lower right corner)

2) something made from wool (image of woman with wool coat - it was black and 

white so I colored it to better match the layout)

3) vegetable (I used a vintage playing card that has the gorgeous image of peas on it)

4) tea or coffee-dyed paper (coffee-dyed paper in lower left corner)

5) something heart-shaped (the heart stamp)

Bonus: a typo (I didn't use the bonus)

I added a few other pieces of papers, a few labels, a leaf die cut, and images of mushrooms and a butterfly to round out the collage. I like how it came out, probably because it is more vintage and my style.

More Junk Journal Ephemera using "trash"

I have a problem! I hate to throw anything out that could possibly be upcycled! So my challenge is to make these rescued bits into something usable.

This is a tag from some clothing. It was interesting because it was a double tag and very sturdy.

I collaged all sides with some vintage wallpaper, a piece of doily and other papers. After rounding the corners, inking edges and tying a silky ribbon in the existing hole, it turned into a pretty little tag/journaling spot for a journal.

inside

This started out as an offcut strip of manila paper. I collaged very tiny bits of papers, fabrics and lace along the entire strip and then folded it into thirds like a matchbook. 

  I sewed in several pieces of plain paper when I sewed the smaller flap. That flap holds the top closed. This makes a cute little "notepad" to insert into a pocket in a journal for extra writing space.

These are "guest checks." They aren't vintage - I bought them at Walmart - but they make a nice size tag or journal card. I collaged over them with miscellaneous papers and old postage stamps, then sewed around the edges. The images are Tim Holtz's paper dolls. The left tag has a ruffle of sewing pattern tissue sewed along the top; the right tag has the stamps sewn on the front. The backs have plain paper attached for journaling.

This card came with a makeup sample. (I forgot to take a "before" photo.) It was too nice to pitch, so I collaged over it making sure to have the women's portrait positioned to show through the opening. 

Here is the card open. I attached a piece of paper-covered card stock at the bottom for sturdiness and to hold the top flap closed.

The back is just collaged. I love how this turned out - it's a nice journaling card to clip to a page or tuck into a pocket.

Always look at your "trash" with an eye to what it could become. Be environmentally-conscious and save stuff from the landfill!

Projects for Junk Journals - Using up Book Pages

I've become a little obsessed with junk journals lately. The coronavirus stay-at-home orders combined with a yearly junk journal page swap I'm participating in has given me reason to work on many pages and ephemera. I've also been watching many YouTubers in the junk journaling community which has been very inspiring.

When you remove pages to reduce bulk when making altered books or when you gut books to use the covers for all kinds of journals, you end up with a pile of loose pages! I have an abundance to use up! There are all kinds of ways to use book pages and here are just a few I've tried.

First, you can make "origami" boxes. These can be any size, depending on your pages and can hold so many things. I will use a few for cut up bits or odds and ends in my art room. They could also be used for jewelry or little gifts or office supplies ...

These are made from a pretty standard book page and measure about 2" square by 1" deep.

A great use for book pages is for bases. They can be glued together to make them thicker and can be cut into tags, journaling cards, bookmarks, even pages for books and journals. Once they are collaged, they make beautiful elements.

journaling cards on doubled book page bases

tag and journaling cards all on base of book pages
(coin envelope in center has collaged book text)

Torn up pages can be used for collage or even collaged bases for mixed media art.

canvas for mixed media prepared with book pages and gesso

They can be folded or cut into many different kinds of envelopes and pockets. 

double pocket

vertical double pocket

Stamp to make new "paper".

stamped book page made into envelope

Cut out words from book text to use as titles or sentiments or poetry.

example from Pinterest

Die cut or hand cut to make paper flowers.

Use as "glue pages." When gluing elements, work on an old book page. When it's sticky just throw away and start with another - a great way to keep your work area clean.

Some other ideas (which I haven't yet tried):

make paper beads, then color as desired

shred and make handmade paper

shred and use as "filling" when shipping packages

use as wrapping paper

punch for borders

make feathers

make ruffles

make banners or tabs

weave for a background

use for paper mâché

stamp on them and fussy cut images

punch or die cut shapes

I'm sure there are more ideas out there. I can assure you, I now rarely throw away a book page!

Collage Challenge #20

Week #20's challenge was last week and I created this on Thursday. It feels good to be caught up and only doing one collage a week!

Collage #20

Prompts:

1) something that represents a party or celebration (the cupcakes)

2) something with a bit of yellow (lots of yellow on this page - the bird, lemons, sun and girl's hair, triangles in washi, post-it note)

3) any kind of tape (triangle-patterned washi tape)

4) old sticky note (green-blue and yellow post-its)

5) something sour (lemons)

Bonus: a doodle in red (red pen doodling)

This challenge came together very quickly as I just happened to have the appropriate 

images and colors at hand.  

May Junk Journal Page Swap

I created this page for the May junk journal swap in my online group. We make one page approximately 5" x 6-7" to swap with a partner. One of the requirements is to have space for journaling.

The base of the page is a folded map and the front was collaged with book text. The front page has a belly band which I made from a strip of file folder collaged with tiny bits and pieces of papers and lace. I added the paper flower with a brad for more interest.

Under the belly band are two journal cards. The bases are book pages glued together and then collaged with other papers including some vintage wallpaper. The larger one has a plain back for journaling and the smaller one is a trifold with space inside for journaling.

For the back page I made a flip with a strip of pretty patterned paper attached to the top of a small paper bag. This was then attached to the page. I added the definition label, butterflies and bird.

The top of the flip has a "notepad" made from several pieces of copy paper dyed with avocados. (Yes, the dye is pink!) The music paper is also avocado-dyed. The paper bag is stamped and collaged and the tag is collaged with several papers.

I love all the interactive features of this page. It was so much fun to create.

Collage Challenges #19

I am a little behind with the 5-prompt collage challenges from Margarete Miller. Last week was the 19th week. The prompts were posted on Monday, May 4, and I just finished the collage today.

Collage #19

Prompts:

1) something heavy (great white shark image from magazine)

2) something written or drawn in pencil (prompts written on star)

3) a piece of calendar (upper left corner)

4) art scrap (gelli plate scrap, upper center)

5) gum or cough drop wrapper

Bonus: tissue paper or napkin (blue napkin in lower left corner)

I didn't use #5 as we don't chew gum and the cough drop wrappers I had didn't go with these colors at all. Luckily I had plenty of napkins to choose from for the bonus. The other patterned papers in the background are all the linings of security envelopes.

"One Sheet Wonder" Cards

Years ago these "one sheet wonders" were the rage in card making. Basically you cut up one sheet of patterned or stamped paper and then reassemble the pieces into as many different cards that you can, adding card bases, card stock layers and sentiments as desired.

I decided to revisit this technique to make multiple cards for nursing homes. (My online group collects cards every other month to send to different nursing homes.)

I found this particular cutting diagram on Pinterest using a 12" x 12" piece of patterned paper.

Once I cut the paper, I assembled 14 cards (the red numbers on the diagram above indicate which card uses each piece).  The small orange rectangle shows the only piece not used, so there's very little waste!  I used stamps saying "thinking of you," "hello" and "I thought of you today"; one piece of turquoise 8 1/2" x 11" card stock, one piece of ivory card stock and a few colored scraps. The card bases were from a package I'd bought years ago and never used.

Here are the cards that I created - very simple but hopefully they will bring some cheer to the residents.  This is a great way to make many cards in very little time and there are various diagrams online for how to cut your papers. I even found some for 6" x 6" papers and that will be great for using up some of the 6x6 paper pads in my stash!

Annual Art Retreat

I am part of an online art group with members all over the country. There are only about 35 of us and each year for the past  years we have gathered for a long weekend retreat in Grapevine, Texas. Approximately 20 members usually attend and we make art, create books, eat yummy food and celebrate the great friendships we've made over the years.

This past weekend was supposed to be our 2020 retreat which, of course, had to be canceled.  Our fearless leader, however, managed to plan a wonderful virtual "Pitiful Party" for us.  We had several Zoom meetings (with between 12 and 15 members participating); an art room scavenger hunt where we gathered the items and then posted a photo online; several games including Covid Bingo and word searches; a few art projects; posts of art tips and techniques; prizes and just plain fun. It was not a substitute for the real, in-person thing, but a great alternative nonetheless.

We created "scrappies" to swap with each other. These are just bundles/layers of scraps of papers, lace, fabric, ribbon, buttons, etc. stapled, sewn or glued together. They can be partially glued to journal pages as tuck spots, can be added to a paper clip for a fancy clip or used as an embellishment for a pocket or page. They are quite addictive to make and use up lots of tiny bits.  I made these four:

One gal shared a "make and take" with us using an upside down tag to make a cute bird hanging. She sent out some images and a list of the supplies she used and then we used whatever we had to make ours.  Mine came out similar to hers.

Another activity was to take a card we had received sometime and recycle it into another card. We then sent these to our leader who will deliver them to a nursing home. I have no idea when I received this card or from whom but I had saved the card front. I cut it down, layered it on dark card stock and then mounted on a tan card and added fibers.

This is just a hint of the fun we had. The best part was seeing everyone on Zoom and having great conversations during these stay-at-home days.

Collage Challenges 17 & 18

After finishing these two collage pages, I am officially caught up on Margarete Miller's 5-Prompt Collage Challenge. This week is the 19th collage!

Collage #17

Prompts:

1) something red (papers, stamp, flower, hearts, red foil candy wrapper)

2) two of something (2 J's, Jacks, large hearts, small hearts)

3) something that points or is pointing (hand)

4) piece of envelope either side (red patterned lining, upper right corner)

5) kraft or brown paper (pc. of brown paper bag in background)

Bonus: sticker (ticket upper left; postmark, upper right; white ticket, lower right)

Collage #18

Prompts:

1) something sticky (frosting on bundt cake)

2) something you can wear (clothes on magazine page model)

3) a favorite word (beauty)

4) piece of coloring book page (upper right corner)

5) something with paint or ink (background pages gel printed and stenciled)

Bonus: zigzag (pink and blue rick rack)

For this page I first gessoed and watercolored over the catalog page so I wouldn't have to 

completely cover with papers. I like the irregular edges with the watercolor peeking around.