Twenty Minute Scrappy Box

Seems as if I am always running late ... and this weekend was no exception. I had a baby shower to attend - and realized that I'd forgotten to buy a gift bag.

Soooo...down to my creative space I went, to pull something together - Quick, Fast and In-A-Hurry.

Good thing? I always have basecoated paper mache boxes on hand. I started with a base coated paper mache box:

Looked through my scraps to see what I had ... and pulled out an old pack from the defunct ScrapGoods Kit club:

Using my Fiskar cutter, I cut plain 12x12 pieces cardstock to size and glued them to the sides of the box, using Scotch glue:

After all 4 sides of the box were covered, I took smaller squares of patterned paper and glued right on top of the larger squares.

Once the sides were done, I took washi tape and adhered to the cover:

Then, using the same technique as the box - I completed the top of the box:

I put the goodies inside, closed with ribbon - and I was done!

Weekend Crafting Marathon

My diningroom table was a mess this past weekend - filled with papers, paint, stencils, brushes...you name it - I had it and was trying to work it.

Though I am a decorative artist, I've really tried to stretch this year by trying different things, which in turn inspires my painting.

There is a Yahoo Group, Art For The Creative Mind, where its no holds barred swapping of mixed media, ATCs, cards...they have even swapped dominoes! While not everything appeals to me, I do try and do things that are out of my comfort zone ... and this weekend I managed to complete some things.

An ongoing Altered Journal Pages swap. Each person in a small group must complete 2 6x6 pages with a different theme.


These page are almost done...need to add more elements. I had a ton of fun doing the background on this one.

Also, there was another swap that was a Valentine's Theme postcard. I love doing the postcards...and here's my swap for that one:

This last little postcard isn't finished yet...but as you can see, I used the wrapper to the stamp book..LOL

ALl of these I incorporated things I already had. Manilla folders for the 6x6 pages, watered down acrylic paint in spray bottles, even the postage stamp book cover!

Journal

Another swap, another attempt at mixed media. This time the theme on the Art For The Creative Mind group is Recycle & Reuse. I had an old sketchbook - unused - which I thought would look nice with an updated cover.


I crackled the basecoat, added some paper accessories from my scrapbooking stash...and I added the vines and leaves using Ceramcoat acrylics. I am very happy with the way this turned out - and hopefully my swap partner will enjoy it as well.

Brrrr...it's A Chilly April..Anyone Heard Of Paper Bag Books?

Well, I'm still burrowing in my house as the last couple of days its been in the 30's!!!...and it's April!!

What better way to pass the time waiting for the sunshine, than to play with paper. I've taken a little break - not too long - from painting, and I have totally immersed myself into paper crafts.

Most recently, on the Art For The Creative Mind yahoo group, we were issued a challenge to create a paper bag book. I was REALLY skeptical about this, but dove in, as it has been cold outside and I needed something to pass the time!LOL Well, how surprised was I to totally love it! Now, since this is for an upcoming swap, I'm not going to post any of the inside pages - YET - but I promise that as soon as I mail it out, I'll post some of the step by steps and inside pages.