The Secret Life of this Book...

So my friend Buzz had a birthday. And this is what I made...

She gave me this book to use in a project a couple of months ago.

And then recently I was hanging out in her office for a bit and she showed me one of her favorite paintings by Carl Larsson. Buzz told me that this painting looked like a good life to her - reading, cool air, a cat and a dog...

So as much as it killed me to change the life of the book, I created a book box and then recreated the painting inside of it.

This is one of my favorite projects yet!

Happy birthday, Buzz! And thanks to Susan for giving me the idea in a roundabout way!

Milk Made

Look at my new light sculpture!


What have I recycled now?







Did you get a clue from my post title?




That's right! It is made of the plastic from gallon milk containers!

It is 30 individual pieces that I hand cut from 10 milk jugs. The pattern was in ReadyMade magazine last fall. This one is pretty little... about eight inches across.




Watch out! I'm going to be milking this project for all that it is worth!

Recycled Jack O'Lantern Magic

Where have I been, you ask? I have been trying to remove labels from my food jars so I could make these darling Jack O'Lanterns!



All I can say is some of the adhesives used on food jars do not want to release the labels. Hot water and elbow grease is my preferred method of removal, but geesh! It takes a heck of a lot of work. It's almost scary...



This is the simple shape face. Darling, isn't he?




The paper I used to cover the jars is also recycled from a kitchen item I received from last Christmas! I saved it because it was these huge pieces of perfect orange and finally I found the perfect use!

And the black paper pieces are scraps from another project! I love it!



I'm going to place my pumpkin spice tea lights in them and place them in the window so maybe we'll get a few trick or treaters this year...

This recycling trick is a real treat!

Happy Halloween!!!

More Recycle Mayhem and My Husband's Photography

While I am happy to report that the mannequin finally got the picture to the proper place and up, I am sad to report that I did not make it to 100 items by my deadline. I missed it by eight.

If I count the pairs of earrings I made as two instead of one, I am there. But I didn't clarify that rule when I started.

I'm going for it again this week. I like how having a numbers goal keeps making things in my mind at all times.

So here's what's been going on since Wednesday! Recycle Mayhem!

Recycled Chain and Memory Wire Fringe Necklace. Sometimes the best way to get rid of a knot in a chain is to use your wire cutters!




















Toliet Paper Roll Wreath! Finally finished and beautiful!




















And I had another item here and the photo has vanished. Sigh! I hate it when my blog eats my photos. It was probably because it was my oatmeal box art. It's listed on Etsy if you are really interested.

Speaking of oatmeal, here is a series of photos taken by my husband last night with my interpretations. (I say "speaking of oatmeal" because our carpet would take an oatmeal spill well.)

His feet. I find many photographs of this particular subject. Someday I shall gather them all in one place and create a coffee table book.
















Here is a statement where he combines the title of a book and the snowflake-like design on the bookshelves.













Here is a cute photo of Snoopy.















And then a capture of Petey's demon side. Just in time for Halloween! Thanks, Honey!

Everything's Coming Up Roses

I want you to look at the picture below and tell me if you like the product.




















Now look at this picture. Can you tell me what the rose is made of?





















Now look at these earrings. Do you like them?





















What are they made of?





















The petals of the flowers are made from recycled items. Do you know what?

Answer below...






If you said an old t-shirt for the rose pin, you are right! If you said gum wrappers for the second, I'm impressed. Very impressed. Leave me a post telling me how smart you are!

Thinking Outside the Box Using the Box

I have never felt so good in my brain. I have so many ideas for the different items that I am waiting to recycle/upcycle.

It feels wild because just a few days ago I was totally blocked and not having anything fresh coming into my head. I guess the constipation has passed.

After cleaning the house yesterday, I wandered around looking at all of the items waiting for a new life. And then I started thinking.

And thinking.

And thinking.

And then yesterday, I made a list of all the ideas that I had to create here in the near future. Twenty-six items.

And then today I added fourteen more. Holy cow. Does anybody really expect me to blog until I have this list finished? Do you? Do you?

Here goes nothing...

Busyness Cards

Today I made some little busyness cards. I made them out of things I had around the house... I reused some paper that had gone through the printer and came out with only a page number and some tags that I rescued from from a friend's "trash" -- she had decided to go with white tags and didn't need these.

So I printed my logo and info and came up with a new line that I LOVE: "Saving the world, one art project at a time."

I can't think of a more relevant sentence to describe my busyness.

And then I sent the pieces through my stickermaker, adhered them, and voila! Busyness cards.

Postcards from the Edge

So I promised myself I would work on a project and have something to post by midnight tonight. Well! Here it is 3:36 p.m. and I have created seven crazy recycled postcards.

The postcards I found outside Target and the paintings are done on laminated cover trimmings that were pitched at my last job. The only new thing is the paint and glue.

I got away from my creative slump! Yea! Thanks to all the Etsians who helped pull me out this morning. You know who you are! :o)

Now take a look... they aren't all finished, but I'm getting there!

Walking and Picking

When I go for my morning walks, I want to pick up everything I see that is even the slightest bit interesting and bring it home and make it into a project. If I had picked up everything I wanted to bring home this morning, the list would look like this:

1. A child's fake red nails with yellow stars on them - quantity: three.

2. A teeny tiny orange football thing with holes in it. From a distance, I thought it was a pile of Kraft mac and cheese because of the color.

3. A giant pile of big pieces of square styrofoam. Gosh, I wanted that.

4. Twenty-seven seed pods and the worms living in them.

I think that was it this morning.

And what would I have made with these items, you ask? Something that looked like this:




















Because even trash and junk can be beautiful!

First day of being schooled is coming up!

Boxing Day, my little company, will open its proverbial doors on June 26, 2008. I will be selling on-line the crazy and wonderful wares that I have been working on for the last six months while the doctors investigate the mystery that is me: Kelly.

Since my time has been spent not working, I realized that I needed to be frugal with my dollars. I realized that I could make art out of virtually anything that I might normally throw away. Cereal boxes, old magnets of failed businesses, bubble wrap, virtually anything could become an interesting art project.

Today is Sunday. I will begin selling on Thursday. My heart is in a twitter, my stomach in knots, and my brain is continually organizing and reorganizing the things I've done, haven't done, need to do, need to do again. The poor brain never stops. I do my best to ignore it, but that is fairly difficult. I guess it is part of the operation and I must respect that.

Thanks to Skippy, Buzz, Joelie B., Petey, and Snoopy for bearing the brunt of my emotional meltdowns and buoyant highs. Are you ready for some crafting? Good! Let's go!