Only a few more days...

till the New Year!  I love making goals and this year is about DREAMING BIG!  Number one goal, Dream Big (but of course the environment is number one with each and every goal, list, thought and dream.)

  Thank you air for breath, earth for abundance, water for life.

Make Wrapping Paper

Ways to help out and Reuse this holiday season.  One way is the wrapping paper.  Yep! make that wrapping paper because it is so much cooler to give with style, oh and fun!

I made mine with very fluid leftover dye, any water based paint will do, or stamps or whatever has color.  Any paper will do, newspaper or tissue paper will work.  Look for packaging material, what do you have laying around or what is available to be used.  Look in recycling containers, source printers ( I got my paper from one, Thanks Twyla! It is the disposable paper in-between printer plates, score! very similar feel to tracing parchment paper).  Begin looking around you for excess in paper.  Once you start looking it comes to you, definite learned that this year.

I had fun with the brush stokes loose and free, playing around with christmas trees, stars and circles.  I stuck to three colors to make it manageable and not to over complicate things.  The colors being sort of a theme in themselves.  

Here are some different examples of way to make wrapping paper from Morning Creativity and a more natural approach here.  One of my favorite homemade papers came from my sisters family years ago.  Little girl hand prints turned into trees.  I still have it and plan on reincorporating it into a gift back.  

Below is me playing around with pattern and design with the wrapping paper. 

Remember to REcycle this holiday season!

Credit Card Paintings

I had been collecting plastic cards for a while before a student put this idea in my head.  Mini paintings on credit cards.  I had used them for smearing and glueing, they were sort of piling up.  I slapped a layer of gesso on them and went to town with left over paint any chance I got.  Here are some that I thought turned more successful than others.  I might have 30 going on.  I have even done a kids class at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center painting on credit cards, fun!   

Anti-Holiday Guide

Oh My! a lot of holiday guides out there.  Here is one not centered on buying but Reuse.  Not as much a guide as ideas.


We are decorating right.  First we need a tree.

Lots of things around the house to make a tree right?  Books, wine corks, cardboard, a little imagination and the help of the internet
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Find the instructions of how to make the box tree at top here.  Or the lighted cardboard here.  Found this beautiful blog with the plywood tree, you could easily make out of cardboard and paint fun colors.  Never buy cardboard new, you can always find it used and in perfect condition with a little research.

Maybe we need an advent calendar

Both of these would be easy and fun to make.   I like the rustic look of the one with sticks and bags.  Replace the bags with things found around the house, scrapes of fun fabric or paper bundles.  And you can't forget the toilet paper at holiday time.  The toilet paper advent calendar comes from Morning Creativity, all kinds of ideas and tutorials.


You could gift an advent calendar or wreath to help get those you love get in the holiday spirt. Making it all from reuse will also show them how much you care about the world around them and the air they breath.  Wreath ideas include plastic bags and toilet paper rolls ( hope you have been saving up).

Yep make em a wreath or ornaments or menorah!  All out of reuse, find these things around the house.

The cute igloo comes from Rust and Sunshine, this was day 7 of 12 days of ornaments so more ideas to look through.  The heart house ornament is one of my favorites, I keep meaning to make it from old holiday cards I have been collecting.  Glitter menorah what more can I say!

Stay tuned for more holiday REuse!

Anti-You

On Friday, December 13th at The Frist Center for Visual Arts I will be doing a teen program for MAQ Attack called Anti-You from 5pm to 9pm.  It is a drop in for teens only, so sorry older and younger peeps you will miss out on fun.  We will be recording a short film based off of Kara Walker's work in 30 Americans.  Each participate will build their anti-you as a silhouette in rod puppet form.  Your anti-you is based on stereotypes you deal with or feel inflicted upon you.  The anti-you will then make an appearance as a shadow puppet on a scrolling background creating a short film.   

Hehe I have no brain in this one and a big nose, and am rather flightily, my anti-you. 

Hands on Creativity 2013

Here are the pictures from this years Hands on Creativity at Plaza Artist Material.  Plaza has been my home for the past seven years, I have grown as an artist and a recycler there.  This year I had a booth as REmake Art teaching small pamphlet bookmaking made from reuse with the help of Lineco bookmaking supplies.  Everyone at HOC had a great time thanks to my wonderful boss, Bruce Baker (see above).  There were demos and booths with jacquard products, liquitex, golden acrylic paint, montanta paint pens and spray paint, amazing pin striping by Rick Harris, encaustic and much much more.  Hope to see you there in October 2014.

Groupings

1. Lost me, what does foam board have to do with life.

2. Madame, a mini book.  She was made from a sticker. 

3. Pink Girl

4. Abe from the behind.

5. him, his head

6. She got stuck.
7. THE Smush Series, #44

* Used on the set of ABC Nashville season 1

Christmas Card Workshop

Nothing quite as special as giving someone a handmade card.  Its unique and totally you plus can be environmentally friendly if you play your cards right (wow, me and art puns!).

I will show you on November 23rd (12 to 3pm) at Plaza Artist Material how to design and make handmade cards in large quantity, because you have a bunch of friends right?   We will talk about sourcing material, how to work more sustainable and tricks to working in a series, producing 20-30 cards in class.

Here are some I made.

Merry is an old print I had laying around, blue and maybe a bunny.  I added a hat in red berries.  I love the Plant a Tree cards below.  The cards are made from damaged paper I had tore down from another project, trees are construction paper doll outfit left over from babysitting and old letraset.

Plant two trees and give Thanks!

Plastic, Ewww.

So I have been a little plastic obsessed lately, not in a good way, like anti-plastic, like eww I don't want to touch it.  I get this way almost annually at work, all the plastic bags and all the waste.  Plastic bags and styrofoam are not easily recycled and let off fumes.   Maybe getting close to christmas does it to me, all that consumption, I start worrying.  Please help and pass on to lesson our plastic load.

Goals this week for me…1. Purchase Reusable to-go containers and use.  2. Not buy any plastic at the grocery store this week, WOW this will be hard.  All the things I can't buy running through my head; no chocolate almonds, no cheese, no lots of STUFF.  This week only, give it a try and I am defiantly reading up on My Plastic Free Life Guide get me through this change.  Visit the bulk bins at my local health food store and watch what I consume.

What can you try?

Book Love on Pinterest

Yes, I love Pinterest. Once you get rolling on it, it can link you with all kinds of beautiful web related things via image. Artist love images, so yes I love Pinterest. Here are six art book pieces that I find intriguing. Hope you do to.  Check out my Pinterest page and start pinning.  Lots of reuse ideas also.

Susan Mills

Doug Baulos-machinewithnoname

Erica Ekrem

Judith Hoffman - "Fish Messages, 1992"

3D paper heads

Louisa Boyd