Tagged: cardboard
My Mini Mixed Media Morsel Tiles
I am very busy working on our house as well as making items for the Spring Vintage Home Market. This allows very little time for me to make larger mixed media projects. I decided to follow along with the projects Cat Hand teaches in her Mixed Media Morsels Dessert videos on YouTube. They are smaller projects that are completed fairly quickly. And if you haven’t seen any of Cat Hand’s videos, you need to check her out. She is an amazingly creative lady.
She has only posted one video in this series so far. Here is the link:
Here are photos of my projects using her steps.
I used Tim Holtz grunge board pieces for my substrate as I did not have any wood pieces. I wanted my backgrounds fairly neutral so for most of the tiles I used vintage book papers and sheet music. For two of the tiles I used colored scrapbook papers.
I simply decoupaged the pieces of paper randomly onto the tiles.
I stamped some small images onto white tissue paper.
Then I decoupaged the tissue paper to the tiles. The white tissue paper almost disappears when it’s been decoupaged down.
Next I added color using my Faber-Castell Pitt pens.
I edged the tiles with black to make the colors pop. Finally I added words and a little bling to each tile. Here are some closer pictures of the tiles.
If you are looking for something fun and creative to do this year, why don’t you try making some mixed media morsels. Cat Hand explains and demonstrates every step of her projects making them perfect for mixed media beginners and pros alike!
99 Cent Art
Last year when I was still permitting myself to buy art supplies, I ran across this little mixed media kit at Tuesday Morning. As you can see, the kit only cost me 99 cents.
I came across the kit again as I was tidying up my craft room and decided it was time to do something with it.
Here are the contents of the kit.
Because the pieces are so small, they lent themselves well to making Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). Here are the ATCs I made.
Besides the cardboard used for the 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ bases, the only other items I used from my stash were rhinestones, brads, a few pieces of washi tape and of course, glitter glue! I hated the color of the bright green corrugated cardboard so I flipped it over and used the backside.
Challenging myself to use up some of my stash is always so much fun. These little ATCs took me no time at all and I used most of the elements in the kit. Why don’t you pull out 15-20 pieces of bits and bobs from your own stash and make your own kits to use and give away to your artsy friends. It’s a good way to use up older supplies and is guaranteed to spark some creative genius!!!
After The Party Up-Cycle Tags
The Christmas holiday season is over and all the goodies are gone, including the 3 batches of Chex mix I made. So it’s time to say goodbye to the empty cereal boxes.
Some went the way of the recycling bin and others… well, they went the way of my craft room.
I cut a box into tag shaped pieces.
Then I covered one side with printed paper and the other side with plain white card stock.
I layered on pieces of different papers and sandwiched trims, pieces of paper doilies and snippets of tulle between the layers.
Here are the finished tags.
I didn’t buy anything for this project. I only used supplies from my stash. I think they turned out pretty well considering they started as waste.
I hope this inspires you to look in your recycling bin, pull something out, and use items in your stash to create something pretty and new!
What’s On My Desk ATC
Every once in a while I get the urge to make a project just using the junk that is cluttering up on my desk. I decided to make an ATC sized magnet so I could reuse the magnet strip off list pad I had just finished up. I always have varying sizes of cardboard on my desk so that was a no-brainer for the substrate.
I opened a new bottle of gesso and an obscene amount poured out onto my little ATC. I was actually able to gesso 2 – 8 x 10 canvas boards, 2 – 5 x 5 stretched canvases, 1 – 6 x 8 canvas board and my ATC with that huge puddle!
Next, I painted on some cream and brown acrylic paints to give it a vintage feel.
This very blurry picture shows some eggs I cut from some scrapbook paper. I inked the edges with distress ink before decoupaging them onto the card.
Here is the “finished ATC”. It’s really simple, but it gives me that old field guide feeling.
I painted the back of the card the same color blue I spattered on the eggs and attached the magnet strip from the used up note pad.
I like how the ATC magnet came out, but I just needed to add one more touch to make me love it.
Yep, you guessed it. I added glitter to the butterfly’s wings. NOW it’s done and I do love it! I hope you like it too and that it inspires you to make your own little work of art with things that are already on your desk!
Inspired Tags
I have been watching some videos by Marta from Maremi SmallArt on YouTube. She is one talented lady! She does amazing mixed media as well as paper projects like cards. One video in particular got my creative juices flowing. In this video, Marta made Shabby Chic vintage style cards. The link to the video is:
Instead of making cards, however, I was inspired to make some tags using her techniques.
First I cut some tag shapes out of cardboard. I just free-handed these.
Then I added a layer of texture using decoupage paper, drywall tape and old book pages stuck on with Gesso.
For my first tag I used my Prima Princess paper collection and embellishments.
For the second tag I used some specialty papers and some papers from the Market Street collection by My Mind’s Eye.
For the third tag I used paper from Tim Holtz and My Mind’s Eye, however, I forgot to take a picture of the papers used. Sorry!
Here are the three tags I made.
I love how they turned out. There is so much layering on each one so the dimension is quite thick.
If you find yourself in a rut or just need a little inspiration. Go to Marta’s YouTube channel, Maremi SmallArt. I know you will find some videos to jump-start your art mojo!
Thank you Marta for all of your videos, including the “Break a blank page” series!
Hoo Doesn’t Love Corrugated Cardboard?
As I was browsing through a JoAnn’s store flyer a couple weeks ago, I saw this cute metal owl lawn stake. I love the corrugated metal look. And I love owls. So, I decided to try make some of my own. As I did not have any corrugated metal just laying around I needed to make some adjustments.
Because cardboard can’t logically be used as garden decor, my project got a little smaller.
I loved the way this little guy looked, so I went ahead and finished decorating him and gave him some friends.
I made them into little hang tags that could be used on gifts, hung on furniture knobs or even used as bookmarks.
They are all tucked into a little wooden drawer and ready to be taken to an upcoming barn sale!
Junk Journal Swap Part 1
Just for fun my friend Camilla and I decided to do some arts and crafts swaps with each other. Our first swap consisted of mini Christmas albums. You can see my posts from December 12 & 29, 2013 to see those.
This time we opted for something a little more fun and relaxed so we decided to exchange junk journals. The rules we had to follow were simple. First, they had to be at least 1″ thick and second, we were not allowed to buy anything new to use in the journals. The idea made us use up stuff we already owned and to collect other junk papers as fillers. It’s amazing how every piece of paper takes on a new life when you are making junk journals. You turn every box, bag, envelope and scrap of paper over and over in your hands wondering how to incorporate it into your journal.
I changed my mind a ridiculous amount of times as to the theme for Camilla’s journal. The more I looked at Pinterest and YouTube the more overwhelmed with themes I came. Finally I decided on an “elegant” junk journal. I called it “A Ladies Junque”. I actually made it so thick I think Camilla will have to take some pages out as she adds her stuff! To spare you from having to look at every page, I only photographed a couple random pages. Enjoy!
- Front Cover of Junk Journal
- Calendar page and corrugated cardboard.
- Flash card and scrapbook paper
- Envelope and piece of notepad paper sewn to vellum
- Flower cut-out holding tags and a book page
- Sheet music, and old card and envelope holding tags
- Back of envelope and side of a Russel Stovers bag
- Ballerina picture holding tags and vintage receipt folder with picture of lady
- Piece of a brown bag with paper lace and lace tape
- Old cabinet card back, note card and old journal paper
- Stamped paper and envelope from a bill
- Floral piece of cardboard from scented drawer liner packaging
- Back of receipt envelope, note card and page from vintage Avon catalog
- Flash card, stamped envelope with tags inside
- Receipt envelope filled with tags, cards, etc…
- Side view of really fat junk journal
I hope Camilla enjoys this album and has lots of fun filling it up. I will show you the journal she gave me, probably as my next post. If you would like to get yourself a junk journal to fill (here comes the shameless advertisement) I have several in my Etsy shop right now. The address is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MossyCottage. I also can make themed junk journals on request.
The Cardboard File Box
I couldn’t think of a better way to title this blog post but I realize it might be somewhat confusing. On glancing at the title one might assume this post is about a file box that is made of cardboard. Okay, I can see that. But you have to remember who is writing this post. I am a mixed media artist maker so nothing is going to be as it seems. This post is actually came about because of this….
All of this wonderful cardboard was haphazardly stuffed onto a shelf in my craft room. It was really stored rather willy-nilly and it was hard to find just the right piece for my projects. So in my quest to get my craft room more functional and organized I purchased this at a thrift store….
This is a file box from Michael’s and it only cost $4.00. Personally, it is so cheaply made it’s not worth more than $4.00, however, it is perfect for filing my cardboard. Here is what it looks like now that it’s finished….
Okay, I know some of you are scratching your head at this time asking why any sane person would keep so much cardboard, never mind filing it. I repeat. I am a mixed media artist maker. This cardboard can be used in so many ways. It is as precious to me as the ring was to Gollum. For all you non-mixed media makers here is just a short list of the uses of cardboard.
Substrate for mixed media pictures
Substrate for mixed media bookmarks
Substrate for mixed media ornaments
Journal Covers
Pages in junk journals
Pages in art journals
Substrate for mixed media tags
Embellishments
And the list could go on and on, however, I’ve had a super tiring day and I can’t go on. So before you heartlessly just toss cardboard into the trash can, ask yourself, “What wonderful, kind, mixed media artist maker could I gift this to instead?”
Let’s Play Tag
Okay, I’m at it again. Playing tag that is. I know I’ve already blogged about making tags, but this one is different. These tags are loaded with layers and embellishments. I made these tags after wasting spending hours on Pinterest. My name is Helen and I’m addicted to Pinterest. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again. Anyway, you can check out my Pinterest board titled “Tags” or just do a general search at the top of the Pinterest page for tags and you will see some really beautiful and inspiring examples. So this is how I got started.
First I cut some heavy cardboard into a tag shape. You can make them rectangular if you don’t have a tag template. The color of the cardboard won’t matter as they will get covered on both sides.
I covered mine with sheet music on both sides and inked up the edges with distress ink. You could use brown or black paint if that’s all you have.
I put some corrugated cardboard, dry brushed cream, and two rows of lace down next. Holes were punched for hanging with eyelets added for strength.
I tinted some pieces of cheese cloth with Smooch brand glimmer spray, just to add some color to the next layer. You could use white cheese cloth or any color tulle just as easily.
Next I added an image and a feather just for fun.
This last layer is the most fun. I added text, flowers, a metal butterfly and lots of glitter. I definitely let my “girly” self show in these tags.
You can theme your tags to your own tastes whether that be chickens, bees, vintage pictures or cars. Just break out the cardboard and anything you can use as embellishments.Because unlike the game of Tag, these tags have no rules to be right!
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Making Something From Nothing
I was going to tell you that the reason I chose this post is that I am concerned about the environment. And I am. However, the real reason I chose to do this post today is because March is a really loooong month. You see I have more month than money. Way more month than money. This months money ran out sometime during the first week of March. Sad but true. I do not let situations like that stop me from making cool stuff though. So today I will show you how to make something from nothing. Please feel free to substitute any materials I have used for the “nothings” you have on hand. I just grabbed stuff I already had.
First I took some plain cardboard without writing on either side and cut it into tag shapes. Although now that I think about it, it would be cool to have some shipping instructions or pictures showing on the cardboard. Note to self, try that next time.
I took some corrugated cardboard off this huge roll to use as an accent in the center of the tags. This roll, by the way, was left over from all the home improvement projects we had done last fall. This was used to protect our hardwood floors. You should have seen the HUGE pristine roll they brought in at the beginning. It was awesome! Since I’m guessing that most of you don’t have a huge roll of corrugated cardboard just laying around, use regular corrugated cardboard and peel the paper off one side to show the ridges.
Here you can see the tag with the corrugated cardboard embellishment. I stamped some silk leaves with the words “hello”, “smile” and “dream”. Silk flowers would work too. Or just interesting pieces of fabric.
I rolled up some old book paper and glued the ends to make tubes. Then I cut both ends of the tubes into points. They kind of look like quills. I bunched three tubes together and wrapped them into a bundle with a thin piece of torn magazine paper.
I cut out the larger flowers off a scrap piece of lace. Don’t worry about fraying, perfection is not what we’re after here.
Then I just glued the embellishments onto the tags and added rough twine in the holes at the top.
I am so happy when I can make something out of so very little. Most of us crafty people have way too many supplies on hand anyway. Let’s give the environment (and our wallets) a break in the month of April and work on busting our stashes. Your supplies may dwindle but I guarantee that your creativity will GROW!