Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - juice boxes, elastic bands and gift bags

Today for your thrifty arting pleasure we have 41 tips for juice boxes, elastic bands and gift bags PLUS a terrific gift bag project with instructions.

Yesterday, I went back to do a count on how many art tips have been published since I started the blog. I thought I had made an adding mistake (math has never been my strong point ;) when I saw the number....267. I added it up again and sure enough it was correct. Of course this doesn't cover all of the tips that were submitted in the recycling contest, remembering that there were duplicate tips in most of the lists and there are still some to come. But anyway you look at it... that is one awesome number!

Thanks to Terry Howard, Martha B., Leslie, Donna Zamora, Susan Marie, Kelsey Jones Evans, Stephen du Toit, Moon Willow, Christine Bell, Pam Yee, Pam Crawford, Donna Hall, Elizabeth from Kansas, Alicia Edwards and some from yours truly for submitting these great tips!

Please take a moment to say thanks to them for their generosity when you visit their blogs or come across their name in the various art groups on the web.

Thanks too to all those folks who have written me an email about the tips, posted a thank you in one of the art groups, left a comment on the blog. I try to answer all the emails and comments, if I have an address, to personally thank those folks who have taken the time to write. I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you and am just tickled when I get an email from a blog viewer!

On to today's tips...

Save those small juice boxes and ....according to Donna Zamora, “wait until Thrifty Tuesday suggests a workable idea for them.” So Donna, here are 15 nifty ideas just for you! SMILE

1. Make small shrines
2. Create bodies for art dolls
3. Add a chipboard roof to create a little house/birdhouse.
4. Make shaker boxes. Cut the top off of one juice box. Cut an second juice box to make a lid for the first juice box. Fill the juice box with beans. Push the lid on top of the first juice box. Put tape around it to seal it and decorate the box.
5. Use to line a niche box in an altered book
6. Use an altered juice box on a belt as a rather unique embellishment.
7. Cut off the top on three sides leaving one side for a hinge, rinse them and use for storage of small items.
8. Use juice box straws as arms and legs on stick figures. The accordion part of the straw makes great joints.
9. Save those small juice boxes and take them back to the recycling depot for money to buy some new art supplies. (Note: not all recycling depots accept juice boxes)
10. Fill with plaster, then decorate as building blocks for children or to use in a shrine.
11. Make a juice box purse or tote by cutting apart, punching holes and sewing, or crocheting them back together
12. Cut off the top of a juice box on 3 sides add a latch and you have a little treasure keeper or gift box.
13. Make a stackable mini storage unit from empty juice boxes
14. Use as a backing for art work, book cover/pages
15. Cut off the top, wash thoroughly, then decorate to use as favor holders for parties.

Save those elastic bands and ...

1. Staple them into your art as a great embellishment.
2. Use them to hold things in place as the glue dries.
3. Use them to hold overstuffed notebooks closed.
4. Use them to create a closure for note card booklets or handmade books.
5. Cover them with a fabric tube and use as hair scrunchies that don’t pull your hair.
6. Save those elastic bands and make a huge "stress" ball … slowly… one elastic band at a time!
7. Save those elastic and rubber bands to bundle mat-board or cardboard pieces for a unique disposable stamp or applicator
8. To create an interesting design…. wind one around a brayer, then run the brayer over ink pad or acrylic paint spread on a flat palette.
9. Wrap elastic bands around a wooden block, randomly or in a design, to make your own unique rubber stamp.
10. Save those elastic bands to bind a book.
11. Wrap WAXED PAPER, FOIL, TP ROLLS with rubber bands or yarn to make printing tools.
12. Save those elastic bands and use in collage. Alicia said: "I once saw an octopus made out of elastic bands. It was awesome."

Save those gift bags and

1. Use for instant covers; the handles are great for closures, elements for theme pieces.
2. Metallic gift bag (free) paper is wonderful to emboss or make bits into highlight elements like stars, crowns, birds etc
3. Cut gift bags up for backgrounds on cards, collage, ATCs, art journals, covers and ABs.
4. Sit on a shelf as pretty storage for bulky art items. Don't forget to attach a 'gift tag label' so you know what's inside.
5. Cut them up to use as you would any paper stock.
6. Save those gift bags, alter and keep them on hand for the next gift-giving event.
7. Add your own embellishments and reuse them as gift bags. Re-art them for someone special.
8. Tear them apart and use the pieces in paper mache for book covers. The color is great!
9. Save those gift bags and stand a pot-plant inside
10. Cut them up into flats and use them for wrapping smaller gifts
11. Make paper beads
12. Use the designs in collage, altered book or a pop up book.
13. Save the cord handles to bind a book.

A Gift Bag Project and Instructions

Here’s an idea for gifts bags that I just love! You don’t want to miss this one….

Create a miniature scene in a gift bag. Imagine a little Christmas scene for someone special. What an awesome gift it would make!

Fay Zerbollo of St. Louis, MO makes absolutely fabulous “gift bag room boxes”. I got in touch with Fay last week and she graciously agreed to allow me to post a few of the photos of her gift bags to whet your appetite and tantalize your soul until you can make one of your very own .

To get a copy of Fay’s “how to” instructions click here.

Even if you aren't ready to take on another project right now, drop by Fay’s site to see all of her wonderful creations and get inspired. You’ll be glad you took the time to browse through her site. She is truly a master artist when it comes to assembling these wonderful gift bags.

Have a fun Halloween week... Time permitting, I will see you on Friday with a spooky story!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - Bottle Caps, Blister Packaging and Canning Jar Lid Inserts

Now who could have guessed that Terry Howard, Martha B., Leslie, Donna Zamora, Susan Marie, Kelsey Jones Evans, Stephen du Toit, Moon Willow, Christine Bell, Pam Yee, Pam Crawford, Donna Hall, Elizabeth and Alicia Edwards would come up with 24 uses for a "lowly" bottle cap, 9 ideas for "useless" blister packaging and 12 ideas for canning jar lid inserts that usually go into the trash without much thought? Certainly not me! I don't know about you but I was pretty impressed by those numbers!

Here, for your arting pleasure, is the result of their brainstorming.....

Save those bottle caps and

1. alter them to use as an embellishment on a page, ATC or tag
2. paint/decoupage and make into Christmas decorations
3. bottle caps make funky earrings or pendants on necklaces
4. make magnets for the fridge using your favourite photos
5. cover with fabric, glue a cardboard circle that fits the back of the bottle cap. Glue a thumbtack to the cardboard backing and voila you have a “designer” thumbtack
6. glue bottle caps to a Styrofoam tray to store tiny findings or beads
7. adhere stickers to the top of a bottle cap for embellishments in scrapbooks, altered books, etc.
8. mount small fun-foam shapes on the back of bottle caps - more small printing blocks!
9. cover with fabric, threads and beads for Christmas decorations
10. drill a hole in the top and attach to a book page as an embellishment
11. fill the deep side of the bottle cap with resin and embed artsy bits, objects, micro beads, fiber, printed graphics, pictures or photos in it.
12. make into games pieces or charms
13. use as a dangle in wind chimes
14. plastic bottle caps are great for holding glue when you are applying with a paint brush for glitter
15. use as a stamp to make rings or bubbles for fish on your "canvas"!
16. bottle caps make nice tiny frames, distressed and painted for a textured area.
17. chain bottle caps together to make a jingly addition to a book, page or ???
18. flatten, bend in half and attach as page tabs
19. glue a makeup sponge inside a large 2 liter bottle cap to save your manicure when applying inks
20. make a finger-size pincushion
21. use as "feet" for a box or shrine
22. use to create a "Shadow" box with a mini-scene or art bits. Wrap the edges with fiber or micro-beads. A pin-back will turn it into jewelry.
23. melt the bottle cap liners together, stamp them while hot, colour with inks and they look like a wax seal.
24. use as a head on an art doll.

Save that clear plastic blister packaging and

1. emboss it or make a die cut for your art out of it.
2. paint with alcohol inks to make 'polished stone' backgrounds
3. frame 3-D artwork in clear plastic blister package boxes
4. recyclable plastic can be die cut (or stamped then cut out) to shrink with heat gun or oven just like the store-bought shrink plastic materials.
5. cut out a design, press into wet paint and “stamp” onto paper with it.
6. cut blister packing into cloud shapes. Paint them white. While the paint is still wet, spread tiny bits of cotton on them. Use as cloud embellishments in your art.
7. use the flat pieces to cut out a stencil pattern
8. make a miniature scene inside shaped blister packing
9. use flat blister packaging as "windows" in shaker boxes, cards. slides, frames or collages.

Save those canning lid inserts and

1. cover with fabric, used gift wrap, ribbons or images from cards, attach a hanger and use as an ornament for your Christmas tree.
2. drill a hole in the top and attach a chain. Use as a chime in outdoor wind chimes.
3. cover the insert with batting and fabric. Glue to the underside of the insert. Cut out a cardboard circle to fit the bottom of the insert. Glue to insert. Paint the outer canning ring. Push the insert into the ring and you now have a decorative jar lid for buttons, cotton balls or even preserves/jam you make to give away as gifts.
4. use the inserts to make picture magnets for the fridge
5. use the inserts to make interesting/different/unusual place cards for a party
6. make an unusual book. Collage on the inserts. Drill a hole to “bind” the inserts together with a binder ring
7. glue an image to the insert and mount in a scrapbook, altered book or card
8. paint and decoupage the inserts to make sun catchers, mobiles, etc.
9. use the inserts as a base for decorative candles
10. use the canning inserts to make bodies for “metal people”, bird house roofs, and tin assemblages
11. use as a base to make a round pendant. Drill a hole in the top and attach a jump ring and chain
12. use to cut out metal “dog tags” for your art.

I'll be taking next Tuesday and a couple of Fridays off from posting this month as I prepare for an upcoming art show in November. a workshop I will be doing on the Latest Trends in Mixed Media art group at the end of this month, eating turkey with all the trimmings on Canadian Thanksgiving (October 13) with my family and four days away at the Forest Storytelling Festival in Port Angeles, Washington.

WHEW... that should keep me off the streets and out of trouble for a few days!

Have a great week...

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips – Recycling Egg Cartons, Cardboard Inserts and Flat Styrofoam

This week there are 32 ideas for recycling egg cartons, cardboard inserts and flat Styrofoam pieces into your art… plus a project using one of my favourite techniques when I am in a quirky mood or my art muse has gone on vacation - “The Ugly Duckling into a Beautiful Swan” background collage technique!

Compiled tips, including some from yours truly, submitted to the September 2008 Brainstorming Recycling Contest. Thanks to Terry Howard, Martha B., Leslie, Donna Zamora, Susan Marie, Kelsey Jones Evans, Stephen du Toit, Moon Willow, Christine Bell, Pam Yee, Pam Crawford, Donna Hall, and Alicia Edwards.

Save those egg cartons and

1. use styrofoam cartons as disposable mixing pots for dye, paint, perfect pearls, glue, etc.
2. use as plant starters for seeds/seedlings
3. use for sorting and storing buttons. beads, brads, charms, small jewelry bits, sequins, vintage game pieces, grommets
4. use them for drying blown out eggs that you will be painting and/or using for mosaics
5. soak cardboard cartons in water until they turn to mush and make stiff pasteboard covers for books or other papier mache creations
6. use to sort and store stickers and alphabet letters.
7. use Styrofoam cartons to make extra ice cubes when you need them
8. use Styrofoam cartons as a watercolour palette
9. fill with wood chips, cover with beeswax or melted down candle stub wax and use as fireplace, bonfire or grill fire starters.

Save those cardboard inserts and

1. use the heavier cardboard for book covers
2. place in an envelope as a stiffener when mailing art for swaps, etc.
3. use the lighter cardboard to create templates for patterns, luggage type tags, small drawings, notes, file folders, dividers, postcard backs, bookmarks
4. lightly score them in half and make a funnel. Use to catch glitter, embossing powder, etc. and return to the bottle or jar
5. use to reinforce altered books and art
6. make small boxes, frames, backing material for your art.
7. use corrugated cardboard for adding texture to shrines, roofs on houses, etc.
8. strip parts of the outer layer of paper from one side of the cardboard and use as background for collages, etc.. Can also be painted/collaged for super textured books covers.
9. Wine box inserts can be used to organize your drawers
10. Use lightweight cardboard to create chunky book pages
11. Gesso both sides and paint on them to make art postcards, ATCs, Moo Cards, inchies
12. Make shims for diecut machines

The Ugly Duckling into a Beautiful Swan Painted Collage Technique/Project

Here’s a neat project for an interesting, highly textured background or collage using a heavier cardboard insert! I call this my “Ugly Duckling into a Beautiful Swan” Technique and you’ll soon see why.

Gesso the cardboard. Glue bits of string, yarn, cheesecloth, dryer sheets that have been shrunk with a heat gun, fabric leaves, play sand, bits of torn paper, cardboard and anything you can find that might be useful in your waste paper basket onto the gessoed cardboard! If you have a sewing wastebasket,,, go through it and pull out bits of knotted up thread, cut material bits, bits of fabric, serger threads or anything you find that is flat! Glue it down on your substrate. Let it dry for at least 24 hours.

Does it look as ugly as sin LOL? Great… that means it will be beautiful when you get done with it!

When dry, paint over it using some of your favourite colours in a haphazard manner. Use a comb to add even more texture in the paint. Just have fun using color and letting your free spirit guide you!

One of my favourite pieces of art was created just like this! I liked it so much that I had it framed. The art gallery that framed it actually valued it at about $900.00! It is unusually gorgeous, sits above my piano as inspiration and no, I won’t sell it,,,,

Where's the picture of this masterpiece LOL? Well, I took one but it didn't turn out very well because it is now behind glass and the texture/metallic paint doesn't really show up in the photo! Sorry....

Save those flat styrofoam pieces

1. cut to size, place in a container and use it to stick paint brushes in to keep them upright.
2. carve, paint and make into “adobe” miniature houses
3. make Styrofoam cutouts to paint or cover with paper or fabric and embellish for books, cards and art
4. you can use the soft, pliable Styrofoam packing material sheets much little cotton batting (wadding) in mixed media art because it can be quilted, glued, sewn to create a puffy effect and used as stuffing.
5. draw a design with an empty ballpoint pen or cut out designs for instant, textured printing blocks
6. Use as a backing for small wall hangings or in assemblages
7. Use blocks of Styrofoam as a holder for things you want to dry, i.e. beads you have painted and stuck on a pin, waxed leaves on picks, etc.. Just stick the pin or picks into the styrofoam and they will stay upright!
8. Use as a filler in plant pots to make them lighter. You can also use syrofoam egg cartons or peanuts as well. Just fill the bottom of the pot with styrofoam to the level you want, cut the flat styrofoam piece to fit the pot, place on top. Add the plant dirt and plant.
9. Use the flat styrofoam pieces to build light weight extensions or create frames
10. Emboss them with your Cuttlebug, Sizzix machine Diecut or punch them to create embellishments.
11. Thicker (1/4 inch) flat Styrofoam can be used in much the same way as foam core board to make small shadow boxes or to reinforce larger niches. This kind of Styrofoam was used to make the window wall in the French Bistro shrine in the Sept. 26th blog posting.

Have fun this week with your art... See you Friday!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - Recycling Plastic Drink Bottles & Fruit/Meat Tray Styrofoam

40 fantastic ideas for recycling plastic drink bottles and meat/fruit Styrofoam trays to use in your art work, studio or around your home…including instructions for two art projects.

Tips and ideas submitted to the September 2008 Brainstorming Recycling Contest by Terry Howard, Martha B., Leslie, Donna Zamora, Susan Marie, Kelsey Jones Evans, Stephen du Toit, Moon Willow, Christine Bell, Pam Yee, Pam Crawford, Donna Hall, Alicia Edwards and some from yours truly!

Save those plastic drink bottles and...

1. use them to carry water to do watercolours outside the studio
2. fill them with paint or diluted inks and pour washes over your work.
3. use the lids on bottles as tiny mixing pallets
4. use them as a package in mail art and to mail surprises for art friends or grandchildren
5. cut the tops off of several of them. Tape together like a wine rack. Use to store items that come in rolls, i.e. waxed paper, shelf paper, contact paper, Cut down small plastic bottles to store rolls of stickers, paper lace, etc.
6. Keep a bottle filled with water for washing brushes, filling watercolour troughs, mini misters, or spray bottles. Saves a trip to the bathroom or kitchen sink!
7. Fill them with craft items for storage or to send them to your crafty friends.
8. Fill with water, freeze and use as a “cooler” for picnic lunches at the park or beach. When the ice melts on a hot day at the beach, you can drink it!
9. Make them into wind twirlers! Cut off the top and bottom. Start cutting them evenly around the bottle from top to bottom.
10. Cut bottles into sections or strips. Heat gently with a heat gun to make them flat. Use markers to colour and reheat. Use them as embellishments in altered books or art.
11. Fill bottles with sand, cover with a glove puppet and use for doorstops.
12. Fill small plastic bottles or containers with sand. Use as weights when sewing or anytime you need to “weight down” something in your art to flatten it. Can also use them as pattern weights when you are cutting out a sewing pattern.
13. Make a pretty collage vase or paintbrush/pen/pencil holder by first painting with gesso, then painting and collaging.
14. They can be cut down, inked, painted, embossed and stamped and shrunk down in an oven or with a heat gun to make unusual jewelry.
15. Cut them up and punch holes all around and crochet or knit together to make a see through tote or purse.
16. Use them as a string dispenser. Cut off the bottom, slip in the string making sure to pull the starter out of the hole and attach to a wall. Punch another hole and tie on some scissors.
17. Fill with water. Insert plant cuttings you want to root.
18. Fill with sand and use as a rolling pin.
19. Cut plastic bottles in half and use the top as a funnel to put glitters, confetti, glues, sealers back in their containers. Use the bottom for mixing custom paints, soaking brushes, as water dishes, mixing bowls for grout, small trays for beads or trinkets.
20. Here’s a gorgeous project from my art friend Zeb Loray using a recycled drink bottle with Radiant Rain Daubers available from After Midnight Art Stamps. You won’t believe just how beautiful these look until you make one yourself. If you like texture, you'll love to have one of these in your art room.

Save those meat/fruit trays and

1. Use them for mono-print plates. Draw into them or texture them for unique textured prints on your paper.
2. Use as covers for a book about groceries, a vegetarian or anti-meat theme.
3. Use them to sort beads, bits you’ve assembled for a small project.
4. Trays make a wonderful, disposable paint palette and are a flat surface when using a brayer with ink, paint or rubber stamps.
5. Use the trays to capture excess glitter or embossing powders.
6. Punch out snowmen, animals, flowers with punches for craft projects.
7. Flat Styrofoam pieces make super bases for Christmas decorations or to mail breakables.
8. Use the meat/fruit trays to plant seedlings for your garden.
9. Cut into squares or circles and use them to separate your burgers before freezing.
10. Make your own stamps by carving a relief design into the Styrofoam. Ink and stamp.
11. Use as holding trays for project embellishments, brads, tiny watch gears, beads, etc.
12. Put a baby wipe in the bottom of a tray and use it to clean your brayer.
13. Cut Styrofoam trays into pieces and make stencils or quickie stamps.
14. Use as a postcard or ATC back.
15. Glue to the back of elements (i.e. photographs), cut out and create a 3-D effect when they are placed on your collage or assemblage. You can use the Styrofoam as a substitute “glue dot” or foam tape and as a way to “build up” different levels of element layers in your art project.
16. Cover with paper and use to make frames or mats for photos/images in your art.
17. Smaller pieces of Styrofoam can be covered with wide decorative ribbon for an interesting mat for an embellishment or image in your art.
18. Cover Styrofoam squares with fabric and use as embellishments in your art.
19. Sandwich Styrofoam between two pieces of heavy cardboard, cover with fabric and use as a “bottom” in an art tote, handbag or satchel.
20. Cut them into shapes. Heat with a heat gun to shrink. Brush with paint to make unusual charms, embellishments or jewelry. Here’s a photo of some charms I made for a swap using black Styrofoam meat trays, some recycled pearls, corrugated cardboard and metallic paint. The instructions to make your own are below. Unfortunately metallic paint does not photograph well but you’ll get the idea of what you could create!

Styrofoam Fruit/Meat Tray Project

Cut the Styrofoam into rectangles (or alternatively just break them into unusual shapes) Make them larger than what you want in the end… they will shrink. Put on a mask and go outside.

Fire up your heat gun. Hold the Styrofoam down with a long bamboo stick while heating (Styrofoam is light and will fly away from you if you don’t hold it down). If you are not planning on mounting it onto another substrate and want a hole in the top to attach a jump ring to, pierce the Styrofoam with a safety pin. Leave the safety pin in while you are heating it.

Dry brush the shapes with metallic paint. Glue a bead or pearl to the shape when dry. Mount onto a piece of corrugated card board cut to the size you want the finished charm to be (you can either recycle some cardboard that you have ripped the top layer from and paint it or purchase some coloured corrugated cardboard). Pierce the top of the cardboard and attach a jump ring to turn your creation into a charm.


Raid, Repurpose, Rejoice

is a new recycling 3 R's slogan just for artists that popped into my head the other day! RAID your recycling bin (and your neighbours too if you are so inclined LOL), REPURPOSE what you find, REJOICE in making art from stuff headed for local landfills)

Go forth and make recycling bin art today my friends… See you all again on Friday!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - Recycling Envelopes

WOW! We certainly hit the mother lode with all the recycling ideas that made their way into my mailbox in response to the contest/challenge/game last week. Loads of them! It’s gonna take me at least a month to sort through all these wonderful, trash into treasure ideas and share them with you. LOL

Let these thrifty artists loose on a heap of trash that most people toss out every week…egg cartons, envelopes, plastic shopping bags, juice boxes, soft drink pull tabs, cardboard, blister packaging… and they enthusiastically wave their magic wands and spin their trash into treasures for their art!

Before I announce the winner of the “Recycling Brainstorming Contest”, I’d like to acknowledge all of the contestants for their fantastic “trashy” recycling lists. LOL I think they deserve a big round of applause and a LITTLE somethin’ for taking the time to enter don’t you?

Put your hands together and give each of the following artists a round of rousing, genuine, appreciative applause … Take a well earned bow my fellow artists…

Alicia Edwards, Donna Hall, Pam Crawford, Pam Yee, Christine Bell, Moon Willow, Stephen du Toit, Leslie, Kelsey Jones-Evans, Susan Marie, Donna Zamora, Martha B., and Elizabeth

CLAP! CLAP! WHISTLE! CLAP! CLAP! WAY TO GO! CLAP! CLAP!

Each of the “runner-ups” will receive the following digital heritage background files I created just for them. You can use them in your digital art or print them out to use as background "collage" paper in your art creations. In .png format, they will be zipped up and sent out this week! More “stuff” I hope you can use in your art *GRIN*

This small, unexpected "prize" comes to you with a hearty thank you from me for doing your bit for our environment and taking the time to play the Brainstorming Recycling Game. You are all WINNERS in my book!

And now, the moment we have all been waiting for…. the *WINNER*… the

2008 mystoryART "RECYCLING QUEEN”

and winner of the mini shopping spree

from After Midnight Art Stamps

for submitting the most (100 of 'em) recycling ideas is…

DRUMROLL PLEASE… LOUD CHEERS… WHISTLES … CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

PAM CRAWFORD

In addition to your gift certificate Pam, you will also receive the zip file of background sheets I created for the runner ups. Congratulations! Have fun picking out your “goodies”!

Thanks again to Linda Hanson of After Midnight Art Stamps for donating the mini shopping spree gift certificate.

Many people wrote to say how much they enjoyed the game and some, who were short on time and couldn’t play this time, thought it was a grand idea and wrote to say thank you. I am just thrilled to bits at the response… so THANKS EVERYONE!

Using Recycled Envelopes in Your Art

So what can you do with all those envelopes you get in the mail? Here are some “super duper” ideas for you compiled from the lists I received and my own brainstorming. You didn’t think I was gonna miss out on this now did ya?

By the way, speaking of missing out, wouldn't you like to have all of your "art buddies" around the globe find out about these terrific recycling ideas they could use in their art? Consider posting a link to mystoryART in the groups or forums you belong to or mention this post in your art, altered books, digital scrapbooking/art or crafts blog! If you would like to exchange blog links with mystoryART, just send me your address so I can drop by your blog for a visit.

Here's this week's list of all the ways in which you can use recycled envelopes in your art:

1. Carefully open the envelopes up. Steaming them apart over some boiling water is often the best way to do this to avoid rips or small tears in them. The printed/patterned inside of security envelopes are nice in collage, altered books, journals. Use recycled coloured envelopes for backgrounds, teabag folding, die cuts, paper punching, iris folding, card making, layering in collages, stamping.
2. Make 'expanding files' to store bits of ephemera, stickers etc.
3. Use the clear plastic window parts in envelopes to put over a saying in your scrap book or journal; use them as windows in ATC’s, altered books and microscope slide mailers; stitch the window material on mixed media creations either by hand or with your sewing machine; use the envelope windows as a form of a "shaker" holder, large window envelopes make nifty art journals.
4. Cut (cardboard) priority envelopes in half, glue together, and use as your substrate (base) for ATCs, 4 X 4s, and other projects where you need a stiff base to work on.
5. Open the envelopes out, bind them through the fold into a very funky base for an altered journal or envelope book.
6. Cut them into long triangular strips and make paper beads out of them. You can also use tyvek envelopes to create beads. (see project instructions below)
7. Turn them inside out, glue them back together and use them again as envelopes
8. Cut them to size to use as memorbilia pockets in your journals, books, or mixed media projects.
9. Save the stamps/addresses and use them as embellishments in mixed media art. Use foreign addresses as print ephemera. Cut out the postal mark and use it on your altered pages or scan it into your computer and create a graphics “brush”. Steam the stamp off the envelope to use as an embellishment.
10. Use recycled envelopes to store and keep together small bits of papers, pix, tiny embellishments, doodads, etc. when working on a project.
11. Store your art shopping lists/wish lists/art ideas in them.
12. Paint or ink them to re-use as envelopes for mail art, fun and funky letters to friends, as painted paper for punching, folding, embossing, die cuts, etc.
13. Reuse bubble mailers to send art exchanges and books to other artists.
14. Use as doodle pads, canvases for small drawings.
15. Use the paper to create scratch pads. Put them in a small box and decorate the box.
16. Leave a note for the milkman! (I couldn't resist including this one... LOL)

A Project Idea with Instructions

Elizabeth (aka the Queen of Free) at Altered Book Lover even sent some project instructions along with her recycling ideas to share with you... here's one of them...

"Tyvek envies can be painted, stamped, and heated slightly to make wings, and other embellishments. Cut painted tyvek in strips and make beads. Roll in UTEE and heat slightly. "

Lots more recycling ideas to come in future editions of Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips. Take a minute to bookmark my blog and check in on Tuesday mornings (I usually schedule the posts for 3:00 AM PST to accommodate eastern US and Canada blog readers). Stay tuned…. See ya Friday!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - More GREAT Storage Tips...

More tips from my (diminishing) pile of post it notes LOL

1. Use a see through, pocket organizer (used in closets to store gloves, shoes, purses, etc.) to store some of your art supplies. It holds a tremendous amount of “stuff”. You might be able to find one at a thrift store for just pennies, so check it out.
2. Modular, hanging shoe/sweater organizers with shelves is another idea for storage, especially if you live in an apartment or have a minimum amount of space for storing art supplies.
3. Re-purpose a counter top paper towel holder for ribbon, yarn, etc. Slide the spools of ribbon onto the dowel and voila you now have a counter top ribbon dispenser.
4. If you are even just slightly handy with a sewing machine, make a fold up, portable organizer with zip lock bags and fabric. If you don’t want to go to the bother of cutting fabric, a ready made placement works great. Click here for a pattern and how to instructions.
5. Got an old 3” school binder hanging around not being used? Purchase some large pencil organizers to fit the three ring binder and use them to store ink pads, chalks, pastels, drawing pencils, tubes of glue, eyelet punches, paper piercers, etc.. It’s amazing how many of these organizers you can get into a binder!
6. You can make your own binder organizers with Zip Lock bags. Just take the gallon sized bags, fold over the ends (the bottom of the bags) a couple of times. Sew twill tape along this edge to reinforce it. Punch holes into it with a three ring binder punch. Great for storing cut outs, collage images, small bits of scrap paper left over from a project.
7. Use empty cassette tape holders/CD holders to store smaller stamps, postage stamp embellishments, etc.. If you have one of the old wall cassette/CD storage holders, you can keep them all neatly stored on the wall next to your art table.
8. If you own one of the die cutting machine, use old floppy disc cassettes to store your dies and/or small die cuts you have cut out.
9. Use a plastic, portable file folder box with file folder holders for storing card stock, paper. An old file cabinet works great for not only storing paper but as a place to keep all of your art supplies together in one place. Large glue bottles, spray paint cans, gesso, oversized bottles and tools such as a hot glue gun, soldering iron, heat gun and hair dryer will fit nicely into the drawers if you partition them off with the adjustable drawer partition in most file cabinets.
10. A heavy plastic hairdryer/curling iron rack that mounts on the wall is handy for storing your art hair dryer and (depending on the size) a soldering iron close by. Check out the different types of bathroom holder racks to find one that can hold your heat and glue guns.
    
    

Storage Tips from blog readers…

A BIG thank you goes out to all for submitting their tips for this week's edition of Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips. Each of them will receive a zip file of old scanned photographs as a thank you gift from me.

Lela of Striving for Simplicity says "I keep my flowers, brads, eyelets, and buttons together by color in bead boxes. I got the boxes on sale for $1 each. I keep my works in progress in plastic beach tote bags. I can grab a tote and have all of the parts and supplies in one place."

Darlene of Articulation says "I have found through many years of not doing the right thing for me that I finally have a great studio and can find 98% of what I want to find. The reason for this is clear containers, iris carts and more, more, more clear containers. Large, small, drawer boxes and containers!!!

Round laundry baskets are great for long sheet of handmade papers or anything long that you can wind up. Altoid boxes for beads and embellishments, glue item on the outside.
Magazine holders for tablets of watercolor, sketch and other art tablets."


Debbie Baker of My Abundant Life says "My number one storage solution is zip-lock plastic bags - I have a large cane basket (well several actually) that is full of these bags - each is filled with items of a particular sort - white laces, paper scraps, small fabric pieces, trims, ribbons etc etc and it makes it very easy to see them but to also control them, both of which are extremely necessary for creativity, at least for me."

Alex sent this tip: Harbor Freight Tools has a plastic container w/a lid that is attached and lifts. Inside there are 9 or 12 small plastic boxes w/lids. Some are round and some are square, depending on your needs. It is 5X9. I paid about $3.00 each.

Dee says "I save the cartons that you get bottles of Starbucks Frappicinos in and use these to store my pens and markers, and decorative scissors etc.

Cindy of Cynthia Powell had a very useful disposal tip for those sharp knife blades...
"I use an old medicine/prescription bottle to collect dull pins & exacto knife blades that can’t go directly into the trash. When the bottle is full, it and the contents can be disposed of safely.

Well that's it for today!

NEXT WEEK: Playtime! A BRAINSTORMING GAME Stop by for the details. It will be fun and sure to generate lots of ideas we can all use in our art.

Have a great week... see you Friday!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips - Storage

Storage Tips for Embellishments, Beads, Ribbon, Craft Knives and (other) Small Stuff

1. Purchase a multilayered tackle box. It’s perfect for small embellishments, it’s portable and easy to store.

2. A pill organizer or empty spice jars are perfect for storing brads, eyelets, snaps, small jewels, etc.. You can sort them by colour and size.

3. Empty, junior size baby food jars are super for buttons sorted by colour or size.

4. A multi-drawered woodworking workshop container for nuts, bolts and screws is a terrific organizer for x-acto knives, blades, bone folders, small tubes of glue, metallic pens, tweezers, erasers, etc.. Just make sure that the drawers are deep enough (i.e. about 6.5 inches)

5. Save those toilet paper and paper towel rolls! Wind your ribbon and/or lace around them and secure ends with a pin or tape. Multiple rolls will fit nicely in a shoe box.

6. If you have ribbon that comes pre-rolled on cardboard with a hole in the middle, purchase a long piece of doweling that will fit the hole and a couple of mounting brackets. You can then mount the doweling under a shelf, place all of your rolls on the doweling and you will be able to just “spin” off the amount of ribbon you need. Alternatively, you can rig up a shoe box in much the same way or thread the toilet paper/paper towel "ribbon/lace" holders from tip 5 onto the doweling holder.

7. Another idea for ribbon storage is to take a plastic hanger, cut through the plastic (about an inch down from the top) and thread your rolls onto the hanger. You can then hang it in a closet!

8. Old prescription bottles make nice little containers for small embellishments. Glue a sample on the lid and you will be able to use the coloured prescription bottle containers as well.

9. Ice cube trays (as a drawer organizer) or empty styrofoam egg cartons are another way to store small embellishments such as photo corners, paper clips, jingle bells or small gems.

10. Store your craft knives in an empty can! Cut a piece of Styrofoam to fit the bottom of the can to hold the knife (and not damage the blade). If you wrap an elastic band around your craft knives, they will “stay put” on your art table.

More ideas from blog readers…

A big thank you to my playmates this week, Moonwillow, Nelly and Susan for submitting the following tips for this week’s Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips. Take a minute to visit their blogs and say thanks. I am sure they will appreciate it! They will each receive a page of old scanned photos they can use in their personal art as a thank you gift from me!

Moonwillow at The Starving Artist Blog sent these ideas:

For storing bottles of all the stuff I use a lot… glue, glitters, re-inkers, black paint, white paint, etc., I use a small lazy susan on my table. I picked it up at the junk store for 1.00 and it works great. ... I just added a shelf to my table (6ft long) and I am looking for baby food jars to use just like men do with the nails, screw, nuts and bolts. I will attach the lids and put my stuff in like beads, charms, etc. and screw the jars on to store right within reach. The shelf is held up with little plastic bins that have been secured together and bolted on. It added height and doubled my shelf space. I got a bunch of plastic shoe boxes at the dollar tree to put stuff in...


Nelly at Bella Nelly Paperworks says:

I repurposed a pampered chef spinning utensil holder to hold scissors, brushes, some punches, pencils, rub on sticks. Also, a pampered chef item is their stone wooden rack. I use it to hold magazines/books I keep close to my desk to refer to. They're both very handy and I love to use unusual items to store my things. Here's a pic of the utensil holder:
https://pamperedchef.com/graphics/products_425/2171_v.jpg

Susan at When I am Laughing says:

My friend and I recently found "See and Store" containers, which would be great for embelishments, beads, eyelets, etc. These round plastic containers have magnets on the bottom. They stick to the provided metal stand. The stand is great, because it is shaped sort of like an angled L and sits up on the small end, so takes up less space. The small end of the L can be screwed on to a counter top or table as the set up comes with the screw. I found these at the container store, but they were on sale, and I still consider them thrifty because the set up saves space. If you shop at a container store or office store, always check the clearance section. It often has items that can be repurposed for art storage.

Thanks for checking in today. Please leave a comment if you have found these tips helpful! I appreciate your feedback and it helps me gauge what to do more of, less of or eliminate!

Next week’s theme

Still More Storage Ideas. Click here to send your ideas along to share with your fellow artists!




10 Post it notes down… many still to go! LOL. See you Friday!

Sharon

Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips

Okay, I’ll be honest… I am notorious for writing down tips I find online on a slip of paper with the intention of transferring them to a notebook for future reference. Well that “transposition” activity rarely happens. You know what they say about good intentions, don’t you? Yah, well my road to the “hot place” is paved with a gazillion post it notes.

Most days they are just stuck to my computer screen. But a funny thing happens. On those rare occasions when I actually *seriously* think about transferring all those lovely tips into a handy “art table” reference book, those post it notes just mysteriously disappear! Not into my book mind you. Not even the garbage can. Nope. They just wander, all by themselves over to that comfy, remote spot on my desk I rarely look at. Yep… out of sight… out of mind!

Oh, I tried doing the “computer thing”. Every time I found a useful art related tip, I would put it into a file in the computer. Then one day my computer suffered a terminal crash. You know the rest of the story.

Not to be undone by technology, I prevailed… I started a new file. Put in a couple of tips I found. Next time I went to open the file, I couldn’t remember the name of the darn file or even where I had “filed” it. That was when I first noticed “senior moments” !

Fast forward….

To be truthful, my true motivation behind starting Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips is self serving. However, it also has a good, healthy, higher purpose in mind mixed into the brew! I figure that if I start sharing my post it note tips with you, I will always be able to
a) find the tips when I want them by printing each “issue” of Thrifty Tuesday Tips for my art table reference book
b) rid myself of the post it notes littering my computer screen and desk
c) learn, do or discover something new IF ….
d) you are kind enough to share your tips with me.. SO
e) we can ALL benefit by having our “collective knowledge” stored online in one spot!
f) perhaps you will be inspired to make a handy art table reference book for yourself too!

An invitation….

I’d love to find some playmates! Do you have some tips you’d like to share? Would you like to play along with this thrifty tips idea in my sandbox? If yes, then…

Over the next couple of weeks, I’d like to tackle some “do it yourself” ideas around the one bug-a-boo of most mixed media artists – STORING OUR STUFF. Paper, embellishments, glues, mediums, trinkets, paint… oh the list is long!

Please consider sharing YOUR STORAGE TIPS by taking a moment to send them to me along with your name, blog/website address and a sub category suggestion in the subject line of the email (i.e. paper, glues, paint, etc.). I will sort them and include them in upcoming Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips!

So what kind of tips make your thrifty heart go pitter patter? Here’s what gets my heart a flutterin’…

If you have been doing mixed media for any length of time, you know this one. We could go broke in the wink of an eye buying stuff for our stashes! So before I go off buying more stuff now, I often look around for tips that will save me a few bucks or pull me out of a hole when I find myself in one.

I hit the jackpot the day I discovered the recipe for making my own stamp cleaner. I ran out of a small bottle I had purchased at the stamping store right in the middle of a project. My “art budget” for that month was sadly lacking in funds. I discovered how to make a great stamp cleaner for a tiny fraction of what a commercial cleaner costs and fortunately I had all of the “ingredients” on hand. Didn’t have to spend a dime!

Now besides finding tips that have the possibility of saving me a few bucks so I can go spend “what I saved” on something else (Oh, I know that sounds like robbing Peter to pay Paul but that twisted piece of logic works extremely well for the thrifty part of my personality LOL) I also like to do my bit for the environment too!

Doing my bit translates into recycling “stuff” whenever I can (using empty Styrofoam egg cartons as tiny paint pots for little jobs) or finding different ways to store all my stuff (empty mason jars for buttons, charms, etc.).

Zooming right along…

Being a believer in sharing first to encourage other to share, I am gonna “clean house” today (pun intentionally intended) I’ll start with a couple of tips around cleaning some of the “tools” you and I likely use most often…

MAKE YOUR OWN STAMP SCRUBBER

Ever painted the walls in your home? If so, you probably have a paint edger, used to paint the edge of walls at the ceiling or the trim, kicking around in your garage with the paint tools. Snatch it from its lonely, almost forgotten spot and put it to work in your art room!

These paint edgers are made from the same material used in much more expensive “stamp scrubbers” you find in stamping stores. The next time you are in the hardware or paint store, purchase a replacement package for the edger. You can then use it to scrub your stamps after your next stamping session.

MAKE YOUR OWN STAMP CLEANER

The recipe I like best (and I have tried a lot of them) is very simple to make. You can find all of the ingredients in your local pharmacy. It’s a good one if you are sensitive to chemicals or have allergies. This one works well on both rubber or clear stamps.

To one cup (8 oz) of distilled water, add 2 tablespoons of glycerin and 1 tsp. of baby wash. You can add some rose water to this mixture (makes it smell nice) but it is optional. Put the mixture in a household spray bottle, spray your dirty stamp, wipe off the excess with an old rag or “seen better days” towel. This will remove most of the ink. Now using your “new” paint edger scrubber, spray some of the liquid on it and to give your stamp a good clean.

A few notes about your stamp cleaning brew…

When making this solution, use ONLY distilled water. The chemicals in tap water can harden the rubber on your stamps (makes you wonder what those chemicals might be doing to our bodies huh?) and bottled water still has some traces of minerals that could potentially ruin your stamp over time. In a pinch you could use filtered water but I personally don’t think it would be a good idea long term. You can find distilled water at your local drug store or pharmacy. It is not expensive. You may have to purchase a larger jug of it but you’ll never have to buy another one for a very long time!

You can find baby wash (a liquid “soap” used to wash a baby’s tender skin) in the baby products aisle. I use Aveeno Baby (no fragrance) made by Johnson and Johnson. It’s the same bottle I purchased when my 6 month old granddaughter (she’s nearly four now) came with her mom to visit Gramma and Grampa for the first time. Other brands of creamy baby wash will probably work just as well.

Glycerin is often used commercially in beauty products and better brands of bathing soap. Pharmacies stock it in smaller bottles because the medicinal use is to relieve chapped skin, minor burns or for minor cough and throat irritations. If you don’t find it in the “cough medicine” or “chapped skin” product aisle, ask a clerk. Be prepared to tell them what it is used for… some of them seem to not know what it is!

Why does this recipe use glycerin?

When I first came across this stamp cleaner recipe on the web (I don’t remember now where I first saw it), I was curious as to why glycerin was called for in the recipe. I asked my husband, who, “in his old life” was a chemist and he said “Probably to condition the rubber, keep it from cracking or going hard.” Well we certainly want to prolong the life of our favourite stamps, don’t we? Make the effort to find glycerin.

CLEANING GLUE HARDENED BRUSHES

I could just kick myself in the butt every time I forget to clean my glue brush when I am working on a project! I don’t know how many dried on, glue encrusted brushes I threw out before I discovered this tip: Soak it in GooBeGone overnight. The glue softens right up and you can then get all the “gunk” out of it.

EFFORTLESS BRUSH CLEANING

I keep some HAND liquid soap in a container next to my “brush cleaning sink”. Once I have removed most of the water soluble paint from my brush by swishing it in a container of water, I squirt a little of the liquid soap in the palm of my hand, swish the brush in it, rinse it well under running water and set it aside to dry. With very little effort and mess, my brushes (and hands) are as clean as a whistle when I am done.

Well that’s it for today. See you Friday. Now go clean your (ART) house… LOL!

Sharon

P.S. HELP!!! If anyone has a tip for cleaning burnt on glue off a teflon iron, I’d sure love to hear from you. I really messed up my iron this past weekend when I accidentally put my iron down on some heat and bond I was using to adhere some fabric to a piece of cardstock. What a mess… I have tried everything I can think of to get it off and it’s still a mess!