Rainy Day Upcycling

The other day Roben-Marie Smith posted a great tutorial on her blog. It's silly simple and just the right thing to while away a rainy afternoon. The beauty of  this project is that you can just use whatever you have on hand. I didn't have an old calendar kicking around, so I used some pages from an old Stampington magazine. At the very end, I also used some old wrecked rub-ons. (The letters and numbers were half gone, so they're no good for my usual projects, but perfect for this!)

It was really relaxing just slapping things down with a glue stick while listening to a new mixed CD my pal Tina sent me.  I worked on 8 cards, assembly line style-I'd glue down one layer on each and then go back and add the second one on each and so on. The whole point of doing them that way was to avoid trying to make them too perfect. I just wanted to create without really thinking about it. It was so meditative that lost all track of time.

Roben-Marie also altered some store bought envies, using more scraps. You could either do that or do like I do and make envelopes from magazine pages. 

If you want to make some of those here's how:

-Take an envelope in the size you want to make (be sure it's no bigger than the magazine page) and carefully deconstruct it to use as a template. 

-Lay your envelope template on top of your page folded side up. Splay the envelope open and trace around it with a ball point pen. 

-Fold all the flaps inward and trace around it again. (The ball point works wonderfully on shiny magazine or calendar pages to score the folds.)

-Cut out your envelope on the outer lines. Fold on the inner lines. Use a bone folder to make a good sharp crease.

-Use 1/4 inch wide double sided tape to glue the bottom folds to form the pocket part of the envelope.

-Put a length of double sided tape across the inside of the flap, but do not remove the paper from the tape until you are ready to seal it for mailing.

-Add a return address label to the front top right corner.

-Add an address label on the front. I like to use a "hello my name is" label from the dollar store.

I predict there are going to be some good mail days ahead! If you make cards or envies using either of these ideas, I'd love to see them! Shoot me an email or post here to let me know.

And Then There Were Three...

Awhile back I began making zines. These were 1/4 fold, 20 page, half colour, half B&W hand bound editions. I love making them, but they are VERY labour intensive. Then I got the wild hair to make a mini house zine. "78 Rue du Maison" is teeny and made up entirely of images. I figured out a way to make it not only easy to produce, but also to assemble. I was pretty pleased with myself. Occasionally, I have flashes of brilliance. *grins*

 

 About a week and a half ago and I did a private swap of my first mini zine, entitled "Typography: Art By The Letters". So far I've received two mini zines in return and they've been great fun. I am beginning to grow a mini zine library!

 Another one I just made is called "Collage & Composition" and is essentually a mini tutorial on the fundamentals of putting together a collage that works. I've had lots of people over the years ask me how I do what I do. Now you can learn some of the secrets! 

 There are 8 pages of information, plus two ATC sized cards in the inner pocket with visual examples of common composition mistakes and how to fix them.

It's very addictive making these wee zines! I have plenty of ideas for future issues. I've put copies of this zine, along with the other two minis in my Etsy, should you wish to have one or two or three (!) for your very own.

 Get 'em while you can!

Who's That Girl?

Copyright Tattered Edge 2008

I just thought I would do a quick post to let you know that yours truly is being featured as Artist of the Month over on the Artsmiths' blog.

If you have missed any of the previously featured artists, you can play catch up by clicking on the Artist of the Month Archives link on the left hand side bar. Past AOMs have included Angela Cartwright, Mary Beth Shaw, Pilar Pollock, Silvia Luna and Tiffini Elektra X. Lots of good reading and some wonderful insight about what makes those ladies tick! (Thanks to Deb Trotter's amazing interview skills!)

Also, I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to email and comment about the fist ever tutorial/video I did. I enjoyed creating it and I will certainly be making more, as time allows. I already know what the next one will be about, so keep watching to see what's next!

Bringing Art To Life

My very first Flip Video movie, edited with Window Movie Maker. (I wanted more editing options than the Flip Video's built in software allows.) I made a minor mistake I couldn't fix-the text for the web addy for the company where you can get the charms is supposed to be at the end, not at the beginning, but hey, it's my first try. Next time I will get it right!

My husband just came by and heard talking so he came into the studio. I explained that I was watching the video I just made and he says "But who's talking?" *boggles* apparently after almost 18 years of marriage, he doesn't know the sound of my voice when he hears it! *laughs*

Anyway, it was fun to make, so expect to see more! Enjoy!

EDIT: My apologies-in the video, I said the kit was $3 when in fact it is $6. Still a great deal!

Living More Artfully

In the process of tidying up my workspace this morning, I came across some old calendar pages I had saved because the art on them was so pretty. (Van Gogh and Monet's paintings. Perhaps the ballet one is Degas?) Anyway, I figured since I had them out, I would transform them into envelopes. It's pretty easy to do:


1. Deconstruct an actual envelope to use as your template.


2. Using a ball point pen or an embosser, trace around the opened envelope on the wrong side (date side) of the calendar paper. I don't worry about trying to get a certain part of the picture onto the envelope-I like it to be random-it's more interesting that way. My trick to creating the folds correctly is that after I trace around the open envelope, I fold all the flaps inward and then trace around it again.


3. Cut out on the outer traced line. Crease on the inner traced lines and reconstruct it. Glue using either glue stick or double sided tape.


4. To address them when I want to use them, I just stick a plain white label on the front and write the address on that.


See how easy that was?



This is the embosser tool I use. It's just like a ball point pen except it doesn't have any ink in it. Using this tool or a ballpoint pen works well on the glossy paper because it gives you nice clean fold lines. If you can't find an embossing tool, then just save an old ball point pen when the ink runs out-it works just the same.


I often buy art related calendars and I can't bear to throw them out when the year is over. This is a good way to give them a second life. You can also usually find all sorts of calendars on sale about 2 weeks into January. Often they are just 99c each!


If I get a cool arted up envelope in the mail, I save it. I open it carefully at one end and then re-use it as a pocket in a journal or altered book. If there is something interesting stamped on the outside, I will cut that out and glue it into my Moleskine journal, just for fun. I have a quirky habit of saving all postage stamps too-I just can't get enough of them and they are little artworks in themselves. As I often tell my students, "There is no garbage!"


That's this week's tip for living more artfully!