Precious Scraps

There is something about love that builds and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. 

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King Jr. 

As I've already mentioned....I finished Roseanne's altered art journal...but before I got it in the mail I wanted to do something with the leftover paper and small scraps. 

When I fold and stitch papers around the edge of the journal pages there are always little cutoffs....and I can't bear to throw them away. So I started a second project for Roseanne with this little pile of precious scraps...

....and this pre-stitched brown paper piece that Roseanne included in the pile she sent me. Once I got started....it took on a life of its own and has been another joyful microburst of art and crafting over the last couple of days.

I'll share this second project over the next couple of posts....stretching it out as I get the box in the mail.   

I really enjoy these little challenges...and it has me thinking.....

A Pile of Scraps

Becky sent me this quote a few days ago:  

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." Henry Ward Beecher

I couldn't agree more....I do try and find joy in simple...everyday...and common things.  But I chuckled as I reworked the quote for the purposes of this post to say that the art of simple joy lies in the power of extracting an idea from a pile of common scraps.

I've been trimming things up for a couple of weeks now...and I finally had to pause and sort through the precious little scraps looking for useful bits and pieces. I had to make room so I could do more trimming.

This is what my cutting table looked like last night....I sorted through all of it looking for gems.  And you'll never guess what little scrap caught my eye to use first. You might not even notice it.

There at the bottom of the photo was one piece of gold thread....and I can't even remember what project it was from.  I just couldn't throw it away....so I wrapped it around one of my collage hearts....and secured it with a layer of glue on the pieced background.

I trimmed it up and it became a unique scrappy Art Heart with a little shimmery texture.

Speaking of scraps....I try and use every scrap of a collage so I cut the tiny hearts from the corners and spaces.

You can't really stitch around these tiny hearts (I tried).....but you can stitch across them. I think this is a sweet trio.

This whole piece is just a few inches.

And I'm pretty sure Becky got my February calendar page....and if you remember the theme for this year is "whatever is on my table." 

Of course there were Art Hearts on my table.....and I found a little fusible tree leftover from another project.  

I think it's a sweet little combo for February 2024!

Grid

A week or so ago I seized an opportunity and uses my gelli print rejects to make an art journal spread.  At the time I wished I would have stitched a grid rather than a swirl.

Today I seized another opportunity and cut up my recent not so great pan pastel pints and made another scrappy piece. And this time I stitched a grid.

I love this color combo...it reminded me of the sky in Becky's anchor image.

I decided to leave the irregular edges...and loose threads and started working on another spread in the art journal today.  I'm not quite done...so will share the finished pages tomorrow.

There was a pre-cut stubby page in the middle of the spread I'm working on....so I added a focal point. I used the pan pastels to add color to this commercial metallic paper....and sealed it with a fixative so the color wouldn't rub off. I couldn't stitch it into the book....so I pre-stitched the zig-zag and glued it in.  I think it looks stitched in!

I love this paper from Paper Source...and the beauty is it can be painted any color you want it to be. 

Full disclosure....soon after I did that last project I had enough scraps to do another piece.

I couldn't stop thinking about stitching a grid.

So that's what I did. I should have just left it alone....

I loved it with just the stitching.

But silly me....I painted a checkerboard with a white paint...and didn't like it at all. 

I lost all the color variation and texture in the green prints....I almost threw it away. 

But today I use the pastels to cover another piece of this fabulous Paper Source paper....so maybe I can turn this gridded disappointment into another opportunity.

Opportunity

Anyone who uses a gelli plate for printing knows that sometimes there are as many flops as there are gems.  But a flop becomes fodder....and an opportunity to make something.  It's hard to cut up the gems....but not the flops. So that's what I did today.

I mixed a few other papers in and worked on a spread in my art journal.

I used lightweight fusible interfacing for the substrate allowing me to tack the the scraps in place with an iron. (I always use a piece of release paper as a pressing cloth) The interfacing not only holds the papers in place...but also gives a good base for sewing on paper.

In hindsight....I wish I would have stitched something different than a swirl...been there done that. A grid would have been nice. Next time!

I have several containers of fodder/snippets....things I've made or found that I might want to use in projects.  I came across a catalog starburst I made on Cranberry Island...and a black and white copy of a photo of my mom holding me as a baby that I had colored.  I thought both would work in this spread. I mounted the photo on another gelli print and added part of the quote from yesterday's post. How is it possible that I left the "g" out of both "energy" words. Kind of funny actually.  Another scrappy spread done in this nearly full journal.

  

Scrappy Play

Over the last few days I've been leaf and grass printing again with my gel plate.....and putting together a few collages.  But today.....I'm played with the scraps.  

I've been working in two tight color schemes....blues and the greens....and autumn oranges and golds.  I'll share the finished pieces when I'm done....but this post is about the scraps.  I've said it before....but some of the best collage fodder is along the edges of the prints.  Just look at all the color and texture in this scrap.

I isolate part of the print I want for the collage......leaving lots of leftover pieces and parts. 

There are scraps of both the colored papers....and the heavy watercolor paper I'm using as my base.    

I save all the precious little scraps.  That's a Connie line....and I love it when I think of it. She actually had a file with that label.  

At first I was roughly cutting the scraps into squares....and making grids.  This one I added a paper cut and stitched it onto heavy cardstock.  It's a 5 x 5 collage on an 8 x 8 piece of cardstock.....ready to frame.

Then I started overlapping and layering the random smaller scraps onto the scraps of substrate....wrapping the edges to the back.  For now I'm just making them and the use will make itself known when the time is right. They're kind of like little tiles....or quilt blocks....and I kind of love them.  

I going to pull more colors of papers from my stash...and bring in some other colors.  I can always add a little pop of color or a focal point on any of them.....it's an ongoing puttering project

I made a larger piece using the blue and green scraps.  This is also a good way to use the "not so good" prints.  I just realized this is kind of a mastersheet....and the use will present itself one day. Possible next steps:

A light whitewash to unify it

Cut it up

Add Stitching

More collage

Focal point 

Pops of color

My only real goal today was to do a little organizing and cleaning in the studio....but didn't spend even one minute doing that. Just a lot of scrappy play.

The color scheme looks like this photo from my last trip today to the Winslow Farm Stand for the season. The blue sky and orange pumpkins.....the the little pop of green in the photo fit right in to my scrappy play day.

Miracles

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."  Albert Einstein

This little snow drop was so close to the ground that I couldn't even see it.....I didn't think it would mind if I picked it so I could enjoy it more closely.

I'm grateful for this tiny early spring miracle....sitting on my kitchen sill.

I spent some time in the studio doing some sorting...and I do enjoy picking up all these colorful little scraps.  So much potential.

Under the scraps I came across a crocus collage that didn't go so well.....so I cut it in 1/2 and chopped it down and all or a sudden I don't hate it.

And how could I not cut out this little gold squiggle. And I wonder why it takes me so long time to clean my desk....because everything's a miracle. 

The Joy of Scraps

"Try not to forget, she said to me, how sweet it is to lose yourself in the things that bring you joy."  Brian Andreas

I lost myself in a little pile of colorful scraps....this time bits of leftover handwriting papers became daisies. 

Even the skeletons made me smile.

I cut a few stems and gathered what I needed to do a little project:

matte medium, a brush and a heavy book page for a substrate.

I started with stems.....

layered on the daisies...

and dotted on some centers.

The sweet joy of scraps.

I want to develop it a bit more and make a few cards.....

but this one became a little 3 inch collage....with a little bit of handwritten joy.