2020 #10 Junk Journal with Urban Snapshots {by Miriam Grazier}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Miriam has created a junk journal that is anything but junk! Her clever finds of everyday materials to transform is the perfect epitome of this recycling topic. What I find amazing is that you simply can't tell what some of these adapted elements started life as when you view the wonderful finished result.

~ Keren,

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a junk journal that I have created using all recycled packing apart from 1 sheet of A4 Smoothy card.

I feel as though I have been preparing for this topic for years.  I often look at packaging and put it aside because I think it looks 'interesting'.  I always recycle packaging where I can but it is so satisfying when I can turn it into something to use and love.

With money being quite tight for many at the moment I wanted to create something using materials around me and I was actually quite surprised at how I used these materials.

I love making junk journals and mini albums so knew straight away this is what I wanted to create as soon as I had gathered my materials.  I always find creating a journal very calming and I lose myself in the creation of them.

The materials that I collected were a mixture of packaging from clothes, book covers and even cheese.  I find cardboard from cereal boxes and tags perfect to stamp on as you don't see that it was from packaging when you adhere them to your project.

The only non-recycled item I used was one A4 sheet of PaperArtsy Smoothy card which I used to create a brayered masterboard for my covers.

The Urban Snapshot stamps are some of the first PaperArtsy stamps I purchased. I adore these and they are so versatile.  You also get a lot of stamps on each stamp sheet.

US Nature 1

US Nature 2

US Nature 3

US Nature 4

I loved how I turned this pillow box packaging into a pocket in my journal.  I simply snipped the bottom, painted the whole box using Cloud 9 and Spring Fresco Acrylic Chalk paints and then stamped and scribbled around the pocket.

  

I loved using different materials for my pages and the bubble wrap packaging was another idea.  It already had a top opening so I merely folded it over to create 2 pocket pages.  I added Cloud 9 quite roughly , along with Spring that I added using my finger.  I love how this page came out and it's so useful as a pocket too.

All of my tags were originally from clothes and the bonus was that they had string still attached to them.

I used leftover bits of card from my covers to decorate the front of some of the tags.

This was my favourite tag as it had an extra tag attached to it - it was a bonus for me!

Even the tissue paper that clothes are wrapped in was useful.  I found giving it a layer of paint gave it more strength.

Even the button was re-purposed from an old duvet cover I used to have.  The elastic closure was in clothing packaging too.  See, it is worth saving everything!

It was actually quite liberating creating such a satisfying and useful project using materials saved from packaging.  And what's more, is that I can keep adding more pages. 

I think one thing I would have liked to have done is to save some envelopes - they would certainly be useful.  I also think materials like the plastic that dies come in would be great here.  I can imagine die cutting tags from it.  

My only tip.... which I don't have to confess to but will.... is before you glue your pages down check that they are in the right way up!  Yes, I had to unseal the pillow pocket as I had put it in upside down.  

I really hope that I have encouraged you to try this yourself.  Have a look around your home and you'll be amazed how much packaging you could find.  You never know, an embossed bit of packaging could also make a great stamp.

Thank you for joining me this evening.

Miriam

Blog: Miriam's Creative Dreams

2020 #10 Home Sweet Home with HP {by Corrie Herriman}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Intro
This is an awesome project from Corrie to repurpose a tea box. I really like to see how a project builds from start to fimish, and Corrie creates her wonderful layers of paint and stencils, finishing with all sorts of house stamps to perfectly refresh this lovely storage box.
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Corrie with you today, and I'd like to share with you my project that I made for the recycled packaging topic. 

When this topic came up I immediately thought of a tea box I had in my craft room. This box was a gift to my husband from an airline and originally had tea in it. So, I thought of tea and biscuits and the tins you can buy in Britain with the lovely chocolate box houses on them. So I decided to alter this box and use houses on the outside. 

After I started to alter this box I did struggle with the houses and tried several different ways of using them on the box, ie. coloured, painted, how?  In the end, after trying the different options, I decided to stamp them on book paper and just leave them as they were. I really like how it turned out.  Sometimes less is more, right? 

This is the tea box that I chose to use. 

I started with painting all the edges with PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic paint in the colour {Cloud 9}. In the time it was drying, I cut pieces of {Smoothy card 240 gsm} to fit the top and sides of the box. 

I used my gel press plate to make the backgrounds. The first piece of paper is for the top and I also used stencil {PS036} by Kim Dellow to make it look a little more interesting. I used the following PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic colours: {Antarctic}, {Mermaid} and {Turquoise}.

I did the same for the other pieces of paper, just didn't use the stencil on the gel plate. I used Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics: {Teresa Green}, {Granny Smith}, {Antarctic} and {Mermaid}. 

I did add some stencilling but in the traditional way with a piece of foam and Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics {Turquoise} and {Hey Pesto}. 

Next I stamped the backgrounds I made, using Hot Pick set {HP1801}. I used Archival inks in similar colours to the backgrounds and black. I also went around the edges with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paint {Little Black Dress}, especially where the black stamping was to try and frame the pieces. 

Next I stamped the houses and doorway from Hot Pick set {HP1601}. After trying painted backgrounds, colouring them on white card stock and not liking any of them, I decided to stamp in book pages and use them just as they are. I like how this looks. So I cut them all out and adhered them onto the pieces of painted card stock for my box. I then adhered the pieces of card stock to the box and this is the result. 

Only after finishing the box, I saw that one of the stamps I used for the background actually has the words '100% recycled' on it. How fun is that ! 

I enjoy altering objects, especially things that I have lying around. I think it is very satisfying to change something that you were going to throw out into something useful. I hope you like the idea and go rummaging through your house and craft room to find something to alter. I enjoyed doing my box which I probably will use to keep small stuff in. I just wish I hadn't spent hours trying things out when my actual first thought was to use book pages. 

I hope you enjoyed my post and will come and visit me in my other locations too:

Blog: www.MadeByCHook.blogspot.nl

FB: https://www.facebook.com/corrie.herriman

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/corrie.herriman/

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/c/CorrieHerriman 

2020 #10 Topic Introduction: Recycled Packaging

 2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Hi everyone, Keren here with our latest (plus environmentally friendly) topic ; Recycled Packaging. We've all learned to be more intentional with how we dispose of our unwanted packaging, but how many of us actively use it in our art? There is very little that can't be used and there are increasing numbers of gadgets coming to market to help us make use of plastic and glass bottles. Artists have repurposed books and papers for many years and I'm looking forward to seeing what the PaperArtsy bloggers make of this topic.

'Recycling' some previous PaperArtsy designer's ideas here, I've chosen 3 from the past few years.

More recently you may remember seeing Kate Yetter's beautiful mail art piece that contains recycled PaperArtsy postcards that often come with orders!

PaperArtsy Blog

Delving a little further back, Julie-Ann wrestled wonders from a packaging folder, making use of the wonderful corrugated texture so beautifully.

PaperArtsy Blog

Lastly, Anneke De Clerck created some joyous jam jar lid ornaments all ready for Christmas.

PaperArtsy Blog

An obvious place to start is with junk journals. Fashioned from and decorated with what is seen by many as junk, it's the perfect place to jot your feelings or get organised. This example isn't so much about the decoration, it's the bare bones, all ready for embellishing.

BadBooks

Plastic bags have become words associated with so many negative connotations. Add some joy to them by trying this fused technique.

Rae Missigman

There is something warm and wonderfully textural about cardboard. This piece at a Children's Museum uses different techniques of treating cardboard. Love the trees and leaves.

Chicago Children's Museum

Staying on the theme of cardboard, the corrugated variety has a propensity to be mould-able. The artist, Warren King inspired from his cultural past, designed these life-size pieces. They are incredibly expressive despite the humble material they're fashioned from.

Warren King

Our culture is trying to become one that recycles and moves away from a more disposable lifestyle. I've included this as I wouldn't have thought of recycling gift voucher packaging like this. The textures they've added are wonderful.

Sunnyflou

This next sculpture was created for a Spanish festival and was made from 6000 recycled tubes. The fascinating thing about this piece is how cleverly adding colour to the inside selected tubes really makes something special.

Nituniyo

This is an ingenious take on a quilt block (one of the individual building pieces of a quilt) but using rolled up paper and magazine pages. We know that once paper is rolled, it has greater strength, so this would be a long lasting decor piece.

Donna Heron

Here's a different take using corrugated cardboard. It looks almost metallic with the added inking and showing the corrugation in parts. This has been formed into a relief tile.

Lees Design One Class

This bag was made in Mexico by prisoners using plastic bags that they wove and plaited together to earn money whilst in prison

Oaxaca Bags

With the world as it is, we are often looking for ideas for young children to make use of. The idea is simple, but I could imagine them being adapted for anyone's garden.

Fancymomma

The humble matchbox is no stranger to being recycled. This is a fabulous example and could have lots of recycled elements for its decoration too.

Denise Johnson

With enough imagination, anything can be recycled, upcycled or simply turned into a wonderful piece of art. These vintage tins make for the perfect triplet bodies!

Credit

Perhaps you've got more grand ideas? This wall installation piece would certainly make a talking point in your home! The way it's sectioned into matching colours cleverly ties non-matching items together.

Mayr-Melnhof Packaging

The ubiquitous box, found in everyone's possession is frequently discarded into the recycling bin. With a little imagination and love, you can create something decorative and special to house all those eclectic arty bits and pieces.

MinxnMojo

Many of us will smile wryly at the 'packaging' in question. Granted, it's not strictly packaging but is certainly one of the defining items of the Lockdown Era. Why not take it and transform it into something wonderful. These artistic 'loo-rolls' would look awesome anywhere!

Gulnas Kunst

Recycling the packaging needn't be the domain of just papercrafts. This tin has been sumptuously lined with velvet and stitched beautifully.

Little Burrow Designs

James Lake is known as one of the signature artists for using cardboard in sculptures. His work and artistry is breathtaking. This is a brilliant example of what he creates. Whilst you or I may not reach those dizzying heights, I've included it to inspire us to sculpt using this basic material that has so much potential.

James Lake

These mixed-media ATCs were created using recycled packaging and there's a great video to show the process in the link. Whether you leave some of the substrate exposed to hint at its origin, or cover it entirely, they are often substantial and free bases that we should all make more use of in our art.

Susanne Rose

I hope this has got you delving into your recycling bins, seeing what treasures you might unearth!

If you want to create along with us, please share on our social feeds so we can see what you get up to. The best places are Instagram @paperartsy or post in PaperArtsy People Group on Facebook. Make sure you tag us in your contributions, we love to see what you get up to in your creative world!