Second Thursday Tutorial: Freebies and throw-aways

This might as well be Friday the 13th after all the trouble I've had with this tutorial.  I started it last month and finished just in time to meet the deadline.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to use these "freebies" and "throw-aways."

The red lids and the upside down very used take-home cup were supposed to be for making circles on the page.  The "thing" in the middle was left over after I deconstructed a roll of double sided tape.  The oval came from the top of a deodorant container that had to be removed to get to the deodorant.

The light bulb holder is corrugated cardboard.  Now light bulbs are encased in that horrible hard shell plastic that no one can figure how to recycle.  The brown container came from a peanut butter cup.  Such dedication to my craft!  The circle is left over No. 1 plastic I used in my Chihuly inspired art I made last month.  It got sprayed with shimmering mists, along with lots of other things on my table when I failed to contain the sprays.  The whirlygigs are seed pods from trees in my neighborhood.

Just because I decided to use these, doesn't mean I did.   I have NO idea where the soft roller came from, but I want to use it one of these days.  I used the clothes pin at both ends to make marks on the pages, but of course, I  covered the marks and didn't think to take a photo.  The only thing above I used was the ticket.

I had intended to add paint, then realized the peanut butter lids were larger than the circle in the paint holder.  That's when I decided to use a lid from ice cream to hold my paint.  Of course, I ended up not using it or the paint I had on the table.

More freebies and "throw-aways" I planned to use, included 

these formica type freebies a company sent me years ago.  Who would use that orange and silver for a counter top?  Can you imagine trying to clean it?  However, it is going to make awesome art and both these freebies will be the inspiration for the colors I planned to use.

Who doesn't like a friend who gives you her old eye shadow that you can use in art?

Even more freebies and trash I planned to use, but didn't.  Like when I go to a buffet, sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach.

Originally, I was going to run a ribbon through the back of this "remove" piece that was ultimately destined for the trash, but once I got started, I forgot my original plan.

This reads "Micropak" and "recyclable."  Now that I had all my elements, I was ready to put the items together.

I started by stamping my whirlygig "wings" with VersaMark, then covering them with Seth Apter's Rust embossing powder.  Everyone knows I don't often give free advertising by announcing specific products I use.  However, this was gifted me by Seth, so I'll gladly give him and his incredible embossing powder credit, which is richly deserved.

I used it on the metal can lids, too.  You can see the "rusted" whirlygig wings in the background already heat embossed.

Now it was time to lay down my first layer of the pages.  I used one of my favorite stamps and VersaMark.  It's amazing how quickly this pad got dirty.

I used the old eye shadow to color these butterflies.  Then I realized my colors were oranges and browns, not pink and blue.  I considered covering them, but gave up on that idea and went with plan B. 

To keep in the color family I had chosen, I stamped the paint chip samples using my handmade texture paste.  To think I thought I had made exactly enough before, and I'm STILL trying to use it before it hardens.

As a side note, be sure you wash the "stamps," whether freebies, trash, or your finest, as soon as you have finished stamping and before the texture paste can dry on the stamp. 

Now it was time to put it all together.  Everything here was a freebie, or something destined for the trash or the recycle bin with the exception of the E-6000, my adhesive of choice, and the variegated thread I used to sew one paint chip.  I also used glue stick on the word that truly fits this tutorial and monthly challenge perfectly.  As a result, I'm sharing this with Halle at Halle's Hobbies, our host this month at Art Journal Journey and her theme Words to live by.

I was so caught up on the linear aspect, I forgot I had planned to run ribbon through the back of the "remove" tag.  It's probably for the best, since the ribbon would not have been recycled or trash.

"Perseverance," persistence, steadfastness, or, as Webster defines it:

continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

That couldn't have been more true, even though it was a found word in a magazine destined for the recycle bin.  Many of you who are T Tuesday participants will recognize the lid from the Kahlua bottle of non-alcoholic coffee I drank when my electricity was off for over a day.

 
Now that you've seen step-out photos of the left side, let's look at the right side.

As much as I had planned to use so many more items on this side, there was simply no room.  However, before I laid down the paint chip samples, I dry brushed both book pages with copper acrylic paint.  The clip came from a batch of potatoes I bought.  I have no idea what the word means (although I suspect it stands for North Dakota), but I've had this clip for a very long time, and finally found a use for it.

The leaf was cut from one of my recyclables.  I tried to sew "veins," but I have no way to drop my feed dogs, so it was quite hit and miss (emphasis on miss).

I got a HUGE surprise when I tried to color compensate these two paint chip samples.

One final look and this Second Thursday Tutorial is complete.  Everything here was either a freebie, destined for the trash, or destined for the recycle bin.  My little part helping the planet, one small puzzle piece, label from a banana, and paint chip sample at a time.

Once this goes live, you will find it on my Tutorials page.  Thanks for visiting and thanks for joining me in this tribute to freebies and cast offs.  I also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey.