Monday, April 16, 2018

365 Day Art Challenge: Week 15 and a bonus


Here are my collages for Week 15.  This 365 something project was created in part and hosted by Hanna at i Hanna.  This entire month I am using nothing but scraps from one of my scrap piles I have collected.  I segregated them by color, and this month you will probably get tired of seeing so many of the same bits and pieces I have cut to make these collages.

In case you missed them, here are Week 14's cards.  I post every Monday morning for the previous week.  All my collages are 4" X 4" (10,16 cm X 10,16 cm).

Food for thought


A banner day


The butterfly song


A spellbinding tour


My cup of tea


Awake!



Circle of content

This is Day 16 of 22 leading up to bEARTHday, and I created seven small collages using scraps of paper that are too small to be used for anything else. 

Thank you so much for joining me today.  If you are playing in Hanna's 365 Something project, please let me know and I will be by to see what you are making.  Please let me know if you like any of these.  As always, I am very grateful for your continued support of my art.  

So what is the bonus, you ask.  

Ever since I saw a post that my friend Nancy of Quilting Potpourri shared regarding her latest upcycled book (direct link to her post here), I knew I wanted to try the technique she used.  

Nancy shared a clip on YouTube, but it didn't give any information about how to create the transparent vellum like papers that hold cereal and crackers.  Since that was all I was interested in, I didn't watch the clip after the first 20 seconds.

Nancy's exact words are:
Things are embedded in the pages by pressing them between two layers, using a non-stick pressing sheet to protect the iron.
Although I looked at Nancy's lovely art she created, I worried that the pressing sheet would stick to the ironing board, so I tried to cover both the back and front of the pages with the pressing sheet.

What I learned was, you MUST iron both sides, or the items move around on you.  You MUST cover both sides, or the back will show.  And when you double or fold the page to make a single page, the items on the back side have a tendency to shift around.  Now granted, I added a lot more things on my pages than Nancy did, including my idea that I would turn these cracker containers into curtains, which in the end, didn't happen the way I planned.

I almost goofed on the "back"side when I tried to add the words on the left and realized I was putting them backward.  Then, the word "peek" slipped because I had not pressed that side.  The "curtain rods" moved on the right "page" and they stuck to the plastic which I couldn't unseal.  The items on the right side all moved, too.  I realize this is nothing like what Nancy made, but I was making it up as I went along with little to no instructions.   

Regardless, I'm still glad I created this and now know what I did wrong.  I'll share what else I learned.

Cracker containers are larger than I thought they would be, but I should have used two vellum pages, rather than trying to fold one over.  Next time, I will iron the pages I create, then sew them into the pages of a handmade visual journal, rather than trying to add them to a page like this one I added to my large art journal.

Two good things that came from this are, I recycled more than a few items, and I got to join Alison/Craftytrog, our host this month at Art Journal Journey whose theme is recycle and collage as well as my friends at Try it on Tuesday where their theme is Recycle Something.

For Day 16 of 22 leading up to bEARTHday, in addition to my seven collages, I repurposed two vellum/plastic cracker holders, bits of thread from my craft room floor, three used postage stamps, bits of vintage sheet music, bits of an old blueprint, bits of a German book page, a magazine image, a used tag, two images from a desk calendar, one doily, four rings that hold paint chip samples (free at the paint store), bits of a dictionary page, a rejected die cut letter, and a calendar page as the background image.  The sentiment, "Time to peek behind the curtain" was printed on the back of a sheet of used printer paper.  Additionally, I stamped the clock over the word "time" and sewed the pieces together and to the background page using variegated thread.  The entire assembly was added to my large art journal using glue dots and double sided tape.

16 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful little collages, the first one is my fave today. Glad you had fun with the other experiment. Have a good week, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

I am in awe of your collages - love the "circle of content" the most this week!
Oh this is just awesome I am in awe of what you did with the filled cereal plastic bags. Great! WOW!
I collected them for a long time after I have seen a video a few years ago at Artist Network TV- where Kristen Robinson showed how to sew a fabulous journal with this stuff and she also demonstrated how to iron and prepaire - but guess what - I never started it and then threw away all the collected plastic material once...
Now I would be really inspired again as I see your wonderful results! She just ironed it between two sheets of baking paper and she only filled flat things in as I remember.
She used the bags horizontal , divided her filling in a kind of spread and in the end she sewed all together in the middle ( 4-5 signatures, that she has built up with a simple 3 hole stitch.
You are such an adventurous artist dear Dr.E.! I am in awe of your fantastic post today !Unbelievable!
And so happy to see this linked to Try It On Tuesday and Art Journal Journey! You are a Recycling -star this month - your bEARTHday month art is simply AMAZING!
Happy new week my artistic friend!
Hope all is well with you, the boys and the keyboard!
Hugs, Susi

My name is Erika. said...

I always enjoy your collages and your names for them. It's a good way to start the week. It's also an interesting technique you used to create those ironed pages. Always fascinating to try new things and see what you get, isn't it? :) Happy Monday Hugs-Erika

CJ Kennedy said...

As usual, fun collages. Since I haven't had breakfast yet, I zeroed in on that biscotti. Looks like you had fun with your experiment, and it turned out well.

craftytrog said...

That's an interesting technique I shall be checking out. I love the results you got.
And I love all of your collages Elizabeth. I really should sort my gelli prints and scraps by colour too, but I'm not that organised! Lol!
Happy T-Day,
Alison xox

kathyinozarks said...

I really enjoy seeing your collages, and the first one is my favorite too. These look so fun to create.
Your next project looks fun too and an interesting technique thanks for the tips too
Have an awesome Monday-I can't believe we are waking up to low 20's again this morning-third in a row.

Sandra Cox said...

All kinds of goodies. I especially like Food for Thought.
Have a great one, dear Elizabeth.

Divers and Sundry said...

I think my favorite this week is Circle of Content. I appreciate your willingness to show how your projects progress. This one looks fascinating; I'm not sure I've ever seen anything done quite like this. You are getting a lot out of April! :)

Jeanie said...

I made a book way back when in a Kristen Robinson workshop and I think we used waxed paper with things between the layers. Mine met with mixed success and I'm not sure I even have it anymore. But the concept was good. We had other things in it too -- paper bags, etc. Your pages look better than mine did.

Linda Kunsman said...

wow what a super art filled post! They're all such well composed recycle collages and your last technique of sandwiching the collage bits is very interesting- never saw anything like it. Thanks for sharing your experience with it; much appreciated!

sheila 77 said...

I was pleasantly coasting through your collages, thinking which would get the accolade of favourite then came to the last one, "Circle of content" - oh boy, that gets this weeks prize, it's just so good. Also getting a prize is you, for the names you give these collages, always so apt and thought-provoking along with the collages. As we are virtual friends, so are the prizes, haha!
I read and looked at your photographs and description of the "bonus" technique. Very interesting, and as usual I enjoyed your as-you-go-along chat.

Meggymay said...

Your small collages like the others this month are fantastic, I love the first one this week and the Circle of content
The technique you shared sounds fun to try, but I know we don't have the packaging you used on the cereals we buy, they are opaque and your look clear. So on reflection I will enjoy seeing your wonderful results and pass on trying it myself.
Another great addition to the TioT's theme, thank you for sharing with us there.
Yvonne xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love all of your collages today but if pressed I would choose the first one! The cereal bags of goodies make great journal pages! So pleased to see you again at TIOT! Chrisx ps Thank you for linking me! We went to the British Museum and British Library- T has taken some great photos - I was very tired after a wakeful night!!!

Birgit said...

Your collages are interesting and quite fetching...I love the butterfly one and the circle one because it reminds me of an abstract painting from the 1950’s. I love what you did at the bottom and the leaves are great with the colours

Rike said...

You were very busy and your collages are very inspiring! Cicle of content is my favorite too - I like all the names you gave for the collages!
This plastic ironing technique is new to me, oh boy, you are the experimenting queen! I love the words how you explain the process - what was successful, what failed and what was surprising!
Wish you a happy day, dear Elizabeth! Rike xx

Nancy said...

You are definitely an adventurer, and you learned some good tips while adventuring with cracker packaging. You're right, you do need to cover both sides with non-stick sheet (I folded mine over the piece I was ironing. But a comment above suggested parchment paper which is good, too. And yes, overstuffing is tempting, but you do want to be able to seal the edges and things want to shift. I like your idea of using two sheets of packaging for larger collages. Well done!!