With the holidays now in full force, I thought I would share with you each Monday until the end of the year, simple projects that would make great gifts...each crafted from the most common of objects...upcycled into a new and creative use. They could be used as Christmas or Hanukkah presents...or hostess gifts...or an idea to entertain a group on an idle afternoon...for whatever purpose...have fun...
Art Journals: My custom art journals made from vintage book covers have been quite popular. Here's a much easier approach to creating a one of a kind journal to record hopes, dreams, wishes and plans...
Start with a school notebook - I like these simple black and white composition journals - available at the dollar store or one of the big box office supply stores...
Get yourself a glue stick, a pair of scissors and go on the hunt for scrap paper around the house...you're going to make a collage for the front cover...I have a big tub in which I keep all of my scrap papers...every bit of useable paper from previous projects goes in the bin...
The secret to making a great looking collage lies in three areas-
1 - focus on a theme to help you hunt and sort through papers
2 - keep your color palette limited to no more than three main colors
3 - think outside the box...or in this case, outside the tub...anything that is paper-like can be glued down...expand your possibilities...what junk mail did you just throw away? where's that receipt from the weekend movie? how about the teabag you just used?
I usually do a dry run of playing around with the pieces of paper I have selected until it seems about right...using one central image for the middle of the design provides a nice balance...a little overlapping of images gives a cohesive flow...after I glue everything down, I often end up adding in a bit here or there along the edges...
I hope this inspires you...as you discover...
it doesn't take much time...
to explore whatever you have at hand....
to be creative!
